DC CORRESPONDENTVIJAYAWADA. MAY 20

The National GreenTribunal (NGT) onWednesday directed theAndhra Pradesh govern-ment to not proceed withthe contentious Ra-yalaseema Lift IrrigationScheme works till fur-ther orders.

The tribunal has alsoappointed a high-levelcommittee to study theenvironmental impact ofthe project and submit areport in the next twomonths.

A two-member bench ofthe NGT (Southern Zone)comprising Justice (retd)K. Ramakrishnan andexpert member SaibalDasgupta has issued thisorder while dealing witha petition filed by aTelangana-based farmer,G. Srinivas.

The high-level commit-tee will be headed by arepresentative ofKarnataka PollutionControl Board and willhave members drawnfrom the Union ministryof environment, forestand climate change(MoEFC), the KrishnaRiver ManagementBoard and the IIT-Hyderabad.

The bench felt thatprima facie it was estab-lished that the AP gov-ernment did not obtainany prior environmentalclearance from theMoEFC.

Though the AP govern-ment sought time to file adetailed reply to the peti-tioner’s affidavit, thebench restrained APfrom proceeding with thework on the project andconstituted the expertcommittee.

“We are not evenserved notices,” APcounsel D. MadhuriReddy told DeccanChronicle.

■ Page 2: Petitioner saysgreen nod is required

PARMOD KUMAR | DCNEW DELHI, MAY 20

The Supreme Court onWednesday issued notice tothe Centre on a batch of freshpetitions challenging theCitizenship (Amendment)Act, 2019, on the groundsthat CAA is in conflict withAugust 1985 Assam accordbetween the Centre, All Assam Students Unionand the Assam government.

Refusing to pass an interim

order to put on hold the oper-ation of the CAA limited toAssam, a bench comprisingChief Justice Sharad A.Bobde, Justice A.S.Bopannaand Justice Hrishikesh Roywhile issuing notice taggedthe petitions with the earlier160 pending petitions.

The top court had earlier onJanuary 22 turned down theplea for interim stay of theimplementation of theCitizenship Amendment Act,2019, even for a couple ofmonths.

SC notice over CAA,Assam accord conflict

AKSHAYA SAHOO andRAJIB CHOWDHURIKOLKATA/ BHUBANESWAR,MAY 20

Amphan, the extremelysevere cyclone packingwinds of up to 190 kmph,roared into West Bengalon Wednesday, dumpingheavy rain and leaving atrail of destruction thatleft at least six peopledead, including a three-month-old child, officialssaid.

Amphan made a four-hour-long fierce landfall atDigha on West Bengal-Odisha border nearSundrban and Hatiya inBangladesh, cutting aswathe through the coastalareas, flattening fragiledwellings, uprooting treesand electric poles.

The landfall, between2.30 pm and 6.30 pm, wit-nessed strong winds withspeed of 155-165 kilometresper hour (kmph) gusting to185 kmph and torrentialdownpour, the IndiaMeteorological Depa-rtment (IMD) said.

Video clips showedgigantic tidal waves crash-ing into a seawall in Dighaand thick sheets of rainblurring the vast coastlinein the two states.

Initial reports said inseveral districts of WestBengal, including North 24Parganas, South 24Parganas, Hooghly, How-rah, Kolkata, East Midi-napore, West Midinapore,Murishidabad andBurdwan, trees and elec-tric poles were uprooted,thatched houses were

destroyed and thousandsof acres of standing cropsgot inundated in heavydownpour and tidal waves.

Several areas of both thestates plunged into dark-ness as electric installa-tions collapsed. Comm-unication network alsosnapped as telephone tow-ers crumbled.

Movement on roads wasseriously disrupted withlarge trees and electricpoles blocking vehicular

movement.The cyclone claimed at

least three lives in WestBengal, and three inOdisha.

A teen-aged girl fromHowrah died when shewas hit by a flying iron-sheet. At Basirhat inNorth 24 Parganas, ayouth named Mahanta Dasdied after a tree on him inhis own courtyard. InMinakhan, North 24Parganas, a woman identi-

fied as Nur Jahan Behradied. In Odisha, two peopledied in cyclone sheltersdue to ailments and athree-month old child dueto wall collapse.

West Bengal ChiefMinister MamataBanerjee remained in thedisaster control room dur-ing the landfall and over-saw the operations by var-ious agencies deployed onthe ground. Flight opera-tions at Kolkata airport

were suspended due toadverse conditions.

Odisha chief ministerNaveen Patnaik and spe-cial relief CommissionerP.K. Jena were in constanttouch with collectors ofnorth Odisha districts.

At least 6.58 lakh peoplewere evacuated in WestBengal and Odisha beforethe cyclone struck.

■ Page 7: Housesdestroyed in Bangladesh

c m y k c m y k

Max: 40.9OCMin: 27.2OC RH: 18%Rain: Nil

Forecast: Partly cloudy sky. Max/Min temp. 41/27ºC

WEATHER

50,39,500WORLD CONFIRMED CASES

STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS

CASES

(+8,064)

1,11,999

(+27)

(+68)TS: 1,661

DEATHS

(+218)

3,434

AP: 2,407

40

53

3,26,528213

DEATHS

COUNTRIES,AREAS WITH

CASES

COVID-19 C UNT

worldometers.info/coronavirus

covid19india.org

(+1)

(+2)

ASTROGUIDESarvari; Uttarayana

Tithi: Vaishaka BahulaChaturdasi till 9.34 pm

Star: Bharani till 1.01 am (Friday)Varjyam: 9.09 am to 10.55 am

Durmuhurtam: 10.04 am to10.55 am; 3.13 pm to 4.04 pmRahukalam: 1.30 pm to 3 pm

HIJRI CALENDARRamzan 27,1441 AH

PRAYERSFajar: 4.35 am

Zohar: 12.22 pmAsar: 4.44 pm

Maghrib: 6.48 pmIsha: 8.03 pm

SUNSET TODAY 6.42 PMSUNRISE TOMORROW 5.42 AMMOONRISE TOMORROW 4.43 AM

MOONSET TODAY 5.36 PM

COUNTER POINT

RAMZAN TIMINGS

SEHRI: 4.12 am(TOMORROW)

IFTAR: 6.48 pm(TODAY)

Indo-China rowover border on

New Delhi: The attempts todefuse tension between

Indian and Chinese armiesin Ladakh through negotia-tions at local commanders

level has still not yieldedany result.

IN BRIEF

Vol. 83 No. 141 Established 1938 | 16 PAGES | `6.00deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle

TABLOIDWORLD|7Drool worthybody!

Huge Covid cases inUS an honour: Trump

NATION|4Cong buses return

after 3 day slugfest

Domestic flightsto resume fromMay 25: PuriEntertainment industryasked to restart shooting

Trees sway as heavy gusty winds induced by supercyclone Amphan hit Rasgovindpur in Mayurbhanj district ofOdisha on Wednesday. — PTI

VINEETA PANDEY | DCwith agency inputsNEW DELHI, MAY 20

The Union government onWednesday announcedthat domestic civil flightoperations will resumefrom Monday in a cali-brated manner.

The Union minister forcivil aviation, MrHardeep Singh Puri, saidall airports and airlinecarriers were being told tobe ready for operationsfrom May 25 and StandardOperating Procedures forpassenger movement willbe issued soon.

The minister, however,did not mention anyupdate for internationalflights, which have alsoremained shut during thelockdown, barring specialflights being operated tobring back strandedIndians and expatriatesfrom abroad.

The Union HomeMinistry also said later inthe night that domesticair travel has beenremoved from the list ofprohibited activities dur-ing the lockdown.

On Tuesday, Mr Purisaid the Centre alone can-not take a decision onresuming passengerflights and the state gov-ernments should be readyto allow these services inthe spirit of cooperativefederalism.

Senior government offi-cials have said around 30per cent of domesticflights will be allowed ini-tially.

“The number of flightswill be increased gradual-ly after that,” one of themadded.

The officials also saidthe government is likelyto put a cap, as well as afloor, on all air fares so as

to discourage predatorypricing by airlines. “Thediscussions regarding thefloor price and cap priceon air fares are currentlygoing on. A decisionwould be taken soon,” theofficial cited above said.

The entertainment indu-stry has also been asked torestart shoots and post-production activities.

Amphan batters Bengal, Odishaas 6.5 lakh evacuated; six dead

TELANGANA YETTO DECIDE ONRESUMING FLIGHTSDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, MAY 20

The Rajiv Gandhi Inter-national Airport has putin all operating proce-dures and is awaitingapproval from the stategovernment to begin oper-ations.

Though aviation minis-ter Hardeep Singh Purisaid on Wednesday thatdomestic passenger flightservices will resume fromMay 25 in a calibratedmanner, he had said thatthe Centre alone cannotmake a decision on res-uming passenger flightsand that state govern-ments must be ready toallow these services.

However, there was noword from the ChiefMinister’s Office. Sourcessaid the government does-n’t seem to be ready toallow flights to the statetill May 31. “The govern-ment is worried about therising infection rate in thestate. There are already alot of migrants who areturning positive everyday. Patients from otherstates could result in asurge of infections,”explained a senior officer.

Gigantic tidal waves disrupt power for many; Kolkata airport suspends ops

TS ‘RELIEVED’ ASNGT STAYS SEEMALIFT IRRIGATION

SANJAY SAMUEL PAUL | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Ramjeet Rajdhar was justanother 16-year-old ladfrom a far-away state whocame to Hyderabad in 2007to find work, earn somemoney, and send some of itback home to his family.

Now 29, Ramjeet, whosefamily lives in a small vil-lage, about 20 km fromSiddarth Nagar in Uttar

Pradesh, is determined tostay back in the city.

As the exodus of guestworkers from Telanganacontinues in the wake ofthe Coronavirus pandemicand lockdown that has leftthousands unemployed,Ramjeet had to convincehis 20-year-old youngerbrother Durgesh thatreturning home was not agood idea.

“There is nothing for usthere. Our extended family

has 16 members. Unless wework and send themmoney, it will be impossi-ble for them to survive,”Ramjeet told DeccanChronicle.

After days of argumentswith his brother, Durgeshagreed to stay back in thecity but he is not happyabout it.

“Our village is home. Iwant to go back home;meet my parents. That iswhere my childhood

friends are,” he said. Hehas been in Hyderabad fortwo years and works as astone-setter, but misses hisvillage: “I miss sittingunder the trees and chat-ting with friends. I alsomiss the Dasara melathere,” he says wistfully.

Older brother Ramjeetsays he understands thepull of home, but they bothhave to work at whateverthey can. “I started work-ing when I was a kid, after

my father made me joinwork in a small hotel. Thenas years went by, I foundmyself ending up as a stonepolisher,” he said.

He says Durgesh is lucky.“He even went to school fora few years, and hasfriends from his childhood.I do understand he has hisown good reasons for want-ing to go back home.”

■ Page 2: Seeing neighboursleave turned hard

Some guest workers choose to stay backHope of work resuming in city beats temptation to return homeMONEY | MATTERS

SRIDHARKUMARASWAMI | DCKATHMANDU/NEW DELHI,MAY 20

A day after Nepal’sCabinet endorsed a mapshowing Kalapani, Limp-iyadhura and Lipulekhareas as part of its territo-ry, India on Wednesdaytermed it as “artificialenlargement of (Nepalese)territorial claims (that)will not be accepted”.India claims these areasare part of its territory.

In a statement issuedlate evening, India’s min-istry of external affairssaid Nepal’s revised map“includes parts of Indianterritory” and that “thisunilateral act is not basedon historical facts and evi-dence”.

It urged Kathmandu “torespect India’s sovereign-

ty and territorial integri-ty”.

The Himalayan countryresponded by saying thatit had “learnt with regretabout the ‘inauguration’by India of the Link Road”and claimed that it “pass-es through Nepali territo-ry”.

But New Delhi said theroad lies within India’sterritory.

The relations seem to befraying by the day andreports on Wednesdayquoted Nepal PrimeMinister K.P. Sharma Olias saying that the coron-avirus coming from Indiais “more lethal” thanthose from China andItaly.

He blamed the risingnumber of Covid-19 casesin the Himalayan nationon those illegally enteringthe country from India.

Map change: Indiareprimands Nepal

VIKRAM SHARMA | DCHYDERABAD MAY 20

While fingers are beingpointed at the Telanganastate government for test-ing fewer people for Covid-19, it appears that a fewcorporate hospitals inHyderabad have beensecretly conducting Coro-navirus tests at theirpremises on their doctors,VIPs and their families.

These test results ornumber of tests do not fig-ure in the daily medicalbulletin released by thegovernment, ensuringthat the overall number ofinfections continues toremain low.

The hospital manage-ments — at least two bignames — persuaded cer-tain key figures in thestate government, citingthe safety of their doctorsas the reason, andobtained their nod to con-duct the tests, albeit unof-ficially.

Highly placed sourcestold Deccan Chronicle thattop doctors working incorporate hospitals beganworrying after a group ofdoctors and paramedics in

two top corporate hospi-tals came in contact withcoronavirus positivepatients in March.

Anticipating that thiswould be an everydayproblem, they took up thematter with the manage-ment and urged them toinfluence the government.

Under pressure from thedoctors, the managementof corporate hospitals meta key minister in the stateand persuaded him to letthem test their doctors ifthey were to get infected.

■ Page 2: Hospitals promisedtests not on record

Corp hospitals testingdoctors, VIPs in secret

VUJJINI VAMSHIDHARA | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

The Telangana High Co-urt on Wednesday all-owed private diagnosticlaboratories to test peoplefor Coronavirus infectionand permitted privatehospitals to treat Covid 19patients.

The court, however, saidprivate organisations mu-st be approved by theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) for test-ing or treating people for

Covid-19 disease.The order was pro-

nounced by the divisionbench, comprisingJustice M.S. RamchandraRao and Justice K. Lak-shman, giving its judg-ment in a public interestlitigation (PIL) filed byGanta Jaikumar, whosought a direction to theTelangana government topermit all private hospi-tals to treat patients forCovid-19.

■ Page 2: Curbs on privatehospitals set aside

Get ICMR nod fortests, HC tells labs

YUSUF JAMEELSRINAGAR, MAY 20

Two Border SecurityForce (BSF) jawans wereshot dead by gunmen rid-ing a motorbike inPandach, Srinagar onWednesday afternoon.They were declaredbrought dead at a nearbyhospital.

The police sources saidthat one of the jawanswas killed on the spotand the other died onway to nearby Sher-i-Kashmir Institute ofMedical Sciences(SKIMS).

Medical superinten-dent at SKIMS, DrFarooq Jan, said thatboth troopers were“declared as broughtdead on arrival”. Theassailants, before fleeingfrom the scene, also tookwith them two serviceweapons of the BSFjawans, a senior policeofficial confirmed here.

The J&K police earliertweeted “Two BSFjawans on naka duty onthe outskirts of Srinagarwere fired upon by two tothree bike-borne mili-tants. One jawan died.Other injured evacuatedto hospital.”

2 BSF JAWANSSHOT DEAD BYULTRAS ON BIKE

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I THURSDAY I 21 MAY 2020

From Page 1

The petitioner’s counselSravan Kumar, however,pointed out that priorenvironmental clear-ance is required for irri-gation projects as theyfall under the CategoryA, clause 1(c)(ii) of theEIA Notification, 2006.The petitioner expressedapprehension that theAP government mightcomplete the construc-tion of the RLIS projectwithout the environ-ment clearance as it didin the case of variousother lift irrigationschemes, including thePurushothapatnam proj-ect on the riverGodavari.

The petitioner mostlydealt with the ongoingdispute between the APand Telangana govern-

ments on the RLIS, theTelangana government’sargument that it was inviolation of the APReorganisation Act andthe lack of priorapproval of the KrishnaRiver ManagementBoard. He also appre-hended that 80 lakh peo-ple of Telangana wouldbe severely affected bythe proposed project as itmight draw out theentire water from theSrisailam reservoir anddeny drinking water sup-ply to people ofHyderabad. The NGT

order came as a shock tothe AP governmentwhich is of the view thatmajority issues raised bythe petitioner do not fallin the jurisdiction of thetribunal. “The approvalof CWC, clearances fromthe boards and theTelangana government’sobjections over the drawlof water from a particu-lar level have got nothingto do with the environ-ment,” said a senior irri-gation official. The offi-cial has also pointed outthat the project is at thestage of administrativesanction for which theenvironment clearanceis not required. Whencontacted, AdityanathDas, special chief secre-tary, irrigation, said APwould immediately filecounter and seek appro-priate remedy.

CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 21 MAY 2020

IN BRIEF1,300 medicos

stuck in TajikistanHyderabad: At least 1,300

MBBS students stranded inTajikistan are urging the

Union government to ensurean early passage back home

as the situation is gettingworse in Tajikistan with anincrease in Covid-19 cases.Stuck for two months, they

are demanding more flightsunder the Vande Bharat

Mission. However, the MEAhas given the nod for onlytwo 150-seater flights that

can transport a maximum of300 students. There are no

additional flights till June 13,students claim. Prabodh

Solanki, one of the strandedstudents, said, “We have

requested for more flights tobe provided by the ministry

of external affairs and DGCA,We also sought them to

arrange chartered flightsthrough Spicejet, Somon Air

and Tajik Air, Sadly, ourpleas have been rejected.

Curbs on privatehospitals set aside

From Page 1The bench has also set aside

the order issued by theTelangana medical andhealth department that

restrained private hospitalsfrom extending medical aid

to Covid-19 patients and alsorestrained private laborato-

ries from conducting testsfor the highly infectious dis-

ease. The court, however,said the private healthcarefacilities must take permis-

sion from the ICMR for test-ing or treating people for

Covid-19. It also directed theICMR to nominate qualifiedand experienced persons to

ascertain whether the pri-vate organisations possess

the required infrastructure totest or treat people for

Coronavirus. This exercise,the court said, must be com-

pleted within the shortestpossible time in view of the

grave urgency and risingcases of Coronavirus infec-tions and deaths caused by

it. The court said all possibleprecautions should be taken

by the ICMR-approved pri-vate laboratories and hospi-

tals to take good care ofpeople suspected of infec-

tion or those tested positivefor Covid-19 disease.

Green nod needed: Petitioners

Heatwave likelyto continue in TS, warns IMD T.S.S. SIDDHARTH | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Sounding the alert, onWednesday, the Indianmeteorological depart-ment (IMD) has issued aweather warning, start-ing May 22 this year. Thewarning would be effec-tive till May 24. It saidthat heatwave conditionsare likely to prevail overisolated pockets of thestate.

