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HYDERABAD, SUNDAY JANUARY 31, 2021; PAGES 10+16 `5

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INTERNET SUSPENDED AT DELHI'SBORDERS AMID FARMERS' PROTEST

SASIKALA WILL BE DISCHARGED ON SUNDAY: HOSPITAL

MAHATMA GANDHI'S STATUE BROKEN,RIPPED FROM BASE IN CALIFORNIA

NO MORE INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE FORUK FLYERS TESTING COVID -VE IN DELHI

Internet services in the Delhi border areas ofSinghu, Ghazipur and Tikri - epicentres of the

farmers' weeks-long protest against the centre'sagriculture laws - will be suspended from 11 pmfor a period of 24 hours, the Union HomeMinistry said in a notification issued Saturdayafternoon. "... it is necessary and expedient toorder the temporary suspension of internet ser-vices in the areas of Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri,and their adjoining areas in the NCT of Delhifrom 11 pm on January 29 to 11 pm on January31," the ministry notification said. Lakhs of farm-ers across India have spent the last several weeks demanding the centrerepeal laws they say will leave them at the mercy of large corporate firms.

Expelled AIADMK leader V K Sasikala willbe discharged on Sunday from a hospital

here, where she was undergoing treatmentfor COVID, an official bulletin said. "SasikalaNatarajan has completed 10 days of treat-ment today. She has been asymptomatic andmaintaining saturation without oxygen since3 days. As per protocol, she can be dis-charged from the Hospital," BangaloreMedical College & Research Institute said inan official bulletin. "The team of doctorsattending to her have taken the decision thatshe is fit for discharge and she will be discharged tomorrow with advice of home quarantine," it said.

Agroup of unknown people have vandalised,broken and ripped from the base a statue of

Mahatma Gandhi in a park in the US state ofCalifornia, shocking and outraging Indian-Americans across the country, who havedemanded that the officials investigate it as anincident of hate crime. The 6-ft tall, 650-pound(294 kg) bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi, inthe Central Park of the City of Davis in northernCalifornia, appeared to have been sawed off atthe ankles and half its face was severed andmissing, local news firm Davis Enterprisereported.The vandalised statue of Mahatma Gandhi was found by a parkemployee in the early hours of the morning of January 27, the police said.

Passengers arriving from the UK will not besent to mandatory institutional quarantine if

they test negative for coronavirus, the Delhigovernment announced today. The passengerswho test negative after the RT-PCR test willnow have to be home quarantined only for 14days. Earlier, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalhad announced a seven-day mandatoryinstitutional quarantine for UK passengersfollowed by a seven-day home quarantine afterflights from Britain resumed after a two-weekban earlier this month. The decision by theDelhi government was taken amid concerns about a mutant fast-spreading strain of the coronavirus that emerged in Britain.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday told floorleaders of various political par-ties that his government's offeron agri laws made to protest-ing farmers "still stands" and itwas a "phone call away" fortalks, days after violence brokeout in parts of the national cap-ital on Republic Day.

Addressing these leaders atthe customary all-party meet-ing convened by the govern-ment for the smooth conductof the Budget Session, theprime minister, responding tothe references by oppositionleaders about the "unfortu-nate incident" on RepublicDay, said that the "law will take

its own course".Sharing the details of the

meeting chaired by Modi andattended by Defence MinisterRajnath Singh, ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Pralhad Joshisaid, "The prime minister

assured that the Centre isapproaching the farmers issuewith an open mind."

"The prime minister said theCentre's stand is same as it wason January 22, the last meetingbetween the protesting farmers

and the Centre and proposalgiven by Agriculture Ministeron the farm laws still stands.Modiji reiterated what Tomarjihad said - that he (NarendraSingh Tomar) is phone callaway for talks," Joshi said quot-ing Modi. Emphasising on theneed for smooth functioning ofParliament, Modi said smallerparties suffer the most due todisruptions as they do not getchance to raise their issues.

"It is for the bigger parties toensure Parliament functionssmoothly, there are no disrup-tions and thus, the smaller par-ties are able to voice theirviews in Parliament," Joshisaid citing Modi's remarks.

Just phone call away fortalks with farmers: Modi Postponment offer on farm laws still stands says PM in all-party meeting

The all-party meetingis convened for thegovernment to putforth its legislativeagenda beforepolitical parties.Leaders from variousparties flag issuesthey wish to raiseduring the meeting.

OBTUSE ANGLE

PNS n HYDERABAD

Lok Sabha member fromMalkajgiri Revanth Reddy, whois on his way to Rythu Deeksha,has expressed his dissatisfactionover Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao's attitudetowards farmers, and calledKCR 'a saboteur" for not boy-cotting President RamanthKovind's address to a joint sit-ting of Parliament in thebudget session.

Although 18 parties boy-cotted the President'saddress, KCRwas sitting onModi's lap, heremarked,w h i l eaddressingmedia at a

guest house in Jaasti Sivanur vil-lage in Narsingi mandal ofRangareddy district onSaturday. Revanth Reddy saidthat 18 parties, led by Congress,boycotted the joint address bythe President to express theirsolidarity with the cause of thefarmers. But KCR toedNarendra Modi's line andended up a saboteur.

The Congress would contin-ue the Rajiv Rythu

Bharosa agitation tillModi withdrew hisagricultural laws, hesaid. The farmers had

been agitating,demanding with-drawal of thelaws.

MARTHI SUBRAHMANYAMn VIJAYAWADA

Even as candidates began fil-ing their papers for the firstphase of gram panchayat elec-tions in Andhra Pradesh onSaturday, the focus remainsfirmly on the tussle betweenState Election CommissionerNimmagadda Ramesh Kumarand the YSRCP government,with almost every stakehold-er eagerly waiting for either ofthe two parties to make thenext move.

So far, Ramesh Kumar hascome out trumps against theState government by havingsucceeded in getting the grampanchayat poll process under-way. However, the more inter-esting questions have more to

do with what will happenafter the polls conclude.

Who will compensate forthe loss of 45 days of serviceof the SEC? Will the Governorintervene in making good theloss of 45 days of service? WillRamesh Kumar approach theHigh Court in the matter?

22

2

PNS n HYDERABAD

A section of governmentemployees in Telugu States areseething with anger againstthe behaviour of certain lead-ers of staff unions for "prostrat-ing before rulers" and jockey-ing for positions, instead offighting for the rights ofemployees. These union lead-ers have been deriving unduebenefits out of their position bybecoming "too loyal to thestate government" concerned,

they bemoaned. The employees are sore that

their leaders have been ignor-ing staff problems. At onetime, rulers used to dreadunion leaders. In sharp con-trast, today's rulers ignoredunion leaders. Such leaderswere being denied entry to theofficial chambers of the rulers,they pointed out.

Instead of bringing the rulersto their knees on problemsconcerning employees, theunion leaders were kneeling

before the powers that be, theyobserved.

The importance that therulers gave to the employees'union leaders could be gaugedby how many times the Chief

Ministers Telugu states hadgiven appointment to theunion leaders, the employeesremarked with biting sarcasm.

Efforts of the union leadersto win appreciation of therulers by clinging to the CMOand CM's camp office areattracting flak from employees.During the tenure of theirunion leaders Purna ChandraRao, PV Ramanaiah, Vithaland K Lakshmaiah, there wereinstances of rulers dreading theunion leaders, the employees

recall. Employees of the Andhra

Pradesh government expressedconcern over the image beingcreated among the publicbecause of the union leaders'caste-related bias. People werelikely to treat the employeesfrom the perspective of a par-ticular political outfit, theyobserved. They criticised theirleaders for becoming troubleshooters for the government.

Staff resent union leaders prostrating before rulers

Will Nimmagaddaget extension?Political circles abuzz over compensatingSEC for the loss of 45 days of service

Revanth calls KCR a saboteur CS pays surprise visit to urban clinic

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for Health EatalaRajender on Saturday handedover a copy of the governmentorder appointing Pavani,widow of Bhadradri-Kothagudem district deputyDMHO Dr Naresh, as aGroup-I rank administrativeofficer in the Office of theDirector of Public Health.

The Health Minister toldher that she got the job due tothe initiative taken by ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao and advised her to earngood name by working hard.

It may be recalled that DrNaresh died of COVID-19recently.

Pavani thanked the ChiefMinister and the HealthMinister for appointing her asa gazetted officer on compas-sionate grounds, which shesaid was unprecedented inthe history of the Medicaland Health Department.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Over 37 lakh healthcare work-ers have been vaccinatedagainst COVID-19 till now, theHealth Ministry said onSaturday. On the fifteenth dayof vaccination on Saturday,2,06,130 beneficiaries werevaccinated and 71 adverseevents following immunization(AEFIs) were reported."Thecumulative number of health-care workers vaccinated againstCOVID-19 is 37,06,157 (as at7 pm Saturday), as per the pro-visional report," the ministrysaid in a statement. Of the37,06,157 beneficiaries, thehighest number of people werevaccinated in Uttar Pradesh at4,63,793 followed by Rajasthanat 3,26,745, Karnataka at3,15,343, Madhya Pradesh at2,73,872 and Maharashtra at2,69,064.

PNS n MADURAI

BJP national president J PNadda on Saturday said hisparty's alliance with theAIADMK would continue forthe assembly elections, due inTamil Nadu in a few months.Both parties would face thepolls together, he said, address-ing a public meeting, his firstin the run up to the Assemblyelections expectedin April orearly May. He said PrimeMinister Narendra Modi facil-itated projects like the defencecorridor for Tamil Nadu whilethe state was 'ignored' duringthe Congress-led UnitedProgressive Alliance regime.

Praising Tamil as theworld's oldest language,Nadda, who is here on a oneday visit, said when the rightperson assumed the rightplace, it led to right decisions.

After Prime MinisterNarendra Modi assumed thetop office, a 'safe destiny'was assured for the nationand Tamil Nadu as well, hesaid. Be it projects like thedefence corridor or allocationof funds for Tamil Nadu, thesituation changed only afterthe BJP came to power at theCentre, he said.

Over 37 lakhvaccinated tillnow: Health Min

Wife of deputy DM&HOgiven gazetted officer's job

PNS n NEW DELHI

Media bodies Saturday con-demned the filing of seditioncharges against six senior jour-nalists and editors for theirreporting on the farmers' trac-tor parade and the ensuingviolence here on RepublicDay, alleging the situation inthe country is akin to an"undeclared emergency".

At a 'protest meeting' heldhere, a number of media bod-ies including the Press Club ofIndia, Editors Guild of India,Indian Women's Press Corps(IWPC), Delhi Union ofJournalists (DUJ) and IndianJournalists Union (IJU) con-demned the "practice of filing

sedition charges against jour-nalists".

Senior journalist and pres-ident of the Press Club of IndiaAnand Sahay alleged the cur-rent government "does notcare for the notion of democ-racy" as the smallest voice ofcriticism may land people injail.

"Today the atmosphere issuch, it's so poisonous, sotoxic that anyone who wantsto go to the court perhaps is afool. You know what the resultis going to be. Even during theemergency, rules against jour-nalists were not so harsh, Idon't recall anybody going infor sedition," Sahay said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

CPI on Saturday said the NDAgovernment repealing thethree new farm laws, as isbeing sought by the protestingfarmers, is the only way for-ward and demanded that thegovernment resolve the issuethrough talks.

"We demand that the gov-ernment withdraw the threefarm laws and the power (sec-tor) legislation, as sought bythe farmers, is the only wayforward. Our party feels thatthe farmers who are peaceful-ly protesting should not bechased away," former CPIGeneral Secretary S SudhakarReddy told reporters here.

Observing that it is the rightof the farmers to protest peace-

fully, he said the ryots shouldbe allowed to continue theprotest and the governmentshould try to resolve the issuethrough talks.

Reddy was speaking on thedeliberations of the ongoingCPI National Council meet-ings here.

He alleged a conspiracy bythe ruling BJP to weaken the

ongoing farmers' stir withregard to developments onthe Republic Day.

"Tractors were let into Delhicity from borders other thanSinghi. How did the tractorsreach the Red Fort when therewere 6,000 policemen and theother security forces? Howdid they unfurl the flags? It canbe clearly understood that allthese are a conspiracy," hesaid.

This was exposed whenfarmers' leaders cracked theconspiracy, he claimed.

Who informed TV channelsthat the tractor rally, which wassupposed to start after 11 AM,would start at 6 AM, he asked.

TV channels reached thespot, he said.

Repeal farm laws tells CPI‘Undeclared emergency':Media bodies fume

Nadda affirmsalliance withAIADMK

PNS n NEW DELHI

Agitating farmer leaders helda day-long fast at variousprotest sites on Delhi's borderson Mahatma Gandhi's deathanniversary on Saturday asthe stir against the agri lawsappeared to regain momentumafter rallying support fromthe agricultural communityof the crucial western UttarPradesh region. More farmersgathered at Gazipur, on theDelhi-Meerut highway, thathas now become the new focalpoint of the stir, while unionleaders claimed that protesterswere also heading back toSinghu and Tikri borders.

Farmer leadersobserve fast

PNS n HYDERABAD

TS Chief Secretary SomeshKumar on Saturday asked offi-cials to record and uploaddetails of patients' health con-dition as well as stock positionof medicines in urban clinicsfrom time to time.

The CS made a surprisevisit to an urban clinic atManyawar slum in Asifnagarand asked the personnel thereto register details of availabil-ity of stocks of medicines intheir computer.

Somesh asked Medical andHealth secretary Rizvi toensure that the clinic is keptopen on Sundays, consideringthat mostly poor patients visitthe clinic. He asked the clinicpersonnel to take some other

day off, instead of Sundays. The CS visited the diagnos-

tic services centre there andexpressed his satisfaction at

its functioning. He asked themedical officer and otherpersonnel to work more effi-ciently.

22

22

THE MAN WHO STOODUP TO INDIRA’S

EMERGENCY

5

Police, farmersboth to blamefor mayhem

2

Delhi Court abates criminalproceedingsagainst Vora

2 2

2

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(IN HYDERABAD)

The farmers’ agitationoutside Delhi was des-tined to run into a grid-

lock the moment its leaderssummarily rejected the gov-ernment’s offer for keepingthe contentious farm laws inabeyance for 18 months. As ifthat was not sufficient recipefor disaster, riotous mobs,under the garb of farmers, lib-erally interspersed withlumpen elements, overranparts of the national capital onRepublic Day.

Hoisting any flag, includingNishan Sahib -- Sikhs’ reli-gious symbol, is unacceptableas the iconic Red Fort hasplace only for the Indian flagand nothing else. Attributingthe desecration of the tri-colour -- symbol of pride andsovereignty --to the handi-work of unknown elementsout to trigger conflict or even

to a known person like actorDeep Sidhu, known to beBJP-friendly, does not cut ice.

Hoisting the Nishan Sahibatop the Red Fort was high onthe agenda of the Punjab-based Kisan MazdoorSangharsh Samithi headed byformer CPM activist SatnamSingh Pannu, one of the 30-odd groups jointly spearhead-ing the agitation. YogendraYadav of Jai KisanAndolan, ina lengthy Facebook post todefend his name after thetsunami of flak he received,revealed the outfit’s planswhich it had mooted at acoordination committeemeeting. The proposal wasshot down by others. It insist-ed upon entering the RingRoad, which it ultimately didwith police allowing its mem-bers to gather ahead of thebarricade and not behind,Yadav alleges. The Ring Roadopened the way to the RedFort, and the rest is shameful

history. Seasoned kisan leaders like

Rakesh Tikhait, who com-mand influence in largeswathes of western UttarPradesh, Punjab or Haryana,perhaps in their bravado, hadforgotten that it is relativelyeasy to launch an agitationand difficult to decide whento end it. After 10 rounds ofnegotiations, a way out wasshown by the Centre. Thekisan leaders could alwaysbargain for keeping the threefarm laws in abeyance for twoyears and begin track twonegotiations. They also reject-

ed the Supreme Court’s sug-gestion for appointing a four-member committee of expertsto resolve the crisis and allayfears, real or imagined, offarmers particularly in Punjaband Haryana that marketcommittees were being doneaway with.

To shoot an arrow, thearcher takes a step back. Bynot exercising these optionsand after the destruction ofproperty, the insult caused tonational symbols and theinjuries to 394 cops, themovement stands discredited.Further defiance by continu-

ing the protest on Delhi’sborders would be counterpro-ductive as locals of Singhuhave already turned againstthem as scores of industriesnearby have been forced toshut down.

Any negotiation across thetable is meant to hammer outa mutually acceptable settle-ment. Laws, however flawed,cannot be overturned through

protests on the streets or inthe conference rooms ofVigyan Bhavan. An element ofconsensus between farmersand government and laterbetween political parties andthe Centre is necessary. Thisrequires time and patience butthe farmers spurned theSupreme Court’s initiative tocreate a congenial atmos-phere and assuage their hurtfeelings.

The Delhi police had in itspossession intelligence reportsthat rogue elements may dis-rupt the tractor parade, but itdid not respond adequately. Italso hasn’t given a credibleexplanation why it allowed20,000 diesel-guzzling tractorsinto the heart of the capital ona day when top constitution-al functionaries, diplomatsand others would be criss-crossing the city. Top courtshave their fingers on the trig-ger, and rightly so, againstanything that muddies the air

further in the world’s mostpolluted city.

