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PAGES: 72 VOL.8 | ISSUE: 7, AUGUST, 2020

EDITORIAL

VOL:8 I SSUE:7 I AUGUST, 2020 `30 Editor -in-Chief B. G. Rajeswar Editor D. Bal Reddy

Correspondents P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy P. Ramamohana Reddy M. Vittal Setty, Mallesh Babu, G.P. Nagaraju

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Printed, Published And Owned By Ramya Sree, Printed At Karshak Art Printers, Plot No. B-7, Moula Ali Industrial Park, IDA, Moula Ali, Medchal - Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Published At The News Publications, A-26/404, Sanskruti Township, Pocharam, Ghatkesar Mandal, Medchal - Malkajgiri District, Hyderabad-500088, Telangana.

Note: Focus/Infocus features are marketing initiatives, any legal disputes comes under the jurisdiction of courts in Hyderabad

e have seen ugly verbal wars between leading actors of Bollywood and their fans as to who is the ‘king’ or ‘badshaw’ of the industry. Similarly, there has been ugly war of words between top actors in Telugu Film Industry as to who is ‘legend’and who is not. And all these top actors have acted in films in which they were portrayed as social activists, anti-corruption activists and heroes of the society. However, people realized that in real life many of the actors have dark sides. We know some actors who have committed shameful things to make money and some actors who either expect something in return for doing some favour and that too for those who belong to their caste. So, all the reel life heroes are not real life heroes. But, there are some actors, who play the worst villains on-screen, actually heroes in real life. Actor Sonu Sood is one such actor. He hit the headlines for his humanitarian work during the national lockdown. The national lockdown caused immense trouble for the migrant workers, who were seen walking and cycling thousands of kilometers to reach their native places after becoming jobless. Sonu Sood not only donated to various charity organisations, but also offered his hotel in Juhu to feed 25,000 migrants during the holy month of Ramzan. Further Sonu Sood arranged buses for to help migrant workers return to their hometowns during lock down. He did not limit his charity to lock down period. The actor expressed his intention to continue his good work. What more! He gifted a tractor to a poor farmer in Andhra Pradesh, after watching the video of the farmer’s daughters ploughing the farm filed in place of bullocks. Initially, the actor promised to gift a pain of oxen. However, he changed his mind and gifted a tractor instead. He was applauded by many for his generosity and quick action. All through, the reel life heroes are missing. It is time, the reel life heroes take cue from the reel life villain and help the needy. Editor-in-Chief

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

CONTENT

LG Polymers CEO, 11 others arrested for Vizag gas leak

Fringe outfits emerge in UP Congress

Permanent commission for women in army

Article 370: Pak trying to show India in poor light Malware, ransomware top cyberthreats

Act against hospitals denying cashless treatment

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

CONTENT

Chandrayaan-2 data to be released from Oct: ISRO

Students need much more than Midday meals

Crowd funding, source of fund in gold smuggling case

It is not the Army A nation that has to fight Ayodhya temple to get bigger, taller, more magnificent

Consumers change purchase preferences

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

TELANGANA

KCRs nephew, three SHOs might kill me: Businessman

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ome police officials seem to be fearless even if they commit absolute wrongs for, they have god fathers behind them to cover up. It appears the Station House Officer of Rajendranagar police station, Gone Suresh is one such official. According to a realtor, Pabandi Prabhakar, this police official has implicated him in a case, which even if considered to be true for argument sake, will fall under Narsingi police station. Prabhakar, a realtor and builder, released a four page letter recently alleging how three Station House Officers – G Suresh of Rajendra nagar police station, Venkat Reddy of Madhapur police station and Ganga dhar of Narsingi police station and his assistant Balaram Naik have implicated him in false cases and humiliated him to the core at the behest of an influential contractor.

According to Prabhakar, he developed differences with contractor Ch Kiran Kumar Reddy as the latter committed breach of trust and cheating. “Since Kiran Kumar has connections in high places, I did not get justice from the police. So, I filed civil cases and fighting them legally,” Prabhakar said in the letter. Prabhakar further said, “Kiran Kumar through one Vijaya Bhaskar, who is said to be the nephew of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, forcibly got execute several docu ments by me and my wife at a guest house in Alwal and compelled me to give them Rs. 42.80 lakh by withdra wing the money from ICICI bank.” He also said that Kiran Kumar through Vijaya Bhaskar got executed registration deeds from me on April 12, 2020, i.e. during the lock down period with the help of Uppal subregistrar Vijay Kumar. Prabhakar alleged that the SHOs of Rajendranagar, Madhapur and

Narsingi colluded with Kiran Kumar and ensured that he was detained in custody for longer period until Kiran Kumar made arrangements with the help of Vijaya Bhaskar for forcible transfer of money and properties. He said in the letter that the three SHOs subjected him to unspeakable physical and mental torture, humiliation and kept him under threat of killing in an encounter. Expressing fear for his life, Prabhakar said he is fighting the cases legally since he has trust on judiciary. He also said that Kiran Kumar, Vijaya Bhaskar and the three SHOs along with sub-inspector Balaram Naik would be responsible for any physical harm caused to him and urged the higher-ups to take appropriate action. Interestingly, Rajendranagar SHO figures in the list of police officials of ‘KCRs private army’, which was released by Congress MP, Revanth Reddy last month.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

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t appears the Rachakonda police will continue its legacy of ‘Accused Friendly Cops’ even as its chief is busy with so-called people friendly measures. There are two clear cases which show the ‘Accused Friendly’ nature of Rachakonda cops. Interestingly, both the cases are related to Medipally police station. The Station House Officer, Anji Reddy and his assistants were in great pain to register a criminal case against Bandharam Sridhar, husband of Boduppal corporator, Bandharam Anjali Devi and others. Sridhar along with his henchmen trespassed into the house of Ananthula Bhanodaya in Dwaraka nagar area of Boduppal, which comes under Medipally police station and misbehaved with her. The gang further assaulted Bhanodaya’s husband Purender Reddy when he tried to rescue her. The gang commi tted the offense as the family refused to heed to the extortion demands of Sridhar and his associates. The entire assault was recorded by the minor child of Bhanodaya and the same went viral on social media. Only after this, Medipally police registered FIR, but did not take any action against the culprits. Realising that the Medipally police will not take action, Bhanodaya approached the State Human Rights Commission on July 13 seeking justice. The HRC jumped into action and issued a notice to the Rachakonda police commissioner seeking report on the issue. It was only after the intervention of the HRC, the Medipally police arrested seven persons in the case. Not only this. The Medipally police is known for not acting against the accused if the accused are

TELANGANA

Accused Friendly Cops rule the roost in Rachakonda

influential and rich. The cops try to threaten the complainants and ‘convince’ them to compromise with the accused. Take the case of N Srinivas. Initially, his complaint was not even received by the Medipally police. However, police had to register FIR (Crime No. 86 of 2020) as there was strong evidence against the accused with regard to siphoning of Rythu Bandhu funds. Earlier, another case was registered by the Medipally police (Crime No. 803 of 2019) for criminal trespass and criminal intimidation against some of the accused in crime number 86 of 2020. However, in both the cases there is absolutely no progress in the investigation. This is because the accused are influential

and rich. Last month, a report was published in these columns about the assistant commissioner of police of Malkajgiri, Y Narsimha Reddy, who had filed a report before the court stating that swindling of Rythu Bandhu funds with the help of fabricated documents is a civil case. Interestingly, Malkajgiri comes under Rachakonda police commissio nerate. Now, the immediate subordi nates of this great ACP are following in his footsteps by not taking action against the culprits. And it appears the Rachakonda police commissioner is reluctant to take action against the ‘Accused Friendly Cops’ allegedly because they have ‘connections in the higher echelons of political corridors.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

TELANGANA

Sharman, the down to earth Collector

P. SRINIVASULU

n fact, on the very first day of his job, the District Collector of Nagarkurnool, L Sharman Chavan, proved that he is different. As he inspected the government hospital after taking charge, the new district chief found that a pregnant woman was in dire need of ‘O’ negative blood and the hospital’s blood bank had no stock of ‘O’ negative blood. He believes in the principle ‘Practice before you preach’. So, without a second thought, Sharman volunteered to donate as he is ‘O’

negative. He asked the doctors to take his blood and attend to the pregnant woman immediately. After that he directed the health officials to conduct blood donation camps and ensure the availability of all groups of blood in the blood bank. On the next day, he rushed to the interior area of Nallamala forest near Achampet around 9 pm as the news about the fall of two tribals into the valley reached him. He consoled the kin of the two tribals and assured them all help from the government. He left the place only after arranging transportation of the bodies to

Achampet government hospital. Soon after taking charge on July 17, he began administrative shake-up in Nagarkurnool district. Govern ment officials, who have not been punctual on the pretext of covid-19 or any other silly reasons, were cautioned against such practice. He went around the government offices by foot and inspected whether officials were arriving on time for work and whether they are available at their seats. Those who were late to office or found loitering in the corridors were taken to task. Before being appointed as the

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

TELANGANA Collector and District Magistrate of Nagarkurnool, Sharman worked as additional secretary in the municipal administration department. This simple looking district chief has a very humble beginning. Born in a remote tribal hamlet in Adilabad district, Sharman grew up in poverty. His illiterate parents, eked their livelihood through cultivation. He had to walk 14 kilometers a day to attend a school. Also, he used to help his parents in the farm. He used to be tired walking 14 kilometers a day. Due to this, he fai led in SSC exams and was dejected.