On Wednesday, the max-imum temperature hadreached the 40 degreemark. As of 5.30 pm onWednesday, the maximumtemperature was record-ed at 40.9 degrees celsius,which is one degree abovenormal. When it comes tothe hottest areas in thetwin cities, the highestmaximum temperature of41.9 degrees celsius wasat Suleman Nagar inFalaknuma.

Speaking to DeccanChronicle, K. Naga Ratna,IMD director said: “Thereare dry and hot windsblowing over the statefrom the northwesternregions of the country.Also, the tropical cyclone,Amphan, over the Bay ofBengal has sapped themoisture from the airover the state.”

The lack of moisture inthe air has left the surfaceof the earth without abarrier to absorb theheat.

“Also, there is no incur-sion of winds from eitherthe Bay of Bengal or theArabian sea. This is why

the sun’s rays are reach-ing the earth's surfaceeasily. We expect the tem-perature to go up to 44degrees celsius,” she said.

As of Wednesday, in thelast 24 hour,s the maxi-mum temperaturesrecorded above 41 degreescelsius were in Adilabad,KumuramBheem, Manch-erial, Nirmal,Nizamabad, Jagtial,RajannaSircilla, Peddap-alli, Karimnagar,Siddipet, Jayashankar,Mulugu, WarangalUrban, Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Khammam,Suryapet, and Nalgondadistricts. The highestmaximum was at Bhorajin Adilabad with 44.5degrees celsius.

Experts predict that theincrease in temperaturewould start with theAdilabad district andthen reach the city.

“The first affectedwould be those districtsin the neighbourhood ofVidarbha, as the drywinds are in full flow overthere. So, all districtsclose to it will be firstaffected. The capital city,would, however, warm upas well but in a gap of 24hours,” Mahesh Palawat,chief meteorologist,Skymet(a private weatherforecasting outfit) said.

IREDDY SRINIVASREDDY | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

President of theTelangana PradeshCongress Committee N.Uttam Kumar Reddydemanded that ChiefMinister K.Chandrashekar Raopostpone the implemen-tation of the new policyon regulated croppingpattern to next year,after holding compre-hensive deliberationswith all the stakehold-ers, especially the farm-ers.

He was addressing apress conference atGandhi Bhavan onWednesday along withAll India Kisan Cell vice

chairman M. KodandaReddy, Covid-19 TaskForce chairman MarriShashidhar Reddy, for-mer minister G. ChinnaReddy and AICC secre-tary Vamshichand Reddy.

Mr Uttam KumarReddy said the Congressparty had a detailed dis-cussion on the proposedagricultural policybased on the informa-tion available in the pub-lic domain. He said therewere lots of doubts andapprehensions and noclarity on what the poli-cy stands for.

The TPCC presidentsaid that the proposedpolicy should be imple-mented from next yearas less than a week is leftfor sowing to begin for

the kharif season. Atthis stage, he said, thestate government cannotforce farmers to culti-vate the crops of itschoice. He said that thestate government shoulddraft a comprehensivepolicy after holding dis-cussions with farmers,scientists and oppositionparties, and start imple-mentation from nextyear. He said that theCongress party wasstrongly opposed to theproposed policy in itspresent form.

He accused the ChiefMinister of threateningfarmers with seriousconsequences if theyrefused to grow thecrops the state govern-ment told them to grow.

Helping hand

TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with Congress workers, flags off buses carrying guest workersto their native places in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha on Wednesday.

From Page 1

Watching some 72 of theirneighbours clamber into alorry and leave was particu-larly hard for Durgesh. “Nowthere are just eight of us inall. I miss home too. I have awife and two daughters —four-and-a-half year old Ashaand two-year-old Asta. Mywife works in the fields as alabourer whenever she findssome work. Our father is sick,our elder brother is bedrid-den. Two other brothers go to

school while we are somehowmanaging to ensure that oursister goes to college,"Ramjeet said, laying bare theexcruciating poverty thatdrives so many people to lookfor that little extra edge a jobin another state or city mightgive them.As the lockdown began mak-ing itself felt, the Rajdhars,along with their neighboursliving in Telephone Colony,Chaitanyapuri, were helpedby the Rachakonda PoliceCommissionerate with food

and groceries. RamjeetRajdhar grimaces as he expe-riences a stab of pain fromsciatica he developed over thepast few months. “I have towork and cannot complainabout the pain. If I do, I mightlose my job as I might be seenas someone who cannot workanymore,” he said. “I wantedto go home but I have decidedto stay with my brother andwork and earn some money,”Durgesh said. “Things appearto be getting better here forwork now,”he adds hopefully.

Seeing neighbours leaveturned hard on workers

KANIZA GARARI | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Overcrowding in shelterhomes, railway stations,and moving together ingroups have all increasedthe infection rate amongguest workers to 8 per centwhich will lead to a spikeof another one lakh casesin the next 13 days acrossIndia. The infection ratepresently is 4 per cent withsocial distancing, and dou-bling time is 13 days. Whilethe doubling time isexpected to remain thesame, the infection ratewill see a spike.

Experts warn that if con-trol measures are not put

in place in terms of organ-ising and facilitating theirmovement, there is goingto be a major rise in Covid-19 cases. The major worryin this group is inability topractise social distancing.Where 10 to 15 people livedin a small space, now onlythree people are allowed tolive in one room.

Ramesh Gupta, a labour-er on a construction sitewho lived with 10 people inBalaji Nagar nearCherlappally says, “We arenow told that only threepeople can stay in a singleroom. The others have tovacate. Where can we go?We cannot afford the rentof `4,000 per month for

three people. We are goingback as it is not possible forus to live here anymore.”

Physical distancing isnecessary to reduce infec-tions but according to thenew government guide-lines, the minimum spacerequirement for one per-son has been increasedfrom 50 square feet to 75square feet. This reducesthe existing space by 30 percent even in shelter homes.That is becoming a majorreason for people to goback to their native place.Sources say a bigger exo-dus can be expected oncethe lockdown lifts furtheras even middle incomefamilies paying rent are

contemplating shiftingback to their native placefor a year till the diseaseburden ebbs.

Dr Narsinga Reddy, vice-president of the IMA, saysit is inevitable that work-ers will go back to theirnative places but theyshould be helped to do so.

“Protecting their healthand providing economicincentives is the right ofguest labourers. They mustbe sent via proper trans-port systems and not beforced to compromise tofind their way back home.In the present situation,not only has the risk levelof the workers increasedthreefold, but also that of

the health care system asthe workers will have to beprovided proper facilitiesand treatment options.This is a dual burden,” Dr Reddy expla-ined. The irony is that thestate which is sendingthem back is checkingthem for fever etc but theplaces where they will bequarantined in their homestates of Bihar, UP andOdisha must provide themfacilities and check theirhealth status. Dr K.K.Aggarwal, president of theConfederation of MedicalAssociations in Asia andOceania, says workers arescared of being infectedwhile in quarantine.

Workers’ movement a big worry Experts warn if steps are not taken, there will be a sharp rise in Covid cases

Postpone new crop policy: Uttam

HOSPITALSPROMISED TESTSNOT ON RECORDFrom Page 1

They, however, assuredthe government that thenumber of tests or posi-tive cases will not bereflected anywhere intheir records. “It is quidpro quo. It works well forboth the hospitals and thegovernment,” a doctor,who was among thosewho underwent the testin the hospital he is work-ing, told this newspaper.

He said the corporatehospitals are not againsttesting everyone and infact, the Indian Councilof Medical Research(ICMR) has allowed eightprivate hospitals fortests. “But the govern-ment does not want toproject the real numbersas they feel it would goagainst the interests ofthe state,” he opined.

The state governmenthas also restrained eightICMR approved privatehospitals and laborato-ries from conductingtests, perhaps fearingthat with the involve-ment of private players,they would have littlecontrol over the num-bers, which so far havebeen kept very low, delib-erately. Though some ofthese hospitals have pro-cured RT-PCR kits fortesting, sources said thegovernment is not releas-ing the lab codes and therequired format to beginthe tests.

In Telangana, the gov-ernment has notifiedeight government hospi-tals as designated hospi-tals for Covid-19 patients.So far, the governmenthas been maintainingthat if Covid-19 tests aredone at corporate hospi-tals, there is a danger ofthese hospitals turninginto a prime source forthe spread of the virus.

SHAB-E-QADAROBSERVED AT HOME Hyderabad: Muslimdevout in Hyderabadmarked Shab-e-Qadar(Blessed Night), the 27thnight of Holy Ramzan,with prayers at theirhomes due to restric-tions on public gather-ings because of Covid-19 pandemic. Muslimsconsider Shab-e-Qadaror Laylat al-Qadr to bethe holiest night ofRamzan. The exact dateof this sacred night isunspecified. But it isbelieved to occur duringthe last 10 days of themonth. Many devoutbelieve it is either thenight of the 27th day ofRamzan or one of theodd-numbered nightsduring the final 10 daysof the holy month.

●● THE PETITIONERmostly dealt with theongoing disputebetween the AP andTS governments onthe RLIS.

●● THE LACK of mois-ture in the air has leftthe surface of the earthwithout a barrier toabsorb the heat.

GENERATION OFPOWER WILLSUFFER: REVANTH Hyderabad: Telang-ana Congress workingpresident andMalkajgiri MP A.Revanth Reddy saidpower generation with-in the stated will beseverely affected withexpansion of thePothireddypadu proj-ect. The seniorCongress leader saidthat Andhra Pradeshdiverting Krishnawaters atPothireddypadu is noless than robbery.

2 MORE DIE OFCOVID, TOTAL

DEATHS IN TS 40BALU PULIPAKA | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Even as there appears to be nolet up in the rising number ofCovid-19 cases in Telangana,two more persons were report-ed to have lost their lives to thedisease on Wednesday. Thistakes the Covid-19 deaths tosix in just two days and to 40 sofar in the state. One of the per-sons who died was a 61-year-old man from Motinagar, andthe other was an 81-year-oldman from Chandrayangutta inthe city.

On Wednesday, a total of 27new cases were registered ofwhom 12 were labourersreturning to the state fromother parts of the country.Since people began returningto Telangana from otherstates, as many as 89 of themin different districts in thestate have tested positive forthe disease.

The rest of the cases werefrom Greater Hyderabad area,with nearly all of them comingfrom two families in Asifnagarlocality in the Old City ofHyderabad.

Telangana now has a total of608 active cases with the staterecording a total of 1,661Covid-19 cases to date, accord-ing to the daily Covid-19 bul-letin released by the healthdepartment. Over the past fewdays, the state has reportedCovid-19 cases from the dis-tricts of Medchal-Malkajgiri,Sangareddy, Ranga Reddy,Jagitial, and Hyderabad.

Vehicles allowed on ORRonly from 7 am to 7 pmJAYENDRACHAITHANYA T. | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Vehicular movement onthe Outer Ring Road(ORR) will be permittedonly from 7 am to 7 pm.Only heavy goods vehi-cles will be allowedround-the-clock on ORR,Cyberabad DCP (Traffic)S. M. Vijay Kumarannounced onWednesday.

“In view of safety,

small and light vehicleshave been prohibited onORR during the night, asthere are chances ofaccidents. Several longdistance heavy vehiclestend to stop on ORR forvarious reasons, whichmay pose a threat to fast-moving small and lightvehicles,” the DCPremarked.

He stressed on the needto maintain stipulatedspeed limits on ORR. Thefirst two lanes on the

right are for fast-movingvehicles with a maxi-mum speed of 100 kmph.The maximum speedalong the two lanes onleft-hand side is 80 kmphand meant for slowervehicles. “Carrying ofpassengers in goods vehi-cles on ORR is prohibit-ed. Any vehicle foundviolating the rule will beseized and handed overto the police station con-cerned for legal action,”the DCP said.

CITY pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 21 MAY 2020

SHORT TAKESTWO SIBLINGS

DROWN INPOND

ILLEGAL LIQUORAT NEW CLUB,PLAINT FILED

DALIT BOY MADETO DRINK URINE

OVER AFFAIRPILLALAMARRI SRINIVAS | DC MANCHERIAL, MAY 20

An 18-year-old Dalit boy, BotlaAnvesh, was allegedly made todrink urine for falling into loveand maintaining a relationshipwith an 18-year-old girl from abackward community. The‘punishment’ was meted out bya supporter of the girls’ familyin Ponkal village of Jannarammandal in Mancherial district.Both the boy and girl belong toPonkal village.

This incident took place onMay 17 and the boy lodged acomplaint with Jannarampolice a day later.

In his complaint, the boy stat-ed that four supporters of thegirl’s family, Mutyam Sai, Gar-ipelli Harish Goud, AzmathKhan and P. Prashanth madehim to drink urine after bash-ing him up for asking drinkingwater. He said he was in a rela-tionship with the girl for thelast two years and she was keenon them getting married soon.

People buy jewellery from a shop in Banjara Hills after nearly two months of lockdown. Alternateshops will be open in the remaining days of lockdown till May 31. — S. SURENDER REDDY

Back in business

Med PG fee hike getsHC’s conditional nodProvides two-instalment facility to studentsVUJJINIVAMSHIDHARA | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

A Division Bench onWednesday issued aninterim order where-upon studentsenrolling in privatemedical and dental col-leges falling underCategory-A (convenerquota) were asked topay 50 per cent of theenhanced fee and fur-nish a bond for the bal-ance amount and thoseunder Category-B1(management quota)Sub Category-1 pay 60per cent of the enh-anced fee to collegesand a bond for theremaining 40 per cent.

The Bench, headedby Chief JusticeRaghavendra SinghChauhan and JusticeShameem Akhter, wasdealing with a writpetition on the PostGraduate medicalcourses fee hike for2020-2023. More than121 petitioners chal-lenged the phenome-nal hike whileChairman of TAFRCMr Swaroop Reddyfiled a memo urgingthe Bench not to hearthe writ petition.

While passing itsinterlocutory order,the Bench observed“presently, this Courtis required to balancethe conflicting interest

of both students andmedical colleges.Considering the factthat prima-facie, thereappears to be a steepincrease in fee, andtaking into considera-tion the trauma causedby Covid-19, it could beextremely difficult forthe economically-hitelders to raise moneyand pay the entire fee.”

The private medicalcolleges and TAFRCwere given four weekseach to file counter-affidavits for finaladjudication.

Senior counsels, D.Prakash Reddy,Ravichandran, D.V.Seetharamamur thyand others appearing

for several privatemedical and dental col-leges contended thatthe hike was justifiedas this this the firstsuch increase in overfour years duringwhich time there hasbeen a steady increasein pay scales of bothteaching and non-teaching staff.

Prakash Reddy pro-posed that the benchfix 75 per cent of feesbe paid for those com-ing under manage-ment quota as theybelonged to affluentfamilies. He also high-lighted the fact thatmanagements werealso adversely hit bythe lockdown.

Expedite 2BHKproject in city: KTRMADDY DEEKSHITH | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Ministers K.T. Rama Rao,Prashanth Reddy, TalasaniSrinivas Yadav, Malla Reddyand Mohammed MahamoodAli on Wednesday held areview meeting on the statusof the double bedroom digni-ty homes programme inHyderabad and asked offi-cials to expedite the progressof the work.

Addressing the high-levelmeeting, Municipal Admin-istration and Urban Develop-ment (MA&UD) Minister MrRao said, “The TelanganaGovernment will hand over50,000 double bedroom digni-ty houses to the beneficiariesby coming August.” Headded that the governmentwill construct one lakh dou-ble bedroom dignity housesfor the poor in Hyderabadcity. Mr Rao mentioned that

the work is progressing welland the houses will be readyto occupy by Dasara.

The working agencies inf-ormed the ministers that de-spite the lockdown, the con-struction work is going at agood pace, though there are afew problems pertaining tosteel, cement, and sand. Theminister said this problemwill be solved soon. He toldofficials of MA&UD and Ho-using Departments to call fora special meeting with theworking agencies to resolvetheir problems.

Mr Rao said 80 per cent ofthe construction work has be-en completed at various sitesin the city, and some houseshave already been handedover to the beneficiaries.

He told officials to providepower and water supply tothe completed houses. “Thecompleted houses should behanded over to the GHMCofficials,” the minister said.

KTR TO INAUGURATELEVEL-ONE FLYOVERAT BIO-DIVERSITY JNDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Municipal Administration andUrban Development minister K.T.Rama Rao (KTR) will inauguratethe level-one flyover at Bio-diver-sity junction today. This wasannounced by Mayor BonthuRammohan here on Wednesday.

He said that under SRDP pack-age-4, at a cost of `379 crore,GHMC has undertaken constru-ction of multi-level/grade separa-tors at four junctions, including(1) Biodiversity junction, (2) MindSpace junction, (3) Ayyappa Soc-iety and (4) Rajiv Gandhi Statuejunction, including widening andstrengthening the existing graderoad at Mind Space junction,under (EPC).

Five works under the packagehave already been opened for pub-lic use. They are 1) Mind Spaceunder pass, 2) Mind Space flyover,3) Ayyappa Society junctionunder pass, 4) Rajiv Gandhi junc-tion flyover, and 5) Bio-diversityjunction level-2. With the inaugu-ration of the first-level flyover atBiodiversity, all works would beaccomplished. This will ease traf-fic congestion by providing a con-flict-free movement at the junc-tion and bring relief to com-muters moving on old MumbaiHighway from Gachibowli toMehdipatnam side (Raidurg).

The cost of level-one (length 690mts and 11.50mts width) flyoverwith carriageway three-lane uni-directional, is `.30.26 crore.

No creches allowed to operate on any office campusNEW | RULES

IT firms asked to follow SOPsADITYA CHUNDURU | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Information Technologycompanies in the city willhave to work according tostrict guidelines if theywant to ramp up theiremployee attendance.

The Telangana govern-ment, Society for Cyber-abad Security Council(SCSC) and HyderabadSoftware EnterprisesAssociation (HYSEA) havereleased a detailed stan-dard operating procedure(SOP) for all IT companiesand IT parks in the city.

This SOP has listed out

several mitigation meas-ures in view of the pandem-ic, along with steps to takewhen an employee testspositive for Covid-19 orcomes in contact with aCovid-19 positive patient.