Apparently, the BJP govern-ment had a larger design toensure that the farmers’ agi-tation is handled with kidgloves so as to obviate anynegative fallout on the party’sprospects in the upcomingAssembly elections in WestBengal, Assam, Tamil Naduand Pondicherry as well as insome more States later.

The other strategy,‘Chanakya neeti’, if you will,was to allow the movement tofall from grace by giving a freerun to rogue organisationsand individuals. This is no fig-ment of imagination becausethe police force proved itselftotally inadequate whenhordes of farmers reachedthe ramparts of the Red Fort.

It cannot legitimately beanybody’s case that the agitat-ing farmers are anti-nationalelements or that the vandal-ism was pre-planned. An out-

fit like the US-based pro-Khalistan Sikhs For Justice(SFJ), which announcedrewards for hoisting its flag onthe Red Fort, India Gate andParliament building, indeedcaused confusion, though itwasn’t part of the umbrellao r g a n i s a t i o n ,SamyuktaKisanMorcha. But,Morcha leadership must beheld accountable for failure tomake their presence felt whereand when it was needed most– the rally routes on RepublicDay- to rein in tractors andmen going astray.

The tears shed by RakeshTikaitand, his threat to com-mit suicide have struck achord among his followers inwestern UP who have reachedGhazipur in thousands.

The farmers have re-grouped and are gearing foranother showdown. Violenceundermines the moralauthority of any leadershipand any movement because itovershadows the cause.Having lost the plot in roundone, the farmers have a longhaul in round two.

S NAGESH KUMARFormer Resident Editor,

The Hindu

Any negotiation across the table ismeant to hammer out a mutuallyacceptable settlement. Laws, howeverflawed, cannot be overturned throughprotests on the streets or in theconference rooms of Vigyan Bhavan

‘ALL ANDSUNDRY’

Police, farmers both to blame for mayhem

ANUSHA PUPPALA

n HYDERABAD

Necessity is the mother ofinvention, taking a cue fromthat adage, an environmentalengineer from the SuryapetMunicipality made acupres-sure tiles with recycled plasticcarry bags and fixed them in aresource park in the town.

With an aim to utilise plas-tic waste, 30-year-old C ShivaPrasad made these acupressuretiles from plastic carry bags,which were collected fromhouseholds, open land areas,streets and water bodies.

He turned plastic carry bagsinto tiles and bricks with thehelp of small stones/rubbergranules and compressed themwith an iron frame of brick andtile model, which can be usednot only in gardens, but also

can be used for acupressure forstress relief. Plastic waste is col-lected, cleaned, segregated and

dried for further processing.When heated at higher temper-atures, plastic waste comes out

as granules, which are sold toplastic manufacturers. Thegranules are tuned to a shape

and used as bricks and tiles tobe used for different purposes.Iron frames are used to shapethe heated plastic granules andturned into useful plastic again.Plastic tiles can be used for lay-ing the footpath and can be alsoused as a track path in publicparks.

Commissioner and Directorof Municipal Administrationof Telangana Satyanarayanacomplimented Shiva Prasadand said that this would besubmitted for an award underthe 'Innovation' category byULBs for Swachh Survekshan-2021. Shiva Prasad speaking toThe Pioneer said, "WheneverI go for walking in the morn-ing, I observe open dumpingand garbage with plastic carrybags. Cows and buffaloes andstray dogs eating the wastewith plastic, along with carry

bags, which is dangerous forthese animals. So, I got thisinnovative idea by convertingused plastic carry bags intotiles and bricks, which can beused for fixing around plants,for home needs and otherconstruction purposes and thisway we can save the environ-ment".

Elaborating further he said,"I got an idea of using these tilesfor acupressure then I trieddaily. I used to stand and walkon these tiles for 10 to 15 min-utes, and I was relieved ofstress. Also, these tiles are veryeconomical and are useful inour daily life. Even sanitationworkers will benefit by walkingon these healthy recycled tiles.But, my main aim is to protectstreet animals and dogs andalso to protect the environmentfrom plastic carry bags.”

Engineer makes tiles out of plastic bags

Shiva Prasad, an environmental engineer from Suryapet Municipality, displays bricksand tiles made out of plastic carry bags

A municipal worker stands on a tile

Continued from Page 1

The administrationremained on high alert withInternet services temporarilysuspended at the Singhu,Gazipur, and Tikri borders ofthe national capital, as well asthe adjoining areas. Haryanahas already suspended theinternet in 14 districts.

Security personnel, includ-ing from anti-riot police andparamilitary forces, weredeployed in strength.Multiplelayers of barricades includingconcrete blocks were beingput at the protest sites.

Wearing garlands, thefarmer leaders, who had calledfor observing 'SadbhavanaDiwas' (Harmony Day) onSaturday after the immenseoutrage over violence by pro-testers during their Republic

Day tractor rally, sat on thedais during the fast, as crowdsof supporters swelled, especial-ly in Gazipur where theBharatiya Kisan Union is lead-ing the protest.

Addressing the protesters inGazipur, BKU leader RakeshTikait, whose emotionalappeal had galvanised farmersfrom Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand to flock to theprotest site, said they havefought this battle for over twomonths now, and "they won'trelent or retreat".

"The movement was and isstrong," BKU's Meerut Zonepresident Pawan Khatana said,a day after tens of thousandsof farmers from politicallysensitive western UttarPradesh had gathered inMuzaffarnagar to participatein a mahapanchayat in a mas-

sive outpouring of supportfor the Bharatiya Kisan Union-led protest.

Till now, the agitation wasseen as mainly being led byPunjab-based farmer unions.

A multitude of green-and-white caps, symbolic of theunions spearheading the bat-tle, union flags and the tri-colour, planted on tractors,dotted the highway On varioustractors and camps, photos oflegendary farmer leaders suchas Chaudhary Charan Singhand Mahendra Singh Tikaithave been put up. Khatana,who is at the demonstrationsite with Tikait, said therehas been continuous supportfor the "peaceful protest"against the farmers' demandfor removal of the new agrilaws. "This is not a politicalprotest. Anybody who shares

the ideology of the BKU andRakesh Tikait is welcome here.But it is our appeal to thosewho do not wish to supportthe movement till the endthat please do not come onlyto leave in between," he said.

Several opposition partiesincluding the Congress, TMCAAP, RLD and the Left haveopenly supported the stir.

Abhimanyu Kohar, a seniormember of Samkyukt KisanMorcha which is an umbrellabody of farmer unions, saidthe ongoing agitation will gainstrength as farmers in largenumbers will join them in thecoming days.

Farmer leader Balbir SinghRajewal said in Chandigarhthat he expects a record gath-ering by February 2 at the bor-der points of Delhi. "People inlarge numbers from Punjab,

Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan and Uttarakhandare reaching the protest sites,"Rajewal claimed.

The president of theBharatiya Kisan Union(Rajewal) also condemned theviolence in Delhi on theRepublic Day and said it wasunfortunate. "Possibly byFebruary 2, there will again bea record gathering of people atthe protest sites," he said,adding that the agitationwould remain peaceful.

Rajewal also criticised theHaryana government for sus-pending internet services.

He accused the Centre ofinstilling a sense of fear amongpeople by showing pictures ofthe "unfortunate incidents",apparently referring to theJanuary 26 violence in thenational capital.

Continued from Page 1

This culture, they main-tained, originated during theChandrababu Naidu's regime,and was continuing in the pre-sent Jaganmohan Reddyregime.

They recall how, under theleadership of competent unionleaders, employees struckwork for 40 days during theNTR regime in support of staffdemands relating to PRC,wages, Interim Relief and soon. In fact, when the employ-ees observed strike duringKasu Brahmananda Reddy'sregime for 56 days, the govern-ment was brought to its knees,forcing it to increase employ-ees' salaries.

They recalled how formerCM NTR staged protest in theSecretariat finding fault withthe union leaders barging intohis chambers and causingdamage to flower pots there.

During the ChandrababuNaidu regime, union leaderPV Ramanaiah was draftedinto the TDP and given aprominent posting.Subsequently, several districtlevel leaders also joined the

TDP, they said. During Kiran Kumar

Reddy's regime as the ChiefMinister, some of the unionleaders lobbied with him on alarge scale in the name of'United AP Movement'. Two ofthe union leaders derived ben-efit directly from the CM,they alleged. They pointed outhow employees' union leadersSrinivas Goud, Swamy Goud,Devi Prasad, Vithal and so onwere 'honoured with' MLA,MLC and nominated posts.

Similarly, there were manyleaders of staff unions who arefavourably disposed to theruling party with an eye onsecuring positions of profit,they mentioned.

In AP, Chandrababu Naiduhonoured NGO leader AshokBabu with MLC post. DuringBabu's regime, union leadersused to be present frequentlyin the CMO and CM's Campoffice, they alleged.

Employees' union leaderstook part in TDP leaders'protests held in Delhi and alsoin Vijayawada for SpecialCategory Status to AP andbecame target of criticism,they observed.

Will Nimmagadda get...Continued from Page 1

In fact, some even askwhether Ramesh Kumar gets aservice extension of threemonths?

Though the last query mayappear slightly far-fetchedgoing by the animositybetween the State governmentand the SEC, the fact remainsthat these are the questionsthat are doing rounds in offi-cial and political circles inAndhra Pradesh.

Dismissing Ramesh Kumarunceremoniously from ser-vice, the YSRCP governmentreplaced him with Tamil Nadu

former judge Justice VKanagaraj, who held the officefor 45 days till the former gotcourt orders for his reinstate-ment in the constitutionalpost. Earlier, Ramesh Kumarworked in the Raj Bhavanwhen ESL Narasimhan was theGovernor of the Telugu states.

Coming under the pressurefrom Narasimhan, the thenchief minister N ChandrababuNaidu, rather reluctantly,issued a GO appointingRamesh Kumar as the SEC.

Naidu did not like to havehim in the office of the SEC forthe reason that he was knownto be close to Lakshmi

Parvathi, the wife of NTR.However, Naidu was unable toturn down the recommenda-tions of the Governor andRamesh Kumar assumedcharge as SEC on April 1,2016. After the 2019 elections,the YSRCP, led by YSJaganmohan Reddy, formedthe government. The YSRCPgovernment paved the wayfor the exit of Ramesh Kumarfrom service on April 10 lastyear, angry at the stand takenby the SEC in the conduct oflocal body elections. Almostovernight, the governmentbrought in former judge JusticeKanagaraj in his place.

Continued from Page 1

The all-party meeting is con-vened for the government toput forth its legislative agen-da before political parties.Leaders from various partiesflag issues they wish to raiseduring the meeting.

The prime minister alsocondemned the vandalismof Mahatma Gandhi's statuein California in the US, theparliamentary affairs minis-ter said.

At Friday's meeting, vari-ous leaders includingGhulam Nabi Azad ofCongress, SudipBandyopadhyay of TrinamoolCongress, Balwinder SinghBhunder of Shiromani AkaliDal and Vinayak Raut ofShiv Sena raised the issue ofprotesting farmers, sourcessaid.

All major opposition par-ties sought discussions onfarmers' issues during themeeting.

While almost all opposi-tion parties condemned theviolence and vandalism atRed fort by a group ofprotesting farmers onRepublic Day, they assertedthat other farmers protestingpeacefully should not be heldresponsible for it.

Meanwhile, the BJDdemanded the passage ofwomen's reservation bill dur-ing the budget session whichwas supported by the YSRCongress and the TRS.

TMC's Bandyopadhyaysaid boycott of President'saddress by 20 opposition par-ties was a strong message forthe government to withdrawthe farm laws, the sourcessaid.

Continued from Page 1

Nadda recalled that Modihad quoted a couplet from'Tirukkural' to soldiers atLadakh and also cited thePrime Minister's 'YaadumOorey' reference of Tamilpoet Kaniyan Poongundranarin his speech at the UnitedNations General Assembly in2019. Dwelling on Tamil, hesaid the Tamil people had aunique combination of entre-preneurship, economic andcultural ethos.

The BJP top leader's Tamilpitch assumes significanceCongress leader RahulGandhi had some days backalleged that the saffron partyhad no respect for Tamil lan-guage and culture. Naddapraised Madurai as a 'piousland,' home of GoddessMeenakshi and recalled thelink the temple city has withMahatma Gandhi, who decid-ed to use only dhoti during hisvisit here. BJP Tamil Naduunit chief L Murugan said itwas his party's Vetri 'Vetri Vel'yatra that prompted DMKpresident M K Stalin to 'holda Vel' days ago.

Farmer leaders observe fast

Just phone call...

Staff resent union

leaders prostrating..

Nadda affirmsalliance withAIADMK

Continued from Page 1

On Thursday, the UttarPradesh and Madhya PradeshPolice filed FIR for seditionagainst journalists MrinalPande, Rajdeep Sardesai, ZafarAgha, Paresh Nath, AnantNath, Vinod K Jose for report-ing on the farmers' protestrallies and the ensuing violencethat took place in the nationalcapital on January 26.

Sahay also named some of

the journalists who have beenproceeded against in the recenttimes including SiddiqueKappan from Kerala, KishoreChandra Wangkhem fromManipur, Dhaval Patel fromGujarat, Rahul Kulkarni fromMaharashtra, and Vinod Dua.

DUJ president S K Pandealleged the situation was like an"undeclared emergency .

What is happening today isa situation which is an unde-clared emergency. People have

seen what the emergency was,we are heading for somethingworse, where if you raise thevoice against the powers thatare you will be targetedwhether through sedition, orfiling of FIRs so that you losedesire to fight or feel compelledto call it a day.

"From journalists, to farm-ers, to trade unionists, to artists,to writers and intellectuals allof them are facing a lockdownof the mouth," Pande alleged.

Editors Guild presidentSeema Mustafa said the gov-ernment's action against jour-nalists are meant to "intimidateand harass" them.

"This is only being done tointimidate, harass, victimisethe journalists against whomthese cases are being filed. Butalso to terrorise the profession-als as well, to make you thinktwice, to make you afraid ofdoing your job, to be worriedevery time you write, to be

looking over your shoulder,and then of course the editors,the proprietors those who con-trol the news to be very reluc-tant in reporting the news as itis," Mustafa said.

S N Sinha of IJU recalled arecent incident where journal-ists from Kanpur in UttarPradesh were charged forreporting on a yoga function.He said that journalists were"society's watchdogs, not thegovernment's lap dogs".

‘Undeclared emergency: Media...

Continued from Page 1

Instead of supporting farm-ers, KCR sided with Modi, healleged. BJP MP DharmapuriArvind had promisedTurmeric Board "within fivedays of coming to power", butthe board could not materi-alise even two years after hebecame the MP, he observed.

The farmers were on thewar path against Modi, he said,while pledging full support ofthe Congress to the farmers'bodies.

Continued from Page 1

Pavani's father Satyanara-yana, her children Sanjani andSarani and Telangana Public

Health Doctors' Associationpresident Dr Katti Janardhan,secretary-general Dr PurnaChander and others were pre-sent on the occasion.

Revanth calls KCR asaboteur

Wife of deputy DM&HO given gazetted...

Continued from Page 1

The ministry noted thatIndia is the fastest country toreach not only the one mil-lion target but also two mil-lion and three million marksin COVID-19 vaccination.

Several other countrieswhich have had a head start,some as much as 40-50 days,have taken a longer time toreach these targets, it said.

Over 37 lakhvaccinatedtill now:Health Min

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 31, 2021 hyderabad 03

The Centre for Distance and VirtualLearning (CDVL), University ofHyderabad is inviting applications

for the various one year Diplomaprogrammes offered through blendedmode. All the courses are approvedby the UGC/ AICTE/ DEC Jointcommittee. These courses include oneyear duration programmes offered for the benefit of graduates asadd on programme at PG level in Business Management, ProjectManagement, Cyber Laws, Forensic Science, Infection Preventionand Control, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, LibraryAutomation Networking, Communicative English and other skill up-gradation programmes jointly with NIRD; ICAR-NAARM; BSNL-NATFM and Apollo MedSkills. The students who are alreadypursuing their full-time courses can also join these programmessimultaneously. The admitted students will be given well preparedstudy material soft copy/ hard copy.

CITY LIGHTS

Cyberabad police launched theinitiative 'Old But Not Alone'with an objective to assist the

senior citizens who have beensuffering due to age factors anddue to pandemic. The initiativeserves as a platform for directcommunication between police andsenior citizens. The initiative would not only empower the seniorcitizens with new confidence within them with the kind of servicesand facilities available to them but would also build a safe andsecure environment for them where they can live in harmony.Addressing on the launch of the programme Commissioner ofPolice, Cyberabad VC Sajjanar, IPS said, "Old age is one of thetoughest phase in an indivudal's life. During pandemic of Covid itwas the senior citizens who were badly affected. However, throughthis initiative we want to reach out to each and every senior citizenand ensure things which they need is provided to them. If we do ourbit this will motivate others to do their part and this in turn and bythis we can reach out to each of the 10.4 crores."

