Farmers reject Centre's offer DCGI denies EUA to vaccine ...

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Vol. 83 No. 341 Established 1938 | 20 PAGES | `6.00deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I THURSDAY I 10 DECEMBER 2020

DC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

It is too premature a signalto view as a thaw in themood of uncompromisingpolitical confrontationbetween the BJP and theTRS, but merely a welcomebreak, Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao on

Wednesday conveyed hisgreetings to PrimeMinister Narendra Modion the eve of the occasionof his laying the founda-tion for the Central Vistaproject in the national cap-ital.

■ Page 5: Central Vista waslong overdue, says KCR

KCR greets Modion Central Vista


The Patancheru police ofSangareddy district onWednesday booked a caseagainst the ruling TRS leg-islator G. Mahipal Reddyfor allegedly threateningand abusing a journalist.

Patancheru police saidthat MLA Reddy wasbooked under section 504(intentional insult, withintent to provoke, breachof peace) and 506 (criminalintimidation) of the IPC.

■ Page 5: MLA threatens tocut journo into pieces

TRS MLA abusesDalit journalist

SANJAY KAW | DCNEW DELHI, DEC. 9

Within hours of receivingthe Centre’s draft propos-als to amend the new agri-culture laws, the farmers’unions categorically reject-ed it on Wednesday andthreatened to intensifytheir agitation by blockingall entry points to Delhi iftheir demands were notimmediately met. Theyalso threatened to captureall toll plazas and hold “sit-in” protests across thecountry.

Terming the proposal as“vague” and an insult tofarmers, Krantikari KisanUnion president DarshanPal said: “We will block theDelhi-Jaipur highway andDelhi-Agra expresswayand sit on dharna at all tollplazas on December 12…No tax to be paid on thatday at any toll plaza… Wewill also gherao all districtheadquarters during ourprotest on December 14. Wehave asked the people toprotest against every MPand MLA of the BJP.”

The farmers’ organisa-tions have also threatenedthey will boycott all Jioproducts and Reliancemalls across the country.

The Centre onWednesday proposed togive a “written assurance”that the existing MinimumSupport Price (MSP)regime for procurementwill continue. In a draft

proposal, the Centre alsoassured the registration ofall private mandis to stre-ngthen Agricultural Prod-uce Market Committees.

With the farmers campedout at Delhi’s busy borderpoints, three of the Delhi-Haryana border points —Tikri, Jharoda and Dhansa— have been closed for traf-fic.

Farmers rejectCentre’s offerThreaten to intensify agitation, block Delhi

Opposition leaders Sharad Pawar, Rahul Gandhi, SitaramYechury, D. Raja and T.K.S. Elangovan present a memoran-dum to President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavanin New Delhi on Wednesday on the new Farm Bills.

— D. KAMRAJ

RUSSIA: INDIA INANTI-CHINA GAMEPLAYED BY WESTSRIDHARKUMARASWAMI | DCNEW DELHI, DEC. 9

The West, led by the US, istrying to engage India in“anti-China games”through its Indo-Pacificstrategies and is also try-ing to undermine Russ-ia’s close and privilegedties with India, Russianforeign minister SergeyLavrov has said, inunprecedented remarksthat have highlightedboth Moscow’s proximitywith Beijing and a grow-ing unease over the India-US strategic partnership.

Addressing the RussianInternational AffairsCouncil, Mr Lavrov said:“It (the West) is trying torestore the unipolarmodel of world order. ‘Po-les’ like Russia and Chinaare unlikely to be subor-dinate to it. However,India is currently anobject of the Westerncountries’ persistent,aggressive and deviouspolicy as they are tryingto engage it in anti-Chinagames by promoting Indo-Pacific strategies, the so-called ‘Quad’.”

■ Page 7: Russia unhappywith close Indo-US ties

DCGI denies EUA to vaccinefrom Bharat Biotech, SerumKANIZA GARARIwith agency inputsHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

In a setback to two majorpharma companies in therace for the vaccine forCoronavirus, the DrugController General of India(DCGI) has not granted theEmergency Use Autho-risa-tion permission (EUA) tocity-based Bharat Biotechand the Serum Institute ofIndia (SII) for their respec-tive vaccines, Covaxin andCovisheild.

The data submitted byboth companies was foundto be “insufficient” by theCentral Drugs StandardControl Organ-isation(CDSCO) of the DCGI interms of data on the trialsof Indian patients, accord-ing to sources.

The panel sought addi-tional data on the safetyand efficacy of their pro-posed shots.

Due to lack of data onIndian patients, the CDSCOsubject expert committee,which met on Wednesday,

found that the “data sub-mitted of phase 1 and phase 2 trials was not suffi-cient”.

The DCGI said that Covid-19 vaccine candidatesshould have “at least 50 percent efficacy in phase IIIclinical trials” for it to bewidely deployed.

The DCGI rules of 2019state that there must be atleast 3,000 patients onwhom the vaccine has to betested before approval.

Dr Kiran M, senior anaes-thesiologist, Government

Hospital, Nizamabad, said,“Phase III trials are stillnot complete. They are cur-rently ongoing. Withoutdata of these trials, theEUA cannot be given.There is no concept of EUAin India. This is for the firsttime vaccines are beingtaken up under this giventhe emergency of the pan-demic. For this reason, sci-entists and drug con-trollers are very cautious.”

■ Page 3: Data submitted byfirms found inadequate

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pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

CITY pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

SHORT TAKES

HC ADJOURNSPLEA AGAINSTLRS TO 5 WEEKSDC CORRESPONDENT HYDERABAD, DEC. 9

The Telangana HighCourt on Wednesdayadjourned the batch ofpetitions challenging theLayout RegulationScheme (LRS) intro-duced by the Telanganastate government to fiveweeks. Advocate-General B.S. Prasadsought more time to filethe counters on behalf ofthe government whichthe court considered itand adjourned the cases.In all, five PILs werefiled against the LRS. Inthe earlier hearings, thecourt had directed gov-ernment to file its expla-nation on the issuesraised in the pleas. Thegovernment has not filedthe counters in somepleas and on Wednesdaysought more time.

FORMERSARPANCH HELD

FOR FRAUDDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

The former sarpanch of PeddaShapur area was arrested bythe Shamshabad police oncharges of cheating and for-gery on Wednesday. Accordingto the police, S. Isra Naik hasallegedly used official rubberstamps on permission lettersand issued building permis-sions on the names of his fam-ily members and others.

He also cheated the poor andhomeless in the gram pan-chayat by selling them suchland, police said.

“The suspect, S. Isra Naik, aresident of Pedda Shapurthanda and village had endedhis term as a sarpanch in 2011,but he allegedly cheated peo-ple claiming he was still in thepost. He along with his associ-ates, identified as J. Raji Reddyand others had grabbed landin the village and convertedthem into plots and sold themto people,” police inspector ofShamshabad Y. Prakash Reddysaid.

Based on a complaint, theShamshabad police bookedcases of cheating and forgeryunder sections 420, 468, and 471of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)and arrested Naik onWednesday.

Plight of pensioners

Pensioners are made to wait outside and forced to break Covid-19 rules at the Bank of India, Malkajgiri onWednesday for their monthly pension. “This is how we are made to suffer,” said G. Malathi — DEEPAK DESHPANDE


The safety and efficacy ofCovid-19 vaccine, Covaxin,that has been developed byBharat Biotech was evalu-ated by a delegation of 70Ambassadors and HighCommissioners atGenome Valley onWednesday.

The Ministry ofExternal Affairs facilitat-ed this discussion asBharat Biotech hasapplied for emergency usein India. The delegates dis-cussed with the team ofscientists and researchersfrom the pharma giantabout the safety trials ofphase 1 and phase 2.

Dr Krishna Ella, chair-man and managing direc-tor of Bharat Biotech, pre-sented the update on thevaccine with its evalua-tion on approximately1,000 subjects. The phaseIII human clinical trials,which began last month,were conducted on 26,000volunteers from across thecountry.

It is a randomized trialwhere one group of volun-teers will be given the vac-cine and others are onplacebo trial. The volun-teers and their treatingdoctors are not aware ofthe exact status and it isknown only to the inde-pendent investigator ofthe company.

According to sources inthe pharmaceutical indus-try the vaccine evaluationby other countries is tolook at ways and means inwhich they too can pro-cure doses for their coun-try. The UnionGovernment is looking atthe vaccination inTelangana and Rajasthanfirst.

Suchitra Ella, joint man-aging director of BharatBiotech, says, “Covaxinhas garnered interestfrom several countries forsupplies and introduction.Countries looking for anIndian vaccine to fight thepandemic is a morale-booster for us.”

Envoys study ways to getvaccine for their countriesBharat Biotech presents vaccine update even as Centre denies authorisation

● ● ACCORDING TO the police,S. Isra Naik has allegedly usedofficial rubber stamps on per-mission letters and issuedbuilding permissions on thenames of his family membersand others. He also cheatedthe poor and homeless in thegram panchayat by sellingthem such land, police said.

● ● MOVEMENT OF peoplewithin the city, state andcountry has seen a rise inCoronavirus and there is afear that this will furtherspread the infection. Staterecorded 721 new infec-tions.

● ● THE PHASE III humanclinical trials, which beganlast month, were conduct-ed on 26,000 volunteersfrom across the country.

Experts worried as peopleignore Covid-19 protocolSANJAY SAMUEL PAUL | DCHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

The city is back to normalor so it seems if one wereto go by the way people aremoving around giving adamn to Covid-19 protocol.

The people are assumingthat coronavirus no longerexists. This has becomemore pronounced in thelast two months.

Celebrations of festivals,GHMC election campaign,wedding ceremonies andTuesday’s Bharat Bandhbear testimony to the man-ner people are making amockery of corona guide-lines. A majority of peopleare without face masksand social distancing hasbeen thrown out of thewindow. Medical practi-tioners insist that wearingmasks and social distanc-

ing are paramount. This iseven as experts fromICMR and IMA are warn-ing of a second wave ifpeople ignore preventivemeasures.

Psychologists opine thatpeople are vexed withstaying indoors and newsof the vaccine has boostedtheir confidence levels.

Sajida Khatoon, an assis-tant lecturer, said, “At theweddings that I attended,people were withoutmasks. Guests movedaround in close proximity.This is prevalent even infamily and festival gather-ings. The government canonly direct us. Everythingelse depends on howresponsible we are. Normswere also neglected dur-ing the recent political ral-lies and dharnas.”

Dr Daljeet Kaur, consult-ant psychiatrist at

Virinchi Hospitals, said“People are frustratedstaying indoors. Theyhave started believing thatthe threat is almost overas there is a remarkableimprovement in the recov-ery rate. But precautionscannot be neglected, par-ticularly in gatheringsand when on the streets.”

IMA State Secretary, DrB Narender Reddy toldDeccan Chronicle “con-trary to perceptions, posi-tive cases are growing butthe actual number ofcases remains unknownas many patients are goingto private labs, while someare preferring self-medica-tion at home taking theprescription from recov-ered patients. Peopleshould note that the vac-cine is still not in ourreach and its always betterto avoid infections.”

Max: 30.1OCMin: 13.8OC RH: 39%Rainfall: Nil

Forecast: Partly cloudy. Mist or haze likely.

Max/Min temp. 30/14 ºC

WEATHER

ASTROGUIDESarvari; Dakshinayana

Tithi: Kartika Bahula Dasami till 12.48 pm

Star: Hasta till 10.48 amVarjyam: 6.07 pm to 7.35 pmDurmuhurtam: 10.19 am to

11.03 am; 2.42 pm to 3.26 pmRahukalam: 1.30 pm to 3 pm

HIJRI CALENDARRabbi-ul Akhir 24, 1442 AH

PRAYERSFajar: 5.31 am

Zohar: 12.19 pmAsar: 4.06 pm

Maghrib: 5.48 pmIsha: 7.02 pm

SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.36 AMSUNSET TODAY 5.42 PM

MOONSET TODAY 2.12 PMMOONRISE TOMORROW 1.53 AM

6,89,23,274

CASES AROUND THE WORLD

STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS

CASES

(+26,348)97,62,250

(+721)

(+618)TS: 2,75,261

DEATHS

(+338)1,41,735

AP: 8,73,457

1,480

7045

15,69,873

218

DEATHS

COUNTRIES,AREAS WITH

CASES

COVID-19 C UNT

worldometers.info/coronavirus

covid19india.org

(+3)

(+3)

COUNTER POINT

COVID-19 CASESGRADUALLY RISING IN CITYDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

Corona positive cases arerising in GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) lim-its because people arecrowding public placesand at social gatherings.

GHMC limits recorded123 new cases on Tuesday,119 cases on Monday, 102each on December 5 and 6,109 (Dec 4), 114 (Dec 3).Medical experts said thatone should not take thesefluctuating figures lightly,particularly becausenights are increasinglycolder.

With the mask protocolnot being followed proper-ly, there is fear that thespread will be faster, theywarned.

Senior consultant DrPrabhu C. states “Peoplethink that they can be iso-lated and the virus is mild.But post-Covid 19 symp-toms are also leading tolots of fatigue and healthcomplications. Even youngpatients are suffering lungproblems. Hence peoplemust not give up the proto-col and care has to betaken.”

Movement of peoplewithin the city, state andcountry has seen a riseand there is a fear thatthis will further spreadthe infection.

Telangana recorded 721new cases taking the over-all total to 2,75,261 andthree deaths increasingthe toll to 1,480.

Meanwhile, active casesare down to 7,661 as therecovery rate and dis-charges have been high.With 753 recoveries onTuesday, the total numberof recovered patients is at2,75,261 cases. WarangalUrban recorded 47 mewcases, Karimnagar 37 andKhammam.

Staying indoors may spreadCovid-19, caution expertsT.S.S. SIDDHARTH | DCHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

As the days get colder inthe city with the mini-mum temperatures reach-ing 13-15 degrees Celsius,the fear of contractingcoronavirus is rife.However, this can be man-aged with due precau-tions, say scientists fromthe Centre for Cellularand Molecular Biology(CCMB). The sensation offeeling cold happensbecause the air has cooleddown, which they say isideal for the virus to trav-el.

“Whenever the tempera-ture is cold, the air getsheavier and the dropletswhich contain the virushang in the air, for alonger duration,” RakeshMishra, director, CCMB,

told Deccan Chronicle.However, he adds, that

this is just a scientificexplanation of the virus’characteristics. “Prac-tically speaking, whenpeople are outdoors, thetemperature might notmatter much. It is notbecause of the tempera-ture in the winter season,rather what people tend todo during the cold cli-mate,” he said.

One thing that people doin winters is to stayindoors. So, when there isindoor crowding, thechances of infection arehigher, he said.

“If there is cross-ventila-tion or the windows arekept open then thechances of catching thevirus is difficult. Butbecause of the cold winds,the windows are kept

shut, meaning there is nocross-ventilation and allthe people inside arebreathing the same air. Insuch situations, there willbe a good chance of catch-ing an infection. The onlyway to avoid it is to wear amask indoors,” saidMishra.

As of Wednesday morn-ing, the coldest places inthe city were BHEL,Rajendranagar andMacha Bolaram. The min-imum temperaturesrecorded in these placeswere 11.8, 12.8, and 12.9degrees Celsius, respec-tively. In the state, thecoldest places wereGinnedari, Arli, Sirpur,and Bela. They recordedminimum temperaturesof 7.1, 8.9, 9, and 9.1degrees Celsius, respec-tively.

AI’s non-stopHyd-Chicagoflight from Jan. 15Hyderabad, Dec. 9:National carrier Air Indiawould fly non-stopfrom here to Chicago,USA, starting fromJanuary 15, theHyderabad InternationalAirport announced onWednesday.

Prior to the suspensionof international opera-tions in late March due tothe coronavirus pandem-ic, the disinvestment-bound Air India was oper-ating to Chicago from thecity airport via Delhi.

Air India would be start-ing the flight betweenHyderabad and Chicagoeffective January 15, 2021,GMR HyderabadInternational Airport Ltdsaid in a press release.

The airline woulddeploy its 238-seaterBoeing 777-200 aircraftwith eight seats in firstclass,35 in business andthe remaining 195 in theeconomy class, therelease said.

The Telugu diasporafrom the TS and APregions is one of thefastest growing communi-ty in the US and a directconnectivity to the USfrom Hyderabad was longdue, it said.

“The launch of thisroute brings two destina-tions closer for all ourpassengers who havebeen waiting eagerly for adirect flight fromHyderabad to the USA.We are constantly work-ing on linking more citiesdomestic and internation-al with focus on highstandards of safety toserve our passengers,”said CEO, GMRHyderabad InternationalAirport Ltd., PradeepPanicker.

Hyderabad is secondhome to many US-basedfirms and as much as 70per cent of the total ITexports to the UnitedStates is from Hyderabad,said the release. — PTI

Data submitted byfirms inadequateFrom Page 1

According to sourcesaware of the proceedings,“the data submitted by acompany to CDSCO inorder to get a EUA per-tained to data of overseaspatients by a company forphase III human clinicaltrials”.

In case of another com-pany, recruitment of all26,000 volunteers is stillnot complete, sourcessaid. Given these lapses itwill take time for the EUAto be given to these com-panies.

Experts argue that vac-cine development takestime and evaluation ofdata requires time.

Dr Sanjay Reddy, seniorpharmacist, said, “Thedata generation will bebased on the dosageregime, time after dosesand adverse effects, ifany. These phases have tobe completed. Till it iscompleted, it will not beknown where this vac-cine can be administeredto people safely.”

Experts believe that thewaiting period for EUAwill take at least anothermonth, if not ore. Thereare three committeeswhich have to evaluate

the request from thesetwo companies, includingthe vaccine subject expertcommittee, the technicalpanel and the apex com-mittee. The first commit-tee, SEC, has asked formore data from the com-panies, which means thatthe wait for the vaccinefrom these two firmsreaching people has got-ten much longer.

The application by theIndian arm of US phar-maceutical firm Pfizerwas not taken up fordeliberation onWednesday as the compa-ny sought more time formaking a presentationbefore the committee,they said.

The recommendationsby the SEC have beenapproved by the DCGI,”an official source wasquoted by PTI to havesaid.

Bharat Biotech appliedto DCGI for EUA onDecember 7 for Covaxin,developed indigenouslyby the firm in collabora-tion with the IndianCouncil of Medical Rese-arch, while Pune-basedSerum Institute sought anod for its Oxford vac-cine, Covishield, onDecember 6.

HARLEEN MINOCHA |DCHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

Despite the Covid-19 pan-demic, Indian Institute ofTechnology, Hyderabad(IIT-H), witnessed anincrease in pre-place-ment offers it hasreceived for academicyear 2020–21 compared tolast year.

IIT-H got 48 offers thisyear compared 37 duringthe last year.

In all, the institutereceived total 222 offersfrom 63 companies,including 30 from eightinternational organisa-tions based in Japan andTaiwan during Phase I ofcampus Placements held

between December 1 and6. The job interviewswith IIT-H students hadbeen held online.

About 500 students ofvarious departments and116 companies have reg-istered with IIT-H forplacements this year. 206students have alreadyreceived offers at the endof Phase I placements,amounting to more than75 percent offers for cir-cuit branches. Most ofthem are from IT/ITESsector, with few from

core sectors as well. Phase II placements

will begin in January2021, when more interna-tional offers are expect-ed, institute authoritiesstated.

Speaking about Phase Icampus placements, DrPradeep Yemula, facultyin-charge (Placements),IIT Hyderabad, dis-closed, “We had antici-pated a slowdown inplacements due to thepandemic. Accordingly,we had asked our studentteams to strengthenthemselves and adapt tothe changing scenario.However, we are glad tosee that the placementseason at IIT-H has start-ed on a positive note.”

IIT-H students getrecord placements

222 offers from 63 companiesBRIGHT | FUTURE

● ● ABOUT 500 studentsof various departmentsand 116 companies haveregistered with IIT-H forplacements this year.

CITY pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

SHORT TAKESToday last day to

apply for Haj online

30-yr-old techiedies by suicide

HC TO TS: FIX `13KAS MINIMUM PAYSCALE FOR SWEEPERS

MEDICOVERHELPS RISKY NF

PATIENT RECOVERDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

Doctors at Medicover Hospi-tals have succeeded in helpinga patient recover fromNecrotising Fasciitis (NF), arare disease that occurs onlyin 0.8 of 1 lakh patients inIndia. The disease is an out-come of bacteria entering thebody of uncontrolled diabetespatients, which destroys theskin and subcutaneous tis-sues, threatening the life ofsuch persons.

The 54-year-old male patientwas brought in by his familywith blisters and wounds onlegs, which rendered himunable to walk. Medicover doc-tors said the patient requiredstrong antibiotic treatmentand plastic surgery for thedamaged skin. The patient isrecovering and out of danger.But the person will requireregular follow-up, as he isimmune compromised.