Pregnant women and par-ents of children under theage of five have to continueto work from home. Thesame applies to employeeswith parents or familymembers aged above 65 orwith co-morbid conditionssuch as diabetes, asthmaand so on. Companies willnot allow employees whoare residents of contain-ment zones.

Those who have travelledto Telangana from contain-ment, red and orange zonesin other states are also notallowed.

Importantly, no crecheswill be allowed to operateon any office campus.

One of the most impor-tant conditions is that allcompanies, irrespective oftheir size, should set up iso-lation facilities on officepremises. These roomswould have an independentHVAC system and haveaccess to protective equip-ment such as PPE kits,sanitisers and gloves.

All personnel will be

required to wear maskswithout fail and their tem-perature will be taken atentry points.

Employees will have tosubmit a document declar-ing good health, and arerequested to self-reportCovid-19 symptoms. Theywill also have to come for-ward to report if anyhousehold member hastested positive or if theyhave come in contact withan infected person.

If an individual reportsCovid-19 symptoms at theworkplace, a designatedteam will take them to theisolation room.

S.A. ISHAQUI | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

The Telangana govern-ment on Wednesday is-sued an Ordinance No1 paving the way for es-tablishment of privateuniversities in thestate. The state govern-ment had already en-acted the TelanganaState Private Univers-ities (Establishmentand Regulation) Act,2018 (Act NO.11 of2018).

According to Section10 of the Act NO.11 of2018, if theGovernment is satis-fied that the Spons-oring Body has com-plied with the conditi-ons of the Letter of In-tent and on the speci-fic recommendationsof the Expert Commit-tee, it can include thenames of the privateuniversities in theschedule with details oftheir location byamending the schedule.

According to sourcesin the education depart-ment, the expert com-mittee which was con-stituted to examine theletters of intent andcompliance report bythe sponsoring bodieshas already recom-mended establishmentof private varsities inthe state. The state gov-

ernment constitutedthe Cabinet Sub-Comm-ittee in April to exa-mine all issues in con-nection with establish-ment of private univer-sities as per the Act2018.

The cabinet sub-com-mittee has recommen-ded the establishmentof five universities andaccordingly the state

government decidedto include the followingprivate universities asper Section 3 and 10 ofthe Act 2018.

Accordingly the gov-ernment issued theTelangana State Priv-ate Universities (Esta-blishment and Regu-lation) (Amendment)Ordinance, to includeMahindra Universityat Bahadurpally inMedchal-Malkajgiridistrict, Woxsen Uni-versity in Sadasivapet,Mallareddy Universityin Maisammaguda,Dhulapally Medchal-Malkajgiri district, S RUniversity at Anant-hasagar in Warangaldistrict and AnuragUniversity at Venk-atapur in Medchal-Malkajgiri district.

While notifying theOrdinance, the stategovernment said thatthe Ordinance willcome into force withimmediate effect.

Ordinance issuedfor pvt varsities

TTD TO START LADDUPRASADAM SALESFOR DEVOTEESAVINASH P. SUBRAMANYAM | DCTIRUPATI, MAY 20

Owing to uncertaintyover resumption ofSrivari darshan withlockdown continuingeven after two months,the Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanams (TTD)has decided to makeavailable Lord Venka-teswara’s “laddu prasa-dam” to devotees withinand outside AndhraPradesh.

The decision was takenafter TTD chairman Y. V.Subba Reddy held ahigh-level meeting withdevasthanams executiveofficer Anil KumarSinghal and additionalEO Dharma Reddy onWednesday. The ladduswill be available on sub-sidised rate at all TTDkalyana mandapams indistrict headquarters ofAP as well as inHyderabad, Chennaiand Bengaluru.

The TTD chairmansaid resuming Srivari’sdarshan at Tirumala for devotees will dependon the decision taken bycentral government on lifting of the lock-down. "We have beenreceiving mails andphone calls on when dar-shan will resume. It alldepends on the govern-ment’s decision,” hemaintained.

DURGA PRASAD SUNKU | DCHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Allegations surfaced againstthe management over the ille-gal sale of liquor amid thelockdown at New Club,Secunderabad.

While an internal discipli-nary committee is enquiringinto the matter, reportedlymanagement members are notresponding promptly at all.

Modem Ramesh, a commit-tee member, has lodged a com-plaint with the Secunderabadprohibition and excise police.

Club rules also stipulate thatliquor can be sold throughsmart cards of permanent,temporary and life members.

Another member of the dis-ciplinary committee, G.V.S.Ramaiah Naidu, told DeccanChronicle, “After one of theclub members raised the issue,we suspended the manage-ment members and issuedshow cause notices. Mean-while, we have lodged a com-plaint at West Marredpallypolice station against the clubmanager demanding that heshow the records.”

Speaking to DeccanChronicle, confirming that acomplaint has been lodged,Secunderabad prohibition andexcise inspector, Navaneetha,said, “We are investigating thecase,” and declined commenton the allegations against theexcise police.

Meanwhile, the managementcommittee members have sus-pended the disciplinary com-mittee members. One of themanagement members againstwhom allegations have beenmade, Srinivas Prasad, vicepresident of the club said,“The matter is being investi-gated by the excise police. Ifthey find any irregularities,they will take further action."

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, MAY 20

Two children, who accompa-nied their 17-year-old elderbrother to a pond at Bandl-aguda fell into the water anddied on Wednesday. Reportedlythe brother who went to washclothes was not present whenthe incident occurred. He wentto bring soap leaving themnear the pond.

According to the com-plainant by the deceased’smother Sabiya Khan, her chil-dren Mohammed Nawaz (17),Kulsum Fatima (6) and MohdKareem(4) went to a nearbypond to wash clothes.

NATION pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 21 MAY 2020

SHORT TAKES

ONLY 6.39%NEEDED HOSP

SUPPORT: CENTRE

34L SANS POWERIN CYCLONE-HIT

ODISHA

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, MAY 20

A record spike of 5,611 freshcases, with 140 deaths, wasreported across India in thepast 24 hours, as the total num-ber of coronavirus cases roseto 1,06,750 cases and the tollclimbed to 3,303, the Unionhealth ministry reported onWednesday.

The number of active Covid-19 cases was 61,149, while42,297 people recovered, with3,124 discharged in the last 24hours, the ministry said, not-ing that 39.62 per cent patientshad recovered so far.

Health ministry officials saidthe recovery rate had gradual-ly improved from 7.1 per cent,when the lockdown started, to39.62 per cent now, as almost 40per cent of those detected withCovid-19 had recovered.

Among those who recoveredin the last 24 hours is a four-month-old girl from Bhopal.The girl and her father, whoworks as a nurse at Bhopal’sAIIMS, and another seven-year-old girl were dischargedon Tuesday.

Officials said of the totalnumber of active cases, only6.39 per cent needed hospitalsupport. Of them, about 2.9per cent required oxygen sup-port, three per cent need ICUsupport and 0.45 per cent ven-tilator support.

The government allowedhome isolation for pre-sympto-matic, mild and moderatecases, as patients with no feverfor 10 days will not spread theinfection.

Till now, the ICMR has done25.36 lakh tests. On Tuesday,for the second time, over onelakh tests were done in a spanof 24 hours.

As the government slowlyopens up economic activitiesand allows inter-state move-ment of people, the IndianRailways said passenger trainoperations would intensifyfrom June 1 with about 200non-AC trains. These will be inaddition to the ShramikSpecials and other long-dis-tance special trains runningnow. Two intra-state trainswill run in Karnataka fromFriday — Bengaluru-Mysuruand Bengaluru-Belagavi. TheRailways also allowed theopening of food stalls andvending units selling books,medicines and other items atstations. Food courts can alsoopen, but only for takeaway.

Guest workers, lodged at a camp by the Uttar Pradesh government, rush to board a bus at Dadri in Gautam Buddha Nagar district onWednesday during ongoing lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus. A stampede-like scene was witnessed for a few minutes after arumour regarding a bus carrying them to railway station for a special train. — PTI

C’garh to launchKisan Nyay Yojana

NAYEAR AZAD | DC PATNA, MAY 20

With Assembly electionsslated to be held later thisyear, the grand alliance inBihar faces a daunting taskof resolving the leadershipissue.

While the RashtriyaJanata Dal (RJD) hasbeen in favour of contest-ing Bihar polls under theleadership of its leaderTejashwi Yadav, othergrand alliance partnershave a completelydifferent view on theissue.

Grand alliance partnersincluding Jitan RamManjhi’s HAM, UpendraKushwaha’s RLSP andMukesh Sahani’sVikasheel Insan Partyhave been reluctant inaccepting Tejashwi as theirleader.

The three partnersrecently held a closed-doormeeting in Patna to discussthe issue.

However, when askedabout the meeting HAMspokesperson DanishRizwan told this newspa-per that, “our agenda at themoment is to provide

support to our guestworkers who are returningfrom other states but politi-cal issues were also dis-cussed during the meet-ing”.

Manjhi along with othershas been urging the RJD toresolve the leadership cri-sis through a coordinationcommittee.

According to HAM lead-ers here, “the agenda is tostrengthen the grandalliance in Bihar. We wantall issues to be resolved byforming a coordinationcommittee”.

On many occasions, earli-

er opposition leaders inBihar hinted that TejashwiYadav lacks confidence andmay not pose a threat toBihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar who hasbeen declared as the face ofNDA.

Taking a dig at theRashtriya Janata Dal,Bihar Deputy ChiefMinister Sushil KumarModi in a tweet said that“RJD’s difference withother grand alliancepartners seems to havewidened ever since theyannounced a ChiefMinister face. Keeping

Rashtriya Janata Dal andCongress away from themeeting held betweenthree alliance partnersalso prove that the repre-sentation of a leader(Tejashwi Yadav) whowas not present for 50 daysduring the coronavirus cri-sis is not acceptable tothem”.

In another hard-hittingtweet on Wednesday, Modialso accused the RJD ofusing the coronaviruscrisis as an opportunity toexpand their political basein Bihar in view of theAssembly elections which

is scheduled to be held laterthis year.

“While the state govern-ment is working hard toprovide relief to ourworkers, the RJD is tryingto use the opportunity tolaunch membershipdrive and expand its politi-cal base in Bihar. Instead ofdistributing food packetsamong the workers who arereturning from otherstates, Rashtriya JanataDal (RJD) leaders aregiving them membershipforms”, Deputy ChiefMinister Sushil KumarModi said in a tweet.

Bihar grand alliance divided over leadership issue

Angry colleagues beatup top WB police officerRAJIBCHOWDHURI | DCKOLKATA, MAY 20

A senior Kolkata policeofficer was allegedlybeaten up outside hisworkplace-cum-resi -dence at the PoliceTraining School in thecity with bamboo polesby a “violent group ofcops” of the same forceon Tuesday night dur-ing their revolt overlack of protection gearwhen on Covid duty.

The injured officer,Colonel NevenderaSingh Paul, is deputycommissioner of policeof combat force(Combat Batallion),heading the commandosunit and disaster man-agement group (DMG)of the city police, ondeputation from theIndian Army.

At around 10.30 pm on

Tuesday, the rebel cops,covering their faces,launched their protestcarrying bamboo polesat the entrance of thePTS, housing the officesand barracks of theCombat Batallion com-prising the commandos,DMG apart from train-ing facilities, on A.J.C.Bose Road in Maidanarea.

Some of them claimedbeing forced to stay inthe barrack where four of their colle-agues including anassistant sub-inspectorof Combat Batallionwere infected by Covid-19.

They also pointed outthat unavailability ofmasks and hand sanitis-ers while on duty.Others alleged of notgetting enough rest dueto prolong duty hours.When Col. Singh came

out to pacify them, hewas attacked by therebel cops who thrashedhim, preliminary inves-tigation revealed.

Alarmed by theunprecedented attack,West Bengal ChiefMinister MamataBanerjee, accompaniedby Kolkata police com-missioner Anuj Sharmaand other officers, visit-ed the PTS onWednesday morning.The aggrieved copsdemanded Col Singh’sremoval from his postalleging misbehaviorwith them.

“Leave the issue to me.Submit your problem inwriting. Anuj has toldme about some issues.You will not face anyproblem of funds. Youwill get what you want. Iwill come here again totalk to you,” she toldthem.

DC CORRESPONDENTBHOPAL, MAY 20

The Bhupesh Baghelgovernment is set tolaunch ‘Rajiv GandhiKisan Nyay Yojana’,guaranteeing mini-mum income for farm-ers, on Thursday coin-ciding with the deathanniversary of formerprime minister RajivGandhi.

The scheme is in linewith the Nyay Yojana,the brainchild of for-mer Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi.

It was a key pollpromise made by theCongress in last LokSabha elections.

Chhattisgarh is thefirst state to launchRajiv Gandhi KisanNyay Yojana.

Under the scheme,incentives, size ofwhich will be decidedon the basis of agricul-ture land acquiredand registered by bene-ficiaries in Kharifyear 2019, will betransferred to their

bank accounts.Paddy, maize and sug-

arcane growers will bebenefitted by thescheme.

This will directlyhelp 20 lakh farmers inChhattisgarh. A budg-etary allocation of`5,100 cr has alreadybeen made for the pur-pose.

The state govern-ment had earlierundertaken a series ofmeasures to financial-ly strengthen farmersin the state.

They included waiverof crop loans of farm-ers amounting to`8,800 crore, which hasbenefitted 18 lakhfarmers inChhattisgarh.

BMS PROTESTSDILUTION OFLABOUR LAWS New Delhi, May 20:The RSS-affiliated work-ers organisation BMSon Wednesday held acountrywide protestagainst dilution oflabour laws anddemanded payment ofwages to labourers forthe lockdown period.

Thousands ofBhartiya MazdoorSangh (BMS) workersstaged demonstrationson roads, in front oftheir houses and at gov-ernment offices againstnon-payment of wagesduring the lockdownperiod, massive job loss-es, increase in workinghours from 8 to 12hours, the trade unionsaid in a statement.

The protest was alsoagainst the unilateralchanges in labour lawsin 14 states and againstunbridled privatisationof public sector under-taking, it said. TheBMS demands theCentre issue stringentdirections for the pay-ment of wages immedi-ately. - PTI

No end to their plight

15th DEATH ANNIVERSARYIN FOND & LOVING MEMORY

MUDAGANTI NARSINGA RAO(LLB, LLM Sr. Accounts Officer /

Retd. SC Rly) Sadly missed along life’s way,quietly remembered every day.No longer in our life to share, but inour hearts, you’re always there.

Inserted by: Family Members

(CA-3320)

2nd ANNIVERSARY

Smt. V. LAKSHMI TAYARAMMAD.O.D: 21-5-2018

W/o V. Radha Krishna Moorthi,DGM Telecom [Retd]

Your sweet memories willremain in our heart forever.

Inserted by: Family MembersCell: 9440044088, 9440066242

(CA-3321)

OBITUARYEternal rest grant unto him o lord andlet the perpetual light shine upon him.

Mr IVAN BASTIANRetd. APSRTC Employee

DOB: 02nd Mar 1951DOD: 20th May 2020

Inserted by: Bastian FamilyContact: 9966157054, 9849063839

1st DEATH ANNIVERSARY

KARIPALLI FRANKLIN NIRMALD.O.D: 21-5-2019

Your life was a blessingyour memory a treasure,you are loved beyond words andmissed beyond measure.By: Wife, Daughter & Son-in-law,

Son & Daughter-in-law& Grand Children.

(S/2021/D00085)

OBITUARY“I have fought a good fight, I have finished mycourse, I have kept the faith.” - 2 Timothy 4:7

NATHI RATNA RAJUCommissioner of Commercial Taxes

Expired on: 20-5-2020His last rites are scheduled on 21-5-2020at Garrison No. 12 Cemetery, Opp. RTOOffice, Trimulgherry from 12.00 noon.

Ph: 9553283968, 9008790117

(S/2021/D00087)

OBITUARY

Shri SHAM LAL AGARWALExpired on: 20-5-2020 at 9 a.m.

Wife: Asha RaniSons & Daughters-in-law:

Rakesh Agarwal & Suman Rani,Naval Agarwal & Anila Agarwal.

Grand Children & Great Grand ChildrenPlot No. 19, Santosh Society, Sec’bad

Ph: 9848046976, 9246197980

(S/2021/D00086)

COVID-19 DEATHTOLL RISES TO127 IN U.P.Lucknow, May 20: Thedeath toll due to coron-avirus climbed to 127 inUttar Pradesh onWednesday, with fourfresh fatalities and thenumber of cases in thestate rose to 5,175 as 249more people tested posi-tive for the infection, thehealth department said.

AKSHAYA KUMARSAHOO | DCBHUBANESWAR, MAY 20

The Odisha government onWednesday asked the districtcollectors to submit within 48hours reports on damagecaused by the cycloneAmphan.

“We have asked the districtcollectors to submit primaryreports within 48 hours follow-ing which the authorities haveto submit a final report. Oncewe get preliminary reports, wecan precisely say about theamount to be required and thetime required for restoration,”said Special ReliefCommissioner PradeepKumar Jena.

“A large number of treeshave been uprooted.Electricity infrastructure hasbeen damaged while there wasminor damage to telecominfrastructure. Besides, somehouses with asbestos roofs arealso damaged,” said the SRC.

As many as 34 lakh powerconsumers in the state havebeen affected due the extreme-ly severe cyclonic stormAmphan, informed energy sec-retary Bisnupdada Sethi.

“Around 34 consumers havebeen affected due to snappingof electricity and mishapscaused by the cyclone. Mainly,consumers of Balasore andBhadrak have been affectedthe most,” said Sethi.

● ● UNDER THEscheme, a fixedamount will be trans-ferred to the bankaccounts of farmers.Paddy, maize and sug-arcane growers will bebenefitted by thescheme.

SRIDHARKUMARASWAMI | DC NEW DELHI, MAY 20

Just days after Indian andChinese soldiers punchedeach other in two sepa-rate incidents in theSikkim and Ladakh sec-tors resulting in injuriesto troops on both sides,the United States onWednesday described itas “Chinese aggression”and “provocative and dis-turbing behaviour byChina”.

The incident in northSikkim had taken placeon May 9 while that ineastern Ladakh had takenplace on the interveningnight of May 5-6. In bothincidents, aggressiveChinese People’sLiberation Army patrolswere stopped by Indiantroops inside Indian terri-tory that China claims asits own.