However, he mustered courage and finished SSC and then finished intermediate at Luxettipet. Then there was no looking back for him. Sharman joined Nizam College in Hyderabad to complete his gradua tion. Then he did his masters and LLB after which he succeeded in competitive exams and joined as Inspector of Central Excise. Howe ver, he was not going to stop there. Sharmanâ€™s target was civil services. He reached interview level thrice but unfortunately could not succeed. However, he could crack Group-1 exam and became Deputy

Collector. He worked as RDO, Nagarkurnool in 1996-97. Later he was transferred to Nalgonda on promotion. While working as Joint Collector of the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district, Sharman introduced several measures to improve governance and work culture in government offices. People still recall his services as Mahbubnagar joint collector. Subsequently, he worked in the municipal administration department and now became the collector of Nagarkurnool, where he worked as RDO two decades ago.

ESIC staďŹ€er donates plasma

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he Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Telangana, has for the first time collected plasma from its senior OT Technician, G Santosh Goud, after he recovered from Corona virus. Santosh was admitted in hospital on June 9 after he developed corona symptoms. He

was confirmed Corona positive on June 10. However, he recovered completely and tested negative for Corona following which he was discharged 17 days later. When he was examined for antibodies on July 7, Santosh stood top among 20 people who recovered from corona virus. Consequently, Santosh volunteered to donate his plasma, which will now be used in treating

corona patients. ESIC authorities appreciated Santosh for donating his plasma. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan felicitated Santosh for donating plasma. ESIC authorities appreciated Santosh and said corona patients need not worry. They should learn from the example of Santosh and appealed to such patients to clarify their doubts from Santosh.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

10 TELANGANA

Are Maoists making a comeback in Telangana?

P. VISHNUVARDHAN REDDY

all it the alleged autocratic rule of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) or may be because of the pathetic living conditions generated due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) appears to have found space for a comeback in Telangana. Ever since the Telangana police chased the Maoists out of the state a couple of years ago, the rebel group has been trying to make a comeback. The rebels were only looking for some opportunity. And the opportu nity seems to have come in the form of alleged autocratic rule of TRS coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated economic troubles. As the unemployment among educated youth has been growing, the rebel group, which has been trying for new recruits, found opportunity to infuriate anger against the ruling governments and attracted youngsters

into its fold and armed them with weapons, sources said. The exchange of fire between Maoists and police teams in the forests of Bhadradri Kothagudem and Komaram Bheem Asifabad districts mid July in itself is evidence to the fact that Maoists are making a comeback. And the quick manner in which some anonymous press notes and pamphlets were released opposing Maoists and their demand for release of Varavara Rao and other leaders of front organizations shows the admini stration is worried at the situation. Though anonymous, it is understood that the press notes were issued at the behest of police because the police is worried that the unrest growing among the minds of unem ployed youth will take a serious form if they step into the shoes of Maoists. During the agitation for separate Telangana, the widespread rumour was that the Maoists will come back if the state is divided. All these days, the TRS government and its

loyal police officials had been claiming that the rumours were spread by those who opposed separate Telangana. However, now the worst fears seem to be coming true. The govern ment is suppressing with iron hand any

criticism, dissent to its policies. There have been allegations from different quarters that the govern ment has turned the police depart ment into a private army to suppress opposition both within and outside. Further, the Maoists have been opposing BJP from the beginning and the growing unemployment for various reasons across the country has become a boon for the rebels to step up recruitment. Sources within the police depart ment hinted that more and more number of educated youth is getting in touch with Maoist ranks and gradually being drawn into the unde rground. This, certainly is a worrying trend, though cannot be stopped.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

COVER STORY 11

Covid-19 Telangana

Private Hospitals ďŹ‚eece common people M

B. BALREDDY

Charge lakhs of rupees bill Refuse to give dead bodies

ost Indians consider hospitals as temples and its doctors as next to God if not God.

We still have many doctors with impeccable ethical records. However, there are many others not so ethical and they do not think twice before taking their patients

for a ride. The hospitals play with the emotions of the patients and their kin, take advantage of their lack of knowledge in the health and medical

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

12 COVER STORY

industry and fleece lakhs of rupees from them though the actual treatment costs only few thousands of rupees. This fleecing business has only increased in these times of Covid-19 pandemic after the government allowed private hospitals to treat corona patients. The situation in Telangana is no less bad than other cities. The government has issued an

order on June 15 allowing private hospitals to provide Covid-19 treatment with a ceiling on the fee of Rs 7,500 per day without ventilator support and Rs 9,000 with a ventilator. However, in practice, none of the private hospitals are following the government order. Complaints are pouring in from patients and their kin that the hospitals have charged them several lakhs of rupees even after the

patients died. The bodies were released only after clearing the exorbitant bills. The state government has launched a helpline through Whatsapp number 9154170960 on July 16 and appealed to the public to register their grievances with regard to any problem in connection with treatment for corona related health issues in private hospitals. So far, about 1000 complaints were made on this number of which majority complaints are related to exorbitant billing, but the government has done absolutely nothing in this regard.

The fleecing by private hospitals has become so serious that the High Court had to direct the state government to take action against private hospitals charging exorbitant rates for the treatment of Covid-19. A bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijayasena Reddy demanded to know why private hospitals were being allowed to fleece patients, and the state government was a mute spectator despite the state government issuing an order putting cap on treatment costs. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

COVER STORY 13

The court issued notices to the Centre, the National Council for Clinical Establishments, and private hospitals Yashoda, Care, Sunshine and Medicare. The bench observed that there were several instances of families of patients complaining that they were given bills that ran into lakhs of rupees, and if the patient died, some hospitals refused to hand over the bodies until the families paid the dues. It directed the state government to rein in the private hospitals, investigate why they were charging more than the amount specified by the state government, and submit a report.

Despite this, the private hospitals continue to fleece the patients. On July 29, Deccan Hospital is said to have charged Rs 17.50 lakh to a corona patient, who died while undergoing treatment. As the hospital authorities refused to hand over the body on the pretext that entire bill was not paid, the patientâ€™s husband suffered cardiac arrest and eventually died. Similarly, Continental Hospital charged Rs 9 lakh for nine days to a patient and demanded to pay balance Rs 6.5 lakh for giving the dead body to the wife of the deceased. The

woman had no money and approached the High Court for justice. In the meantime, somebody brought this to the notice of a powerful

minister in the state government, on whose suggestion the hospital handed over the body to the woman. Same is the case Manoj Kothari of

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

14 COVER STORY

Nimboliadda in Kachiguda, who was admitted to Yashoda Hospital, Somajiguda. The hospital refused to discharge him demanding huge amount, though the insurance company refused to pay the same stating that the government order did not permit the hospital to charge exorbitant fee. Last month, Thumbay Hospital in Chaderghat allegedly detained a government doctor taking treatment there for Covid-19, for not settling the "exorbitant fees levied The doctor, Asra Sultana made a fervent appeal through a selfie video for rescue from the hospitalâ€™s exploitation. However, Thumbay Hospital authorities refuted Dr Sultanaâ€™s charges as baseless and stated her total bill amount for almost five days was about Rs 1.5 lakh. There are endless numbers of similar cases wherein hospitals are charging lakhs of rupees from Covid19 patients and detaining their bodies in case full payment was not made. Though the High Court has taken serious note of it and directed the government to take stern action, the hospitals continue to flout the norms and fleece the patients. It may be recalled some time ago, countryâ€™s drug pricing regulator, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), released detailed analysis to show excessive profit margins made by hospitals from sale of medicines, consumables and other services and highlight nexus between doctors and industry that leads to prescription of drugs that are largely outside price control. The NPPA analysis showed that some

private hospitals registered 1737 per cent profit. For claiming higher margins, doctors-hospitals preferred prescribing and dispensing nonscheduled branded

medicines instead of scheduled medicines. New drugs and fixed-dose combinations launched by manufacturers in order to come out of

price control have become the preferred choice for manufacturing and medical fraternity, the NPPA observed. The NPPA, therefore, called for a major policy intervention on the part of the government to safeguard the interests of patients and public. The regulator has also suggested that medical devices and other consumables be put in the essential list so that they can be brought under the ambit of price control. It also found that diagnostics services constitute more than 15 per cent of the total costs. In random checks by NPPA, the charges were invariably found to be higher than diagnostics facilities provided by other independently run private centers.