MAN’S BODYFOUND WITH

STAB INJURIESDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

The body of an unidentifiedman with stab injuries wasfound in a secluded place atKishannagar in Shadnagar onthe city outskirts on Wednesdayafternoon.

According to the police, theperson, aged around 40 years, ssuspected to have been killedduring a brawl. “The body wasfound by area locals with stabinjuries. Following a Dial 100call, a team from the Shadnagarpolice was ent to the spot andthe body as shifted to the dis-trict government mortuary forpost-mortem,” said the police,adding that it was yet to beascertained if the victim wasmurdered at the spot or killedelsewhere and his body dumpedhere. A case under Section 302and two teams have beenformed to nab the killers.


Justice Abhinand Kumar Sh-avili of Telangana High Cou-rt on Wednesday ordered thestate government to pay theminimum time pay-scale wa-ges i.e. `13,000 to sweepersworking in government sch-ools under panchayat rajwing.

Most of the sweepers havebeen working for years andtheir services were not regu-larised. They were being paidaround `4,000 only. About 40such sweepers had moved theHigh Court for seeking regu-larisation of their services.

Hyderabad: Thursday is thelast day to access the Haj

Online Application, saidMohammed Masiullah Khan,

chairman, Telangana StateHaj Committee. He asked

those who have not yetapplied to file their applica-

tions through Haj Committeeof India website www.haj-

committee.gov.in. MasiullahKhan also requested intend-

ing Haj pilgrims to bring nec-essary documents, such as

passports, bank proof, add-ress proof, and passport-size

photos with white backgro-und, apart from debit or cre-dit card to pay the online pr-

ocessing fee. Pilgrims musthave a machine-readable pas-

sport with expiry date ofmaximum January 10, 2022 to

apply online for Haj – 2021.

Hyderabad: A software engi-neer ended his life by suicide

by consuming poisonoussubstances at his house in SR

Nagar on Tuesday night.Police said K. Poornachandra

Reddy, 30, was employedwith a software company and

was residing at Yellareddy-guda. “On Tuesday evening,

he allegedly consumed somepoisonous substance and oncoming to know about it, hisrelatives shifted him to a pri-vate hospital at Somajigudawhere he died in the night.

Reddy’s family members toldus he was having some per-sonal problems and slipped

into depression. He mighthave ended his life over it,”

said the police.

Birthday gift

Congress MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy along with Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Hanumanth Rao distributessaris on Sonia Gandhi’s birthday in Gandhi Bhavan on Wednesday. — DEEPAK DESHPANDE

Congress: Sack MallaReddy from Cabinet

Local body representativesdecry non-payment of salaries

MIM MLA holds meetingwith corporators, officialsDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

Nampally MLA JafarHussain Meraj has held ameeting with officials ofdepartments dealing withpublic utilities and newlyelected corporators for get-ting updates of ongoingworks in his constituency.

During the meeting, corpo-rators asked officials ofGHMC, Transco andHMWS&SB to complete allpending works without wait-ing for formation of the newcouncil. The MLA told offi-cials that public should notsuffer from lack of services

provided by departments dueto delay in constitution ofthe new council.

Jafar Hussain advised offi-cials to visit various areas inthe constituency along withpresent and incoming corpo-rators and resolve the issuesconfronting general public.

Those present in the meet-ing included former mayorand corporator MajidHussain, representatives offemale MIM corporators,GHMC deputy commissionerKhaja Inkishaf Ali, assistantMedical and Health officerAijaz Qasmi, Transco engineer K. Srinivas and others.

SONIA MUST BE INSYLLABUS, SHEGAVE TS: SRAVANDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

AICC spokesperson DrSravan Dasoju has requestedChief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao toinclude a lesson on AICCpresident Sonia Gandhi’s lifeat the school syllabus level inTelangana.

Speaking on the occasion ofAICC president’s 74th birth-day on Thursday, Sravanrecalled KCR’s statement inthe newly formed StateLegislative Assembly thatthere would have been “NoTelangana without SoniaGandhi”.

However, until after sixyears of Telangana dreamcoming true, nothing greathas been done in return bythe state government, hepointed out.

The AICC spokespersonreferred to the fact that theAICC president had promisedto carve out separateTelangana if the CongressParty came to power during2004 parliamentary elections.As promised, Sonia Gandhi,the then chairperson of UPAgovernment, convinced allpolitical parties to officiallysupport formation ofTelangana. The TelanganaFormation Bill was alsopassed by the Parliament tocreate TS as the 29th state ofIndia with effect from June 2,2014. Sravan underlined thatTS was formed despite hugepressure against formation ofthe new state from certainsections. But Sonia Gandhistood firm towards her com-mitment given to the peopleof Telangana.

KCR TO ADDRESSPUBLIC MEETINGIN SIDDIPETTODAY

AICCbegins exercise toselect state party chiefDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

AICC in-charge for Tel-angana Congress affa-irs Manickam Tagoreon Wednesday saidthat the new Telanga-na Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) pre-sident will be selectedafter eliciting opinionsof senior leaders,MLAs, MPs and former

TPCC presidents.Addressing the TPCC

core committee meet-ing, he said that he willtake opinions ofaround 100 to 150 lead-ers and submit a reportto the party high com-

mand and then theAICC will appoint thenew chief. He said thatN Uttam Kumar Reddywill continue as theTPCC chief till his suc-cessor is appointed.

Stating that UttamKumar Reddy haseffectively carried outhis functions, he point-ed out that Reddy hasnever lost his temperduring his tenure andthanked him on behalfof AICC. Comparingthe Congress with theIndian cricket team, hesaid though the Indianteam loses one or twomatches initially, italways wins in the

finals.Core Committee me-

mbers including UttamKumar Reddy, A.Revanth Reddy, Kom-atireddy Venkat Reddy,Mallu Bhatti Vikra-marka, T JeevanReddy, Damodar RajaNarasimha, Vamshich-and Reddy, MadhuYashki, Sampath Kum-ar, Ponnala Lakshm-aiah and V. Hanu-manth Rao participat-ed in the meeting.After the core commit-tee meeting, Tagoreheld one-on-one meet-ings with some leadersto ascertain theirviews on the new chief.


Chief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao willbe going on a day tour ofSiddipet on Friday.

Rao will reach Siddipettown at 11 am fromBegumpet Airport andwill participate in vari-ous development pro-grammes including theinauguration of one ofthe largest double bed-room colonies in thestate, which consists ofaround 2,460 units.

The Chief Ministerwill lay the foundationstone for IT park inDuddeda village of thedistrict and inauguratethe GovernmentMedical College, RythuVedika and TelanganaBhavan (party office)apart from lunachingother schemes.

Rao will end his tourwith a public meeting at3 pm in at theGovernment DegreeCollege grounds inSiddipet.

Party also demand action against MLA MahipalDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

AICC Spokesperson DrSravan Dasoju onWednesday demandedthe dismissal of Labourminister C. MallaReddy for beinginvolved in alleged landgrabbing activities inHyderabad.

He said that the minis-ter, along with his son,allegedly threatened aperson whose land waswillfully grabbed andfenced by force.

Sravan said, “It isreported in the mediaabout the Minister’salleged land grabbingissue and an FIR hasbeen filed against him.So, we demand theChief Minister toimmediately dismissMalla Reddy from theCouncil of Ministers”.

He said that based ona complaint by the vic-tim that the Ministerhad grabbed 20 guntasof land, out of 2.5 acres,at his colleges locatedin Suraram, police reg-

istered a case againstthe minister and hisson.

He said “on the basisof a complaint regis-tered against theMinister in a police sta-tion, he must immedi-ately be thrown out ofthe Cabinet and pun-ished rigorously”.

He further demandedstringent action aga-inst all land grabberswho are in the Cabinetand also against MLAswho have been threat-ening innocent citizens

in the state.Sravan said

“Patanchervu TRSMLA Manipal Reddyalso allegedly abusedand threatened a jour-nalist for writing anarticle on his land grab-bing activities. So, hemust be punishedunder the court of law.”

He suggested that toprevent illegal landgrabbing by public rep-resentatives, theyshould be broughtunder the purview ofLok-Ayukta.

Fight for stipend

BJP Yuva Morcha activists protest in front of the Directorate of MedicalEducation, Koti, in Hyderabad on Wednesday, demanding stipend for PGmedical students. — S. SURENDER REDDY


Telangana State WakfBoard on Wednesdaywarned all dargah con-tractors against com-pelling devotees to offer aminimum fixed xenia(fund for rituals).

The warning was issuedby Wakf Board chairmanMohammed Saleem at apress conference after theorganisation receivedcomplaints pertaining toseveral dargahs wherecontractors are forcingdevotees to donate morefunds into xenia hundis

than what they can afford.Those who cannot devotethe contractor-stipulatedfunds are not beingallowed to perform thecustomary rituals.

The board chairmanmaintained that none canforce a devotee to offerxenia. It is up to devoteeswhether they want to offeranything. A devotee canalso make an offering inaccordance with his or herfinancial position.Mohammed Saleem saidthe board is holding ameeting with contractorsof various dargahs in thisregard. He warned that if

any such complaints arereceived in future, xeniacontracts of those dargahswill be cancelled after adue inquiry.

The board chief askedmutawallis and managingcommittees of graveyardsto also not collect amountsfor burial. They must also

not insist on specific juris-diction. The body of aMuslim must be allowedto be buried at any graveyard without insist-ing on knowing the resi-dential area of thedeceased.

Mohammed Saleem saidthe board has held a meet-ing wherein it decided toconstruct lavatories andbathrooms in differentdargahs. The meetingdealt with 77 items on theagenda of which 23 per-tained to formation ofcommittees and six toappointments of mutawal-lis. Board has accorded

permission for construction and develop-ment of masjids andgraveyards.

The board chairmanannounced that director ofMinorities Welfare hasapproved the wakf board’sproposal to renovate theShahi Masjid at an esti-mated cost of `77 lakh. Heclarified that though amasjid comes under directmanagement of Mino-rities Welfare Depart-ment, the board has decid-ed to improve facilities atvarious masjids. He hopedall such works will be com-pleted before Ramzan.

Wakf Board warns dargah on xeniaMutawallis of graveyards told not to collect money for burialFRAUD | ALERT

● ● THE BOARD chiefasked mutawallis andmanaging committees ofgraveyards to also notcollect amounts for burial. They must alsonot insist on specificjurisdiction.

● ● THE CHIEFMINISTER will lay thefoundation stone for ITpark in Duddeda villageof the district and inau-gurate the GovernmentMedical College, RythuVedika and TelanganaBhavan (party office)apart from lunachingother schemes.


Members of Zilla ParishadTerritorial Constituencies(ZPTC), Mandal ParishadTerritorial Constituencies(MPTC) Mandal PrajaParishad presidents (MPP)and sarpanches of GramPanchayats (GPs) are waitingin vain for their monthly hon-orarium for the past sixmonths. There are 534 ZPTCs,5816 MPTCs and 534 MPPsand 12, 771 village sarpanchesin the state.

The state government fixed`10,000 for ZPTCs and MPPsand `5,000 for MPTCs andsarpanches as monthly hono-

rarium. The elected represen-tatives of local bodies allegedthat though the TRS govern-ment has fixed a goodamount, the payment hasbeen tardy.

They said that MPTCs,ZPTCs and MPPs do not haveany income-generatingsources to take up develop-ment activities in theirrespective jurisdictions. TheGPs get 85 per cent share inthe funds from the 15thFinance Commission andZPTCs and MPPs get 10 per

cent while it is only five per-cent for MPTCs.

The aggrieved representa-tives said that the fundsshould be invested on devel-opment activities and theyinvariably depend on thestate government for theirexpenses to tour their respec-tive jurisdictions.

They pointed out thatthough the state governmenthas included their honorari-um in the state Budget theynever got them on a regularbasis. They said the govern-ment had assured to allocatefunds to them from the statefinancial corporation but ithas not made any allocationtill date.

11th DAY CEREMONYON 10TH DEC - 2020

Sri DEBBADI SRINIVASA RAOInserted by Wife: D. Rukmini

Sons: D. Vinay Kumar & D. Anjani,D. Praveen Kumar & D. Anitha

Grand Daughters: Rachana & SanjanaGrand Sons: Varun Kumar &

Akshath Kumar &DEBBADI FAMILY MEMBERS

(S/2021/D00928)

PAGDI WITH PROFOUND GRIEF WE

INFORM THE SAD DEMISE OF

Smt. RUKMANI BELANIDOD: 07-12-2020

Pagdi today due to covid situation all arerequested to pray from home.

In Grief: Belani Family,Relatives & Friends

Ph: 9885813139(S/2021/D00925)

OBITUARY

Late MADASU OMPRAKASHDOB: 05-05-1959 DOD: 29-11-2020

May your soul rest in peace.Wife: MADASU UMALATHA AND

FAMILY MEMBERSVenue: Arif Function Plaza, Opp. AshaTalkies, Shalibanda, Hyd.

Ph: 9866775432

OBITUARY

KOTHAKOTA SURYANARAYANADOB: 4-4-1944 DOD: 9-12-2020Chief Lab Supdt, CH/LGD (Retd)

Last rites at Swarg Vatika, RTC Colony,Trimulgherry, on 10-12-2020,

11.30 am onwardsBEREAVED FAMILY MEMBERS.

Ph: 9849418002

● ● THEY ALLEGED thatthough the TRS governmenthas fixed a good amount, thepayment has been tardy.

CITY/AP pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

IN BRIEF

Woman rams carinto shop, 5 injured

CENTRAL VISTAWAS LONG

OVERDUE: KCRFrom Page 1

In a letter to Prime MinisterModi, which was shared onsocial media and to the media,Chandrashekar Rao said, “Ijoin you with a sense of prideon the occasion of laying thefoundation stone for the grandproject of Central Vista.”

Stating that the Central Vistaproject is “long overdue”,Chief Minister Rao said “theexisting government infra-structure in the national capi-tal is inadequate and associat-ed with our colonial past.”

Chandrashekar Rao, whowas recently admonished byboth the public and oppositionparties when he had theSecretariat building demol-ished after a High Courtreprieve and released grandnew designs for a new buildingin the middle and peak of theCoronavirus pandemic, in away echoing his own rationalefor his actions, said to MrModi, “the new Central Vistaproject would be a symbol ofself-esteem, prestige andnational pride of a resurgent,confident and strong India.”

Rao also hoped and wishedfor a speedy completion of the“prestigious and nationallyimportant” project. This movewill put the Telangana stateBJP on the backfoot in criticis-ing the pet new Secretariatproject of Mr Rao.

INTER DROPOUTPOSING AS DOC

ARRESTEDDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

A 35-year-old intermediatedropout who was running aclinic posing as a doctor since2013 was nabbed by theRachakonda police onWednesday. Police said that heused his experience of work-ing at hospitals as an advan-tage to prescribe drugs andstarted a clinic near theMeerpet Crossroads.

The accused, PolkampallySai Kumar, was caught follow-ing a raid conducted at SaiClinic by the police onWednesday evening. “He isusing fake MBBS and MDdegrees and colluded with oneSk Ahmed to run the clinic,”police said. “By charging `150per person as a consultancyfee, he has successfully run theplace since 2013. He had previ-ously worked as an operationtheatre assistant from 2006 to2012 and used that knowledgeto diagnose basic ailments. Weseized a stethoscope, one bloodpressure checking machine,nine prescription books, a rub-ber stamp and some medicinesfrom his possession,” said thepolice.

Hyderabad: A car crashedinto a sweet shop causing

burn injuries to five workerswhen hot oil with which they

were preparing sweets,spilled on them, near

Shamshabad late on Tuesdaynight. According to the

police, Anjum Zia Uddin, 35,a teacher at a private school,

rammed her car into thesweet shop in Shamshabad.

“She panicked and accelerat-ed the car instead of apply-

ing brakes, leading to themishap and injuring five men.

One of them sustained 60per cent bodyburns and oth-ers had minor burn injuries,”said the police inspector of

RGIA, P. Vijay Kumar, addingthat they were rushed to a

nearby hospital for medicalattention. A case was

booked against the womanunder section 337 (negligentdriving) of the IPC and start-

ed a probe.

Career Chronicle

Pranay, a techie uses an electric unicycle to commute between his place of work at Hitec City and Dundigal onWednesday. Pranay says he is against the use of fossil fuel-powered vehicles as they pollute the city. He fur-ther said he finds it easy to carry his vehicle everywhere. — R. PAVAN

Toxins in food may havecaused the Eluru illness

MLA threatens to cutjourno into piecesFrom Page 1

Cops booked the rulingTRS legislator G.Mahipal Reddy underthe provisions of theSC/ST (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act also.

The Dalit journalistworking in a local news-paper filed a complaintwith the Sangareddypolice, accusing MLAMahipal Reddy of abus-ing and threatening himover phone on Tuesday,following a news reportfiled by him, in whichexposed how the legisla-tor’s followers wereinvolved in grabbingland in Ameenpur area.

In the purported audiofile going viral on social

media but is unverified,the MLA is heard say-ing, “what happenedSantosh? Who do youthink you are? Come tomy house now. If I cometo your house, I will cutyour hands and legs.Record this call, are youeven a man? I will minceyou to pieces. Call andreport to the cops, eventhe commissioner orDGP, I am not afraid ofanyone. Come here or Iwill come there. *****

(abusing his mother).How dare you mentionmy name in your report?Do you even know mylevel? You press guyswill write anything.”

“Anna, will you threat-en me if I write factsagainst the land grab ofyour followers and TRSpartymen,” the Dalitjournalist is heardpleading.

Based on the com-plaint, the cases wereregistered. The case isunder investigation, asenior police officialsaid. None of the TRS senior leaders have con-demned their partyleader and MLA forthreatening a journalistor a Dalit.

Cheated artist awaitsresponse from QatarQatar national had duped artist of 11 crystal paintingsNAVEEN KUMAR | DCHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

It has been almost twoyears and the 73-year-oldcity-based artist is stillwaiting for justice as hiscase is pending withpolice.

Sayed Azmathullah,who makes unique crys-tal paintings of well-known global personali-ties, was conned by aQatar national, whoposed as a Hyderabadiand fled with 11 of hispaintings to showcasethem as his own in artexhibitions and ‘gift’ thesame to leaders.

Sharing his plight,Azmathullah said that hemet the accused, AbdulSalam Al-Qadi, in 2017.

“He approached meposing as an art loverfrom Qatar. BetweenOctober 2017 and April2018, he procured 11paintings from me, stat-ing that he would show-case them and also shareprofits with me,” said theartist, adding that aftergetting paid for fivepaintings, he wasblocked.

“Government officialsin the United Kingdominformed me that vari-

ous Gulf-based mediahouses have reportedmentioning Abdul as theartist of two paintings:the Dome of the Rock inthe Old City ofJerusalem and anotherof Turkish PresidentReccep Tayyip Erdogan.I was invited to the UKParliament to showcasemy work and they werethe ones who informedme that someone elsedoes similar artwork. Itwas only then I realisedthat Abdul had passed offsome of my work as hisown. Even my signaturewas replaced with hisname,” said the artist,

who uses Swarovskicrystals imported fromAustria for his paintings.Each work takes over aweek for completion.

Two of the paintings,composed of crystals,were even allegedly gift-ed to President Erdoganby Abdul as a gift fromQatar to Turkey. Afterlearning about Abdul'salleged duplicity, Sayedapproached the HussainiAlam police in 2019 tolodge a complaintagainst him.

When asked about thecomplaint, policeInspector of HussainiAlam, Ramesh Kotwal

said that the allegedaccused was not a Qataribut a local fromHyderabad.

“He is not present inthe country anymore. Wehave learnt that he shift-ed to Sharjah. We areprobing the case,” saidthe official, adding thatthey were yet to makeheadway.

“My work was nevermeant to be commer-cialised. I even wrote tothe Turkish Consulate inHyderabad, which alert-ed the Qatar Embassy inTurkey of Abdul'sduplicity. However, therehas been no responsefrom the Embassy. Afterrepeated attempts toreach Abdul, I evenwarned him beforeapproaching the police. Iam yet to receive anupdate from the police onthe status of the investi-gation” concluded a help-less Sayed.

Azmathullah has creat-ed crystal paintings offormer presidentFakhruddin Ali Ahmed,Prince Charles, K.T.Rama Rao, ChiefExecutive Officers(CEOs) of Apple andGoogle, and many othereminent personalities.

DC CORRESPONDENTVIJAYAWADA, DEC. 9

Even as the number of freshcases of “mystery illness”has come down to 12 onWednesday and only 44affected persons are stillundergoing treatment, adeadly combination of neu-rotoxins and organochlo-rine are prime suspects forthe confounding diseasethat has caught nationaland even internationalattention.