Alice G. Wells, theUnited States PrincipalDeputy AssistantSecretary of the Bureauof South and CentralAsian Affairs said, “It’s areminder that Chineseaggression is not alwaysjust rhetorical. Whetherit is in the South ChinaSea or whether it’s alongthe border with India, wecontinue to see provoca-tions and disturbingbehaviour by China thatraises questions abouthow China seeks to use itsgrowing power. And thatis why you have seen arallying of like-mindednations, whether it’sthrough ASEAN, orthrough other diplomaticgroupings — the trilater-al the US has with Japanand India, theQuadrilateral withAustralia (and US, Japanand India) ... The borderdisputes are a reminderof the threat posed byChina.”

Meanwhile, accordingto media reports, in a

statement released onTuesday in Mandarin, theChinese foreign ministryin Beijing referred to therecent clash in Sikkim,claiming that “the IndianArmy had crossed theline across the westernsection of the Sino-Indianborder and the Sikkimsection to enter Chineseterritory”.

US hits outat ChineseaggressionSays border disputes arereminder of Chinese threat

PAWAN BALI | DCNEW DELHI, MAY 20

The attempts to defusetension between Indianand Chinese armies inLadakh area throughnegotiations and talks atlocal commanders levelhave still not yielded anyresult.

Sources said that mili-tary commanders fromtwo sides met a couple oftimes, including onWednesday, but neitherside was ready to give uptheir position.

“There are establishedmechanisms to deal withthese types of situations.If no talks were happen-ing at commander orbrigade-level, then itwould have been a thingto worry about,” saidsources.

There is a stand-off likesituation between Indianand Chinese troops at twoareas: Galwan Valley andPangong Tso river.

Chinese Army has builtup its position at bothplaces by bringing moretroops.

Chinese Army hasbrought additional boatsto patrol the Pangong Tsoriver to put pressure onthe Indian troops.

TALKS BY LOCALCOMMANDERSFAIL TO YIELDRESULTS

Cong buses return after 3days of political slugfestNew Delhi, May 20: Thebuses hired by Congress toferry migrants home inUttar Pradesh returned afterthree days of politicalslugfest between the partyand the UP government,with Priyanka Gandhi Vadrasaying the idea behind themove was to help guest work-ers.

The Congress accused theBJP and Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath ofplaying “shameless andcheap politics” over theissue, even as PriyankaGandhi made a last-ditchappeal to the CM to allowthem to ply buses.

The buses parked along theUP border returned late inthe evening after theAdityanath governmentimposed certain conditionsand did not grant permis-sion to them, sources said.

Priyanka Gandhi in a 10-

minute video message toldAdityanath that the 1,000-odd buses made available bythe party would remainwhere they are till 4 pmWednesday and that heshould allow them to ferryguest workers to their homessafely. “I want to urge thechief minister that ourbuses will remain parkedwhere they are at the bor-ders (with Rajasthan) till 4pm and it will be 24 hourssince they were made avail-able there.

“If you want to use them,kindly allow permission tous to ply them. If you want,you can paste your posters orbanners on them, but kindlyallow them to ply so that theguest workers can be ferriedin them and they reach homesafely,” she said. She claimedthat at least 92,000 guestworkers could have reachedhome safely. - PTI

c m y k c m y k

pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 21 MAY 2020

EDIT pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 21 MAY 2020

The intractableness of Chief Minister of Telangana state K. Chandra-shekar Rao has created a minor impasse between the Central govern-ment and the state over the issue of the scope and extent of sample test-ing of Coronavirus suspects in the fight against the pandemic.

The recalcitrance of Mr Rao’s government has pushed the Centre to post anadvisory, with Union health secretary Preeti Sudan writing a strongly wordedletter to Telangana chief secretary Somesh Kumar over the “lack of proactivetesting” by the state. The choleric CM is not disposed to taking advice, whichreflected in the callous and cavil response of state health minister Etala Rajenderto the Central advisory and all criticism on this front, in a dismissive manneramount to say that the state policy of under-testing was in compliance withICMR guidelines and therefore, well within its prerogative to take a call as itdeems fit. The Telangana view is not totally unfounded because different stateshave chosen to approach the issue differently, whereas Tamil Nadu (2.8 lakh),Maharashtra (2.3 lakh) and Andhra Pradesh (2.1 lakh) have tested more people,Kerala (40,000) and Telangana (23,000) have been testing on the lower side.

Proactive or wide-spectrum testing may not be the only way to fight Covid-19.It needs a balance between effective lockdown, optimal awareness creation onprecautions, managing contacts and efficient quarantine of returnees in differ-ent stages to manage. However, testing low is not a virtue either. Telanganastate, for instance, has an over six percentage of positive conversions to testing,whereas in Kerala it is a barely 1.4 per cent. This alone should, in the interest ofknowing the extent of cases and managing them better, have prompted the stateto change its policy and approach, and shift to proactive and extensive testing.

Instead, the state is pushing itself in a chimerical race to the bottom, hopingwhen the Coronavirus pandemic is over, it can claim political victory for theTRS party and Mr Chandrashekar Rao for having had the least number of cases,and deaths. A secondary objective is to protect “Brand Hyderabad” for the post-Covid industry and investment exodus from China, which is why the TRS gov-ernment has pushed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (“GHMC”area) instead of Hyderabad as the entity where cases are being located, identi-fied, treated, et al.

The truth is that neither Telangana state, nor any other Indian state, can affordto have a confrontation with the Union government at this point of time. It is nei-ther the time or situation, nor is it wise to precipitate a Centre-state crisis andsnowball an exchange of words over a near naught of an issue.

The truth is Telangana state, being caught by the Centre under-testing,under-reporting and trying to paint a picture better than the reality, is akin toa child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Instead of making it a full-blowncontroversy, let the state cease being gingerly with the truth, shift to rapid andextensive testing, report cases and deaths transparently. This is not a race towin, but an emergency where lives are on line which must be saved. Prioritiselives over ranks.

21 MAY 2020

Telangana, don’t buryhead in sand, test more

Over the past few days,finance minister NirmalaSitharaman has unveiled aslew of measures that would

help the Indian economy battle andrecover from the adverse impact ofthe Coronavirus crisis. With itsfocus on promoting “Atma NirbharBharat”, transformational and struc-tural reforms have been introducedacross several key areas, which willbe instrumental in rebuilding theIndian economy and paving the wayfor a sustained economic revival.

First, radical reforms in the agri-cultural sector, such as the amend-ment of the Essential CommoditiesAct (ECA), contract farming, andinter-state sale of produce are long-awaited policies for transformingthe way farmers sell their produce.This represents the freeing up of theagricultural market, much in thesame way that industry was deli-censed after 1991.

Deregulation of agricultural com-modities such as cereals, edible oils,onions, pulses, etc adds to this effortand brings in stability in contractualobligations along with better pricerealisation for farmers. The formu-lation of a Central law on agricultur-

al marketing will help in barrier-freeinter-state trade and enable farmersto sell their produce at more attrac-tive prices. This will also encouragee-trading of agricultural produce andensure levelling of prices for con-sumers across the country.

The creation of a facilitative legalframework to bring farmers in con-tact with food processors, aggrega-tors, large retailers and exporters ina fair and transparent manner, andprovide them with assured produce,price and quantity is another com-mendable step. A contract farmingmechanism will guarantee betterpredictability of price and produce,with better signalling on the nextyear’s planting plans. The action ofstate governments will be central tothe success of the agricultural pack-age, and we believe that given itsbenefits as well as the current crisissituation, the states would partner inthis mission.

Two, redefinition of the micro,medium and small enterprises(MSMEs) with revision of invest-ment limits for the first time after2006 with an additional turnover cri-terion results in two critical benefits.It brings in a large number of enter-

prises into the MSME benefits fold,and it encourages smaller enterpris-es to grow without anxiety about los-ing these benefits. Given that MSMEare the chief employers and it istheir growth that creates fresh jobopportunities, this is indeed a strate-gic policy. We hope that this can beimplemented at the earliest.

Three, a new Public SectorEnterprises (PSE) policy is to beannounced, wherein all sectors willbe open to private sector participa-tion while PSEs will continue to playan important role in notified strate-gic sectors. As per Ms Sitharaman’spresentation, all PSEs in non-strate-gic sectors will be considered for pri-vatisation, which is truly a game-changing reform.

A coherent PSE policy will play acatalytic role in promoting efficien-cy and better resource allocation byreducing wasteful administrativecosts. Further, it will add to the gov-ernment’s revenues. While the gov-ernment might make more gains inwaiting for equity markets toimprove before placing PSEs on theblock, it is suggested that the imple-mentation is carried out at the earli-est so that efficiency and resource

use gains can be unlocked quickly.Four, the government has taken

key steps to revitalise the power sec-tor, now suffering from huge debtoverhang in state distribution com-panies. The facility of `90,000 croresfrom PFC and REC would help toalleviate this. Further, it is notablethat discoms’ reform has been linkedto the enhancement in the states’borrowing limits. Reforms in thepower tariff policy would avert suchsituations in the future, and thispromises to also address the issue ofcross-subsidisation of power tariffs,which is adding considerably tocosts for manufacturing companies.

Five, the liberalisation of the coaland mining sectors are majorreforms that would boost India’s fuelproduction and attract greater for-eign investments. Introduction ofcommercial mining on a revenuesharing basis in the coal sector willhelp to leverage India’s coalresources better and end the monop-oly situation prevailing in this sec-tor. Apart from greater availabilityof coal at market prices, technologyand safety will also benefit in India’smines.

This move has been accompanied

strategically by the allocation of`50,000 crores for coal evacuationinfrastructure to encourage privatesector participation. Another majorreform is a seamless compositeexploration-cum-mining productionregime, which promises to removethe hurdle currently facing prospec-tive investors. Joint auction of baux-ite and coal will unlock huge poten-tial in making India a leader in the global the aluminum industry as well.

Six, the foreign direct investment(FDI) limit in defence manufacturingwas raised from 49 per cent to 74 percent through the automatic route.While encouraging greater invest-ments from global defence majors,greater infusion of technology in thesector will give a major boost toIndia’s defence manufacturing.

These reform measures addresskey pain points of the economy andwill contribute towards enhancingits global competitiveness at a timewhen the world stands at a criticalturning point.

The writer is the director-general ofthe Confederation of Indian

Industries

To get India’seconomy back

on track, keyreforms vital

Both financeminister Nir-mala Sitha-raman andminister of

state for finance AnuragThakur repeated PrimeMinister NarendraModi’s new buzzword,“Atmanirbhar Bharat”,which can be roughlytranslated as “self-reliant India”, duringthe series of press con-ferences they held fromMay 13 to May 17,announcing the muchvaunted Rs 20-lakh crorefinancial package for theCovid-19-hit economy.Mr Modi, the profession-al politician that he is,knows very well thatpolitical phrases getworn out very quickly,and that there is a needfor repackaging the mes-sage in new words andways. It is like turningout advertising jinglesfor the same product sothat the message doesnot turn stale. In hisMay 12 televised addressto the nation, the PrimeMinister felt the need togo beyond the pandemicthat is now wreckingboth the country and theeconomy. The PrimeMinister felt that thegovernment and theparty needed a new slo-gan — in the politicaldiscourse of authoritari-an governments there isnothing demeaningabout slogans — to boostthe energies of thoseholding the reins ofpower. But “Atmanir-bhar Bharat” needed tobe defined. It seemedthat in the face of loom-ing trends of deglobali-sation, India must fallback on itself, on its ownwits and resources. MrModi’s coinage capturedthis necessity. MsSitharaman took painsto explain in her pressconference on May 13that “Atma NirbharBharat” did not meanthat India was turninginward. But she left it atthat.

It was clear, however,

that the Modi govern-ment felt that there wasa need to reset the policycompass in the wake ofthe economic break-down caused by theCovid-19 pandemic.

By leaving it as anopen-ended term, MrModi and his colleagueswant to wait and watchwhich way the globaltrade winds are blow-ing. There is the intenseexpectation that manyof the multinational cor-porations, especially theAmerican ones, wouldmove out of China soon,and that India shouldgrab the opportunityand get them to set uptheir businesses inIndia. It was not hard toguess that the tacitIndia-China rivalry,which was more politi-cal than economic, wasbeing fanned by theanti-China, pro-America policy wonksin India’s strategic com-munity. There is also ananti-China lobby in theUnited States whichfavours India, but thatagain is based more onideological tizzy morethan anything else. Itdid not seem to matterwhether businessesshift from China toIndia. What was moreimportant was to cryfrom the rooftops thatChina, which supportsIndia’s arch-rivalPakistan, should bemade to eat humble pie.But America’s anti-China lobby is not nec-essarily anti-Pakistanbecause of America’sstrategic compulsionsin Afghanistan. Theunderlying principle inthe expectation of a shiftof manufacturing basesfrom China to India isthat foreign platformsin India fulfil the condi-tions of “Atma NirbharBharat”. Instead of thelocal brands becomingglobal, it would be theglobal brands thatwould become local. It isthe plan followed byChina. No Chinese

brands became global.The global brands car-ried the “Made inChina” tag. So, willIndia emulate theChinese strategy. TheChina factor lingers inIndia’s economic re-ori-entation. India may nothave the satisfaction oftaking advantage ofChina’s Covid-19 dis-comfiture, but it firesthe sentiments anyway.

It is when the financeminister announced inher fourth press confer-ence that the defence,atomic energy and spacesectors would be thrownopen to private playersthat the phrase “atmanirbhar” took on a BJP-Jan Sangh turn. In thenow dead Nehruvianscheme of things — thefree market ideologuesrage against it as thoughit is still alive — thephrase would haveimplied public sectorconsolidation. But forthe BJP, the Indian pri-vate sector is part of the“self-reliant India”game, and it wants tokeep the presence of thepublic sector to the min-imum. And in true right-wing sense, the privateplayers will not be play-ing the free marketgame of maximisingprofits and conqueringnew markets worldwide,but they will servenational interests.There is no need to quar-rel with this view,though the question thatneeds to be asked iswhether the Indian pri-vate players will rise tothe occasion and pre-pare the futuristic tech-nological platformsneeded to be in the racein these sectors. And thegovernment has shownno inclination as towhether it would spendmore money on research

and development for theneeded technologicalbreakthroughs, which itthen would transfer tothe private sector. Theright-wing wonks seemto believe that followingthe example of theUnited States, the mili-tary-industrial complexcould boost the Indianeconomy. But theunstated basic premiseof the military-industri-al complex is armsexports. So, is the newIndia aspiring to be anarms exporter? It seemsthat the BJP govern-ment, which seems totake pride in therealpolitik rooted inChanakya’s Artha-shastra, is not averse toplaying the guns-but-no-butter game.

There is, of course, asense of desperationbehind the “Atmanir-bhar Bharat” talk. ThePrime Minister, thefinance minister and theothers in the govern-ment are struggling tofind a way out of the eco-nomic slowdown thathas been plaguing Indiafor six years and more.The new phrase is arhetorical device todrive away the econom-ic blues. Everyone in theModi government and inthe right-wing organisa-tions will be chantingthe empty mantra of“Atma Nirbhar Bharat”because the mantra willnot help overcome thereal problems of aneconomy that has runaground, and needs bothenergy and strategy tomake it stand on its feet.Motivation is importantand the PrimeMinister’s new slogancould go some way inmotivating the people toget the economy going,but that alone is notenough. The lukewarmstockmarket response tothe `20-lakh crore finan-cial package is a signalof sorts that whateverthe validity of the slo-gan, there is a need forsharper strategising. Asthings stand, the Modigovernment is simplyunable to win the confi-dence of the Indian mar-ket, and of the Indianprivate sector.

The writer is a Delhi-based

commentator and analyst

There is, ofcourse, a sense of

desperation behindthe ‘Atma NirbharBharat’ talk. Thegovernment has

been struggling tofind a way out ofthe slowdown...

The new phrase isa rhetorical device

to drive away theeconomic blues.

Subhani

‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’:Will it ignite economy?

If we don’t take the right lessons from history, we are condemned to repeat it.The saying comes to mind when we weigh the self-congratulatory tone in thestatement of J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh after the night-long encounter in a

crowded locality of Nawakadal in the old city area of Srinagar ended on Tuesday. Two militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen, for all practical purposes the only

home-grown armed extremist outfit in the valley, who had engaged the securityforces were brought down and five jawans injured, one of them seriously. In hiswisdom the police chief called the event a “major success”. He didn’t explain why.

Nor did he assert the belief that the way the Nawakadal encounter endedshowed that militancy in the Valley was petering out. Then it’s hard to say wherehe is coming from, except to note that phrases like “major success” have becomethe stock-in-trade of the security forces, and that this particular top cop is prolix.

At the end of the day, two young men who had become armed combatantsagainst the state, were killed. One of them had vanished from home barely twomonths ago and emerged as a “divisional commander”, a puerile term of self-glo-rification militants employ.

The militancy in Kashmir rests on the shoulders of ill-trained, ill-equipped butcommitted youngsters, a great many of them barely out of their teens. Even so,it is remarkable that the thousands of our security forces haven’t got a handle onthem after all these years. This goes to show the phenomenon may be on its wayto becoming deep-rooted, and growing with every perceived slight.

Especially after J&K was reduced to a Union Territory last August, the gov-ernment has been on the rampage, achieving little but piling up human rightsviolations and distortions. Consequently, people have turned much angrier.Photographs show many structures around the site of the Nawakadal gunfightburning, and youngsters throwing stones at the forces. This is the result of thepolicy of not talking to the people, just shooting at them.

Nawakadal’s lesson

ParsaVenkateshwar RaoJr

ChandrajitBanerjee

DECCAN CHRONICLE

ADITYA SINHA T. VENKATESWARLUEditor Printer & Publisher

DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at:

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EXAMS CAN WAITWe are supposed to learnhow to live with the virus.But who will take responsi-bility for students travel,health and spread of infec-tion to elderly relatives athome? Degrees can wait.Health must be the priori-ty. Parents are worried anduniversity heads are inac-cessible. Have empathyand let students settle intothe new normal. Otherwiseopt for new evaluationmethods or average of ear-lier assessments.

RashmiHyderabad

GUEST WORKERSI wonder what the bureaucrats aredoing when so many labourers aremigrating to their native place. It ispathetic to see the condition oftheir families and children.Preganant women, old people andchildren are walking with bare feeton roads. While declaring lock-down suddenly, the problem of theguest workers was not considered.Most industries cannot deliverproducts till one year due to labourshortage. Let governments focus onthese innocent people.