Cyb police launch ‘old but not alone' to serve senior citizens

Aretirement function wasconducted for the employeesof Secretariat at BRKR Bhavan

on Saturday. Chief SecretarySomesh Kumar presided over thefunction. While speaking on theoccasion, Chief Secretarymentioned that Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao, directed that all employees should be treatedwith dignity and proper retirement function to be conducted in abefitting manner. Accordingly for the first time, retirement functionwas conducted for 7 employees who retired in different departmentsat BRKR Bhavan. All the secretaries of which the employees retiringin the departments participated in the function. He also directed toprepare standard operating Protocol to be followed for suchfunctions to be held in future. Chief Secretary praised the servicesof employees retired today.

All employees should betreated with dignity: CS

Synchrony, a premierconsumer financial servicesprovided Rs 50 lakhs to the

Telangana CM Relief Fund tosupport the development work inthe state. The funds will helpprovide financial assistance forreconstruction and rehabilitationefforts initiated by the stategovernment for the welfare of the people. Speaking on theoccasion, Andy Ponneri, senior vice president of Synchrony said,"The donation to the CM Relief Fund is directed towards helpingwith the repair and rehabilitation work in the state and supportingthe local communities." Synchrony believes strongly in improvingthe communities in which the company operates, and in 2016launched the philanthropic program, Synchrony Families ThatWork. This program has enabled the company to make importantcontributions to Hyderabad and its people through varied projectsfocused on economic security, special programs and training,community outreach, and safety practices.

UoH invited applications for 1 year Diploma programmes

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana joined the Nation inpaying glowing tributes to Fatherof the Nation Mahatma Gandhi onhis 73rd death anniversary onSaturday.

The day is also observed asMartyrs Day to remember allthose people who had madesupreme sacrifices for the freedomof the country. Political leadersand the public garlanded the stat-ues of Gandhi across the state.

Gandhi followers organisedfunctions and rendered the

favourite bhajans of Gandhi like"Vaishno bhajan tho..." and

"Raghupathi Raghava Raja Ram"in some parts of the state.

"Mahatama Gandhi, the fatherof the nation, showed a new wayof campaigning with his weaponsof prayer, request and protest tothe world and emerged as anexemplary person," said ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

The Chief Minister saidGandhiji's nonviolence and satya-graha rejuvenated India's freedommovement and even sacrificed hislife for the country.

Chandrasekhar Rao saidGandhiji's life proclaims that truthis the ultimate winner. GovernorDr Tamilisai Soundararajan,

Municipal Administration andUrban Development Minister KTRama Rao, Himachal PradeshGovernor Bandaru Dattatreya andothers paid floral to Gandhiji atBapu Ghat in the city.

In a show of respect to thememories of Mahatma Gandhi,the political leaders and the pub-lic have observed two-minutesilence in the city on Saturday.

The motorists were stopped bythe traffic police at traffic signalsaround 11 am observing thesilence as a mark of respect to thefather of the nation.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad policearrested four personsincluding directors of twofinancing firms fromBengaluru on charges oflending instant loans andharassing customers hereon Saturday.

The accused were iden-tified as Niranjan

Umapathy, Yeshi Gytso,Nyichak Dhondup andUsha,

According to the police,the offenders establish-edcall centre in the names ofWater Elephant Finan-cialServices Pvt Limited andBeadwallet TechnologiesPvt Ltd in Bangalore andlured customers with inst-ant loans and then resort-

ed to harassment to getrepayments. One such vic-tim approached the policeand lodged a complaint,following which a casewas booked and investi-gation taken up.

“They established callcentres at Koramangalain Bengaluru and provid-ed instant loans throughapps. They then harassed

debtors by making callsusing virtual apps,” saidAvinash Mohanty, JointCommissioner of Police.

It was found that twoChinese nationals, CheenWu, the CEO and AndyLu Wenjie, Vice Presidentof the companies wereinvolved in the operation.Efforts are on to nab them,police officials said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Despite the police taking sternaction against traffickers, chil-dren are continued to beemployed as labourers in thestate.

As many as 3178 childrenwere rescued as a part ofOperation Smile by theTelangana police in this monthalone as per the data releasedby the Telangana state police onSaturday.

The police carry out rescueoperations twice a year, inJanuary and in July.

Speaking on the occasion ofreleasing the data on rescuedchildren in Operation smileVII, Director General of PoliceM Mahendar Reddy said,"Stringent action should betaken against offendersindulging in human traffickingand employing children aslabour for meager salary."

Mahendar Reddy alsoinstructed the official to comeup with an application to coor-dinate with different officialsfor rehabilitation of rescuedchildren and reuniting themwith their parents in a hasslefree manner.

In the VII edition of

Operation Smile, the childrenrescued include 2,679 minorboys and 499 minor girls. Ofthem 2,188 traced childrenwere reunited with their par-ents and 990 children were sentto rescue homes.

Further analysis of the res-cue children revealed 630 chil-

dren were working as bondedlabourers, 147 children wereworking as brick kiln workers,116 children were beggars, 717were street children and 1,768children were found as work-ing under various organisationsand establishments.

Throughout the state, total380 FIR's were registeredagainst the offenders.

Of those 380 cases registeredunder various Section of lawsincluding Child Labour Act,Bonded Labour Act, JuvenileJustice Act and as many as 442accused persons were arrested.

Overall 232 cases werebooked under Child LabourAct, where total 497 childrenwere rescued.

In addition to OperationSmile and Operation Muskan,Telangana police also formedspecial teams to deal withhuman trafficking, in variousdistricts and Commissionerates

throughout the state around 31Anti Human Trafficking Unithave been formed to curbHuman Trafficking who workround the year.

On the occasion MahendarReddy released a book onOperation Smile VII, Further,awarded police officer whoworked hard to rescue childrenand were successful. The DGPappreciated the police officerswho participated in theOperation in spite of Covid.

Meanwhile, Hyderabadpolice have rescued around 388children as a Part of OperationSmile by the Hyderabad policein this month. In addition tothat 61 FIRs were registeredagainst offenders.

Of the rescued 388 chil-dren, 344 were boys and 44were girls. In addition 55 beg-gar children were rescued, outof them 28 were boys and 27were girls.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana has reported 186new Covid positive cases, rais-ing the state's tally over 2.94lakh, even as 367 morepatients recovered from thevirus to outnumber new infec-tions in the past 24 hours, offi-cial data showed on Saturday.

Hyderabad accounted forthe highest number of 34 newinfections in the past 24 hours,followed by Rangareddy (12),Karimnagar (11), MedchalMalkajgiri and WarangalUrban (10 each).

Among other places, Nalg-onda (8), Jagityal, Mancherial,Peddapalli and Sangareddy (7each), Khammam (6),Nizamabad, Rajanna Siricillaand Suryapet (5 each).

Though the total number ofcases crossed 2.94 lakh, activecases currently stood at 2,354,

higher than the neighbouringTelugu state of AndhraPradesh. Two more patientssuccumbed to the virus,increasing the state's toll to1,598.

Telangana's Covid fatalityrate currently stands at 0.54per cent, compared to thenational average of 1.4 percent. Propelled by 367 morerecoveries, total recoveriescrossed 2.9 lakh, narrowingthe gap between total casesand recoveries to around4,000. The southern state'srecovery rate is higher, 98.6per cent, than the nationalaverage of 96.9 per cent.

In the past 24 hours, thestate tested 33,088 more sam-ples for the virus, pushing upthe total number of tests tilldate to over 78.2 lakh. Per mil-lion population, the state hastested 2.1 lakh samples.

PNS n HYDERABAD

All arrangements have beenmade for pulse polio pro-gramme to be held on January31 (first round) and secondround on February 1 and 2.

In view of Covid pandemic,all relevant precautions havebeen taken. The vaccinatorsare being provided with sur-gical masks, hand sanitisersand disposable gloves at allpolio booths, mobile teamsand transit points, said KarunaVakati, Commissioner ofHealth and Family WelfareDepartment for Telangana onSaturday.

All the vaccinators areadvised to follow Covid appro-priate guidelines and behav-iour. They are further request-ed to avoid crowding andmaintain social distancing onbooth day and house-to-houseactivity.

The Health and FamilyWelfare Department ofTelangana has requested theparents to bring their childrento booths for administering

pulse polio drops. The benefi-ciaries shall be mobilised in astaggered manner to avoidcrowding at the booths.

The National ImmunisationDay (NID), commonly knownas pulse polio immunisationProgramme, was earlier sched-uled from 17 January but wasrescheduled in view of thecoronavirus vaccination driveacross the country.

"With the countrywide

Covid-19 vaccination drivescheduled to be rolled out on16 January, the MoHFW inconsultation with the office ofPresident of India has resched-uled the Polio vaccination dayto 31 January 2021," the Centrehad informed.

It has been reported that thecoronavirus vaccination maybe put on hold for the threedays when polio vaccinationdrive will be held.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a ghastly road accident, sixpersons were injured, leavingtwo of them critically injuredwhen the car in whih theywere travelling, hit a roadmedian on the Outer RingRoad (ORR) near HimayatSagar early on Saturday.

According to the police,the injured persons have beenidentified as Faizal, SamiShaz, Shahbaz, Faizal AliHussain, Faizan and Adnan,all residents of Tolichowkiand Himayat Nagar area. Thecondition of Adnan andFaizan is said to be critical.

The six youngsters fromTolichowki were going on theway to Shamshabad when thedriver lost control and ram-med the car first into an elec-tric post and road median.

Though air bags of theswift car bearing registra-tion number TS 12 EK 0298opened in time, six personswere injured in which twohave been admitted for crit-ical injuries.

Recoveries far outnumber fresh Covid cases in state

Arrangements in place for pulsepolio immunisation programme

Telangana pays rich tributes to Mahatma Gandhi

STAYING FIT

The third Annual Sports and Games Meet commenced on a grandnote at Police Parade Grounds in Cyberabad Police Commissionerate

on Saturday. Principal Secretary (Municipal Administration) ArvindKumar, top-ranked TT player Naina Jaiswal took part in the event andreceived salute from police sports persons of zones during a policeparade. Arvind Kumar appreciated Cyberabad Police Commissioner

VC Sajjanar for organising the meet. Sajjanar advised all the police personnel to stay fit and the only mantra for it was

to exercise daily for at least an hour.

Synchrony donates Rs 50 lakh to Telangana CM Relief Fund

Rachakonda PoliceCommissioner MaheshBhagwat on Saturday

called upon newly-recruitedpolice constables to breakstereotypes and act beyondgender compartments.Gender sensitive policeinstills assurance and safetyin women, he said.Speaking at a training sessionfor new constables ofRachakonda, Bhagwat said such training at the initial stage wouldhelp break stereotypes on gender issues and help recruits develop agender sensitive approach at the workplace as well as when dealingwith sexual violence and harassment. "The training intends toensure that the response of these police officers at the cutting edgelevel is appropriate in situations which warrant such sensibility andsensitivity. This would in turn increase the safety and assurancelevel in the perception of victims in particular and women in generalwhile interfacing with the police," he said.

CP: Break stereotypes and act beyond gender compartments

OPERATION SMILE

3K child labourers rescued in Jan

Instant loan apps: 4 more arrested

PNS n HYDERABAD

A couple was injured aftertheir hut caught fire acci-dentally at Kaladera area inMalakpet on Saturday.

The victims were identifiedas Md Mohammed Saab, 60,and his wife Begum, 56, liv-ing in a hut on the banks ofMusi river near Malakpet.

On Friday late night, whilethey were in deep sleep theirhut caught fire accidentallyand the couple who weresleeping in it received grievo-us burn injuries.

Immediately, the neighbo-urs rushed the victims toOsmania General Hospital(OGH) and informed Malak-pet police about the same. Atpresent the victims are under-going treatment in OGH andtheir condition is said to bestable.

Based on the compalintfrom victim's family, Malak-pet police booked a case andinvestigation is underway

Hut catches fire, 2 persons injured

Six injured, twocritically after carhits road median

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 31, 2021 hyderabad 04

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

Telangana State CooperativeApex Bank (TESCAB) chairmanKondur Ravinder Rao onSaturday inaugurated the newATM centre at Venkepalli ofSaidapur mandal on thepremises of KarimnagarDistrict Cooperative CentralBank (KDCC) Bank here onSaturday.Speaking on the occasion, hesaid that measures are beingtaken to provide betterservices in line with thechanging technology andmobile banking services willalso be made available to thecustomers by next March."Fertilizer shops and petrolbunks have also made the QRcode available for theconvenience of customers. Atone-time crop loans werelimited to Rs 500 to Rs 1,000,but now up to Rs 1,00,000 isbeing granted for an individual.He said the bank would set upfive more branches in thecoming days. Micro ATMservices will be expanded evenwhere there are no bankbranches.

CAPSULE

KDCC Bank toset up five more branches

PNS n NIZAMABAD

Grace Cancer Foundationand Indur Cancer Hospitalin partnership with theGovernment of Telanganaare organising the first of itskind year-long comprehen-sive mega cancer screeningdrive covering those above21 years in Nizamabad dis-trict.

The campaign was for-mally launched byNizamabad DistrictCollector Narayana Reddyon Saturday at the IndurCancer Hospital ahead ofWorld Cancer Day, whichwill be observed onFebruary 4. The thrust of thecamp is on screening ofnon-communicable diseases(NCDs) like diabetes, hyper-tension, heart health, obesi-ty and cancer.

Dr Pratima Raj, medicals u p e r i n t e n d e n t ,Government Hospital,Nizamabad, RajeshwarRao, MLC, Dr ChinnababuSunkavalli, CEO, GraceCancer Foundation, DrKandra Prasanth, CEO,Indur Cancer Hospital, Dr

Suri, medical superinten-dent, Indur CancerHospital, Kiran, BusinessAdvisor, Indur CancerHospital were present on theoccasion.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Narayana Reddy saidthere is no awareness in

rural areas on cancer andtreatment is inaccessible inremote places and has to goto Hyderabad for care,besides it is being expensivefor the rural folk. The ear-lier notion of cancer beingan urban disease is nomore true even rural pop-

ulation is being afflicted sig-nificantly. Dr ChinnababuSunkavalli said GraceCancer Foundation andIndur Cancer Hospital areinitiating the first of itskind cancer intensivescreening programme inthe Nizamabad district.

“Every day we willscreen at least 100 to 200people with the bus goingfrom village to village. Weare also getting excellentsupport from the govern-ment for this campaign.The best part is such non-communicable diseasescan be detected early. GraceCancer Foundation hasdone more than a thou-sand camps till now, fromthat we could detect atleast 15% of the populationbeing afflicted with dia-betes and hypertension.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC)Minorities Department chair-man Shaik Abdullah Sohail onSaturday demanded that thegovernment make an officialannouncement when the foun-dation stones for the recon-struction of two mosques anda temple on the Secretariatpremises, which were illegallydemolished in July 2020,would be laid.

Abdullah Sohail, in a mediastatement, said that neitherChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao nor hisministers made any officialannouncement of a date forlaying the foundation stone forthe reconstruction of demol-ished places of worship.

"The Chief Minister hasbeen dragging the issue sinceJuly 10, 2020, and he has dis-honoured several deadlinesfor laying the foundation forthe reconstruction on one pre-text, or the other. Severalorganisations and individualshave launched agitation seek-ing permission for the resump-tion of prayers at the sameplace where two mosquesstood in the Secretariat till they

were illegally demolished onthe intervening night of July 7and 8, 2020. Just to dilute theagitation and anger againstthe TRS, KCR apparentlydirected his ministers to holda meeting with the Muslimreligious leaders and set a newdeadline.

Strategically, neither KCRnor his ministers came onrecord to say that the founda-tion stone will be laid onFebruary 26. However, someleaders, who attended themeeting, are making thoseannouncements," he said.

Abdullah Sohail said that thenew deadline of February 26

was only aimed at buyingsome more time. "The notifi-cation for elections for twoMLC Graduates constituen-cies, Nagarjunasagar bypolland elections for Khammamand Warangal MunicipalCorporations are likely to beannounced in the next fewdays. It might take at least threeto four months for the comple-tion of these elections andtherefore, the TRS govern-ment will have an excuse ofModel Code of Conduct todelay the laying of foundationfor the reconstruction of placesof worship in the Secretariat.

RAJESH JAIN NIDARKAR

n HYDERABAD

Telangana is making rapidstrides in the situation wherethe real estate sector has falleninto a state of irreversibility dueto the Corona across the coun-try. The realty has grown asnever before in the past 10years. Housing and commercialcomplexes in all the eight majorcities of the country, includingDelhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai,have reportedly slowed downcompletely.

But, Hyderabad has made 90per cent progress in the short-est period. In the past sixmonths in the housing sector,nationwide openings have fall-en by 43 per cent and sales by54 per cent. But in Hyderabad,64 per cent of sales were record-ed.

Considering the construc-tion work in all the majorcities across the State, the cityof Greater Hyderabad has thehighest development.Construction is expandingrapidly in the twin cities eachyear. Construction work in thecapital city has not sloweddown despite heavy rains andfloods causing unpredictabledamage.