State health authoritiesmaintain that these sub-stances found in hydrocar-bon pesticides such as DDTcan turn poisonous, affect-ing nervous tissues inhuman body. This could bewhy affected people aredeveloping convulsions fora brief period, being gettingback to normalcy after sometime.

Several reputed centralagencies like All IndiaInstitute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS), NationalInstitute of Nutrition (NIN),National Centre for DiseaseControl (NCDC), Centre forCellular and MolecularBiology (CCMB), IndianInstitute of ChemicalTechnology (IICT) andWorld Health Organisation(WHO) are working on find-ing the source of such poi-sonous substances enteringthe human body and affect-ing nervous system.

The AIIMS report has

already confirmed presenceof lead in the blood ofaffected people in its prelim-inary report after testing 10patients. It is, however, yetto come up with its report ofanalysing milk samples.

NCDC has started itsinvestigations to find outreasons for the mystery ill-ness. It is also collectingsamples from blood andurine of cattle, as they areexposed to pesticide eitherthrough their feed orthrough consumption of

contaminated water. In sucha case, their milk may con-tain residues of pesticide.Humans, who consume suchmilk even after boiling, havea chance of getting infectedwith pesticide residues.

NCDC is also collectingsamples of crops like paddyand others to test them forany presence of pesticideremnants in them. This isbecause those who consumefood cooked with such cropsmay get infected. It is alsosearching for warehouses,where huge quantities ofpesticides are stored tocheck any chance of theirleakage or spillage that mayfind their way into drains,canals and other water bod-ies, especially owing torecent spell of heavy rainsand floods. Soil may havegot contaminated withresidues of pesticides in theprocess.

Health authorities say thatall these grounds will besubject to a scientific scruti-ny. Truth can be establishedonce test reports from sever-al central agencies are out.

Health director Dr. T.Geeta Prasadini said, “Wewill be able to know theexact reason for the cause ofmystery illness very shortly.Several central agencieshave collected samples ofblood, urine, water, milkand crops, among others.These are being testing atpresent and their reportsare awaited.”

2 THEVES HELD,ORNAMENTS,CASH RECOVERED

AIG CHIEF GETSU.S. SCIENCE FELLOWSHIPDC CORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, DEC. 9

Dr D. Nageshwar Reddy,Padma Bhushan awardeeand chairman of AsianInstitute ofGastroenterology (AIG)has been conferred theFellowship of AmericanAssociation forAdvancement of Science.He is the first Indian doc-tor to have been electedfor the Fellowship of2020. Dr Reddy has donepioneering work in gas-troenterology, particular-ly in therapeutic pancre-atic biliary endoscopy.He has heralded innova-tions in trans-gastricendoscopic surgery andmade leading contribu-tions to advancements ingastroenterology.

JAGAN TELLSEXPERTS TO FINDACTUAL CAUSEDC CORRESPONDENT VIJAYAWADA, DEC. 9

Chief Minister Y.S. JaganMohan Reddy on Wednes-day conducted a reviewmeeting in Eluru with offi-cials and medical teams onWednesday.

He directed them to con-duct a through researchand find out the causes ofthe illness and affirmedthat the state government isoffering good treatment topeople. The CM said thisduring a video conferencewith the authorities, doc-tors and experts from theWHO, AIIMS, NIN, CCMBand the IICT.


The Mangalhat policenabbed two men forhouse burglary andseized stolen propertyworth `3.35 lakh fromtheir possession onWednesday.

The accused were iden-tified as ManoharKumavath, 23 and VijayaKumar, 23, said thepolice, adding that fourtolas of gold ornaments,a gold ring weighing 2.5grams and net cash of`1.20 lakh was recoveredfrom the men.

The arrests were madefollowing a complaintfrom Suresh Bhati, abusinessman, onDecember 5, wherein hestated that he camehome on the night ofDecember 4 to find hishouse ransacked andbroken locks with valu-ables missing from thelocker.

The police teamsanalysed the CC camerasin the area and noticedthe duo vetting the areaby moving suspiciously.“After a thorough verifi-cation of about 50 CCTVcameras, we nabbed theduo and they confessedto the crime duringinvestigation,” said thepolice.

It was revealed duringthe questioning thatManohar is a knownacquaintance of Sureshand that he used to bor-row money from him.“Since Manohar knewwhere the money andvaluables were kept, hehatched a plan to stealthe same and asked hisfriend to help him. Theentire stolen lot wasrecovered from themen,” added the police.

Indian med vs modern debate began in 1974No data with modern medicine on how many crosspathy clinics are flourishing: Docs CLASH | RAGES


The ongoing clash ragingbetween doctors practisingIndian and modern medi-cine has its origins in 1974when the former wereallowed access to laboratorytests.

‘Further, in the year 2000and 2004 changes weremade wherein doctors prac-tising Indian medicine –Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga,Unani, Siddha, andHomeopathy) – could studysurgery medicine. Thesechanges over time and therecent one have allowed

Indian medicine doctors tocarry out surgery. But sucha practise amounts toendangering lives of peo-ple,” a senior doctor, on con-dition of anonymity, toldDeccan Chronicle.

Essentially, Ayush doctorshad been allowed to practiseallopathic medicine to meetthe shortage of doctors andalso cut costs at govern-ment hospitals. But such athing amounts to CentralCouncil for IndianMedicine (CCIM) interfer-ing with modern science,which is utterly againstethics, says the doctor.

“A handful of Indian doc-

tors, who gained confidenceby illegally practising‘crosspathy’, are the reasonfor the Union governmentnot listening to allopathicdoctors’ demand againstpermitting Ayush doctorsto practise modern medi-cine and even perform sur-geries,” says another doctor.

Dr Ravinder Reddy, chair-man of Telangana MedicalCouncil and national vice-president-elect of IndianMedical Association (IMA)from Telangana, says,“There are court judgemen-ts, which state that ‘crosspa-thy’ cannot be practiced.Despite the court orders,

the Union ministry has pas-sed these rules. We will notaccept it,” he maintained.Doctors state there is nodata with modern medicineon how many crosspathyclinics are flourishing. Onand off complaints arebeing received about Ayushdoctors botching up treat-

ment or operations, leadingto disputes between suchdoctors and patients. “Suchcases are often settled ‘inprivate’”, remarked anotherdoctor on condition ofanonymity.

Failure to pursue suchcomplaints to its logical hasonly encouraged Ayush doc-tors to freely practise allo-pathic medicine. That is oneof the main reasons forCCIM passing the ruleallowing Indian medicinequalified doctors to practisemodern medicine, a doctoravers. Rule should be clearin black and white. Mixingof systems will lead to

patients being subject todangerous situations, allo-pathic doctors maintain.

It is the decision ofNational MedicalCommission that CII willdecide curriculum ofMBBS, which has led to anuproar among students.Junior doctors are askinghow an Indian system ofmedicine can mix withmodern science and tech-nology. Most doctors ofmodern science say theyare not able to understandwhy the government is play-ing with medical education,which is an evidence-based practice.

● ● MODERN MEDICINE doc-tors will hold a protest onFriday, December 11, sus-pending work at out-patientdepartments from 6 am to6 pm. There will be no elec-tive surgeries carried outduring the period.

● ● THE POLICE teamsanalysed the CCTV cam-eras in the area andnoticed the duo vettingthe area by moving sus-piciously.

● ● BASED ON the com-plaint, the cases wereregistered. The case isunder investigation, asenior police officialsaid.

Crystal painting of TimCook

Crystal painting ofSundar Pichai

Green ride

EDIT pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

Is there a connection between democracy and Niti Aayog? Or, not to put too finea point on it, between India’s democracy and the government’s think tank oneconomic affairs that was created as the National Institute for TransformingIndia (Niti) by dismantling the Planning Commission, which had planned to

achieve balanced development of the various regions to remove poverty. Probablynot, if putative observations of the Niti Ayog CEO, Amitabh Kant, made recently,are to be taken at face value.

The transformation of India in the conception of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,who is the chairman of the think tank he created in January 2015 through a merecabinet decision and not the constitutional route, is to be achieved, fundamentallythrough de-regulation in all fields of economic activity. This means taking awayany role for the government through “hard reforms” that Mr Kant spoke of whileaddressing an event virtually on Tuesday.

The country’s major news platforms quoted the Niti Aayog operational chief assaying that “tough reforms” were very difficult in the Indian context because there

was “too much democracy” in the country. He alsonoted that the Modi government had shown the“political will” to drive hard reforms. He reeled offexamples such as mining, agriculture and labour.

The political meaning of this is obvious — thatthe rules, regulations and the culture of debate, dis-sent and protest in a democracy will not yield“tough reforms” needed to deliver economic pros-perity. This is a discredited notion and Mr Kantevidently ran for cover when the implication of hisremarks was revealed to him. He flatly denied say-

ing the words attributed to him though it is highly unlikely that all reputed mediaoutlets would misquote him. The videos of his only underscore that his clarifica-tion and denials are to be regarded with a stiff dose of skepticism.

Mr Kant went to the extent of saying that India can compete with China onlythrough “hard reforms” and not through holding seminars. Seminars imply dis-cussion and debate. This China reference would also suggest that in the Niti AayogCEO’s scheme, debates are not the way to push “tough reforms”, implying a fail-ure of the well-known basis of democracy. Presumably, then, hard reforms canonly be achieved through bulldozing, the way it is done in China, a totalitarianstate where a single leader is all knowing and all-powerful.

Examples of so-called “hard reform” (even when they undervalue public welfareby privileging the market principle on an exclusive basis), pushed through themethods of democracy, have evidently eluded Mr Modi’s most powerful economicbureaucrat. He could have recalled, for instance, that former Britain PM MargaretThatcher battled and debated in Parliament and the media to get her way in scut-tling welfare measures of an earlier era to set her country on a new path.

In fact, to make economic reforms non-sliding, acceptance by the widest sectionsof the people is a necessity, not a luxury, and the political principle of democracyprovides for the most thorough means to install a new idea or practice. The presentregime has failed to do just that, the most recent egregious example being the con-tentious agri-laws against which a storm is brewing. These were rammed throughParliament virtually without discussion — in an example of the “political will”shown by the regime.

10 DECEMBER 2020

Democracy and reforms:How much is too much?

The agri-laws wererammed through

Parliament virtuallywithout discussion— in an example of

the ‘political will’shown by the regime

An importantlesson for thep a n d e m i c -stricken worldto remember

as challenge after chal-lenge casts its shadow onPrime Minister BorisJohnson’s beleagueredgovernment in London isthat no opinion — noteven that of a suspectedadversary — should bedismissed or derided at atime of grave internation-al danger.

More of that later.Immediate attentionfocuses on another aspectof the coronavirus crisiswhich inspired Britain’sAgra-born business min-ister, Alok Sharma, toexult grandiloquently:“In years to come, we willremember this momentas the day the UnitedKingdom led humanity’scharge against this dis-ease.” He meant — asevery British spokesmanrepeats ad nauseam —that the UK is the firstcountry to agree to usethe Pfizer/BioNTech vac-cine against Covid-19.

Not everyone is equallyboastful. While theGerman ambassadorreminded listeners thatthe vaccine representscollective Europeanenterprise, the tiny oil-rich island kingdom ofBahrain quickly muscledinto the limelight to shareBritain’s glory with itsown agreement withP f i z e r / B i o N T e c h .Another critic with littlestomach for bombast thatmight resound toapplause in Mr Sharma’sancestral Uttar Pradeshsharply reminded himthat this moment mightalso be remembered for“the UK having one of theworst death rates and theworst economic impactdue to poor governance”.

Going beyond theUnited Kingdom’s 1.71million Covid-19 casesand 61,014 deaths, hemight have been speakingof the frantic last-minuteparleys in Britain’s pro-

tracted divorce negotia-tions with the EuropeanUnion which suggest thatthe Prime Minister, BorisJohnson, did not thinkthings through when heplayed up to domestic sep-aratists with his aggres-sive Brexit agenda. Withtime running out for theDecember 31 deadline,this week’s last throw ofthe dice (as it’s called) inthe negotiations may beheading for a breakdownrather than a break-through. If so, it would becatastrophic for both par-ties who cannot escapetheir interdependence.While British waters aremuch richer in fish thanthe seas surroundingEurope, British trawlersmake their money sellingto the European nations.

As Mr Johnson contin-ues to pander to the insu-lar lobby by accusing theEU of riding roughshodover British sovereignty,Rachel Reeves, a seniormember of the LabourParty’s shadow cabinet,has warned that he“needs to deliver the dealhe promised the Britishpeople”. He can’t ignoreher for Brexit hasexposed his reliance onLabour votes in theHouse of Commons.Neither can he ignore thenew Cold War againstChina and Russia that USPresident Donald Trumphad launched with vehe-ment diatribes againstthe so-called “Wuhanvirus” to woo Americanvoters ahead of the presi-dential election.

With talk of Washingtoninvoking the 1977International EmergencyEconomic Powers Act toblacklist the popularChinese video appTikTok as “an unusualand extraordinarythreat”, Mr Johnson hastaken up the cudgels forthe United States likeanother British leader,Tony Blair, who kow-towed to George W. Bushand joined the Americaninvasions of Iraq and

Afghanistan. That proba-bly explains the sudden£16 billion increase inBritain’s defence budgetover the next four years,despite the pandemic’scalamitous damage to theeconomy. Such gesturesappease the Americans,as do accusations of theKremlin trying to pene-trate Britain’s secret sci-entific research pro-grammes and promises toreveal Russia’s allegedcovert interference inBritish politics.

Initially, Mr Johnsonrejected pressure,American as well as fromthe rightists among hisown Conservatives, toban the Chinese technolo-gy company, Huawei,from any role in buildingthe UK’s 5G infrastruc-ture. He has since done avolte face and now cites“sound technical rea-sons” for giving Huaweimarching orders. Butalthough Huawei is saidto threaten British securi-ty and is excluded fromthe 5G network, MrJohnson cannot be seri-ously concerned since theeviction will becomeeffective only over sevenyears.

Neither this anomalynor the ban itself seems tohave attracted much pub-lic attention in Britain.The reason may be thatpeople are genuinely hor-rified by China’s oppres-sion of the Uighurs, itstightening grip on HongKong, the militaryassertiveness in theSouth China Sea andmuscle-flexing in Ladakh.But the Brexit controver-sy makes Britain vulnera-ble, and succumbing toAmerican pressure atthis juncture may com-pound London’s depen-

dency on Washington.Instead of taking backcontrol of his country’sdestiny — the publiclyreiterated reason for leav-ing the EU in the firstplace — Mr Johnsonmight end up by movingcloser to the old joke ofBritain as the 51st state ofthe United States ofAmerica.

Obviously, the pandem-ic aggravates the impactof all other crises. Covid-19 might also have causedless suffering and spreadless terror if a saneapproach had been fol-lowed from the begin-ning. Dr Hans Kluge, whoheads the World HealthOrganisation’s Europeanoperations, says that lock-downs are unnecessary if95 per cent of the popula-tion wears masks. Thisshould have been farmore widely and forceful-ly propagated when thepandemic was explodingacross the world. Sadly,many European andAmerican leaders dis-missed masks then aspolitically unacceptable.

As Britain and the EUnations were going intolockdown, Dr George FuGao, director-general ofthe Chinese Centre forDisease Control andPrevention, China’s mainpublic health body, cor-roborated Dr Kluge’sview. Asked about themistakes being made byother countries trying tocontrol coronavirus, hereplied that “the big mis-take in the US andEurope, in my opinion, isthat people aren’t wear-ing masks”.

That opinion shouldhave been taken seriouslyeven though China hadalready been cast as theadversary. According toindependent observers,China’s return to normal-ity was largely the resultof old-fashioned publichealth measures, with aheavy emphasis on test-and-trace and travel bans,vigorously enforced bymobilising the country’svast resources and, ofcourse, invoking thestate’s coercive authority.

There’s a lesson therefor the rest of the suffer-ing world.

The writer is a seniorjournalist, columnist

and author

Dr Hans Kluge, who heads the

WHO’s European operations, says

that lockdowns areunnecessary if

95 per cent of thepopulation wears

masks. Sadly, manyEuropean and

American leadersdismissed masksthen as politically

unacceptable.

Boris’ fumbling holdslessons for the world

Measured in 2005 by a Beijing survey to be 8,844 m, Mt Chomolungma (mean-ing mother goddess) was a harder climb from the Chinese side, but alsoshorter by a good four metres. It prompted mountaineers to rush over to

Nepal to summit Sagarmatha (literally, top of the world) whose height was gener-ally acknowledged to be 8,848 metres. It cost the Communist country no smallamount of Everest tourism.

Following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal which left 9,000 dead, including someclimbers, the country’s survey department experts, fearing that the mountain hadbecome shorter, called for a fresh taking of measurement. So far, Nepal had beenfollowing the findings of the 1954 Survey of India, which had put out the second fig-ure. An American survey in 1999, however, had calculated Everest to be higher, at8,850 metres. It added grist to speculations as to whether the young-fold mountainwas still growing.

The speculators were correct. The two newest satellite aided surveys — Nepal’sin 2019 and the one completed by China earlier this year — finally agree —theheight of Everest is 8,848.86 metres — the mountain having grown by three feet or86 centimetres. It is 164 years after Radhanath Sikdar used trigonometry andmachines called theodolites to first calculate it on behalf of Sir George Everest tobe 8,839 metres, making it the highest peak of the world.

It wasn’t easy measuring the earth’s tallest mountain this time either. Surveyorshad to climb the mountain with a GPS receiver. A Nepali surveyor who stayed atthe summit for two hours lost a toe to frostbite.

Now comes the key question — can this increase be attributed to rock, or is itmerely icecap, as China once claimed? Yes and no, says Sridevi Jade, plate tecton-ics expert. The Himalayas stand on the boundary between the Indian and Eurasianplates. Jade calculates that the Indian plate is slipping under the Eurasian plate byabout five centimetres a year. After accounting for erosion on the top, Everest isgaining about one centimetre every 10 years. So while the quake may have takenoff centimetres, replicating Hillary and Norgay’s feat just got harder.

The rise of Everest

As a parent, I dread Delhi win-ters, not just because of thecold, but because of the terri-ble pollution in the air. We

live in the city with the worst air qual-ity in the world. Air quality index isgenerally Moderate (101-200) betweenJanuary and September, and then itdrastically deteriorates to Very Poor(301-400), Severe (401-500) orHazardous (500+) between Octoberand December.

It amazes me how year after year, asthe winter approaches, there is a hugeoutcry over pollution in the city andthen it dies down its own naturaldeath as the summer returns. There isno urgency to tackle this pandemic!

Although some of us are still gettingused to wearing masks, to many of uswith little children, this is nothingnew because our kids have been wear-ing masks for the past couple of win-ters. In my son's Montessori pre-school, it was made compulsory forthe little babies to wear masks toschool. Back then, it felt like I wasentering a science fiction film setevery time I would go to school. Littledid I know that it would become thenew normal soon!

As per the current data, as on

November 28, 2020, there have been1,35,906 deaths due to the coronavirusin India. Globally, there have been 1.45million deaths. Now, compare this tothe deaths caused due to pollution. In2019, exposures to outdoor high aver-age levels of PM 2.5 caused 9,80,000deaths in India — nearly 60 per cent ofall air pollution — attributable deaths.Globally, there were 4.14 million suchdeaths in 2019. Even if we were to dou-ble the coronavirus-related deaths,they would still amount to just about27 per cent of the deaths caused due toair pollution in India. Then, why isthis pandemic being ignored?

What will it take for the authoritiesand the government to wake up to itsreality? Is it that the awareness of thisepidemic is only with the educatedand urbane few, that it will onlybecome important once the vote bankof the poor make it an issue?

As per the State of Global Air 2020report (SoGA 2020) released onOctober 21, a report published by theUS-based think-tank, Health EffectsInstitute, there were at least 1,16,000infant deaths due to air pollutionrecorded in India last year.

For the youngest infants, mostdeaths were related to complications

from low birth weight and prematurebirth — direct outcomes of mothers’exposure to air pollution during preg-nancy. More than half of the infantdeaths were due to PM2.5 in outdoorair and the rest were linked to house-hold air pollution due to use of solidfuels such as charcoal, wood and ani-mal dung for cooking, as per the studythat claims to be the first-ever compre-hensive analysis of air pollution's glob-al impact on newborns. There is agrowing body of evidence about thelink between infant death and air pol-lution and several Indian and interna-tional studies have tried to explain it.

In 2019, India’s population-weightedannual average concentration of PM2.5 was recorded at 83.2 microgramsper cubic metre — seven times higherthan the WHO’s safe standards of 10μg/m3 - and remained highest in theworld. (The “population-weightedannual average concentration” is theaverage level of air pollution to whicha country's population is exposed.)

As per the American LungAssociation, children face specialrisks from air pollution because theirlungs are growing and because theyare so active and breathe in a greatdeal of air. Children's exposure to air

pollution is a special concern becausetheir immune system is not fullydeveloped when exposure begins.