S Venugopala RaoHyderabad

BIRDS RETURNCoronavirus is dangerous forhumans, but birds are enjoyingthemselves. We thought sparrows,crows and other birds were extinct.They returned during lockdown. Ihope the pollution levels remainunder control even after lockdownis lifted fully.

T.V.S. SuchitraKhammam

LETTERS

Cyclone trackingradar station at

VizagHYDERABAD, May 20

The Indian Meterological Depart-ment has recently installed thefirst cyclone tracking radar atVisakhapatnam on Dolphin'sNose, a picturesque hill featureoverlooking the Bay of Bengal.The radar station will be inaugu-rated by Dr. (Mrs.) SarojiniMahishi ,D e p u t yMinister,Ministryof Tour-ism andCivil Aviation Government ofIndia on May 23. Mr. J. V.Narsing Rao Deputy ChiefMinister will preside over thefunction.

The only source of weatherobservations from the Bay ofBengal and the Arabian Seawhere the cyclones form are theships that ply in the high Seas.However ships tend to moveaway from the area affected.

50 YEARS AGO IN

WORLD pg 7DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 21 MAY 2020

Kabul, May 20: Gunmenkilled 14 people in two sepa-rate attacks in Afghanistanwhile the Taliban targeted pro-government checkpoints inthe northeast, killing ninemilitiamen, officials said onWednesday, the latest in relent-less violence that continues toplague the war-torn nation.

The attacks came against thebackdrop of renewed UN callsfor an end to violence and asWashington's special peace en-voy, Zalmay Khalilzad, embar-ked on another round of talkswith the Taliban to press themto start negotiating with thenewly reconciled Afghan polit-ical leadership in Kabul.

In Parwan province, north ofthe capital, Kabul, an unkno-wn number of gunmen storm-ed a mosque late on Tuesday,killing 11 worshipers and wou-nding several others, said Wa-hida Shahkar, spokeswomanfor the provincial governor.

Reports earlier in the dayhad eight killed. Also late onTuesday, gunmen in easternKhost province attacked a fam-ily returning home from a nea-rby mosque, killing three brot-hers, according to Adil Haida-ri, spokesman for the provinc-ial police chief. No one claimedresponsibility for either attackbut the Taliban promptlydenied involvement.

The Islamic State group,which has been increasinglyactive in Afghanistan, aftersuffering losses, has carriedout similar attacks in the past.

14 CIVILIANS, 9MILITIAMEN DIE

IN AFGHANISTAN

IN BRIEF

Water several feet high covers streets, riverside parkland, reaching a hotel and parking lotsFLOOD | FURY

Midland (US) May 20:Rapidly rising water over-took dams and forced theevacuation of about 10,000people in central Michig-an, where flooding struckcommunities along rain-swollen waterways and thegovernor said one downto-wn could be “under appro-ximately 9 feet of water”by Wednesday.

For the second time inless than 24 hours, familiesliving along the Tittabawa-ssee River and connectedlakes in Midland Countywere ordered Tuesday eve-ning to leave home. By We-dnesday morning, waterthat was several feet high

covered some streets nearthe river in downtown Mi-dland, including riversideparkland, and reaching ahotel and parking lots.

The National WeatherService urged anyone nearthe river to seek higher gr-ound following “castastro-phic dam failures” at theEdenville Dam, about 140miles north of Detroit, andthe Sanford Dam, about se-ven miles downriver.

Michigan Governor Gret-chen said downtown Midl-and, a city of 42,000 about 8miles downstream fromthe Sanford Dam, faced anespecially serious floodingthreat. Dow Chemical Co.’s

main plant sits on the cit-y’s riverbank. “In the next12 to 15 hours, downtownMidland could be underapproximately 9 feet of wa-ter,” the governor said dur-ing a late Tuesday briefi-ng. “We are anticipatingan historic high water lev-el.” Whitmer declared astate of emergency for Mi-dland County and urgedresidents threatened bythe flooding to find a placeto stay with friends or rela-tives or to seek out one ofseveral shelters that open-ed across the county.

She encouraged people todo their best to take preca-utions to prevent the spre-

ad of Covid-19, such as we-aring a face covering andobserving social distanc-ing “to the best of yourability”. “This is unlikeanything we’ve seen inMidland County,” she said.

“If you have a family

member or loved one wholives in another part of thestate, go there now.” Emer-gency responders wentdoor-to-door early Tuesdaymorning warning residen-ts living near the EdenvilleDam of the rising water.Some residents were ableto return home, only to betold to leave again follow-ing the dam’s breach sev-eral hours later.

The evacuations includethe towns of Edenville, Sa-nford and parts of Midla-nd, according to Selina Ti-sdale, spokeswoman forMidland County. “We wereback at home and startingto feel comfortable that th-

ings were calming down,”said Catherine Sias, wholives about 1 mile from theEdenville Dam and firstleft home Tuesday morni-ng. “All of a sudden we he-ard fire truck sirens goingnorth toward the dam.”Sias, 45, said emergencyalerts then began comingand people started callingto make sure she was safe.

“While packing, therewere tonnes of police andfire trucks going up anddown the roads,” she add-ed. “As far as I know, all ofour neighbours got out.”While driving along a jam-med M-30, the state highw-ay that’s the main road th-

rough Edenville and thatcrosses the river north oftown, Sias saw the rushingTittabawassee River.

“It was very dramatic,very fast and full of debr-is,” she said. Dow Chemic-al has activated its emerg-ency operations centre andwill be adjusting operatio-ns as a result of current fl-ood stage conditions, spok-eswoman Rachelle Schiko-rra said. “Dow MichiganOperations is workingwith its tenants and Mid-land County officials andwill continue to closelymonitor the water levelson the Tittabawassee Riv-er,” Schikorra said. — AP

Thousands evacuated as river dams break in Michigan

Belgian heir inmilitary school

Brussels: Princess Elisabeth,the heir to the Belgian thro-

ne, is signing up to do a yearin military school to help herprepare for her royal duties.The palace announced Wed-nesday that the princess, 18,will enter the Royal Military

School in central Brussels fora one-year course in social

and military sciences. Her fa-ther, King Philippe, also att-

ended the school. “She joinsa long tradition within the

royal family,” the statementsaid. She is set to graduatefrom the United World Col-

lege of the Atlantic in Walesat the end of the month.

Drug suspect:Death via Zoom

Kuala Lumpur: Singaporehas sentenced a drug suspe-

ct to death on the popularvideo chat app Zoom beca-

use of the city-state’s Covid-19 lockdown, a move slamm-ed by a human rights group

as callous and inhumane. De-fence lawyer Peter Fernandosaid the Supreme Court ann-ounced the penalty to his cli-ent, Punithan Genasan, 37, in

a virtual hearing. He was injail, while Fernando and pro-

secutors participated fromdifferent locations. It is beli-eved to be the first time the

death sentence was deliv-ered remotely in Singapore.The court ruled that he was

the mastermind of drug traf-ficking activity in 2011.

Body of Chineseenvoy is home

Jerusalem: Israel bade fare-well on Wednesday to Chi-

na’s ambassador to the cou-ntry who died earlier this

week. Diplomats held a shortceremony at Ben-Gurion Ai-

rport in honor of Du Wei be-fore his body was flown back

to China. The 58-year-oldambassador, who was appoi-nted envoy to Israel in Febr-uary in the midst of the Cov-

id-19 pandemic, was founddead in his home north of

the city of Tel Aviv on Sund-ay. He is believed to have

died of natural causes. “Whocould have imagined that wewould have to bid our farew-ell to ambassador Du in such

tragic circumstances,” saidYuval Rotem, director gener-al of Israel's foreign ministry.

Appear for trialopening, Bibi told

Jerusalem: An Israeli court onWednesday ordered Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahuto appear for the opening ofhis criminal trial in Jerusalem

on Sunday. Netanyahu’sattorneys had asked the

court for an exemption fromappearing for the opening of

proceedings. The courtrejected the request, saying

the accused appearing forthe reading of the indictment

is the rule and there are nogrounds for granting

Netanyahu an exemption inthis case. Netanyahu was

indicted on charges of fraud,breach of trust, and accept-

ing bribes last year.

● ● EMERGENCY RESPO-NDERS went door-to-door warning residentsliving near the EdenvilleDam of the rising water.Some residents wereable to return home, onlyto be told to leave againfollowing the dam’sbreach hours later.

Cyclone Amphan snaps electricity lines,destroys houses in Bangladesh; one diesDhaka, May 20: Over 10lakh consumers in thecoastal areas of Banglade-sh were without power aft-er strong winds snappedelectricity lines and manyhouses destroyed as thecountry was hit by a pow-erful cyclone on Wednesd-ay that killed at least oneperson. Cyclone Amphan,the strongest to hit the re-gion in nearly two decad-es, made a landfall on We-dnesday evening.

Authorities raised the al-ert level to ‘great danger’for some districts in thecountry as the cyclone, themost powerful storm sincecyclone ‘Sidr’ killed near-ly 3,500 people in 2007, app-roached the coastline.

“More than 10 lakh con-sumers in at least 17 asso-ciations of the Rural Ele-ctrification Board havelost electricity,” bdnews-24.com reported. Apartfrom this, almost 40,000customers of West ZonePower Distribution Comp-any have lost electricitysupply. The cyclone madelandfall at 2.30 p.m. betwe-en Digha in West Bengaland and Hatiya island inBangladesh, flattening fra-gile dwellings, uprootingtrees and electric poles.The cyclone Amphan star-ted crossing the Banglade-

sh coast around 5pm onWednesday packing awind speed of around 160to 180kph rising to 200kphwithin 80km of its centre,meteorologist Abdul Man-nan was quoted as sayingby the newsportal.

A Bangladesh Red Cresc-ent Society (BDRC) volun-

teer drowned on Wednesd-ay when a boat capsizedwhile evacuating villagersto safety in southwesternPatuakhali, becoming thefirst victim. “He was on aboat along with four othe-rs when a sudden stormunder advancing Ampha-n’s influence overturned

it,” BDRC’s cyclone prepa-redness programme Nur-ul Islam Khan said. Earli-er, Prime Minister SheikhHasina said authoritieshad shifted over 20 lakhpeople to storm sheltersand deployed the militaryto deal with the powerfulcyclone Amphan. — PTI

Villagers reinforce an embankment with sacks of soil ahead of the expected landfall ofcyclone Amphan, in Dacope on Wednesday. — AFP

Huge cases in US an honour: TrumpHe says America has 15 lakh Covid cases which means more people being tested for diseaseWashington, May 20: Pr-esident Donald Trump hassaid it is a “badge of hono-ur” for America to “lead”the world with 15 lakh con-firmed Covid-19 cases sin-ce it means the US is testi-ng more people for the dis-ease that has killed over326,000 people across theworld. The US has 15 lakhconfirmed Covid-19 casesand over 93,000 deaths,both the world’s highest.

“I look at that as, in a cer-tain respect, as being agood thing because it mea-ns our testing is much bet-ter,” he said on Tuesday atthe White House as he ho-sted his first Cabinet meet-ing since the Covid-19 out-break began. “By the way,”he told reporters, “youknow when you say thatwe lead in cases, that’s be-cause we have more testi-ng than anybody else.” “Sowhen we have a lot of ca-ses,” he continued, “I don’tlook at that as a bad thing,I look at that as, in a certa-in respect, as being a goodthing because it means ourtesting is much better.”

He added: “So I view it asa badge of honour. Really,it’s a badge of honour.” Tr-ump was responding to a

question about whether hewas considering a travelban on Latin America, Br-azil in particular. “It’s a

great tribute to the testingand all of the work that alot of professionals havedone,” the president said.

According to the Centersfor Disease Control, a fed-eral agency, the US had co-nducted 126 lakh Covid-19

tests by Tuesday. The Dem-ocratic National Committ-ee has criticised the Repu-blican president’s comme-

nts, tweeting that the 15lakh Covid-19 cases in theUS represented “a comple-te failure of leadership”.Trump is seeking re-elect-ion in the November 3 pre-sidential poll.

The president said hewas considering travel banon countries from LatinAmerica due to surge inCovid-19 cases there. “Weare considering it,” thePresident said when askedif he was considering a tr-avel ban on Latin America,and Brazil in particular.Brazil has over 271,000 co-nfirmed Covid-19 cases,the third highest in the wo-rld, following the US andRussia. According to Joh-ns Hopkins data, Russiahas over 308,000 confirmedCovid-19 cases. — PTI

Residents have coffee and drinks at a terrace on Wednesday in Codogno, southeast of Milan, one of the villages atthe epicentre of the Covid-19 epidemic, as the country is easing its lockdown. — AFP

UK to unveil legislationtightening terror lawsLondon, May 20: TheBritish government is tounveil legislation Wednes-day that could potentiallysee indefinite curbs on themovements of suspectedterrorists, a move that’sprompted concerns overcivil liberties.

The Counter-Terrorismand Sentencing Bill, whi-ch is being labelled as thelargest overhaul of terror-ist sentencing and moni-toring in decades, followsa series of attacks that thegovernment said necessi-tated changes to terrorlegislation. “We promisedto act and today we aredelivering on that prom-ise,” Home Secretary PritiPatel said.

Under the proposedchanges to the TerrorismPrevention and Investiga-tion Measures, courts willbe able to limit the move-ment of individuals, incl-uding via enforced curf-ews and tagging, for anindefinite period, subjectto review, rather than fora maximum of two years.

The bill also seeks tolower the evidence thresh-old for imposing curbs.The government says thechanges are necessaryafter 28-year-old UsmanKhan stabbed several peo-ple, two fatally, nearLondon Bridge last Nove-mber, before he was tack-led by members of thepublic and shot dead bypolice officers.

He had previously ser-ved six years in prison forterror crimes. RosalindComyn, policy and cam-paigns officer for humanrights group Liberty, saidthe government’s counter-terror strategy is “failing”and that the new bill“threatens” civil liberties.

“By reintroducing, in allbut name, the widely con-demned control orders, afundamental principle ofjustice — the presumptionof innocence — hangs inthe balance,” she said.

— AP

London, May 20: BritishPrime Minister Boris Joh-nson on Wednesday dism-issed any hope of a reviewinto what has been brand-ed an “unfair” surchargeon foreign doctors, includ-ing Indians, working inthe UK’s state-funded Nat-ional Health Service.

A number of profession-al associations for doctorsin Britain have been cam-paigning against the ann-ual Immigration HealthSurcharge (IHS), imposedof foreign workers to rai-se additional funds for theNHS, as an additional bur-den while they directly co-ntribute to the health ser-vice. The Opposition Lab-our Party Leader, Keir

Starmer, backed their ca-mpaign in the House ofCommons during the wee-kly Prime Minister’s Que-stions when he askedJohnson if he thinks thesurcharge on NHS doctorsand nurses is “fair”.

“...I have been a personalbeneficiary of people andcarers who have comefrom abroad and, frankly,saved my life,” replied Jo-hnson. “... a national insti-tution which needs fundi-ng and those contributio-ns actually help us to rai-se about £900 million. It isvery difficult in the curre-nt circumstances to findalternative sources, so Ithink that is the right wayforward,” he said. — PTI

Boris: No going backon foreign docs’ tax

FUNDRAISER WHOSERVED IN INDIATO BE KNIGHTEDLondon, May 20: A 100-year-old Army veteran,Captain Tom Moore, whoserved in India duringWorld War II and becamea national hero after hehelped raise over £32 mil-lion for the National Heal-th Service in its fight aga-inst the Covid-19, will beknighted by Queen Elizab-eth II. Captain Moore saidhe was “absolutely overw-helmed” when PM BorisJohnson’s special nomin-ation was accepted by themonarch. — PTI

NORWAY MOSQUETRIAL VERDICTNEXT WEEKCopenhagen, May 20:A Norwegian man char-ged with murder and ter-rorism in the killing ofhis stepsister and the st-orming of an Oslo mosq-ue should get the maxi-mum 21 years in prison,a prosecutor said Wedn-esday on the final day ofthe trial.

Philip Manshaus, 22, isaccused of first killinghis 17-year-old stepsisterby shooting her with ahunting rifle at theirhome in the Oslo suburbof Baerum on August 10.

Authorities say Mansh-aus then drove to a near-by mosque where threemen were preparing forEid al-Adha celebratio-ns. He wore a helmetwith a video camera att-ached and a bulletproofvest, police said. He wasarmed with a hunting ri-fle and a shotgun and fi-red four shots with therifle at a glass door befo-re he was overpoweredby one of the men in themosque. — AP

INDIAN FLOUTSQUARANTINE,FINED SGD3,500Singapore, May 20: A35-year-old Indian natio-nal was fined 3,500 Sing-aporean dollars for bre-aching self-quarantineorders and leaving hisplace of isolation amidthe Covid-19 outbreak inthe country, authoritiessaid on Wednesday.

Vardireddy NageswaraReddy was supposed tobe isolated from Februa-ry 16 to 25 but he alleged-ly breached the orderand came out on Februa-ry 24. Reddy was fined3,500 Singaporean dolla-rs on Wednesday afterpleading guilty to onecount of breaching hishome quarantine order.

The court heard thatReddy had come into clo-se contact with a collea-gue who tested positivefor the Covid-19. But hetested negative for thedisease.

— PTI

ABBAS: WILL NOT ABIDE BY ACCORDS WITH ISRAEL, U.S.Ramallah, May 20: Pale-stinian President Mahmo-ud Abbas says the Palesti-nian Authority will no lo-nger be committed to anysigned agreements withIsrael or the United Stat-es, following Israel’s pled-ge to annex large parts ofthe occupied West Bank.

It was not immediatelyclear how the announcem-

ent made at a Palestinianleadership meeting on Tu-esday, would be implemen-ted. The Oslo accords andother agreements in the1990s created the Palestin-ian Authority and governits political, economic andsecurity ties with Israel.

“The Palestinian Libera-tion Organisation and theState of Palestine are no

longer committed to all si-gned agreements and und-erstandings with the Isra-eli and the American gov-ernments, including thesecurity commitments,”Abbas said. He said Israelwould now have to “upho-ld responsibilities beforethe international commu-nity as the occupying po-wer.” — AP

Lahore, May 20: A Pakis-tani court has dismissed areview petition of a manwho was convicted of chi-ld pornography two yearsago and cancelled the bailgranted to him earlier thismonth. Lahore High Cour-t’s Justice Farooq Haiderhad suspended seven-yearsentence of Saadat Aminand ordered his release.