‘Baldiya’ disclosed that12,850 structures wereapproved across the GreaterHyderabad in 2020. Throughthis, the GHMC has received Rs786.50 crore revenue throughtaxes. In January 2021, theGHMC has issued permits forthe construction of approxi-mately 9,840 independenthouses and 1,550 apartments(group housing). In addition,town planning authorities haveapproved the construction of350 commercial complexes,165 high-rise residential build-

ings, 75 high-rise commercialbuildings, and multiplexes.

The construction sector inthe Greater Hyderabad is mak-ing progress as the Telanganagovernment is facilitating build-ing permits and granting per-mits on scheduled days.Development is booming withthe launch of the DevelopmentPermission ManagementSystem (DPMS), an onlinebuilding permit system, onJune 2, 2016. This policy wasdeveloped by the representa-tives of the leading companies

in the country. Issuance of lay-out permits, issuance of occu-pancy certificates and buildingpermits are fully enforcedonline.

Building permits are issuedin 21 days as part of the Ease ofDoing Business. Simplificationof building permit regulations,redressal of issues in the citylevel for development of realestate sector and reduction ofslabs have also contributed tothe development of this sector.

The real estate sector in theGreater Hyderabad has made

significant progress since theformation of the State. From2010 to 2014, approvals of5,72,657 SFTs were issued for733 commercial projects underthe GHMC limits. Permissionhas been granted for the con-struction of 10,43,550 SFTs for917 projects from 2015 to 2019.Permits were issued for 11,240housing projects from 2015 to2019 and during the same peri-od, 65,953 building permitswere issued.

The DevelopmentPermission ManagementSystem (DPMS) policy imple-mented under the GHMC lim-its has received special praisefrom the Central government.From 2010 to 2014, Rs 2,600crore revenue was generated,and from 2015 to 2019, 65,953permits were issued and rev-enue of Rs 3,900.55 crore wascollected.

C Shekhar Reddy, chairman,Indian Green Building Council,

urged the government to coop-erate in controlling materialprices. He appealed to theCentral and State governmentsto support this sector, whichprovides employment to mil-lions of families. He clarifiedthat the infrastructure inTelangana is many times high-er as compared to all Statesacross the country. As a result,the real estate sector is poised togrow in greater Hyderabad city.

G Ram Reddy, president,Telangana Real EstateDevelopers' Association, saidthat the real estate sector is mak-ing great strides under theHyderabad MetropolitanDevelopment Authority afterthe Corona. He said the sectorwould achieve 100 per cent pre-eminence in the next two tothree months. Constructioncosts will rise as prices for rawmaterial such as cement andsteel have been increased, hesaid.

Boom in Hyd realty as it shrugs-off Covidn C Shekhar Reddy, chairman, Indian Green Building Council,

clarified that the infrastructure in Telangana is many timeshigher as compared to all States across the country

n G Ram Reddy, president, Telangana Real Estate Developers'Association, said that the real estate sector is making greatstrides under the Hyderabad Metropolitan DevelopmentAuthority after the Corona

PNS n ARMOOR

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) WorkingPresident and MP A RevanthReddy slammed the BJP andTRS governments for theiranti-farmer policies andannounced that the Congressparty would fight for render-ing justice to farmers, espe-cially turmeric and jowar.

He offered to make allarrangements if the turmericfarmers wish to stage a protestat Jantar Mantar in NewDelhi, or another place toexert pressure on the BJPgovernment for setting up ofTurmeric Board.

He was addressing a mas-sive public meeting atArmoor in Nizamabad dis-trict on Saturday. Senior lead-ers, including former minis-ter and ex-Leader ofOpposition in LegislativeCouncil Mohammed AliShabbir, MLC T Jeevan Reddyand other senior leaders alsoaddressed the meeting.

Revanth Reddy said thatthe true abbreviation of BJPshould be 'Bharatiya JhootaParty'. "There are three liars inthe Telangana BJP, who cheat-ed the turmeric farmers ofNizamabad. The first liar isBJP National General

Secretary Ram Madhav. Hehad promised to set up aTurmeric Board and the min-imum support price for redjowar. However, after winningthe Lok Sabha elections, hevanished from the TelanganaState. "The second liar is BJPState president Bandi Sanjay.Whenever farmers ask himabout the Board, he chantsHindu-Muslim rhetoric as ifhe was the only Hindu inTelangana. The third liar isMP D Arvind. He hadpromised to resign from hispost if he fails to get approvalfor the Board five days afterthe election. Even after twoyears, he neither got theBoard nor he resigned from

his post," he reminded.According to the NationalCrime Records Bureau(NCRB) figures, as many as6,380 farmers committed sui-cide in the last six years, hepointed out. However, he saidnone of the families of thesefarmers got any compensationof Rs 6 lakh under the GO421. He said why the BJPleaders were not questioningthe Chief Minister for non-implementation of the GO.

He alleged that the TRSgovernment was diverting Rs10,000 crore every year fromthe agriculture budget. Thegovernment has stopped giv-ing subsidies for seeds,scrapped input subsidy, notimplementing crop insuranceand withdrew the scheme ofgiving agriculture equipmentfor farmers. While KCR is sys-tematically ruining the liveli-hood of farmers, BJP leadersare acting as mute spectators.

He said KCR did not provide26 lakh tonnes of fertilizers tofarmers, which he hadpromised in 2017.

Addressing the meeting,Shabbir Ali said that the newfarm laws would badly hit thesmall and marginal farmers,who constitute around85.86% of farmers inTelangana. He said smallfarmers having less than fiveacres of land possess 55.45%of the agricultural land hold-ings in the State.

He demanded that theChief Minister withdraw hisdecision to close the pro-curement centres. "KCR hadordered the closure of IKPand other procurement cen-tres citing new farm laws.Since the Supreme Court hasstayed the implementationof new farm laws, the Stategovernment should order therestoration of all procure-ment centres," he demanded.

Revanth offers to take fightof turmeric farmers to Delhi

PNS n NAGAR KURNOOL

Two persons were killed andthree others were injured ina road accident on theSrisailam Ghat Road inNallamala forest area ofNagar Kurnool district onSaturday.

Five persons fromManikonda in Hyderabadwas proceeding towardsSrisailam in a car bearing NoTSO 8HF6892 when thevehicle rammed into a thetree resulting in the death ofChandrasekhar, Saraswathion the spot while three othersuffered severe injuries.

The victims were rushed toa hospital for treatment.While one of them was shift-ed to Hyderabad as his con-dition was stated to critical.Furhter details are yet to beascertained.

Two die as car rams tree

The mangled car on the accident siteon Srisailam ghat in the Nallamalaforest area of Nagar Kurnool districton Saturday

Nizamabad District Collector Narayana Reddy addressing the gathering at the launch of the year-long megamobile cancer screening drive organised across Nizamabad district by Grace Cancer Foundation and lndurCancer Hospital in partnership with Government of Telangana in Nizamabad on Saturday

SECRETARIAT SHRINES

The government has stopped givingsubsidies for seeds, scrapped inputsubsidy, not implementing cropinsurance and withdrew the schemeof giving agriculture equipment forfarmers

Modernswimming poll inSecunderabadPNS n hyderabad

A luxurious swimming poolwith the sate-of-the-artfacilities will becomeoperational this year. Theswimming pool, which wasunder construction at the ProfJayasankar Stadium in Lalapetof Secunderabad, will bebeneficial to those who takepart in swimmingcompetitions too.According to GHMCSecunderabad zonalcommissioner Srinivas Reddy,the swimming pool is beingbuilt with internationalstandards. It will have aparking facility, lobby andother amenities.In fact, there are swimmingpools run by the GHMC atseven places in the city. Theseswimming pools are locatedat Ameerpet, VijayanagarColony, Moghalpura,Chandulal Baradari, SanathNagar, Secunderabad andLalapet.

Nizamabad Collector launches cancer screening drive

AbdullahSohailsaid thatneither KCR norhis ministersmade any officialannouncement ofa date for layingthe foundation forthe reconstructionof demolishedplaces of worship

PNS n SANGAREDDY

Minister for Finance T HarishRao conducted a surpriseinspection of the SangareddyDistrict Collectorate. The min-ister, who arrived at theCollectorate on Saturday, con-ducted a surprise inspection ofall the departments in theCollectorate. The minister ques-tioned the officers as to why the

staff did not attend to their dutieseven though it was half-past 11am. The minister vented his ireat the staff for not following thetime. He suggested to them to beavailable to the people and solvetheir problems from time totime. He was accompanied byMLCs Bhopal Reddy,Raghotham Reddy, additionalcollector Rajarshi Shah andDRO Radhika Ramani.

Harish Rao vents ireat Collectorate staff

PNS n HYDERABAD

The government has given itsnod to resume classes by privateand government medical collegesfrom February 1. The collegeshave remained closed for the pastnine months on account of theCOVID-19.

Medical and Health SecretaryRizvi on Wednesday issuedorders asking the KalojiNarayana Rao University ofHealth Sciences to take necessarymeasures in this regard.

The university sources saythat necessary changes will beincorporated in the schedulefollowing the scheduled meeting

Governor TamilisaiSoundarrajan has had with theVice-Chancellors of all universi-ties on January 29.

Moreover, on Jan 31 a meet-ing is scheduled to be held withprincipals of private and govern-ment medical and nursing col-leges through an audio-visualmedium. The meeting is going tobe addressed by HealthUniversity authorities and alsothe director of MedicalEducation. After eliciting theiropinion, too, necessary steps tostart the colleges would be ini-tiated.

However, from February 1classes for those students, who

obtained admission in 2019-20would commence and also forthe final year students.n To conduct practicals, thenumber of students are dividedinto two batches

n While one batch attendsclasses for 15 days, the secondbatch attends classes for thenext 15 days.n The practicals are conduct-ed in two sessions for a batch of

students dividing them into twogroups. The practical sessions areheld from 9 am to 12 pm andagain from 12 pm to 3 pm.n The same plan applies to BDSand nursing students toon Barring the final year students,the first year MBBS students,who took admission in 2020-21,and students of other years thetheory classes would be heldonline for three, or four months.The Kaloji Narayana RaoUniversity of Health Sciences iscontemplating to conduct onlineclasses on alternative days forbatches of studentsn The students who got admis-sion in MBBS first year in 2020-

21, orientation courses will beconducted for one month online.There is a likelihood to conducttheory classes, too, online forsome months.n Those who took admissionin MBBS are through with theirtheory exams. However, practi-cal exams are required to beconducted. These are likely tobe held either in March, orApril.n The private and governmentmedical colleges are ready toconduct the exams as the KalojiNarayana Rao University ofHealth Sciences had written tothe colleges to be ready to con-duct the exams.

Medical colleges to resume classes from Feb 1

Cong seeks clarity on date forreconstruction of mosques

C Shekhar Reddy, chairman, Indian Green Building Council

G Ram Reddy, president, Telangana Real EstateDevelopers' Association

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 31, 2021 nation 05

Serum Institute of India (SII)CEO Adar Poonawalla onSaturday said his company hasapplied to start the trials ofanother COVID-19 vaccine andthat it hopes to launch it byJune 2021. The city-based firmhas already producedCovishield vaccine, co-developed by the University of Oxford andBritish-Swedish company AstraZeneca. The Centre has purchased11 million doses of Covishield vaccine for the ongoinginoculation drive. In a tweet, Poonawalla said, "Ourpartnership for a COVID-19 vaccine with @Novavax has alsopublished excellent efficacy results. We have also applied to starttrials in India. Hope to launch #COVOVAX by June 2021!" Thecountry launched its COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16in what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the world'slargest inoculation programme with priority to be given to nearlythree crore healthcare and frontline workers.

INDIA CORNER

Serum Institute applies for trialsof another COVID-19 vaccine

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidupaid tributes to Mahatma Gandhion his death anniversary on

Saturday, saying everyone shouldemulate his teachings and resolve tofollow the path shown by him.Gandhi was shot dead on this day in1948 by Nathuram Godse. His deathanniversary is observed as Martyrs' Day."Gandhiji was a crusader of peace, non-violence & selfless service.Both, through his words and actions, he left an indelible imprint onthe sands of time. He inspired countless people worldwide to followthe path of ahimsa (non-violence)," the Vice President's Secretariattweeted quoting Naidu.

We should follow path shown byMahatma Gandhi: Venkaiah Naidu

The Supreme CourtCollegium is understoodto have withdrawn its

approval to a proposal for theappointment of an additionaljudge of the Bombay HighCourt, Justice P V Ganediwala,as a permanent judge of thecourt following her twocontroversial verdicts in sexual assault cases. The decision wastaken after the judge faced flak for her interpretation of sexualassault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act, a source said. Justice Pushpa Ganediwala recentlyacquitted a man accused of groping a 12-year-old girl's breastbecause he did not make skin-to-skin contact and days earlier, ruledthat holding the hands of a five-year-old girl and unzipping thetrousers do not amount to "sexual assault" under the POCSO Act.

Appointment of addl judge of BombayHC as permanent judge withdrawn

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has temporarily suspendedinternet services at the Singhu, Ghazipur, and Tikri borders,where farmers have been protesting against the new agri laws,

an official said on Saturday. Apart from the three borders of Delhi,internet services will remain suspended in their adjoining areas tooeffective from 11 pm of January 29 to 11 pm of January 31, theofficial said. The decision has been taken to "maintain public safetyand averting public emergency" under Temporary Suspension ofTelecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules 2017,the official said. On January 26, when large scale violence wasreported during the farmers' tractor rally, internet services weretemporary suspended in some parts of Delhi.

MHA orders suspension ofinternet at 3 border protest sites

PNS n NEW DELHI

A Delhi Court has abated crim-inal proceedings against Congressleader Moti Lal Vora in theNational Herald case in view ofhis demise in December lastyear.

The court was hearing a pri-vate criminal complaint filed byBJP MP Subramanian Swamyagainst Vora, Congress leadersSonia and Rahul Gandhi andothers.

The court passed the orderafter advocate TarannumCheema, appearing for theaccused, filed the original hardcopy of the application for plac-ing on record the death certificateof Vora, and as a consequenceprayed for abatement of proceed-ings qua him.

The court issued notice to theSHO concerned to file death ver-ification report of Vora, who sub-mitted that the veteran Congressleader died on December 21,2020.

“In view of the aforesaid andreport filed, proceedings in thepresent case qua the accusedMotil Lal Vora stands abated,”Additional Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Sachin Gupta said in

an order passed on January 28.The case will continue against

other accused people.The court will further hear the

matter on February 11.The case is scheduled for the

cross examination of the com-plainant, Swamy, as a part of pre-charge evidence.

Swamy, in a private criminal

complaint, has accused theGandhis and others of conspir-ing to cheat and misappropriatefunds by paying just Rs 50 lakh,through which the Young Indian(YI) Private Limited obtained theright to recover the Rs 90.25 crorethe Associated Journals Limited(AJL), the publisher of NationalHerald newspaper, owed to theCongress.

All the seven accused in thecase -- Sonia and Rahul Gandhi,senior Congress leaders OscarFernandes, Suman Dubey, SamPitroda, Vora, and the YI -- haddenied the allegations levelledagainst them.

The Gandhis, Vora, Fernandes,Dubey and Pitroda were accusedof misappropriation of property,criminal breach of trust, cheatingand criminal conspiracy.

Delhi Court abates criminalproceedings against Vora

PNS n CHANDIGARH

Farmer leader Balbir SinghRajewal on Saturday said heexpects a record gathering byFebruary 2 at the borderpoints of Delhi, where farm-ers are protesting againstthree recent agriculture lawsof the Centre, with a largenumber of people from vari-ous states turning up.

"We have been holding apeaceful agitation at Delhi'sborders since January 26.Today also the agitation ispeaceful," Rajewal, the pres-ident of the Bharatiya KisanUnion (Rajewal), toldreporters here.

He also condemned theviolence in Delhi on Republic

Day and said it was unfortu-nate. "People in large numbersfrom Punjab, Haryana, UttarPradesh, Rajasthan andUttarakhand are reaching theprotest sites," Rajewal said.

"Possibly by February 2,there will again be a recordgathering of people at theprotest sites," he said, addingthat the agitation wouldremain peaceful.

Rajewal also condemnedthe Haryana government forsuspending internet services.

The Haryana governmenton Friday decided to sus-pend mobile internet ser-vices in 14 more districts inthe state until Saturday 5 pm"to prevent any disturbance ofpeace and public order".

Earlier it had suspended theservices in three districts.

Rajewal accused the Centreof instilling a sense of fearamong people by showingpictures of the "unfortunateincidents", apparently refer-ring to the January 26 vio-lence in the national capitalduring a tractor parade byfarmers.

"The government is tryingto mislead people throughfalse propaganda in order todefame the ongoing agita-tion," he alleged. Rajewalappealed to those joining theagitation at Delhi's borders tokeep the protest peaceful. Heasked them not to get pro-voked, which could affect thepeaceful agitation.

Record gathering at protestsites by Feb 2 likely: Rajewal

PNS n NAGPUR

The Maharashtra governmentis considering a proposal to pro-vide incentives to GramPanchayats in Naxal-affectedareas of Gadchiroli district,where the recent local bodies'elections were held smoothly,an official said on Saturday.

Gadchiroli district recordedmore than 70 per cent pollingin the recently-held GramPanchayat polls in the state.