Just like the arms and legs, thelargest portion of a child’s lungs willgrow long after he or she is born.Eighty percent of alveoli develop afterbirth. Children have more respiratoryinfections than adults, which alsoseems to increase their susceptibilityto air pollution.

Furthermore, children don’t behavelike adults, and their behaviour alsoaffects their vulnerability. They areoutside for longer periods and are usu-ally more active when outdoors.Consequently, they inhale more pol-luted outdoor air. They are also closerto the earth, where the pollutants arehigher.

As per a study titled “State of GlobalAir 2019”, the average life of a SouthAsian child growing up in the currenthigh levels of air pollution will beshortened by two-and-a-half years.This means that a child born todaywill die 2.5 years sooner, on average.That is a really scary prospect, andone that makes me want to leave thiscity, and country, along with my child.Doing a little bit of research on myown, here’s what I found:

Children are more at risk from theeffects of pollution since they havefaster breathing rates, and their lungsare still developing.Children exposed to high pollution

are more likely to have reduced lungfunction as adults.Long term exposure to air pollution

may cause asthma and other healthrisks, including cancer, in children.Air pollution is one of the leading

threats to child health, accounting foralmost one in 10 deaths in childrenunder five years of age.Pregnant women exposed to air

pollution can hinder the developmentof the brain and lead to cognitive prob-lems later in the children.

As per the World HealthOrganisation, in Delhi, poor air quali-ty irreversibly damages the lungs of2.2 million or 50 per cent of all chil-dren. My child and your child could bepart of that number! There is no way ofsugarcoating this; as a parent, I amafraid for my child.

If this is not a national emergency,then what is? Our children are thefuture, and the future is at stake here!

Leher Sethi is an entrepreneur andsocial activist

Leher Sethi

Is pollution a greater

pandemicthan Covid?

Subhani

Sunanda K. Datta-RayReflections

DECCAN CHRONICLE

KAUSHIK MITTER K. SUDHAKAREditor Printer & Publisher

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LETTERSNEW FARM LAWSA solution to the farmers’agitation seems unlikely inthe near future with boththe government and farm-ers are sticking to theirguns. It is the responsibili-ty of the government toensure the agitation doesnot escalate and becomeunwieldy and anti-socialelements step in to takeadvantage of the situation.The Centre could stopbeing adamant andaddress the apprehensionsof farmers.

S. Nageswara RaoHyderabad

Many are at a loss to understandwhy farmers are agitating whenthe government strongly feels thenew farm laws are beneficial.Government should make publicthe benefits to farmers. Otherwise,Opposition parties will take undueadvantage of the situation.

G. Vijay KumarHyderabad

MOVIE THEATRESThe CM’s think tank should pro-vide a proper solution to avert anyrise in Covid-19 cases. We haveexperienced the trauma of losingmany artistes, celebrities, leaders,doctors and other leaders toCoronavirus. This is the worst sit-uation in medical history. Withpeople habituated to watchingmovies and shopping on the net wedo not need movies in theatres forthe time being. So-called megastars who slept all this while intheir lavish bungalows now wakeup and come outside like caterpil-lars from chrysalis to do their busi-ness. Bureaucrats must advise theCM to close movie theatres andsave lives.

Garlapaty SitharamaiahHyderabad

High Court upholdsMulki rules

From our legal staff reporterHYDERABAD, Dec. 9.

The full bench of the AndhraPradesh High Court today heldthat the Mulki rules relating toappointment of public servantsin so far as they are applicable to

T e l a n g a n aregion reviveand surviveto continueafter thejudgement of

the Supreme Court striking downin 1969 Section 3 of the PublicEmployment Act 1957.

The full bench consisted ofChief Justice Kumarayya, Mr.Justice Gopal Rao Ekbote andMr. Justice Sambasiva Rao.

50 YEARS AGO IN

NATION pg 7DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

SHORT TAKESTAMIL TELEVISIONACTRESS CHITRA

COMMITS SUICIDE

THREE AL-BADR MILITANTS KILLED

IN ENCOUNTERYUSUF JAMEEL | DCSRINAGAR, DEC. 9

A gunfight that broke out in aremote village of Jammu andKashmir’s southern Pulwamadistrict overnight endedaround noon on Wednesdayafter the security forcedgunned down all the three mil-itants who had been holed upin a private house. The houseowner was injured in theclash, the officials said.

The Army and J&K policesaid that the slain men — alllocals — belonged to Al-Badr, apro-Pakistan militant outfit.

Inspector General of Police(Kashmir range), VijayKumar, said that the civilianwho was caught in crossfirewas immediately shifted to anearby hospital for treatmentand is said to be stable. Kumarsaid that the operation to flushout militants from Pulwama’sTiken village had been lau-nched jointly by J&K police’scounterinsurgency SpecialOperations Group, the Army’s55 Rashtriya Rifles and Cen-tral Reserve Police Force’s 182and 183 battalions.

The police claimed that themilitants holed up in the areawere given opportunity to sur-render. “However, they firedindiscriminately upon thejoint search party which wasretaliated leading to anencounter. Zamir Sadiq Lonein whose house the terroristswere hiding also received gun-shot injuries.”

DRDO LABS ‘TALK’IN SUCCESSFUL

QUANTUM DEMONew Delhi, Dec. 9: TheDefence Research andDevelopment Organisation(DRDO) on Wednesday suc-cessfully demonstrated com-munication between its twolabs using Quantum KeyDistribution (QKD) technolo-gy, which is a “robust” way toshare encryption keys, said anofficial statement.

In the QKD technology,encryption keys are sent asqubits in a fibre optic cable.Quantum computing uses qub-its as basic resources, similarto how bits are used as basicresources in classical comput-ing. The QKD is designed in away that if an illegitimateentity tries to read the trans-mission, it will disturb thequbits — which are encodedon photons — and this willgenerate transmission errors,leading to legitimate end usersbeing immediately informed.

“Secure communications arevital for defence and strategicagencies world over and distri-bution of encryption keysfrom time to time is an impor-tant requirement in this con-text... Quantum based commu-nication offers a robust solu-tion to sharing the keyssecurely,” said an official state-ment. Defence MinisterRajnath Singh congratulatedthe DRDO for successfuldemonstration of QKD-basedcommunication between itstwo labs in Hyderabad, saidthe statement.

Chennai, Dec. 9: PopularTamil television actressChitra was found dead at ahotel room here early onWednesday and she is suspect-ed to have died by suicide,police said.

The 29-year old actress, wellknown among television audi-ence in Tamil Nadu was seenhanging from a fan at the hotelroom — using her saree like arope — in suburbanNazarethpet when theyreached the spot, police said.

When examined, she wasalready dead, an official saidadding her fiance, who waswith her before her death wasbeing questioned.

After a shoot at a nearbylocation, K. Chitra arrived atthe hotel on the Bengalurubypass and had told the manthat she would be back after abath and requested him towait outside, police said quot-ing him. “He says he knockedon the door since she did notcome out for long. He says, hethen informed the hotel per-sonnel and police wasinformed at 3.30 am. He isbeing questioned. A probe ison,” the official said.

The 32-year old man wasrecently engaged to her and hewas staying with her in thehotel room. Chitra becamemore popular among lovers ofsoap opera after she donnedthe role of ‘Mullai,’ in theongoing television serial‘Pandian Stores.’

The body has been sent toKilpauk Government MedicalCollege Hospital for autopsy.

Save India’s annadatas,Opposition urges Prez

Rajasthan PR poll resultsmandate on farm bills: BJP

Nadda attacks TMC ashe begins poll campaignRAJIB CHOWDHURI | DCKOLKATA, DEC. 9

BJP president J.P. Naddaon Wednesday attackedthe ruling TrinamulCongress in West Bengalas a family-run party afterembarking on a two-dayvisit to the state to set“dynasty politics” on theagenda in next year’sAssembly elections.

He also led a rally of AarNoy Onnyay (no moreinjustice) campaign, adoor-to-door outreach ini-tiative of the BJP, onGirish Mukherjee Road inBhowanipore, the hometurf and Assembly con-stituency of ChiefMinister MamataBanerjee, to make the saf-fron party’s presence feltthere.

On Thursday, the BJPchief is likely to visitDiamond Harbour, thebase and Lok Sabha con-stituency of the CM’snephew, AbhishekBanerjee, in South 24Parganas.

Inaugurating the stateBJP election office inHastings and nine districtparty offices, Nadda, in anoblique reference toBanerjee’s residence atHarish Chatterjee Streetin Kalighat, which is alsothe heart of the TMC,said, “Karyalay is the cen-tre of culture and tradi-tion. Interestingly, BJP isrun from the Karyalay.But for other parties,home is their Karyalayfrom where they are run.”

He said, “To other par-ties, party means one par-ticular parivar (family)and is restricted onlywithin the parivar, whichis spread like a net fromtop to bottom. And theTMC is no exception to it.It has also become a partyof parivar. But the BJP isa party which itself is aparivar. We are part of abig parivar. This is evi-dent for us becauseKaryalay is not run fromany leader’s home.”

Contrasting theTrinamul Congress supre-mo with Asahishnuta,Nadda argued: “OnDecember 7, 1935, JanSangh founder SyamaPrasad Mookerjee said in

front of Scottish ChurchCollege — Cultivate thehabit of discipline and tol-eration. Surrender not tothe convictions you holddear but learn to appreci-ate the points of view of

your opponents. This isvery much relevant toBengal even today. If welook at Mamataji, intoler-ance thy name is Mamata.Intolerance is growing sofast here!”

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, DEC. 9

Hailing the Rajasthanlocal body polls results as“phenomenal,” the BJP onThursday claimed that theresults are farmers’ man-date for Modi govern-ment’s farm reforms andalso people’s support forthe party across the coun-try.

In Congress ruledRajasthan, the BJP won353 of 636 zila parishads,21 zila panchayatas and1,990 of 4,371 panchayatsamitis, primarily inrural areas.

The party also cited itsperformance in therecently held local bodiespolls in Hyderabad,Arunachal Pradesh andthe Bihar Assembly pollsto assert that the partyand the Narendra Modiled central governmenthas support in everyregion of the country.

BJP president J.P. Nadda

said the saffron party’swin in Rajasthan symbol-ises the trust the poor,farmers and labourershave in Modi’s leadership,while senior party leaderand Union ministerPrakash Javadekarstressed that people, espe-cially farmers, have givenit a “decisive” victory.

He said all these pollswere held afterParliament enacted threefarm sector reform laws,which have drawn protestfrom a section of farmers,especially from Punjab.

Noting that the polls inRajasthan were held pri-marily in rural areas,Javadekar said by optingfor the BJP, votersreversed the trend of thestate’s ruling party win-

ning most seats in thelocal polls in Rajasthan.

“This is a huge victory...This is farmers’ mandatefor farm reforms,” saidthe Union minister.

When asked aboutCongress leader RahulGandhi’s dig at the Uniongovernment alleging that“reform equals theft” forit, Javadekar took a jibesaying he does not want torespond to a “non-per-forming politician.”

He said the Central gov-ernment is holding talkswith the protestingfarmer union leaders withan open mind andexpressed confidence thata resolution will bereached.

The minister pointed outthat these wins have comefor the BJP amid theCovid-19 pandemic, eco-nomic troubles caused byit and “misinformation”campaign by the opposi-tion against the BJP overthe farm reforms.

Anti-democratic farm laws threaten food security, says OppnDC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, DEC. 9

Opposition parties, led bythe Congress and NCP,met President Ram NathKovind on Wednesday andsought repeal of the threefarm laws against whichthousands of farmershave been protesting onvarious borders of thenational capital.

The five-member delega-tion included formerCongress president RahulGandhi, NCP chiefSharad Pawar, CPI(M)general secretary SitaramYechury, CPI’s D. Raja andDMK leader T.K.S.Elangovan.

The Opposition’s memo-randum to the Presidentsaid, “We urge upon you,as the custodian of theIndian Constitution, to pe-rsuade your governmentnot to be obdurate andaccept the demands raisedby India’s annadatas.”

“The new agri-laws,passed in Parliament in ananti-democratic mannerpreventing a structureddiscussion and voting,threaten India’s food secu-rity, destroy Indian agri-culture and our farmers,lay the basis for the abol-ishment of the MinimumSupport Price (MSP) andmortgage Indian agricul-ture and our markets tothe caprices of multina-tional agri-business cor-porates and domestic cor-porates,” it said.

“We met the Presidentand informed him of ourview regarding the threefarm laws. We have askedfor their repeal. We infor-med the President that itis critical that they are ta-ken back,” Gandhi told themedia after the meeting.

He said the way the farmlaws were passed in Par-liament, “we feel it was aninsult to farmers and thatis why they are protestingin the cold weather again-st them”. He claimed thatusing the new laws, thegovernment wants tohand over the farming sec-tor to the “friends of thePrime Minister,” but thefarmers are fearless andwill not back off, and willcontinue with their peace-ful agitation.

Police keep vigil as Karnataka farmers participate in a protest rally in Bengaluru on Wednesday to press for repealof the Centres agri-laws. — PTI

Elders determinedto keep up the fight

Mehbooba Muftidetained againYUSUF JAMEEL | DCSRINAGAR, DEC. 9

Former chief ministerand People’s DemocraticParty (PDP) leaderMehbooba Mufti onWednesday said that shehas again been placedunder house arrest, thethird time in less than afortnight. Taking a jibe atNiti Aayog CEO AmitabhKant, she said “too muchdemocracy indeed.”

Kant had on Tuesdaysaid, “Tough reforms arevery difficult in the Indi-an context. We are toomuch of a democracy. Forthe first time, the govern-ment has had the courageand determination tocarry out hard-headedreforms across sectors.”

The PDP chief tweeted,

“Illegally detained todayfor the third time in lessthan a fortnight. Too mu-ch democracy indeed.” S-he also said, “If my move-ments are curbed due to‘security concerns’ thenwhy are BJP ministersallowed to campaign free-ly in Kashmir while I’vebeen asked to wait untilthe culmination of DDCelections?” On Tuesday,she was barred from visit-ing the families, mainlynomad Gujjars, evicted fr-om their dwellings in thegovernment’s ongoing an-ti-encroachment drive inJ&K’s central district ofBudgam. She uploaded avideo on Twitter in whichshe stands by the lockedentrance of her residencehere and takes a jab at theJ&K administration.

BUSY FIGHTINGFOR OUR RIGHTS,SAY FARMERSNew Delhi, Dec. 9:Caught between theCovid-19 pandemic andthe agitation for theirrights, farmers protestingagainst the Centre’s newfarm laws said the fear ofcontracting the disease is“not enough” to detractthem from their fight.

Thousands of farmerscamping at the Tikri bor-ders are largely seen without the basic preven-tive measure againstCovid-19 — protectivemasks.

“The government hasalready tied a noosearound our necks withthese laws… we cannotafford to be afraid ofCoronavirus,” GagandeepSingh, a farmer fromBhatinda in Punjab, said.

He has been protestingat the Delhi-Haryana bor-der for the last 10 days.Demonstrating for 12straight days, the farmershave been demanding thatthe three laws be revoked.Sporting a long whitebeard, Gurvasan Singhsaid he was not afraid ofthe disease that hasalready killed over 1.4 lakh people in thecountry.

“We are losing ourrights. We do not havetime to worry aboutCoronavirus,” he said.According to SachinKumar from Delhi’sUttam Nagar, the govern-ment’s refusal to hear thefarmers’ demands provedthat it was creating thefear of the virus to shut-down the protest.

Kumar, whose familyhas land in Uttar Pradeshmocked, “It seems that thevirus will infect us exclu-sively. What is shown oncamera and the reality onground is different.”

Meanwhile, traffic wasdisrupted at border pointswith farmers agitating onthe Singhu, Tikri andGhazipur borders ofDelhi.

— PTI

New Delhi, Dec. 9:“Come home only after wewin this fight”. His son’swords to him as as he lefthis village in Punjab forDelhi ring in GurdevSingh’s ears and give the71-year-old the strength tocarry on with the protestagainst the new farm laws— so what if he is stillrecovering from a kneereplacement surgery.

The doughty sardar fromNurpur village inPunjab’s Jalandhar dis-trict is just one of the sev-eral elderly people camp-ing at the Singur borderfor the last 13 days, deter-mined to keep up the fightfor a repeal of the Centre’sthree new farm laws.

It is getting colder by theday and they are hundredsof miles from home butthe band of old men,among the many thou-sands of protesting farm-ers, mostly from Punjaband Haryana, are not giv-ing up any time soon.

“As far as I can remem-ber, all generations in myfamily have depended onagriculture for their liveli-hood. My sons, too, arefarmers. I came to fightfor the honour of our fore-fathers and the rights ofmy children,” GurdevSingh said, pumping hisfists in the air.

He had both his kneesreplaced just four monthsago and can’t walk with-out support but isn’t com-plaining. “This trouble isnothing compared to theissue we are protestingabout.

My elder son told me,‘Come home only after wewin this fight’, and that iswhat I plan to do,” thefarmer said as two menhelp him climb down froma trolley.

Gurdev Singh’s twofriends from Nurpur,Sajjan Singh and PritamSingh, both in their late60s, echo his bravura spir-it. — PTI

Kejriwal still underhouse arrest: AAPNew Delhi, Dec. 9: TheAAP on Wednesdayalleged that Delhi ChiefMinister ArvindKejriwal’s movement isstill “restricted” and themain gate of his residenceremains closed by theDelhi Police, which deniedthe charge.

The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), which had onTuesday alleged that theDelhi Police put Kejriwalunder house arrest afterhe met farmers protestingagainst the Centre’s agri-culture reform laws at thecity’s Singhu border,again claimed that it wasbeing done at the behest ofUnion minister AmitShah.

The Delhi Police hadrejected AAP’s chargeagainst it as “totally base-less”. Addressing a pressconference on Wednesday,AAP spokespersonRaghav Chadha said thereis an atmosphere of“undeclared emergency”around the ChiefMinister’s residence.

“I am telling you withfull responsibility that themovement of ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwalis still restricted at thebehest of the (Union)home minister. The maingate of the ChiefMinister’s residence isstill closed,” Chadhaalleged.

— PTI

Didi says refugeeswill not need CAARAJIB CHOWDHURI | DCKOLKATA, DEC. 9

Desperate to get back thevotebank of the Matuas, acommunity of Hindumigrants in West Bengal,from the BJP, ChiefMinister MamataBanerjee on Wednesdayasserted that the refugeeswould not need theCitizenship AmendmentAct (CAA) to stay as legalcitizens here.

Accusing the BJP ofcheating the refugees inthe name of the CAA inthe poll-bound state, theTrinamul Congress supre-mo once again ruled out ofallowing the NationalRegister of Citizens(NRC) and NationalPopulation Register(NPR) also here.

Her announcementcame in wake of the BJPnational general secre-tary KailashVijayvargiya’s announce-ment that the CAA imple-mentation for themigrants would getunderway from eitherJanuary or February.

Banerjee told a TMCrally at the domain of theMatuas in Bongaon of

North 24 Parganas,“There are lot of refugeeswho live here after com-ing from Bangladesh. It isyour home like ours.There is no need to get afresh certificate becauseall of you are citizens. Youare being cheated in thename of the CAA. If itgets underway, yourgrandparents’ age proofwill be sought. Can youarrange it now?”

She informed that all the94 refugee colonies, underthe state government, we-re legalised already to giv-e its residents citizenship“in exchange of nothing.”

“There were 250 moresuch colonies which exist-ed privately on centralgovernment premises. Wehave legalised them alsoto give citizenship to itsresidents. Remember, thestate government, not thecentral government, holdsthe main power. Work ofthe two governments isdifferent. The state gov-ernment decides who willlive in the state. So thereis no point in lying in thename of CAA. We will notallow the NRC and NPR tohappen,” Banerjeeclaimed.

BJP national president J.P. Nadda flashes the victorysign as the party begins campaigning for West BengalAssembly elections. — PTI

RABINDRA NATHCHOUDHURY | DCBHOPAL, DEC. 9

Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh onWednesday gave his nodfor relocation of tigress‘Sundari’, translocated toSatkosia tiger reserve inOdisha in a re-introduc-tion programme in 2018,in Kanha National Park inMP.

Chouhan’s decision torestore Sundari to heroriginal home in Kanhatiger reserve has endedafter almost an yearlongimpasse over relocation ofthe wild animal with MPforest department hither-to unwilling to take backher contending that shewas not fit to be releasedin the wild.

In a letter to his Odisha

counterpart NaveenPatnaik, Chouhan saidMP would take backSundari. He, however,indicated that it wouldtake some time for reloca-tion of Sundari in Kanhatiger reserve.