Following a strong reac-tion from rights activists,civil society, lawyers andeven former superior cou-rt judges, Justice Haiderallowed a civil miscellane-ous application on Amin’sappeal against his sen-tence and reversed hisown decision. — PTI

Court cancels bail grantedto Pak child pornographer

Islamabad, May 20: A 60-year-old woman legislatorof the ruling Pakistan Te-hreek-e-Insaf party in Pu-njab province died of Cov-id-19 on Wednesday, maki-ng her the first lawmakerin the country to succumbto the virus that has killedover 900 others in Pakist-an. Shaheen Raza, 60, wasadmitted to the Mayo hos-pital in Lahore a few daysago after she was testedpositive for the Covid-19.

Her health deterioratedover the weekend followi-ng which she was put onventilator, GujranwalaDeputy Commissioner So-hail Ashraf said.

However, Raza succumb-ed to the viral infection inthe hospital on Wednesd-ay, he said. She was alsosuffering from other dise-ases like high blood pres-sure and diabetes and hersituation deterioratedfast, officials said. — PTI

Woman legislatorsuccumbs to Covid

● ● A NEW law whichmeans all adults inEngland will now beconsidered as havingagreed to donate theirown organs when theydie unless they record adecision not to donate,or are in one of anexcluded category,comes into force onWednesday.

● ● THE PRESIDENT saidhe was considering trav-el ban on countries fromLatin America due tosurge in Covid-19 casesthere. “We are consider-ing it,” he said whenasked if he was consid-ering a travel ban onLatin America, and Brazilin particular

GAMES

Regd. No. H/SD/509/2018-20Printed and Published by T.

Venkateswarlu on behalf of DeccanChronicle Holdings Limited. Printed atDeccan Chronicle Press situated at

Plot No. 9 Alwal Village, VallabhNagar Taluk, Medchal Malkajgiri Dist.Telangana and Published at 36, S.D.

Road, Secunderabad-3.RNI Registration No. 3081/1957.

Editor: Aditya Sinha

Cup conundrumBCCI member Gaekwad doubts T20 World Cup will be onNew Delhi, May 20:BCCI apex council mem-ber Anshuman Gaekwadon Wednesday said thisyear’s T20 World Cupseems unlikely to goahead, making space forthe currently suspendedIPL on the calendardepending on the Covid-19situation in India.

The former India coachsaid cricketers will haveto gather all their mentalstrength to deal with theuncertainty that the pan-demic has caused.

“I have my doubts thatT20 WC will be held thisyear. About IPL, we can-not think of just now. Itwill depend on Indian con-ditions and the window isonly during this T20 WCwhich is October-November,” Gaekwadsaid.

“If the World Cup getscancelled or postponed,then only IPL can happenbut then also it dependson what the conditions arein India,” he said.

Gaekwad feels that itwill be completely new lifeonce the virus is tamedand players have to bementally strong to adapt.

“Cricket is not going tobe the same, the approachwould be different. Therewill be no crowd in the sta-diums. Cricketers are notused to play in empty sta-diums.

“It will be one very diffi-cult aspect of playing newtype of cricket,” Gaekwadsaid.

He also said that cricketmight resume after atleast four months.

“It may take another twomonths or four months ormore to resume cricket. Itis not theory that you canread and write,” he fur-ther added. — PTI

Fans pose with the ICC T20 trophies at a promotional event in this file photo.

Windies misusedmoney: HoldingLondon, May 20: Fastbowling great MichaelHolding has alleged misuseof half a million US dollarsthat BCCI donated toCricket West Indiesbesides raising seriousquestions on the financialmanagement of the game'sgoverning body in theisland nations.

On a YouTube show,Holding displayed theaudit report of PannellKerr Foster (PKF) on crick-et governance in theCaribbean and raised sev-eral red flags. He alsotouched upon the donationCWI received from theIndian cricket board(BCCI) for the benefit of itsformer players.

“Way back in 2013-2014,the BCCI donated half amillion US dollars specifi-cally to go to past players. Iam a past player, not that Iwant any of it but I know alot of past players, I havenever heard that not evenone cent out of that half amillion going to any pastplayer.

“I am absolute sure ifthey (CWI) had done that,they would have made a bighullabaloo about it. Whereis that half a million dol-lars? I will tell the viewersvery soon,” said the 66-year-old.

With the audit report inhis hands, the legendaryJamaican questioned whyit has not gone public.

— PTI

New Delhi, May 20: Hockey India ruled out shiftingthe Olympic-bound men’s and women’s hockey teamsfrom the Sports Authority of India’s Bengaluru centredespite the death of a Coronavirus-positive cookemployed there as he had no access to the players.

The cook died of a cardiac arrest and later tested pos-itive for Covid-19, according to a top SAI official, whosaid there was no reason to panic as the deceased hadno access to the players’ accommodation zone.

The cook had not gone beyond the gate area sinceMarch 10. “A cook, part of around 60 employees, whowere asked to stay at home since March 10 because oftheir old age, died of cardiac arrest at a hospital. Hewent to the hospital for the birth of a child of one ofhis relatives and had a cardiac arrest there and died.As part of the protocol, he was tested for Covid-19 andhis reports came out positive. The campus is dividedinto three sections — Gate area, Sector-A and Sector-B.The players stay in the last part, Sector-B, so they arecompletely safe,” the official said. — PTI

COOK DIES OF COVID AT SAIBUT HOCKEY SIDES TO STAYNew Delhi, May 20:

Gautam Gambhir reckonsthat playing internationalcricket is not a prerequi-site to become a success-ful T20 batting coach,whose job according to theformer India opener is tohelp players cultivate apositive mindset.

The cricketer-turned-politician said that a bat-ting coach can be appoint-ed exclusively for theshortest format of thegame.

“Probably you can justhave a different T20 bat-ting coach, just for thatparticular format. It isreally not true that some-one who hasn’t playedinternational cricket orwho hasn’t played enough

cricket, can’t become asuccessful coach,”Gambhir said on a StarSports’ show.

“What ultimately acoach does in a T20 format

is frees your mindset andfeeds your mindset andmake you hit those goalsand those big shots,” headded.

The former opener said

that job of the battingcoach in T20 cricket is notto teach how to hit shots.

“No one teaches you howto hit a lap shot or areverse lap shot, no coachcan do that. If someone istrying to do that to a play-er, he is harming himmore than actually mak-ing him a better player,”Gambhir added.

However, Gambhir is ofthe opinion that being asuccessful player helpsbecome a better selector.

“It’s not important thatyou have played a lot ofcricket, probably, that’sright for a selector, but notfor a coach,” the formerIndian opener furtheradded.

— PTI

SHORT TAKESEPL players treated

like lab rats: Rose

HCA calls umpiresfor new season

London: England defenderDanny Rose says players are

being treated like “lab rats” afterWatford and Burnley revealedthey were among the English

Premier League clubs affectedby six positive tests for the

Coronavirus. Teams have startedsocially-distanced training in

small groups this week, but sev-eral stars have expressed con-

cerns about plans to resume theseason. The EPL conducted 748

tests on players and staff onSunday and Monday as part oftheir bid to restart matches in

June. While the positive testnumbers were relatively low,

Rose has joined Watford captainTroy Deeney and ManchesterCity pair Sergio Aguero and

Raheem Sterling in speaking outabout the potential health risks

of “Project Restart”. — AFP

Hyderabad: The HyderabadCricket Association is calling

umpires to register for its leagueand knockout tournaments

before June 10. “They can alsoenroll themselves at the HCA

office at Rajiv GandhiInternational Cricket Stadium in

Uppal from Friday onwards,between 11 am and 4 pm,” HCA

secretary R. Vijayanand said in apress release.

All umpires who are officiatingin HCA’s leagues and knockouttournaments must register, the

release added.The HCA is also inviting new

umpires (those below 40 yearsand having cricketing knowledge

and background will be givenpreference). Training classes will

begin in the first week of June.They will be conducted by inter-national umpire C. Shamshuddin

and A. Nanda Kishore, BCCIpanel umpire and former captain

of the Hyderabad Ranji Trophyteam. The duo will be assisted

by BCCI qualified umpires. TheHCA will conduct a qualificationexamination in the first week of

July, the release said.

Gauti for format specific coach

BCCI UNLIKELYTO FILL VACANTCFO POSITIONNew Delhi, May 20: TheIndian cricket board isunlikely to hire a newChief Financial Officer(CFO) even thoughSantosh Rangnekarresigned six months back.

While BCCI CEO RahulJohri was asked to takeback his resignation andcontinue till the end of histenure (2021), it is learntthat the top brass feelsthere is no immediaterequirement of a CFO.

“The BCCI is unlikely torecruit a CFO any timesoon. If you read the newconstitution carefully,there is a mandatory provi-sion for a Chief ExecutiveOfficer but there is nomention that you need tohave a CFO,” a senior BCCIofficial privy to the devel-opment said.

It was Committee ofAdministrators which hadrecruited Rangnekar andthe move was seen as adeliberate ploy to under-mine the then treasurer’sauthority. Once the BCCIhad the democratic set upback in place and powersof treasurer restored, thepost of CFO became redun-dant. — PTI

Probably you can justhave a different T20batting coach, just forthat particular format.It is really not true thatsomeone who hasn’tplayed internationalcricket or who hasn’tplayed enough cricket,can’t become a suc-cessful coach.

— GAUTAMGAMBHIR

Former India opener

● BCCI ApexCouncil memberAnshumanGaekwad has saidthat this year’s T20World Cup seemsunlikely to goahead, makingspace for the IPL.

Analysts expect worse results from many sectors

Early birds report35% dip in Q4 net

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 30,818.61 2.06Nifty 50 9,066.55 2.11S&P 500* 2,975.81 1.81Dollar (`) 75.80 -0.19Pound Sterling (`) 92.74 -0.26Euro (`) 82.95 -0.38Gold (Oz)* ($) 1,751.60 0.42Brent crude ($/bbl)* 36.33 4.85IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.041 0.083US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 0.714 0.422

* As of 8:00 PM IST

TikTok owner’svalue exceeds$100 billionByteDance Ltd’s valuation hasrisen at least a third to morethan $100 billion in recent pri-vate share transactions, reflect-ing expectations the owner ofvideo phenom TikTok will keeppulling in advertisers despitethe Covid-19 pandemic. Stockin the world’s most valuablestartup has changed handsrecently at a price that sug-gests its value has risen morethan 33 per cent from about$75 billion earlier.

pg 8HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 21 MAY 2020

Bengaluru, May 20:SoftBank Group-backedride-hailing companyOla will cut 1,400 jobs, orabout 35 per cent of itsworkforce, as it navigatesa strict coronavirus lock-down that has halted 95per cent of its business,company chief BhavishAggarwal told employeeson Wednesday.

Launched a decade agoin Mumbai, Ola has beenfighting for dominancewith Uber in dozens ofIndian cities. It also hasoperations in Australia,New Zealand and the UK,partnering with around2.5 million drivers.

Both ride-hailing com-panies have been ham-mered by a two-month-long lockdown that haskept 1.3 billion Indiansindoors and halted app-based cabs and rick-shaws. Local mediareports said Uber has cut700 of its estimated 2,000-2,500 employees.

The US firm, which has

sold both its Chinese andSouth-East Asia busi-nesses to local rivals, onMonday made more jobcuts that meant it hasreduced staffing by morethan a third globallysince the start of the cri-sis.

Uber declined to say ifit has cut jobs in India.

"The prognosis aheadfor our business is veryunclear and uncertain. Itis going to take a longtime for people to go outand about like before,"Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola'sco-founder and CEO, saidin a note to employees onthe company's blog.

—Reuters

Ola follows Uberwith 35% job cut

RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, MAY 20

Halfway through the extended earn-ings season, the Covid-19 impact wasclearly visible on the 105 BSE-500companies that had declared theirfourth quarter results. The compa-nies reported a combined 7 per centyear-on-year revenue decline and 34.7per cent profit after tax (PAT)decline. Some analysts say the worstare yet to come.

An analysis of the 105 companiesshow their combined revenue duringthe January-March 2020 quarter fell7 per cent to around Rs 5.20 lakhcrore as against Rs 5.6 lakh crore inthe January-March 2019 quarter.

The profit after tax for the above setof BSE 500 Index companies fellsharply by 34.7 per cent to Rs 33,535crore as against Rs 51,367 crorereported during the same quarter inthe previous year.

The earnings before interest, taxes,depreciation and amortisation(Ebitda) fell 13 per cent year-on-yearto Rs 92,119 crore as against Rs1,06,130 crore.

However, in the past few days, blue

chips like Larsen & Toubro Infotech,Ultratech, Bharti Airtel, Cipla andBajaj Finance delivered healthy Q4results despite the Covid-19 relateddisruptions and helped improve themarket sentiments.

However, there some sectors likePSU banks, housing finance, capitalgoods & engineering, media & enter-tainment and paper, to name a few,where chances of Covid-19-relatedperformance deterioration are high.

Arafat Saiyed, assistant vice presi-dent, Reliance Securities, said, "Onlyaround 20 per cent of results are out,that also mainly from services sec-tors like Consumer, Pharma, IT andPrivate Banks, which are not muchaffected by Covid-19. Going ahead wewill see the results of manufacturingcompanies like Auto, Capital Goods,

Infra and Construction, which aremore affected by the Covid-led lock-down. So we believe worst results areyet to come in next few weeks."

Rating agency Crisil expects highCovid-19 impact on the paper indus-try while India Ratings expectssevere negative impact of the Covid-related shutdown on the media &entertainment industry.

"The extended lockdown to stemthe Covid-19 pandemic has dealt anasty blow to the highly fragmentedpaper industry in India. Problem is,40-45 per cent of paper mills are inCovid-19 red zones and another 40-45per cent in orange zones. Demandhas fallen sharply, consequently, thefinancials of paper makers, especial-ly the small- and mid-sized ones willbe materially affected," CrisilResearch said.

India Ratings and Researchbelieves that print media, broadcast-ers and movie exhibitors would bethe most impacted by the Covid-19led lockdown. On the other hand,multiple system operators (MSOs),broadband players and electronicmedia may remain relativelyresilient.

New Delhi, May 20: Thegovernment onWednesday fixed the annu-al rate of return forPradhan Mantri VayaVandana Yojana (PMVVY),a social security schemefor senior citizens, at 7.4per cent for 2020-21, downfrom 8 per cent in the pre-vious fiscal, as it extendedthe scheme by three years.

The Union Cabinetextended the PMVVY up

to March 31, 2023 for a fur-ther period of three yearsbeyond March 31, 2020 andalso allowed "initially anassured rate of return of7.40 per cent per annumfor the year 2020-21 perannum and thereafter tobe reset every year", anofficial release said.

In Union Budget 2018-19,the government hadextend the scheme up toMarch 2020 with an

assured return of 8 percent, and also doubled theinvestment limit per sen-ior citizen to Rs 15 lakh.

The release said theCabinet also approved anannual reset of assuredrate of interest with effectfrom April 1 of financialyear, in line with revisedrate of returns of SeniorCitizens Saving Scheme(SCSS) up to a ceiling of7.75 per cent, with fresh

appraisal of the scheme onbreach of this threshold atany point.

The scheme is imple-mented by the Life Insur-ance Corporation. It givesan assured minimum pen-sion to senior citizens, 60years and above, based onthe purchase price/sub-scription amount. It alsooffers a death benefit inthe form of return of themoney. —Agencies

PMVVY pension cut, scheme open till 2023

Hyderabad, May 20: DrReddys LaboratoriesLimited (DRL) on Wednes-day reported a 76 per centrise in profit after tax to Rs764.2 crore for quarterended March 31, 2020against Rs 434.4 crore inthe same period of FY '19.

The performance wasbacked by tax defermentand growth in globalgenerics, DRL said.

DRL president, CFO andglobal head of HR SaumenChakraborty told report-ers here that the revenuesfor the quarter was up 10per cent to Rs 4,431.8 croreagainst Rs 4,016.6 crore inthe year-ago quarter.

DRL said Rs 50 crore wasrecognised as the deferredtax during the quarter.

The revenue from globalgenerics stood at Rs 3,640crore, up 20 per cent.

The quarter reported thehighest sales ever. PAT ishigher than PBT (profitbefore tax), both for thequarter and year. The PATis higher because of thedeferred tax recognition.DRL also had MAT credit.Overall it has been a goodyear for us, Chakrabortytold reporters.

The PharmaceuticalServices and ActiveIngredients (PSAI) seg-ment revenues were up sixper cent to Rs 719.5 crore.

For the full financial year2019-20, revenues were up13 per cent over FY19 whileprofit after tax was at Rs1,950 crore, up four percent over previous year.

DRL co-chairman andMD G.V. Prasad said DRLis looking at working withother firms in developingdrugs to combat Covid-19.

DRL’s board recommend-ed a final dividend of Rs 25(500 per cent) per share.

—PTI

Dr Reddy’sPAT up 76% in Q4

Revenue 559499.7 520390.1 -7

Ebitda 106130.2 92119.4 -13

PAT 51367.7 33535.9 -34..7

Relates to 105 of BSE-500 firms Source: Reliance Securities

INFECTED BY THE VIRUS

January-March 2020

March-19( Rs Crore)

March-2020( Rs Crore)

Change(%)

New Delhi, May 20:Markets regulator Sebi onWednesday asked listedcompanies to make disclo-sure about the impact ofcoronavirus pandemic ontheir business to investorsand stakeholders in a time-ly and cogent manner.

Listed entities shouldevaluate the impact ofCovid-19 on their business,performance and finan-cials, both qualitativelyand quantitatively, to the

extent possible and dissem-inate the same to investors,the Sebi said in a circular.

The listed entities shouldnot resort to selective dis-closures while disclosingmaterial information relat-ed to the impact of Covid-19, it added.