During his visit to the districtearlier this week, state HomeMinister Anil Deshmukh hadasked Collector Deepak Singlato send a proposal to providefinancial incentives to GramPanchayats, where polls wereheld successfully.

Singla said villages whereelections were conductedsmoothly for the first time willbe recommended for financialincentives from the rural devel-opment department.

Maha govt mulling forincentives for panchayats

PNS nMUMBAI

AIMIM MP from AurangabadImtiaz Jaleel has tweeted a video,which purportedly shows twomen in a car waving guns at a truckdriver on the Mumbai-PuneExpressway in a bid to clear wayfor their own vehicle, followingwhich the police have registered acase against the unidentified duo.Jaleel said the incident took placeon Friday night and claimed that

the two men belonged to the ShivSena. In the text posted along withthe video, the MP said, "This is onPune Mumbai expressway inMaharashtra! The logo on the vehi-cle says it all! Shiv Sainiks brandish-ing revolvers while trying to makeway for their vehicle on Fridaynight. Can HM/ DG take note ofthis lawlessness!"

The video shows two menwaving one gun each from the carwindow at a truck driver to clear

way for their own vehicle. After awhile, their car speeds away fromthe spot.

The rear windshield of theirvehicle could be seen carrying asticker of a snarling tiger face, whichis Shiv Sena's logo.

Jaleel also tagged MaharashtraChief Minister UddhavThackeray's office, Home MinisterAnil Deshmukh and the stateDirector General of Police (DGP)in his tweet.

MIM MP tweets video of two gun toting men

PNS n NEW DELHI

Farmer leaders agitatingagainst the Centre's new agrilaws are observing 'SadbhavanaDiwas' on Mahatma Gandhi'sdeath anniversary on Saturdayand holding a day-long fast atthe various protest sites.

Farmer leader AbhimanyuKohar, a senior member ofSamkyukt Kisan Morcha -- anumbrella body of farmerunions -- said the ongoing agi-tation will gain strength as

farmers in large numbers willjoin them in coming days.

During a press conferenceon Friday, the leaders slammedthe ruling BJP at the Centreand accused it of trying to"destroy" their "peaceful" agi-tation.

The farmer leaders claimedthat the number of agitators atall the protest venues includ-ing Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikriborders is swelling after thepolice allegedly tried to removefarmer leader Rakesh Tikaitfrom Ghazipur border onThursday night.

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

In view of the decline in the num-ber of fresh COVID-19 cases, theOdisha government on Saturdayallowed the reopening ofAnganwadi centres and gather-ings of up to 500 people with strictadherence to the safety guidelines,a notification said.

It asked the School and MassEducation Department to makea decision on the date of reopen-ing of schools for classes 9-12.

The administration also

allowed the functioning of cine-ma halls as per the SOPs issuedby the central and state govern-ments. The relaxations are part ofthe state government's unlockguidelines which will remain inforce till February- end.

Social, religious, political,sports, entertainment, academicand cultural gatherings of up to500 people will be allowed, forwhich permission will be accord-ed by district magistrates, munic-ipal commissioners or other offi-cers authorised by them, it said.

Odisha allowsreopening ofAnganwadi centres

PNS n DANTEWADA

At least 16 Naxals, two ofthem carrying cash rewards ontheir heads, surrendered beforepolice and CRPF officials inChhattisgarh's Dantewada dis-trict on Saturday, an officialsaid.

The lower-rung cadres, whowere active in Bacheli andKirandul areas of the district,surrendered in Kirandul town,citing that they were impressedby the rehabilitation drive 'LonVarratu' and disappointed withthe "hollow" Maoist ideology,Dantewada superintendent ofpolice Abhishek Pallava said.

With this, 288 Naxals haveso far quit violence in the dis-trict under the 'Lon Varratu'(return to your home/village)campaign, launched in Junelast year, the official said.

According to him, the sur-rendered cadres also took partin a 'Tiranga' (tricolour) rallywith the police and planted

saplings, while a seminar washeld to commemorate theideals of Mahatma Gandhi onhis death anniversary.

Of the 16 Naxals, MadkamHurra (28), a Maoist militiacommander, and HungaBarsa (35), the head of thelocal unit of DandakaranyaAdivasi Kisan MajdoorSangthan (the frontal wing ofMaoist), were carrying areward of Rs 1 lakh each ontheir heads, Pallava said.

As many as 14 surrenderedcadres hail from Madkamirasvillage, he said.

Each of the surrenderedNaxals was given an immedi-ate assistance of Rs 10,000,and they will be providedadditional facilities as per thegovernment's surrender andrehabilitation policy, he said.

Under the 'Lon Varratu'(term coined in local Gondidialect) initiative, Dantewadapolice have put up posters andbanners in native villages of1,600 Naxals, mostly thosecarrying cash rewards ontheir heads, and appealed tothem to return to the main-stream.

16 Naxals surrender inChhattisgarh's Dantewada district

PNS n NEW DELHI

Ayurvedic formulation BGR-34 along with allopathic drugglibenclamide may have a sig-nificant role in controllingdiabetes, according to interimfindings of a study conductedby doctors at AIIMS here.

The findings hold impor-tance given that people withdiabetes are two to four timesmore likely than others todevelop cardiovascular dis-ease, deadly comorbidities thatcould put a person at a highrisk of contracting COVID-19.

In the interim analysis of theanimal experimental study,doctors have found that thepace of diabetes growth can be

halted if allopathic drug is inte-grated with BGR-34, a herbalformulation enriched withantioxidant properties which

does not allow bad cholesterolto accumulate in the heartarteries.

To find the efficacy of BGR-

34 with allopathic drug, the AllIndia Institute Of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) doctors gavethe ayurveda formulation andallopathic medicine gliben-clamide separately to onegroup and in combination toanother group in the study.

It was found that the com-bination group who weregiven ayurvedic BGR-34 andglibenclamide had moreimprovement in insulin lev-els than those given allo-pathic drug alone, accordingto the interim findings.

It also showed the choles-terol lowering (cardio protec-tive) effect. The study alsoestablished that BGR-34improved lipid profile in

terms of triglycerides andlevels of VLDL (very lowdensity lipoprotein), thusshowing that it can be safelytaken with synthetic antidia-betic drugs.

Based on herbs l ikevijaysar, daruharidra, man-jisth, gudmar, giloe andmethika found in the upperregion of the Himalayas,BGR-34 has been preparedafter intensive research by theCouncil of Scientific andIndustrial Research's twoLucknow-based labs -Central Institute of Medicinaland Aromatic Plants(CIMAP) and NationalBotanical Research Institute(NBRI).

‘BGR-34 plus may be effective for diabetes

PNS n JAMMU

The Jammu and Kashmirgovernment has issued 6.22lakh golden cards of theAyushman Bharat (PM-JAY)SEHAT within a month afterthe launch of the health insur-ance scheme by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, offi-cials said.

The scheme, aimed to coverall households in Jammu andKashmir, was launched bythe prime minister onDecember 26 last year.

"Under the SEHAT scheme,during the last one month 6.22lakh golden cards have beenissued," FinancialCommissioner Health andmedical education, J-K, AtalDulloo said on Friday.

Dulloo said that since thenin the last month or so 7,172eligible beneficiaries haveavailed free treatment underthe scheme.

J&K govt issuessix lakh healthinsurance cards

PNS n MUMBAI

Two teenaged boys werecharred to death when theirmotorcycle caught fire aftercolliding with a speedingpick-up vehicle inMaharashtra's Amravati dis-trict, police said on Saturday.

The incident took placenear Paratwada underAasegaon police station,when a motorcycle ridden bySarthak Vaidya (17) andNivrutti Salav (15) collidedwith a pick-up vehicle onFriday evening, an officialsaid.

Two boyscharred to deathas bike catches

PNS n AHMEDABAD

The Gujarat government onSaturday extended ti l lFebruary 15 the night cur-few in four major cities ofthe state- Ahmedabad,Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot-to prevent the spread ofcoronavirus, a senior officialsaid.

However, the duration ofthe night curfew has beencurtailed by an hour, from10 pm-6 am to 11 pm-6 am,he said.

The government hadimposed the night curfew inthese four cities following aspike in COVID-19 casesafter Diwali in November. Ithad later announced that thenight curfew would contin-ue till January 31, butreduced the curfew timingby one hour to 10 pm and 6am.

COVID-19:Night curfewin 4 Guj cities

Union leaders observe fast onGandhi's death anniversary

PNS n GHAZIABAD

Support for the farmers'protest swelled on Saturday, asmore villagers poured in at akey protest site on the Delhi-Meerut highway in Ghazipuron the border with UttarPradesh.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union-led protest against the Centre'snew farm laws here looked likeit was going slim on Thursdaybut more protestors havejoined the stir, following amahapanchayat of farmers on

Saturday in Muzaffarnagar,while supporters also joined infrom Haryana and Rajasthandistricts.

"The movement was and isstrong," BKU's Meerut Zonepresident Pawan Khatana toldPTI.

Khatana, who is at thedemonstration site with BKUleader Rakesh Tikait, saidthere has been continuoussupport for the "peacefulprotest" against the farmers'demand for removal of thenew agri laws.

BKU digs its heels inat Ghazipur border

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) onSaturday demanded for thepassage of the contentiousWomen's Reservation Bill inthe ongoing Budget session ofParliament. The issues for thepassage of the bill was raised byparty representative PinakiMisra at the all-party meetingconvened by the governmentfor the smooth conduct of thebudget session that began onFriday.

Misra said Odisha ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik haddirected him to raise the issueof the passage of the bill. "BJDgave 7 out of 21 MP tickets towomen in the 2019 Lok Sabhapolls, being the only politicalparty to do so. Five of ourwomen MPs won and so did 2BJP MPs, so Patnaik is happythat Odisha is the only state inthe country to have one thirdwomen MPs in LS," Misra said.

BJD seekspassage ofWomen'sReservation Bill

NATIONAL HERALD

The court was hearinga private criminalcomplaint filed by BJPMP SubramanianSwamy against Vora,Congress leadersSonia and RahulGandhi and others

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 31, 2021 Money 06

MONEY MATTERS

Tata Motors on Saturday said ithas launched a limited editiontrim of its entry level hatchb-

ack Tiago priced at Rs 5.79 lakh.The launch commemorates thefirst anniversary of the introdu-ction of the updated version ofthe model, Tata Motors said in astatement. The new variant comes with additional features like blackalloy wheels, reverse parking display with sensor, voice commandrecognition among others. "Since its launch in 2016, Tiago has beenvery successful in its segment and has been appreciated by all.Following the same, the product's BS-VI version was introduced in2020 which also received a 4 star safety rating by GNCAP at launch,making it the safest in its segment," Tata Motors Passenger VehiclesBusiness Unit Head - Marketing Vivek Srivatsa said. With more than3.25 lakh customers on the road, Tiago has evidently receivedtremendous market response and the company is confident thatthrough the introduction of this limited period variant the modelwould continue to bring excitement in the segment, he added.

Tata Motors launches limitededition trim of Tiago

State-run Power Grid Corporationof India Ltd (PGCIL) has wontwo electricity transmission

projects in Rajasthan under tariff-based competitive bidding. PGCILhas been declared as the successfulbidder under tariff-basedcompetitive bidding to establish twotransmission systems, the companysaid in a BSE filing. The company, however, did not disclose thevalue of these two projects. The firm bagged a "transmissionsystem strengthening scheme for evacuation of power from solarenergy zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW) under phase II – Part A" onbuild, own operate and maintain basis. The transmission systemcomprises establishment of a new 400/220kV Substation, 400kVD/C Transmission lines and associated Substation extension worksin Rajasthan. It also won a "transmission system strengtheningscheme for evacuation of power from solar energy zones inRajasthan (8.1 GW) under phase II – Part B" on build, own operateand maintain basis.

PGCIL bags two powertransmission projects in Raj

Leading animal healthcarefirm Hester Biosciences onSaturday reported a 7.7 per

cent rise in its consolidated netprofit to Rs 12.86 crore for thequarter ended December 31,2020. The company hadposted a profit of Rs 11.94crore for the correspondingperiod of the previous fiscal,Hester Biosciences said in a filing to the BSE. Consolidated net salesof the company stood at Rs 56.89 crore for the quarter underconsideration. It was Rs 50.69 crore for the same period a year ago,it added. The company's board has also approved, "issuance ofequity shares, and/or equity linked securities and/or securitiesconvertible into equity shares through Qualified InstitutionalPlacement (QIP) or preferential allotment for an amount notexceeding Rs 200 crore...," the filing said. The company'sdevelopmental activities are ongoing for the human COVID-19vaccine with IIT Guwahati, it added.

Hester Biosciences Q3 net profit up 8 pc at Rs 13 cr

AWest Virginia newspublisher has filed anantitrust suit against

Google and Facebook, whotogether receive roughly half ofall digital ad dollars in the USand are facing antitrust chargesfrom federal and stateauthorities. The company, HDMedia, owns several papers inthe state, including the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington and theCharleston Gazette-Mail. HD Media claims Google has somonopolized the online ad market that “it threatens the extinction oflocal newspapers across the country." The suit also alleges thatGoogle and Facebook conspired to further their dominance with asecret agreement, referring to a suit filed by 10 Republican attorneysgeneral in December. The company does not specify the impact onits business of the behavior of Facebook and Google beyond sayingthat it has hurt its ability to “effectively monetize its content” becauseGoogle is enabled to take an uncompetitive share of the newspublisher's ad revenues. A lawyer for the company declined to speakon the record.

West Virginia newspaperpublisher sues Google, FB

PNS n NEW DELHI

NITI Aayog and RockyMountain Institute (RMI)today released the report'Mobilising Finance for EVs(Electric Vehicle) in India'.The report highlights the roleof finance in the India's tran-sition to EVs and analyses thatthe transition will require acumulative capital investmentof USD 266 billion (Rs 19.7lakh crore) in EVs, charginginfrastructure, and batteriesover the next decade.

The report also identifies amarket size of $50 billion (Rs3.7 lakh crore) for the financ-ing of EVs in 2030 - about 80percent of the current size ofIndia's retail vehicle financeindustry, estimated to be worthabout Rs 4.5 lakh crore (USD60 billion) today.

"The need of the hour is to

mobilise capital and financetowards EV assets and infra-structure," said Amitabh Kant,CEO, NITI Aayog. "As wework to accelerate domestic EVadoption and push for global-ly competitive manufacturingof EVs and components such

as advance cell chemistry bat-teries, we need banks andother financiers to step up tolower the cost and increase theflow of capital for EVs."

India's EV ecosystem has sofar focused on overcominghurdles to adoption associated

with technology cost, infra-structure availability, and con-sumer behaviour. Financing isthe next critical barrier toaccelerate India's electricmobility transition. End userscurrently face several chal-lenges such as high interest

rates, high insurance rates,and low loan-to-value ratios.

To address these challenges,NITI Aayog and RockyMountain Institute have iden-tified a toolkit of 10 solutionsthat financial institutions suchas banks and non-bankingfinancial companies (NBFCs),as well as industry and govern-ment can adopt in catalysingthe required capital.

"Reengineering vehiclefinance and mobilising publicand private capital will be crit-ical to accelerating the deploy-ment of the 50 million EVs thatcould be plying on India'sroads by 2030," said ClayStranger, Senior Principal,Rocky Mountain Institute."These solutions representhigh-leverage areas for inter-ventions in finance, and webelieve that many are relevantbeyond India."

PNS n NEW DELHI

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath has directedhis officials to arrange spaceand other infrastructure at theearliest for setting up modelstorage facilities with a capac-ity of 50 lakh tonnes, theUnion Food Ministry said onSaturday.

A request to enhance stor-age capacity in the state forensuring better procurementfrom farmers was made byUnion Food SecretarySudanshu Pandey in a meetingwith the chief minister onJanuary 29.

State-run Food Corporationof India (FCI) Chairman andManaging Director SanjivKumar was also present in themeeting.

"The CM directed his offi-cials to arrange space from thestate government mandis andother infrastructure for settingup of about 50 lakh tonne of

model storage facilities as soonas possible," the ministry saidin a statement.

The chief minister laudedefforts of FCI and state govern-ment officials for record pro-curement of paddy and wheatamid the COVID-19 pandem-ic, it said.

The Secretary also visitedthe regional office of FCI andheld discussions with officersof the state government, pro-curement agencies, CentralWarehousing Corporation and

Uttar Pradesh StateWarehousing Corporation onvarious issues related to pro-curement and distribution offoodgrains in the state.

Pandey said about 63 lakhtonne paddy has been pro-cured from over 12 lakh farm-ers in the state, while laudingefforts made in digitization ofrice procurement and billingsystem which has led toimmense savings and fastercash flow for all the procure-ment agencies.

Yogi directs officials to arrangespace for grain storage facility

PNS n KOLKATA

Leading industry bodies CIIand Engineering ExportsPromotion Council (EEPC)have expressed concerns aboutthe problems faced by engi-neering exporters in the lasttwo three months.

Chairman of CII committeeon Exports and Imports SanjayBudhia said the engineeringexporters are facing toughtimes due to factors like highsteel prices and increasedocean freight.