It is time the state and central governments in general and the regulatory agencies in particular take stern action as per the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and other laws of the land to prevent private hospitals from fleecing the common people.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

TELANGANA

NIMS begins clinical trials of Covid vaccine A

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s part of human trials of Covaxin, India's first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, two volunteers were given its first dose at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) on July 20, doctors said. The healthy volunteers, who were administered the first dose of the vac cine in the morning, were stable. "Bo th are stable and we have not fou nd any reaction or side-effects," said Dr G.Srinivas, a member of the research team conducting the clinical trials. The volunteers will remain under the observation of a team of doctors till Tuesday. They will be sent home but their condition will be remotely monitored by the doctors for 14 days. The NIMS is one of the 12 institu tes selected by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for PhaseI clinical trials of the vaccine. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech had announced on July 17 that the Phase-I clinical trials began across the

country on July 15. "This is a randomised, doubleblind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 375 volunteers in India," the company had said. The vaccine maker had announced on June 29 that it successfully developed Covaxin in collaboration with the ICMR and National Institute of Virology (NIV). The SARS-CoV-2 strain was isolated in NIV, Pune and transferred to Bharat Biotech. The indigenous, inactivated vaccine was developed and manufactured in Bharat Bio tech's high containment facility loca ted in Genome Valley, Hyderabad. NIMS doctors said as many as 60 volunteers had enrolled for the clini cal trials. They were screened and the healthy volunteers were selected and their reports were sent to ICMR, which finalised the fit volunteers based on different parameters. Dr Srinivas said more volunteers would be administered dose as part of the clinical trial. "We will continue the Phase-I trials as per the sample size

given by the ICMR and Bharat Biotech," he told reporters without specifying the numbers. The Phase-I clinical trials are like ly to go on for 28 days, after which the ICMR and the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) would accord permission for Phase-II trials. The ICMR said Phase-I would have around 375 subjects across the country and Phase-II, 875. Doctors say the trials may be completed in five phases including pre-clinical studies which Bharat Biotech has already completed. Earlier, NIMS Director Dr K. Manohar said subjects would be adm inistered two doses of the vaccine. Each subject would be given the second dose of the same vaccine after 14 days. For two days after administering the vaccine, the subjects would be monitored for two days in the ICCU at NIMS by a team of doctors, after which they would be sent home and monitored through video conference or phone.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

16 TELANGANA

HC pulls up government again over Covid handling T

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he Telangana High Court on July 20 again slammed the state government over its handling of the Covid-19 situation and directed six top officials, including the Chief Secretary, to appear before it on July 28. The Principal Secretaries of Medical and Health, and Municipal Administration, the Director of Public Health, the Director of Medical Education and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner were the other officers summoned by the court. The court asked the government to respond why no action should be taken against the officials who are repeatedly ignoring its orders. A division bench of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy expressed its unhappiness over the government not implementing orders passed by it on earlier occasions. This is the fourth time the court has pulled up the government and expressed its displeasure over the poor handling of the pandemic in the state. Last month, the court had summoned the Director of Public Health and the GHMC

Commissioner. Hearing Public Interest Litigations (PILs) on various issues

related to Covid-19, the court made it clear that this is the last chance for the government.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

TELANGANA

"This is the fourth and last chance given to the government or else the court would make sure that heads start rolling," the bench remarked. The court made some serious remarks on the way the government is handling the situation and took it to task for not implementing its earlier orders for conducting more Covid-19 tests, providing better treatment facilities, maintaining transparency and disseminating all the information to people. The bench pointed out that Telangana was far behind states like Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala in conducting tests. It said the statistics show that the state is lagging in tests per million. Stating that the pandemic had taught every country in the world that the healthcare sector should be taken care of, the bench said those who don't learn the lesson will face the situation seen in countries like Spain, Italy and the US. Meanwhile, Telangana on Monday reported 1,198 new Covid cases, taking the state's tally to 46,274. According to the media bulletin issued by the Health Department, seven people succumbed to the virus on Monday, pushing the death toll to 422. Officials said 1,885 people recovered in the single day, taking the total number of recovered to 34,323. With this the state further improved the recovery rate to 74 per cent. The number of active stands at 11,530. A total of 11,003 samples were tested on Monday. With this the number of tests conducted so far rose to 2,76,222. According to the bulletin, the tests per million population is 6,906 while the cumulative sample positivity rate is 16.8 per cent. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

AP NEWS

Gas leaks: Deposit money with Andhra officials, NGT tells 2 firms

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he National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed two companies in Andhra Pradesh to deposit with Visakhapatnam and Kurnool district authorities within two week the compensation amount to given to kin of those who died and those affected by the toxic gas leaks last month.

Benzimidazole gas leaked at Sainor Life Sciences Private Limited in Visakhapatnam district on June 30, which claimed two lives and left four others affected. Ammonia gas leak from Spy Agro Industry in Kurnool district on June 26 had claimed one life and affected three others. These incidents came in the wake of gas leak from LG Polymers factory in Visakhapatnam district on May 7,

in which 12 persons had died and hundreds taken sick. With regards to the first case, the Visakhapatnam District Magistrate told the court that the company had announced compensation of Rs 35 lakh to the bereaved families. In an order on July 6, NGT Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel noted that no compensation had been paid to the injured. "We fix an interim compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the four injured. An amount of Rs 20 lakh be deposited with the District Magistrate within two weeks," the bench stated. Two employees -- shift incharge R. Narendra and chemist G. Gowri Shankar -- had died. Three of the four others taken ill have since been discharged from hospital. One is undergoing treatment at Care Hospital. The tribunal also directed for the constitution of a committee to assess final compensation to be given to the victims and for restoration of environment and suggestions for precautions in future. "The Chief Secretary, Andhra Pradesh, may identify and take appropriate action against persons responsible for failure to oversee the execution of on-site and off-site emergency plans and holding of mock drills as per the statutory requirement." The tribunal was apprised that Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board has issued closure order to the said company. The Factories Department has also issued prohibitory orders . In connection with the second case, the bench directed Spy Agro to deposit Rs 15 lakh as interim compensation to the heirs of the deceased and Rs 5 lakh each for the injured with the Kurnool District Magistrate within two weeks.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

AP NEWS

AP inks MoU with AMUL for dairy development

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n a move aimed at giving fillip to the dairy industry in Andhra Pradesh, the state government on July 23 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with cooperative giant Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL). The MoU signed in the presence of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at his official residence is expected to give a boost to the empo werment of women self-help groups by encouraging the milk coopera tives in the government sector. Terming Andhra Pradesh as the gateway to the South, the Chief Minister said that joining hands with AMUL will help the women groups and dairy farming in the cooperative sector with an opportunity and exposure to world class infrastructure, technology and marketing

opportunities which would improve their standard of living and self reliance of women. The MoU was signed by Special Chief Secretary Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development, Poonam Malkondaiah and AMUL Chennai Zonal Head Rajan. Jagan spoke to Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, Managing Director RS Sodi, and Chairman of Sabarkant District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited, Sambalbhai Patel through video conference. It was during his 3,648 km padayatra that the dairy farmers had told him about the exploitation of dairy units to benefit the private company Heritage Food (owned by the family of former Chief Minister and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu). The price of one liter water bottle

was Rs 22 and one liter bottle of milk was sold at the same price as the government of the day exploited the dairy sector in the cooperative sector to the hilt to benefit Heritage Foods. All dairies under the State Diary Cooperative Federation have been put in the red, said a statement from the Chief Minister's Office. Though the State stands fourth in milk production, only 24 per cent was going to the organised sector. The partnership with AMUL will help farmers to get good price and women groups, it added.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

AP NEWS

LG Polymers CEO, 11 others arrested for Vizag gas leak L

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G Polymers Managing Director and CEO, Sunkey Jeong and Technical Director D.S. Kim were among 12 officials of the company arrested by Visakhapatnam police on July 7, in connection with the styrene gas leak tragedy that left 15 dead and hundreds hospitalised in May this year. Assistant Commissioner of Police, R.V.S.N. Murthy, who is also the investigation officer, said the accused were booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. They were also booked under Indian Penal Code's Sections 278 (Making atmosphere noxious to health), 284 (Negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 285 (Negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) read with section 34 (Acts done by several THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

AP NEWS persons in furtherance of common intention). The gas leak from LG Polymers plant on the intervening night of May 6 and 7 affected Venkatapuram and five other villages. According to police, while 12 people died on May 7 and 8, three more villagers succumbed on May 25 and afterwards. A total of 34 animals also died in the incident. The development comes a day after the High Powered Committee (HPC) submitted its probe report to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S.

Jagan Mohan Reddy. The HPC probe report had listed several lapses on the part of the LG Polymers management, which led to the styrene gas leakage. The other accused arrested on Tuesday are LG Polymers' and Additional Director (Operations) P.P. Chandra Mohan Rao, HOD, SMH (in-charge) K. Srinivas Kiran Kumar, team leader production Raju Satyanarayana, engineers C. Chandrasekhar, K. Gowri Sankara Nagendra Ramu, K. Chakrapani, operator Muddu Rajesh, night duty

officer (operations) P. Balaji, incharge GPPS S. Atchyut and safety officer in night shift K. Venkata Narasimha Ramesh Patnaik. According to the investigating official, the investigations disclosed that the incident at M6 styrene storage tank took place due to negligence of the accused who were also having knowledge that their acts are likely to cause death. "The investigations so far made disclosed that the accident occurred to the poor design of M6 Tank, inadequate refrigeration and cooling system, absence of circulation systems, inadequate measurement parameters, weak safety protocol, poor safety awareness, inadequate risk assessment and response, poor management, slackness of management, insufficient knowledge amongst staff, insufficient understanding of the chemical properties of styrene, especially during storage under idle conditions and total breakdown of the emergency response procedures," the police said. Meanwhile, in a related development in the case, the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) suspended environmental engineers R. Lakshmi Naryana and P. Prasada Rao for negligence. Acting on the report of the HPC, APPCB suspended Prasada Rao, environmental engineer, regional office, Visakhapatnam, for gross negligence in allowing operation of LG Polymers without environmental clearance, allowing import and storage of huge quantity of styrene without verifying safety and environmental issues. Lakshmi Narayana, environmental engineer, zonal office, Visakhapatnam, was also suspended on the same charges.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