“It has been decided torelocate Sundari in theGhorela re-wilding centrein Kanha tiger reserve tomake her fit to be releasedin the wild. But, anorphan cub is currentlybeing trained in the centreto restore its wild charac-ter. Sundari could be relo-cated to the centre onlyafter the tiger cub wasreleased in the wild”, theletter written in Hindisaid.

Chouhan said an expertteam from MP which visit-ed Sundari in her enclo-sure in Satkosia tiger

reserve has found that thewild animal was not fit tolive in the wild since shehas become habituated tohuman presence due toher prolonged captivity inthe enclosure.

“It is learnt from mediareports that rehabilitationof Sundari in the enclo-sure in Satkosia tigerreserve was not done asper provisions of wildlifeAct, leading her to lose hernatural wild nature”, theletter said.

A male tiger, Mahavir,and a female big catSundari, were translocat-ed within a gap of a coupleof months to Satkosiatiger reserve in 2018 fromMadhya Pradesh in a rein-troduction programme.

This was the first experi-mental interstate translo-cation of tigers in the

country.However, Mahavir was

allegedly killed by locals afew months after histranslocation.

Later, Sundari killed 2humans in the tigerreserve, forcing theOdisha forest departmentto shift her to a smallenclosure in the reserveforest.

Later, National TigerConservation Authority(NTCA) and Odisha gov-ernment requested the MPgovernment to take backSundari.

A wildlife activist movedMadhya Pradesh highcourt seeking a directiveto the MP government totake back Sundari.

The court last monthordered the MP govern-ment to relocate Sundariin Kanha.

‘Sundari’ to relocate to MPTigress was translocated to Satkosia reserve in 2018 BACK | HOME

● ● THE BJP won 353 of636 zila parishads, 21 zilapanchayatas and 1,990 of4,371 panchayat samitis,primarily in rural areas.

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“The West is attemptingto undermine our closepartnership and privi-leged relations withIndia. This is the goal ofthe US’ very tough pressure on New Delhi,”Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrovsaid.

Observers point outthat the remarks high-light Russia’s uneasewith India’s growingproximity and strongstrategic ties with theUnited States, withwhom Russia has had asharply deterioratingrelationship.

It also highlightsIndia’s challenge in con-tinuing to maintainexcellent ties with bothRussia and the US.

RUSSIA UNHAPPYWITH CLOSEINDO-US TIES

NATION pg 8DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

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CJI’S MOTHERDUPED OF `2.5CR,

ACCUSED HELD

EX-BENGAL CMBUDDHADEB

VERY CRITICALKolkata, Dec. 9: The healthcondition of former WestBengal chief ministerBuddhadeb Bhattacharya,who was admitted to a hospitalin south Kolkata, deterioratedto “very critical” onWednesday evening, officialssaid. Bhattacharya, 76, was puton mechanical ventilator sup-port at the critical care unit ofthe private hospital where hewas taken to in the afternoonas his breathing- related prob-lems aggravated, they said.

“Mr Bhattacharya’s RT-PCRtest showed he was Covid neg-ative and that is positive news.The CT scan of his brainshowed old lacunar infarcts.He is undergoing treatment atthe CCU,” a senior official ofthe hospital said.

Repeated tests showed anaccumulation of carbon diox-ide and a lower pH level, fol-lowing which doctors decidedto electively ventilate himafter proper consent of familymembers, he said.

“His condition is very criti-cal,” the official added.Bhattacharya’s pulse andblood pressure are stable andthe veteran politician is on IVantibiotics, IV steroids andother supportive medications,said a statement released bythe hospital. His oxygen satu-ration deteriorated to 70 percent in the morning and hebecame unconscious, follow-ing which he was rushed to thehospital.

The veteran CPI(M) leaderwas initially put on non- inva-sive ventilation (BIPAP) at thehospital after which his oxy-gen saturation improved to 95per cent.

However, his condition dete-riorated and he was put onmechanical ventilation.

I-T RAIDSCHETTINAD GROUP;`7CR RECOVERED

New Delhi, Dec. 9: TheIncome-Tax Department onWednesday conducted raids atmultiple locations of Chennai-based Chettinad group in con-nection with a tax evasionprobe, officials said.

The department on its offi-cial Twitter handle said theaction was being undertakenagainst a “prominent businessgroup of Chennai having var-ied business activities.”

“About 60 premises are beingcovered in Tamil Nadu,Karnataka, Andhra Pradeshand Maharashtra,” an officialsaid as he identified it as theChettinad group.

They said over `7 crore“unaccounted”cash has beenrecovered from “a key per-son”till now and the raidswere still on.

The about 100-year-oldChettinad group has interestsin several businesses like con-struction, cement, power andothers.

Nagpur, Dec. 9: Chief Justiceof India (CJI) Sharad ArvindBobde’s mother was allegedlyduped to the tune of `2.5 croreby the caretaker of a familyproperty here, the police saidon Wednesday.

The accused, Tapas Ghosh(49), was arrested on Tuesdaynight. A Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) is looking into thematter under the supervisionof DCP Vinita Sahu, saidNagpur commissioner ofpolice (CP) Amitesh Kumar.

Mukta Bobde, CJI Bobde’smother, is the owner of SeadonLawn near Akashwani Squarewhich is rented out for mar-riages and other functions, hesaid. The Bobde family hadappointed Ghosh as caretakerof the property in 2007.

He was paid salary and also acommission on bookings.Taking advantage of MuktaBobde’s advanced age and frailhealth, Ghosh and his wifeallegedly kept her in the darkabout transactions, and didnot deposit the entire rentamount which they collected,the CP said.

They also allegedly forgedreceipts. The fraud came tolight when several bookingswere canceled during lock-down for Coronavirus but thecustomers could not get refundof the booking amount fromGhosh, he said.

After Mukta Bobde lodged acomplaint of cheating inAugust, an SIT consisting ofEconomic Offences Wing offi-cials was formed. All the book-ings from 2017 onward werescrutinised which revealedthat Ghosh had duped theBobde family of `2.5 crore, theCP said. He had also not paidbills for solar system installa-tion and some fabricationwork, Kumar added.

SAURABH JOSHI | DCMUMBAI, DEC. 9

The Narcotics ControlBureau (NCB) arrest-ed a known bigtimedrug peddler fromMumbai and seized acontraband to the tuneof `2.5 crore from himin connection with theSushant Singh Rajputsuicide probe.

The NCB officialssaid that the accusedwas the supplier toone of the arrestedpeddlers, who laterpassed on the drugs toRajput’s girlfriendRhea Chakraborty’sbrother Showik forconsumption.

The seized contra-band is premium qual-ity cannabis with mar-ket name ‘MalanaCream’.

The arrestedaccused was identifiedas Jinendra Jain aliasRigel Mahakal aliasJeet who was arrestedfrom Andheri’sLokhandwala areafrom where the NCBofficials also seizedthe contraband.

The officials saidthat Jain was namedin the statement byarrested peddler Anuj

Keshwani, who wasarrested for supplyingCharas / Hashish.

The charas seized inthis case is’ MalanaCream’ which is themost desirable charasin the world.

The said charas isgrown only in MalanaRegion of HimachalPradesh. TheInternational marketprice of MalanaCream ranges from 40-50 lakhs per kg.

“Preliminary proberevealed that Jain wasinvolved in traffickingof Hashish in Mumbaiarea. Another accusedMohammad AzamJumman Shaikh wasalso apprehended and5 kg Charas was recov-ered from him alongwith small quantitiesof opium and ecstasyfrom his house inMillat Nagar,Oshiwara,” said anofficer.

The officials saidthat the seizure is apart of follow up ofRhea ChakrabortyCase and this is thebiggest haul of drugsseized in this case.Shaikh is the mainsupplier of Charaslinked to this case.

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, DEC. 9

The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved anemployment generationscheme Atmanirbhar BharatRozgar Yojana at an expendi-ture of `1,584 crores for thecurrent financial year and`22,810 crores for the entirescheme period i.e. 2020-2023.The Atmanirbhar BharatRozgar Yojana scheme,which aims to create moreformal jobs, to benefitaround 58.5 lakh employees,said Union minister SantoshKumar Gangwar while brief-ing media after Cabinetmeeting. The registration forthe scheme will be effectivefrom October 1, 2020, to June30, 2021, the labour ministersaid, adding that the min-istry will soon notify rulesfor the scheme.

Though the governmentclaims that there are around10 crore labourers formallyregistered with it, even asthere are more than 40 crorelabourers in the country, his

department has no data onthe number of people whohave lost jobs since Coronavirus-induced lockdown wasimposed on March 24 thisyear. Under the programme,the Centre will reimburse 24per cent, 12 per cent each foremployees and employers,for two years for all new for-mal jobs created in enter-prises having up to 1000employees between October1 and till June 30 next year,Gangwar said at the cabinetbriefing.

In an organisation where

employee strength is morethan 1,000 workers, the reim-bursement will be restrictedto 12 per cent of the employ-ees’ contribution, he said.

Union finance ministerNirmala Sitharaman had onNovember 12 announced`2.65 lakh crore worth eco-nomic stimulus package, ter-med as Atmanirbhar Bharat3.0, comprising 12 big meas-ures to revive the economymarred by Covid. These mea-sures included the Atman-irbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojanato generate employment.

Employment plangets Cabinet nod

DC CORRESPONDENTwith agency inputsNEW DELHI, DEC. 9

The Union cabinet onWednesday approved a pro-posal to launch a Wi-fiaccess network in the coun-try, wherein public data cen-tres would be opened tofacilitate the process. Nolicence fee would be levied,while registration would beneeded for the purpose,which will be done withinseven days.

Announcing the decision,Union IT minister RaviShankar Prasad told media-persons that the proposal isaimed at the growth of pub-lic Wi-fi networks in thecountry, especially in theinteriors of the country sothat even people at the grass-roots level can have internetaccess.

The programme will becalled PM-WANI and, underit, public data offices willestablish and maintain Wi-Fi access points anddeliver broadband service tosubscribers.

Further, official sourcessaid that the proliferation ofpublic Wi-Fi will not onlycreate employment but alsoenhance disposable incomesin the hands of small andmedium entrepreneurs andboost the GDP of the coun-try.

The proliferation ofBroadband Services throughpublic Wi-Fi is a steptowards digital India,Prasad said, adding that thiswill have consequential ben-efits thereon.

No License Fee for provid-ing broadband internet serv-ices using public Wi-Fihotspots will massivelyencourage its proliferationand penetration across the length and breadth ofthe country, he furtheradded.

“No licence, no registra-tion, and no fee would beapplicable for the PDOs,which could be small shopsor even Common ServiceCentres,” he said.

App provider will beresponsible for developingapplication to register usersand discover WANI compli-ant Wi-Fi hotspots in thenearby area and display thesame within the app foraccessing the internet serv-ice. A Central Registry willmaintain the details of appproviders, PDOAs, andPDOs.

Cabinet approves setting up of publicWi-Fi networks

Bengaluru, Dec. 9: Amidbedlam, the controversialanti-cow slaughter bill waspassed in the KarnatakaAssembly on Wednesday,with the Congress membersstaging a walkout inprotest.

The bill known as theKarnataka Prevention ofSlaughter and Preservationof Cattle Bill-2020 seeks atotal ban on the slaughter ofcows in the state and strin-gent punishment to thosewho indulge in smuggling,illegal transportation,atrocities on cows andslaughtering them, BJPsources said.

“Yes, the bill has beenpassed in the Assembly,”state law and parliamentaryaffairs minister J.C.Madhuswamy said. Besidescows and calves, the billalso intends to protect buf-faloes and their calves lessthan 12 years of age.

There is a provision to setup special courts for thespeedy trial of the accusedpeople.

It also makes provision forsetting up Goshala or cattle-sheds for the protection oflivestock.

Police have been givenpowers to conduct check-ing. The law also gives pro-tection to those who protectthese livestock. The bill waspassed without any discus-sion as there was din in theHouse.

The Congress later stageda walkout in protest.

— PTI

ANTI-COWSLAUGHTER BILLPASSED IN K’TAKA

NCB makes1st big arrestin SSR’s case

`23K-cr scheme aims to create jobs to benefit 58.5 L

● ● THE PROGRAMME will becalled PM-WANI and, underit, public data offices willestablish and maintain Wi-Fiaccess points and deliverbroadband service to sub-scribers.

Union ministers Santosh Gangwar, Ravi Shankar Prasad,and Prakash Javadekar during a press conference in NewDelhi on Wednesday. — PTI

WORLD pg 9DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

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INDIA’S WEAPONSPURCHASE FROM

US AT $3.4 BILLION Washington, Dec. 9: India’sweapons procurement fromthe United States jumped froma meagre $6.2 million to awhopping $3.4 billion in thefinal year of the DonaldTrump’s administration,according to official data.

As per the data released bythe Defense SecurityCooperation Agency (DSCA),the jump in the sale ofAmerican weapons to Indiacomes at a time when sale ofweapons from the US to othercountries has dipped to $50.8billion in 2020 from $55.7 bil-lion in 2019.

In 2019, the sale of USweapons to foreign countrieswas $55.7 billion. In 2017, itwas $41.9 billion, it said. Majorbuyers of American weaponsin 2020 were India ($3.4 billionup from $6.2 million in fiscalyear 2019), Morocco ($4.5 bil-lion up from $12.4 million),Poland ($4.7 billion up from$673 million), Singapore ($1.3billion up from $137 million),Taiwan ($11.8 billion up from$876 million), and the UnitedArab Emirates ($3.6 billion upfrom $1.1 billion), the datashowed.

Several countries reported adrop in purchase of weaponsfrom the US.

CHOPPER CRASHIN FRENCH ALPSKILLS 5, 1 HURT

Paris, Dec. 9: Five members ofa mountain rescue team werekilled and a sixth was serious-ly injured when their helicop-ter crashed in the French Alps,authorities said. The helicop-ter was carrying the team on atraining mission in the Savoieregion on Tuesday evening.The helicopter came down atan altitude of 1,800 meters(5,905 feet), the prefecture ofSavoie said in a statement. Thesurviving crew member wasable to give the alert.

He has been transported to ahospital in the city of Gren-oble, the prefecture said.Weather conditions were par-ticularly bad, local authoritiessaid. French President Emma-nuel Macron paid tribute in atweet overnight to rescuerswho “to save lives, are takingall the risks.”

GERMAN POLLS TO BE HELD ONSEPT. 26, 2021

Berlin, Dec. 9: Germany’snext parliamentary election,which will determine thecountry's new leader afterChancellor Angela Merkel’slong rule, will be held onSeptember 26, 2021.

President Frank-WalterSteinmeier's office saidWednesday that the head ofstate set the date in line with arecommendation from the gov-ernment. It will be post-WorldWar II Germany's 20th parlia-mentary election Germanyholds elections every fouryears.

The lower house of parlia-ment, or Bundestag, elects thechancellor. That may not hap-pen until well after the elec-tion, because the process ofputting together a governingcoalition can be lengthy. Afterthe 2017 election, it was nearlysix months before Merkel wassworn in for her fourth term— a record.

ETHIOPIA DENIESPROBES INTO

TIGRAY CONFLICTNairobi, Dec. 9: Ethiopia’sgovernment is rejecting callsfor independent investiga-tions into the deadly conflictin its Tigray region, saying it“doesn’t need a baby-sitter.”

The declaration comes amidinternational calls for moretransparency into the month-long fighting between Ethio-pian forces and those of thefugitive Tigray regional gov-ernment that is thought tohave killed thousands, includ-ing civilians.

At least one large-scale mas-sacre has been documented,and others are feared. Seniorgovernment official RedwanHussein told reporters onTuesday evening thatEthiopia will invite others forassistance only if it feels that“it failed to investigate.”

To assume the governmentcan’t carry out such probes“is belittling the govern-ment,” he said.

Frustration is growing asthe northern Tigray regionremains largely cut off fromthe outside world, with foodand medicines desperatelyneeded by the population of 6million — some 1 million ofthem now thought to be dis-placed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony to mark the arrival of a plane of the internationalcourier company DHL, carrying over 1,00,000 of doses of the first batch of Pfizer vaccines which landed at BenGurion Airport near Tel Aviv, on Wednesday. — AFP

Biden picks retired Armygeneral to lead PentagonWashington, Dec. 9: USPresident-elect Joe Bidenhas announced retiredArmy general Lloyd J.Austin as his nominationfor Defence Secretary. Ifconfirmed by the Senate,67-year-old Austin wouldbe the first African-American to lead thePentagon.

The nominee for the 28thSecretary of Defencecomes with a distin-guished record of militaryservice spanning fourdecades. “General Austinshares my profound beliefthat our nation is at itsstrongest when we leadnot only by the example ofour power, but by thepower of our example.

Throughout his lifetimeof dedicated service —and in the many hourswe’ve spent together in theWhite House SituationRoom and with our troopsoverseas — GeneralAustin has demonstratedexemplary leadership,character and command,”Biden said while makingthe announcement onTuesday.

“He is uniquely qualifiedto take on the challengesand crises we face in thecurrent moment, and Ilook forward to once againworking closely with himas a trusted partner tolead our military with dig-nity and resolve, revitaliseour alliances in the face ofglobal threats, and ensurethe safety and security ofthe American people,” theDemocratic leader said.An accomplished, respect-ed and trailblasing figurein the US military history,Austin retired from theArmy in 2016 after over 40years of service.

The first African-American to serve asCommander of US CentralCommand, Austin is atrusted and crisis-testedleader who has overseensome of the most complexand impactful operationsin the history of thearmed services — includ-ing serving as the chief

architect of the effort todefeat ISIS in Iraq andSyria, and working closelywith Biden to bring nearly1,50,000 American mili-tary personnel home fromIraq, the transition said.

US President-elect JoeBiden has also selectedOhio Rep. Marcia Fudgeas his housing and urbandevelopment secretary,according to three peoplefamiliar with the deci-sion.

Fudge was first electedto Congress in 2008 to rep-resent a district thatincludes Cleveland, and

had been considered aleading candidate for agri-culture secretary in theBiden administration.Her intended nominationwas confirmed onTuesday by three peoplefamiliar with the decisionwho spoke on condition ofanonymity to avoid pre-empting the president-elect’s announcement.

She enjoys the strongbacking of South CarolinaRep. Jim Clyburn, the No.3 House Democrat whogave Biden a key nod ofsupport in the primaries.

— PTI

London, Dec. 9: Britain'smedicines regulator onWednesday issued awarning for people with“significant” history ofallergic reactions to medi-cines, food or vaccines tonot have thePfizer/BioNTech jab, aday after the first set ofpatients were adminis-tered their first of twodoses of the vaccineagainst Covid-19.

The warning comesafter two National HealthService (NHS) workersexperienced “anaphylac-toid reaction” symptomsshortly after being inject-ed, but are now said to berecovering well. NHSEngland said all its trustsinvolved with the massvaccination programmehave been informed andfrom Wednesday, allpatients scheduled toreceive the vaccine willbe asked if they have ahistory of allergic reac-tions.

“As is common with newvaccines, the MHRA haveadvised on a precaution-ary basis that people witha significant history ofallergic reactions do notreceive this vaccinationafter two people with ahistory of significantallergic reactionsresponded adversely,”said Professor StephenPowis, medical directorfor the NHS in England.

An anaphylactoid reac-tion tends to involve askin rash, breathlessnessand sometimes a drop inblood pressure and boththe NHS workers whoexperienced this are saidto have a history of seri-ous allergies and carryadrenaline pens aroundwith them.

“We have been advisedby MHRA [Medicines andHealthcare productsRegulatory Agency] oftwo yellow card reportsthat may be associatedwith allergic reaction dueto administration of theCovid-19 BNT162b2 vac-cine,” Pfizer UK said in astatement. “As a precau-tionary measure, theMHRA has issued tempo-rary guidance to the NHSwhile it conducts an inves-tigation in order to fullyunderstand each case andits causes,” it said.

Dr June Raine, the headof the MHRA, told a jointselect committee hearingon Tuesday that “real-time vigilance” will con-tinue throughout the vac-cine rollout process.

— PTI

UK body issues allergywarning for Pfizer jab

Islamabad, Dec. 9: Thepolitical crisis in Paki-stan has deepened afteran 11-party Oppositionalliance announced thattheir lawmakers will resi-gn en masse by the end ofthis month from parlia-ment to paralyse the gov-ernment and force PrimeMinister Imran Khan tocall early snap polls.

The decision was takenafter the PakistanDemocratic Movement(PDM), an alliance of 11Opposition partiesformed in September thisyear to overthrow PrimeMinister Khan’s govern-ment, held a marathonmeeting in Islamabad.PDM chief MaulanaFazlur Rehmanannounced on Tuesdaynight that a consensuswas reached on resigningfrom parliament.

“All lawmakers will sub-mit their resignation let-ter to their party chiefs by31st December,” he said,flanked by PML-N leaderMaryam Nawaz and PPPchief Bilawal BhuttoZardari.