"Engineering exporters aregoing through one of the mostturbulent and trying times.Out of India's total merchan-dise export of USD 320 billion,the sector contributes morethan 25 per cent and is one ofthe biggest employment gen-erator in the country", he said.

Budhia said unfortunately,in spite of being such animportant sector, the engi-

neering exporters are now onthe verge of losing a sizeableportion of their business toother countries which willlead to large scale layoffs andpermanent closure of facto-ries.

Budhia listed that the mainfactors causing worry are asteep increase in steel prices.

He said there has been a con-tinuous increase in steel pricesfrom July 2020

He said engineeringexporters should get steel atleast 20 per cent lower than thecurrent price so that this hardsector can be saved.

According to him, the othermain dampener is the abnor-

mal rise in ocean freights by 70per cent to 80 per cent.

Shipping lines are operatingalmost like a cartel and askingfreight rates which are neverheard of and just not afford-able. If rates are not broughtunder control then Indianexports will come to a grind-ing halt", he said.

CII, EEPC worried over hurdlesfaced by engineering exporters

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

The Odisha Government hasput 23 investment projects,including the ArcelorMittalNippon Steel India Pvt Ltd andJSW Steel Ltd project inKeonjhar district, on fast track,an official statement said.

Chief Secretary S CMohapatra resolved some ofthe issues faced by the indus-trial projects at a meetingheld

Thursday. He set timelinesfor each phase of activity, thestatement said on Friday.

Mohapatra told the con-cerned departments to "adhereto the timeline scrupulously",it said.

The chief secretary also toldthe project investors and pro-ject proponents to mobilisemore men and machines forearly completion of the con-struction works.

The advancement and bot-tlenecks of the projects inKeonjhar, Sundargarh,Mayurbhanj and Jajpur dis-tricts were reviewed in themeeting.

The projects in Keonjhardistrict included ArcelorMittalNippon Steel India PvtLimited, JSW Steel Ltd, SreeMetaliks Ltd, MSP SpongeLimited, Pro Minerals (NowESSEL mining), Jindal Steeland Power Ltd, and establish-ment of IDCO industrialestate.

Similarly, the projects inSundargarh district includedJSW Cement, Dalmia Cement(Bharat) Ltd, Shree HariSponge Private Ltd, KAIInternational Private Ltd,Shiva Cement Ltd (PlantArea), Scan Steel Ltd, AgrasenSponge Ltd, AdhunikMetaliks, Suraj Product andindustrial estate IDCO.

23 projects put on fast track in Odisha

PNS n MUMBAI

ICICI Bank on Saturdayreported a 17.73 per centjump in its December quarterconsolidated net profit at Rs5,498.15 crore, as against Rs4,670.10 crore in the year-agoperiod.

On a standalone basis, thecountry's second largest pri-vate sector lender by assetsshowed a 19.12 per cent rise inthe post-tax profit at Rs4,939.59 crore for the report-ing quarter, up from Rs4.146.46 crore in the October-December 2019 period.

Its total income increased toRs 24,416 crore from the year-ago's Rs 23,638 crore, while thetotal expenditure was lower atRs 15,596 crore as against Rs16,089 crore.

The reported gross non-performing assets ratio was at4.38 per cent, but would havebeen 5.42 per cent if not for

the Supreme Court order ask-ing banks not to classify non-paying loan accounts as NPAsafter the end of the loan repay-ment moratorium.

Its overall provisionsincreased to Rs 2,741 crorefrom the year-ago period's Rs2,083 crore, but lower whencompared to the precedingquarter's Rs 2,995 crore, as perits exchange filing.

It made a contingency pro-vision of Rs 3,012.16 crore forborrower accounts not classi-fied as NPAs pursuant to theinterim order of the SupremeCourt and utilised Rs 1,800crore of the Rs 8,772.30 crorein provisions for the pandem-ic made earlier.

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

State public sector undertak-ing Odisha PowerTransmission CorporationLimited has signed an MoUwith Indian Institute ofTechnology, Bhubaneswar forthe establishment of OPTCLChair in the premier engi-neering institute.

It is indeed a historicmoment for Odisha to collab-orate with a premier institutelike IIT for development ofOdisha power sector, EnergyMinister D S Mishra said.

"We are happy to knowthat IIT is not only confinedto academic service but alsoextended its arm for the devel-opment of the state. Thisindustry-institute interfacewill be a win-win situation forboth with regards to research

and development," Mishrasaid.

The MoU was signed onFriday. He said this coopera-tion will enhance the techni-cal knowhow.

OPTCL chairman SouravGarg on Friday said IIT wouldbe a troubleshooter for vari-ous technical issues surfacingin the power sector. It is a

dream come true and we feelproud to collaborate with thebest brains of the nation.

The students from IIT willhave practical exposure on thereal-time projects, at the sametime OPTCL engineers willhave an opportunity to inter-act with IITians and enhancetheir knowledge in theprocess, Garg said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned steel maker SAILhas reported a consolidatednet profit of Rs 1,468 crore inthe quarter to December 2020,mainly on account of higherincome.

The company had a net lossof Rs 343.57 crore during thesame quarter a year ago, theSteel Authority of India Ltd(SAIL) said in a BSE filing latenight on Friday. DuringOctober-December, the com-pany's total income jumped toRs 19,997.31 crore from Rs16,714.87 crore in the year-agoperiod.

Its total expenses stood at Rs16,406.81 crore, compared toRs 17,312.64 crore a year ago.

In a statement, SAIL said itproduced 4.37 million tonnes

(MT) crude steel, registering agrowth of 9 per cent over thecorresponding period last year.

During the quarter underreview, the company produced4.15 MT of saleable steel, a riseof 6 per cent.SAIL ChairmanSoma Mondal said, "SAIL hasshown overall improvementduring the current financialyear despite all the challenges.With the focus on seizingopportunities, the companyhas geared up to service therising steel demand in themarket as soon as the gradualopening of lockdown started."

SAIL posts Rs 1,468-crnet profit in Dec quarter

PNS n NEW DELHI

Shree Cements on Saturdayposted over two-fold jump inconsolidated net profit to Rs631.58 crore for the thirdquarter ended December 31,2020.

It had reported a net prof-it of Rs 311.83 crore inOctober- December period ayear ago, Shree Cements saidin a filing to BSE.

Revenue from operationswas up 12.57 per cent to Rs3,541.38 crore during thequarter under review asagainst Rs 3,146.01 crore inthe year-ago period. Totalexpenses were at Rs 2,797.24crore as against Rs 2,801.89crore. Shree Cements said itsboard has reappointed HariMohan Bangur as MD of thecompany.

Shree CementsQ3 profit jumpsover two folds

EV financing industry projected tobe worth Rs 3.7 lakh crore in 2030

OPTCL signs MoU with IIT-BBSfor power sector development

PNS n NEW DELHI

SBI Cards and PaymentServices (SBI Card) onSaturday said Rama MohanRao Amara has taken chargeas the new MD & CEO of thecompany.

His appointment is witheffect from January 30, 2021for a period of two years sub-ject to all the requisiteapprovals including that of theshareholders.

Amara takes over fromAshwini Kumar Tewari, SBICard said in a release.

Amara is a veteran banker,with a successful career span-ning over 29 years at StateBank of India (SBI). Prior totaking charge at SBI Card, hewas the Chief GeneralManager, SBI Bhopal Circle,where he managed two keystates, Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh.

Ashwini Kumar Tewari,Managing Director, SBI wel-comed Amara as the MD &CEO of SBI Card.

Before Amara, Tewari washeading the country's pure-

play credit card player promot-ed by the country's largestlender SBI.

"The Indian economy isslowly but surely coming outof the grip of the pandemic.With a renewed focus towardscashless and digital payments,the country is firmly on thepath to becoming a digitaleconomy.

"Moreover, the Indian cred-it card market continues topresent significant growthpotential due to its favourabledemographic changes andextremely low credit card pen-etration rate," Amara said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Future Group promoterKishore Biyani has allegedthat Amazon is "playingthe dog in the manger" andtrying to create a confusionabout the group's Rs24,713-crore deal withReliance Industries.

Seeking to assuage con-cerns of employees amidthe ongoing tussle with e-commerce giant Amazon,Biyani said the organisationis on firm legal footing andthat has been vindicatedby the regulatory approvalsreceived for the deal fromthe Competit ionCommission of India(CCI), market regulatorSEBI and the bourses.

The development comesdays after Amazon peti-tioned the Delhi HighCourt to block the FutureGroup from selling retailassets to Reliance Industriesand sought detention ofBiyani and family mem-bers.

Biyani says,Amazon creating‘confusion'

PNS n NEW DELHI

Happiest Minds TechnologiesLtd will acquire US-basedPimcore Global Services forUSD 8.25 million (about Rs60 crore).

Houston-based PimcoreGlobal Services is a digital e-commerce and data man-agement solutions company.

"Happiest MindsTechnologies Ltd has con-cluded and signed definitiveagreements to acquire 100per cent ownership interest ofPGS Inc (doing business asPimcore Global Services) fora consideration of USD 8.25million," Happiest Minds saidin a regulatory filing lateFriday night. The acquisitionwill further strengthenHappiest Minds' offeringsand leadership in the digitaltransformation space, itadded. It will also help creategreater digital capital for cus-tomers and facilitate onboa-rding more customer logos ofstrategic consequence.

Happiest Mindsacquires PimcoreGlobal Servicesfor USD 8.25 mn

Rama Mohan Rao assumescharge as CEO of SBI Card

FUTURE-RELIANCE DEAL

ICICI Bank's Q3 netprofit increases 17%

special 07HYDERABAD , SUNDAY | JANUARY 31, 2021

HITTING BULL’S EYE FOR DECADESDelhi is known as an eater’s delight for no mean reason. It has dishes and restaurantsthat are signatures and institutions, loved and respected by the good old Delhiites.SUNDAY PIONEER revisits one such undying institution in its newest avatar

It was in 1991 that I landed a job inDelhi and shifted from Lucknow.Eating out in Lucknow was a lim-ited affair, with even birthdays andanniversaries being organised at

home much through chholey bhatureysamose parties. Yes, they had their owncharm and warmth as opposed to doinga cosmetic hotel thingie which now hasbecome a norm.

But those were good old days throughthe 60s and 70s, when Lucknow did nothave signature hotels or restaurants withpedigree or exclusivity. So when I walkedinto Machan in Delhi’s Taj Mansinghhotel, or should I say, was taken toMachan as a rookie in Delhi’s diningscene, I was struck by two things — thewarmth of the place and its lived-inness,if I may say so.

That, and of course, Bull’s Eye whichintroduced me to chocolate as no otherdessert ever could. That was 1991. Andnow in 2021, three decades later, Machanstill means Bull’s Eye for me and noth-ing less for dessert. With Kona coffee, ofcourse and if it’s not lunch time the othersignature snack that has for over fourdecades of its inception stood tall on theplate — the Periyar Club Sandwich.

Over the years, restaurants, hotels,bakers and others have copied or tried toreplicate Bull’s Eye in different avatars andnames, but there is nothing to comparethis super soft chocolate and ice creamdelight that Machan offers. If at all, thetaste, the texture, the softness of its beinghas only matured. Really, like always andyet like never before!

Time was when the Bull’s Eye usedto be the highlight of a special meal-outin Delhi. The delicious warm, gooey, richchocolate ending to a wonderful meal wasto die for. Cut to 2021, and the ‘new’Machan. We were in for a delightful sur-prise: Bull’s Eye better than ever! (Didn’timagine that was possible).

The reasons one is talking about Bull’sEye are two — one, that I can’t ever stoptalking about it, and two, is to tell you howa signature dish and a signature restau-rant glides over time and change toremain the same yet different, old and yetnew.

The pandemic came in handy for TajMansingh to take time out to re-orientthe iconic Machan without tinkering withits basic structure but carefully enhanc-ing it. To call Machan a coffee shop of afive-star hotel would be nibbling away thesheen of a legend. It has been more of aDelhi icon, an culinary institution, dab-bling in game stories and eats.

The redone Machan looks spic. It alsolooks more airy and spacious, with thebuffet and its trappings gone for good. Alacarte is good for comfort, table indulgence

and also for conversations with the foodcoming in unintrusively.

The wall paper, or should one call itwall paint, sets the theme, that of junglesand royal tigers. Of course, searching forthese awesome big cats hiding behind del-icately painted shrubs by an artist whoknows his job, and then suddenly find-ing them staring you down from an arm’slength, gives you a sense of alarm and joyin equal measure. Add to that the sustain-able jungle furniture with cane being thecore of tables and chairs, Machan is hereto tell you grandmother stories in cozyand cushy environs.

The menu, too, is not overcrowdedwith dhaba kind of quickies but it doesdote on carefully constructed local andglobal cuisine inspired by forests of theworld.

For me, Machan has been the go-toplace for celebrations, chit-chats or justa friends’ getaway from office. The staff

has been as sweet as Bull’s Eye and asattentive as its current executive chefArun Sundararaj. Arun takes pain toexplain how hard the team has workedin cooking up a menu that can match theMachan’s fabled international diningexpectations.

It just not defines the game cuisineof India as a defining part of the city’s culi-nary landscape but also gives it a splashof worldwide gastronomy while beingcareful enough to weave itself into the fab-ric of Delhi’s daily life.

For those with that extra sweettooth, don't miss the special CremeBrulee with an indulgent Bailey’s IrishCream infusion. It’s the creamiest, melt-in-the-mouth brulee I have ever eaten.

It is, of course, politically incorrect tostart with dessert but that’s what Bull’s Eyedoes to you, takes you away from fromthe mains.

I am not much of a salad and soup

person but the chicken soup that ChefSundarajan served up was fabulouslyflavourful and super comforting for thewinter day we were dining at Machan.

Talking about flavours, the vegetableeast Asian clear soup with deep greenspecks of broccoli rubbing cheeks with ablushing red bell pepper, is amazingly aro-matic of oils I couldn’t spot and lemongrass I could barely catch. The chilies andgalagal that hit the throat in absentiamade the day for me.

The salad looked way too green formy liking but was surprisingly deli-cious. The avocado tucked into the artis-tically plated green, added texture andtaste. The gentle scent of carefully usedherbs completed the plating.

The sea bass was piquant — must forboth for fish-lovers as well as those wholike to experiment. The beautiful, delicate-ly cooked flaky white fish was accompa-nied by veggies and sauce and an unex-

pected bit of warm ghee on the side! I washesitant — clarified butter on aContinental dish? But tried it and, hey,it tasted absolutely divine! Its name, too,drew me into the menu heads — TheOcean Turns Purple, it said, giving prideof place on the side to the purple potatositting on a warm salad of wild mush-rooms.

The cornfed side of chicken came inthe most natural chickeny flavours I haveever delved into but it was the Maori’sLove for Lamb that, well, took my goataway! This lamb chop with root vegetablepuree, tomato and leek confit may be atad heavy but only on the pocket.

The Pug, a mushroom and cheesechipotle, artistry maximum and tastedivine. It melted on the tongue with aburst of gentle flavours as one marveledat the powdered pub mark that broughtthe eye back to the emerging tiger on thewall paper peering at me, almost seeking

a pat on the tongue so to say for this inno-vatively designed dish.

One must admit that the re-imaginedMachan is destination that will grow backinto popular mindset once the pandem-ic recedes but even now the kitty partiesare back and the ladies don’t mind the alacarte restriction.

Not that the officials manning thistable topper of Delhi have ignored thepandemic time hygiene or, for that mat-ter, the axe that should always be on car-bon footprints.

Everything single-plastic is gone forgood and sustainability brings to the tableorganic tissue wrappers for the cutleryand soaked napkins instead of cloth oneswhich used to add to the décor and colourof the table.

Not just the stunning cane treecanopies and the terracotta animalmasks created by local artists, but sustain-ability peeps through contemporarylanterns, raised platform and banquetteseating for a relaxed dining experience.

Tables have a terrarium plant thatbeats indoor and outdoor pollution. Thechef proudly tells you that a significantmajority of the materials used have beensourced locally and created by artisansand craftsmen from neighbouring States.

To keep the bug at a safe distance asyou bite into the chicken legs, a Swedishair purification system is in place to con-trol pandemic anxiety and PM10, PM2.5and PM1 levels as per WHO guidelines.

The heightened safety and hygieneprotocol combined with the magic ofTajness will definitely strike you ascomfort food as you can sit back andenjoy the warmth of service which a bal-ance of attentiveness with unobtrusive-ness in a heady mix that matches thelemon drop cocktail that they bring foryou on special request in remembranceof their other signature facility, Rick’s thebar — if, that is, if you can emerge fromBetween the Sheets to enjoy the ForestMartini and the Guava Mary alongwith Jungle Pirate.

All these cocktails, let me insist, areunique, gently and yet heady with aflavour and texture that makes them sitpretty with pretty much that you are eat-ing.

By the way, all doors lead to MachanMahua Story wherein blended whiskykind of gets muddled in the strong com-pany of gin and lemonade.

And as you head home, with a sober-ing but flavourful blend of Coorgi cof-fee, you wonder how Machan will be 30years from now — same and equally rel-evant as it was on that sunny day in 1978when it opened doors to a different kindof hospitality that has grown like Jack’sbeanstalk.