AP NEWS

Threat of tsunami lurks in oďŹ€shore KG basin R

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esearchers from the University of Hyderabad (UoH), the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) have discovered a geological faultline that could trigger a major coastal hazardous event in and around Visakhapatnam. The research team, comprising Prof K.S. Krishna and Dr M. Ismaiel from UoH, Dr K. Srinivas from NIO, and Dr D. Saha from ONGC, analysed seismic reflection data to understand the cause-effect relationship between the sediment load and the response of underneath heterogeneous igneous rocks in the Bay of Bengal, the varsity said in a statement. The study, conducted over three years, found presence of a 300-kmlong fracture line in the offshore region of north Andhra Pradesh, about 100 km away from the coast-

line. In geological sense, the fracture line borders eastern side of the offshore Bastar craton between the Pranahita-Godavari graben in the south and Nagavali-Vamshadhara shear zone in the north. Located to the east of north Andhra Pradesh, the once repetitively active fracture line has a maximum activity focussed in the vicinity of offshore Visakhapatnam. It might become active again, leading to a tsunami in the region, the researchers said. According to the study, fracture line activity in the offshore Krishna - Godavari (KG) basin was variable in nature. It had episodic start about 16 million years ago, which resumed around 6.8 million years ago. From then, the activity continued until 0.3 million years ago. Excessive vertical throws occurred at 16-6.8 million years ago over a distance of 300 km offshore north Andhra Pradesh that might have triggered the seismicity and

prompted generation of intensive tsunami events. The fracture line, currently inactive, may become active in case of the differential stresses on either side of the fracture line reaching the threshold level, and may turn out to be a geo-hazard event. While it's not easy to predict the timing of future activity, the researchers said the activity would certainly reoccur in a short time (in the geological sense). "It's in the dormant stage. The activity may reoccur any time in the geological sense -- maybe in hundreds of years or even thousand years or more than that. Right now, people do not have to worry. I don't want to create panic, but when the Sumatra tsunami happened, no one thought about that. It suddenly happened one fine day," Prof Krishna told a news agency. The study was reported in the recent issue of Journal of Earth System Science, published by the Indian Academy of Sciences.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

POLITICS

Dy CM was horsetrading with BJP to topple govt, we have proof: Gehlot W

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ithout taking the name of Sachin Pilot who was sacked on July 14 as the PCC chief and deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the Dy CM was himself engaged in a deal to topple the government and he has all the proof about it. Being fluent in English, giving strong bytes to the media and having a handsome personality doesn't mean everything. However, what matters is what stays in your heart for your nation, what is your commitment for your country and what are your ideologies and policies for your party. Sone ki chhuri pet mein khane ki liye nahin hoti (You never use a golden knife to cut your own stomach), he commented making a direct attack on Pilot without referring to his name. Gehlot said that the PCC chief was talking to the BJP and the deal was closed at 2 a.m. and a monetary transaction was done. He also accused the Modi government of being engaged in the entire plot. "A few of our party members became over ambitious and joined

hands with the BJP. In fact, our PCC chief and deputy CM himself was involved in the deal. We have proof, They were talking at 2 a.m., we were informed that a deal is being done to topple our government. I have proof against the same and have names of the people who refused to take the

money," Gehlot said. "The Congress kept democracy alive for 70 years, however, the present government is all out to kill democracy," he said, adding that "politics means a fight of ideology, it means fight on policy matters and fight on diverse issues. However, if

you have differences, you can go out of the party with 2/3rd majority, no one will have objection, there is an anti-defection law. However, when you start hobnobbing with the BJP which is in power at the centre, start making monetary deals with them, start making more trading, then that will be questioned." The Rajasthan CM also questioned the intention of the central government over the raids conducted by the ED and IT in Rajasthan and said why was the government terrorising people by misusing such agencies. Where is democracy, he questioned. Gehlot said the younger generation has not struggled the way his generation had. "We are alive even after working hard for over 40 years. However, the newer generation has not struggled a lot. They think we don't like them, but Sonia Gandhi likes them, Rahul Gandhi likes them and Ashok Gehlot also likes them." In our times, we did not have IT and mobiles, however, today leaders have the latest technology available with them and hence they can work hard and put up a good performance to develop the nation, he added.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

POLITICS

Fringe outfits emerge from within UP Congress

Parishad of which he is the

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ven as the Congress in Uttar Pradesh intensifies its attack on the Yogi Adityanath government in the state, the party faces fragmentation from within. Fringe groups, with the Brahmin community as the focus, are emerging to carry forward their own agenda which is not necessarily in consonance with the party line. Former union minister and senior Congress leader Jitin Prasad has launched the Brahmin Chetna

patron. He has launched a dialogue with members of his community through the social media and is concerned about the increasing atrocities on Brahmins in the Yogi Adityanath regime. Jitin Prasad, last year, had embarked on a Brahmin Chetna Yatra in Uttar Pradesh during which he had met families of those who had been killed in various incidents and the majority of them were Brahmins. Another senior Congress leader Swayam Prakash Goswami had formed the Uttar Pradesh Brahmin Sena - a 'social organization' - that is working for the welfare of the community.

Another young party leader Konark Dixit has set up a WhatsApp group called 'Shoshit Congress Savarn' that discusses the manner in which upper castes, mainly Brahmins, are being sidelined in the party under the leadership of Ajay Kumar Lallu, UPCC president. Konark Dixit has now been expelled from the party. The WhatsApp group, interestingly, has several senior Brahmin party leaders as members. Incidentally, out of the ten senior Congress leaders who were expelled from the party in UP last year, five are Brahmins. A senior Brahmin leader said that in the present scenario, the Congress should make an effort to woo Brahmins because the community is disillusioned with the BJP and will not

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

POLITICS

go with the SP or the BSP. "If we can win over Brahmins, Muslims will automatically follow and the party will gradually regain its original vote bank of Dalits, Muslims and Brahmins. Unfortunately, the party leadership is playing the OBC card which is not going to benefit us because Yadavs are with the Samajwadi Party and non-Yadav OBCs are with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party is ignoring its Brahmin leaders," he said. Veteran Congress leader Anusuya Sharma, meanwhile, has set up another outfit called the 'Rahul Priyanka Sena'. "I am trying to strengthen the Congress that fought the freedom movement and played a role in nation building. I am for the Congress that

had leaders like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi who laid down their lives for the country. Today there is a conspiracy to finish the Congress and I am fighting against it," she said. Sharma said that she is a Brahmin by birth and "we must accept the positive aspect of caste system." A former UPCC president said that the emergence of fringe outfits, headed by senior leaders, was a result of the manner in which seniors were being sidelined. Senior Congress leaders who have stayed with the party through thick and thin, will not join any other party. They have been pushed to the wings and are not even invited for party functions. It is natural that they will do something to keep their supporters together, he said.

Haji Siraj Mehndi, a veteran leader who was also expelled, said, suddenly we are told that there is no space for us in the party to which we have given a lifetime. After we were expelled without any reason, we tried to seek an appointment with the party high command but got no response. Fragmentation within the party is a result of this new ideology that is guiding the Congress in UP. Congress leaders who are in the party mainstream, meanwhile, said that the party was working for the weaker and deprived sections including Dalits and OBCs. "Those who are playing the Brahmin card can play their own game," a leader, considered a close associate of the UPCC president, said.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

ISIS has about 200 members in Kerala, K'taka: UN report

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l-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) is planning retaliation operations and an Indian ISIS affiliate -- Hind Wilayah -- has about 200 members present in Kerala and Karnataka, according to United Nations Security Council. The revelation was made in the 26th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team which was released recently. The report stated that "ISIS Indian affiliate - Hind Wilayah - which was announced on May 10, 2019, has between 180 and 200 members." According to the report, there are significant numbers of ISIS operatives in Kerala and Karnataka. The report also states that AQIS is planning retaliation operations in the region to avenge the death of its former leader Asim Umar.

About AQIS, the reports point out that the terror outfit operates under the Taliban umbrella from Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar Provinces. It reportedly has between 150 and 200 members from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan. "The current leader of AQIS is Osama Mahmood, who succeeded the late Asim Umar. AQIS is planning retaliation operations in the region to avenge the death of its former leader," the report stated. ISIS and al-Qaida remain active on social media, using platforms and messaging applications to share information and communicate with followers for the purposes of recruit ment, planning and fundraising, the report stated. Although the Europol operation in November 2019 to remove extremist content from Telegram appears to have had some impact on the ability of

IS to disseminate its message, the group has found ways to mitigate the clampdown. To achieve a wide dispersal of video and audio messages in April and May 2020, IS used several smaller platforms and file-sharing services, including Dropbox, Files. fm, Internet Archive, Microsoft One Drive, Nextcloud, Ok.ru, Rocket. Chat and Vimeo. For messaging, ISIS and alQaida are looking for tenable alternatives to Telegram. In a May 2020 issue of Ibaa' magazine, ISIS affiliate Hei'at Tahrir al-Sham had actively urged its followers and other militant groups in the Syrian Arab Republic to move permanently away from Telegram, Facebook Messenger and Viber and instead use other end-to-end encryption applications such as Conversations, Riot, Signal and Wire.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Both Indian, Chinese troops retreat 2km each in Galwan

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oth Indian and Chinese troops have retreated two kilometres each along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian and unknown number of Chinese soldiers were killed in a violent faceoff last month. Both sides retreated two kilometres simultaneously on July 5, following several rounds of talks which had begun after the clash on June 15. The disengagement between Indian and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) happened as per the agreed terms in the Corps Commander's meeting.

