c m y k c m y k

WEATHERMax: 34OC Min: 27OC Rainfall: Nil

ASTROGUIDESarvari: Aani 25

Tithi: Chaturthi/ PanchamiStar: Sathayam

Rahukalam:1.30 pm to 3 pm

Yamagandam: 6 am to 7.30 am

PRAYERSFajar: 4.29 am

Zohar: 12.19 pm Asar: 3.39 pm

Maghrib: 6.39 pm Isha: 7.58 pm

SUNSET TODAY 6.40 PMSUNRISE TOMORROW 5.49 AM

MOONRISE TODAY 10.08 PMMOONSET TOMORROW 10.08 AM

COUNTER POINT

SPORT | 8Ganguly against

4-day Tests

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIACHENNAI I THURSDAY 9 I JULY 2020

STATE | 3Palaniswami writes to PM

on OBC quota

Chennai: Plus-2 students. whomissed appearing for the last

public examination for the year2019-20, earlier scheduled forMarch 24, can now sit for thepaper on July 27 (Monday) at

their schools. An official pressrelease said on Wednesday thatstudents can download their hall

tickets from www.dge.tn.gov.inor collect it from the schools

between July 13 and 17. Privatecandidates can collect it from

their examination centres.

Pending Plus-2exam on July 27

Shop selling spl mysurpakas Covid cure sealed

WORLD | 5Meet to decide Oli

future put off again

1,20,54,525WORLD CONFIRMED CASES

STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS

CASES

(+24,852)7,68,345

(+3,756)TN: 1,22,350

DEATHS

(+491) 21,144

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CORONA C UNT

worldometers.info

covid19india.org

deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle Vol. 16 No. 104 Established 1938 | 8 PAGES| `3.00

CAN’T BE INTIMIDATED: RAHUL

11 AIADMK MLAS CASE

Govt forms panel to probe3 Gandhi family trustsDC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JULY 8

In a move that will trigger apolitical controversy, thehome ministry has set upan inter-ministerial com-mittee to coordinate investi-gations into alleged viola-tions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA), the Income-TaxAct and the ForeignContribution (Regulation)Act by the Rajiv GandhiFoundation, Rajiv GandhiCharitable Trust and IndiraGandhi Memorial Trust. Aspecial director of theEnforcement Directoratewill head this committee.

These three trusts arelinked to the Nehru-Gandhifamily. The Rajiv GandhiFoundation was set up inJune 1991, while the RajivGandhi Charitable Trustwas set up in 2002. Both ofthem are headed byCongress president SoniaGandhi since their forma-tion. Home ministry offi-cials said the decision wastaken to assess if there wereany financial or any otherirregularities in the work ofthese organisations, andthere was “no question ofany politics in it”.

The Congress Party was,however, quick to react,and called the move a “polit-ical vendetta”, coming soonafter the Centre cancelledas it comes close on theheels of the Centre can-celling the allotment of

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’sgovernment bungalow inNew Delhi’s Lodhi Estatearea. The Congress said the“party and its leadership

will not be intimidated bythe cowardly acts and blindwitch-hunt by a panickedNarendra Modi govern-ment”.

‘Those who fight fortruth have no price’

More fresh casesoutside Chennai

SC serves notice toTN Assembly Speaker

New Delhi, July 8: Hoursafter the government initiat-ed a probe into the fundingof three Nehru-Gandhi fami-ly linked trusts includingthe Rajiv Gandhi Foun-dation, Congress leaderRahul Gandhi Wednesdayhit out at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and saidthose who fight for the truthcannot be intimidated.

“Mr Modi believes theworld is like him. He thinksevery one has a price or canbe intimidated. He willnever understand that those

who fight for the truth haveno price and cannot beintimidated,: Gandhi said ina tweet. Though the formerCongress chief did not men-tion any inquiry, his rema-rks came after the govern-ment set up an inter-ministe-rial team to coordinate aprobe into the alleged viola-tion of various laws includ-ing the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act and theForeign Contribution Regul-ation Act by three trustsassociated with the Nehru-Gandhi family. — PTI

New Delhi, July 8: TheSupreme Court on Wedn-esday sought responsesfrom the Tamil Nadu ass-embly speaker P Dhanapaland others, including asse-mbly secretary, on a plea ofDMK seeking a direction tothe speaker to ‘forthwith’decide its pending plea fordisqualification of 11 AIA-DMK lawmakers who hadvoted against Chief Minis-ter K Palaniswami duringthe 2017 confidence vote.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice S A Bobde and jus-tices R Subhash Reddy andA S took note of the submis-sion of the main opposition

party of the state that speak-er has not been taking anydecision on the MLAs forlast three years and issuednotices to him, assemblysecretary and 11 lawmakersincluding O Paneerselvam.Senior advocate Kapil Sibaland lawyer Amit AnandTiwari appeared for theDMK and said that theassembly term will be get-ting over soon and hence,the matter be fixed for anearly hearing. Senior advo-cate Mukul Rohatgi, whoappeared on behalf of anAIADMK MLA, opposedthe issuance of the notice.

— PTI

Kulbhushan coerced into refusing appeal: India

China moves troops back 2 km in Hot Springs

England, WI cricketers take a knee against racismSouthampton, July 8:England and West Indiesplayers took a knee in sup-port of the Black LivesMatter movement before thestart of play in the first Testat Southampton as interna-tional cricket returned aftera fourmonth absence.

Moments before the first-ball was bowled at anemptyRose Bowl, West Indies’ field-ing players knelt in the out-field while their Englandcounterparts did he samearoundthe field. A BlackLives Matter logo also was onthe collar of the shirts wornby players from both teamsfor the match played in a

strict isolated environmentand following repeated test-ing of players and staff mem-bers. The West Indies squadhas said the movement, whi-ch has grown since the killi-ng of George Floyd in theUnited States in May, has be-en a source of motivation onthis tour. — Age ncies � P8

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JULY 8

Coronavirus infections con-tinued to rise in the dis-tricts of Tamil Nadu onWednesday when the totalfigure all over the Statestood at 3,756 and the num-ber of fatalities was 64.

Madurai had 379 infec-tions, Thiruvallur 300,Chengalpattu 273, Vellore160, Thoothukudi 141, Kanc-hipuram 133, Kanyakumari115 and Villupuram 106.

In Chennai, 1261 newcases and 26 deaths werereported even as theCorporation continuedwith its organisation offever camps and increasedtesting.

A list of 1089 containmentzones in the State was noti-fied under the DisasterManagement Act fordemarcation with a view tocontrolling the virus.Chennai has the maximumnumber of 158 containmentzones.

BJP activist, fatherand brother killedin terror attack inJ&K’s Bandipore YUSUF JAMEEL | DCSRINAGAR, JULY 8

A local BJP leader wasalong with his brotherand father shot dead byunknown assailants inJammu and Kashmir’sBandipore district lateWednesday evening.

The police officialsblaming the incident onseparatist militants saidthat Sheikh WaseemBari, a former districtpresident of the BJP,was sitting in a familyshop on the ground floodof his roadside house inthe main Bandiporetown, 66-km north ofsummer capitalSrinagar, when targetedby the assailants. Theysaid his father SheikhBashir Ahmed andbrother Umar Bari whowere also present toowere critically injuredin the indiscriminate fir-ing by “terrorists”.

The police and hospitalsources said that the triowas rushed toBandipore’s district hos-pital where doctors decl-ared them brought dead.

Another report fromBandipore said thatWaseem Bari and hisfather and brother wereattacked by gunmenwhile they were stand-ing outside their houselocated opposite theBandipore’s main policestation.

The police sources saidthat the ten policemenwere assigned to guardthe family in view of themilitant threat faced byit but none of them wasapparently present atthe time of the attack.The sources said that allof them have beenplaced under suspen-sion. However, a reportfrom Bandipore saidthat they have beenarrested too. A localnews agency has quotedInspector General ofPolice, Vijay Kumar, assaying “All the ten PSOshave been arrested.”

PAWAN BALI | DCNEW DELHI, JULY 8

Chinese troops on Wed-nesday completed their dis-engagement in the HotSprings area in the Ladakhsector by withdrawing bytwo kilometers. In GalwanValley, Chinese troops onMonday had pulled outfrom the patrolling point14, where Indian andChinese soldiers hadclashed on June 15, by twokilometers.

In Gogra Post, China wasseen withdrawing itstroops and vehicles andcomplete disengagement isexpected by Thursday.

As far as Pangong Tso isconcerned, governmentsources said that there was

no change in ground situa-tion and Chinese troopsare still at finger 4.However, another seniorofficer said that some moreChinese troops were seengoing back from finger 4and some tents were alsoseen being dismantledfrom the area. “Thoughthere has been more thin-ning of Chinese troops,they still occupy the finger4,” said the official.

Some more talks betweenIndia and China may berequired to resolve the faceoff at Pangong Tso. The

army commanders fromboth sides are reported tobe in constant touch.

As per the agreementbetween the CorpsCommander a buffer zoneof a tleast 1.5 kilometers onboth sides of the LAC hasto be created in these areasof stand-off.

The buffer zones arebeing established as, inthese places both armieswere in an eyeball-to-eye-ball position and itincreased the risk of clash-es between the two sides.There will be restriction on

patrolling in these bufferareas for some time andthese zones will be moni-tored through drones andsatellites.

Once buffer zones are sta-bilised and confirmed byboth sides, CorpsCommander’s from bothsides will meet again to dis-cuss further steps for de-escalation. The next stepwill be moving out forcesfrom the depth areas and inthe final step restoring sta-tus quo as it was in April2020.

Some analysts expressedconcern that by stoppingIndian troops frompatrolling till PP 14 inGalwan Valley there hasbeen a change in status quoin the region.

���� Some more talks between India andChina may be required to resolve the faceoff at Pangong Tso. The army commandersfrom both sides are reported to be in con-stant touch

Five more policemen booked incustody torture & death caseDC CORRESPONDENT THOOTHUKUDI, JULY 8

The CB-CID police havesecured five more police-men in connection withthe custodial death ofSathankulam trader P.Jayaraj and his sonBennix.

Following the three-dayinquiry session with 14policemen on duty atSathankulam police sta-tion, when the father andson were tortured on June19, the CB-CID police issaid to have found five ofthe policemen — specialsub-inspector Paulduraiand constables Veldurai,Samdurai, Veyilmuthuand Thomas — guilty ofcustodial torture thatallegedly caused the deathof Jayaraj and his son.

The case caught nationalattention when the deathsof the father and sonoccurred last month lead-ing to calls for policereform.

The alleged torture andbeatings by the police per-sonnel resulting in thedeaths of J Bennix and hisfather RP Jeyaraj on June20 and June 23 respective-ly evoked strong criticismfrom political parties aswell as civil society mem-bers who said it was akinto the George Floyd inci-dent in the US.

A petition was also filedbefore the Supreme Courton Wednesday seekingframing of guidelines toprevent torture, death and

rape in police custody byfilling legal lacunae so asto secure the right to lifeand human dignity. Thepetition, from an NGO,claimed that the incidenthas brought the issue ofcustodial deaths to thelimelight and it is anacute demonstration of abroken criminal justicesystem and failure toeffectively uphold legalprotection against policeabuse.

The PIL, likely to comeup for hearing in the com-ing days, sought a direc-tion to the Centre “to forman independent commit-tee monitored by the apexcourt consisting of mem-bers from all the relevantdepartments /ministrieswhich can review theentire legal frameworkand find pitfalls in theexisting legal frameworkin order to curb the men-ace of custodial torture/deaths/rapes, so as toenable rehauling of thelegislative mechanisms”.

CBI registers twocases before probe

DC CORRESPONDENT THOOTHUKUDI, JULY 8

The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI), probingthe Sathankulam custodialdeath case, registered thefirst information report onWednesday.

The agency has registeredtwo different FIRs — oneeach for the death of thefather and the son. The FIRhas been filed under section176(1-A)(1) of CrPc based onthe complaint of M.Shankar, superintendent,Kovilpatti, sub-jail, wheretraders P. Jayaraj and hisson Bennix were lodged onJune 19, after allegedlybeing tortured by police atSathankulam police station.The CBI has reportedly senta special team toThoothukudi district to con-duct the inquiry.

Tanmaya Behera, SP, CBI,registered the FIRs and ent-rusted the investigation to

additional superintendent ofpolice, CBI, Vijay Kumar Sh-ukla, who will soon receiveall documents related to casecollected byCB-CID policeinvestigating the case.

After formally receivingthe case details from currentinvestigation officer AnilKumar of CB-CID, the CBIwill alter the regular FIRs tomurder under section 302 ofIPC, which is the usual pro-cedure, according to a policeofficer. The CBI will thentake into custody the fivepolicemen, including the for-mer inspector and two sub-inspectors of Sathankulampolice station, for furtherinquiry, added the policeofficer.

The CBI too has reportedlyforwarded the registrationof FIRs into theSathankulam custodialdeath to the Madurai districtchief judicial magistratecourt that is also a CBIcourt.

���� The CB-CID police is said to have found five of the policemen —special sub-inspector Pauldurai and constables Veldurai,Samdurai, Veyilmuthu and Thomas — guilty of custodial torturethat allegedly caused the death of Jayaraj and his son.���� The CBI too has reportedly forwarded the registration of FIRsinto the Sathankulam custodial death to the Madurai district chiefjudicial magistrate court that is also a CBI court

Army asks officers, jawans todelete Facebook accounts

New Delhi: Indian army has asked its officersand jawans to immediately delete their

Facebook accounts and has also barred themfrom using some other 88 apps including

PUBG and Instagram. � P4

88 APPS BARRED

���� India onWednesday saidPakistan’s claimthat Indian death-row convictKulbhushanJadhav refused tofile a review peti-tion against hissentence is a con-tinuation of the‘farce’ that hasbeen in play forthe last four years

���� The three trusts to be investigated are theRajiv Gandhi Foundation, the Rajiv GandhiCharitable Trust and the Indira GandhiMemorial Trust���� “Mr Modi believes the world is like him.He thinks every one has aprice or can be intimidated.He will never understandthat those who fight for thetruth have no price and can-not be intimidated,” MrRahul Gandhi tweeted

Coimbatore: A sweet shop selling'special mysurpak' with 19 herbal

ingredients claiming that it wouldcure coronavirus in just three days

was sealed on Wednesday byfood safety department officials.

The shop owner had put outadvertisements through pam-

phlets, saying that mysurpak' with19 herbs would cure Covid-19

patients in three days and a dailyconsumption by others would

boost their immunity.

���� Electricity MinisterP. Thangamani hastested positive forcoronavirus, a partyspokesperson said.The Minister wasadmitted to a privatehospital for treat-ment today followingthe test result, hesaid.

England andWest Indiescricketers along with theumpire take a knee aheadof the first internationalcricket match in threemonths. The tourists wearblack gloves for the ges-ture. — Twitter

���� It’s over forFriends of Police

PAGE 3

>>>

New Delhi, July 8: India onWednesday called as ‘farce’Pakistan’s claim that Indiandeath-row convictKulbhushan Jadhav refusedto file a review petitionagainst his sentence handeddown by an army court inApril 2017 and said he hasclearly been ‘coerced’ toforego his rights. Spokesperson in the ministryof external affairs AnuragSrivastava said Pakistan'sclaim reflected its attempt to‘mask’ its continuing “reti-cence to implement” the judg-

ment of the InternationalCourt of Justice in the case in“letter and spirit”. He said Pakistan is only seek-ing to create an “illusion ofremedy” in the case, andasserted that India will do its"utmost" to protect Jadhavand ensure his safe return toIndia. “Pakistan's claim thatJadhav, who is incarceratedin Pakistan’s custody, hasrefused to initiate review peti-tion is a continuation of thefarce that has been in play forthe last four years,”Srivastava said. — PTI

CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | THURSDAY | 9 JULY 2020 | CHENNAI

OTHER STORIES

Chennai: RPF personnel havebeen assisting the state govern-ment in the fight against Covid-19. A total of 18 RPF personnelof Chennai division, whorecently recovered from Covid-19 have donated their bloodplasma at the Railway Hospital,Perambur, Chennai.

A release stated that BirendraKumar, Inspector General (RPF)and Principal ChiefCommissioner of RailwayProtection Force, welcomed andcongratulated the RPF person-nel on their return to duty onTuesday.

In a function, Birendra Kumarlauded them for donating theirblood plasma. These coronawarriors have donated theirplasma for other patients under-going treatment for Covid-19.Plasma therapy is used forCovid-19 virus. The railwayhospital confirmed that theplasma received from the RPFpersonnel was administered topatients who were/are sufferingfrom moderate to severe symp-toms of Covid-19. Some patientswho underwent plasma therapyhave recovered.

Recovered RPF personnel donate

plasma

Chennai: Three-seventy oneIndians stranded in Kuwait,Abu Dhabi and Kenya due to theban on international travelamid coronavirus pandemic,were brought back to India onTuesday and Wednesday and bythree flights.

In all, 171 stranded in Kuwaitflew back to the country on acharter flight arranged by theiremployers. All passengersworked in various companies inKuwait. The passengers wereprovided with smooth customsand immigration clearance. Thepassengers have been classifiedand they will undergo a 14-daymandatory quarantine inChennai City Hotels, at the costof their employer.

The Air India flight carrying167 stranded Indians departedfrom Abu Dhabi and arrived atthe Chennai airport in the earlyhours of Wednesday. AnotherAir India flight as part of theVande Bharat mission departedfrom Nairobi, Kenya with 27Indians arrived at Chennai at8:30 am on Wednesday.

371 Indians return home

A. ARUL PALANI I DCCHENNAI, JULY 8

A 36-year-old doctor wasadmitted in a governmenthospital in Chennai aftershe was tested positive forCovid-19 on May 25. Shehad high fever and pulserate recorded as low as 50and BP was 70/50. She alsofaced severe breathingissues. Before reaching thehospital her doctor col-leagues advised her not toclose her eyes and keepthem open until shereached the hospital. Ifshe closes her eyes shewould collapse, theywarned her through avideo call. After reachingthe hospital, the doctor, amother of two toddlers,was given required treat-ment. She also underwentyoga exercise for breath-ing problems.

She said “I need to sur-vive for the sake of my twochildren. Hence, I kept myspirits high and is deter-mined to fight the virus. Ipractised breathing exer-cises taught by yoga andnaturopathy experts.Because of my positive

energy and strong willpower I have recoveredand was discharged fromthe hospital on June 5, shesaid.

The need of the hour isto provide counselling tomany persons who testedpositive for the virus.Recently the owner ofIndia’s legendary Tirune-lveli alwa shop, IruttuKadai, Hari Singh, 80,reportedly committed sui-cide after he was testedpositive for the virus onJune 25.

Similarly, a 37-year-oldcoronavirus patientallegedly committed sui-cide by jumping from thefifth floor of a private hos-pital building here inKelambakkam on Mondaynight. The State witnessedmany such people takingextreme steps highlight-ing the urgent need tocounsel patients, said doc-tors.

The patients need notonly doctors but also coun-selling to reduce the anxi-ety levels and the mentaltrauma faced by them saidProf. Dr Y. Deepa, head,Department of

Manipulative Therapy,Government Yoga andNaturopathy MedicalCollege and Hospital,Chennai. The patientsshould keep the spirits uplike the 36-year old doctor,who survived because ofher will power and fought

the virus.The media covers the

virus news 24x7 causingpanic among people inclu-ding children. Instead, themedia including TV musttelecast/publish positivenews on the virus, sheadded.

Social worker D.Veerakumar said therehas been an increase instress, depression and psy-chological issues amongpeople since the lockdowncommenced in March. Inaddition to this thepatients are required to

follow social/physical dis-tancing, cut off from thefamily and mandatory iso-lation which increases therisk of anxiety amongstthem. Counsellors can suc-cessfully reduce anxietyand trauma faced bypatients.

The psychological coun-sellors can provide mentaland emotional support tothem at every step duringthe treatment. Even afterdischarge from the hospi-tal many fear that oncethey leave hospital theircondition will worsen.Counselling is very impor-tant especially in theabsence of vaccine or cur-ative treatment.