Sebi observed that manylisted entities have madedisclosures under LODRRegulations, primarilyintimating shutdown ofoperations. —PTI

Sebi asks firms to discloseCovid-19 impact on biz

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SHALKIE

As the novel Coronaviruscontinues to wreakhavoc around theworld and dispos-

sesses lives, the two-month-long lockdown has throt-tled the economy, with theeffects reverberating acrossprofessions and sectors.The standstill in the other-wise dynamic TV industryhas also driven its work-force to their rock-bottom.And the suicide of actorManmeet Grewal owing tothe financial crisis lastweek has been the tippingpoint of it all.Reportedly, the Aadat SeMajboor actor, who is sur-vived by his wife, was indepression because of thelack of work under thelockdown. After Grewal’stragic demise, severalmembers of the TV frater-nity took it upon them-selves to voice out the ele-phantine issue of non-pay-ments by producers. TheNaagin 4 actress NiaSharma took to herInstagram to write, “I’d justlike to make a humblerequest on behalf of my fel-low actors/friends, otherdaily wagers that theirdues be paid asap especial-ly at a time when they needit the most so that we’re notwaking up to more suchSuicide Stories a few daysor a month later!! (sic)”

SURVIVING THE CRISIS

According to acommon praxisin telly show-biz, producersof the TVshows payactors 90 daysafter the day of

telecast. However, thisduration of the waitingperiod more or less extends

because of other factorssuch as when the

money is being rolledout by the channel.Currently, as the lock-down has put a com-plete halt on work,

channels and produc-

ers have been unable to paythe actors, crew and otherdaily-wage workers.Bollywood actress KritiSanon had recently sharedan ordeal faced by a techni-cian of the TV soap operaHumari Bahu Silk over notreceiving payments, follow-ing which even cast mem-bers opened up about non-

payments. “I know most ofthe producers have giventhe money, but some pro-ducers might have not paidbecause they didn’t getmoney from the channel.This is a challenging situa-tion for everyone.”

TURN TO PAGE 5

books

4 >>

c m y k c m y k

hyderabadThe enigmaticqueen of B’wood

glam sham

3 >>

Finger-lickinggood!

THURSDAY | 21 MAY 2020

CHRONICLE

RANA’S WEDDING PLANS

Though the city was abuzz with news about Rana Daggubatti having alow key engagement ceremony with his fiance Miheeka, on Wednesday,the actor’s father Suresh Babu clarified “It wasn’t an engagement, bothfamilies met formally to finalise wedding details.”

SURESH KAVIRAYINI

DECCAN CHRONICLE

The Daggubati and Bajaj fami-lies met on Wednesday evening

to plan the details of Rana’s wed-ding with Miheeka.“It’s not an engagement,” clarifies

Suresh Babu. “It was a formal meet-ing to finalise about the engage-ment and the wedding date.Generally, in our custom, the girl’s

family visits the boy’s house toexpress interest in the boy. Thisvisit to my house was in that tradi-tion.”The producer said only his closerelatives were present on the occa-sion. “My brother and other closefamily members were there,” hesaid, adding that he is very happyabout the alliance between his sonRana and Miheeka. (At the time of going into print.)

Ram Gopal Varma’stweets draw attention,

and this time his tweetafter seeing Jr. NTR’s latestpicture, said “he wished hewas gay!”

A photograph released onthe occasion of the star’sbirthday on Wednesdayshowed off his toned body.

“Hey @tarak9999 You very well know I am not agay but I almost want to become one after seeingu in this pic ... Aaa body yentra nainaa.WOWWWW this is the bestest body I saw since@MiaMalkova”, tweeted RGV.

As Jr. NTR’s latest photo shows offhis super toned body and wash-board abs, director RGV tweets “Iwish I was gay!”

Drool worthy body!

Formalising ties

With the ongoing pandemic and thelockdown claiming livelihood and lives,the TV industry is at its worst episode

THE SHOWCAN’T GO ON

Generating complexpasswords is tough andremembering them is nearimpossible. Fortunately,there are good passwordmanager apps that not onlygenerate unique passwordsfor you, but also store themin encrypted form,automatically filling them inwhere required.

#3Do not use that free Wi-Fi: Next time you are in apublic place (it will happen at some point I assume),and you see an open Wi-Fi signal, as tempting as itmight be to use it, don’t. Unknown Wi-Fi hotspots area primary weapon used by hackers. It could allowsomeone to track and monitor your computer or

phone and, worse, even execute malwareor ransomware. So, unless you know

the Wi-Fi is from a crediblesource, use your own data or

hotspot.

#4Enable a guest Wi-Fi: Howoften has it happened that afriend, neighbour or guest hasasked you for your Wi-Fi pass-word. You, of course, have sharedit every time. What kind of per-son doesn’t offer a guest, waterand Wi-Fi? It’s basic courtesyafter all. But eventually, you willlose track of the number of peo-ple who have access to your Wi-Fi. Fortunately, many modernWi_Fi routers allow a ‘guest Wi-Fi’ option, which creates a sepa-rate Wi-Fi signal (usually yourWi-Fi name with the word guestat the end). You may share thatwith your guests. In this manner,they have internet access but arealso safely cordoned off from themain Wi-Fi. Tactful and safe!

#5Consider a VPN: You probablyalready use a VPN at your work.It is a proven method to create asecure, encrypted connection tothe Internet. But having a VPNat home is pretty useful too.Consider paying for one of theseveral personal VPN servicesthat are available, especially ifyou are someone who travels andoften uses hotel or airport Wi-Fi.This way, you’ll have your ownsecure line to the Internetwithout having to worry aboutsomeone snooping into yourpersonal data or hacking intoyour device.

2Thursday 21 May 2020

Deccan Chronicletech talk

Protectyourself

fromhackersVIKRAM MOHAN

Imagine you live in a house with nolock on your front door. You just closethe door and leave. Now imagine that

you also leave a large window open, withoutany bars on it. Bad idea, right? However, thisis precisely what we do in our digital life.

Today, let’s look at five things that youshould do to secure yourself digitally.

With all the smartphones andfree Wi-Fi around, digital

security cannot beemphasised enough

#1Enable two-factor authentication:Two-factor authentication is when asite requires you to provide ‘a secondfactor’ beside your password. In India,the most common variant is where weget a One Time Password (OTP) to ourphones. Google, Facebook, Twitter,Microsoft and all major services sup-port two-factor authentication, butthese are not enabled by default.Turning this on goes a long way insecuring your accounts against hack-ers.

#2Use a password manager: We all know that a securepassword is a must. And I do hope that as you arereading this, your password isn’t ‘password’ or thename of someone in your family followed by 123.Generating complex passwords is tough and remem-bering them is near impossible. Fortunately, there aregood password manager apps that not only generatecomplex and unique passwords for you, but also storethem in encrypted form, automatically filling them inwhere required. This may seem insecure to you, but ifyou also turn on two-factor authentication, the systembecomes way more secure than having a simple pass-word across all your accounts. You can search forpassword managers on the Internet.

ASK THE GEEK

QMy wife and I keep forget-ting the phone around

the house. We end up callingthe phone to locate it, butsometimes this doesn’t workwhen the phone is in silentmode or there is bad signal.Any app that can help?

—Anantha VS, Kapra

A This is one problem I reallyidentify with. And like you, Iusually call my number fromone of the other phones athome. Thankfully, there aresome other ways to help locateour phones, even if they are on‘silent’. My most often used oneis to ask my Google Home to

‘find my phone’. If it recognizesmy voice, it will ask if I wantmy phone to ring in full vol-ume, which does the trick. But,of course, not everyone has aGoogle Home. And that bringsme to my second favouritemethod. If you have access to aPC, you can simply type in ‘findmy phone’ into your Googlesearch bar, and if you aresigned in, Google will ring yourphone — even if it’s on silent.All this, assuming you have anAndroid.

But if you have an iPhone,

then neither of these will work.With my iPhone, I just shoutout ‘Hi Siri’ in each room andhope that my phone replies.This does work, although I getweird looks from my family.

The other option is to head toicloud.com/find which willring your phone.

QMy startup has managedto adapt to the new work-

style. We used Zoom for ourmeetings, but two of ourclients have expressed reser-vations in joining calls on it

citing security concerns.What are our other options?

Anay Baradwaj

A: Congrats on going with theflow and adapting to the newway of working. Luckily you dohave some additional options,one of which has just madeitself available. Our go-tooption for video calling all thiswhile has been Skype, and peo-ple have been ignoring it now.One reason could be that manyof us are unaware that Skypenow allows us to join calls with-

out having an account, andeven without having to down-load the app. Your invitees havethe option to select ‘Join asguest’. Keep in mind, yourguest conversation will onlylast for 24 hours and will not besaved. Another option is GoogleMeet. You might have seen asmall change in your Gmailmentioning it. This is also agood video conferencing optionand doesn't need attendees tohave an account. Best of luckwith your startup.

(Vikram Mohan runs 4spire.net.

Send your questions tovikram@4spire.net or tweet

@TheVikramMohan)

Tricks to find your phone

D CORRESPONDENT

It’s no secret that DiljitDosanjh has a soft spot

for makeup mogul KylieJenner. And now, the singer-actor has recreated theKeeping Up With TheKardashians star’s recipefor Flaky French Toast.

The Good Newwz actortook photographs of thedish, made of ingredientssuch as eggs, milk, vanillaextract, and cinnamon.

Diljit even took toInstagram to post the step-by-step process of makingthe dish, that also calls for“crushed up frosted corn-flakes”.

The end result looked sim-ilar to Kylie’s, and Diljitwas super happy with thetaste. “Baut sawaad baniYaar…Sachi Jhuth NiKehnda (It’s very tasty; Iswear, I am not lying),” post-ed the actor alongside a pho-tograph of his dish.

*DADDY KNOWS IT ALL*: The lock-down has turned even batting legendSachin Tendulkar into a hair consul-tant and barber for son ArjunTendulkar even as daughter SaraTendulkar acted assistant to him. Ina time lapse video that Sachin post-ed on his social media recently, acheerful Sachin can be seen givinghis 20-year-old son a trim. In thevideo’s caption, he’s said, "As afather you need to do everything,be it playing games with yourkids, gyming with them or forthat matter cutting theirhair. However the haircutturns out you'll alwaysbe handsome @arjun-tendulkar24 Specialthanks to my salonassistant @sara-tendulkar (sic).”Going by Arjun’ssmile in the video, itsure seems he’shappy with Daddy’shandiwork!!

DC CORRESPONDENT

It’s always worry-ing when your par-ents are not well,

but it’s particularly upset-ting if they fall ill duringthe ongoing coronaviruspandemic. SwaraBhasker’s mother, Prof. IraBhasker, had a fall at herDelhi residence and frac-tured her shoulder recent-ly. When the Mumbai-based actress learned ofher mother’s injury, shegot permission to travel toDelhi. She made the 1400km journey in two days.

Swara says: “It is a frac-ture of the collarbone, soher whole torso is in abrace and she has to keepher right hand and right

side of the torso immo-bilised. Luckily, my sister-in-law was in Delhi andwas able to move in andhelp my mom with dailytasks like changing andcombing her hair. But I’dbeen feeling both restlessand guilty about not beingin Delhi, so when travel

was allowed, I decided togo to Delhi and got the nec-essary permissions. It wasa mega two-day road tripwith all my five pets —three cats, a kitten, andone dog. I didn’t tell myparents, as I knew they’dbe worried, and so when Iarrived in Delhi, they weretaken totally by surprise.I’m so glad to be with themand be able to help mymom a bit. I’m useless inthe kitchen but I comb herhair with great sincerity.”

The Veere Di Weddingactress has been having arather eventful lockdown,to say the least. A fewweeks earlier, she had res-cued an injured fledglingblack kite and then a tinykitten.

Swara’s mom had a fall,actor rushes to Delhi

3Thursday 21 May 2020

Deccan Chronicleglam sham

Salmanmakes aquick visitto the cityThe actor reportedly cameback to check onhis parents, andmaintained socialdistancing norms

DC CORRESPONDENT

Salman Khan, whohas been in self-isola-tion at his Panvel

farmhouse along witharound 14 others, onTuesday, made a quick visitto Mumbai.

The Dabangg actor, whohas been at the farmhousefor almost 60 days now,reportedly visited GalaxyApartments in Bandra tocheck on his parents.According to the reports,Khan came to the city also tooversee the relief work hisfather has been doing. Hewas in Mumbai only for afew hours, and returned tothe farmhouse before dark.

The reports further saythat the actor had procuredthe necessary permissionsand adhered to all the socialdistancing guidelines.

Apart from working outand shooting for YouTubesongs, Khan has also beenworking on scripts at thefarmhouse. He has beenorganising food packages tobe sent to the needy too.

off the web

Finger-licking good!Diljit follows Kylie’s recipe

The Good Newwz actor took photographs of the dish, made ofingredients such as eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon

Swara Bhasker’s mother,Prof. Ira Bhasker, had afall at her Delhiresidence and fracturedher shoulder recently.When the Mumbai-basedactress learned of hermother’s injury she gotpermission to travel toDelhi.

She travelled 1400 km from Mumbai to Delhi tohelp her mother, who suffered a fracture

Thursday 21 May 2020 4

Deccan ChroniclebooksSWATI SHARMA

DECCAN CHRONICLE

She is a woman who carvedan independent identity forherself against all odds. In

the 1970s, it was Rekha who triedto change Bollywood and the ‘vir-ginal’ ideal of heroines andwomen. To call Rekha just a ‘diva’would be unidimensional and aninjustice to her persona. If youwant to understand her story intotality, you have to go back intoher past, into her childhood andearly setback-filled years in thefilm industry. That’s what award-winning journalist Yasser Usmanhas done.

Usman was curious to knowwhat transpired during the jour-ney of a 14-year-old Tamil-speak-ing girl from Chennai to reach thegreatest heights of Bollywood.

Rekha’s biography, Rekha: TheUntold Story exposes the dark sideof Bollywood. The book tells howRekha overcame several odds —her relationship with the reigningsuperstar of the time, her manyother love affairs, the tragic sui-cide of her husband and her curi-ous relationship with her secre-tary Farzana — to become one ofthe greatest actresses of Indiancinema.

The author says, “It’s a storyclose to my heart. When I beganwriting it, many people told me —What’s there to write? We knowher story! That is true to anextent. But I wanted to presenther complete story — herstruggles, her pain, her rise,her downfall and then thephenomenal fightback — sothat her life is understoodin a new perspective. Rekhais a fighter. She wentthrough so much humilia-tion before becoming a star.And the humiliation con-tinued even after shebecame famous. But shedecided to put up a fight.Like they say, the real gloryis in coming back after beingknocked to your knees.”

Walking us through the book,Yasser Usman says, “It was adifficult childhood.Rekha’s fatherG e m i n i

Ganesan was a huge star in theTamil film industry, but he wasnever around for her. She knewher father was living in anotherhouse, where he had another fam-ily, one that he loved enormously,perhaps more than he loved herfamily. His ‘illegitimate’ childrenand the women in his life wereruthlessly reported on by gossipmagazines. When it becameunbearable, Rekha tried to com-mit suicide when she was all of 13years. Doctors were able to reviveher. But she knew her family wascrumbling. They needed money tosurvive and it was decided by heractress mother that Rekha wouldbe a part of the film world.

‘I was pulled out of Class 9 andmade to work.

At that time, itmade no sense, Iwas not to knowhow much indebt my motherwas till muchlater… I used torefuse to go to thesets and occa-sionally mybrother beat meup,’ she has said.She came toMumbai (thenBombay) as a 14-year-old to tryher luck inB o l l y w o o d ,‘Bombay waslike a jungle,and I hadwalked inunarmed. It wasone of the mostfrightening phases of my life…Guys did try and take advantage ofmy vulnerability,’ she is quoted assaying in the book. In those days,she was unlike anything aBollywood actress was expected tobe — dark-skinned, with a 33-inchwaist and no knowledge of Hindi.‘I was called the “Ugly duckling”of Hindi films but I was deter-mined to make it big, said Rekha.

The actress made sure that herbold interviews kept her in thenews. She is quoted in the book,“You can’t come close, really close,to a man without making love.”She said she approved of ‘freelove’ (a euphemism for pre-mari-tal sex in those days). She said ‘It issheer fluke that I’ve never gotpregnant so far’. Many such com-ments by her are on record.

“Perhaps she didn’t realisethat such interviews gave

her an image thatwas difficult to

shed. Yet, thesame imagemade herrefreshinglybolder andd i f f e r e n tfrom the so-called ‘vir-g i n a l ’actressesof thosetimes,”says herbiogra-pher.

Talking about herfamous ‘associa-tion’ with a megas-tar, he says,“During myresearch, I cameacross manyarchive interviewsof Rekha whereshe was open talk-ing about her ‘rela-tionship’ with Him.As a biographer Ihad the option ofleaving out thispart of her story

and focusing onlyon her famousfilms and perfor-mances. But thenAmitabh is cen-tral to her story, soher association,or her experi-

ences with Amitabh, and the influ-ence he had on her are by default apart of her story. She has candidlytalked about him in her numerouspublic statements and interviews– about the powerful impact MrBachchan has had onher life — shapingher into whatshe hasb e c o m etoday. I amnot say-ing this,R e k h ahas saidt h i sh e r -s e l f , ”t h ea u t h o rclarifies.“ T h erecluse thatshe is, the dis-tant, enigmaticshell that she haswithdrawn into, are to agreat degree because of her expe-riences with Amitabh, and so areher finer performances. Howcould someone so central to herlife have been omitted? By themanner in which she talks aboutthis experience you can feel it issomething sacrosanct and inter-nal to her.”

So much has been written aboutRekha. How is this book differentfrom others, we ask. He says,“Most of what has been writtenabout her focuses only on oneaspect — her close association orrelationship with a superstar.

That’s not the story I wanted totell. My take is about how sheruled a male-dominated filmindustry for years. In fact, therewas a time in the early 1980s whenshe was bigger than most malestars. Movie scripts were writtenkeeping her in mind and despiteall the turbulence in her personallife, she gave many blockbusterswhere she was the ‘hero’.”

The author connected withRekha while he was interviewingGulzar who had made wonderfulfilms like Ijaazat, Ghar andKhoobsurat with her. He sharedhis keen observations and won-derful memories about Rekha.“The filmmakers and her co-starswere not forthcoming. Some ofthem made really crass commentsabout her sexuality and personallife. But then, there were greatconversationalists like Gulazar,Shyam Benegal, Muzaffar Ali andmany more who shared great sto-ries and helped me understandher persona,” says the biographer.

Rekha has talked about everycrucial event of her life in greatdetail in the book.

Talking about her relationshipwith Farzana, her lifelong friendand dedicated secretary/manager,he says, “It has long been suggest-

ed by the media that Rekha isin a ‘relationship’ with

Farzana that goesbeyond the profes-

sional. When I wasresearching mybook, I realisedthat it is more ofan emotionalrelationship. Fora lot of femalefilm stars whowere brutalisedby men, relation-

ships with otherwomen were often

gentle, soothingand nurturing.