KARIM’S A fine dining eatery,

Karim’s is one of the historicrestaurant of Delhi and alsoone of the most famous culi-nary destination of theCapital.

For those who crave forsome good Mughlai food,they can make a visit to theplace without any secondthoughts.Cost for two: `800 approx

MOTI MAHAL DELUXThe place is a heaven

for both vegetarian andnon-vegetarian people.Known for its authentictaste and flavours that meltin your mouth, this eateryshould be on your go tolist if tandoori chicken anddal makhani is what youcrave for, among otherthings.Cost for two: `1,100 approx

YELLOW BRICK ROADIf good food with a vin-

tage theme and a splash ofcolours is your type of place,then you should visit YellowBrick Road at the drop of ahat. A staff that is as caring foryou and your kids as they arefor the quality of their foodgives you plenty of reasons toexperience this eatery inKhan Market.Cost for two: `3,500 approx

BUKHARAA multi-award winning

restaurant that brings to liferustic flavours from thedelectable cuisine of theNorth West Frontier,Bukhara at ITC Mauryapromises a luxury experi-ence. Indulge in the highlyauthentic flavours and go ona ride of taste with a pinchof luxury.Cost for two: `6,500 approx

T H E Y A R E H E R E T O O

Lamb AAgnolottiThe PPug

Bull’s EEye

sundaymagazine

109When all the crowds are gone

2020 was not an easy year. The Covid-19 pandemic was devastating, andvery frustrating for all of us. We wereall mostly stuck at home and whilethat was inconvenient, there is no

doubt that it was absolutely necessary at thatpoint. The year is behind us now. That saidthings are not really in the clear still, as thescare and the threat are both strong. So goingforward we must hold on to some valuablelessons that 2020 has taught us and learn tonavigate life keeping those close.

LESSON ONE: CONTINUE EATING MORE HOME-COOKED FOOD

Instead of relying on highly processedfoods that are stripped of nutrients, tradition-al diets celebrate eating home cooked food.With home cooked food we rarely go wrongas everything right from the ingredients to theseasonings to the method of cooking areunder our control — so we can make sure toput just nutrients rich food on our plates andin our body. Lockdown proved to be the per-fect opportunity for us to begin emulating theway our ancestors ate — home cooked food —and also take a good look at our grandparents’cookbooks and begin making and eating thoserecipes that have been handed down to usover the years. Lack of nutrients is often a bigreason for people feeling hollow and unhappy.Our forced captivity made us realise that wefelt happier and healthier eating this way andthis actually proved to be a blessing in dis-guise. We got used to, eating like this. Thismust continue.

LESSON TWO: KEEP CONCENTRATED, UNRE-LENTING FOCUS ON IMMUNITY

One thing is clear: good immunity is alifesaver. Even though we can’t feel or see ourimmunity, we can’t take its pulse or its tem-perature. But we all know that it is working24/7 to keep us safe and prevent sickness. Theaim for all of us all though the pandemic wasto get an immunity system as tough as nails— a real fighting machine! And we kept on itscase all the time. Going forward too, we mustboost it on a daily basis taking help from bothtried and tested modern as well as Ayurvedicprinciples. Continued chasing of immunityshould now become a part of our DNA andlifestyle. And that’s just how we must live andeat. (See box 1)

LESSON THREE: STICK TO AGE OLD, TRADI-TIONAL REMEDIES

I am a big fan of the cliche: ‘Old is gold’and during the pandemic we all realised that alot of solutions lie in our past, in our age oldtraditions, and that focussing on the old, tra-ditional rules of eating can actually save notjust our body but our soul too. In the absenceof conventional remedies we all depended onalternate, time tested and proven methods tokeep us safe and healthy. And they stood us ingood stead. Be it turmeric for busting theinflammation, amla for scoring immunityboosting vitamin C, lemon water to keep thebody alkaline and free form disease, giloy fordetoxification, or ashwagandha to stay saneand happy… This was specially good for ourchildren, as captive at home, this turned outthe right time for them to get them used toour old habits and way of living and make

them a part of their habit system. Going for-ward too, I hope this way of living is hopefullyhere to stay and we will continue our faith init. (See box 2)

LESSON FOUR: ADOPT FOOD MINIMALISM2020 quickly spiralled into multiple

entwined crises — public health, economic,food crises — worldwide. It also brought forthwith even more emergency the fact that weare worldwide, in the midst of a climate emer-gency too. In anything this pandemic (wheremost of us faced shortages for the first time inour life) reminded us that we need to takesustainability seriously, do more consciouseating for the good of the planet, and wasteless food and other resources.

Also for a good part of last year we allmanaged with less — less food, less variety,less options, and learnt, even if the hard waythat we ‘can’ manage with less. Our relianceon highly processed, packaged foods camedown substantially too. Most importantly welearnt that eating this way is actually good forus. So a lot many of us will hopefully will notgo back to the ‘eat max’ (read more and morejunk) way of living we followed earlier andcontinue to eat in a way that is good not justfor us but also for the planet.

LESSON FIVE: KEEP FAMILY TIME IN VOGUEThis lesson is actually in tandem with the

greatest gift of the pandemic: the gift of realis-ing the benefits of slowing down. With literal-ly nowhere to go, for either work or fun,home became the centre (in fact the only)point of our being and this delivered lots offabulous paybacks.

Instead of succumbing to mindless eatingof heat-and-eat foods, or munching takeawaysin front of the television, a lot many familiesembraced the community aspect of traditionaldiets where people used to eat with each otherand really enjoyed their food. This one stepalone can help us lead a healthier, happier,disease free life. And hopefully we will contin-ue with it.

LESSON SIX: LETS ALL SLOW DOWN PLEASEImagine this scenario: you are sitting in

the sun on a lazy Sunday afternoon, chompingguavas smeared with rock salt leisurely, lettingyour mind wander, minus any agenda, minusany pressing next pending job weighing,stressing you down. And while you are eatingthis vitamin C packed, immunity boostingfruit, and feeling good about life generally,unknown to you, all this time your subcon-scious mind is at work too — it is keying insignals to your mind that life’s good and thatyou are eating healthy and taking care of yourhealth. So basically there is an autonomousautosuggestion (all good, all good) happeninghere, which is releasing good hormones, andstrengthening you from inside, both physio-logically as well as mentally. We all were privi-leged to experience many such beautiful daysand moments during the pandemic when wewere stuck at home. (See box 3)

The writer is a Delhi-based weightmanagement consultant, nutritionist and

author of Don’t Diet! 50 Habits ofThin People, Ultimate Grandmother

Hacks and Fix it with food

While decisions for offices & schools to re-open have gained attention, there is little

information on how should the family open up

F R O M T H E I N S I D E

You've got to loveyourself first. You've

got to be okay onyour own before you

can be okay withsomebody else

— Jennifer Lopez

Hyderabad, January 31, 2021

China's central bank will issue acommemorative coin next week to ...

KEEPING

INSTEAD OFSUCCUMBING TO

MINDLESS EATING OFHEAT-AND-EAT FOODS,

OR MUNCHINGTAKEAWAYS IN FRONTOF THE TELEVISION, A

LOT MANY FAMILIESEMBRACED THE

COMMUNITY ASPECTOF TRADITIONAL DIETSWHERE PEOPLE USED

TO EAT WITH EACHOTHER AND REALLY

ENJOYED THEIR FOOD.THIS ONE STEP ALONE

IS GOOD TO HELP USLEAD A HEALTHIER,HAPPIER, DISEASE

FREE LIFE

1. Our immune system cannot functionwithout vitamin C. Get it via amla ororanges, bell-peppers, pineapple, guava

2. Stay close to your optimum weight.Antibodies that fight such viruses arealso not produced effectively if the per-son is obese.

3. Sit in the sun for minimum 30 minutesevery day. Vitamin D

4. Avoid excess sugar — it lowers theimmunity by disabling your natural dis-ease-fighting cells, allowing viruses totake hold.

5. Stay hydrated. Drink a lot of liquids.About 2-3 litres per day. Includecoconut water, buttermilk, turmeric

water, lemon water, green tea and min-eral water in your diet

6. Eat more quercetin rich foods —platelet booster. More platelets = betterimmunity. Eat cocoa, onions, cranberryjuice, lemon juice, spinach, apple,prunes, peppers, red grapes, broccoli,sprouts and citrus fruits.

7. Probiotics help keep the gut healthy,thus help boost the immunityimmensely. Have: fermented foods,probiotic milk, ice creams, homemade dahi, kimchi, miso soup, but-termilk, idli, dosa, appam, dhokla,uttapam, kanji, homemade picklesand chutneys.

Mix one part powdered turmeric to three parts raw honey. When you feel a cold coming on,eat a teaspoon of the mixture every two hours to boost immunity and lower inflammation.Have 1 tsp pure cow ghee, with a pinch of pepper and a pinch of turmeric empty stomachevery morning.

Three steps to focus on to learn to con-tinue to live mindfully and slowly

Eat slowly! Eat mindfully!I have forgotten the number of times

while growing up I was asked to stopgulping and eat slowly. The instructionswere clear: slow down. Please eat mind-fully. Take time to chew and enjoy yourvegetables.

Now the new age science has alsomandated chewing each bite 20 times asthe right way. So if you did not listen toyour dad or dadaji, maybe it’s time to lis-ten to what the researchers are sayingand slow down a bit… Because, now weknow that the more you chew, the moreyou will break down the food in themouth itself, resulting in better absorp-tion of nutrients in the gut.

Re-learning this habit can help us bigtime as it helps ease up the digestionprocess immensely. After all this (in themouth) is where chemical and mechanicaldigestion begins. Plus chewing properlyalso alkalises the food thanks to the bicar-bonate ions present in saliva, besides acti-vating another enzyme cellulose, whichbegins the breakdown of the fiber presentin food. There! A perfect way to max whatwe can derive out of our food.

Ponder on how you exerciseNow translate this same scenario to ourexercise regimen and ponder a bit.Agreed vigorous exercise is needed forburning calories and losing weight andtaking care of our heart and all that. Wecan’t escape that. But have you ever tast-ed the fruits of a lazy, relaxed stroll,where you put every step mindfully after

the one before it, observing each stepand each breath. A walk where the pointis not to burn calories alone, but to actu-ally enjoy the process. This way youenjoy the walking, unconcerned aboutreaching somewhere, arriving someplaceand meeting a fitness goal.

Try it, because when you walk likethis — unhurriedly, peacefully, and withgreat ease, it quietens the mind andunleashes the bust stress hormones inthe body. And this one benefit I place at ahigher premium than meeting any num-ber of calorie busting goals your aggres-sive exercise can deliver. So every nowand then, slow down your exercise too.Think mind specifically, and not just bodyall the time.

Quit being busyBasically I feel we need to cut down ourbusyness… because trust me when I saythat much of our busyness is self-creat-ed. We put so many unnecessary thingson our to do lists and they overwhelm usso much that there is no time left to dothings that really matter. Don’t we won-der how simple the lives of our grandpar-ents and that generation was, no unnec-essary tasks — and how they always hadthe time to sit in the sun on Sundayafternoons and simply bask in the bene-fits of not having to do anything else…Why can’t we too simplify our lives a bit,cut the self inflicted unnecessary busy-ness, change our priorities and put thecritical stuff (like our health) at the top.Half our troubles, will get sorted just bydoing this

(Excerpted from UltimateGrandmother Hacks)

SIMPLE TIPS THAT HELP

LEARN TO SLOW DOWN

7 SIMPLE STEPSTO BOOST OURIMMUNITY

FITSIX 2020 LESSONS TOHOLD ON TO IN 2021

China to issue commemorativecoin for Year of the Ox

sundaymagazine

India&world 9HYDERABAD, January 31, 2021

KNOWING IS NOT ENOUGH; WE MUST APPLY. WILLING IS NOT

ENOUGH; WE MUST DO— JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

Psychological safety in theworkplace is felt when man-agers and peers do not

penalize a person or think theyare not good enough, just becauseof a mistake made by them. In anenvironment that is consideredpsychologically safe, people don’tmock others or appear as show-stoppers, creating hurdles for theones asking for help, feedback orinformation, to slow them down.In a safe culture, asking questionswithout a fear of retribution isacceptable and welcomed, whichleads to confident teams that cantake risks for a better future ofthe company.

In today’s world, driven bytechnology and uncertainty, amajor part of organizations’ suc-cess depends a psychologicallysafe atmosphere, ensured by themanagerial personnel. It isimportant for managers to createa culture of psychological safetyfor their teams.

When beginning to developand manage large teams, the lead-ers must be able to foster opencommunication and conversa-tions that can promote mutualengagement and enhance levels ofcognitive safety in the organiza-tion at large.

In the absence of the cultureof questioning and cognitiveresilience, employees tend to con-sider peer and managerial pres-sure to be more than a transac-tional issue at work. They startviewing these situations as athreat to their position at thecompany. In turn the team startsto focus on the negative conse-quences of not obeying theirmanagers. This results in lack ofcreative thought, as the employ-ees are fearful of developingthinking practices of innovationand bringing new ideas on thetable.

As the team starts to grow innumber, it is important to devel-op a culture that looks beyondcompetence of the team mem-bers. The managers need to buck-

le up and put robust practices inplace including regular feedback,development of effective rela-tions, setting a proper incentivestructure and development of asupportive work environment.Without these elements, theteams tend to lack the attitude forhigh performance and collabora-tion. A positive mental and emo-tional state psyche is conducive todeveloping trust and a sense ofbelonging in the organization.The role of managers at this junc-ture is to inspire the teams to beresilient and motivated.

While CXOs and venturefounders develop the strategy anddirection of the company, thegroundwork has to be done bythe skip and subordinate man-agers. Team members look up totheir immediate and skip man-agers rather than the CXOs forpsychological and cognitive secu-rity. When the teams feel thattheir managers have made theworkplace psychologically safe, itleads to better collaboration andperformance. Such a culture isnot just good for business butalso good for the employee’shealth and morale.

EMBRACING VULNERABILITIES Managers must be open

minded to acknowledge there aresome tasks or situations that maynot make the team members feelengaged or comfortable. In suchconditions, the team membersmay not voice out concernsand/or share new thoughts. By

understanding the way to buildtrust withing teams, managerscan proactively address the issuesthat trigger fear in the employeesand can pave the way for a moretrust-oriented and collaborativework environment. Managers

must establish forums whereteams can feel comfortable to talkabout difficult situations, withoutworrying about any conse-quences.

Managers must put technolo-gy to use for anonymous and

genuine employee feedback. It isa good strategy that can helpmanagers understand where theteam stands in level of engage-ment and passion for their workand workplace. The data collectedfrom the employee feedback canbe quickly analysed to get valu-able insights. However, mostteam members believe thatemployee feedback is only anannual formality, which will notlead to any action taken by thecompany. Hence, managersshould take the initiative to orga-nize regular pulse checks that canreveal the reasons, if any, forcracks in engagement for theemployees. It can help the man-agers pinpoint pain-issues anddevelop an action plan forimprovement. Establishing a cul-ture of trust between the teamsand various managerial levelsstems from the ability to practicemutual respect by not alwaysblaming others for things goingwrong but also introspectingabout one’s own actions. It is acommon understanding that peo-ple working with each other havea need for social acceptance andinclusion as much as respect fortheir competence and validationof their abilities. The managersand subordinates should be ableto ask and give open feedback ina non-defensive manner, enablingpositive reinforcement to reaffirmwhat is going well and take pre-ventive measures to avoid anyfuture negative impact, which canbe overcome by transparent feed-back. A model of openness isimportant across all tiers of theorganization in order to buildtrustworthy relationships at theworkplace.

The next element to demon-strate authenticity, vulnerabilityand credibility at the workplace isto embrace conflict. Every differ-ence of opinion does not have tocarry a negative undertone. Anyconflict between teams and man-agers must be accepted as a partof the way things are conducted

between peers. By embracingconflict, the leaders and man-agers get a chance to deepen theirunderstanding of people, expressempathy and figure out necessaryinterventions by actively listeningto them. This approach leads toan acceptable and executablewin-win outcome.

Reinforcing positive behav-iours highlights achievementsmore than failures by avoidingpremature blaming and criticism.Often managers are not able toview problematic behavioursobjectively. They tend to focusmore on the drama in the situa-tion rather than the facts andissues that need solutions. Nottoo long ago, managers used toask employees to leave their per-sonal problems at home.However, today in the age of themillennials, the managersencourage the teams to sharepersonal challenges and also helpthem figure out ways to combatthem. Today, managers are quitereceptive and want their execu-tives to share aspects of their per-sonal lives, if that can make themmore effective at work. Imagine asituation where a manager is hav-ing a team meeting and thedetails of the data to be discussedhave been shared beforehand. Ifthe data shows the business ofthe manager’s division is declin-ing, he and the team are quitevulnerable. So rather thandefending the reasons for thebusiness to have declined andpulling away a motivated team,it’s better for the managers toaccept being vulnerable, exposetheir weakness and share thechallenge to recover the businessand in-turn the team’s reputation.Being vulnerable in the work-place can lead to more trust,transparency and respect.