He said the governmentmay appoint a large num-ber of trained psychia-trists and counsellors tospeak to the patients. Theycan call them eitheronline, tele or video call asthis would help thepatients and people whorecovered from the diseaseto come out from traumaand stress.

A doctor providing coun-selling to the peoplethrough a state-run call

centre (104) said till recent-ly they received 1,500 callsper day. For the past fewweeks, this has increasedto 3,000, mostly Covid-19patients seeking coun-selling.

A woman journalist, whohas recovered from thevirus, said the panic startssoon after detecting thevirus. The health, munici-pal staffs and cops whoreach the house causemore harm to patients.After reaching the house,they make the area a warzone.

The government musteducate the frontlineworkers not to cause panicamong the people whenthey take new viruspatients to the hospital.

A local resident, PRaghupathy, said peoplealso must be educated onthe virus as a large num-ber of frontline warriors,including doctors, facedissues such as stigma andostracization.

Whenever doctors returnhome from a Covid-19 hos-pital, their neighbourspass unwanted commentsand show them faces.

Couselling helps Covid patients in big way

In March 2020, the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) issued acircular to all the countries to

be empathetic to all those whoare affected, in and from anycountry. People who are affectedby Covid-19 have not done any-thing wrong, and they deserveour support, compassion andkindness.

Do not refer to people with thedisease as "Covid-19 cases","victims" "Covid-19 families" or"the deceased". They are "peoplewho have Covid-19", "people whoare being treated for Covid-19",or "people who are recoveringfrom Covid-19", and after recov-ering from Covid-19 their life will

go on with their jobs, families andloved ones. It is important to sep-arate a person from having anidentity defined by Covid-19, inorder to reduce stigma.

The WHO advised people tominimize watching, reading orlistening to news about Covid-19that make you feel anxious or dis-tressed. The sudden and near-constant stream of news reportsabout an outbreak can causeanyone to feel worried.

Facts can help to minimizefears.

Find opportunities to amplifypositive and hopeful stories andpositive images of local peoplewho have experienced Covid-19.

Jaya memorial work put on fast track

The memorial for formerCM J. Jayalalithaa resem-bling a wing-shapedphoenix with lions stand-ing guard is nearing com-pletion. The work hasbeen put on fast track.Architects from Dubaihave also been roped infor the memorial beingbuilt at the cost of ` 50.8crore. It will also have amuseum, a fountain andknowledge park. CMEdappadi K. Palaniswamilaid the foundation stonefor the memorial twoyears ago and the work isexpected to be complet-ed soon. — N. Sampath

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JULY 8

The state government hasinformed the Madras highcourt that it has written aletter to the Central gov-ernment, seeking its viewon the plea of Muruganand his wife Nalini, serv-ing life sentence in Velloreprison for their involve-ment in Rajiv Gandhiassassination case, tomake video calls to theirrelatives residing in for-eign countries.

State Public ProsecutorA.Natarajan made thesubmission based on theinstructions given by theDIG (Prisons) when thehabeas corpus petitionfiled by S. Padma, motherof Nalini, came up forhearing before a divisionbench comprisingJustices N.Kirubakaranand V.M.Velumani onWednesday.

In her petition, Padmasought a direction to theauthorities to permit herson-in-law Murugan andher daughter Nalini, tomake video call to SomaniAmmal, mother ofMurugan residing in SriLanka and Raji, elder sis-ter of Murugan residingin London for about 10minutes daily.

When the case came upfor hearing, M.Radhakrishnan, counselfor the petitioners, sub-mitted that when all theprisoners were allowed tomake video calls to theirrelatives wherever theywere, Murugan and Nalini

cannot be denied the facil-ity of making video callsto their blood relatives.The Supreme Court hasheld in various decisionsthat socializing with themembers of the familywas the fundamental rightof the prisoners underArticle 21 of theConstitution. As theguardian of theConstitution, it was theduty of the High Court toprotect the fundamentalrights of the prisoners.Therefore, an appropriateorder should be passed bythe High court directingthe prison authorities to

allow the prisoners name-ly Murugan and Nalini tomake video calls to theirrelatives who were resid-ing in Sri Lanka andLondon, he added.

Radhakrishnan contend-ed that the state govern-ment need not obtain theconsent of the Centralgovernment-be it homeministry or the externalaffairs ministry - to per-mit these prisoners tohave video calls on theground that their relativeswere residing in foreigncountries.

State Public ProsecutorA. Natarajan submitted

that as per instructionsgiven by the prisonauthority, the state gov-ernment has promptlywritten a letter to theCentral government ask-ing their permission inthis matter and till today,the reply was awaited. Thestate government wasready to comply with theorder whatever this courtdirects but the state gov-ernment cannot take anydecision on its own sincethis matter related toexternal affairs ministryand security of the coun-try was prime important,he added.

Centre’s view on Nalini’s plea to make video calls awaited

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JULY 8

Pointing out that thefunctioning of courts andfiling of cases are verydisappointing to the advo-cates, the Madras HighCourt AdvocatesAssociation has appealedto Chief Justice A.P.Sahito list only the urgentmatters for hearing andthe filing of cases by e-mail alone.

In a letter to ChiefJustice A.P.Sahi of theMadras high court,G.Mohanakrishnan, pres-ident, Madras High CourtAdvocates Associationsaid in the cause list rightfrom July 6, 2020, finalhearing cases and oldcases are being posted forhearing. This is disap-pointing to all the advo-cates since the conduct-ing of final hearing casesthrough video conferenc-ing is highly difficult andthe difficulties werealready placed with yourLordship and in spite ofthe same, the cases arenow being listed for hear-ing. Conducting of finalhearing cases withoutproper facilities to theadvocates would onlyresult in doing injusticeto their respective clients.The difficulties that are

being faced by the advo-cates in this regard haveto be looked into by myLord, Mohanakrishnanadded.

Mohanakrishnan saidthe final hearing of allthe categories of caseswere being taken up bythe high court and thiscauses great inconven-ience to the counselssince most of them havekept their bundles in thechambers and the cham-bers were yet to beopened. In all the finalhearing cases, the advo-cates have to obtain nec-essary instructions fromtheir clients, which wasnot possible at this pointof time. The final hear-ings require the submis-sion of legal authoritiesby the counsels. It was aknown fact that severaladvocates were using onlythe library of the associa-tions for submitting thelegal authorities and nowsince the associationpremises were not func-tioning they were beingdeprived of the facility ofsubmitting the legalauthorities, he added.

He said after scanningof papers through e-mailand a physical copy of thefiling was also insisted.This causes inconven-ience to advocates.

‘List only urgent matters for hearing’

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JULY 8

The Madras high courthas asked the state gov-ernment to file an affi-davit after procuringinformation from the des-ignated hospitals for theexclusive treatment ofCovid-19, as to in whatmanner have the PPE kitsbeen distributed.

The First bench com-prising Chief JusticeA.P.Sahi and JusticeS e n t h i l k u m a rRamamoorthy was pass-ing further interim orderson the Public InterestLitigations filed by advo-cate S.Jimraj Milton.

In one of his petitions,Jimraj Milton sought adirection to the health sec-retary to constitute astate-level executive com-

mittee to assist the stateg o v e r n m e n t / S t a t eDisaster ManagementAuthority to perform itsfunction in preventingand controlling the Covid-19 and constitute a dis-trict-level disaster man-agement committee toprevent and control theCOVID-19 and to notifyand approve isolatedwards in government andprivate hospitals with freeof costs for treatment andtesting and handling allsuspected persons whoarrived from foreign coun-try from March 1, 2020,and keep them into spe-cial quarantine campsand provide personal pro-tective equipment espe-cially for doctors, nurses,and hospital staff inCovid wards and to quar-antine a section among

the workforce of essentialservices for future catas-trophe of Covid-19.

Pointing out the earlierstatus reports filed by thehealth secretary and theobjections of the petition-er, the bench in its presentorder said it appears thatthe state government hastaken a stand that theyhave taken appropriatesteps for ensuring theavailability of PPEs andits supply for being uti-lized as per the prescribedmedical norms andaccording to them, no spe-cific deficiency has beenpointed out by the peti-tioner except for the gen-eral statements havingbeen made. It appears that21 government hospitalshave been designated andapproved by the govern-ment for Covid treatment.

GIVE DETAILS OF PPE KITS DISTRIBUTED: HC TO TNR. VALAYAPATHY I DC TIRUCHY, JULY 8

Yet another police torturecase has surfaced in the state.According to a complaintagainst the Thuiraiyurpolice station authorities, 23-year-old C. Raghunath, hail-ing from Kollapatti villagenear Thuraiyur, was takenaway by the police from hisresidence on June 5 midnightand severely beaten up by thepolice for the next whole dayalso. They subsequentlyrecorded his arrest andlodged him in the Centralprison on June 7.

Raghunath, who came outon bail on June 27, got him-self admitted to a hospital inThuraiyur and took treat-ment there. On July 3,Raghunath sent an onlinecomplaint to the StateHuman Rights Commission,the Chief Minister's specialcell, DGP, IG central zone andDIG Tiruchy range againstThuraiyur police inspectorGurunathan and police con-stables Manikandan, Senthil,Govindan, Ashok,Karunanidhi and homeguard Subramani.

He also recorded the inci-dent in his voice and spreadit on the social media.

In his message, Raghunathsaid he attempted to commitsuicide by consuming themosquito liquid kept in thepolice station on June 6 nightfollowing untolerable policetorture. The police did not

inform his parents or admithim in a hospital. They gavehim salt and soap mixedwater, following which hevomited. Due this he was suf-fering from ulcer.Subsequently the police foist-ed a false case against himand lodged in the prison onJune 7.

After 20 days, he came outof bail on June 27 and nar-rated the incident to his fam-ily members who tried toadmit him to the governmenthospital. Since the govern-ment hospital authoritiesrefused to admit him as aninpatient, he got admitted ina private hospital and is nowundergoing treatment there.He tried to give a complaintto the police, but they refusedto accept it.

However, a police official ofSBCID wing held an inquirywith him on Tuesday andreported the matter to hishigher-ups, he added. He saiddue to police torture, he stillcannot attend nature's call.

However, Tiruchy rangeDIG of Police Ms. Z. AnnieVijya and Inspector of PoliceThuraiyur Gurunathandenied the allegations andsaid Raghunath enacted adrama to divert the caseagainst him. Since he createdpublic nuisance he wasarrested and lodged in theprison. Nobody beat up him.He spread the rumours bymisusing the present situa-tion following theSathankulam incident.

Another case of policetorture surfaces

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JULY 8

A 28-year-old year manaccused of molesting afive-year-old girl wasattacked by the girl’s fam-ily and handed over toTambaram all womenpolice station onWednesday.

The accused has beenidentified as UdhayaKumar of NagammaiStreet in East Tambaram.The incident happened onTuesday when the par-ents of the girl were awayat work. The accusedapproached the five-year-old girl alone at her houseand molested her by offer-ing her candies.

After the parentsreturned home from workon Tuesday night, the

minor girl did not stopcrying and foundexhausted. OnWednesday morning, shefell sick and developedpain during urinal dis-charge. The child’s moth-er immediately realisedwhat had happened andasked the girl, after whichshe said that UdhayaKumar molested her. Thegirl was admitted to theChromepet governmenthospital and is beingtreated. The girl's familyattacked the accusedbefore handing him overto the police.

The Tambaram all-women police slappedProtection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences(Pocso) Act on theaccused and remandedhim in judicial custody.

Painter held formolesting 5-y-old girl

DC CORRESPONDENTTIRUCHY, JULY 8

A police inspectorattached to the Siruganurpolice station in Tiruchydistrict was sent on com-pulsory retirement for hisalleged misbehavior withthe women who came tothe police station for filingcomplaints.

Police sources saidinspector Manivannanhad similar complaintsagainst him when heworked at Golden Rockpolice station in Tiruchy

city and also in someother stations atPerambalur district.

A woman gave a com-plaint againstManivannan to the thenDIG of Police Tiruchyrange V.Balakrishnan say-ing that even at midnight,the inspector rang her upand spoke to her in a sexu-al manner in the name ofinquiry over her com-plaint. The DIG, after adetailed inquiry, found thecomplaint against

Manivannan true andordered him to go on com-pulsory retirement.However, in the recent IPSofficers’ shuffling,Tiruchy range DIGV.Balakrishnan was trans-ferred to Chennai. Due tothis, there was a delay inserving the order copy toManivannan.

However, as he knewthat the order copy will beserved to him on Monday,he did not turn up forduty. When he came to thestation on Tuesday, theorder was served to him.

Cop retired compulsorily

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JULY 8

Former ChennaiCommissioner of Police,A K Viswanthan, who isnow the AdditionalDirector General ofPolice, Operations, inChennai would now holdan additional charge ofthe post of DGP,Vigilance in the TamilNadu Generation andD i s t r i b u t i o nCorporation Limited.

ADDITIONAL JOB FORA. K. VISWANATHAN

New I-T principal chiefcommissioner

Chennai: ManiklalKarmakar, IRS, on promotionand transfer from Mumabi,has taken chargeprincipal chief com-missioner of incometax, Tamil Nadu andPuducherry fromAnu Singh, IRS,principal chief com-missioner of incometax, Chennai. Hebelongs to 1985 batchof IRS officers. He has workedin various capacities and invarious offices of the ITdepartment, according to apress release.

WHO CIRCULAR

MISBEHAVIOUR

STATE pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | THURSDAY | 9 JULY 2020 | CHENNAI

OTHER STORIES

Thanjavur: Differently-abledpersons staged demonstrationsbefore taluk and VAO offices atvarious places in Thanjavur dis-trict demanding payment of`5,000 per month as livelihoodaid during corona pandemicperiod.

At Thanjavur, agitation washeld before taluk office.P.M.Elangovan, district secre-tary of Tamil Nadu associationfor differently-abled persons,led the agitation.

The agitators also demandedproviding them 200 days workunder MGNREGS and a wage of`256 per day.

Agitations were held atThiruvonam, Thirukattuppalli,Peravurani, Orathanadu,Sethubavachathiram, Alakudiand Budalur.

Differently-abledstage protests

Chennai: The central execu-tive committee of the SFI hascondemned the move by theBJP-led Central government tosabotage the curriculum byusing the challenges posed bythe pandemic and the subse-quent lockdown.

In a release, SFI president V.P.Sanu stated that the NDA gov-ernment has decided to cutshort the syllabus of varioussubjects to compensate thealready lost academic days. Aspart of this the Central Board ofSchool Education (CBSE) hasasked NCERT to delete certainspecific chapters and portionsfrom different text books.

Shockingly, this includesmany crucial chapters andareas which are the pillars ofbuilding a rational, democraticand secular society.

SFI: Centre sabotagedschool curriculum

Chennai: A high-level teamof three officers from Centralconducted surprise inspectionin Chengalpet on Wednesdayevening. According to sources,the Central expert team headedby Arti Ahuja, additional sec-retary, Government of Indiaand two doctors Swaroop Sahuand Sathish from Jipmerarrived at Chennai for a meet-ing with the state governmentto assess the Covd-19 situationand management in the state.

However, on arrival, the teamconducted a surprise inspec-tion in Natham, on Thattan-Malai street, worst-hit areas inChengalpet district. The teamis likely to stay in the state forthree days to monitor the situa-tion to cut down the risingnumber of cases in the state.

Central team conductssurprise checks

Tiruchy: The Indian Instituteof Technology-Delhi andNational Institute ofTechnology, Trichy (NIT-T)have signed an MoU for collabo-ration on academic activities. ANIT-T release said here saidthat the MoU was signed byProf V. Ramgopal Rao, Director,IIT-Delhi and Prof. Mini ShajiThomas, Director, NIT-T. Thiswill facilitate direct admissionof BTech students at NIT-T toIIT-Delhi’s PhD programme, fos-ter academic and research col-laboration

in areas of mutual interestand exchange of faculty andstudents.

IIT-Delhi, NIT-Tiruchysign MoU

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUL 8

Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami has requested PrimeMinister Narendra Modi to continuethe existing policy of determiningcreamy layer in providing OtherBackward Class (OBC) reservation byexcluding agricultural and salaryincome.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, hesaid, “If salary and agriculturalincome of the parents are consideredto be part of the overall income of theparents, this would disallow OBC sta-tus to several deserving OBCs fromavailing reservation in admissions tojobs, as well as welfare schemesunder the Central government.”

The Chief Minister said: “I wouldalso like to suggest that theGovernment of India may considerproviding OBC reservations by fol-lowing the Tamil Nadu model, whichwould benefit the Backward Classesacross the country equitably and ren-der complete social justice.”

The letter said the Central govern-ment had reserved 27 per cent of thevacancies in civil posts and servicesfalling under its purview for OBCs tobe filled through direct recruitment,subject to the condition that theaforesaid reservation shall not be

applied to persons/sections specifiedas creamy layer from amongst OBCs.

There were six criteria for assess-ing the persons to be excluded ascreamy layer within OBCs. One ofthe creamy layer criteria specifiedincome limit for exclusion fromOBCs. The income limit of the par-ents for the wards to whom OBC sta-tus can be claimed, was fixed at Rs.1

lakh perannum initial-ly in the year1 9 9 3 .Subsequently,the incomelimit wasrevised `8 lakhwith effectfrom 1.9.2017.

“It is report-ed in themedia that theGovernment ofIndia is con-t e m p l a t i n g

revision of the criteria for creamylayer among OBCs by includingsalary and agricultural income.These are currently excluded fromthe calculation of income for the pur-pose of determining the creamy layerfor OBCs, to grant reservation andwelfare measures,” the ChiefMinister said.

Palaniswami writesto PM on OBC quota

Timely support

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUL 8

DMK president M. K.Stalin called upon ChiefMinister Edappadi K.Palaniswami and the stategovernment to considerthe plight of electricityconsumers and reduce thecharges by taking ahumane approach.

In a statement onWednesday, Stalin saidwhen the government wasable to give a go by the ten-

der norms for procure-ments citing the lockdownas reason it could alsoreduce electricitycharges.

Wondering why theAIADMK governmentwas not sympathetic tothe people, who were direstraits due to loss of liveli-hood, income and jobs, hesaid the government has amoral responsibility toprovide relief to the peo-ple affected by the lock-down.

Citing electricity regula-tions in court to justifythe excessive powercharges was against thepeople, he said and addedthat welfare of the elec-tricity consumers shouldbe taken into considera-tion at times like now.Stalin also demanded theannouncement of a mora-torium or a facility to payelectricity charges ininstalments for MSMEsthat have been terribly hitby the lockdown.

Treat electricity consumershumanely, says Stalin

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JULY 8

DMK president M. K. Stalin hasurged the Prime Minister toreverse the decision to includesalary as a component for OBCcreamy layer calculation, abol-ish all India quota admissionsin medical courses and do awaywith the National Eligibilitycum Entrance Test (Neet) foradmissions to UG, PG andDiploma in Medical courses.

In a letter to the PrimeMinister, Stalin said that whenmarginalized sections of socie-ty were at a greater disadvan-tage in the present pandemic,“certain decisions taken by theCentral government need to bereconsidered in order to pre-serve the best interests of allcitizens and ensure that oppor-tunities remain equitable andfair to all our people.”

Stating that economic criteri-on was against the spirit ofreservation, he said that“including salary to be part ofthe income test to categorize thecreamy layer with OBC ignoresthe social barriers that contin-ue to exist for marginalizedcommunities”.

He requested the PrimeMinister to reject BP SharmaCommittee’s report on the con-cept of creamy layer. ‘As mat-ters regarding reservationrequire action by the State gov-ernment and as this decisionseverely impacts lakhs of citi-zens across the country, I urgeyou to reverse this decision onpriority and ensure the liveli-hoods of OBC are protected,especially in this time of crisis,’Stalin said.

On medical admissions, hesaid the concept of an ‘All IndiaQuota’ (AIQ) was a creature ofjudicial pronouncement and didnot have any statutory backing.“Medical education beingsquarely a matter of gover-nance should be administeredby Parliament and the state leg-islature, taking into account thechanging needs,” he said,adding that all India quota seatsin medical and dental admis-sions should be abolished andstate governments should beleft to have their own selectionprocess.