With the retreat from both sides, a four kilometre no-man zone has been created. "Four kilometres in the highly mountainous terrain like Galwan valley, deprives both sides to see each other's installations and reinforcements," sources said. The two sides have also agreed, sources said, not to do any aerial surveillance of the retreated area, to rebuild trust which was badly dama ged due to the June 15 bloodbath. "As a result, neither side would really know what the other side is doing," a military source said. Indian Navy's P-8I aircraft generally used for maritime patrol and reconnaissance, had been pressed into service in Ladakh for high altitude

surveillance. The P-8Is carried out similar surveillance operations during the 2017 India-China standoff in Doklam in Sikkim. However, sources said PLA has removed tents and structures at PP14 and rearward movement of vehicles of the PLA were seen at general area Galwan, Hotsprings and Gogra. The retreat on Sunday, sources said, is limited to these areas and not other contentious points along the LAC. Around 30,000 troops of Indian Army are in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with Chinese troops along the LAC in Ladakh, following the additional deployment of three brigades since the violent face-off last month.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Army starts permanent commission for women officers T

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he Indian Army has started the process to grant permanent commission to short service commissioned women officers in 10 streams, the force said on July 23. The Ministry of Defence has issued the formal government sanction letter for grant of permanent commission to women officers in the Indian Army, paving the way for empowering women officers to shoulder larger roles in the organisation. The order specifies grant of Permanent Commission to Short

Service Commissioned (SSC) Women Officers in all 10 streams of the Indian Army - Army Air Defence (AAD), Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), and Intelligence Corps in addition to the existing streams of Judge and Advocate General (JAG) and Army Educational Corps (AEC). In anticipation, the Army Headquarters had set in motion a series of preparatory actions for conduct of the Permanent Commission Selection Board for affected women officers. The

Selection Board will be scheduled as soon as all affected short service commission women officers exercise their option and complete requisite documentation. "The Indian Army is committed to provide equal opportunities to all personnel including Women Officers to serve the nation," the force said in a statement. It was after the Supreme Court ordered the Indian Army in February this year to grant permanent commission to women officers within three months, that the Army started the process to give serving women officers a bigger role.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION A bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and Ajay Rastogi, said, "Short Service Commission (SSC) women officers, both within the period of fourteen years' service and beyond, should equally be entitled to consideration for the grant of PCs." The court insisted on shaking off typical arguments founded on the physical strengths and weaknesses of men and women and on assumptions about women in the social context of marriage and family that do not constitute a constitutionally valid basis for denying equal opportunity to women officers. "To cast aspersion on their abilities on the ground of gender is an affront not only to their dignity as women but to the dignity of the members of the Indian Army - men and women who serve as equal citizens in a common mission," noted the top court. The Indian Army then had stated that all women officers serving in the force from now on would be consi dered for permanent commission.

AP: Youth dies after alleged police assault B

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eaten up allegedly by a policeman with lathi for not wearing a face mask, a youth succumbed to his injuries in Prakasham district of Andhra Pradesh on July 22. Yaricharla Kiran, who was injured in a July 19 incident, died while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Guntur. Kiran had questioned the police's attitude and reminded them about the rules, when they took him into custody and whisked him away in a police jeep. According to reports, Kiran was a private employee in Hyderabad, who had come to his home town due to the lockdown. He was allegedly beaten up again while in the jeep and to escape that he jumped off the vehicle, sustaining head injuries. His family alleged that the police hit him on his head, resulting in the injury and ultima tely death. Tension prevailed in

Thomaspeta area of Chirala follo wing the youth's death. Police deployed additional forces to prevent any untoward incident. Kiran, who was going on a motorbike with a friend, was stopped by police near Kottapeta checkpost, for not wearing the mask. The policemen, including sub-inspector of II-Town police station Vijay Kumar allegedly manhandled him. Prakasam Superintendent of Police, Siddharth Kaushal said an inquiry would be conducted by the officials of a neighhbouring district into the incident. He said a case was already booked against the sub-inspector on a complaint by the youth's father. Denying allegations against the police, the SP said the youth were stopped as they were allege dly in an inebriated condition. He said Kiran jumped off the vehicle when he was being taken to hospital for an alcohol test.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

LAC: Chinese not retreating, India readies for long haul

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he disengagement between India and China hit a roadblock in eastern Ladakh as Chinese troops have not moved back from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in line with the consensus arrived at during the disengagement talks between both the countries. Seeing this, the Indian Army prepares for a long haul and harsh winter for the high-altitude region. A massive logistical exercise has started to provide adequate rations and other supplies to its soldiers as the

friction areas still remain volatile. China is not complying with the roadmap for a complete pullback, which was drawn out during the Corps Commander level meet on July 14. The Chinese People's Liberation Army troops have not moved back. The Indian security establish ments said that the Chinese retreated a bit and then returned; so there is a need for "constant verification" of the consensus achieved during the meetings between the Indian and Chinese military delegates. It has been found that the Indian and Chinese troops have pulled back

at Pangong Lake by 2km and Finger 4 is empty. However, the Chinese are still camping on the ridge line. This clearly indicates that the Chinese had camped at Finger 4 that had traditionally been under the Indian control. The Chinese had come in eight kms into the Indian territory, all the way till Finger 4 from Finger 8. India maintains that the LAC runs through Finger 8. Mountain spurs jutting into the lake are referred to as fingers. In Galwan Valley, which is called Patrolling Point 14, distance between Indian and Chinese troops is three

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION kms. At Patrolling Point 15, the distance between troops is around 8km. But in Hot Springs, that is Patrolling Point 17, 40-50 troops on both sides are just 600-800 meters apart. The Chinese Army had retreated as per the consensus, but again returned. Seeing the Chinese approach, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh while reviewing the Indian Air Force's operational capabilities and deployments at forward locations on Wednesday urged the force to stand ready to handle any eventuality on the border with China. Singh had said during his address at the inaugural session of the threeday Air Force Commanders' Conference in New Delhi that started on Wednesday. The minister, during his visit to Ladakh last week, said that India wants peace but there is no guarantee of the final outcome of talks with China. Singh also reviewed the ground situation in the hostile border areas. India and China are engaged in military and diplomatic deliberations to de-escalate the tense situation in the border areas in Ladakh. The countries are locked in a 10-week-long standoff at multiple points, hitherto unprecedented along the border. The Indian delegation's main agenda at the meet was the complete PLA pullback from the Pangong Lake, Depsang and other areas in eastern Ladakh. China had changed the status quo on the LAC at various places, moving inside the Indian territories. India has objected to it and is taking up the matter with China at all levels. On June 15, as many as 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed in a violent clash in the Galwan Valley.

Widow of colonel killed in Ladakh clash appointed Dy Collector

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he Telangana government on July 23 appointed the widow of Colonel B. Santosh Babu, who was killed in the clash with Chinese troops in Ladakh last month, as a Deputy Collector. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao handed over the appointment letter to Santoshi at Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence of the Chief Minister. He instructed officials concerned to post Santoshi in Hyderabad or its surrounding areas. He also asked his Secretary Smita Sabharwal to be with Santoshi till she gets the proper training and settles down in her job. The Chief Minister had lunch with 20 of the family members of Santoshi who accompanied her to Pragathi Bhavan. He enquired about their wellbeing and assured that the government would always stand by Santosh Babu's family. It was exactly a month before that KCR had visited the family of Santosh Babu in Suryapet town to console his parents and other family members and handed over Rs 5 crore as ex gratia. He had also handed over to Santoshi the letter of her appointment to Group-1 job and documents on the allotment of a house site measuring 711 square yards in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. Meanwhile, officials were busy making arrangements to handover the land to the family. Hyderabad Collector Shweta Mohanty and other officials inspected the land which is to be handed over to the martyr's family. Santosh Babu and 19 other soldiers were killed in the clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley of Ladakh on June15. The colonel is survived by his wife, a nine-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

One year of axing Article 370: Pak trying to show India in poor light A

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s India prepares to celebrate the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, on August 5, a different kind of planning is going on across

the border. The Pakistan government, in close coordination with its infamous spy agency Inter-Services Intellig ence (ISI), has planned a series of events in the run up to August 5 to portray India in poor light in front of the international media, while

propagating itself as the 'messiah' of the Kashmiris. Parts of the elaborate plans have already begun with the PR division organising "visit of foreign media to the Line of Control". The "obje ctive", as stated by its own official document, is to portray that there is "no free movement/reporting in India occupied Kashmir". On August 4, just a day before the D-day, ISI's PR division in Pakistan occupied Kashmir will organise a visit of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to highlight that free movement is supposedly allowed on the Pakistan side of Kashmir, while there are alleged "restrictions" on the indian side of the Valley. Pakistan is planning to go full throttle on August 5, which it will observe as a "black day" - a day when India ensured that Jammu and Kashmir joins the mainstream of