The exact timing ofstomping out of assem-blies would be decidedlater, said Rehman. Soonafter the election in 2018,he had urged the Opp-osition leaders not to takeoath to join parliamentdue to alleged rigging. Buthis idea was overruled byothers, chiefly by thePakistan Peoples Party(PPP) and the The Pak-istani Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). It is

believed that en masseresignation is the onlyway to bring the govern-ment on its knees andforce it to call early elec-tions.

The PPP government inthe Sindh province wasconsidered as a hurdle asit was not sure if that itwould sacrifice its gov-ernment to help the Opp-osition alliance.

The leaders also agreedto go ahead with a rally inLahore on December 13 asa show of power to thegovernment. It will be thesixth rally after similar

gatherings held inGujranwala, Karachi,Quetta, Peshawar andMultan.

The Opposition partiessucceeded in attracting ahuge number of peopledespite hurdles createdby the government. PrimeMinister Imran Khanrejected the demand tostep down or call earlyelections and consistentlyadvocated that Opp-osition was protesting toput pressure to stopprobes in corruptioncases against their leaders. — PTI

Pak lawmakers to resign toparalyse govt: PDM chief

Washington, Dec. 9 (AP)The Supreme Court hasrejected Republicans’ last-gasp bid to reversePennsylvania’s certifica-tion of President-elect JoeBiden’s victory in theelectoral battleground.

The court without com-ment on Tuesday refusedto call into question thethe certification processin Pennsylvania.

Governor Tom Wolfalready has certifiedBiden’s victory and thestate’s 20 electors are tomeet on December 14 tocast their votes for Biden.

Biden won 306 electoralvotes, so even if Pennsyl-vania’'s results had beenin doubt, he still wouldhave more than the 270electoral votes needed tobecome president. — AP

U.S. TOP COURT REJECTS GoP BID TOHALT BIDEN’S PENNSYLVANIA WIN

Biden promises 100 mnvaccine shots in 100 daysWashington, Dec. 9: USPresident-elect Joe Bidenhas said that in the first100 days of his adminis-tration, he would mandateeveryone to wear a mask,ensure 100 million Covid-19 vaccinations and reo-pen the majority of scho-ols as he assured Amer-icans that his “crisis-test-ed” team of experts willdeliver better healthcareand revive the economy.

The US is in the midst ofa deadly pandemic thathas infected almost 15 mil-lion Americans and killed2,86,000. Globally, thereare 68.2 million Covid-19cases and the pandemic

has claimed more than 1.5million lives.

Announcing his nationalhealth team, Biden askedthe Trump administrationto act now to purchase thedoses it has negotiatedwith Pfizer and Modernaand to work swiftly toscale manufacturing forthe US population and theworld.

“This can be fixed. If itdoes, my team will be ableto get at least 100 millionvaccinations done in myfirst 100 days. Third, itshould be a national prior-ity to get our kids backinto school and keep themin school,” he said. — PTI

PAKISTAN TO BUY RAJ KAPOOR’SANCESTRAL HOUSES IN PESHAWARPeshawar, Dec. 9: Pa-kistan’s Khyber Pakhtu-nkhwa government hasdetermined the price ofthe ancestral houses oflegendary Bollywoodactors Dilip Kumar andRaj Kapoor in the heart ofthis city at `80,56,000 and`1,50,00,000 respectively.

The provincial govern-ment in September decid-ed to purchase theirancestral houses to con-serve the historic build-ings which are in dilapi-dated condition and fac-ing demolition threat.

The two buildings, locat-ed in the heart of thisnorthern Pakistani city,have been declared asnational heritage. DeputyCommissioner ofPeshawar Muhammad Ali

Asghar, following a reportof the Communicationand Works Department,fixed the price of DilipKumar’s four Marla housefor `80,56,000 while that ofRaj Kapoor’s six Marlahouse for `1,50,00,000.Marla, a traditional unitof area used in India,Pakistan and Bangladesh,is considered as equal to272.25 square feet or25.2929 square metres.

The archaeology depart-ment has sent a formalrequest to the provincialgovernment for releasingover `2 crore for purchas-ing both the historicbuildings, where the twogreats of the Indian cine-ma were born and raisedin their early days beforethe Partition. — PTI

Trump: Hopeful ofcontinuing as PrezWashington, Dec. 9:Days before the officialcertification of theNovember 3 US presiden-tial elections in favour ofhis Democratic opponentJoe Biden, PresidentDonald Trump claimedthat he would continue tohold the position as he haswon the elections.

Trump has been makingunsubstantiated claimsabout widespread voterfraud and electoral mal-practice in the presiden-tial polls. State electionofficials and the media

have denied any suchfraud.

Election officials havedeclared Biden as thePresident-elect as hereceived more than therequired 270 of the 538electoral college votes.The elections are official-ly scheduled to be certi-fied next week. However,Trump is continuing hislegal efforts to upendBiden’s victory. He hasallowed the official startof Biden’s transition topower but has not yet con-ceded defeat. — PTI

MERKEL BACKSTOUGHER VIRUSRESTRICTIONSBerlin, Dec. 9: GermanChancellor Angela Merkeladvocated tougher restric-tions on public life andpleaded with her compa-triots to cut down onsocializing as the countryreported its highest sin-gle-day death toll of theCoronavirus pandemic onWednesday.

Germany is graduallymoving toward a tighterlockdown, at least for alimited period afterChristmas, as new viruscases remain stubbornlyhigh — and are evenbeginning to creep higher— despite a partial shut-down that started onNovember 2. — AP

U.S. SANCTIONSHINDERING ACCESSTO VACCINE: IRANTehran, Dec. 9: Iran’sPresident Hassan Rouhanisaid on Wednesday that USsanctions are making it dif-ficult for Iran to purchasemedicine and health sup-plies from abroad, includ-ing Covid-19 vaccines need-ed to contain the worst out-break in the Middle East.

President DonaldTrump’s administrationhas imposed crippling sanc-tions on Iran’s banking sec-tor and its vital oil and gasindustry since unilaterallywithdrawing the US fromIran’s nuclear deal withworld powers in 2018. Whilethe United States insiststhat medicines and human-itarian goods are exemptfrom sanctions, restric-tions on trade have mademany banks and companiesacross the world hesitant todo business with Iran, fear-ing punitive measures fromWashington.

The country is also cut offfrom the internationalbanking system, making itdifficult to transfer pay-ments. — AP

Caution was given after 2 NHS workers suffered allergic reactions

Cape Canaveral (US),Dec. 9: The first high-altitude test flight ofSpaceX’s futuristicStarship was aborted atthe last second in Texason Tuesday.

SpaceX came close tolaunching a prototype ofthe rocketship that com-pany chief Elon Musk isdesigning to carry peopleto Mars.

The goal was to shootStarship to an altitude of

eight miles (12.5 kilome-tres) — the highest yet —and then bring it back toa vertical landing. But anautomatic engine abortoccurred with just 1.3 sec-onds remaining in thecountdown.

SpaceX announced onits web broadcast it wasdone for the day, andthere was no word onwhen it might try again.SpaceX already has con-ducted five Starship test

flights, but these earlier,simpler models have goneno higher than 490 feet(150 metres.) The stain-

less steel version on thelaunch pad on Tuesdaywas the first to feature anose cone, body flaps and

three Raptor engines. SpaceX has taken over

Boca Chica in the farsoutheastern corner ofTexas, near the Mexicanborder, to build and testits Starships. The compa-ny intends to useStarships — the upperstage atop Super Heavyboosters — to deliver ma-ssive satellites into orbitaround Earth, and sendpeople and cargo to themoon and Mars. — AP

SpaceX aborts test Starship flight in last secondAutomatic engine abort occurred with just 1.3 secs remaining in countdown, no word on next flightMISSION | MARS

Washington, Dec. 9: USPresident Donald Trumphas signed an executiveorder that prioritisesAmericans’ access toCovid-19 vaccines beforethe US potentially beginshelping other nations.

If necessary, Trumpsaid, he is ready to invokethe Defence ProductionAct to ensure that Covid-19 vaccines first get to theAmericans.

The Defence ProductionAct allows a president toforce private manufactur-ers to ramp up productionand give the federal gov-ernment priority on anyorders it places.American companies, hesaid, were the first to pro-duce a verifiably safe andeffective vaccine.

“Together, we will defeatthe virus, and we willsoon end the pandemic,and we will save millionsand millions of lives, bothin our country and allover the world. And we’vealready started,” Trumpsaid during signing theexecutive order onTuesday at a White Houseevent celebrating‘Operation Warp Speed’,his administration’seffort to produce and dis-tribute safe and effectivevaccines for Covid-19.

Trump told reporters

that his administrationprovided a total of $14 bil-lion to accelerate Corona-virus vaccine develop-ment and to manufactureall of the top candidateslong in advance.

As a result of this“unprecedented invest-ment”, both Pfizer andModerna have announcedthat their vaccines areapproximately 95 per centeffective, he said.

Pfizer has developed itsvaccine outside of ‘Oper-ation Warp Speed’, but iscollaborating with the USgovernment on manufac-turing and distribution.The UK on Tuesday beganits vaccinations with thefirst set of people injectedwith their first of twodoses of thePfizer/BioNTech jab.

— PTI

Don orders vaccinepriority for America

● ● THE GOAL was toshoot Starship to analtitude of eight miles(12.5 kilometres) — thehighest yet — and thenbring it back to a verti-cal landing. But an auto-matic engine abort

occurred with just 1.3seconds remaining inthe countdown.

●● THE STAINLESS steelversion on the launchpad on Tuesday wasthe first to feature anose cone.

● ● THE DEFENCEProduction Act allows apresident to force pri-vate manufacturers toramp up production andgive the federal govern-ment priority on anyorders it places.American companies, hesaid, were the first toproduce a verifiably safeand effective vaccine.

ThisimageshowsSpaceXfull-sizeStarshipSN8 rock-et proto-typebefore itslaunch.

— AFP

Paris, Dec. 9: A draftlaw aimed at armingFrance against Islamistradicalism was unveiledon Wednesday, a measurepromoted by PresidentEmmanuel Macron torout out what he calls“separatists” undermin-ing the nation.

Parliament is expectedto open what is likely tobe a lively debate on thedraft law in the monthsahead. The measure, longin the making andrefined until days beforeits presentation, hasgone through variousname changes and is nowknown by the delicatetitle “SupportingRepublican Principles.”

Prime Minister JeanCastex said those whoseproject is to “divide andspread hate and vio-lence” are at the center of“separatism.” Separ-atism is especially dan-gerous because it “is themanifestation of a con-scious, theorised, politi-cal-religious project withan ambition to make reli-gious norms predomi-nate over the law,” hesaid at a news confer-ence.

In an interview withthe newspaper Le Mondehe said the nature of alaw is long-term and itwould apply to any politi-cal ideology that threat-ens French values, “evenif today it is radicalIslamism that we try byall means to fight.”

Castex and others insist

that neither Islam as areligion nor regularMuslims are targeted bythe draft law. Neither isnamed in the text madeup of about 50 articlesaimed at enabling betteroversight of mosques,associations, public serv-ices and schools.

The aim is to reduce thespace where radicals canoperate and ensure thatFrench values, includingsecularism, are guaran-teed. Among notablemeasures is makingschool obligatory fromage 3 with the ability toopt out in favour of homeschooling for specialcases only.

The measure is aimedat ending so-called clan-destine schools run byfundamentalists withtheir own agenda.Another article encour-ages mosques to registeras places of worship, soas to better identifythem. Many of thenation’s more than 2,600mosques currently oper-ate under rules for asso-ciations. — AP

France unveilsdraft law to fightIslamist radicalism

WORLD pg 10DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

SHORT TAKES

DUTCH CALLS FORCRIMINAL PROBEINTO EX-ING CEO

The Hague (Netherlands),Dec. 9: A Dutch court onWednesday ordered prosecu-tors to open a criminal investi-gation into the former CEO ofING bank, Ralph Hamers, forhis role in a money launderingscandal that led to a huge set-tlement in 2018.

ING paid 775 million euros tosettle the case, with the coun-try’s financial prosecution ser-vice saying that the bank failedfor years to adequately imple-ment a law aimed at preventingmoney laundering and thefinancing of terrorism by notcarrying out adequate back-ground checks on clients andnot sufficiently investigatingsuspicious transactions. Ham-ers has since left ING and isCEO of Zurich-based bank UBS.

He conceded at the time ofthe 2018 settlement that thebank had failed to do enough toprevent money laundering.The Hague Appeals Courtupheld the settlement in a rul-ing Wednesday and called onprosecutors to open a caseagainst Hamers. “The facts areserious, no settlement has beenreached with the director him-self, nor has he taken publicresponsibility for his actions,”the court said in a statement.

The court considers it impor-tant that in a public criminalcase the standard is confirmedthat bank directors do not gounpunished if they have exer-cised effective leadership overserious prohibited behavior.”

HEAVY RAINSCAUSE FLOODS

IN SLOVENIALjubljana (Slovenia), Dec. 9:Heavy rains have batteredparts of Slovenia and Croatiaclose to the Adriatic Sea coast,causing floods and landslides,blocking roads and disruptingtraffic.

Persistent rain in coastalSlovenia on Wednesday madethe Dragonja river overflow itsbanks along the border withCroatia, blocking a key road inthe area and forcing closure ofa border crossing.

A landslide brought downtrees in the area of the porttown of Koper and floodedregional roads, while risingAdriatic Sea waters submergedparts of nearby Piran.Authorities said more than2,000 households have been leftwithout power in the north-west, including the coastaltown of Izola and remotemountain zones where wetsnow and falling branches cutcables, disrupting power distri-bution.

NZ MARKS ‘DEVASTATING’

VOLCANO MISHAPWellington, Dec. 9: New Ze-aland Prime Minister JacindaArdern paid emotional tributeto victims of the White Islandvolcano eruption Wednesdayon the first anniversary of thedisaster that claimed 22 lives.

Almost 50 people, mostlyAustralian tourists, were onthe island, also known asWhakaari, in December lastyear when a column of burn-ing ash and steam blasted froma volcanic vent.

The eruption killed 22 and leftdozens more with horrificinjuries, prompting a massivemedical operation that saw vic-tims treated in burns unitsacross New Zealand and Aus-tralia. Ardern said the disasterwas “devastating” for all NewZealanders, as well as familiesof victims in Australia,Britain, Germany, the UnitedStates, China and Malaysia.

UN RAISES $370MILLION FOR 2021EMERGENCY FUND

United Nations, Dec. 9: TheUnited Nations announcedTuesday it has raised morethan $370 million for its emer-gency fund to help respond tocrises in 2021.

More than 50 donors pledgedmoney to the UN CentralEmergency Response Fund(CERF), managed by the under-secretary-general for humani-tarian affairs, Mark Lowcock,according to a statement. Thedonors were not identified.

“This fund is one of thefastest ways to help peopletrapped both in sudden-onsetand deteriorating crises, aswell as underfunded ones thatare not at the top of the world'sradar,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres dur-ing a videoconference ofdonors held at the body’s head-quarters. Created in 2005, thefund “has helped millions ofpeople get food, health care,shelter and protection thisyear,” Lowcock said.

UK PM Boris jets to Brusselsin bid to save Brexit accordBritain would ‘prosper mightily’ with or without agreement, says JohnsonBrussels, Dec. 9 : PrimeMinister Boris Johnsonwas headed for Brussels onWednesday, with hopes fora post-Brexit trade dealhanging on crisis talkswith EU chief Ursula vonder Leyen.

Johnson’s dash back tothe city where he made hisname as an EU-bashingnewspaper reporter marksan almost final chance of abreakthrough before Brit-ain leaves the EU singlemarket. “A good deal is stillthere to be done,” Johnsontold the UK parliamentbefore setting off forBrussels, while insistingBritain would “prospermightily” with or withoutagreement.

Talks are blocked overthe issue of fair competi-tion, with Britain refusingto accept a mechanism thatwould allow the EU torespond swiftly if UK andEU business rules divergeover time and putEuropean firms at a disad-vantage.

“Our friends in the EUare currently insisting thatif they pass a new law inthe future, with which wein this country do not com-ply, they want the automat-ic right... to punish us andto retaliate,” Johnson said.

EU negotiator MichelBarnier and his UK coun-terpart David Frost havenarrowed the gaps overeight months but Londoninsists it will reclaim fullsovereignty at the end ofthe year after half-a-centu-ry of close economic inte-gration.

If Britain leaves the EUsingle market in threeweeks without a follow-onFree Trade Agreement(FTA) the damage causedby delays to travellers andfreight at its borders withthe EU will be compoundedby import tariffs.

In Berlin, Germany’sChancellor Angela Merkelsaid there was still achance for a deal.

But she warned: “Wemust not endanger theintegrity of the commonmarket.” Merkel saidBritain would have toaccept that as the UK andEU legal systems moveapart after Brexit theremust be a way to ensure a“level playing field fortomorrow and the day aftertomorrow”.

“Otherwise we'd end upwith unfair conditions forcompetition which we can'task of our companies,” shesaid.

Johnson spoke by tele-phone to Von der Leyen onMonday to secure the lastchance dinner invitationafter negotiations betweenBarnier and Frost broke offwithout agreement.

He will travel by planeand arrive late Wednesdayfor talks at the Berlaymont,the EU headquarters build-ing he once wronglyreported was scheduled fordemolition when he cov-ered Brussels as a newspa-

per journalist in the early1990s.

But officials on both sidesexpressed pessimismahead of the last-ditchencounter.

Barnier, meanwhile, gavea downbeat briefing toEuropean ministers aheadof Thursday's EU leaderssummit, then tweeted: “Wewill never sacrifice ourfuture for the present.Access to our marketcomes with conditions.”Asenior Europan sourcesaid the question waswhether the EU wouldrespond automatically andunilaterally if commercialstandards diverge, orwhether they would leavespace to negotiate.

“The sticking point in thenegotiations is the equiva-lence clause requested bythe EU to avoid distortionsof competition if the UKrefuses to align itself overtime with EU tax, socialand environmental stan-dards,” he said. — AFP

EU wants to boost bordersecurity against attacksBrussels, Dec. 9: TheEuropean Commissionwants member states toreinforce external bordercontrols and police coop-eration to better protectthe 27-nation bloc fromextremist attacks.

As part of its Counter-Terrorism Agendaunveiled on Wednesday,the EU’s executive armsaid an efficient detectionof suspects at the bloc'sborders is crucial to guar-antee European citizens'security. Since the deadlyParis attacks five years

ago in which fighters whohad returned from Syriawere involved, the EU hasbeen repeatedly hit byextremist actions. In 2019,seven jihadist terroristattacks were carried outin the EU, and twice thatnumber of plots werethwarted by law enforce-ment.

Member states shouldurgently complete themodernisation of ourexternal border manage-ment within the agreedroadmaps, with the ambi-tion of developing the

world’s most modern bor-der management system,"the commission said. Un-der the Schengen Infor-mation System regula-tions implemented twoyears ago, national autho-rities are already requiredto create alerts related toterrorist offenses” andmember states need toshare information withEuropol. Despite the pro-gress made, more work isneeded,” said the commis-sion, which plans to stren-gthen the EU agency forlaw enforcement. — AP

Ankara, Dec. 9: TurkishPresident Recep TayyipErdogan brushed off pos-sible European Unionsanctions against Turkeyon Wednesday, sayingthey would not affect hiscountry.

Speaking to reportersbefore departing for avisit to Azerbaijan,Erdogan also accused theEU of acting “dishonest-ly” toward Turkey and offailing to keep its promis-es. Erdogan’s commentscame ahead of a meetingin Brussels where EUleaders are scheduled toaddress Turkey’s mis-sions to explore gasreserves in watersclaimed by EU membersGreece and Cyprus, andcould decide to imposesanctions on Turkey.

“Any decision to imposesanctions against Turkeywon't be of great concernto Turkey,” Erdogan toldreporters. At a summit inOctober, European lead-ers warned Turkey towithdraw its energyresearch ships or facepunitive measures. — AP

Dakar, Dec. 9: A Sene-galese judge remanded 43followers of an influen-tial religious leader inpre-trial custody onTuesday for allegedinvolvement in humantrafficking, one of theirlawyers said.

Police in the WestAfrican state arrested thesuspects late Novemberas part of an investiga-tion into scooter thefts,which allegedly revealeda trafficking network at“reform centres” run byreligious leader SerigneModou Kara Mbacke.

Officers freed morethan 370 people at thecentres, located in theseaside capital Dakar,whom they said had beenillegally detained andkept in deplorable condi-tions. Mbacke belongs tothe Mouride brother-hood, a powerful SufiMuslim order, and is thehead of a political party.

His “reform centres”across Senegal mainlytarget wayward youths.