He said the introduction ofNeet had caused some seriousproblems to medical educationin Tamil Nadu. Firstly, theexamination completely deci-mated the right of the state toregulate medical education andNeet placed those who studiedin CBSE schools at an advan-tage than those who study atstate board schools, because dif-ferent state boards follow differ-ent syllabi and textbooks.

Finally, from the last 3 years ofthe Neet, it was clear that onlystudents who were able to go forprivate coaching were able toscore in this examination.These private coaching classeswere unaffordable for many stu-dents in the state who face anunfair disadvantage, he addedand requested the PrimeMinister to abolish Neet.

REVERSE DECISION,STALIN URGES MODI

� ‘Continue existing policy on determining creamy layer’

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUL 8

Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami on Wednesday urgedthe Centre to expedite the sanction ofthe financial assistance of `20,622crore that Tangedco had sought fromthe Power Finance Corporation andthe Rural ElectrificationCorporation.

In a letter to Union minister of statefor power and new and renewableenergy R. K. Singh on WednesdayPalanisamy welcomed the Centre’sliquidity infusion package of `90,000crore to Discoms to clear the dues ofgenerators and transmission compa-nies and said that Tamil Nadu hadasked for relaxation of the norms forworking capital under UDAY sincethere was no headroom for Tangedco.

Stating that Tamil Nadu, which hasthe most diversified electricity gener-ation portfolio with renewable aloneconstituting 49.47 per cent ofinstalled capacity, was a power sur-plus state, he brought to the Unionminister’s notice certain criticalissues to enable the state remainpower surplus.

Referring to the Electricity Act,2003 (Amendment) Bill, 2020, onwhich the state had given its com-ment, he said the state’s consistentpolicy was that the farmers shouldreceive free power. Also the govern-ment was also providing 100 units offree power to domestic consumersand hence the DBT principle shouldnot be applied to the agricultural sec-tor and the other scheme, for whichgovernment provides subsidy toTangedco.

It said pro-visions in thed r a f tAmendmentBill, 2020

allowing private franchisee/ sub-licencee, would only lead to cherrypicking of remunerative areas by thefranchisee/ sub-distribution licenceeaffecting the Discoms directly there-by the public interest. The state dis-coms will be left with serving socialsector obligations and rural areaswhich will result in massive losses tothe discoms.

Also he said that fixing of hydropower purchase obligation separate-ly to a state like Tamil Nadu cannotbe accepted as hydro generation isseasonal and monsoon dependentand not in the control of Discoms. Toavoid disparity among the states withdifferent sources of renewable ener-gy available, it is suggested thatrenewable purchase obligation (RPO)can be fixed for total renewable ener-gy rather than independently fixingfor solar, non-solar and hydro..

“The arbitration award dated11.06.2020 in respect of the RAPDRPPart-A (IT) project involving the con-sortium of M/s. ITI Ltd., and M/s.Navayuga Infotech Pvt. Ltd., hasbeen issued in favour of Tangedco.M/s. PFC has recovered an amount of`413.83 crore due to cancellation ofRAPDRP Part-A (IT) project. Due tothe breach of contract by the ITIA (ITImplementing Agency), the amountof Rs. 268.86 crore has to be releasedback to Tangedco,” the ChiefMinister said.

He also expressed his concern onthe supply of coal and the delay indevelopment of the Chandrabila coalblock allotted to Tangedco due tonon-issuance of clearance, besidesseeking declaration of Raigarh-Pugalur Trissur HVDC transmissioncorridor as strategic and nationalimportance. The Chief Minister alsorequested the release of CFA amountof `.50.88 crore, pending release withMNRE to TEDA.

CM writes to Centreon power sector issues

BACK TO WORK

Vehicles moving at snail’s pace at Pondy Bazaar on Wednesday. — DC

DC CORRESPONDENTTIRUVARUR, JULY 8

A 35-year-old notoriousrowdy, released on bail,was murdered by uniden-tified persons and hisbody was found dumpedat the railway goodshedyard at Tiruvarur onWednesday.

Police said the deceasedKarathe Marimuthu, whofaced several criminalcases including murdercharges, was released onbail from sub jail atNagapattinam onTuesday afternoon. Buthe did not reach home tillthis morning.

A passerby noticed a

male body rolled with tar-paulin and informed thepolice who went to thespot and shifted the bodyto the government med-ical college hospital forpost-mortem.

Police suspect that somemiscreants might havemurdered the rowdy andthrew his body in the rail-way goodshed yard area.

Police said a six-mem-ber gang, friends of thedeceased, who went toreceive him at sub-jail inNagapattinam in a carare missing. Police sus-pect whether this gang isbehind the murder of therowdy and are investigat-ing.

Body of rowdyfound in Tiruvarur

Children look at the newly introduced Aavin productsat the Aavin outlet in Ambattur on Wednesday. — DC

From the last 3 years of the Neet, it is clear that only students whoare able to go for private coaching are able to score in Neet. These private coaching classes are unaffordable for many

students in the state who face an unfair disadvantage

Winners of national level transwomen beauty contest take part in Covid-19 awareness programme at T Nagar on Wednesday. — DC

It’s over forFriends ofPoliceDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JULY 8

The Tamil Nadu govern-ment issued an orderrescinding a 1994 order‘extending the Friendsof Police Movement’ tothe entire State.

The latest GO wasissued on Wednesday ‘Inview of the adversereport received from theDirector General ofPolice, Chennai’ datedJuly 6.

Friends of Police(FOP), an organizationof people outside thepolice department, wasformed to help the policein its various activitieslocally all over the State.FOP came under a criti-cal scanner followingthe custodial death ofJayaraj and Bennix inSathankulam on June 22and 23, as some of itsmembers were allegedlyinvolved in the torture ofthe father and son insidethe police station.

Due to the hue and cryraised by activists andcivil society, questioningthe role of FOP in polic-ing activities, thedepartment immediate-ly issued an order ban-ning their use in manypolicing activities.

However, onWednesday the GO wasissued doing away withthe FOP movement total-ly.

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JULY 8

Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami has urged hisKerala counterpartPinarayi Vijayan, to helpfishermen hailing fromKanyakumari district, whohad left their boats at vari-ous fishing harbours or fishlanding centres in Kerala,enter the state and alsoresume fishing once thefishing ban on the westcoast gets over on August 1.

In a letter to Vijayan, hesaid that about 350 mecha-nized fishing boats and 750traditional boats were leftbehind by the fishermen,who travelled home in viewof the nationwide lockdownand travel restrictions fol-lowing the Coronavirus out-break. “These fishermenfrom Kanniyakumari dis-trict could neither go toKerala to look after themaintenance of their boats,nor resume their fishingactivities,” the CM said.

CM takes up cause offishers with Pinarayi

Second tranche of Bharat BondETF to raise `14,000 croreChennai: Edelweiss Asset Managementannounced the launch of the second tranche ofBharat Bond ETF in July, with two new series. TheBharat Bond ETF program is an initiative of theGovernment of India, with the mandate given toEdelweiss AMC to design and manage it.

The two new Bharat Bond ETF series will havematurities of April 2025 and April 2031. NFO willstart from July 14, 2020 and end on July 17, 2020.Edelweiss MF proposes to raise an initial amountof `2,000 crores with a green shoe option of `6,000crores in 2025 maturity and initial amount of`1,000 crores with a green shoe option of `5,000crores in 2031 maturity based on market demand.The ETF will invest in AAA rated public sectorcompanies. Rashesh Shah, Chairman & CEO,Edelweiss group said, “The first launch of BharatBond ETF was successful and since then it hasseen healthy growth in AUM and good liquidity onexchange.”

Adi Dravidar writers’ prizeChennai: Commissioner of Adi Dravidar Welfarehas invited application from writers belonging tothe Adi Dravidar community for the 10 prizesoffered by the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar & TribalArt and Literature Society for the year 2019-20.Besides the 10 prizes, for which writers who wereAdi Dravidars, Adi Dravida converts to Christianityand Scheduled Tribes are eligible to apply, one moreprize for a non-Adi Dradivar who writes on AdiDravidars was also on offer, an official press releasesaid.

NATION pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | THURSDAY | 9 JULY 2020

SHORT TAKES

GANGSTERDUBEY’S AIDE

GUNNED DOWN Lucknow/Kanpur, July 8:Police shot dead an aide ofgangster Vikas Dubey, arrestedsix other alleged accomplicesand sent two of their own menbehind bars in connectionwith the ambush which killedeight police personnel lastweek, officials said Wednesday.

But the gangster appeared tohave given police the slip inHaryana’s Faridabad, nearDelhi.

A team raided a housearound midnight Tuesday inFaridabad’s Kheli Pul area,where the gangster had stayedfor a while, Haryana policesaid. They arrested three peo-ple there after a briefexchange of fire.

Also, CCTV footage showed aman who resembled the gang-ster at a Faridabad hotel. Hedid not check in when a staffmember insisted on an identi-ty card with a clear photo-graph.

Apart from the Faridabadencounter, police engagedDubey’s alleged accomplices inUttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur,where an one man was killed,and in Kanpur, where threewere arrested. An inspectorand constable were injured inthe Hamirpur encounter.

The Uttar Pradesh SpecialTask Force (STF) also detainedDubey’s brother-in-law inMadhya Pradesh’s Shahdol dis-trict on Wednesday.

DC CORRESPONDENTMUMBAI, JULY 8

The vandalism of ‘Rajgruh’,the residence of Dr BabasahebAmbedkar at Dadar inMumbai, has created a stir inMaharashtra with the actbeing condemned by variousquarters in the state. Thepolice have detained one sus-pect in the matter.

Terming the incident as‘shocking,’ Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray said thegovernment will not spare theoffenders. He vowed to takestern action against thoseinvolved in the incident.

“The premises is not just asacred place forAmbedkarites, but the entiresociety. Ambedkar preservedall his writings in this premis-es. This is like a pilgrimagecentre for allMaharashtrians,” he said.

According to police, the inci-dent happened on Tuesdaynight, in which the unidentifi-ed accused entered the premises of Rajgruh andsmashed flower pots, damagedplants, CCTV camera and pelt-ed stones at a window beforefleeing.

AMBEDKAR’S‘RAJGRUH’

VANDALISED

GOLD SEIZURE:PINARAYI WRITES

TO PM FOR PROBE DC CORRESPONDENTTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 8

Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan onWednesday urged PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toorder a thorough inquiry intothe seizure of 30 kg of gold atthe Thiruvananthapuraminternational airport on July 5.

In a letter to the PrimeMinister, Mr Vijayan said theattempt to smuggle huge quan-tities of gold concealed indiplomatic baggage makes theincident extremely serious.

“The case has serious impli-cations as this undermines theeconomy of the nation. In factit has more than one anglewarranting a thorough inves-tigation,” he said and request-ed for an effective and coordi-nated investigation by all cen-tral agencies. The ChiefMinister said the scope of theprobe should cover all aspectsfrom the source to the end uti-lization. “Every link of thiscrime should be unraveled sothat such incidents do notrecur,” he said and extendedall necessary assistance to thecentral probe agencies.

Indian students in USin a fix over new rule ADITYA CHUNDURU

HYDERABAD, JULY 8

Mayuri, a student fromKhammam, had justbegun her Masters at theNew England College inNew Hampshire daysago. The pandemic hasalready given her muchgrief. Her university hasstarted online learningsessions, forcing her tostay alone at home in acity in which she has nofriends or family in.Little did she know, how-ever, that there was moretrouble on the horizon.

Mayuri is one of thou-sands of Indian studentswho might be affected bythe new directive fromthe immigration andcustoms enforcement(ICE). which requiresthem to leave the coun-try if their colleges havegone completely onlinethis semester.

The directive wasissued on Tuesday, lead-ing to panicked phonecalls between the stu-dents and their familiesin India.

Speaking over thephone, Mayuri said thestudent community fromher university has writ-ten to the administra-tion, asking for a solu-tion that will preventtheir displacement. Theadministration, withinhours, assured them thatit had their backs. "Theysent us a mail telling usthey will find some

workaround. I hope theyare serious," she said.

Many universities havealready found such'workarounds.' Theyhave announced 'hybrid'models of teaching,including offline teach-ing for international stu-dents so that the ICEdirective doesn't apply tothem anymore.

Columbia University,an Ivy League school inNew York, told its inter-national students itwould offer them a one-credit global course inwhich they could enrol.It would create 'globalpop-up centres' in vari-ous locations whereinternational studentscould visit for academicengagement, in order forit to qualify as in-personteaching.

Universities are push-ing back on the order,since they, too, stand tolose the considerableincome they make fromtuition fees paid by inter-national students. Somehave gone on the offen-sive as well. TheMassachusetts Instituteof Technology (MIT) andHarvard University have

sued ICE, asking for astay on the order.

Harvard president,Lawrence Bacow, in astatement, noted that theorder came withoutnotice and "its cruelty issurpassed only by itsrecklessness." MIT presi-dent, L Rafael Reif, in hisstatement, noted thatinternational studentsnow had many ques-tions, one of which is ifthey are welcome in thecountry at all.

Meanwhile, the NorthAmerican association ofIndian students(NAAIS), formed in 2020,asked students to exertpressure and lobby theirrespective universities.

The past few weekshave been rough onIndian families withmembers studying orworking in the USA.Recently, the countryhad announced it wouldbe suspending theissuance of new, non-immigrant visas untilthe end of 2020, leavingmany H1B seekers in alimbo. The latest direc-tive has raised questionsabout whether the stu-dents can expect to lead a

secure life in the US. Nishanth, hailing from

Warangal, had moved tothe USA to study in auniversity in Missouri in2019. He wondered if hehad done the right thing."From the moment Icame here, I have onlyreceived bad news fromthe US government. A lotof my seniors are stillwaiting for H1B visasand by the time I applyfor one, it could take memany years to get it.Green cards (for perma-nent residence) are a dis-tant dream." he said.

Nishanth has beenlucky since many uni-versities in Missourihave started conductingin-person classesalready, keeping him safefrom the ICE directive.However, this hasn'tallayed his fears about alife or future he will havein that country.

Mayuri's family calledher from India themoment they heard thenews on Tuesday. "Theyhave been pleading withme to come back homesince March,” she said.Incidentally, Mayuri ispursuing her secondMaster's course in thecountry. She was unableto find a job after gradu-ating from another uni-versity last year, so sheenrolled again to keepher student status.

The desperate dreamto be in the US may havejust turned very sour.

A small gathering of people at Nishant garden near Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday following theannouncement that gardens, parks throughout J&K would be thrown open for general public. Theannouncement was made amid the gradual unlocking process. — H.U. Naqash

S.A. ISHAQUI | DCHYDERABAD, JULY 8:

Amidst the growing cho-rus of voices in politicalcircles demandingPresident's Rule inTelangana because ofthe mismanagement ofthe Covid-19 crisis by thestate government, Unionminister of state forhome affairs G. KishanReddy met Union healthminister Dr HarshVardhan in Delhi onWednesday.

There has been an

alarming surge in Covid-19 numbers in Telanganastate and both oppositionparties, the Congressand BJP, have demandedPresident's Rule in thestate. GovernorTamilisai Soundara-rajan, too, has expressedher displeasure at thestate administration'shandling of the Covidcrisis and the Telangana

High Court has madeobservations critical ofthe state administrationduring hearings of thepetitions before it on thissubject.

After the meeting,Kishan Reddy posted onTwitter: "Discussed soar-ing number of Covid-19cases and ways & meas-ures to tackle it inTelangana."

Sources close to KishanReddy said that theUnion health ministerhas taken stock of thesituation and hasenquired about themeasures put in place bythe K. ChandrasekharRao government to con-tain the spread of thevirus.

Kishan Reddy apprisedthe health ministerabout testing, tracing,community surveillance,hospital management,and identification of iso-lation wards.

Jawans told to delete FB accountsPAWAN BALI | DC NEW DELHI, JULY 8

Indian Army has asked itsofficers and jawans toimmediately delete theirFacebook accounts andhas also barred them fromusing some other 88 appsincluding PUBG andInstagram. Among theapps which have beenbarred are some Indianapplications like “Hike”messenger.

“As far as Facebook isconcerned, the Army per-sonnel are required not tojust deactivate theiraccounts, they have also todelete their Facebookaccount,” said a seniorArmy official. Sourcessaid that recently therehave been cases where for-eign spies had usedFacebook to target person-nel from Indian securityagencies.

The Army could take

action against any personnel found to beusing these banned appsfrom July 15.

This is the strictestwarning sent by the Armyto its personnel at a timewhen foreign spies areusing apps for espionagepurposes.

Among the apps whichhave been banned for useby Army personnel areZoom, True Caller,Nimbuzz, Line, Helo and

Snow. Army personnel will

also not be allowed to usethe popular dating appTinder to prevent honeytraps by foreign spies.Other dating apps whichare barred areTrulyMadly, Happn,okCupid, Badoo, EliteSingles and Couch Surfingamong others in this cate-gory. Some 17 e-commerceapps too have beenbanned.

Students may have to leave country but varsities offer help

Limping back to normalcy

Reddy meets Varrdhan as demandfor Prez rule in Telangana grows

�� THE CONGRESS and the BJP have demandedPresident’s rule in the state saying the governmenthas failed to contain the spread of Covid 19

�� MANY UNIVERSITIES have already found'workarounds'. They have announced 'hybrid' mod-els of teaching, including offline teaching for inter-national students.

�� Harvard president Lawrence Bacow, in a state-ment, noted that the order came without notice and"its cruelty is surpassed only by its recklessness."

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JULY 8

The recovery rate in India isfast picking up as onWednesday it reached 61.53per cent, and the gapbetween the infected andrecovered too widened.

During the last 24 hours,16,883 patients ofCoronavirus were dis-charged taking the cumula-tive figure of recovered casesto 4,56,830 so far while2,64,944 are still under med-ical supervision.

India on Wednesday record-ed a total 7,21,417 cases out of which 22,752 were freshcases. The deaths so far inthe country stand at 20,642out of which 482 fatalitiesoccurred in the last 24 hours.

Cases are picking up insouthern states of Tamil Na-du, Telangana, Karnatakaand Andhra Pradesh whilethe situation in Maharashtraand Delhi is slowly improv-ing.

Maharashtra reported just6,603 fresh cases as Covid-19cases in Mumbai’s Dharavicome under control.

However, Maharashtra stillhas the highest number oftotal cases — 2, 23, 724 — andhighest numbers of deaths —9,448 out of which 198 wereon Wednesday.

Delhi registered 2,033 newcases and 48 deaths taking itstotal number of infected to1,04,864 and 3,218 deaths.

However, as cases increasedin Bihar, the state govern-ment has decided to putPatna, Bhagalpur and someother places under lockdownfrom July 9 to 16 during

which only essential servicesshops will be allowed toremain open.

Economist Prof SteveHanke of Johns HopkinsUniversity has pointed outthat higher cases in India aredue to lack of medical infra-structure and under testing.

“Even with its hard#Lockdown, #India now hasthe 3rd highest number of#COVID19 cases. No sur-prise. Just as I predicted: A#Modi #LockdownFailure. Alockdown does not makemore #Hospital beds or#Tests,” he tweeted.

However, the Union healthministry officials said thathigher testing has led tomore detection of caseswhich is helping in contain-ing the situation. “The num-ber of samples tested fordetection of Covid-19 is sub-stantially growing every day.During the last 24 hours,2,62,679 samples have beentested. The cumulative num-ber of samples tested, as ofnow is 1,04,73,771. As a result,the tests per million todaystand at 7180,” said healthministry officials.

Recovery rate goes up to 61%but no let up in new cases

Kerala’s coastal areasface big Covid threat DC CORRESPONDENTTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 8

A grave situation prevailed inthe coastal areas includingPoonthura on the outskirts ofThiruvananthapuram citywith 119 persons tested posi-tive during random tests car-ried out among 600 people inthe area even as Keralarecorded the biggest singleday spike with 301 cases onWednesday.