An excerpt from ManagingLarge Teams: Overcoming Skip

Level Frictions and ExecutiveIsolation by Rishi Kapal, published

by SAGE Publications India

We moved withbaby, bedding andall our bags fromthe balmy beachesof Goa to Dubai

this week. The plan for the moverswas meticulously chalked out toavoid any human contact. Ourfamily of three drove to the airportto avoid a taxi. Even our toddlersported his navy blue PPE kit untilthe moment we reached our desti-nation, which for the next fewmonths was deliberately chosen tobe located in a socially distanced farflung suburb of Dubai. Our reloca-tion — clearly adapted to the pre-sent times — had been pushed bya year because of the pandemic too,and it was one that we finally exe-cuted when circumstances couldnot wait any longer.

With the pandemic stretchinginto its second year, many familieswill need to take similar tough deci-sions about mobility. These wouldlikely be plans that were put on holdsince March 2020 — family reloca-tions, a member of the family trav-eling out station for work, familyoutings. It has not been easy on fam-ilies to stay shut for a year. Whiledecisions for offices and schools tore-open (or not) have gained plen-ty of attention, there is precious lit-tle information if and how shouldthe family — the single most impor-tant societal unit — open up.

In the first year of the pandem-ic, much of the discussions werearound rules to stay away from theCovid-19 virus by socially dis-tancing and shutting down institu-tions. As we gradually gatheredmore scientific information aboutthe virus, rules for keeping safe alsokept changing to which familiesneeded to adapt. In the meantimethe virus killed millions, pulled

down the global economy, partic-ularly affecting the poor.

Even if 2021 will be the year ofthe vaccine, it will take a while forhumanity to be vaccinated. At leastuntil the end of 2021 we still haveto continue to keep safe, even iffatigued by the sameness of the sit-uation. However, given that wehave some more information aboutthe virus, in 2021 families can alsoadapt better to living with the virus

for the next lap of the marathon.Below are some changes that we arelikely to see this year as families are‘opening up’ cautiously.

Shorter quarantine period ofat-risk family members: ‘At-risk’individuals are those who were orthink they were exposed to theCovid-19 virus even if they have nosymptoms. All of last year in mostparts of the world, it was recom-mended that ‘at-risk’ individuals

need to quarantine themselves fora minimum of 14 days. Millions offamilies stood up to the challengeto separate and give care to a fam-ily member quarantined within aseparate room of their homes. Myteam at Sustain Labs built a 22 floorpublic quarantine facility in July2020 for at-risk individuals livingin crowded homes, so many innumber that they came in evenbefore we had completed the pro-

ject. However some of the majorconsequences of the 14-day rulewere family separation and incomeloss, which also led to at-risk fam-ily members choosing to not quar-antine at all. For such reasonsrecently, in countries such as Francequarantine for at-risk individualshas been reduced to 7 days and inGermany for 10 days, rather thanthe 14 day period. Increasingly anat-risk family member quaran-tines for 5 days, then does the RT-PCR test on the 6th day, self isolatesfor another 2 days, does a secondRT-PCR test on the 9th day. If bothRT-PCR tests are found to be neg-ative when results are out on the10th day then the family memberends the quarantine period.

Distance from people notspaces: A few governments havestarted to give their citizens moreautonomy about socialising, with ashift from closing down shops, bars,public benches to encouraging citi-zens to meet fewer people no matterwhere. For example Canada alreadyadvises to think “fewer faces, small-er groups, shorter time together andbigger spaces”. Japan too advocates toavoid “the three Cs”: Crowding,Close-contact settings and Confinedspaces. Increasingly family outingswill take place in public spaces thatare vacant or with scant people.Parks, gardens, beaches are safewhen vacant while when crowdedthey are fraught with danger ofcatching the virus. Increasingly fam-ilies are getting the hang of it. Insteadof convoluted rules about who can seewhom, and where and how, familiesare following simple principles of‘family only’ outings.

Increased focus on ventila-tion: Last year when my team atSustain Labs transformed severalvacant buildings in to hospitals and

quarantine facilities for Covid-19patients, we ensured that everybuilding be vetted for proper ven-tilation. As Covid-19 is a respira-tory disease the importance ofgood ventilation was paramount.

In fact, good ventilation isalso crucial to stop the spread ofthe virus. By the end of 2020, it wasfound that the virus could remainairborne for longer times andtravel further distances than orig-inally thought. It was found thatthe spread of Covid-19 may there-fore occur via airborne particles inindoor environments even beyondthe 2m range encouraged by initialsocial distancing recommenda-tions. As the science of this con-tinues to evolve and we can not besure how long and far the virus canbe airborne, it has been advised toprefer the outdoors to indoors.Many families have resorted toenjoy outings in the outdoors.

Indeed for families in 2021, thebasics are likely to remain thesame — avoiding meeting withnon-family members, wearingmasks before stepping out of home,avid hand-washing and sanitisingany items being brought in.However, there is likely to be moremobility given shorter quarantineperiods and increased focus onstaying within the family even inpublic spaces and choosing wellventilated places for outings. As forrelocating countries, I can sayfrom experience that let that planwait a year more if possible!

The writer is CEO of SustainLabs and Adjunct Professor atSciencesPo Paris. She is also a

columnist and author of the 2019bestseller Indian Instincts —

essays on freedom and equalityin India

It has not been easy on families to stay shut for a year. While decisions for offices and schools to

re-open (or not) have gained plenty of attention, there is precious little information if and how

should the family — the single most important societal unit — open up

STILETTOS

MINIYA

CHATTERJI

WHEN ALL THECROWDS ARE GONE

IN 2021, FAMILIESCAN ADAPT

BETTER TO LIVINGWITH THE VIRUS

FOR THE NEXT LAPOF THE MARATHON

Reinforcing positive behaviours highlights achievements more than failures by avoiding premature blaming and criticism, writes

RISHI KAPAL in his book, Managing large teams: Ogvercoming Skip-Level Frictions & Executive Isolation. An edited excerpt

Building trust: Effective motivation

n DUBAI

The United ArabEmirates has adopted

amendments thatwould allow the Gulf

state to grant citizenshipto investors and other

professionals includingscientists, doctors and their

families, the governmentsaid on Saturday.

“The UAE cabinet, localEmiri courts and executive

councils will nominate thoseeligible for the citizenship underclear criteria set for each catego-ry,” Dubai’s ruler and UAE VicePresident Sheikh Mohammed binRashid Al Maktoum said in atwitter post. The law allowsreceivers of the UAE passport tokeep their existing citizenship,”Sheikh Mohammed added.

It was unclear if new pass-port holders would benefitfrom the public welfare sys-tem.

The UAE spends bil-lions of dollars each yearon f ree educat ion,healthcare, housingloans and grants for itsestimated 1.4 millioncitizens.

Foreigners in theUAE usually haverenewable visas validfor only a few yearstied to employment.

The governmentin recent has madeits visa policy moreflexible, offeringlonger residenciesfor certain types ofinvestors, studentsand professionals.

n OTT

AWA

Saudi stat e - o w n e d

companieshave sued the

country's for-mer intelligence

czar in aCanadian court,

alleging he stolebillions of dollars,

according to docu-ments obtained Friday

by AFP.The 10 subsidiaries

of Tahakom InvestmentCo -- which is owned by

Saudi Arabia's sovereignwealth fund -- said in thecivil suit filed in OntarioSuperior Court that Saad

Aljabri committed a "massivefraud" totaling at leastUS$3.47 billion. Aljabri,exiled in Canada, was a topaide to Prince Mohammedbin Nayef, who wasdeposed as heir to thethrone by PrinceMohammed bin Salmanin a 2017 palace coup.

A campaign advocatingfor Aljabri said in a statement

he and his family will "fightthe recycled corruption alle-gations vigorously and areconfident they will succeedin dismissing them." PrinceMohammed bin Nayefremains in detention inRiyadh. The Ontario courthas ordered a freeze ofAljabri's assets worldwide.

The lawsuit describesestates in Saudi Arabia, lux-

ury condominiums inBoston and several proper-ties in Canada as ill-gottengains. It accuses Aljabri ofhaving funneled money fromcompanies funded by SaudiArabia for counterterrorismactivities -- including buyingsecurity equipment, flyingagents around the world andpaying informants -- to him-self, his family and friends.

n

DHAKA

More than1,400 Rohi

ngya Muslimrefugees set sail

for a remote islandin the Bay of Bengal

on Saturday, aBangladesh navy offi-

cial said, despite oppo-sition from rights

groups concerned aboutthe site’s vulnerability to

storms and flooding.

They bring to at least6,700 the number ofRohingya refugees fromneighbouring Myanmar thatBangladesh has sent to theisland of Bhasan Char sinceearly December, from bor-der camps where a millionlive in ramshackle huts.

“We are ready to receive

the newarrivals,” CommodoreAbdullah Al MamunChowdhury, the officer incharge of the island, toldReuters by telephone.

Five ships left with theRohingya and their belong-ings after they were trans-ferred from the camps to thenearby port city ofChittagong, he said.

Bangladesh on Fridaymoved 1,776 Rohingya tothe island, which emergedfrom the sea just twodecades ago and is severalhours’ journey away fromthe southern port.

The Rohingya, a minori-ty group who fled violencein Buddhist-majorityMyanmar, are not allowed tomove off the island withoutgovernment permission.

Bangladesh says the relo-cation is voluntary, but someof the first group of refugees,moved in December, spoke

o fb e i n gcoerced.The gov-ernment alsosays over-crowding incamps in the Cox’sBazar district fuelscrime.

It has dismissedflood concerns overthe island, citing thebuilding of a 12-km(7.5-mile) stretch ofembankment 2 metres

(6.5 feet) high, in addition tohousing for 100,000 people,hospitals and cyclone cen-tres.

Bangladesh has drawncriticism for a reluctance toconsult with the UnitedNations refugee agencyand other aid bodies overthe transfers.

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | JANUARY 31, 2021

kaleidoscope

SpaceX’s first high-altitude test flightof its Starship rocket, which exploded lastmonth while attempting to land after anotherwise successful test launch, violat-ed the terms of its Federal AviationAdministration test license, the Vergereported on Friday, citing sources.

An investigation was opened thatweek focusing on the explosive landingand on SpaceX’s refusal to stick to theterms of what the FAA authorized, theVerge said.

SpaceX did not immediately respond

to a request for comment. The Starshiprocket destroyed in the accident was a16-storey-tall prototype for the heavy-liftlaunch vehicle being developed by bil-lionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s privatespace company to carry humans and 100tons of cargo on future missions to themoon and Mars.

The self-guided rocket blew up as ittouched down on a landing pad follow-ing a controlled descent. The test flighthad been intended to reach an altitudeof 41,000 feet, propelled by three of

SpaceX’s newly developed Raptorengines for the first time.

But the company left unclear whetherthe rocket had flown that high.

The FAA said it would evaluate addi-tional information provided by SpaceXas part of its application to modify itslaunch license.

“We will approve the modificationonly after we are satisfied that SpaceX hastaken the necessary steps to comply withregulatory requirements,” it said in astatement.

WHO Director-GeneralTedros AdhanomGhebreyesus on Friday saidthe vaccine nationalism willprolong the COVID-19 pan-demic as he expressed con-cern that some countries arerolling out vaccine only fortheir own citizens while theworld's least developednations only wait and watch.

Speaking at the last day ofthe week-long online DavosAgenda Summit of the WorldEconomic Forum, he saidmany countries are rollingout vaccines for their ownpeople, but it is leaving themost vulnerable people of theworld at a big risk.

Ghebreyesus said it wouldbe exactly one year onSaturday since the WHO's

emergency committeedeclared a public emergencyof international level regard-ing COVID-19.

Incidentally, he was inDavos for the 2020 AnnualMeeting of the WEF inJanuary last year when hehad to midway leave the sum-mit for the emergency meet-ing.

"The pandemic has exposedand exploited the inequalitiesof our world," he said.

"There is now the real dan-ger that the very tools thatcould help to end the pan-demic -- the vaccines -- mayexacerbate those sameinequalities," the WHO chiefsaid.

He said, "Vaccine national-ism will only prolong the

p a n -d e m i c ,the restric-tions neededto contain it,and human andeconomic suffer-ing... If we lose trustin international col-laboration through vac-cine nationalism, we willall pay the price in terms ofa protracted recovery."

He said the WHO is askingthose governments that havealready received deliveries ofvaccines to vaccinate theirhealth workers and older peo-ple, and share excess doseswith COVAX (an alliance ofvaccine makers for COVID-19) so other countries can dothe same.

Vax nationalismwill prolong thepandemic, saysWHO chief

Musk's SpaceXviolated its launchlicence inexplosive Starshiptest: the Verge

B’desh sends more Rohingyarefugees to remote island

GameStop's ‘Reddit rally' puts scrutiny on social media forums

n BEIJING

China's centralbank will issue a

commemorative coinnext week to celebrate

the coming ChineseZodiac Year of the Ox.The People's Bank of China

will issue a round, copper-alloycoin which is 27 mm in diameter

and has a face value of 10 yuan(about USD 1.55).

The frontside of the coin shows its face valueand the year of issuance, while thereverse side features an ox raising itshead, state-run Xinhua news agencyreported.

The central bank will issue a totalof 150 million such coins.

Next month, China bids adieu tothe year of Rat which turned out tobe disastrous due to the coronaviruspandemic and welcome the year ofthe Ox. China will officially shutdown for a week to celebrate theChinese New Year which alsoincludes the Spring Festival. TheChinese Zodiac is represented by 12

animalsto recordthe years andreflect people'sattributes, includingthe rat, ox, tiger, rabbit,dragon, snake, horse,sheep, monkey, rooster,dog and pig.

The Year of the Ox is thesecond sign in the Chinesezodiac cycle. It will start onFebruary 12, 2021 and last untilJanuary 31, 2022.

China to issue commemorativecoin for Year of the Ox

Paris, France

French President EmmanuelMacron said on Friday that

AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccineappeared not to be effective for

people over 65 years of age.Speaking to reporters only

hours before the EuropeanMedicines Agency

(EMA) recommendedthe vaccine for adults

of all ages, Macronalso questioned

Britain's deci-sion to delay

the seconddose of

C o v i dv a c -

cinest o

inoculate more people.Macron said there was "very little infor-

mation" available for the vaccine developedby the British-Swedish company andOxford University.

"Today we think that it is quasi-ineffec-tive for people over 65," he told thereporters, his office confirmed to AFP.

"What I can tell you officially today is thatthe early results we have are not encourag-ing for 60 to 65-year-old people concern-ing AstraZeneca," he said.

Macron said he was awaiting the EMA'sverdict -- which came later Friday -- and

also that of France's own health author-ity "because they have the numbers".

The French expert decision on thevaccine is expected at the start of

next week, according to sourcesclose to the health authority.

"I don't have any data, andI don't have a scientific

team of my own to lookat the numbers,"

Macron acknowl-edged.

Addressing theUK's vaccination

strategy ofstretching

the time

between first and second doses in orderto give the protection afforded by the firstdose to the maximum number of peo-ple, Macron said "the objective is notto have the largest possible numberof first doses".

In an attempt to speed up its vac-cine rollout, UK health chiefshave delayed second doses for upto 12 weeks.

"When you have all thehealth agencies and the man-ufacturers who are tellingyou that for it to work youhave to have two injectionswith a maximum of 28days between the two, asis the case withPfizer/BioNTech, andyou have countriesthat have a vaccina-tion strategy ofonly giving oneinjection, I amnot sure thatit's totally seri-ous," saidMacron.

AstraZeneca vaccine ‘quasi-ineffective’ forover-65s: French Prez Emmanuel Macron

Saudi firms sue former spymasterin Canada, allege $3 billion fraud

n OAKLAND

Social media services includingFacebook Inc and Redditrestrict discussions aboutweapons, drugs and other ille-gal activity, but their rules donot specifically mention anoth-er lucrative regulated good:stocks.

Some people think theyshould. Users of a Reddit gro-up, in which 5 million mem-bers exchange investmentideas, generated significantprofits by gorging on shares ofGameStop Corp and otherout-of-favor companies thathad been shorted by big hedge

funds.Investors have used social

media for years. Anonymousposts have fueled cryptocur-rency pump and dump

schemes, according to studies,but that obscure market gener-ated less scrutiny. The “Redditrally” however, has roiled glob-al stock markets and drawn

scrutiny of posts in whichthousands of smaller investorstrade tips on platforms fromFacebook to Instagram toTelegram and Clubhouse.

Individual investors wonpraise from elected officialsand the general public for jab-bing powerful hedge fundswith a “short squeeze.” Yetcritics have emerged, accusingsocial media users of manip-ulating markets unlawfully bypumping shares of weak com-panies. The manager of oneFacebook trading communitysaid she has turned downrequests to tout individualstocks.

Social media companies aregenerally not liable for useractivity under a statute com-monly known as Section 230.Still, their rules bar illegalbehavior like facilitating gunand drug transactions or dis-tributing offensive content thatcould rile advertisers or gen-erate calls for tighter regula-tion. Section 230 also hassome carve-outs that in theo-ry could lead to a tech compa-ny being penalized for user-generated content, includingviolations of federal criminallaw, said Jeff Kosseff, a cyber-security law scholar who wrotea book on the law.

UAE adopts amendmentsto grant citizenship toinvestors, professionals

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