Victims have allegedthat several people diedat the centres in recentyears, with the mostrecent death occurring inNovember. — AFP

Tehran, Dec. 9: Iran isready to return to fullcompliance with a 2015nuclear deal with majorpowers as soon as theother parties honourtheir commitments, Pres-ident Hassan Rouhanisaid on Wednesday.

The agreement betweenIran and major powershas teetered on the brinkof collapse since outgoingUS President DonaldTrump pulled out of it in2018 and reimposed crip-pling unilateral sanc-tions.

US President-elect JoeBiden has expressedreadiness to return to theagreement but over thepast 18 months Iran hassuspended the implemen-tation of some of its ownobligations, includingkey limits to its uraniumenrichment programme.

“Just as soon as the 5+1or 4+1 resume all of theircommitments, we willresume all of ours,”Rouhani said.

He was referring to thefive veto-wielding perma-nent members of the UNSecurity Council plusGermany with whomIran reached the nucleardeal.

“I've said it before — itdoesn't take time, it's justa question of willing,” hesaid in comments to hiscabinet aired by state tel-evision

Defying criticism fromIran’s ultra-conserva-tives, Rouhani reiteratedhis determination toseize the “opportunity”presented by the changeof US president inJanuary.

Parliament, which has

been controlled by con-servatives since aFebruary electionmarred by record lowturnout, passed a bill lastweek that threatens theprospects for a thaw inrelations withWashington.

The bill, which still hasto be signed into law byRouhani, would relaunchIran's enrichment of ura-nium to 20 percent purityand threaten other futuremeasures that would like-ly sound the death knellof the nuclear deal.

In a blow to the presi-dent, the GuardianCouncil, which arbitratesdisputes between parlia-ment and the govern-ment, approved the billlast week.

But in his comments onWednesday, Rouhaniappeared to suggest thathe would withhold hissignature from the bill.

“It is vital that we speakwith a single voice,” thepresident told ministers.

“People voted for a plat-form... and they wantfour years of action,”said Rouhani, who wonre-election in 2017 withmore than 57 percent ofthe vote.

Rouhani said Iranremained unable to pur-chase Covid-19 vaccinesbecause banks wereunwilling to process thetransaction for fear offalling foul of US sanc-tions. Iran is the MiddleEastern country hardest-hit by the Coronaviruspandemic with more than51,000 deaths from nearly1.1 million cases, accord-ing to official figures.

— AFP

Iran ready for snapreturn to nucleardeal compliance

Hong Kong, Dec. 9:Companies including theChinese arm ofTripAdvisor Inc. havebeen ordered by regula-tors to overhaul theirmobile phone apps inwhat the Chinese govern-ment said is a crackdownon pornography and otherimproper content.

The NationalCyberspace Administ-ration ordered theremoval of 105 appsincluding TripAdvisorfrom app stores this week,although it gave no detailsof what each app wasaccused of doing wrong.

It cited what it said werepublic complaints aboutobscene, pornographicand violent informationor fraud, gambling andprostitution. The rulingCommunist Party tightlycontrols what the Chinesepublic sees online and haslaunched repeated crack-downs on websites andapps.

TripAdvisor China, a

joint venture betweenTripAdvisor and itsChinese partner Trip.com,did not immediatelyrespond to an email seek-ing comment. Followingthe removal of its app inChina, Nasdaq-listedTripAdvisor’s stock pricewas down 1.68 per cent to$29.59 at the market’s closein the US on Tuesday.

TripAdvisor owns a 40per cent stake in TripAdvisor China, withTrip.com owning the other60 per cent. Under thepartnership, the compa-nies share its travel inven-tories and content. — AP

China blocks 105 apps including TripAdvisorCommunist Party tightly controls what the Chinese public sees onlineTECH | TROUBLE

Beijing, Dec. 9: China onWednesday termed itsjoint efforts with Nepal tomeasure Mount Everest’sheight as a new milestonefor the burgeoning friend-ship between the twocountries, with its officialmedia saying it is a cru-cial step towards solvingfew remaining bilateraldisputes.

The world’s highest peakis now taller by 86 cen-timetres, Nepal and Chinajointly announced onTuesday after they remea-sured Mt. Everest at8,848.86 metres, over sixdecades after India con-ducted the previous meas-urement in 1954.

The revised height ofMt. Everest puts an end to

the decades-long disputebetween the two neigh-bours on the height of theworld’s tallest mountainthat straddles their sharedborder.

The exact height of MtEverest had been contest-ed ever since a group ofBritish surveyors in Indiadeclared the height ofPeak XV, as it was initially

called, to be 8,778 metresin 1847. Mt. Everest standson the border betweenChina and Nepal andmountaineers climb itfrom both the sides.

Mt. Everest is known asSagarmatha in Nepalwhile in China it is calledMt. Qomolangma, the Ti-betan name for the world’shighest peak. — PTI

Joint measurement of Mt. Everest marksnew milestone in ties with Nepal: China

43 REMANDEDOVER HUMANTRAFFICKING IN SENEGAL

Pro-EU anti-Brexit protesters hold placards and EU flags outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Wednesday.— AFP

ERDOGANBRUSHES OFF EU SANCTIONSTHREAT

Berlin, Dec. 9: GermanChancellor Angela Merkelsaid on Wednesday shestill saw a chance for a Br-exit deal with Britain butwarned that the bloc wo-uld reject unacceptableterms.

Speaking ahead ofcrunch talks betweenBritish Prime MinisterBoris Johnson and EUchief Ursula von derLeyen, Merkel expressedcautious optimism about atrade agreement.

“There is still a chancefor a deal,” said Merkel,who holds the rotating EUpresidency, but warned“we must not endangerthe integrity of the com-mon market”.

“I don’t think we’ll

already know tomorrow ifwe’ve been successful ornot — I can’t promise it —but we’re still working onit.” Merkel told the Bun-destag lower house of par-liament that the bloc mustmaintain its red lines.

“We are prepared forconditions from theBritish side that we can-not accept,” she said, evenif it meant walking awaywithout an agreement.She said the process ofmoving from a “har-monised legal system”between Britain and theEU to a time after Brexitwhen the systems “growmore and more apart” req-uired a “level playing fieldfor tomorrow and the dayafter tomorrow”. — AP

There is still chancefor deal, says Merkel

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

● ● IN AN interview withthe newspaper LeMonde he said thenature of a law is long-term and it wouldapply to any politicalideology that threatensFrench values, “even iftoday it is radicalIslamism that we tryby all means to fight.”

● ● TRIPADVISOR ownsa 40 per cent stake inTripAdvisor China, withTrip.com owning theother 60 per cent.

(File) Shopperscheck out smartphones at a storein Beijing, China.Companies includ-ing the Chinesearm of TripAdvisorInc. have beenordered by regula-tors to overhaultheir mobile phoneapps in what theChinese govern-ment says is acrackdown onpornography andother impropercontent. — AP

pg 11HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

ABHIRUP ROYMUMBAI, DEC. 9

Indian small investorsincreasingly buying USstocks have been drawn toa company that has nopresence in India so far:electric carmaker TeslaInc.

Indians are placing big-ger-than-ever bets on USstocks this year as theAmerican stock markethas recovered faster thanmarkets in India andother emerging nationsfollowing a crash sparkedby the coronavirus pan-demic.

While firms such asApple, Amazon andFacebook--which have asignificant presence inIndia--are popular amongIndian investors ventur-ing into US stocks, datafrom brokerages showsTesla has emerged as anew favourite.

Indian brokerage VestedFinance said its accountsheld $2.5 million worth ofTesla stock in November,up from just $76,000 atMarch-end. Another bro-kerage firm, Stockal, saidits clients' Tesla holdingshave quadrupled to $10million during the period.

Tesla shares surgedaround 450 per cent dur-ing that time.

"Some investors have

just created accounts tobe able to invest in Tesla,"Vested's CEO Viram Shahsaid. "We would havenever imagined that acompany which is noteven present in Indiawould be the most popu-lar."

The frenzy around thestock comes as Tesla CEOElon Musk has signalledan India launch isimpending. Musk inOctober tweeted the elec-tric carmaker will forayinto India "next year forsure", and had earliertweeted about a 2020launch.

Tesla's plans of a possi-ble launch come whenIndia is becoming focusedon promoting the use of

electric vehicles, eventhough Musk has previ-ously flagged concernsaround high Indianimport duties.

Gaurav Jhunjhunwala,33, became a Musk fanafter reading his biogra-phy and has even paid$1,000 in booking fees toget Tesla's Model 3 elec-tric sedan whenever itlaunches in India. Whilethat wait has been long,he invested $100,000 inTesla shares in May, andbuys 30 shares everyother week.

"I just like the way theguy (Musk) thinks,"Jhunjhunwala said. "Heis trying to make theworld a better place."

— Reuters

MICHAEL GONSALVESPUNE, DEC. 9

Maruti Suzuki, India’sbiggest car maker, onWednesday launched itsmulti-financier, online carfinancing platform SmartFinance to boost vehiclesales.

The firm would initiallylaunch the Smart Financeplatform in 30 citiesthrough its premium carretail chain Nexa.

The platform offers abouquet of financingoptions to a customer.

“Under the SmartFinance platform, current-ly hosted on the Nexa web-site, we have partneredwith several popular fin-anciers to provide customcurated personalised loanoffers for our customers,”said Kenichi Ayukawa,MD &nd CEO at MarutiSuzuki India.

The digital service offerseasy financing options andis totally transparent ateach stage of the loanprocess, he said. A buyercan customise the EMI bychoosing the loan tenureand interest rate.

India’s small investorsflock to Tesla stock

MARUTI LAUNCHESONLINE FINANCING

Centre for more focus on economic growth

Govt may prod RBI forlooser inflation target SANGEETHA G

CHENNAI, DEC. 9

After the stamp duty cut,residential sales inMumbai have more thandoubled compared to lastyear.

The megapolis wit-nessed cumulative resi-dential sales of 22,827units after the stampduty cut from September.The monthly run rateduring September-November is approxi-mately 135 per cent high-er than the monthly aver-age of 2019, as per theestimates of KnightFrank India.

The Maharashtra gov-ernment had cut stampduty on property regis-trations by 3 per cent fora period between Septem-ber 1 and December 31,2020. Additionally, mostdevelopers offered toabsorb the remaining 2per cent.

Mumbai started seeingmonth-on-month growthin residential sales sinceSeptember. Sales grew112 per cent inSeptember compared toAugust, 42 per cent inOctober and 17 per inNovember over the previ-ous month.

In November, residen-tial sales also grew 67 percent over the year-agoperiod. Mumbai record-ed sales of 9,301 residen-tial units and this wasthe highest ever registra-tions in November overthe last nine years.

Even after the stampduty cut, the state gov-ernment’s revenue col-lections from stamp dutyhave increased to Rs 232crore in October and Rs288 crore in November

against Rs 176 crore inAugust. This shows thatthe boost to housing sales

has more than compen-sated for lower duty.

“The demand momen-tum in this market islikely to continue till endof the year buoyed by thelow stamp duty regime.As income streams arecoming back to normal,we believe that more buy-ers will come to the mar-ket before the end of thefinancial year to makemost of this opportunetime to buy their dreamhomes,” said ShishirBaijal, chairman andmanaging director,Knight Frank India.

Apart from stamp duty,sales in November werealso augmented by theauspicious period ofDiwali and reduction ofhome loan rate. Othermeasures by developerssuch as deferred pay-ment plans, indirect dis-counts and offers tonegotiate on the finalprice of the apartmenthave helped entice home-buyers.

“Reduced stamp dutyfor a limited period tillDecember 31, 2020 hasplayed the role of a cata-lyst. Many fence-sittersare taking the plunge ashome loan rates too areat very low levels, mak-ing this a great time to buy a home in a metro like Mumbai,”said Ram Raheja, direc-tor, S Raheja Realty.

Mumbai housing sales up135% since stamp duty cut

SIDDHARTHA SINGHNOV. 9

The government is consid-ering recommending alooser inflation target forthe central bank, allowingit to focus more on econom-ic growth despite pricepressures, according topeople familiar with thematter.

A consumer-price infla-tion band tracked by theReserve Bank of India maybe relaxed further from thecurrent 2 per cent to 6 percent range, said the people,who asked not to be identi-fied citing rules. The gov-ernment still needs to holdconsultations with the cen-tral bank before finalisinga new framework some-time next year.

The current mandate, setin 2016, requires the RBI tokeep headline inflation atthe 4 per cent midpoint of

its target range. The band--a broad range of 400 basispoints within which thecentral bank has sanctionto operate is the widest inAsia, and only matched byTurkey and surpassed byArgentina.

The finance ministry is ofthe view that the RBI can'tbe saddled with a rigidinflation targeting frame-work, especially in situa-

tions when growth needs tobe pushed, the people said.

A spokesperson for thefinance ministry declinedto comment, while the RBIdidn't res-pond to an emailseeking comment.

Economists likeBloomberg Economics'Abhishek Gupta haveargued in the past that theheadline inflation measureused now is too volatile and

the central bank shouldrather target core prices,which strips out oil andfood costs. Food carriesnearly 50 per cent weight inthe CPI basket.

RBI governor Shakti-kanta Das said Friday thata final call on what meas-ure to target rests with thegovernment and Parlia-ment, although he doesn'tsee a situation where theywill move away from track-ing the CPI.

The RBI has previouslyfaced criticism for largelyoverstating inflation, fore-casts that were then usedto underpin the MPC'shawkish policy stance in2018. Currently, a spike ininflation has forced thecentral bank to pauseinterest-rate cuts despitethe economy needing morestimulus after entering anunprecedented recession.

—Bloomberg

RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, DEC. 9

As the market is scalingnew highs everyday, topbrokerages have cautionedinvestors to tread carefullyas the market has reachedan extreme zone.

The Sensex crossed the46000-mark for the firsttime on Wednesday andclosed at a new record highof 46,103.50, gaining 494.99points. The NIfty-50 alsoclosed at a new all-timehigh of 13,529.10, gaining

135.15 points. The rally was powered by

Rs 3,564.23 crore net buyingby FPIs.

Guarav Garg, head ofresearch, Capital ResearchGlobal said, "One has tonotice that it is a narrowrally. As markets hit recordhigh, investors may booksome profits in long posi-tions.”

"Since we are in anuncharted territory, sky'sthe limit for our market;but in our sense, we havenow reached the extremezone, at least for the cur-rent vertical move,” saidSameet Chavan, a chiefanalyst at Angel Broking.

New Delhi, Dec. 9: NSEInternational Exchange(NSE IFSC) has becomethe first internationalbourse in Gift City to listAmerican Deposi-toryReceipts (ADR), with thelisting of ADRs of DrReddy's Laboratories.

The secondary listingof Dr Reddy's AmericanDepository Receipts atNSE IFSC would provideglobal investors an addi-tional venue to transactin their ADRs, the NSEsaid on Wednesday.

Participants holdingdepository accountswith either the Inter-national Central Securi-ties Depository (Euro-clear Bank, Clear-stream) or DepositoryTrust Company (DTC)will be able to transacton these ADRs.

"We invite all Indianissuers of GDRs/ADRsto list their depositoryreceipts at NSE IFSC,”NSE’s CEO said. —PTI

New Delhi, Dec. 9: Bookson HDFC Bank's digitalrevolution and the jour-neys of Flipkart,BigBasket and Hero groupare among the six worksshortlisted for the GajaCapital Business BookPrize 2020.

Instituted by equity firmGaja Capital last year, theRs 15-lakh prize is award-ed annually to celebratethe best non-fiction bookson contemporary Indianbusiness.

The shortlisted booksare HDFC Bank 2.0 byTamal Bandopadhyay; BigBillion Startup: TheUntold Flipkart Story byMihir Dalal; KatherineEban's Bottle of Lies:Ranbaxy and the DarkSide of Indian Pharma;The Making of Hero: FourBrothers, Two Wheels, anda Revolution that ShapedIndia by Sunil Munjal; T.N. Hari and M SSubramanian's Saying Noto Jugaad: The Making of

BigBasket and TheMoonshot Game:Adventures of an IndianVenture Capitalist byRahul Chandra.

"The last two decadesdemonstrate that Indianbusiness is telling newstories and finding newpaths. The chroniclers ofIndian business storiesendure painstakingefforts to capture theromance, struggle andjoys of entrepreneurship.The Gaja Capital BusinessBook Prize is created tohonour these travellers,their journeys and theirchroniclers," the presen-ters said.

According to jury chair-man Manish Sabharwal,"The shortlist this yearhas multiple stories of tri-umph and tragedy yetmostly reflects a newbreed of confident, ambi-tious and rising corporateIndia."

The winner will beannounced in January.

The jury comprisedinvestors, entrepreneurs,CEOs and policy makers.

The inaugural prize waswon in 2019 by GirishKuber for his book TheTatas: How a Family Builta Business and a Nation.

Gopal Jain, managingpartner at Gaja Capital,said business bookshelvesare dominated by westernstories of business andentrepreneurship.

"As the Indian economyscales and the Indianentrepreneurial andinvestor ecosystem mat-ures, we will have manymore stories and lessonsfor the world, from India.As Investors and entrepre-neurs in the Indian mar-ket, we have witnessedseveral such journeysfirst-hand," he said.

"We would like to make asmall contribution inencouraging Indian writ-ers, journalists and entre-preneurs to tell our sto-ries...for the world." —PTI

DR REDDY’SADR LISTS ON

NSE IFSC

Books on Hero, Flipkart,HDFC in race for honours

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 46,103.50 1.09Nifty 50 13,392.95 0.28S&P 500* 3,694.24 -0.22Dollar (‘) 73.56 -0.04Pound Sterling (‘) 98.73 -0.57Euro (‘) 89.24 -0.04Gold (10gm)* (‘) 49,221▼118 0.23Brent crude ($/bbl)* 48.75 -0.09IN 10-Yr bond yield 5.917 -0.022US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 0.944 0.031

* As of 8:30 PM IST

Facebook IndiaFY20 revenue up43% at `1,277 crFacebook India's revenues grew43 per cent year-on-year toabout Rs 1,277.3 crore in 2019-20, while its net profit morethan doubled to Rs 135.7 crore,as per regulatory documents. Itstotal income was Rs 893.4 crorein FY19. Net profit rose 107 percent to Rs 135.7 crore in FY20versus Rs 65.3 crore. In Novem-ber, Google had made a similarfiling that showed its revenuesfrom India grew 34.8 per centto about Rs 5,593.8 crore.

Honda suspendsUK productionamid ship delays

Carmaker Honda has temporar-ily halted production at itsplant in England after shippingdelays linked to the pandemicand preparations for Brexit leftit with a shortage of parts. Thecompany said it was forced tomake the decision becausetransport-related delays left itshort of parts. The factoryrelies on a just in time deliverysystem, in which parts arrive asthey are needed for assemblyand not stored locally.

RTGS to beavailable 24X7from Dec. 14The RBI announced that theReal Time Gross SettlementSystem (RTGS), one of themethods used to transfer fundsonline, will be available round-the-clock on all days fromDecember 14. The RBI’s deci-sion to operationalise the serv-ice 24x7 was announcedrecently. “India will becomeone of the few countries in theworld to operate its RTGS sys-tem round the clock through-out the year,” the RBI said.

Japan inspectionof Black Tigershrimps relaxedIn a relief to seafood exporters,Japan has completely easedinspection of Indian BlackTiger shrimps after export con-signments of this delectableprawn variety were found total-ly free from any residue of syn-thetic anti- bacterial drug fura-zolidone. The decision wasconveyed by Food Inspectionand Safety Division of Japan’sMinistry of Health, Labour andWelfare to the Indian Embassyin Japan, MPEDA and EIC.

RBI keeps rate steady as inflationhovers above its 6% tolerance limit

■ CPI on Oct 31, 2020 (R1) ■ Repurchase rate (L1)

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rcha

se R

ate

Source: Bloomberg

STOCK MARKET AT NEW HIGHNSE Nifty45000

40000

35000

30000

25000

20000

15000

13500

12000

10500

9000

7500

6000Jan ----------- 2020 ------------- Nov

Source: BSE and NSE KBK Infographics

Jan ---------- 2020 ------------ Nov

Dec. 946103.50

Jan. 141306.02

Jan. 112182.50

Dec. 913529.10

BSE Sensex

Brokerages cautious as Sensex tops 46000-mark

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, DEC. 9

Pharma sales growthremained flat in Novem-ber, as volumes declinedyear-on-year.

The pharma market sawtotal sales of Rs 12,830crore for November, clock-ing a growth of just 1 percent. In October, sales hadgrown by 9.6 per cent andby 4.5 per cent inSeptember.

The tepid growth duringNovember was led by a vol-ume decline, while growthin price growth and newproduct remained healthy.Pharma prices grew by 4.7per cent and productlaunches by 3.2 per cent.