Of the 301 cases, 90 contract-ed the infection through con-tact including 60 persons inThiruvananthapuram.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan has directed theThiruvananthapuram districtadministration to take imme-diate steps to contain the dis-ease in Poonthura and adjoin-ing areas of Manikavilakom,Puthenpally and BeemapallyEast.

Social distancing is a majorproblem in the densely popu-lated coastal hamlets andauthorities are keeping theirfingers crossed over furthercommunity spread. However,health officials said since theinfection is concentrated in asmall area, the focus will beon preventing the spread tooutside communities.

The entire area has beenbariadded in such a manner

that there will be only oneentry and exit point. No onewill be allowed to venture outof these areas.

The commandos of SpecialArmed Police battalion havebeen deployed in the coastalhamlets to prevent peoplefrom venturing out and expos-ing themselves to the virus.

The district administrationwill provide 5 kg provisions toeach family in the contain-ment zones.

A large number of fish ven-dors come to the city from thecoastal areas. Local fish mar-kets have been shut. The com-mandos have been asked toprevent fishermen from goingto sea during lockdown peri-od.

The biggest challenge beforethe authorities is to preventthe spread of infection fromcoastal areas to the main citycentre.

As part of these measures,all major road connecting theaffected coastal areas with therest of the cities have beenbarricaded. The has beendirected to register cases andarrest people who venture outof their homes, Rapid testswill be increased in the area.

The government also said itwill introduce strict controlsin Ernakulam district whichalso faces the threat of com-munity spread.

NO OF CASES INTELANGANA TOTOUCH 30 K SOONDC CORRESPONDENTS HYDERABAD,VIJAYAWADA, JULY 9

A total of 1,924 positivecases have emerged inTelangana onWednesday taking thetotal number to 29,536cases. There have been11 deaths recorded andthe total number of deadis 324.

The greater Hyderabadmunicipal corporationhas recorded the highest- 1,590 cases - which ithas been doing continu-ously since last month.The increasing numbersare an indication thatevery area of the GHMClimit is infected and thatpeople who are movingaround the city have toexercise maximum care.

Andhra Pradeshrecorded 1,051 new con-firmed infections scal-ing up the overall tally to22,259 on Wednesday.The last 24 hours alsosaw the death of 12 peo-ple. Out of 27,643 sam-ples tested in the last 24hours, 1,051 new domes-tic cases were reportedapart from nine casesfrom other states andtwo foreign returneesthereby taking theirtotal to 1,062.

40,000 private teachers losejobs in K’taka due to CovidAKSHEEV THAKUR | DC BENGALURU, JULY 8

The Coronavirus pandemichas led to the job loss of morethan 40,000 private schoolteachers across the state asthe parents were unable topay the fees. Amongst theworst hit are the pre-nursery,and primary schools whereno new admission has takenplace. For pre-nursery, thegovernment has bannedonline classes as well.

“We have budget schoolswhich charge somewherebetween `30,000 and `40,000per year and give qualityeducation. In this lockdown,over 25% of the parents havenot cleared last year’s fees.Even though the governmenthas asked the schools to collect tuition fees, not even2-3 per cent parents havecome forward to pay thefees,” said D. Shashikumar,general secretary ofKarnataka associated man-agements of primary andsecondary schools.

While the situation is

worse in budget schools, afew premium schools haveslashed teachers’ salary by30%-50% even if the schoolshave collected the fees fromthe parents.

“Both the teaching andnon-teaching staff were paidfrom the school’s reserves forthe first three months afterthe lockdown but how longcan one continue without thegovernment’s aid? Wedemanded the government tolend a loan `1,000 crore orprovide the remuneration forthe teachers. All the whilethe government did not both-er to spend much on thenoble profession,”Shashikumar lamented.

In Karnataka, over 54.5lakh students are enrolled inprivate schools while 8 lakhstudents are with the govern-ment school.

Several teachers foundthemselves in an unusual sit-uation when asked to takeclasses online. While manyscraped through the style oftechnical teaching non pay-ment of salary sullied their

efforts.“It is not easy to take class-

es online. We have not done itbefore. A lot of effort goesinto it and the end of the daywe do not get paid. My schoolis owned by a powerful politician and despite collect-ing fees from the studentsour salary was slashed by 30 per cent in the month ofMay. Moreover, we are risking our lives by going tothe schools to take classeswhen there are no studentsturning up. If nothing weexpect dignity from the management, schools andthe parents”, a schoolteacher on the condition ofanonymity told the DeccanChronicle.

Shailesh is working as atechie and his wife works fora private school as a teacher.She was told by the manage-ment that she need not haveany increment when her hus-band could earn.

The social media platformsare filled with posts on thenon-payment of salaries toteachers.

Nath seeks to rid Cong of ‘Scindia influence’ RABINDRA NATHCHOUDHURY | DCBHOPAL, JULY 8

Madhya Pradesh Congressunit chief Kamal Nath haslaunched a move to free hisparty from the influence ofhis former party colleagueJyotiraditya Scindia, whojoined BJP recently, ‘com-pletely’ by identifying hissupporters in Congress andthen showing them the door.

Nath has ordered all thedistrict Congress Committee

(DCC) presidents in MP totake the initiative in thedirection and complete theexercise before the upcom-ing by-elections in the 24 as-sembly constituencies in thestate, scheduled to held incoming months, a senior Congress leader disclosed tothis newspaper on Wednesd-ay requesting not to be quot-ed.

“The move to free Congressof any kind of influence ofScindia particularly in Gwa-lior-Chambal region, consid-

ered his stronghold, hasbeen launched around threemonths ago after Scindiaalong with 22 former Con-gress MLAs, his loyalists,quit the party leading to fallof Kamal Nath government.

However, it could hardlymake any headway so farsince the party workersbelieved to be Scindia’s sym-pathisers appear hesitant tocome out openly in his sup-port after his exit fromCongress”, he added.

In a fresh directive to the

local DCC presidents inGwalior-Chambal region,Nath asked them to prod theCongress workers, believedto be Scindia’s sympathisers,to issue statements againstScindia.

“We have not been able toidentify the Congress work-ers owning allegiance toScindia since none of themare now coming out in theopen to support him”, a DCCpresident in the region toldthis newspaper unwilling tobe quoted.

�� INDIA ON Wednesdayrecorded a total 7,21,417cases out of which 22,752were fresh cases. Thedeaths so far in the countrystand at 20,642 out of which482 fatalities occurred in thelast 24 hours.

�� CASES ARE picking up inthe southern states of TamilNadu, Telangana, Karnatakaand Andhra Pradesh whilethe situation in Maharashtraand Delhi is slowly improv-ing.

WORLD pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | THURSDAY | 9 JULY 2020

IN BRIEF

Benny Gantz inquarantine

Jerusalem: Israeli Defence Mi-nister Benny Gantz says he is

going into quarantine over co-ncerns he was recently expos-ed to a Covid-19 carrier. Gan-

tz, who also serves as alterna-tive prime minister, says he fe-els well and is isolating out of

a sense of responsibility. Hesays he will work remotely un-

til he receives his test resultand an epidemiological inves-

tigation is concluded.

Twin hits kill 6Afghan cops

Kabul: A suicide truck bom-ber targeted a police district

headquarters in Afghanistan’sKandahar province on Wedn-

esday, killing three officers.Three more officers were

killed in a roadside bombingin Ghazni province. The Talib-an claimed responsibility for

both attacks.

Biden wins NewJersey primary

Washington: Former Vice Pr-esident Joe Biden has won

New Jersey’s mostly mail-inDemocratic presidential pri-mary. Biden faced VermontSen. Bernie Sanders on the

ballot Tuesday, even thoughBiden has accumulated eno-

ugh delegates to become theparty’s presumptive nominee.New Jersey’s already-late pri-mary got pushed a month la-ter because of the Covid-19.

July 14 hearingfor Epstein aide

New York: Jeffrey Epstein’sex-girlfriend will appear rem-

otely by video for a July 14courthouse arraignment andbail hearing on charges she

recruited girls for him to sexu-ally abuse over two decades

ago. US District Judge AlisonJ. Nathan set the date as she

announced special arrangem-ents to allow limited publicaccess to the video feed of

Ghislaine Maxwell facing cha-rges for the first time in Manh-attan federal court next week.

Will quit WHO, US formally briefs UNWashington, July 8: TheTrump administration hasformally notified the Unit-ed Nations of its decisionto withdraw the US fromthe World Health Organis-ation, breaking off tieswith the global healthbody amidst the ragingCovid-19 pandemic.

President Donald Trumpsaid he was halting fundi-ng to the organisation inmid-April and announcedhis intention to withdrawfrom the WHO in May aft-er he said it “failed tomake the requested andgreatly needed reforms”.

The US has also accusedthe WHO of siding withChina on the outbreak ofthe virus, which originat-ed in the Chinese city ofWuhan late last year, alleg-ing the health body misledthe world resulting in dea-ths of over half a millionpeople globally, includingover 130,000 in America al-one. “China has total cont-rol over the World HealthOrganisation,” PresidentTrump said in May.

He has also alleged thatthe Chinese governmenttried to cover-up of the Co-vid-19 pandemic’s origins.In April, the US stopped fu-nding to WHO as the Tru-mp administration review-ed the ties. A month later,President Donald Trumpannounced the US was ter-minating the relationship.

The US is the single larg-est contributor to theWHO, providing over $450million per annum. Chi-na’s contribution to the gl-

obal health body is about$40 million, one-tenth ofthat of the US. “I can saythat on July 6, 2020, theUnited States of Americanotified the secretary-gen-eral, in his capacity as dep-ositary of the 1946 Constit-ution of the World HealthOrganisation, of its withd-rawal from the World Hea-lth Organisation, effectiveon July 6, 2021,” said Ste-phane Dujarric, spokesm-an for the UN secretary-ge-neral, in a statement.

Dujarric said the secreta-

ry-general is in the processof verifying with the WHOwhether all the conditionsfor such withdrawal aremet. The US has been a pa-rty to the WHO Constitut-ion since June 21, 1948. Itsparticipation was acceptedby the World Health Asse-mbly with certain conditi-ons set out by the US for itseventual withdrawal. Thesaid conditions includegiving a one-year notice,meaning the withdrawalwon't go into effect untilJuly 6 next year. — PTI

US, China impose visa curbs in Tibet rowBeijing, July 8: The Uni-ted States and China impo-sed visa restrictions oneach other in tit-for-tat mo-ves over their disagreeme-nt on Tibet, adding fuel tothe diplomatic fire betw-een the superpowers.

China announced Wedn-esday its curbs on peoplefrom the US who “behavebadly” on Tibet-related is-sues, in retaliation for Am-erican curbs unveiled aday before. Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo saidTuesday he was taking ac-tion against an unspecifi-ed number of officialsunder a new US law thatpresses China to let Ame-ricans visit the far westregion, renewing a call for“meaningful autonomy”in the predominantly Bud-dhist area.

“Unfortunately, Beijing

has continued systemati-cally to obstruct travel tothe Tibetan AutonomousRegion and other Tibetanareas by US diplomats andother officials, journalists

and tourists, while PRCofficials and other citizensenjoy far greater access tothe United States,” Pomp-eo said in a statement.

Pompeo restricted visas

to Chinese officials deter-mined to be “substantiallyinvolved” in the exclusionof foreigners from Tibetanareas. The State Departm-ent declined to name theofficials or say how manypeople were affected, citi-ng US confidentiality laws.

Chinese foreign ministryspokesman Zhao Lijian ex-pressed China’s “firm opp-osition” to the move andurged the US to “immedi-ately stop interfering inChina’s internal affairsthrough Tibet-related issu-es”. “In response to thewrong actions of the US,China has decided to im-pose visa restrictions onUS personnel who behavebadly on Tibet-related iss-ues,” he said, warning offurther damage to US-Ch-ina relations and coopera-tion. — AP

CHINA SLAMS USFOR PULLING OUT OF WHOBeijing, July 8: China onWednesday slammed theUS decision to withdrawfrom the WHO as yet anot-her example of Washingt-on upholding “unilaterali-sm” and defended the UNbody for coordinating theglobal response to Covid.

Chinese Foreign Minist-ry spokesman Zhao Lijiansaid, “This is yet anotherexample of US upholdingunilateralism, withdrawi-ng from treaties and grou-pings.” The US move willundermine the interna-tional anti-epidemic effo-rts and has a serious nega-tive impact on developingcountries in urgent needof international support,he said. — PTI

BEIJING DISMISSES AUSTRALIANWARNING OF ARBITRARY DETENTIONCanberra, July 8: TheChinese Embassy on Wed-nesday dismissed Austral-ia’s warning to travellersof arbitrary detention inChina as “ridiculous” and“disinformation” in thelatest diplomatic spat tomar a deteriorating relati-onship. Australia’s Depar-tment of Foreign Affairsand Trade said on Tuesd-ay in an updated travel ad-visory for China that aut-

horities have detained for-eigners because they’re“endangering national se-curity”, adding that Austr-alians may also be at risk.

China’s embassy in Aust-ralia replied in a stateme-nt: “This is completely rid-iculous and disinformati-on. Foreigners in China,including the Australians,as long as they abide bythe Chinese laws, have noneed to worry.” — AP

Beijing, July 8: A seniorChinese arms control offi-cial called US pressure tojoin nuclear arms talkswith Russia an Americanploy to avoid signing anew deal, and said Chinawould gladly participate ifthe US would agree to par-ity among all three natio-ns. “I can assure you thatif the US says that theyare ready to come down to

the Chinese level, Chinawill be happy to participa-te the next day,” Fu Cong,the director general of theForeign Ministry’s armscontrol department, saidWednesday. “But actually,we know that that’s notgoing to happen.”

Fu spoke to journalistsin Beijing after the US poi-ntedly noted the Chineseabsence at talks with Russ-

ia in Vienna two weeksago on replacing the 2010New START arms controltreaty. The pact, which ex-pires in February, is betw-een the US and Russia,long the world’s majornuclear powers.

Fu called joining thetalks unrealistic becauseChina has a much smallernuclear arsenal than theother two. — AP

N-talks ploy to avoid new deal

Don paid friend to take college exam test in his place

MEET TO DECIDEOLI FUTURE PUTOFF AGAINKathmandu, July 8: Acrucial meeting of theruling Nepal Communi-st Party to decide the po-litical future of beleagu-ered Prime Minister K.P.Sharma Oli was once ag-ain deferred on Wednes-day till Friday to allowmore time for the top le-aders to reach a power-sharing deal amid theheightened intra-partyrift and his anti-Indiaremarks. The 45-mem-ber Standing Committeemeeting has been postp-oned to Friday, saidSurya Thapa, the PM’spress advisor.

With this, the crucialmeeting has been put offfor the fourth consecuti-ve time in a bid to prov-ide enough time for thetwo chairmen of the rul-ing party, Oli and Push-pa Kamal Dahal ‘Pracha-nda’, to sort out differ-ences. The future of 68-year-old Oli is expectedto be decided amidst thegrowing involvement ofChinese ambassadorHou Yanqui to save him.

— PTI

K.P. Oli

Aries: An old property-related dispute mayresolve. Your intellect and logical reasoningare at their best, and you’ll handle even thetrickiest job easily.Taurus: Creativity, instead of spending money,will show you ways to improve your livingspace and make it more comfortable; you’ll feelrefreshed and renewed.

Gemini: Catch up with friends and family mem-bers you haven’t seen in a while. You deservethis. Bask in the glory of your achievements;avoid worrying about other things.

Cancer: You’re energised by good relationships— in love and friendships. You handle youraffairs skillfully, completing projects success-fully, but love is more important than work.Leo: Good friend and partners share work andpleasure pleasantly. You may expect a minorhealth problem, though it’s not alarming. Yourpartner would help you financially.

Virgo: Expect differences with higher-ups. Avoidcontroversies. You may have to decide regardingdisposing of old articles. Your hectic schedule couldmake you feel exhausted and restless all day.

Pisces: Pay attention to avoid minor accidents.You’ll be daydreaming about love and romance.The work you love will become an unbearablechore, frustrating you. Financial settlementproblems will be resolved positively.

Your day today

Tom Hanks, Hollywood actor. He is best known for his roles inForrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, The

Terminal, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, Apollo 13,Saving Mr. Banks and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

You share your b’day with

COFFEE-BREAK

Across1.Food store (6)

3. German wine (4)7. Paddles (4)8. Gloomy and sullen

(6)10. Leather (7)13. Refinement and deli-

cacy (7)16. Paid male lover (6)17. Telephoned (4)18. Legal document (4)19. Culpable (6)

Down1. Stratagem (4)2. Lacking breadth (6)4. Musical instrument

(4)5. Mixes by pressing (6)6. Warrior (7)9. Elates (7)

11. Roughly serrated (6)12. Attack (6)14. Man-eating

giant (4)15. Repulsive (4)

QUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Across: 1. Interpret,6. Sabre, 7. Nails, 9.Lies, 10. Ghetto, 12.Broker, 14. Flag, 17.Elite, 18. Organ,19. Incapable.

Down: 2. Noble, 3.Eyed, 4. Poncho, 5.Exist, 6. Soluble, 8.Shotgun, 11.Geneva, 13. Onion,15. Legal, 16.Goya.

TODAY’S RATINGS: 24 AVERAGE; 27GOOD; 29 OUTSTANDING

Word Mine

ANSWERS:arson, inmost, into, iron, main, manor,martin, mason, matron, minor, mint, moan, morn,norm, rain, RAINSTORM, ransom, rant, ration, roan,rosin, saint, satin, snort, sonar, stain, strain, torn,train

NT A R

R M I S O

By Dr C.V.B. Subrahmanyam

There are some plants andflowers that seem to sur-vive despite all of our

best efforts to kill them.Others, though, fold upalmost immediately unlessthey are treated with tender,green-fingered care.

Bridge partners are likethat. Some will find the bestplays despite our attempts tomislead them. Others,though, must be guided overthe pitfalls of a deal. East'splay on today's deal might be

determined by whether Westfalls into the first category orthe second.

How should the defenseproceed against four spadesafter West leads the diamondfive? In the auction, the firsttwo bids were artificial, andthe rest was natural.

As soon as he saw twospades in the dummy, Eastknew that his partner wasvoid. So, if West had led fromthe diamond king, which hisfourth-highest card promised,

there were four defensivetricks available: two dia-monds and two spade ruffs.

The careful defender sittingEast, who likes to treat hispartner kindly, plays the dia-mond queen at trick one.When it wins, he shifts to thespade nine. West ruffs andleads a diamond to East's ace.The second spade ruff defeatsthe contract.

An East who is playing withan expert, though, can affordto win trick one with the dia-

mond ace -- as long as hereturns the spade nine at tricktwo. West will read this highcard as a suit-preference sig-nal for diamonds. KnowingEast doesn't have the dia-mond king, West will realizethat it is showing the queen(or an unlikely singleton). Hewill underlead in diamonds toget the second ruff.

Treat your partner kindly.Copyright United Feature

Syndicate(Asia Features)

bridge

PHILLIPALDER

TREAT WITHCARE AND

TRICKS COME

jumble

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

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

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

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

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

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

How many words of four or moreletters can you make from the lettersshown in today’s puzzle? In making aword, each letter may be used onceonly. Each word must contain the

letter at the top of the pyramid. Thereshould be at least one nine letterword. Plurals, foreign words andproper names are not allowed.

Libra: You’ll have a great evening. Entertainmentmay be your topmost agenda. You would feel men-tally alert and physically energetic today. Optimiseyour creative and communication skills to succeed.Scorpio: You may get attracted to someonewho’s unsuitable for you. Make significant deci-sions carefully. Avoid differences with friendsthis evening. You may make new friends.Sagittarius: Higher-ups at work take your viewsseriously. Your articulation and perseverancehelp you overcome obstructions. Stay awayfrom temptations to flirt.

Capricorn: Health problems may arise but you’llget over them; be careful. One of your business-es brings money. You’ll spend time with some-one you love and consider marriage.Aquarius: You’ll straighten your financialaffairs. Mend your work ways and be tact-ful about how people perceive you. Yourfinances improve.