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION development. The day, according to the document, will start with a tweet by the Director General of ISPR (ISI's PR wing) expressing support for Kashmiris "in their just struggle to the very end". The Imran Khan government's I&B Ministry has been tasked to bring out special supplements in all major Urdu and English dailies while the PR division has been asked to ensure that all Paksitani news channel logos turn black for the day. All channels in Pakistan have been directed to air special progra mmes on what it calls "just struggle against illegal Indian occupation". Even a special song has been commissioned by the Production Division on the "resilience" of Kashmiris. Kashmiri politicians, activists and

international organisations critical of India will be given a royal treatment by Pakistan on August 5 this year. Faced with the hard reality of Kashmiris in India choosing eco nomic prosperity to violence, a rattled Imran Khan will head to Muzaffarabad on that day and will address the PoK legislative Asse mbly on the "solidarity with Kash mir's struggle of self-determination" which will be beamed live. Also, pamphlets will be distribu ted on what it calls "justice delayed" regarding the UN resolution on J&K. The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ISI will also submit a "white paper" to the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan, making a case for plebiscite. Packages are also planned to be made of international media reports

critical of India and so are flag rallies. To give it an international colour, all the embassies of Pakistan have been told to hold functions and rallies across the globe. The diktat has come from Pakistan's Foreign Ministry and ISI together. Pakistan is also pinning its hope on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to issue anti-India state ments, and on the Turkish President, Malaysian PM and Chinese foreign office to tweet content that may add a pinch of legitimacy to Pakistan's stand. The PR department is also repor tedly planning to make a package of sound bytes and state ments of Indian politicians criticising India. It is mentioned in the docum ent as "Criticism of Indian Govern ment by Indian political leaders".

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Five Rafale jets land at IAF airbase in Ambala

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ive of the 36 medium multirole Rafale fighter jets built by French aircraft manufacturer Dassault landed safely at the IAF airbase in Ambala on July 29 afternoon. Significantly, the frontline IAF airbase is likely to be used in case of conflict at the northern or the western borders. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in a tweet, "The Birds have landed safely in Ambala." "The touchdown of Rafale combat aircraft in India marks the beginning of a new era in our Military History. These multirole aircrafts will revolutionise the capabilities of the @IAF_MCC," the minister added. Interestingly, the new additions, the fighter stable of Indian Air Force, are named after current Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria. Of the two squadrons of the Ra fale fighters, one would be based in

Ambala for the western borders in Pakistan, while the second squadron would be based at Hasimara in West Bengal and will be dedicated for the China border where Indian and Chinese People's Liberation Army troops are engaged in a border stand off, which left 20 Indian and unkno wn number of Chinese soldiers dead following a bloody clash on June 15. The five Rafale jets joined the Indian Air Force on July 29 and the ones to follow after this will not have the India specific changes that make them more lethal and potent. The Defence Minister thanked the French Government, Dassault Aviation and other French companies for ensuring the timely delivery of the aircraft and its weapons, despite severe restrictions posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. He pointed out that the aircraft have very good flying performance and their weapons, radar and other sensors and electronic warfare capabilities are among the best in the

world. "Its arrival in India will make the IAF much stronger to deter any threat that may be posed on our country," he tweeted. India finds itself stretched between the borders with China, where it is locked in an intense standoff, and also with Pakistan, where it is countering incessant crossborder firing from a hostile Pakistan army. Rajnath Singh also said that those who want to threaten India's territorial integrity should be worried about the new capabilities of the Indian Air Force. The minster also said that the Rafale jets were purchased when they fully met the operational require ments of the IAF. He also rebuffed allegations of getting the Rafale jets by paying dearly to France. He said, "The baseless allegations against this procurement have alrea dy been answered and settled."

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

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NATION

he Union Cabinet has approved the development of affordable rental housing complexes (AHRC) for the urban poor or migrants. The complexes will be built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban and according to the government, will benefit 3 lakh urban poor. Under the initiative, existing vacant government funded housing complexes will be converted to ARHCs. Further, special incentives like use permission, 50 per cent additional floor area ratio or floor space indexand tax relief will be offered. The Centre estimates Rs 600 crore of expenditure in the form of 'technology innovation grant'. The initiative was announced as part of the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat economic package by the Finance Minister in May in view of the mass exodus of migrant labourers and the poor back to their villages from urban centres post the announcement of the nationwide lockdown.

Cabinet okays affordable rental housing projects for urban poor

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

36 TECHNOLOGY

Malware, ransomware top cyberthreats in India: Microsoft report

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ndia experienced a higher encounter rate for malware and ransomware attacks than the regional average in Asia Pacific last year, according to the latest edition of Microsoft's Security Endpoint Threat Report. India registered the seventh highest malware encounter rate across the region, at 5.89 per cent in the past

year, showed the India findings of the report released on July 29. This was 1.1 times higher than the regional average. The report also found that India recorded the third highest ransomware encounter rate across the region, which was two times higher than the regional average. This was despite a 35 per cent and 29 per cent decrease in malware and ransomware encounters respectively

over the past year. "Typically, high malware encounters are a result of excessive usage of unlicensed and/or pirated software, and proliferation of sites that illegitimately offer free software or content, such as video streaming," Keshav Dhakad, Group Head & Assistant General Counsel Corporate, External & Legal Affairs, Microsoft India, said in a statement. "Consumer education is important

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

TECHNOLOGY - users should regularly patch and update programmes and devices and be able to identify unsafe websites and illegitimate software." India's cryptocurrency mining encounter rate showed a 35 per cent decrease from 2018 but was still 4.6 times higher than the regional and global average, and India recorded the second highest encounter rate in Asia Pacific after Sri Lanka, according to the report. During such attacks, victims' computers are infected with crypto currency mining malware, allowing criminals to leverage the computing power of their computers without their knowledge. The research showed that India, together with Hong Kong and Singapore, continued to face high drive-by download attack volume. These attacks involve downloading malicious code onto an unsuspecting user's computer when they visit a website or fill up a form.

The malicious code that is downloaded is then used by an attacker to steal passwords or financial information. India recorded a 140 per cent increase in such attack volume last year. Together with key financial hubs, Singapore and Hong Kong, India experienced an attack volume that was three times higher than the regional and global average. The findings were derived from an analysis of diverse Microsoft data sources, including 8 trillion threat signals received and analysed by Microsoft every day, covering a 12month period, from January to December 2019. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Microsoft Intelligence Protection team's data has shown that every country in the world has seen at least one Covid-19 themed attack, and the volume of successful attacks in outbreak-hit countries seems to be increasing, as fear and the desire for

information grows. Of the millions of targeted phishing messages seen globally each day, roughly 60,000 include Covid-19 related malicious attachments or malicious URLs. Attackers are impersonating esta blished entities like the World Health Organization (WHO) and US Cente rs for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get into inboxes. "According to our data, we found that Covid-19 themed threats are mostly retreads of existing attacks that have been slightly altered to tie to the pandemic," Dhakad said. "This means that attackers have been pivoting their existing infrastru cture, like ransomware, phishing, and other malware delivery tools, to incl ude Covid-19 keywords, to capita lise on people's fear. Once users click on these malicious links, attackers can infiltrate networks, steal informa tion and monetise their attacks."

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

FOOD

Ensure adequate intake of nutrition A

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n unhealthy diet can increase the risk of diseases by manifolds. Healthy dietary modifications are important to boost immunity and control degenerative diseases, say experts. Make sure that you have 78 servings of brightly coloured fruit and vegetables. These are rich in phytoc hemicals (plant nutrients), a potent diseasefighting and immune-boosting nutrient. The more the diffe rent or variety of colors you include in your diet, the more it will benefit your health as different colours are rich in different phytochemicals. Vegetables and fruits are the best sources of antioxidants such as vitamin C, vita min E, betacarotene and selenium. Flavourful immunity - Boosting spices and foods like garlic, ginger, turmeric not only add flavour, but also add a cancer-fighting punch of valuable nutrients. Other good choices include basil, rosemary, and coriander. Use them in soups, salads, casseroles, or any other dish. Pump up your protein intake - by having pulses, beans and legumes, lean meat, eggs, low fat milk and milk products. Have healthy carbohydrates - from whole grains, cereals and millets like oats, barley, ragi etc which is loaded

with fiber and essential nutrients rather than refined flour and sugar. Focus on plant foods - Plants have less fat, more fiber, and more cancerfighting nutrients. These 3 elements work together in best ways to support your immune system and it helps your body to fight cancer. Increase fiber in diet - Evidence consistently suggests that eating plenty of fiber can reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancers. Increase fibre in diet by incorpo rating whole grains, pulses and legumes, fruits and vegetables. Add probiotics like yogurt and fermented food in diet - This will boost your immunity and gut health. Cut down on red and processed meat, tinned, canned and preserved

food which is loaded with sodium and preservatives. These are also low in fibre and high on calories, saturated fats and trans fats. Cut down on saturated - fats and trans fats while increase the intake of w-3 fatty acid from fatty fish, flax seeds, almonds, walnuts etc. Reduce the intake of alcohol and quit smoking - Consuming alcohol increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, breast and liver. The risk is even more for those who smoke. Alcohol has also been associated with colon and rectal cancers. To minimise the risk, men should take less than two standard drinks a day, whereas for women this limit should be one standard drink a day.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