However, sales volumes

declined by 6.9 per cent inNovember. In October, vol-umes were 0.9 per centhigher year-on-year.

According to IndiaRatings and Research,lower sales of acute thera-py products from a higherbase in November 2019 andrising Covid-19 cases,which led to lower visits ofpatients to doctors, result-ed in a decline in volumes.

Sales of respiratorydrugs were down 6.9 percent, analgesics 5.2 percent and gynaecologicalproducts, 4.3 per cent.Performance of anti-infec-tives, which was just 0.2per cent up, was impactedby a 17 per cent decline inthe sales of cephalosporincategory products.

Revenue in acute thera-pies declined 1 per centwhile that of chronic andsub-chronic therapies rose4 per cent and 1 per cent.Acute therapies such asvitamins and gastro wit-nessed growth of 6.6 percent and 3.1 per centrespectively in November.

As per the data ofAIOCD-AWACS, growth invitamins slowed down to6.6 per cent in Novemberfrom 22.6 per cent inOctober. Respiratory medi-cines sales slumped at asteeper 6.9 per cent.

Cardiac drugs grew 8.7per cent compared to 19.5per cent in October, whileanti-diabetics recorded 1.9per cent growth against 9.7per cent in October.

Pharma sales flat in Nov.

RAVI RANJAN PRASADMUMBAI, DEC. 9

Kotak Securities hastied up with US basedInteractive Brokers tooffer a global invest-ment platform forIndian investors andNRIs to invest in stocksof US-listed companies.

Interactive Brokersprovides automatedtrade execution and cus-tody of securities, com-

modities and forexround-the-clock in over135 markets.

The shares bought byclients are held byInteractive Brokers, aglobal custodian in mul-tiple jurisdictions.

Jaideep Hansraj, MD& CEO, Kotak Securitiessaid, there is no mini-mum ticket size for buy-ing and selling of sharesin the US markets forinvestors.

KOTAK ARM TO OFFER US STOCKS

November sales in lastnine years (Mumbai)

Month Number of sale documents registered

Nov. 2012 4,247Nov. 2013 3,859Nov. 2014 5,001Nov. 2015 4,221Nov. 2016 3,838Nov. 2017 6,230Nov. 2018 5,190Nov. 2019 5,574Nov. 2020 9,301

Source: Department of registrations andstamps, Government of Maharashtra,

Knight Frank Research

Sales in units (Mumbai) in 2020Month (2020) Units November 9,301October 7,929September 5,597August 2,642July 2,662June 1,839May 207April -March 3,798February 5,927January 6,150TOTAL 46,052

Printed & Published by K. Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan

Chronicle Holdings Limited, Printed atDeccan Chronicle Press at Deccan

Chronicle Holdings Ltd. #563/9/D&9/E,Behind Andhra Bank Pet Basheerbagh,

Kompally, Ranga Reddy Dist. Editor: T.Venkatram Reddy, RNI RegNo.APENG/2008/24282. © All rights

reserved. Reproduction in whole or inpart without written permission of The

Editor, Financial Chronicle ® is prohibited.

GAMES pg 12DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2020

SHORT TAKES

BBuueennooss AAiirreess:: Former coachAlejandro Sabella, who led the

2014 World Cup runner-upArgentina team, died on

Tuesday at a clinic in BuenosAires suffering from heart dis-

ease.He was 66 years old.

The former boss of Estudiantesde La Plata died at the

Cardiovascular Institute ofBuenos Aires, where he had

been admitted on November 25- the day soccer legend Diego

Maradona died — after sufferingan arrhythmia.

The medical center said in astatement that Sabella was the

victim of “secondary dilatedheart disease and long-standing

cardiotoxicity.”— AP

CChhrriissttcchhuurrcchh:: England all-rounder Ben Stokes lost his

father Ged, who died here onTuesday after a year-long battle

with brain cancer.He was 65.

Stokes is currently with theEngland team in South Africafor the limited over series. He

had played all three T20Is andwas rested for ODIs, which wascancelled on Monday after mul-

tiple cases of Covid-19 weredetected in the bio-bubble.

Ged, a former rugby player andcoach, had been suffering frombrain cancer for some time and

Stokes was there inChristchurch for more than a

month taking care of his ailingfather.

Stokes’ famous “bent middlefinger” gesture during the 2019

South Africa series was a trib-ute to his father’s amputatedfinger. Ged had to remove apart of his finger in order to

continue playing. — PTI

Ex Argentina coachSabella no more

Ben Stokes’ fatherpasses away at 65

HHyyddeerraabbaadd:: Former middledistance runner and secretary

of Ranga District AthleticsAssociation B. Earnest Das

passed away on Monday night.He was 81.

Das participated in the Indo-German Athletics Test held in

Hyderabad in 1965. An interna-tional athletics official, he offi-

ciated in the 1982 Asian Gamesin New Delhi, 2002 Asian GrandPrix in Hyderabad and the 2003

Afro-Asian Games inHyderabad. He also served asmanager of the South CentralRailway Athletics team for 30

years.His son B. E. Stanley Jones is

Athletics Federation of India’sTechnical Committee chairman.

Telangana AthleticsAssociation general secretary

K. Sarangapani and HyderabadDistrict Athletics Associationpresident Prof. Rajesh Kumar

mourned the demise of Das andoffered condolences to the

family members.

HHyyddeerraabbaadd:: The BrilliantChess Academy is conducting

the 175th Brilliant Trophy Openchess tournament online on

Saturday and Sunday. A total of`10,000 will be given to Top 20

places in the Open category.Special prizes will also be given

to top two places in the Under7, 9, 11, 13, 15 age groups for

boys and girls separately. Forfurther details contact J.

Subrahmanyam on 9247399717.

Former runnerEarnest is dead

Sydney, Dec. 9: Australia’sstar opening batsmanDavid Warner has beenruled out of the first Testagainst India, but will tryto return for the block-buster second instalmenton Boxing Day, CricketAustralia said Wednesday.

Warner is recoveringfrom a strained adductormuscle that forced him tolimp out of Australia’s sec-ond one-day internationalagainst India last month,after a knock of 83.

“I feel I have made greatprogress in a short amountof time and it’s best for meto stay here in Sydney tocontinue working on get-ting back to full fitness,”Warner said.

“The injury feels a lot bet-ter, but I need to be able tosatisfy in my own mindand to my team-mates thatit is 100 percent ready forTest match conditions.

“That includes runningbetween the wickets andbeing agile in the field.Right now I feel I am shortof being able to play atpeak fitness and another 10days will make a differ-ence,” he added.

The day-night first Test

will begin in Adelaide onDecember 17, kicking off afour-match series.

It is not yet clear who willtake Warner’s place inAdelaide, but CameronGreen’s century this weekfor Australia ‘A’ against astrong India ‘A’ attack —featuring RavichandranAshwin, Umesh Yadav andMohammed Siraj — hasput him in the running.

In contrast, Will Pucovskiand Joe Burns, in line toform Australia’s top order,both flopped in the warm-up match and Pucovskialso had to leave the fieldwith concussion symptomsafter a delivery struck hishelmet. — AFP

Barcelona, Dec. 9:Cristiano Ronaldo strucktwice from the penaltyspot to win his battle withrival Lionel Messi andguide Juventus to a 3-0win over Barcelona onTuesday, earning theItalians top spot inChampions League GroupG.

The former Real Madridstriker and his Argentinacounterpart traded Ballond’Or wins for a decadebetween 2008-2017 andwere figureheads for theduelling Spanish giants,but there was only onewinner at the Camp Nouas they met for the firsttime since Ronaldo’sdeparture for Juve in 2018.

Juventus lost 2-0 at homeagainst Barcelona inOctober without Ronaldo,sidelined with Covid-19,but were greatly improvedand earned the firstChampions League awaywin against Barcelonasince Bayern Munich tri-umphed in 2013.

Both sides, tied on 15points, were assured ofqualification before kick-off, but Juve’s three-goalvictory handed them asuperior head-to-headrecord.

Ronald Koeman, reelingfrom Barcelona’s 2-1defeat by promoted min-nows Cadiz on Saturdayin La Liga, reacted bymaking four changes butthe hosts started badly.

It only took 13 minutesfor Ronaldo to break thedeadlock, slotting homefrom the penalty spot afterthe referee deemed RonaldAraujo’s challenge on hima foul. Juve’s did notrelent and their pressureled to a second goal,Weston McKennie volley-ing home JuanCuadrado’s sweetlyclipped cross in the 20thminute. — AFP

Ronaldo bests MessiCristiano nets brace as Juve crush Barcelona 3-0

Cristiano Ronaldo (right) of Juventus lines up a shot to score his team’s third goal against Barcelona during theirUEFA Champions League Group ‘G’ football match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on Tuesday. — AFP

Injured Warnerout of first Test

Sydney, Dec. 9: CaptainVirat Kohli wasn’t happythat his team lost out on aperfect DRS call justbecause replay of the deliv-ery bowled to MatthewWade was shown on giantscreen before the permissi-ble limit of 15 seconds.

India lost the third T20International by 12 runsand one of the reasonscould be attributed to thefact that Wade, who couldhave been adjudged legbefore off T Natarajan at ascore of 50, got a luckyreprieve and added 30more runs.

“That lbw was a strangeone because we were stilldiscussing whether theball was going down andwithin the 15-second time,they showed the replay onthe screen. We decided togo for the review but theumpire said they havealready shown the replayon the screen,” Kohli said.

In fact had the reviewbeen taken, TV replaysshowed that the umpirewould have been forced toreverse his decision.

“I had a chat with Rod(Tucker, the umpire) andsaid: ‘what do we do in thissituation’ and he said‘nothing can be done. It’s amistake from TV’,” Kohlinarrated the incident.

He said the Indian teammanagement had made itsdispleasure clear with theauthorities, saying a mis-take of this magnitude inan international game isunacceptable. “I thoughtfrom the management per-spective, a message has tobe passed that this can’t bedone at the highest levelbecause in a very impor-tant game, it can be verycostly,” he said. — PTI


Badminton guru PullelaGopichand has stepped uphis training by a notch,and has decided to delveinto the minds of histrainees. On Wednesday,the champion coachlaunched Dhyana forSports, an app that meas-ures mental aspects viameditation and helpsachieve emotional fitness.

Vouching for its mecha-nism, Gopi termed theapplication a ‘game chang-er’ and stressed on theimportance of mentaltraining. As many as 10meditation sessionsdesigned, voiced by him-self and inspired from hison-ground training ses-sions will now be availableon the app that tracksmindfulness.

The 10 sessions in the‘Dhyana for Sports’ sectionin the app — Uniting YourInnerself, Forgive, WinnerInstincts, Gratitude,Stillness, Visualisation,Strengthen Discipline, Pre-Workout, Post-Workoutand End of the Day — cater

to athletes and assist themin monitoring andanalysing their state ofmeditation in order to helpinculcate a champion’smindset.

“I am certain that theseguided sessions will proveto be fruitful to anyonewanting to become the bestversion of themselves. Insport, you need to be a war-rior and possess killerinstinct. This is what wetalk about in the app — thewinning attitude,” thechief national coach said,adding, “I am so proud tobe associated with it.”

Athletics coach N.Ramesh echoed Gopi’sopinion. “This is a hugeplus for track and field ath-letes, who have very littletime to recover betweenthe heats and the finals,that’s when mentalstrength comes into play,”he said.

“Physical abilities canmake you a national cham-pion but if you want toexcel on the internationalstage and stay there, men-tal ability is a must,” theDronacharya awardeeadded.

Bambolim, Dec. 9:Mumbai City FC ralliedto eke out a 2-1 win overChennaiyin FC andrecord their fourth victo-ry on the trot in theIndian Super League hereon Wednesday.

Adam Le Fondresmashed in a 75th-minutewinner after HernanSantana (45th) had can-celled Jakub Sylvestr’sfirst goal.

The Sergio Lobera’steam maintained the topspot in the ISL table.

Chennaiyin FC had aperfect start and would

have been ahead in thesecond minute if it wasnot for Sylvestr missing asitter. Rafael Crivellarodelivered a perfect cornerwhich was flicked in byEnes Sipovic and foundSylvestr, who missed thetarget.

Mumbai were not attheir best and took timeto settle. But they didhave their moments. Thehome side’s best chancecame in the 25th minutewhen Adam Le Fondrehad a clear sight on goal,but his powerful drivefrom inside the box, was

straight at keeper VishalKaith. The rebound fell toBipin Singh, but he could-n’t utilise the opportuni-ty.

Chennaiyin were clear-ly the better side in theopening quarter creatingnumerous chancesthrough LallianzualaChhangte, Sipovic andCrivellaro. The Chennai-based side took the leadin the 40th minute.Sylvestr scored probablythe easiest goal of the sea-son.

Chhangte deservedcredit for his initial

spadework on the rightbefore he played a lowcross from the byline tofind Sylvestr, who slottedit in.

Just when it looked likeChennaiyin would walkinto the breather with agoal advantage,Mumbai’s Santana haddifferent plans. TheSpaniard, who wasunmarked at the far post,nodded in a HugoBoumous’ corner torestore parity post whichthey doubled the lead inthe 75th minute throughanother set-piece. — PTI

Paris, Dec. 9:Manchester United wereknocked out of theChampions League after a3-2 defeat by RB Leipzigon Tuesday, while ParisSaint-Germain’s qualifi-cation for the last 16 wasovershadowed by a racismrow involving a matchofficial that caused theirgame against IstanbulBasaksehir to be suspend-ed for 24 hours.

Requiring just a point toadvance, Ole GunnarSolskjaer’s side fellbehind to an Angelinogoal inside two minutes inGermany. AmadouHaidara soon added a sec-ond and United and weretrailing 3-0 heading intothe final quarter after aJustin Kluivert strike.

Bruno Fernandes’spenalty and a deflectedPaul Pogba header gaveUnited a lifeline butLeipzig, who reached thesemifinals last term, heldon to move top of Group‘H’ on 12 points.

Leipzig must wait untilWednesday to find outwhether they finish firstor second in the section,after the contest betweenlast season’s runners-upPSG and Turkish champi-ons Basaksehir was inter-rupted with the score 0-0in the 14th minute.

Players walked off inParis amid allegations ofracism by the fourth offi-cial, in an unprecedentedincident in European foot-ball’s elite club competi-tion.

The row erupted afterBasaksehir assistantcoach Pierre Webo, the

former Cameroon inter-national, was shown a redcard during a fierce rowon the touchline with stafffrom the Turkish clubappearing to accuse theofficial of using a racistterm.

Television microphonespicked up a furious Webo

repeatedly asking why aracist term had been usedto describe him.

Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan said he“strongly” condemned theincident, while UEFAannounced it would opena “thorough investiga-tion”. — AFP

Kohli rues DRSmiss in last tie

Gopi delves intoathletes’ minds

Kolkata, Dec. 9: RealKashmir and United SCsecured their second suc-cessive wins to seal semifinal berths from theirrespective groups in the123rd IFA Shield here onWednesday.

Fresh from a 2-1 winover Peerless SC, theSnow Leopards werecaught unawares by theaggressive brand of foot-ball by Aryan SC beforethey finally broke thedeadlock with a MasonRobertson strike in the72nd minute. — PTI

Mumbai hammer Chennaiyin 2-1

Racist slur halts PSG game

KASHMIR INTOSEMIFINALS

New Delhi, Dec. 9:Parthiv Patel, one of theyoungest to have playedTest cricket for India atthe age of 17, onWednesday announcedhis retirement from allforms of the game, threemonth’s short of his 36thbirthday.

The baby-faced Parthiv,who made his Test debutunder Sourav Ganguly,aged 17 years and 153days, played 65 interna-tional games for the coun-try, which included 25Tests, 38 ODIs and two T20Internationals.

“Today, I announceretirement from all formsof cricket and as I bringdown curtains on this 18year-old cricketing jour-

ney, I feel heavier withgratitude for many,” the35-year-old Parthiv said ina statement on his officialtwitter and instagramaccount.

The left-handed batsmanscored nearly 1700 runs(1696) across formats with934 runs (6 half centuries)coming in the longest for-mat.

In ODIs, he scored 736runs with four half-cen-turies and a highest scoreof 95. He effected 72 dis-missals in Tests, whichinclude 62 catches and 10stumpings.

Parthiv burst onto thescene in early 2002, whenhe was sent to Englandafter having played forIndia A in South Africa

and even before he madehis Ranji Trophy debut.

“The BCCI showed gen-erous amount of confi-dence and faith in a 17-year-old boy to play forIndia. I have enormousgratitude towards themfor guiding me and hand

holding me in the forma-tive years of my youngcareer,” Parthiv furtherstated.

In fact, he played hisfirst Ranji Trophy after hewas dropped from theIndia squad in 2004 due tobelow-par glovework ontours of Australia andPakistan.

He was thankful to allhis captains and “espe-cially Dada”, referring toBCCI president SouravGanguly.

Parthiv Patel called hisfirst Test captain SouravGanguly a “leader in truesense” along with the leg-endary Anil Kumble andsaid their influence in hislife went beyond the crick-eting arena.

“I would always holdSourav Ganguly as aleader in true sense withhis man managementskills. Sourav and AnilKumble were great lead-ers and they made me thekind of person I am,”Parthiv said.

“I still have the Test capwith my name wronglyprinted ‘Partiv’ that Dadagave me. The victories atHeadingley (2002) andAdelaide (2003-04) and thehalf-century opening theinnings at Rawalpindiwill be my favourite mem-ories.”

He said that retirementwas on his mind for thelast one year and that thetiming couldn’t have beenbetter. — PTI

JJuuvveennttuuss 33(Ronaldo 13-pen, 52-pen, McKennie 20)BBaarrcceelloonnaa 00

RRBB LLeeiippzziigg 33(Angelino 2, Haidara13, Kluivert 69)MMaanncchheesstteerr UUnniitteedd 22(Fernandes 80-pen,Pogba 82)

CChheellsseeaa 11(Jorginho 28-pen)KKrraassnnooddaarr 11(Cabella 24)

BBoorruussssiiaa DDoorrttmmuunndd 11(Piszczek 68, Witsel78)ZZeenniitt SSaaiinnttPPeetteerrssbbuurrgg 11(Driussi 16)

TTHHEE RREESSUULLTTSS

Live on TVCCRRIICCKKEETT

BBiigg BBaasshh LLeeaagguuee:: HobartHurricanes vs Sydney Sixers from

1.45 pm on Sony Six

LLaannkkaa PPrreemmiieerr LLeeaagguuee:: Jaffna vsColombo from 3 pm; Galle vs

Kandy from 7.30 pm on Sony Six

FFOOOOTTBBAALLLLIInnddiiaann SSuuppeerr LLeeaagguuee:: East Bengal

vs Jamshedpur from 7.20 pmon Star Sports 2, 3

EEuurrooppaa LLeeaagguuee:: CSKA Sofia vsRoma from 11.25 pm on Sony Ten3; Dundalk vs Arsenal from 11.25

pm on Sony Ten 2; Napoli vs RealSociedad from 11.25 pm on SonyTen 1; Sparta Prague vs AC Milan

from 1.30 am (Friday) on Sony Ten1; Tottenham Hotspur vs Antwerp

from 1.30 am (Friday) on Sony Ten2; Wolfsberg vs Feyenoord from

1.30 am (Friday) on Sony Six;Leicester City vs AEK Athens from

1.30 am (Friday) on Sony Ten 3

Dubai, Dec. 9: India captain Virat Kohli moved up aplace to eighth while K. L. Rahul broke into the topthree in the latest ICC rankings for T20 batsmen, aftertheir impressive performances in the three-matchseries against Australia.

Taking the third spot in the chart, Rahul has bagged816 rating points and is 55 points behind second-placedBabar Azam in the current standings.

England batsman Dawid Malan (915 points) retainedthe top spot, while Australian limited-overs skipperAaron Finch slipped to the fourth spot. — PTI

RAHUL CRUISES INTOTOP 3 IN T20 RANKINGS

That lbw was a strangeone because we werestill discussing whetherthe ball was going downand within the 15-sec-ond time, they showedthe replay on thescreen.

— VIRAT KOHLIIndian cricket

captain

Parthiv announces his retirement

Kylian Mbappe (third from right) of PSG looks on after the game was suspendedamid allegations of racism by one of the match officials during the UEFA ChampionsLeague Group ‘H’ football match against Istanbul Basaksehir at the Parc des Princesstadium in Paris on Tuesday. — AFP

Parthiv PPatel

David WWarner

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

K. Sudhakar on behalf of DeccanChronicle Holdings Limited. Printedat Deccan Chronicle Press situatedat Plot No. 9 Alwal Village, VallabhNagar Taluk, Medchal Malkajgiri

Dist. Telangana and Published at 36,S.D. Road, Secunderabad-3.RNI Registration No. 3081/1957.

Editor: Kaushik Mitter

Chess tourneyat the weekend

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