New York, July 8: Pres-ident Donald Trump’s nie-ce offers a scathing portra-yal of her uncle in a newbook, blaming a toxic fam-ily for raising a narcissist-ic, damaged man who pos-es an immediate danger tothe public, according to acopy obtained by The Asso-ciated Press.

Mary L. Trump, a psych-ologist, writes that

Trump’s re-election wouldbe catastrophic and that“lying, playing to the low-est common denominator,cheating, and sowing divi-sion are all he knows”. “Bythe time this book is pub-lished, hundreds of thou-sands of American liveswill have been sacrificedon the altar of Donald’shubris and willful igno-rance. If he is afforded a

second term, it would bethe end of AmericanDemocracy,” she writes inToo Much and Never Enou-gh, How My FamilyCreated The World’s MostDangerous Man.

Mary Trump is the daug-hter of Trump’s elder brot-her, Fred Jr., who diedafter a struggle with alco-holism in 1981 at 42. Thebook is the second insider

account in two months topaint a deeply unflattering

portrait of the president,following the release offormer national securityadviser John Bolton’s best-seller.

In her book, Mary, who isestranged from her uncle,makes several revelations,including alleging that thepresident paid a friend totake the SATs — a standar-dised test widely used forcollege admissions — in

his place. She writes thathis sister Maryanne Tru-mp did his homework forhim but couldn’t take histests and he worried his gr-ade point average, whichput him far from the top ofthe class, would “scuttlehis efforts to get accepted”into the Wharton School ofthe University of Pennsyl-vania, where he transferr-ed after two years at Fordh-

am University in the Bro-nx. “To hedge his bets heenlisted Joe Shapiro, a sm-art kid with a reputationfor being a good test taker,to take his SATs for him,”she writes, adding, “Dona-ld, who never lacked for fu-nds, paid his buddy well.”

White House spokespers-on Sarah Matthews calledthe allegation “completelyfalse”.

Mary Trump

EDIT pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | THURSDAY | 9 JULY 2020 | CHENNAI

In one stroke of penning a directive to strip international college studentsof their visas if their course of study was entirely online, the DonaldTrump-administered United States has thrown more than a million livesinto uncertainty, that too in the time of the pandemic. Among the 10 lakh

students who were issued visas to US last year, there are at least two lakhyoung Indians who may face the distressing prospect of being deported at atime when there are no flights home and at the cost of several lakhs of rupeesspent in college fees, getting to the US and setting up their lodging.

The Trump administration may be doing this to force universities intoearly reopening and filling dormitories andpopulating classrooms as a way of thrustingnormality, but at a particularly difficult timewhen the virus is rebounding even as the USreopens. It is clear that the move goes farbeyond domestic compulsions. The xenopho-bic outlook of the Trump regime is onceagain exposed, the trait already made evidentin restrictive moves made against work visasin June. The action against foreign studentscan be interpreted as blatantly racist too as amajority of students who will be affected areChinese (about 3,70,000), Indians (2,02,000)and South Koreans (52,000) who enrolled in2018-19.

The pattern of hostility to immigrants,fuelled on in the Trump years that began with the idea of a Mexican Wall, isclear. This could mean not only the end of pursuit of studies in the US butalso evaporation of the “American Dream” for many youth who will be miss-ing job opportunities, which may have been a good reason why they chose tostudy in the US. Foreign students, many of whom who pay full tuition fees,are also estimated to contribute upwards of $30 billion a year to the US econ-omy while supporting about half a million jobs in and around academia.

American universities may innovate in offering in-person classes inhybrid courses and students residing in the US may just find ways past theregulations. But what is destroyed as lakhs of young people agonise over reg-ulations that put them in the crosshairs is the old belief in America as theland of opportunity. In narrow-minded pandering to American sentimentfavouring the reduction of legal immigration to the US, the country could beshooting itself in the foot, with its post-Covid-19 economy to be affected evenmore as the number of international students intending to enrol in the fallsemester is bound to fall drastically.

Nothing will, however, cut ice with the US President when he is seeking re-election. Every manoeuvre that projects itself as putting America,Americans and US jobs first can be traced to one man’s ambition to remainin the White House. The student visa restrictions could be seen as primarilyhitting at China, derided now as the source of the Covid-19 pandemic andconsequent fall of the global economy. But, if Indian students become collat-eral damage, all the talk of special US-India ties amid Trump-Modi cama-raderie gets shown up as empty.

Trump’s 2nd term price:2 lakh education dreams

Nothing will, however,cut ice with the US

President when he isseeking re-election.

Every manoeuvre thatprojects itself as puttingAmerica, Americans and

US jobs first can betraced to one man’s

ambition to remain inthe White House.

Revenue dented,Railways beginausterity drive

It is high time thatIndia corrects itspast mistakes, asits 1.3 billion peo-ple face uncom-

fortable truths and anuncertain future, like somany countries aroundthe world. It may be dif-ficult, if not impossible,for us to disentangleourselves from the drag-on’s clutches, as it haspenetrated Hindustanlike an octopus, with alife-threatening hug.India’s core and criticalsectors — from banking,investments, consumergoods and pharmaceuti-cals, to computers, cell-phones and cellularpower — all havebecome China-infested.It’s not just the flagrantbreach of territory inthe Galwan Valley andelsewhere in Ladakhthat we are looking at.

The widespread publicoutrage against theChinese after the PLA’smassacre of 20 Indiansoldiers, including adecorated colonel, isunderstandable, ofcourse, and it shouldgoad the nation into tak-ing decisive action.Ordinary Indians haverightly seen this cold-blooded killing as yetanother addition to thelong list of foreignincursions into India,which has made its his-tory so predictable —and humiliating. Andit’s not just about ourpast, after 1947 too thehumiliation by foreigninvaders has continued,with a helpless peoplelet down by their lead-ers, time and again.People are resigned toseeing foreign soldiersecho Julius Caesar’swords with ease: “Icame. I saw. I con-quered”. From Mahmudof Ghazni to Nadir Shahto the Mughals, theBritish and now theHan Chinese in Galwan-Pangong, the story hasremained the same for athousand years: enter

India at will, and kill allthose standing in theway! The more Indiaseems to forge ahead,the more static and stag-nant it emerges.

India is the only oneamong the world’s top10 economies and mili-taries whose soldiersare slaughtered by therogue forces of theCommunist Party ofChina, which pretendsto be this country’s“strategic partner”, andwhose promises weappear to accept with-out question. Chinamay aspire to be theworld’s numero uno,but it doesn’t care aboutdiplomatic niceties (andin fact despises thosewho do as “weak”), andwhose expertise indeceit, cunning andtheft is universallyacknowledged. And it isconfident that with bag-fuls of cash it can sim-ply “buy” support wher-ever it needs to, includ-ing in Hindustan. Canwe prove them wrong,even at this late stage?

Do we in India evenrealise how muchstature, honour, respectand standing we havefrittered away in theinternational arena?Take a look at what isbeing published in theinternational media,how New Delhi is per-ceived in the face ofBeijing’s aggression.“The apparent lack ofhesitancy the Chinesehave in killing Indian

soldiers, compared toTaiwanese or Japanese(soldiers), is due to thefact that India’s securi-ty is not guaranteed bythe United States. Ifthat’s the problem,there is a solution: anagreement withBritain,” says a letter inLondon’s FinancialTimes last month.“India should havesome of its soldiers jointhe British Army asCommonwealth citi-zens, and asks Britainto send the soldiers topatrol its borders withChina, and in returnpays their salaries… IfChinese soldiers don’tfeel free to kill troopswhose government iscovered by a US securi-ty umbrella, thenIndians will be quitesafe in British uni-forms.”

How humiliating canthings be? China doesn’tdare to touch Taiwan’sor Japan’s soldiersdespite being swornfoes. But India? Chinafinds it totally safe tokill Indian soldierswithout an iota ofIndian retribution!Beijing seems to beutterly confident thateven if some Indian sol-diers die at the hands ofthe Han Chinese,India’s public memoryis so short that peoplewill forget it sooner orlater, and life will go onas usual. And theChinese will be free tostart making moneyonce again in the Indianmarket.

On June 26, America’sWall Street Journalwarned: “What are thecosts of kowtowing toChina? India faces thisquestion afresh afterclashes on theHimalayan boundarywhich took the lives of20 Indian soldiers”.Should India fail to

push the Chinese back, “it would be anexample of very suc-cessful public intimida-tion by China, thatopens door to furtherblackmail down theline”. The Chinese areonly following a time-tested policy, one thathave been successfullydoing since 1949 on alltheir borders and withall neighbours. Theywill simply never giveup the easy way ofexpanding territoriesthrough surreptitious,illegal means becausethat’s where the exper-tise of the PLA, thepolitical sword and armof the CommunistParty, truly lies.

For India, it may bethe worst of times,despite the dubious, so-called “retreat fromGalwan”. First came the“Chinese virus”, and weare still struggling tocope with it. Then camethe Chinese penetrationof India’s economy, andfinally, the Han Chineseinvasion of India, maul-ing our sovereignty andour soldiers? Can Indiahit back? Yes, but not inhaste; and perhaps notby force. Some of thegear our armed forcesneed are also made, ifonly indirectly, by theChinese! TheWashington Post report-ed June 28: “A strikingexample of the Chineserole came days after theGalwan clash. The MDof SMPP, a firm thatwas awarded a majorcontract to make over100,000 bulletproof jack-ets for the Indian Armyin 2018, said the compa-ny relied on importedmaterials from China tomake its products,”though adding: “Ifrequired, we will look toalternative routes.”

After this, how canIndians absurdly talkabout a war with China?If Indian businessmenimport materials forbasics like bulletproofjackets, and ignore callsto “Make in India”, doIndian corporates wantNew Delhi to kowtow toa marauding Beijing?

The writer is an alumnus of the National

Defence College. Theviews expressed are

personal.

LETTERSCHINA PULLOUTThis refers the editorialChina pullout: Firmness,vigilance are both critical(July 8). The world can’tgo back thousands ofyears. But borders whichexisted say some 50years back or LoC whichexisted for several yearsnow can be made inter-national border for allcountries. Any disputethereafter among nationsmust be settled by worldcourt as a civil dispute.Are they not settlingother disputes as in riverflows through legalmeans? It is a criminalwaste to station armiesalong borders of nationsspending the resourcesof each country insteadof spending it in welfaremeasures.

R.GanesanChennai

Subhani

SIDDHA MEDICINEAPROPOS REPORT HC: Check effi-cacy of Siddha medicine in Covidtreatment (July 8). The effectivenessof the Siddha medicine ‘impro’ ifproved it can be prescribed to Covid-19 patients . Because even before theICMR’s inception many diseaseswere treated by the Siddha andAyurvedic medicines decades backsans side effects. Recent decoctionsNilavembu and Kabasura kudineermay have helped gain immunity.Justice Pugalendhi has rightly statedthat “prevention is better than cure”and mentioned about the Keezhanelliherb being used to treat Hepatitis-B.And his sane advice that morepatronage is required should betaken seriously by the governmentand funds granted to conductresearch in the field of Siddha andAyurveda. A leading example is theAnna Hospital at Arumbakkam,Chennai, where hundreds of patientsare being treated with Siddha,Ayurvedic and Unani medicineseach day, free of cost. The govern-ment should open more such hospi-tals.

A. Seshagiri RaoChennai

AbhijitBhattacharyya

How humiliatingcan things be?

China doesn’t dareto touch Taiwan’s

or Japan’s soldiersdespite being

sworn foes. ButIndia? China finds it

totally safe to killIndian soldiers

without an iota ofIndian retribution!

The Chinese willsimply never give upthe easy way ofexpanding territoriesthrough surrepti-tious, illegal meansbecause that’swhere the expertiseof the PLA, the polit-ical sword and armof the CommunistParty, truly lies

After Galwan, correctIndia’s past mistakes

Between 3 and 5 am on Tuesday, purportedly as per Brahma muhur-tam (anointed auspicious time), the state government of Telanganabegan demolition of existing Secretariat buildings and released a

design of a palatial replacement resembling the palace of Versailles tocost over `400 crores.

The focus on demolishing an existing building, which according tomost experts had a structural strength and life for another 30 to 40 yearsat the very least, during a week when coronavirus cases have beenincreasingly at an alarming rate of over 1,800 a day, with a total officialtally of over 28,000 cases and a new lockdown was to be announced is incongruence with the maverick style of chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

Shortage of oxygen, crippled hospital infrastructure, collapsed man-agement of containment zones, low testing inviting the chiding of thehigh court, restless hospital staff, a pandemic spreading to villages andincreasing number of deaths would push a lesser leader to think it wouldbe a great priority over a new building as a gift to posterity to mark hislegacy, or align astrological for forces to his overvaulting ambition.

Even as the state government is conspicuous in a phantomlike absence,leaving the governor to rise to the occasion to manage the fight againstCovid, people are reacting with disbelief at this surreal situation, not toounlike the Shakespearean observation on Denmark.

In Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too is striving similarly witha legacy-marking architectural creation, grandiose, immortal andwrongly timed. Not long ago, in Tamil Nadu, proving that no politicalparty has a monopoly on wasting public money, while M. Karunanidhispent over `1,200 crores on a new Assembly building, his arch-nemesis J.Jayalalithaa converted it into a multi-speciality hospital.Surely people’slives should matter more. Alas, they don’t.

Its earnings seriously dentedby the Covid-19 pandemic, theRailways have announced aseries of austerity measures.

These range from a freeze on cre-ation of new posts, rationalisationof manpower at workshops, shift-ing outsources work to CSR andmoving ceremonial events to digi-tal platforms to cutting down onthe use of stationery by half.

According to sources, the finan-cial commissioner of the Railwaysrecently wrote to general man-agers of all zones on this.Apparently, the traffic earnings ofthe railways dropped by 58 percent at the end of May as comparedto the corresponding period lastyear.

Under the austerity drive, thezones have been asked to controlexpenditure by reducing staff costand rationalising their tasks,review contracts, reduce energyconsumption and cut administra-

tive and other costs. The financial commissioner has also recommended that all work be transferred to the digital space and all correspon-dence be done through secureemails.

DENIED PROMOTION, SENIOR COP RESIGNS

In an earlier column (June 10) Ihad reported that senior IPS offi-cer and director of Telangana StateAcademy Vinoy Kumar Singh was‘unhappy’ and had threatened toresign from the service. He haskept his word. Mr Singh has put inhis papers. In a letter to the Unionhome secretary, Mr Singh said thathe does not want to be a “burdenon the government”.

According to sources, in his let-ter, Mr Singh said he was seekingpremature retirement from theservice effective from October 2,the birth anniversary of Mahatma

Gandhi.Those in the know say that Mr

Singh’s exit was expected eversince he was overlooked for pro-motion as director general ofpolice (DGP), although he was eli-gible. Earlier in May, in a letter tothe state chief secretary SomeshKumar, Mr Singh had reportedlycomplained that though he wasempanelled for the post of DGPthree months ago, the governmenthad still not taken up the matter ofhis promotion.

Mr Singh is a 1987-batch IPS offi-cer and has alleged that officers of1986 batch of regular recruits ofTelangana cadre were promotedthree years ago without clearvacancies. Similarly, IAS officersof 1989 batch of Telangana cadrewere also promoted without clearvacancies. IPS officers of 1989batch of many states, includingAndhra Pradesh, were promotedlong back.

He has reportedly said that afterretirement, he would like to workfor reforms among the people ofTelangana. Seems like he’s hintingat a new career.

TAMIL NADU COPS SHAMEDIn the aftermath of the alleged cus-todial deaths of P. Jeyaraj and hisson J. Bennix at Thoothukudi inTamil Nadu, the Madras highcourt passed an unprecedentedorder directing the district collec-tor to depute revenue officials totake control of the Sathankulampolice station, where the incidenthappened. The deaths had shockedthe nation once the details of tor-ture and police brutality came tolight.

Apparently, this is the first timesince the Indian Police Act cameinto existence in 1861 that a courthas ordered for a police station tobe taken over by revenue officials.The court further initiated crimi-

nal contempt action against addi-tional SP D. Kumar, deputy SPPrathapan and constableMaharajan for destroying evi-dence, not cooperating with theinvestigation and intimidating thejudicial team conducting theprobe.

The Tamil Nadu government hasordered a CBI inquiry into thedeaths of Jeyaraj and his son fol-lowing a public outcry. Othersteps are being taken. The Tiruchyrange DIG V. Balakrishnan hasreportedly released 80 cops withanger issues from duty and askedthem to undergo behavioural ther-apy for one month. This coincideswith a major reshuffle involving39 senior IPS officers. But thestate’s cops can’t live down thisdisgraceful behaviour easily.

Share a babu experience! Followdilipthecherian@Twitter.com. Let’s

multiply the effect.

Dilip Cherian

VERSATILE DHONII READ with interest the report OnB’day, Dhoni busy farming (July 8).One is reminded of WilliamShakespeare’s words “Variety is thespice of life”. MS Dhoni is an extra-ordinary personality evincing seri-ous interest in anything he does.That Dhoni is busy doing organicfarming in his 40-50 acres of land inhis sabbatical is commendable.

S.RamakrishnasayeeChennai

Dilli Ka Babu

Criminal, wasteful spending

9 JULY 2020

DECCAN CHRONICLE

ADITYA SINHA K. SUDHAKAREditor Printer & Publisher

R. MOHANResident Editor

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Inflows fall to `240 cr Vs `5,256 cr in May

pg 7THURSDAY | 9 JULY 2020 | CHENNAI

VRISHTI BENIWAL &ANIRBAN NAGJULY 8

The government is run-ning out of options to fundits budget and may soonhave to knock on the cen-tral bank's door once againfor support.

The administration canget the Reserve Bank ofIndia to buy sovereignbonds directly or boost div-idends to help supplementrevenue, which has beenhit by a crippling lockdownto contain the virus'sspread. The government isfacing a budget deficit of ashigh as 7 per cent of grossdomestic product, thewidest in more than twodecades, according to someestimates.

It would "make sense togo for some form of deficitmonetisation" right away,said Sabyasachi Kar, RBIchair professor at theNational Institute ofPublic Finance and Policyin New Delhi. "Demandcreation can only happen ifthe government spends."

Central banks from theUS to Japan are helping tofund record fiscal stimulusfrom their governmentsamid the pandemic. That'seven been the case inemerging markets likeIndonesia—where the cen-tral bank this week agreed

to buy billions of dollars ofbonds directly from thegovernment. The approachthough carries risks, espe-cially for inflation, curren-cy and the independence ofthe central bank.

The Fiscal Responsibilityand Budget ManagementAct prevents the RBI frombuying bonds directly fromthe government in the pri-mary market, but the lawprovides an escape clausein the event of the countryfacing a national calamityor a severe slowdown.

The RBI has so far madesome discreet bond pur-chases in the secondarymarket, but the govern-ment's debt manager is yetto outline a plan on how itwill manage the adminis-tration's record Rs 12 lakhcrore ($160 billion) of bor-rowings in the current fis-cal year to March.

For now, banks areamassing sovereign bonds

on optimism the centralbank will soak up the debtsupply. Lenders awashwith cash, given poordemand for loans in theeconomy, have raised theirholdings of sovereignnotes to Rs 41.4 lakh croreas of June 19, up 13 percent from end-March.

"We still think it is feasi-ble to finance a deficit ofaround 11 per cent of GDP—Centre and states—with-out resorting to largeamounts of RBI financ-ing," said Sergi Lanau,deputy chief economist atthe International In-stituteof Finance in Washington."Banks have alreadybought many bonds andwith an economy in reces-sion, they may not havemany opportunities to lendto firms anyway."

A possible credit ratingdowngrade is another riskfor India, which is headingfor its first economic con-

traction in more than fourdecades this year. The cred-it score of Asia's third-largest economy is only astep away from junk atFitch Ratings and Moody'sInvestors Service, both ofwhich have kept the sover-eign on negative watch cit-ing deteriorating fiscalstrength.

Economists in a Bloom-berg survey expect thenation's fiscal deficit thisyear to hit 7 per cent ofGDP—a level last seen in1994—against a target of3.5 per cent. The IMF seesthe country's public debtrising to 85.7 per cent ofGDP next year fromaround 70 per cent now.