Farzana always stoodby Rekha like a rock.

During Rekha’s husband’ssuicide, the breakdown of hermany relationships, the down-ward spiral in her career… it wasFarzana who was always with her.People in the film industry told methat Farzana has been cast in theimage of Amitabh Bachchan. Ifyou look at her pictures you willsee her wearing broad coats andshe has a hairstyle similar toAmitabh’s. Who else will allowyou to reinvent them in the shapeand likeness of your reportedboyfriend?"

Was Rekha comfortable with thisperspective? “She didn’t stop mefrom writing it,” signs off Usman.

The enigmatic erstwhilequeen of Bollywood

REKHA: THE UNTOLD STORYby Yasser Usman,

Publisher:Juggernaut,Pp.240 , `499

Rekha:The Untold Story

exposes the dark side ofBollywood. The book tells

how Rekha overcame severalodds — her relationship with thesuperstar of the time, her loveaffairs, the suicide of her hus-band and her relationship with

her secretary — to becomeone of the greatestactresses of Indian

cinema.

This biography of Rekha delves into her fears, struggles and pain, and her remarkable successes

Rekha has candidly talked about Amitabh Bachchan in hernumerous public statements and interviews – about the power-ful impact Mr Bachchan has had on her life — shaping her intowhat she has become today.

5Thursday 21 May 2020

Deccan Chroniclethe buzz

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The producers might nothave money too,” saysDheeraj Sarna, producerof shows such as ThapkiPyaar Ki and Mai MayakeChali Jaungi. For actressSulagna Chatterjee, whomade videos to throwlight on the ongoing cri-sis, a short-term solutionto clear out the paymentsof actors to daily-wageworkers could be in thegovernment allowing theaccounts department ofchannels to resume work.

“The Ministry ofInformation andBroadcasting can send acircular to these channelsto run the accountsdepartment keeping inmind the safety concernsand social distancing. Letthem work, let them clearthe invoices and the pay-ment that are pending tillthe month of April. Weare not even asking forextra payment; we areonly asking for what isdue,” Sulagna says.

CALL FOR HELP AND THEWAY FORWARD

In such trying times,organisations such as theFederation of WesternIndia Cine Employees(FWICE), Cine and TVArtistes Association (CIN-TAA) andC i n eA r t i s tWelfareT r u s t

(CAWT) have stepped upby raising funds and mon-etarily supporting manyfrom the TV industry withbare minimum amounts.“We have associations forall actors, writers andtechnicians, and they arehelping people in need.Most of the people in theTV industry have con-tributed to these associa-tions but it's difficult tomeet everyone’s endowing to the vastness ofthe TV industry,” addsDheeraj.

Earlier in April, thirteenTV actors had evenappealed to theM a h a r a s h t r aGovernment to waive rentfor the month, followingwhich the StateGovernment announcedlandlords to postpone rentcollection by threemonths. “Every actor hasonly some savings, andMumbai is an expensivecity. Unless you are theRohit Roy of television,things are different for allof us who are knownactors but not superstars.We would have only a lim-ited amount of savings,and that is what we aresurviving on,” says YashSinha of the TeenBahuraniyaan fame.

In fact, things have dete-riorated to such an extentthat the popular actorAshiesh Roy of Sasural

Simar Ka had to make aFacebook post from ICU,asking for financial aid toundergo emergency dialy-sis. Even though respitewill show only once thelockdown is lifted andshootings resume, the ris-ing number of cases inMumbai, theMaharashtra capital,paints a bleak picture.Nonetheless, Federationof Western India CineEmployees (FWICE) hastaken a step to create mea-sures to release projectsstuck midway so thatsome payments can becleared. In a letter to theMaharashtra CM UddhavThackeray on Tuesday,the association hasrequested permission toresume post-productionwork that can ensure‘some returns of thefunds invested’. Assuringthat works such as editingand sound and musicrecording will be done inaccordance with the safe-ty and hygiene measures,the letter read, “It wouldbe a great relief to theproducers who havepoured in huge funds andthat they shall be all set to

r e l e a s et h e i r

pro-jects immediately afterthe lockdown is lifted.”

— With inputs fromNirtika Pandita andPriyanka Chandani

I completely dis-agree when actors

say that they are in thelow-income category inthe TV industry. TVactors have done well forthemselves. We have towork harder but we getour dues. So, I won’t takeaway from the producersthat they have not takencare of actors. Andeverybody is suffering attheir end; just becausewe are public figuresthings get highlighted

—AISHWARYA SAKHUJA, Actor

It’s a tough time for everyone, butI believe more than actors, the daily

wagers are in tough situation. I knowthere can be many reasons for the

non-payment to the actors, buteveryone should get paid for theirwork, and this is the time whenindustry needs to stand together

— MANISH GOPLANI, Actor

Every actor has only somesavings, and Mumbai is an

expensive city. Unless you arethe Rohit Roy of television, things

are different for all of us who are knownactors but not superstars. We would have only alimited amount of savings, and that is what weare surviving on

— YASH SINHA of the Teen Bahuraniyaan fame

SURESH KAVIRAYANI

DECCAN CHRONICLE

Director Sekhar Kammula hasbeen doing his bit to supportsanitation workers at theNorth Zone and also atGHMC during the ongoing

pandemic. He has arranged for thesupply of refreshing drinks likebadam milk and buttermilk tonearly 1,000 sanitation workers ona daily basis.

Not wishing to be personally inthe forefront in this matter, Sekhartalked to Minister Talasani andthe GHMC commission, andarranged for the supply of the bev-erages through Vijay Dairy.Sanitation workers in both placesas well as in Kurnool, Andhra

Pradesh, are being given thedrinks for the past one month.

The director said he hadbeen trying to find outhow he could helpthese people. “When Iinteracted withthem, I realised thehardships they werefacing. There was notransportation, sosome employees hadto walk, others had totake help to reach theirplaces of work. Yet, theyhave been serving the public,”he said. To him, the greatestreward came when the GHMC san-itation workers held placardsthanking him for his gesture. “Ionly gave a little bit of help. I can’t

express in words what I felt when Isaw them holding up the plac-

ards,” he said. Meanwhile,Sekhar Kammula has

been busy with his workduring the lockdown.Talking about his filmLove Story starringNaga Chaitanya andSai Pallavi, he said,“The film is almost

complete except fortwo songs and a few

scenes. We need just cou-ple of weeks’ time to com-

plete it and as soon as permissionis given to resume shooting, wewill be ready to start.” If thingshad been different, the film wouldhave been released by now.

Dismissing rumours that he has

A supportive gestureSekhar Kammula does his bit to help sanitation workers

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reshot some of the scenes,and made changes, hesaid “I always go with abound script and alsogave that to the actors.They read it and we do alot of rehearsals, and thengo for shooting. I am alsowithin budget. I nevercompromise on the script,so sometimes it may takelonger than scheduled tocomplete, but I stay with-in budget.” Talking aboutsongs, the director said “Iwant to tell a story even insongs, so it takes timesometimes.” According to

Sekhar Kammula, NagaChaithanya has a ‘differ-ent’ look in the film. “Inmy films the actorsbecome my charactersand they act for me. SaiPallavi is a performer andshe proved it in my earlierfilm Fidaa, so I took herin this film too. Both ofthem get equal impor-tance in my film”, heasserted.

The director will notonly continue his effortsto help the less fortunate,he has appealed to othersto do the same too.

The show can’t go on

6

Deccan Chronicle

Thursday 21 May 2020

coffee-break

Taurus: You’ll be in a dynamic moodand will find ways to realise yourplans. Multitasking will help youstay on schedule. Steer away from

negativity at work place.

Gemini: Don’t be overconfident. Youmay be competitive and determinedto achieve your goals. Remember itenhances the beauty of life; thank-

lessness blemishes it.

Leo: Convey your true feelings towhom you love, or you may missan opportunity to strengthen thebond. Avoid solely depending on

others’ assurances for your goals.

Virgo: A sound monetary positionenables investment in long-termplans. Your over-confidence maymisguide you in academic deci-

sions. You may get involved in an unneces-sary quarrel at home. Have patience.

Cancer: You may decide whether tocontinue your romance. Don’t onlysurrender your heart; make seriousefforts to begin the romantic jour-

ney. Your sincere effort will work wonders.

Capricorn: Today’s interesting foryour love life as you begin to knowwhat you really want. Put forthyour views but hear out to others’

perspective. Be supportive of loved ones.

Aquarius: Your weakness lies inyour inability to concentrate.Expect added responsibilitiesthat enhance your work profile.

Domestic issues need attention.

Pisces: Overconfidence can harm;be careful. A pleasant relaxing dayin the company of loved onesmakes you happy. You may want

to refresh old ties and contact family mem-bers you haven’t met in a while. Egos couldheat up discussions.

Scorpio: The self-employed mayconsider new income sources.Enhanced responsibilities makesthose in security and defence ser-

vices restless.

Libra: Financial expectations maygo astray. You may feel nothing’scoming your way. Recoveries con-tinue slowly and you’ll find obsta-

cles on every front. It is not the right timeto invest in real estate.

Sagittarius: You’ll get a makeoverand find a new objectivity aboutyourself and better self-acceptance.Work schedule get hectic and com-

petitive but you’ll overcome challenges.

Aries: You’ll balance professionaland personal commitments andmake changes to your lifestyle ormake different career choices.

Make long-term goals and plan your moves.

Your day today

By Dr C.V.B. Subrahmanyam

Sujoy Ghosh, Indianfilm director, actor,

producer, andscreenwriter. He has

directed JhankaarBeats, Aladin, Kahaani,

Kahaani 2, Badla,Anukul and Ahalya. He

has also directed aseries for Netflix, titled

Typewriter.

You share your b’day with

scrabble brand | G2 R1 As Ms S1

DIRECTIONS: Make a 2 to 7-letter word fromthe letters in each row. Add points of eachword, using scoring directions at right. 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks”used as any letter have no point value. AllJudd’s words are in the Official ScrabblePlayers Dictionary (Merriam-Webster) andOSW Official Scrabble words (Chambers).JUDD’S Solution Tomorrow

TODAY’S RATINGS: 7 AVERAGE; 8 GOOD; 10 OUTSTANDING

Word Mine

How many words of four or more letterscan you make from the letters shown intoday’s puzzle? In making a word, each

letter may be used once only. Each wordmust contain the letter at the top of thepyramid. There should be at least one

nine letter word. Plurals, foreign wordsand proper names are not allowed.

WO O A

D H O N M

ANSWERS:dawn, down, mown, wand, wham, whoa, whom, woman,WOMANHOOD, wood

WHAT TO DO

Fill in the gridso that every

row, everycolumn, and

every 3x3 boxcontains thedigits 1 to 9.Every puzzlehas only one

correctsolution.

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

SU◆DO◆KU

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

SU◆DO◆KU 2

Did you think the

SU◆DO◆KUon the left was easy?

Try this. Check the solution tomorrow.

Tips available at www.sudoku-xls.com

DC-AGE SU DO KUFORUM: Discuss theSU DO KU puzzlesprinted and con-

tribute mind teasersof your own at

www.sudexel.com/forum

The Marquis deVauvenargues, aFrench moralist,

stated that great thoughtscome from the heart.Presumably he felt thatthoughts and emotions areinterconnected. However,at the bridge table weshould try to stop our emo-tions from clouding ourthoughts, our judgment.

In today's deal, Southspotted the critical snippetof information that pro-vided the key to success.Against the contract ofthree no-trump, West ledthe heart five. What wasSouth's plan?

First, he tried dummy'sheart jack; maybe Westhad underled the king-queen. However, East pro-duced the queen. It wouldhave been nice to duck tworounds of hearts, trying tocater to a 5-3 division withEast's having the diamond

ace. But declarer realizedif he did that, and hisopponents switched tospades, he would almostcertainly fall to defeat, los-ing one diamond, twohearts and at least twospades.

So South won the firsttrick and immediately dis-lodged the diamond ace.East won with the ace, andthe defenders took theirthree heart tricks. Thenthey exited in spades.

Declarer ran his dia-monds, learning that Westhad a singleton. ThenSouth cashed dummy'sclub ace, played a club tohis king and finesseddummy's club 10 success-fully to land the contract.

"Nice guess," said North."Not really," explained

South. "I knew West hadstarted with four heartsand one diamond. If hehad five spades and three

clubs, surely he wouldhave led a spade, not aheart. He must have hadfour cards in each blacksuit and an initial 4=4=1=4distribution. Hence myplay in clubs." Thoughtful.

Copyright United FeatureSyndicate

(Asia Features)

bridge

PHILLIP ALDER

THE KEY TO THE KEY SUIT

Across1.Food for a pet (8)6. Deceased (4)7. Loose talk (6)9. Anaesthetic (5)

11.Strange (5)12.Alphabetic refer-

ence (5)13.Equivocate (5)16.Liaison (6)18.Bean curd (4)19.Slanting line (8)

Down1. Graceful dancer (9)2. Gag (5)

3. Nervous (4)4. Argument (7)5. Garland (3)8. Continuing forever

(9)10.Gemstone (7)14.Perish in water (5)15.Region (4)17.Charge (3)

QUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Across: 6. Consortium, 8. Owned, 10.Grove, 13. Exceptional,14. Trite, 17. Hymns, 19. Annihilate.

Down: 1. Corn, 2. Used, 3. Brig, 4. Silo,5. Embellish, 7. Potential, 9. Elect, 11.Roomy,12. Sty, 15. Inns, 16. Echo, 17. Hale, 18. Mate.

hocus focus

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

25

coffee-break7Thursday 21 May 2020

Deccan Chronicle

jumble

Dennis the Menace

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

8Thursday 21 May 2020

Deccan Chroniclematinee

LIPIKA VARMA

The film industryhas seen a notableshift in the last

few years. While filmsand filmmakers of thepast relied on starpower and big bucksto succeed, the pre-sent-day audiencepays attention to thecontent of a film.Actors likeA y u s h m a n nKhurrana and

Rajkummar Raogained popularity bydoing atypical films,and the star factor hastaken a backseat.

Director RohitShetty, known for his

commercially success-ful Singham cop uni-verse, says that actorsdon’t even need to look

like the typical flawlesshero anymore. “There is noneed for any actor to have asix-pack or an eight-pack, itdepends on what the role islike. We have to chooseactors according to thecharacter in the film. Morethan the visibility of thepacks or casting stars with

six packs, etc, his actingneeds to be seen,” he notes.

Elaborating further, T-Series head honchoBhushan Kumar opinesthat the audience’sdemands have changed.“Nowadays, good and relat-able characters are impor-tant, heroism does not workat the box office. People arekeener to watch a characteras written in the script, sofilms of great performerslike Ayushmann Khurranaand Rajkummar Rao arebeing liked by the people.This is a welcome change,”he opines.

When asked to choosebetween an actor with a six-pack and another with aregular physique, Kumarquips, “Both. Ajay Devgn isa huge star, so I did thismagnum opus film Tanhajiwith him. I am also doing a

film with Ayushmann andRajkummar as well. It is notlike we have to work withhuge stars and big-budgetfilms only, we have to strikea balance between both,” heexplains.

As for director Om Raut, aMarathi filmmaker whomade his debut in Hindicinema with Tanhaji, healso finds that content isking today. “I think cinemais getting real. There aremany OTT platforms withall these original subjects

coming to life on celluloidand it is very encouragingfor a newcomer to come upwith different and uniquesubjects,” he says, adding,that content-driven cinemahas always been around.

“In those days, this kind ofcinema was known as par-allel cinema. Amol Palekaris one actor known fordoing content-driven cine-ma in earlier years; he rep-resented a man-next-doorkind of image,” Rautshares in conclusion.

Shootout 3 scripting complete?Few people have taken prop-er advantage of the lock-

down like Sanjay Gupta. Nevermind his posts in the middle ofthe night — which he deleteslater — the auteur has not onlybeen working hard to wrap theedit of his film Mumbai Saga, hehas also collaborated with writerRajat Arora to wrap almostthree-fourth of the script of hismega-budget dream projectShootout 3.

“Gupta has around three orfour days of shoot left on thefilm. They had a scheduletill, March 18, but theywrapped up earlier eventhough he was told thathe could shoot till untilMarch 19 as he did notwant to put the cast andcrew at risk. But thenduring the lockdown, hehas also been sitting anddiscussing the script ofShootout 3 with writer RajatArora, who has clearly broughtout the nuances of all the char-acters of the film for the thirdpart. From what we understand,it is going to be a big filmbecause he has been given aclear passageway to get a kick-

ass script in place.Casting and budgetscan come muchlater,” says a source.

Gupta is the sameman who got a fabu-

lous cast together forfilms like Kaante and

Shootout at Lokhandwalaearlier. Mumbai Saga too has anensemble. He has also takenrights of the graphic novelRakhsak — India’s indigenousvigilante superhero who idolisesBatman — and is slated to workon it after these two projects.

—Sanskriti Media

There is no need forany actor to have a

six-pack or an eight-pack, itdepends on what the role islike

_ Rohit Shetty“Sonam Kapoor Ahuja andKareena Kapoor Khan are

very keen to get back togetherfor a redux of their super hitfilm Veere Di Wedding.

The 2018 release stood out asa film spearheaded by fourwomen and went on to dof a b u -lous

business at the box office.After a lot of cajoling by theentire team, the makers arenow working on the sequelidea to the film, which wasalso backed by Ekta Kapoor.

“It is also Sonam’s bestfilm in terms of collec-tions. Agreed that

Khubsoorat didvery well

a n d

Neerja got her a lot of acco-lades, but then a sequel is duefor a film like Veere DiWedding. While Kareena didmention that they shouldwork on a sequel, Sonam andthe others have been pushingproducer and Sonam’s sisterRhea, whose brainchild it wasto make a film of that sortdirected by Shashanka Ghosh.They have now started workon developing the sequelidea,” say sources.

Sonam is also slated to workin the Hindi remake of the

Korean film Blind, inwhich she plays the role

of a wannabe cop wholoses her brother in

an accident andthen gets in theway of a serialkiller. The filmbankrolled bySujoy Ghosh isbeing directed

by ShomeMakhija.

—Sanskriti

Media

A still fromVeere DiWedding

‘Cinema is getting real’

A still from Sooryavanshi

A still from Shootout at Wadala

Veere readies towed again

Bollywood mavens talk about the film industry’s new foundfocus on content and theaudience’s new demands