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he Supreme Court has asked the Ministry of Finance to look into a plea which claimed a loss of hundreds of crore every day, as the public sector banks are not invoking personal guarantees of big corporates who have defaulted on loans. A bench comprising Justice R. F. Nariman and Navin Sinha asked the petitioners, Saurabh Jain and Rahul Sharma, who filed the PIL, to move the Finance Ministry with a representation within two weeks. The top court observed that the issue is important and the ministry should respond after the petitioner has made

SC: Why aren't personal guarantees of defaulters invoked by PSBs?

the representation before it. The matter had come up for hearing on Monday. "We are of the view that at page 115 of the Writ Petition it has been made clear that the Ministry of Finance itself has, by a Circular, directed personal guarantees issued by promoters/managerial personnel to be invoked. According to the petitioners, despite this Circular, Public Sector Undertakings continue not to invoke such guarantees resulting in huge loss not only to the public exchequer but also to the common man", said the bench in its order. Senior advocate Manan Mishra and advocate Durga Dutt, represented the petitioners. Mishra contended before the bench that the statistics establish the public sector banks incurred a loss of approximately Rs 1.85 lakh crore in a financial year, and the banks did not

take action to invoke personal guarantees of the biggest corporate defaulters. The bench observed that since the petitioners claim the public sector undertakings are not complying with this circular, "We think you should first go to the ministry," said the bench. Mishra argued before the bench that the loans from a common man are recovered through a mechanism where officials go through even the minutest detail, but promoters, chairpersons and other senior level functionaries of the big corporates find it convenient to get away by defaulting on loans. The bench told the petitioner's counsel that the Finance Ministry has already issued a notification on this matter, and the petitioners should seek response from the ministry, and then move the top court. Mishra submitted before the bench to issue a direction to

the Finance Ministry to give a response on their representation. The bench said, "We allow the petitioners, at this stage, to withdraw this Writ Petition and approach the Ministry of Finance with a representation in this behalf. The representation will be made within a period of two weeks from today. The Ministry of Finance is directed to reply to the said representation within a period of four weeks after receiving such representation. With these observations, the petition is allowed to be withdrawn to do the needful." Mishra contended before the bench seeking liberty to come back after a reply from the Finance Ministry. Justice Nariman said this option is open for petitioners after a decision has been taken by the ministry. "We will hear you", added Justice Nariman.

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NATION

Act against hospitals denying cashless Covid-19 treatment: IRDAI

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he Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has asked insurers to take action against hospitals that decline cashless treatment facility for Covid-19 to policyholders. Citing complaints against such hospitals' refusal despite their agreements with insurers and claims processing agencies, the IRDAI has asked insurers to make complaints to the appropriate government agencies in different states.

The IRDAI also asked the insurers to publish the action taken on the complaints against hospitals on their website. The insurance regulator has also asked the insurers to have an exclusive grievance redress mechanism relating to cashless treatment for Covid-19 and other grievances against such hospitals that are enlisted as network providers. The General Insurance Council had recently come out with a standardised rate for hospitals to charge for Covid-19 treatment.

Industry officials said that big corporate chain hospitals were not agreeable to the rates. The hospitals feel that this will not be the last time the insurers come up with a standardised rates, and may later come out with rates for other treatment procedures as well. Meanwhile the IRDAI has also asked the general insurers to provide a five per cent discount on premium on the policy `Corona Kavach' to doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Ex-MLA's property razed for encroaching graveyard in UP A

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part of a two-storied building belonging to former Legislator Ramsewak Singh Patel, was demolished in Uttar Pradesh for being illegally constructed on graveyard land. Officials said only the encroached part of the building was razed. Badaun District Magistrate, Kumar Prashant, told reporters, "In 1989, Patel had got the land of the graveyard transferred under his name illegally with the help of a local revenue official. The documents related to the transfer of the land have no authorised signatures and the map of the building was also illegally passed. An FIR was lodged against Patel and then lekhpal. The matter is under investigation." The District Magistrate further said, "The court of the city magistrate had earlier declared the building illegal as it was built on the graveyard land. Patel filed an appeal in the court of district magistrate where he lost and later moved to the divisional commissioner's court, which also upheld the order of city magistrate's court. We had served a notice to Patel three days ago and demolished the illegal portion on Tuesday. He had illegally occupied the land measuring around 5,000 square feet." Patel, a Bhartiya Janata Party

leader now, blamed the adminis trative officials for demolishing the building due to "political pressure". He said, "It was a private grave yard and the mutawalli (caretaker) of the graveyard had transferred the land to my father. I inherited it from my

father. It was private land of a graveyard and not public property. The map of the building was passed. The district administration is harassing me because of political pressure. I have informed senior BJP leaders about the matter."

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Chandrayaan-2 data to be released globally from Oct: ISRO T

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he Indian space agency has said public release of science data from Chandrayaan-2 for global use will begin in October. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) also said July 21 marked an year of the launch of India's second moon mission by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-MkIII-M1. It was on July 22, 2019, the GSLV rocket, nicknamed 'Bahubali', blasted off from the second launch pad at India's rocket port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Extensive data has been acquired from Chandrayaan-2 payloads and parameters are being derived for presence of water-ice in the polar regions, X-ray based and infrared spectroscopic mineral information, and mid and high-latitude presence of Argon-40, a condensable gas on the Moon which gets released internally by the radio-active decay, said ISRO. The report on the major findings from Chandrayaan-2's science experiments was planned to be released at the Annual Lunar Planetary Science Conference in March. However, it got cancelled due to Covid-19. The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was inserted into lunar orbit on August 20, 2019. All eight payloads on Chandrayaan-2 are performing well. The global mapping of lunar surface and polar coverage are being carried out as per the mission plan, ISRO said. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Decriminalisation of Sec. 138 N.I. Act to hurt traders: CAIT

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aising concern over the proposed decriminalisation of bouncing of cheques, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has advised Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman against it. In a letter to the Finance Minister, the CAIT urged the government not to decriminalise Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 under any circumstances, and said such a move would nullify the sanctity of cheques and the banking sector of India. According to the CAIT, the proposed decriminalisation, if imple

mented, will distort the business conditions and give tremendous rise to unfair and unethical trade practices, thereby putting crores of businessmen under the severe risk of losing money to immoral and fraudulent elements of society. "Not only the traders, but others will also find it difficult to purchase any goods on EMI since EMI is always supported by post-dated cheques. Henceforth, no one will accept post-dated cheques," it said. On the one hand the government recently included Sections 143 and 148 to make the Negotiable Instrum ents Act more effective in providing redress to the complainants, on the

other hand it was seeking to dilute the Act, the CAIT said. Bouncing of cheques issued agai nst an enforceable debt must be taken as a "very serious issue," it said. Post-dated cheques were an important instrument of business and ensured sufficiency of working capital by acting as guarantee for several modes of finance and credit, it said. The Department of Financial Services last month issued a state ment seeking comments from stake holders on decriminalisation of seve ral minor offences, which included bouncing of cheques, to improve the business sentiment.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION Elaborating Zhou’s arrest, Brinda said on the intervening night of June 19, 2018, the sleuths of Narcotics and Affairs of Border (NAB), led by her, had arrested the man along with seven others and seized 4.595 kg of heroin, 2,80,200 “World is Yours” tablet, Rs 57.18 lakh in cash, another Rs 95,000 old currency notes, and several other incriminating articles. Soon after the seizure was made, Brinda had received a WhatsApp call from one Moirangthem Asnikumar, a vice-president of the BJP in the state, who made her speak to the CM over the phone. “I informed the CM that we were about to search the house of an ADC member as we suspected drugs were stashed in his quarters. The CM lauded and told me to go ahead and arrest the ADC member if drugs were found in his quarters,” Brinda said. She said even as the operation was on, Zhou had repeatedly requested her to come to a compromise and settle the

CM pressured me to let off arrested drug lord: Manipur lady cop

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hounaojam Brinda, a lady officer of Manipur Police has alleged that the Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the police top brass had “pressured” her to let off an arrested drug lord. In an affidavit, Brinda narrated how she was pressured by the authorities to release Lhukhosei Zhou, the alleged drug lord who was then

serving as chairman of the Autonomous District Council (ADC), Chandel, and withdraw the chargesheet filed against him and others in court. Brinda is facing a contempt case for her “offensive” remarks on Facebook allegedly undermining and criticising the judiciary after Zhou was granted bail by the court of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

issue but she refused. “After the drugs were found at his quarters, he asked me to allow him to call the Director General of Police (DGP) and the CM which I did not permit. Then Asnikumar came to my residence. He was in a serious mood. He told me that the arrested ADC member turned out to be the righthand man of CM’s wife Olice in Chandel and that Olice was furious about the arrest. He told me that CM