While the threat of a rat-ing downgrade may reducethe likelihood of the cen-tral bank buying bondsdirectly from the govern-ment, there is room for theRBI to rescue the govern-ment by way of a dividendpayout in August.

The "RBI would berequired to partiallybailout the government byallowing its revaluationreserves to be utilised,"said Kunal Kundu, an econ-omist with SocieteGenerale GSC, addingthere is also the possibilitythat the government couldissue a special "Covidbond" to tide over theexpenses. —Bloomberg

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, JULY 8

In order to provide afford-able rental housing formigrant workers, govern-ment-funded housing com-plexes, which are lyingvacant, will be put to use.Private and public entitieswill also receive incen-tives to develop complexeson their vacant land. TheCentre will spend Rs 600crore for the scheme thattargets three lakh benefi-ciaries initially.

Approving the Afforda-ble Rental HousingComplexes (AHRCs) forurban migrants announ-ced during the stimuluspackage, the Cabinet hasmade it as a sub-schemeunder Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana-Urban.

The vacant housing com-plexes funded by the gov-ernment will be convertedinto ARHCs throughConcession Agreementsfor 25 years. Concession-aires will make the com-plexes livable by repairingthem and providing basicinfrastructure. States andUnion territories willselect concessionairesthrough bidding. Compl-exes will revert to urban

local bodies after 25 yearsto restart the next cyclelike earlier or run on theirown.

As per 2017 governmentdata, around 2 lakh hous-ing units, funded by differ-ent centrally sponsoredhousing schemes, arelying vacant. Maharash-tra and Delhi have a majorshare of these units.

Private and public enti-ties too can developARHCs on their own avail-able vacant land for 25years.

A study by Knight FrankIndia had recently foundthat public sector under-takings have more thantwo lakh surplus landlying with them. Withland prices being high,utilisation of vacant landwill only make affordablerental housing projectsviable.

RBI may bail out govt with direct budget financingVacant units to be usedfor migrant rental housing

FC BANKING BUREAUMUMBAI, JULY 8

Two years after proposingthe merger of the threepublic sector non-lifeinsurance companies, thegovernment in a suddenmove decided to halt themerger process andinstead approved a fundinfusion of Rs 12,450 croreto improve their financialhealth. On Wednesday, theUnion Cabinet decided topause the merger processof National Insurance,Oriental Insurance andUnited India Insurance.Instead, the cabinet head-ed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi decided toincrease the authorisedshare capital of NationalInsurance CompanyLimited (NICL) to Rs 7,500

crore and that of UnitedIndia Insurance CompanyLimited (UIICL) andOriental InsuranceCompany Limited (OICL)to Rs 5,000 crore each.

The Rs 12,450 crore capi-tal infusion approved bythe Cabinet includes Rs2,500 crore provided tothese companies during2019-20, it said, adding Rs

3,475 crore will be releasedimmediately, while thebalance Rs 6,475 crore willbe infused later in one ormore tranches.

The government inBudget 2020-21 had made aprovision of Rs 6,950 crorefor capital infusion inthese three insurancecompanies in order tomaintain the requisiteminimum solvency ratio.

“Further, the process ofmerger has been ceased sofar in view of the currentscenario and instead, thefocus shall be on theirprofitable growth,” an offi-cial statement said.

Briefing reporters, min-ister of information andbroadcasting PrakashJavadekar said the recapi-talisation will make theinsurers more stable.

Govt halts merger of 3 PSUinsurers; to infuse `12,450 cr

RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, JULY 8

Investors are withdrawingmoney from mutual fundsand reducing fresh alloca-tions to mutual funds dueto reduced householdincome during the lock-down period.

Monthly data released bythe Association of MutualFunds in India (Amfi)showed a sharp 95 per centdrop in equity mutual fundinflows in June to Rs 240.55crore compared with Rs5,256.52 crore inflows inthis category in May 2020.

However, the averageasset under managementof the mutual fund indus-try went up to Rs 26.06 lakhcrore compared with Rs24.28 lakh crore due to therally in both equity andbond markets in June.

As on June 30 the AUM ofthe mutual fund industrystood at Rs 25.48 lakh crore.

The debt fund inflowswere lower at Rs 2,861.68crore in June due to quar-ter end withdrawal of Rs44,226.23 crore from the liq-uid fund by corporates.

Monthly systematicinvestment plan, or SIP,inflows also dropped belowRs 8,000 crore after a longtime to Rs 7927.11 crore.

N. S. Venkatesh, chiefexecutive, Amfi, said,Reducing interest ratesand gradual unlocking ofeconomic activity have ledto renewed buoyancy inmarkets. “With monthlySIP contribution at Rs7,927.11 crore, SIP investorsmay have opted for pausefacility and we should seeSIP contribution surging

in Q4 CY20.”Sayalee Khandke, manag-

er (research), Inves-tica—an online platform forinvesting in mutual fundssaid, “The surge in bench-mark indices led toimproved NAV (net assetvalue of MF units) thattriggered profit-booking byinvestors and in turnredemption. Moreover, theabsence of fresh flowsthrough SIPs and stoppageof existing SIPs due to jobloss or pay cut following

the nation-wide lock-downalso contributed to the 96per cent decline in equityflow for June over the pre-ceding month.”

The majority of hybridschemes saw outflows ledby balanced hybrid fund/aggressive hybrid fund cat-egory of Rs 1,704.81 croreand balanced advantagefund of Rs 941.41 crorewhile the arbitrage fundcategory saw inflows of Rs3,537.65 crore.

Rajeev Srivastava, chiefbusiness officer, RelianceSecurities, said, "Suddenrally has caught theinvestors by surprise andmany of them are sittingon the fence waiting formarket correction for abetter entry. Profit bookingin the equity segment alsocontributed to major out-flows in the multi-cap andlarge cap segment.Disruption in face to faceselling, due to covid 19,could have resulted in tra-ditional channels of MFcollection through physi-cal mode & IFA (independ-ent financial advisor)channel being muted.Customers’ anxiety ontheir own cash flows hasalso contributed to thefall."

FALAKNAAZ SYEDMUMBAI, JULY 8

The country’s largestlender State Bank ofIndia (SBI) onWednesday reduced itsmarginal cost of fundsbased lending rate(MCLR) by 5-10 basispoints in the shortertenors i.e. up to 3 monthswith effect from July 10.However, this reductionwill not have any impacton your home loanequated monthly instal-ments (EMIs) as the one-year MCLR to which thebank’s home loan ratesare linked have remai-ned unchanged at 7 percent.

“This is the 14th con-secutive reduction in thebank’s MCLR. With thisrevision, SBI’s MCLRupto 3 months tenorcomes down to 6.65 percent per annum which ison par with the externalbenchmark lending rateof SBI. SBI’s MCLR con-tinues to be the lowest inthe market,” said arelease from SBI.

Earlier, SBI’s one-yearMCLR was last reducedby 25 basis points to 7per cent per annum witheffective June 10. As aresult, borrowers whosereset date falls thismonth will get the bene-fit of the MCLR cutannounced in June.

All retail loans, includ-ing home loans sanc-tioned by banks betweenApril 1, 2016 andSeptember 30, 2019, arelinked to MCLR.However, banks areallowed to keep a spreadover and above theMCLR to arrive at thehome loan interest rate.

SBI cutsshort-termMCLR rates

MICHAEL GONSALVESPUNE, JULY 8

Auto components majorBharat Forge on Wednes-day said it has introducedhealth risk monitoringsystem (HRMS), whichenables companies andinstitutions to complywith government-providedguidelines for safe reopen-ing, in collaboration withartificial intelligencestartup Blackstraw.

HRMS consists of twomajor components: A con-tactless thermal screeningsystem integrated withRFID badge reader; and AIalgorithms running onsurveillance CCTV cam-eras to monitor and con-trol human behavior.

The Pune-based firmsays the contactless ther-mal screening system withRFID badge reader recordsthe temperature of associ-ates, and also maintainsan automatic daily recordof the temperature ofevery person entering andexiting the premises. TheAI (artificial intelligence)algorithms running onsurveillance cameras aler-ts administrators and pro-vides them a dashboardwhen distancing normsare not met or the like.

BHARAT FORGELAUNCHES HEALTH

RISK TRACKER

AGNIESZKA DE SOUSAJULY 8

Poor diets in developing coun-tries are costing businesses asmuch as $850 billion a year inlost productivity, underliningthe need for companies to play abigger role in tackling a prob-lem that's being compounded bythe coronavirus pandemic.

Those are the findings of astudy by Chatham House andVivid Economics, the first toanalyse the impact of undernu-trition and obesity on businessin low- and middle-incomecountries. Both conditionsmake it difficult for employeesto reach their potential and leadto ill-health, which leads tomore sick leave.

Multinational companies needto do more to fight malnutri-tion, according to ChathamHouse. That should includepolicies that support breastfeed-ing mothers, offer regularhealth checks and provide

nutritious and subsidised foodat work, the London-basedthink tank said.

"Business has a significantrole to play," Laura Wellesley, asenior research fellow atChatham House, said in aninterview. "Aside from produc-tivity losses, there is a signifi-cant reputational risk for com-panies who have a large foot-print in low- and middle-incomecountries and who aren't doinganything on nutrition."

Obesity has been on the rise inpoorer countries, which werealready grappling with highrates of undernourishment.The pandemic has further high-lighted the importance of nutri-tion, with studies showing thatobese people are more likely todie from Covid-19. The UnitedNations predicts the virus couldpush another 10 million chil-dren into acute malnutrition.

"We can expect the pandemicto worsen the costs, because

economic insecurity is so close-ly associated with nutritioninsecurity," Wellesley said. "Wecan expect that more house-holds will struggle to accessnutritious diet."

The Chatham House studyexamined the impact of poornutrition on 13 business sectors-- from mining and agricultureto construction and retail -- in19 countries. It then scaled upthe findings to estimate theannual productivity losses dueto obesity and undernutritionacross developing nations.

The greatest productivity loss-es from being undernourishedwere in agriculture, mining andconstruction, with Ethiopia andIndia facing the highest burden.The biggest impact from obesitywas felt in the mining, educa-tion and health sectors.

The direct productivity lossesare estimated at $130 billion to$850 billion. That range reflectsa number of variables and theway Vivid Economics's model

extrapolates the findings fromthe 19 countries, according toChatham House.

Still, the impact of poor nutri-tion could be even larger. Themodel doesn't include the costsof impaired cognitive develop-ment and low educationalattainment resulting fromundernutrition in childhood,nor does it capture indirectcosts such as paid sick leave formalnutrition-related illness.

"The toll on human health isenormous, but the economicimpact is so huge as well,"Sarah Rawson, a nutrition andhealth lead at OlamInternational Ltd., said in aninterview. "If we're going to faceup to future pandemics, we needthe whole population to be aswell nourished as possible sothey're resilient to it."

Olam, an agribusiness giant,is one of the companies backingthe Power of Nutrition founda-tion that funded the study.

—Bloomberg

Poor diets costing businesses up to $850 bn a year

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, JULY 8

Assets managed by Indiangold-backed exchange trad-ed funds have almost dou-bled in the first six monthsof 2020, indicating increas-ing investor interestamidst rising gold prices.

Gold ETFs had startedwitnessing net inflows inthe second half of 2019. ByDecember-end aggregateassets under managementof all the 11 gold ETFsstood at Rs 5,767 crore. Thenet inflows kept on increas-ing in the subsequentmonths as the gold pricescontinued to remain bull-ish. In February itself,there was a multi-foldincrease in net inflows.

By June-end, AUMstouched Rs 10,857 crorewith net inflows of Rs 494

crore, as per the data fromthe Association of MutualFunds of India. The num-ber of folios too increasedfrom 599,331 in the end ofMay to 631,300 in June. Thenumber of folios at the endof 2019 stood at 423,157.

The increase in AUMs

also was a function ofprice rise. Gold prices havemoved 12 per cent in theJune quarter itself.

Indian gold ETFs havebeen following the trend inthe international market,which has seen holdings atrecord high levels.

Global gold ETFs record-ed their seventh consecu-tive month of positiveflows in June, adding 104tonnes valued at $5.6 bil-lion. With 734 tonnes val-ued at $39.5 billion, goldETFs saw highest H1 netinflows. In fact, year-to-date inflows into gold ETFshave topped the record full-year total set in 2009 (seechart) at 646 tonnes. Invalue terms it’s higherthan the record $23 billionin 2016. Gold ETFs account-ed for 45 per cent of goldoutput in H1 2020.

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 36,329.01 -0.94Nifty 50 10,705.75 -0.84S&P 500* 3,152.97 0.24Dollar (`) 75.02 -0.09Pound Sterling (`) 94.11 -0.68Euro (`) 84.66 -0.22Gold (10gm)* (`) 49,898▲723 1.44Brent crude ($/bbl)* 43.09 0.01IN 10-Yr bond yield 5.778 -0.015US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 0.666 0.018

* As of 9:30 PM IST

Global economyto contract by5.2% this yr: D&BThe global economy is likely tocontract by 5.2 per cent in 2020with the coronanvirus stillspreading and the economicprospects of countries acrossthe world looking muted.According to Dun & Bradstreet'sCountry Risk and GlobalOutlook Report, that covered132 countries, the wider globalcontext remains sombre and theglobal economy will not reachpre-pandemic levels of activityagain before 2022.

ICICI Bank toraise up to`15,000 crore

ICICI Bank said its board hasdecided to raise up to Rs15,000 crore in core capitalthrough a variety of routes.The lender joins peers AxisBank, Kotak Mahindra Bank,Federal Bank and Yes Bank,which have either raised freshcapital or decided to do sosoon. The board, at its meetingheld on Wednesday, hasapproved raising of funds Rs15,000 crore in one or moretranches, ICICI Bank said.

Sebi, CBDT signpact for data,info exchangeSebi said it has signed a pactwith the Central Board ofDirect Taxes for facilitating reg-ular exchange of data andinformation. The MoU comesinto force from July 8. A DataExchange Steering Group hasbeen constituted for the initia-tive, which will meet periodi-cally to review the dataexchange status and take stepsto further improve the effec-tiveness of data sharing mech-anism.

BMS to holdweek-long stirfrom July 24RSS-affiliated Bharatiya MazdoorSangh (BMS) said it will observe'Sarkar Jagao Saptah' from July24 to 30 under which nation-wide demonstrations will beheld to highlight workers' issues.The decision was taken at a vir-tual meeting of national officebearers of BMS held on Tuesday."Sector-wise demonstrations willbe held at state capitals, districtheadquarters, tehsil / block cen-tres and also in all big industrialestates," a BMS statement said.

Global prevalence of malnutri-tion among adult population■ Underweight ■ Overweight

Source: Vivid Economics, WHO/Bloomberg

40

30

20

10

0

Double burden

1976 ---------------------------- 2016

India’s borrowing plans havesurged this year

Source: Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities/Bloomberg

Financial year to March

Record borrowings

Year-to-date inflows into gold-backed ETFshave toped 2009’s full-year record■ 2020 cumulative flows■ 2009 cumulative flows

Tonnes

700600500400300200100

0

Yellow brick road

Jan Jun Oct

Higher than2009 full-yearrecord

10

5

0FY 2016 17 18 19 20 21

Lakh cr( `))

Gold ETF AUMs almost double in H1

Source: Bloomberg

MF equity flowsdip 95% in June

RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, JULY 8

The long lull in the pri-mary market has got overwith virtual initial publicoffering (IPO) launchreplacing the earlier prac-tice of road shows in dif-ferent cities.

Speciality chemicalsmaker Rossari Biotechannounced its IPO in aprice band of Rs 423-Rs425 per share of Rs 2 facevalue, aiming to raise Rs496 crore.

The IPO opens for publicsubscription on July 13and closes on July 15.

The public offering com-prises fresh issue ofshares worth Rs 50 croreand an offer for sale ofshares worth Rs 446.25crore (1.05 crore shares).

ROSSARI FIXESIPO PRICE BANDAT `423-`425The greatest produc-

tivity losses frombeing undernourished

were in agriculture,mining and construc-

tion, with Ethiopiaand India facing the

highest burden

Mumbai, July 8:Snapping a five-day ris-ing streak, the Sensextanked 346 points onWednesday, dragged bylosses in index heavy-weights RIL, Infosys andTCS amidst weak cuesfrom global peers. Trad-ers said the market fol-lowed volatility in globalequities as the risingcases of Covid-19 acrossthe world stoked con-cerns over economicrecovery. —FC Bureau

SENSEX SNAPSWINNING STREAK

Prakash Javadekar

Printed & Published by K Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan

Chronicle Holdings Limited. Printed &Published at Deccan Chronicle Presses

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

Editor: T.Venkatram Reddy, RNI Reg.No. TNENG/2008/25473 Air surcharge Re1. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in

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

Chronicle ® is prohibited.

GAMES pg 8DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | THURSDAY | 9 JULY 2020

SHORT

SNOWBOARDCHAMP ALEX

DROWNS

TAKES

Joshna in top 10of squash world

Humpy scoresan easy victory

’Lifter caught for dope, suspended

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: India’s squash starJoshna Chinappa has broken

back into the top-10 of the PSAworld rankings following the

shock retirement of EgyptianWorld number one Raneem

El Welily.Joshna, who has not played

since March due to the Covid-19pandemic, moved up a spot to

be in 10th position.The 33-year-old had entered

the top-10 for the first time in2016. Dipika Pallikal is the other

Indian female player who hasachieved the feat.

Egypt’s Nouran Gohar is thenew world number one follow-

ing Raneem’s retirement.Raneem had held the top spotfor 19 months before announc-

ing a sudden retirement lastmonth.

India’s top male player SauravGhosal remains 13th in the

latest rankings.The PSA tour is suspended until

at least mid August due to theCoronavirus outbreak.

— PTI

CChheennnnaaii:: World championKoneru Humpy outplayed

young Grandmaster R. Vaishali7-3 in a battle of Indians in the

first round of the third leg ofWomen Speed Chess

Championships on Wednesday.Humpy, the world number two,

jumped to an early lead againsther compatriot and sealed an

easy win in the FIDEChess.comevent.

The Chennai-based WGM hadreached the semifinals of the

opening leg before losing in thequarterfinals in the second leg.The Grand Prix consists of fourlegs, with a total of 21 partici-

pants. Each of the 21 playersparticipates in three out of four

Grand Prix legs.Each GP is a 16-player knockout

event.In each Grand Prix leg, every

player scores cumulative GrandPrix points according to the

position in the final standings.The two players who score thehighest number of cumulative

Grand Prix points in all threeGrand Prix legs qualify for theSuper Final to be held on July

20. — PTI

BBuuddaappeesstt:: Two-time Europeanchampion weightlifter AndreiDemanov of Russia has beenprovisionally suspended for

doping after testing positive fora banned steroid.

The International WeightliftingFederation said that Demanov

tested positive for traces ofDHCMT, an anabolic steroid

also known as turinabol whichhas been widely used in

weightlifting. Demanov nowfaces a disciplinary hearing.

The IWF didn’t given a date forDemanov’s positive test, but it

appears to be the latest in astring of cases based on a re-examining of Russian athletes

from several years ago.Demanov doesn’t appear to

have competed since serving atwo-year ban from 2016 for a

positive test for turinabol at the2012 London Olympics.

Three other Russian lifters,including former world champi-on Nadezhda Evstyukhina, had

been charged for usingturinabol. — AP

GGoolldd CCooaasstt,, AAuussttrraalliiaa:: Two-timeworld snowboard champion

and Winter Olympian AlexPullin drowned Wednesday

while spearfishing on Australia’sGold Coast.

A police spokesperson said a32-year-old man, later identi-

fied as Pullin, was unresponsivewhen taken from the water and

died despite receiving CPRfrom lifeguards and emergency

treatment from paramedics.The accident happened at Palm

Beach around 10:40 am localtime. Pullin had been diving on

an artificial reef when he wasfound by a snorkeler.

— AFP

Cricketers take kneeEngland, West Indies bat for black lives in first Test

Lazio’s Patric bites hisrival in Italian league

Southampton, July 8:England and West Indiesplayers took a knee in sup-port of the Black LivesMatter movement beforethe start of play in thefirst Test at Southamptonas international cricketreturned after a four-month absence.

Moments before the firstball was bowled at anempty Rose Bowl, WestIndies’ fielding playersknelt in the outfield whiletheir England counter-parts did the same aroundthe field.

A Black Lives Matterlogo also was on the collarof the shirts worn by play-ers from both teams forthe match played in astrict isolated environ-ment and followingrepeated testing of play-ers and staff members.

The West Indies squadhas said the movement,which has grown since thekilling of George Floyd inthe United States in May,has been a source of moti-vation on this tour.

The kneeling gesturehas been made beforePremier League matchessince the resumption ofsoccer in England lastmonth.

There was a minute’ssilence in honour of thosewho died in theCoronavirus pandemicand also West Indies great

Everton Weekes, who diedlast week.

Play started after athree-hour delay becauseof light rain and a wet out-field. There can be a maxi-mum of 70 overs on therain-affected first day.

It meant cricket fans hadto wait a while longer forthe return of internation-al cricket since the lastaction in early March.

In the 17.4 overs of crick-et possible before anotherrain interruption,England were 35 for 1, hav-ing lost Dom Sibley,bowled by ShannonGabriel for a duck in thesecond over.

Rory Burns and JoeDenly were batting on 20and 14 respectively whenthe heavens opened upagain.

England’s stand-in cap-tain, Ben Stokes, won thetoss and opted to batunder overcast skies.

Filling in for Joe Root,who was absent because ofthe birth of his secondchild, Stokes was captainfor the first time and madea big call in leaving outfast bowler Stuart Broad,a long-time regular in theteam.

Jofra Archer, MarkWood and JamesAnderson made upEngland’s pace attackalong with Stokes.

West Indies captainJason Holder, who left outRahkeem Cornwall, saidhe was not too disappoint-ed to be bowling first.

After the toss was made,Stokes briefly forget aboutsocial distancing when hewent to shake the hand ofHolder. Holder moved hishand away and both all-rounders laughed.

BBRRIIEEFF SSCCOORREESSEngland 35 for 1 in 17.4overs (Rory Burns batting20, Joe Denly batting 14,Shannon Gabriel 1/19).

SSAACCHHIINN PPRRAAIISSEESS SSTTOOKKEESS

Meanwhile, Indian bat-ting great SachinTendulkar has little doubtthat Ben Stokes will leadEngland from the frontwith his “controlledaggression” and infec-tious energy aiding himthe most.

To a question from Laraabout Stokes, Tendulkarsaid, “He is someone whois going to lead from thefront, we have seen that ona number of occasions. Heis aggressive, positive andwhen he has to be slightlydefensive he is prepared. Ialways feel controlledaggression producesresults.” — Agencies

West Indies players take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movementahead of play on the first day of the first Test against England at the Ageas Bowl inSouthampton, England, on Wednesday. — AFP

New Delhi, July 8:Hosting the IPL in Indiaremains BCCI presidentSourav Ganguly’s “firstpriority” and he is hopingthat the cricket world willnot have to endure a 2020sans the glitzy event,despite his concernsaround the rising Covid-19 cases.

The hugely-popular T20league, which was sched-uled to start on March 29,stands suspended due tothe Covid-19 pandemic.

While the former Indiacaptain said it is impor-tant for cricket to returnto normalcy, any decisionon the IPL can be takenonly after the ICC decideson the fate of the T20World Cup, scheduled tobe played in Australia inOctober-November.

“We don’t want the year2020 to finish without anIPL. Our first priority isIndia and even if we get35 to 40 days, we will hostit. But we don’t know

where,” Ganguly said ona show hosted by IndiaToday.

New Zealand, Sri Lankaand the UAE have offeredto host the event in casethere are logistical issuesin India with the rapidrise in coronavirus cases.

Organising the leagueoverseas is an option butthat would result inincreased costs. “I willput it in this order.Firstly, whether we can(have an IPL) within the

time frame as IPL haslimited window. Secondly,India. If it’s not possiblethen we are thinking ofgoing out (abroad). Butgoing out where...because if you go out itbecomes expensive foreveryone — franchisesand board — because ofconversion rate and cur-rency exchange rate. Sowe are monitoring but asI said we are very keen tohost it and got our fingerscrossed,” he said. — PTI

Ganguly against 4-day Tests

Sourav keen on holding IPL this year

New Delhi, July 8:India’s cricket chiefSourav Ganguly has comeout against playing four-day Tests, proposed bythe world governing bodyas a way to squeeze morecricket into a packed cal-endar.

The InternationalCricket Council has float-ed the idea of reducingmatches in the World TestChampionship by one dayfrom 2023, but Gangulysaid officials should not“tinker” with what hecalls the best form ofcricket.

Four-day Tests havebeen tried in one-offgames between SouthAfrica and Zimbabwe andEngland against Ireland,but the Board of Controlfor Cricket in India isamong a growing list ofcritics.

“I am not a big fan offour-day cricket because Ifeel lot of Test matcheswill not finish,” Ganguly,who turned 48 onWednesday, said in anonline chat hosted by theBCCI.

“When you have fourdays the approach is dif-ferent,” he said.

“I really feel that thereis no need to tinker withthose five-day Test match-es. And for me Test

matches are the toughestand the best form ofcricket,” he added.

Ganguly, who isrumoured to be in therunning for the post ofICC chairman, backsother innovations, how-ever, including day-nightTests.

India, who refused toplay a Test under flood-lights in Australia in

2018, joined the pink ballparty against Bangladeshin Kolkata last year.

The final Test of a two-match series attractedpacked crowds at EdenGardens despite the Testlasting less than threewhole days. India won theseries 2-0.

“Day-night cricket, oneTest a series is important,because cricket needs

everyone back,” the for-mer India team captainopined.

“We played that pinkTest in Kolkata, I don’tthink if it was a normalIndia-Bangladesh Testmatch we would have onetenth of the people,” hesaid, noting that 150,000people attended overthree days played.

— AFP

Lecce (Italy), July 8:Lazio defender Patric wasbanned for four games andfined 10,000 euros ($11,300)for biting an opponent. Theincident happened in stop-page time of Lazio’s 1-2loss at relegation-threat-ened Lecce on Tuesday.

With Lazio’s title chancesall but evaporating andplayers getting into anargument, the 27-year-oldPatric suddenly dipped hishead and bit Lecce defend-er Giulio Donati on the leftarm.

The incident could beseen as even more seriousbecause of the effects ofthe Coronavirus pandemic,with football havingresumed under strict regu-lations which even dis-courage hugging in cele-bration after a goal.

Luis Suarez was bannedfor 10 matches by theEnglish FootballAssociation in 2013 for bit-ing an opponent when he

played for Liverpool. TheUruguay forward was alsosuspended for nine inter-national matches for bitingItaly defender GiorgioChiellini at the 2014 WorldCup.

Meanwhile, Lazio’sItalian league title hopesall but evaporated in theloss to Lecce, which alsomissed a penalty and had agoal disallowed.

Fabio Lucioni andKhouma Babacar scoredfor Lecce after FelipeCaicedo had given Lazio anearly lead.

Second-place Lazioremained seven pointsbehind Juventus, whichplayed at AC Milan laterand could take a huge steptowards a ninth successiveItalian league title.

Lazio was just a pointbehind Juventus when theseason was halted becauseof the Coronavirus pan-demic.

— AP

ANIMALINSTINCT

Chelsea climb tothird in EnglandLondon, July 8: On anight of spectacular goalsin the Premier League, itwas a pair of tackles thathad the most significantimpact on the hard-foughtrace for ChampionsLeague qualification.

Chelsea’s 3-2 win atCrystal Palace was onlysecured thanks to aremarkable last-ditchchallenge by center back

Kurt Zouma, who some-how made up ground todivert the ball away asChristian Benteke wasabout to shoot late in stop-page time.

Olivier Giroud got theearly strike for Chelseawhich was further wellcomplimented byChristian Pulisic andTammy Abraham.

— AFPSourav Ganguly plays with a pink ball alongside VVS Laxman in this file photo.

Dada saysAsia CupcancelledNew Delhi, July 8: BCCIpresident SouravGanguly on Wednesdayannounced cancellationof the Asia Cup T20,which was scheduled tobe held in September.

Pakistan had the host-ing rights of the six-teamcontinental event but itwas expected to be held inthe UAE. “Asia Cup cancelho chuka hai, joSeptember me tha (AsiaCup, which was to be heldin September, has beencancelled),” Ganguly toldSports Tak in an insta-gram live session.

The PCB confirmed thatthey have agreed to hostthe event in 2022 and SriLanka is now expected tohost it next year. — PTI

Lazio defender Patric (left) bites Lecce defender GiulioDonati during their Italian league match on Tuesday.

TThhee ffoouurr-dayformat is a good

idea I think. Tests havenot been drawing

much crowds of late,except in England,

Australia and India,where you get to see abetter number of fansduring theweekends.Also, afterthe 50 and

20 overformats,

the game has got a lotfaster. Against that

backdrop, having fixedovers per innings —perhaps 100 each —

should ensure results.We can give it a shot.

VVEENNKKAATTPPAATTHHII RRAAJJUU,,Former Test cricketer

TTeesstt ccrriicckkeett issacrosanct and

its format should notbe tinkered with. That’s

the way the highestlevel of the game has

been playedhistorically. Slicing aday off will take the

charm offit and

reduce thepossibility

of anoutright

result. If you see RanjiTrophy matches thatare played over four

days, 6 out of 10 gamesend up in draws andpoints are garnered

over first innings lead.

DDAANNIIEELL MMAANNOOHHAARR,,BCCI match referee

FFiivvee ddaayyss ofcricket brings

out the skills of playersbest. Cricket is not just

scoring runs at a fastpace, though that

provides much fun tofans. The ability tostay at the wicket,taking

time to batyour way

out oftough

situationsis a joy to purists. Take

a look at batting ofVVS Laxman, Rahul

Dravid andCheteshwar Pujara tounderstand how they

compose their innings.

NN.. SS.. GGAANNEESSHHcricket fan

II ttoottaallllyy agreewith Sourav

Ganguly’s opinion. Testcricket should not betinkered with even as

the InternationalCricket Council may

think otherwise. Manythings have changed incricket over

the yearsbut the

length ofthe wicket

remains thesame. Test cricket is

the feeder root of thegame, let us not

disturb it lest we losethe precious crop that

provides us fruits forthe future.

KK.. SSUUNNIILL BBAABBUU,,cricket organiser

VOICES

Printed & Published byK. Sudhakar on behalf of

Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited and Printed at

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

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

22254751Editor: ADITYA SINHA

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COVID-19 sparks innovative career paths

NIVI SHRIVASTAVA

While many have been utilisingthe lockdown period to rediscover

and explore long-forgotten hobbies, afew enterprising individuals have cho-sen to monetize their talents online,teaching, baking, conducting podcastsand consulting, among others.

Why not, for as the wise once said,“When life gives you lemons, makelemonade.”

Even as the economic scenario looksincreasingly dismal, industries such asfashion, travel, hospitality and enter-tainment have become some of themost affected. With companies cuttingcosts to maintain their bottom line,many professionals have startedpicking up side jobs or even switch-ing to new income sources to sus-tain themselves.

Startedonlineclasses,workshopsAMIT RANJAN (Mumbai-based model)

He foresaw the upcom-ing recession inMarch and joined an

online fashion school forimparting his professionalknowledge. “After readingthe WHO reports about thepandemic, I could predictthat things won’t become‘normal’ anytime soon andthat my modelling shootswould be on hold,” he tellsus. “As work from home(WFH) became a normand digitalisation was

the next logical thing, Istarted with onlineclasses and workshopsfor fashion studentsand aspiring models.”Talking about how heunderstood the vulner-ability of being in acareer such as his,

Amit tells us how healso realised theimportance of hav-ing a backup andalternate careeroption. “My nextmove is to increasemy digital out-

reach with fitnessvideos and col-

laborate withbrands for paidprojects until the

fashion marketpicks up,” he

explains.

The pandemic has compelled some innovative professionals to change careers directions, even helping them excel

TARINI NIRULA, designer

Tarini took her love for teaching yoga and meditation online, which helpedher reach out to several seekers and earn simultaneously. “Because of thelockdown, a large part of my accessory business was on standstill. Although

I am still designing and strategising for the brand, I have more time to exploreother interests. In the past three months, I started connecting with many whowant to learn yoga online, especially meditation and pranayama. As I am a certi-fied yoga teacher, I started teaching students online,” she said. Tarini takes threeto four classes a week for various batches. Additionally, she has collaborated with

some wellness experts in India and abroad to conduct special workshops.

Teaching online

Moved from weddingevents to technologySAURABH MEHRA, founder of Hookah Royals

Another industry that has been severely hit owing to thepandemic is the events and wedding industry. In a bid tosustain himself during with the challenging time,

founder of Hookah Royals, Saurabh Mehra, chose to transitionfrom events to technology. “We supply sheeshas for big-scale wed-dings and celebrity gatherings, but because of the lockdown, allevents started getting cancelled. So to utilise the extra time, I usedmy technology background to develop two apps for home delivering.Party Royals and Bar Royals facilitate house party essentials and bever-ages, respectively,” he said. The hugely enterprising Saurabh is currentlyworking on his third app, which would feature food delivery options for people who want toorder from local eateries. “The apps are already operational and I have started makingmoney from the new ventures,” says a clearly excited Saurabh, summing up. “Of course, Iplan to continue this even when things are back to normal.”

TURN TO PAGE 5

THURSDAY 9 JULY 2020

PG2

WILL TOP ACTORSAGREE TO A PAY CUT?

chennaiCHRONICLE

2Thursday 9 July 2020

Deccan Chroniclekollywood

Will top actorsagree to a pay cut?Producers and distributors have decided to work on itANUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN

Taking the cue from theMalayalam actors associa-tion AMMA, which has

reportedly agreed to theProducers Association’s requestto halve their salaries, a bunch ofTamil producers and distributorsunder the leadership ofBharathiraja met on digital spaceand reportedly decided to reducethe salaries of top actors andtechnicians by 50 per cent untilthe industry returns to normal.

But the big question is, will topstars like Rajinikanth, Ajith

Vijay and Suriya accept a 50 per-cent pay-cut? DC talks to produc-ers and actors to find out.

S.R. Prabhu of Dream WarriorPictures, one of the active pro-ducers of K’town, said, “In thepresent scenario when the filmindustry is reeling under severepressure, some of us met anddiscussed how to resurrect theindustry. We did arrive at a con-sensus on pay cut, but it is not 50per cent as reported. We haveplanned to initiate talks on theissue with big actors, theDirectors Council and FEFSI.”

P r o d u c e r / d i s t r i b u t o r

Dhananjayan says, “We had ameeting to figure out via mediato overcome the disastrous situa-tion. We discussed what kind ofsupport we want from the gov-ernment to take the industry for-ward. Also, Bharathiraja Sirsuggested that we all meet withthe actors, technicians and oth-ers in person once the situationcomes to normal and deliberatethe idea of salary cuts.”

Producer J. Satish Kumar hassaid that many top heroes andfilmmakers have spoken to himand are willing to support theproducers on the issue.

Rajinikanth Ajith Kumar Vijay

S.R. Prabhu Dhananjayan Bharathiraja

First look of TughlaqDurbar is out!

The first lookof Vijay

Sethupathi’s polit-ical dramaTughlaq Durbarwas unveiled onW e d n e s d a y .Directed by DelhiP r a s a dDeenadayalan, thefilm brings backthe combo ofParthiban andVijay Sethupathiafter they rockedin Naanum RowdyThaan.

From the FL, wecould infer that Sethu plays a character with two shades.

When contacted, Deenadayalan spilled the beans to DC.“Vijay Sethupathi essays a wannabe politician and his role hasa dual dimension. He wants to make it big in politics by hookor crook, when an unexpected thing happens.”

While Aditi Rao plays lead’s love interest, Manjima Mohan isportraying a bold girl from the slums and Parthiban will beseen as a hardcore politician.

Set in Tamil Nadu, the director vouches that though it is apolitical satire, he is not taking a dig at the government.“Everything is treated in a light-hearted manner. We had com-pleted 50 per cent of the shoot earlier and will resume as soonas possible,” he added.

VijaySethupathi

plays awannabepolitician

‘I want to give back to nature’Actress Shilpa Shetty, who shares her life experi-ences and inspirational fitness videos on social

media, has turned vegetarian. The Mr. Romeo actresssays “I wanted to reduce my carbon footprint in theenvironment.”

Sharing a video in which she is seen collecting freshvegetables from her farm, Shilpa Shetty posted onInstagram that “Growing up in a Mangalorean fami-ly with fish and meat being staple diet for a long time,it was a hard decision and seemed impossible at onetime(sic).” However, she said, “Over the years, I’ve

realised that cultivating livestock for food has notonly destroyed forests but also been the largestsources of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrousoxide emissions. Following a vegetarian diet is notonly beneficial for animals, but also can actually pro-tect us from heart disease, diabetes, obesity, canimprove & also reverse cardiovascular health, andsome major diseases(sic).”

“Ever since I adopted Yoga as a way of life, I alwaysfelt incomplete. I needed to step up. 45 years into thisjourney of life, and I’ve finally made the switch(sic),”she said, adding that she would henceforth focus onvegetarian recipes on her YouTube channel.

Shilpa Shetty turns vegetarian

Snippets by — AS

BIPIN DANI

On Wednesday morning, Team Indiacaptain Virat Kohli tweeted a littlesomething about a dish that one of his

players’ mums had sent him, and the dishcould well be on the way to becoming worldfamous now. At least the mother of the play-er who made the dish thinks so.

Speaking of his teammate, India’s top orderbatsman, Shreyas Iyer, Virat tweeted, “A kindneighbour who lives 500 m away from usbrought us some homemade neer dosas andmade us smile. A big Thank you to your momamigo we haven’t had such delicious dosasfor a longgg time. Hope you enjoyed themushroom biriyani we sent back. J Goodman @ShreyasIyer15 (sic).”

Digging further into the matter, thisreporter got on a call with Shreya’s mother,Rohini Iyer. Speaking exclusively to us,Rohini told us, “In a casual talk with Virat,my son said I make good neer dosas andwould like him to try it. Virat readily agreedso I sent him about a dozen dosas, which Ihoped he and Anushka would enjoy. And nowwith his tweet, Virat has mademy neer dosa worldfamous.”

While Virat lives inRaheja Towers inWorli, the Iyer familylives in AdarshNagar, which is halfa kilometre away.Telling us that sheconsiders Virat as shedoes her own sonShreyas, Rohiniexpressed pleasure to beserving him south Indiandishes during the lockdown giventhat Virat’s mother Saroj lives inDelhi.

Keeping with the Indian tra-dition of never returning adish empty, Virat sentShreya’s family some foodtoo. “He sent us mushroombiryani with pomegranateraita, which was awesomeand all of us enjoyed it,”Rohini adds.

DC CORRESPONDENT

Like any other B-town celebs,Tiger Shroff too is spending his

time off with his family and hasoften been spotted in the city withhis mask on. A fitness enthusiast,the Baaghi actor has also been stay-ing on top of his fitness game as wellas sharing his throwback pictures ofhis chiseled physique.

Tiger took to Instagram sharing anold photo from his initial days ofHeropanti. The actor posted an oldphoto where he is seen lying on thecouch shirtless, flaunting his ripped

muscles and clean-shaven look.Taking cues from his debut days

when he was often trolled for havingno beard, Tiger hilariously cap-tioned the photo: “Jab daadi nahiaati thi... #bachpana, (When I was-n’t able to grow a beard) (sic)” hewrote.

While many praised and hailed hislook, senior actor Anupam Kher’scomment stole the show. The veter-an actor trolled Tiger over not eat-ing anything as his bones can beclearly seen in the photo.“Haddiyaan Nikal Aayi Hai, kuchkhaate kyon nahi? (Bones are visi-ble, why don’t you eat anything?),

(sic)” he wrote.

3Thursday 9 July 2020

Deccan Chronicleglam sham

Anupam trolls TigerHe left a funny comment on a throwbackphoto in which the Heropanti actor’s bonesare peeking through.

Virat all praise forShreyas’ neer dosaHospitality tales within Team India

ViratKohli tweeted alittle something

about a dish that one ofhis players’ mums hadsent him, and the dishcould well be on the

way to becomingworld famous

now Johnny’s violentside exposed?

A video used in court shows

the actor smashing a wine

bottle on thefloor at

ex-wife AmberHeard ‘in a

drunkenrage’

DC CORRESPONDENT

When actress Amber Heard filed for divorce fromJohnny Depp in 2016, the UK tabloids widely car-

ried out reports of her having faced domestic abusefrom the Pirates of the Caribbean actor in their year-long marriage. The actor then sued a British publisherfor painting him as a “wife-beater” in a 2018 article. OnTuesday, as the case of libel proceeded, a video was pre-sented in the court that has the actor smashing a winebottle on the floor at Amber ‘in drunken rage’.

In the video, the pair is seen arguing while Johnnykept on slamming the cupboard doors and even kicked

a cabinet. He is also heard saying ‘motherf*****’multiple times in the 90-second video. A

moment after he shouted, “I’ll give youf***ing crazy,” he threw the bottle on

the floor.The 57-year-old actor continued todeny being violent towardsAmber, and reportedly said, “It isa strong and central part of mymoral code that I would neverstrike a woman, under any cir-cumstances, at any time. I find itsimply inconceivable and itwould never happen.”Meanwhile, his lawyer listed

out a series of incidents, in whichshe had allegedly attacked him

throughout the course of the mar-riage. Among the accusations was an

incident when she threw a vodka bottleat him, severing his finger in 2015.

Anupam Kher Tiger Shroff

Virat Kholi andShreyas Iyer

4Thursday 9 July 2020

spotlight Deccan Chronicle

When thewild world

beckonsWildlife photographer and owner of

resorts in Kabini and South Africa,Shaaz Jung shares a few of his favourite

images and moments with usNAYARE ALI

His bio on Instagram catchesthe eye. Cinematographer anddirector of photography for a

Nat Geo film on Black Panthers — thefirst in the world of wildlife. Hailingfrom Hyderabad’s illustrious Jungfamily, Shaaz’s wildlife images haveearned him a place in BBC news. Anaccomplishment that his proud aunt,Kareena Kapoor highlighted on her

insta account.

We chat with this talented young-ster on the jungle life.

Q What has kept you busy rightnow?I’ve dedicated the past five years todocumenting melanistic leopards inthe jungles of South India and helpedproduce a feature film for NationalGeographic recently, for which I wasthe Director of Photography. It tookus two and a half years to finish thefilm. It feels great to make a film, forthe first time in the world of wildlife,on a black panther.

Q Your involvement with the fami-ly owned wildlife resorts in Kabiniand South Africa?My parents (Saad Bin Jung andSangeeta) are avid wildlifers andwere one of the first pioneers for eco-tourism in Karnataka. That passion-ate outburst happened after I gradu-ated from University in 2010. I movedto Nagarhole National Park andhelped establish an eco-friendlywildlife resort on the banks of theKabini reservoir. This is where Ispend most of my time guiding, pho-tographing and making films.

Q How did your interest in wildlifephotography evolve?It happened after I saw my first leop-ard, which sparked my love affair

with the woods. The camera had theability to immortalise moments, rel-ish life, protect ecosystems, inspiremovements and spark change.

Q What has been the mostthrilling moment while shootingwildlife? It would be on safari in the Serengetithis year. I was guiding a group of sixavid photographers in an open jeepand we were parked in the tall grasswith a herd of Water Buffalos, whichare considered to be one of the mostdangerous animals in Africa. Weknew there was a hungry lionessaround but we had no idea where shewas. After several anxious minutes,one of the buffalos sensed her pres-ence and was now very disturbed. Wewere surrounded by an angry herdand they had the power to upturn ourjeep in seconds. After a few nervousseconds, the lioness broke cover andcharged at a buffalo calf. It caused astampede and one of the bulls, in araging fit, destroyed the left tyre ofour car. It was terrifying!

Q What has your time in the jungletaught you? Is your wife as pas-sionate about nature as you are?The jungle has taught me the art ofpatience. It’s inhabitants, such as thebeautiful leopards, have been mymentors. They’ve taught me to live bythe day and how to appreciate thepassing of time, and not let it worryus. My wife Nayantara grew up inNew York. After we got married, shemoved to the jungle and has quicklyadapted, almost like a leopard! Sheenjoys the wilderness and helpedproduce the National Geographic fea-ture film on the black panther.

I’ve dedicated the past five years todocumenting melanistic leopards in

the jungles of South India and helpedproduce a feature film for National

Geographic recently. It feels great tomake a film, for the first time in theworld of wildlife, on a black panther

A melanistic leopard with a spotted deer fawn kill.This is possibly the first ever recorded sighting of amelanistic leopard in the wild with a kill

“The firsttime I sawhim. Hewas young,very shyand onlygave usfleetingglimpses,”says ShaazJung

“This photo is a personal favourite. He descended at duskand his eyes were locked onto us!,” Shaaz

“This was the first time we spotted him courting with afemale. The tail wrapped around his neck belongs to aleopardess,” says Shaaz, whose wildlife images haveearned him a place in BBC news

“A melanistic leopard at first light. This was my mostchilling experience with the black panther. We could barelysee him approach us,” says the wildlife photographer

Legendary choreograph-er Saroj Khan’s life andcareer provides rich

scope, in terms of emotion,drama and colour, for a biopic,and Remo D’Souza, who will bedirecting the venture, says hewill be roping in three to fouractresses to portray Saroj at dif-ferent stages of her life.

“No single heroine will beable to do justice to Saroj fromher entry into the industryuntil the end,” explained Remo.

Asked to name heroines whowould fit the role, Remo

would only say that hewould be able to visualise

the ideal heroine foreach stage of life whenhe started working onthe minute details ofthe script. Nothinghas been decided atthe moment, hestressed.

However, what is certain isthat Madhuri Dixit will have arole in the film. Pressed to saywhether the actress, whoseiconic Ek-do-teen dance was acreation of the gifted choreog-rapher, would play the youngSaroj right up to middle-age,Remo said “we have to sit downwith her daughter to decide allof that. But first, we have tocomplete the script of thebiopic. The casting will be oneof the final steps.”

However, he agreed thatchronicling the noted choreog-rapher’s life will not be com-plete without casting MadhuriDixit in the biopic, as SarojKhan had played such a pivotalrole in her career. “When itcomes to dancing, MadhuriDixit and Sarojji are synony-mous with each other,” saidRemo.

— LV

25

Deccan Chroniclethe buzz5Thursday 9 July 2020

From fashion he moved to healthcareKARAN VIJ, Delhi-based businessman

Karan, founder of Scentra, who was knownfor designing and retailing scented shoes,

tells us how the crisis brought his familytogether. Talking about how they workedaround the challenge by changing their corebusiness to suit the ongoing situation, he said,“Post-COVID-19, our manufacturing units hadto close down and labourers began to return totheir hometowns. We run a family businessand my brother Sidharth and wife Akritijoined in the brainstorming. Soon, we decidedto make use of the infrastructure that wealready have in place and started manufactur-

ing certified PPE kits, disposable bags and protection jackets for themasses. From fashion to health gear, we switched the modus operandiand started selling these essential products online only to discover a newsource of income.”

Trading careersARCHIT VASUDEV,Supreme Court lawyer

He’s another personwho utilised the

lockdown period toexplore an alternativecareer. “During the firstfew days of the lock-down, I realised that thiswill be a long halt for us,and the physical hear-

ings/ meetings clients will be difficult.Therefore, I started doing online consulta-tions,” he said.

In addition to the legal work, Archit decidedto dabble with a care solutions brand to createa new sanitizer brand. “I started trading inhealthcare essentials such as sanitizer, glovesand masks to make some extra income till thecourts get fully operational,” he elaborates.

FashionablechangesKAVERI WAGHELA,Bengaluru-based fash-ion writer

She moved from writ-ing to baking. She

talks to us about therollercoaster that thelockdown showed itselfto be. “I currently work

with a start-up, and the lockdown has beentough for me. While the initial month wasgreat, it started becoming too taxing for me.Baking has always been my passion, so Ithought of baking some sweet treats and sell-ing it only in my building premises for someextra bucks. This worked and slowly I begangetting orders for cakes, brownies and cook-ies every single day.”

Jaya Pradawishes to penher biopic soonYesteryear heroine andpolitician has movies andweb series lined up

LIPIKA VARMA

Actor-turned-politi-cian Jaya Prada, who

has portrayed to acclaim,many strong woman char-acters on reel, considersherself a dedicated,adamant and committedperson. “While these threequalities are usually seenas minus points in awoman, I consider them ablessing from theAlmighty,” says the beauti-ful actress.

Given the retrospectivetone in her comment, wewonder if she is on orwishes to start working on

her biopic for the celluloid. Instead, she simply laughsaloud and says, “Let me think about it — maybe after Iface more challenges — as of now, I have faced all thechallenges possible in the political arena. On a seriousnote, though, I definitely wish to write my biographysoon, and I assure you that I shall hand over the worksof penning my biopic to some strong woman only. Onlythen, would I like to reprise my own biography on thecelluloid.” Coming back to the present, the actresspoints out how she wants to first support women whoare undergoing sufferings, in an attempt to make themstrong enough to face the wraths of the society if thosebefall them.

Jaya Prada, who was an iconic and influential actressfrom the late ’70s until the early ’90s, was seen in a tele-vision soap opera Perfect Pati on &TV. However, thatwas completed just as she turned her attention towardsthe elections in 2019. Now the actress and politicianmight be soon seen more often on screen.

“There is a web series I am doing. Additionally, I havebeen approached for two films though these are pro-duction houses from outside. I also have a Marathi filmwhere I will be seen playing a strong character,” shetells us as we wrap up the interaction.

COVID-19 sparks innovative career pathsCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Several heroinesto act in the biopic

Floyd Mayweatherwants to wish youa happy birthdayFormer professional boxerappears on Cameo website,with an expensive birthdaygreeting proposal for fans

DC CORRESPONDENT

According to Page Six, FloydMayweather, former professional boxer

who earned close to $785 million from 50fights in his career, none of which he lost,has a proposal for fans keen on being greetedby him for their birthday on the websiteCameo. Floyd will shoot a quick personalisedhearty birthday message for anyone, all at amere price of $999. Back in 2018, Floyd waspaid $68,181 per second for an exhibitionfight against Tenshin Nasukawa. It tookFloyd merely 2 minutes and 12 seconds toknock down Nasukawa, winning him about$9 million for his time during the fight. So…if you are one of those who can afford a per-sonalised video greeting from the big man,the fighter even promises he’ll respond torequests within five days. Funnily, though,there have been speculations previouslyabout how despite all the money he made,Floyd may be ‘broke’ now (with some evenclaiming he came out of retirement to fightConnor McGregor only for the money). Thenthere are reports he even stole $3 millionworth jewellery from his wife,all of which Floyd has con-sistently rubbished.

Yet, his arrival on thewebsite (with his pro-file reading “one ofmost iconic athletes ofall time”) with thisoffer makes one won-der if there is after alltruth in thoserumours. However, abirthday greet-ing from‘ M o n e y ’Mayweather,as thepugilist wascalled, isworth your$999.

Actress Jhansi clarifiesThere have been rumoursthat popular anchor and

actress Jhansi has tested posi-tive for COVID-19, and she is inquarantine. However, in anInstagram video, she has clari-fied that she decided to go intoisolation merely as a precau-tion because two people at herworkplace had tested positive,and she didn’t want to take anyrisk as her elderly parents areliving with her. There is a difference between

isolation and quarantine, Jhansipointed. “I have completed oneweek of isolation and I have another week to go,” she said, andappealed to the public not to spread rumours about her health.

While stressing that she wouldn’t shy away from letting peopleknow if she did test Coronavirus positive, the actress said shewas planning to get back to work as soon as the two-week isola-tion period was over.

“The virus may come to anyone and everyone is at risk. Ifanyone tests positive, don’t discriminate against them; instead,support them,” Jhansi added.

SASHIDHAR ADIVI

DECCAN CHRONICLEAudiences have so far seenPriyamani in glam diva,action and homemaker

roles. However, the National-Award winning actress is set tosurprise her audiences in therole of a Naxalite in her forth-coming film, Virata Parvam. TheVenu-Udugala directorial will seethe actress as ComradeBharathakka.

Raving about the part and abouthaving gotten it, Priyamani tellsus that this role is a first for her.“When director Venu narratedthe script, they went in for alook test right away. He had afew references of Naxalites,and he was adamant that I dothe role as he felt I fit thebill perfectly. He alsoexpressed to me that hewanted the role to be avery realistic one,” sheadds.

Then talking about howthe process for the photoshoot took close to twohours, she states that thedirector and his team

carried real rifles to seehow she looked with themin the photographs. “The

hotel authorities wereshocked when they saw the gun

until we clarified that it was forthe photoshoot,” adds Priyamaniwith a smile.

Ter mingd i r e c t o r

Venu as someone with a lot ofclarity the Raktha Charitra startells us how he had revealed toher during the shoot that he hadworked as an assistant directorfor one of her earlier films,Pellaina Kottalo.

TURNING INTO HER CHARACTER

Priyamani says that playing aNaxalite was a role she had want-ed to do as there weren’t toomany films with a Naxal back-drop in the recent past. Also, itwas a role she never played earli-er. Priyamani reveals that shehad to put in a lot of work totransform herself for the part.

“The level of detailing for mycharacter was fairly deep,” shesays. “Virata Parvam is Venu’s

vision — a differently made film,which I hope the audiencesappreciate. And as my characterwas not a glamorous role, Venudidn’t want me wearing anymake-up; he also wanted me toleave my hair natural, have it tiedinto a bun, etc.,” she expresses.

Priyamani then talks about theamount of detailing that wentinto her role for a realistic por-trayal — from the Naxalites’ uni-forms and what they carriedincluding their guns and howthey move in camps to how theyare constantly on the go. In fact,she talks about how she had tolearn many things for her part,including how to hold a rifle,which was another first for her. Astunt master from Germany wasbrought in to train the actress onhow to handle the gun.

“I have a few action sequencesin the film, and while I have heldpistols in my earlier films, it wasfor the first time I had to shootwith a real gun, even if they werewithout bullets,” explainsPriyamani, further adding thechallenge she faced with it. “Ihadn’t realised a rifle could be asheavy as that, and runningaround with that gun was one ofmy biggest challenges whiledoing the film.”

For Priyamani, the best part ofthe shooting was sharing screenwith Sai Pallavi and RanaDaggubati. “I am sure the audi-ence will have a great time watch-ing all of us on screen together,”she signs off.

Priyamani finds manyfirsts in Virata ParvamThe National-Award winning actress talks about playing aNaxalite in her upcoming action thriller

6Thursday 9 July 2020

Deccan Chronicle

Prahbas’ look in new film to beout on FridayThere’s just a little bit left to be shot

The makers of Prabhas’ latest film have announced thatthey will release his look in the movie on July 10.

Prabhas has been keeping himself away from social mediaduring the lockdown, unlike many other actors. His fans havebeen pressuring him to share some information about hisupcoming film directed by Radhakrishna.

The team had returned to Hyderabad from abroad just before thelockdown in March, and since then, there have been no updatesabout the film.

Prabhas became a national star after Baahubali and Saaho, andthe new film too will be released in multiple languages.

The film is almost complete and the remaining scenes will beshot once the COVID-19 crisis is over.

— Snippets by Suresh kavirayanai

tollywood

Isolation is only a precaution

Priyamani in a Naxal look

Fans of SushantSingh Rajput (SSR)

are on an overdrivesince his death by sui-cide on June 14. The key-board warriors are nowat it after the trailer ofDil Bechara, SSR’s lastmovie, dropped 48 hoursago and received 31,000dislikes on YouTube. Theangst that has been rid-ing high since then con-verted into negativeenergies once again.Assuming that fans ofSalman Khan andAkshay Kumar had cre-ated all this negativity,SSR’s fans pounced uponthe duo trying to trollthem.

In the past few weekssince SSR’s untimely andtragic death, the actor’s fans and fol-lowers have mercilessly trolled KaranJohar and Alia Bhatt. Fans and othertrolls on social media have been run-ning a sustained campaign againstfavouritism in casting for the movies

and have targeted sev-eral filmmakers andactors, includingSalman Khan, reck-lessly trolling them.

However, in theirlove for the departedactor, they seemed tohave missed otheraspects of the trail-er.

An industrysource summed itperfectly, when hesaid, “The fans arenot really botheredthat the trailer of thefilm has over 43 mil-lion views and 7.7million likes andthat it is the fastestfilm in the world toreach that mark,

even over Avengers: Endgame. Theyare only bothered about the 31,000 dis-likes that the trailer has gotten. Andthey are attributing the outrage to theSalman and Akshay Kumar fans andspewing venom on them yet again.”

– Sanskriti Media

Kareena Kapoor Khan can’t wait toget back on the sets. After spendingover a 100 days suspended in

abeyance, Kareena — who turns 40 inSeptember this year — says she would ide-

ally want to spend her next birthday atthe shoot of Laal Singh Chaddha, theupcoming film she was working onuntil the lockdown was declared.

However, given the current circum-stances, there is still no clarity regard-ing when the film’s shoot will begin.

A source shared with us that a lot ofthe shoot is to take place in real-lifelocations. “One cannot oscillatebetween indoors and outdoors.

However, while there is alot of shoot left for

the film, Kareenahas already shotquite a bit andhas a little lessthan a month’sworth shoot tocomplete,” thesource says.

“Though AngreziMedium did come

into the theatres, ithad to be pulled out

owing to COVID-19 and thelockdown. But for the moment, Kareena

just misses being on the sets as she lovesthe character she is essaying in this film.She has been wishing that she is on the seton her 40th birthday, which falls inSeptember this year.”

The source also reminds us that herdebut film Refugee also completed 20 yearsthis year. “In a way, this year has been20–20 for her in many ways,” says thesource with a chuckle.

– Sanskriti Media

7Thursday 9 July 2020

Deccan Chroniclematinee

Staying away from hershoots is making Kareena

Kapoor Khan restless

KKK is missing work

Herdebut film

Refugee alsocompleted 20

years this year, soit has been a 20-20 for her

Prachi calls out Ajay DevgnShe reminds the actor that he missed out her and other castmembers in his Bol Bachchan tribute on the Twitter postDC CORRESPONDENT

When Ajay Devgn shared a poston Twitter, as a throwback on the

eight years since one of his films withthe Bachchans, he must have not real-ly thought it could bring him a truck-load of criticism.

The actor–producer took to hissocial media handle to share somebehind-the-scenes images of the filmthat released in 2012. The picture fea-tured him, Abhishek Bachchan,Amitabh Bachchan and Rohit Shetty— He even captioned the post, “Whenthe Bachchans speak, I listen(espe-cially Amitji)#8YearsOfBolBachchan@SrBachchan @juniorbachchan

#RohitShetty(sic).”Ajay’s tweet caught the attention of

actress Prachi Desai, who was one ofthe casts in the film. She replied toAjay’s tweet and in it, tagged all the

actors from the film. Ajay had missedout on tagging himself. “Hey @ajay-devgn looks like you forgot to men-tion the rest of us aka #Asin@Krushna_KAS @apshaha #Asraniji #NeerajVohra ji #JeetuVerma ,yours truly & everyone involved inmaking this baller of a film#8YearsOfBolBachchan(sic),” Prachiwrote back.

Her reply to Ajay’s tweet, got manyof her followers replying to her, con-gratulating her on calling out Ajayfor his selective memory of the filmand its cast. One of the users@BardOfBread wrote, “Oh my!Bollywood has become ballsy all of asudden! You go girl!(sic)”

Akki and Salmanget targetedFans go berserk over dislikes against the recently released Dil Bechara trailer on YouTube

Ajay Devgn and Prachi Desai