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION had ordered that Zhou be exchanged “I along with SP, NAB went for the with his wife or son and to release him. meeting at the DG’s room at Police I told him how that is possible as the headquarters. There, the DGP drugs were seized from him and not enquired about the chargesheet of the his wife or son. I told Asnikumar I case. I told him that it had reached the cannot release the man and thereafter, court. He told us that the honourable he left,” Brinda wrote in the affidavit. CM wants the chargesheet removed She said Asnikumar had visited from the court. I told the DG that it is her again to convey that the CM and not possible as the chargesheet is his wife were extremely furious about already in the court. Further, the DG her refusal to release the man and said, it is the order of the CM that it be ordered once again to let him off. removed from the court. The DG then “I told him I will not release Zhou ordered SP, NAB, and me to remove and let the investigation and court decide the culpability of the ADC chairman… There “I said I do not need this job and I came were over 150 personnel back to this service at the request of New present in the entire operation Delhi on the promise that I would be along with independent witnesses. I asked how I will supported in the works I do and can leave answer the whole team and the the job anytime if I am not satisfied (this public… He left again but was agreed between the returned for the third time and told me that the CM and Olice parties). Thus, this attempt were adamant that I release the of the CM is to finish my ADC chairman under any career at the nip by condition… “I said I do not need this job destroying my credibility for and I came back to this service his wife's political interest. I at the request of New Delhi on the promise that I would be will not release the man," supported in the works I do and Brinda wrote in the can leave the job anytime if I affidavit. am not satisfied (this was agreed between the parties). Thus, this attempt of the CM is to the chargesheet from the court. Later finish my career at the nip by that evening, the SP, NAB came back destroying my credibility for his to the office and told me in my room wife's political interest. I will not that he just came back after meeting release the man," Brinda wrote in the the CM and that the CM was infuriated affidavit. that the chargesheet had still not been Subsequently, she said, the then removed from court,” the affidavit SP, Imphal West, Themthing, visited reads. her residence and she along with him On January 1, 2019, the Special and Asnikumar discussed the matter. Judge, NDPS, Yumkham Rother, She said she had told both of them that wrote a letter addressed to the DG of it was impossible to release Zhou. On police and to the Secretary, Bar December 14 that year, the SP, NAB Council of Manipur stating that the told her that the DG of police had then SP of Imphal West and senior called for a meeting at 11 am that day. advocate H Chandrajit Sharma had

reportedly come and met T Bipinchandra, the Special Public Prosecutor, at his office and asked the investigating officer of the case to withdraw the chargesheet against Zou. On March 3, 2019, a local daily reported “how senior advocate Chandrajit Sharma and SP Jogesh Chandra tried to malign the drug kingpin’s trial… The same day, the SP, NAB issued a press release stating that there was no pressure from anyone on NAB to remove the chargesheet from the court”. Brinda said the next day, the CM had called her and other police officers to his bungalow in the morning. There he scolded me saying ‘Is this why I gave you gallantry medal. There is something called official secrecy act also’. “The CM gave a thorough scolding especially directed at the SPP and me. I still do not understand why we were reprimanded for dutifully discharging our lawful duty to this day,” Brinda wrote. She said her remarks on Facebook was not aimed at obstructing or interfering with the course of justice or the due administration of law but was a fair criticism on the conduct and chara cter of the judicial officer/ individual who was acting as a Judge but who did not have respect for the chair. Brinda is an officer of Manipur Police Service. In 2018, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry had awarded her for her outstanding performance in busting several drug rackets. She is also a recipient of the Gallantry Medal and the Chief Minister’s Commendation Certificate.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

EDU-VOICE

PROF. G. NARSIMULU

Students need much more than Midday meals at colleges

he Telangana government planning to implement Midday meals for Intermediate and Degree students from the academic year 2020-21. A meeting held under the chairmanship of TS Chief Minister, K.Chandrashekar Rao(KCR) recently with the minister of education and officials from the education department along with chairman and vice chairmenâ€™s of the state council for higher education has taken this decision to this extent. Introducing midday meals, they felt can help curb the drop out rates. As chief minister felt that the majority of the students are found absent to afternoon classes . To get them into afternoon classes it is helpful to give them midday meals. officials are also directed to call experts opinion on several issues in the education sector. The chief minister said his next agenda is to provide quality of education to the rural students in the state. As per the government records, there are more than three thousand three hundred junior colleges, in which four hundred governmentmanaged colleges and another seven hundred are in the government sector. Approximately one lakh fifteen thousand were registered in four hundred government-run junior

colleges and forty thousand were enrolled in126 government Degree colleges in Telangana state.out of 1214 colleges affiliated to state universities only 160 colleges got NAC accreditation so far. During the year 2018-19 out of four lakh, only two lakh students took admission into various courses in theses colleges rest of the seats were vacant, For the year 1919-20, the centralised admission the committee at the state level of Higher education could able to fill up forty per cent seats and rest were vacant. Regarding the staff position in government degree and junior colleges, only twenty to thirty per cent of regular staff are on the roles and rest of them are contract or part-time basis and renewable for every year. Out of sanctioned teaching staff of 3975 in 126 government degree colleges,2487 are vacant as a majority of the teaching staff retired and over two decades no recruitment was taken up in either erstwhile Andhra Pradesh or separate Telangana state. About 80 government degree colleges are without regular principals. During the lockdown, the period from March to at present the universities and other institutions are closed and campus hostels also closed and students are in their native places helping their parents in village-level

employment generation schemes as manual labour. Approximately five to seven lakh teachers working in various private institutions were asked to go on leave and or removed from the services. Even good academic private Prinicipalâ€™s were asked to go either on leave without salary or leave permanently from the colleges. To feed their families, the academic community are engaged in several professions as vegetable vendors and small petty businesses. When the former students

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

observed their lecturer was selling Bananas on the street, they collected some funds from their batch students and helped the teacher. The education system adapted from Britishers to make the students as subordinates and only oriented as employees in government offices and the system is failed to face a situation like COVID -19 virus spread the entire country. As the people are not oriented for savings and when they are jobless, they become panic and leaving cities and towns, looking out their Native villages where their parents are residing. It has now reached community spread not only in GHMC area but even Districts and villages of Telangana. Without bringing radical changes in pedagogy from primary to higher education, providing middy meals at junior and Degree colleges have no effect on the retention of students in the classroom. After spending more then twenty years in schools and colleges,the rural students could not get enough courage to face the job market as their skills are

not updated .only five to ten per cent of the engineering stream could get employment either in India or abroad and the rest of them join as in semiskilled employees or under employed. The government of Telangana should seriously think of radicalising entire education system by incorporating ethical, moral values of Indian traditional Gurukula system education plus modern technology. The almighty God gifted individual child has unique qualities and calibre. But the parents and present education system failed to bring out the inborn talent of the child and imposing the thoughts and conditioned the child to become engineers or Doctors or get some. Government jobs and end up their life as unnoticed. There are more than 13 state universities are without vice-chance llors for the last two years, having less no of teaching staff on roles and nonavailability of funds. Particula rly rural universities like Palamuru , Mahatama Gandhi, Telangana and Sathavahana are very backward in

EDU-VOICE 47

terms of imparting the quality of education. The Research and commu nity reach out programmes are new words for them. In view of the prevailing situation just providing midday meals in junior and Degree colleges will not improve the condition of students and improve their academic standards. Instead, programmes in personality and skillbased knowledge for making them entrepreneurs and providing employment to others should be taken up. Mahatma Gandhiji Education Heart, Hand and mind should be thought of. Every work whether it is manual or technical is treated as equal. At childhood, this is to be incorporated into per primary and primary education. The students are encou raged to work and earn during vacations and engage the part-time jobs so that they are financially independent. This should be the objective of the new education policy of Telangana state, Dr P. Shanker Assistant professor and TS state president of ABVP a student organisation felt that the introduction of Middy meals scheme is no way useful but the universities in Telangana needs more financial support from the government and trained teaching staff. The entire course work should be revamped and the community will be benefited with the new knowledge. The state government of Telangana state should not feel contented just by providing midday meals but revamp education system from primary to university education by constituting education commi ssion to suggest appropriate recomm endations with a time framework. (Author is Retired professor Departments of Life long education Osmania university Hyderabad, Telangana state)

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

MP girl who cycled 24 kms daily in top ten of 10th board

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oshani, a 15-year-old girl of Bhind in Madhya Pradesh, has proved true to her name, making her village proud by her sheer hard work, regularly cycling 24 km a day. She scored 98.5 per cent marks in the class 10 examination of the state board. Roshani also figured at the eighth position in the merit list. The teenager is a resident of Ajnol village in Mehgaon of Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh. Her father Purushottam Bhadoria is a farmer. The urge to study was such that even the heat, rain and cold could not prevent her from going to school regularly. Roshani has secured 98.5 per cent marks in the 10th board examination, scoring a place in the merit list as well. Her family and village are proud of her success. Roshani said she wants to become an IAS to bring change in the society. Roshani's mother has studied till 12. She has two brothers. O.P.S. Bhadoria, former MLA of Mehgaon and Minister of State in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, has described the achievement of Roshani as a symbol of new light. Announcing a prize of Rs 11,000 for Roshani, the minister said she has raised the hope of other girls in the region. Roshani regularly cycled 12 km to school to attend classes and then cycled back home. She faced many problems due to rain, heat and cold, but did not lose her spirit. She has scored 100 per cent in Mathematics and Science.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Given a chance, only 6% Indians would want to leave India

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n a survey conducted across India, as part of developing a Happiness Index for Indians, the pride of Indian passport has reflected vividly with almost 94 per cent of Indians not wishing to move out even if given an opportunity to do so. Of all those who participated in the survey, 84.3 per cent showed no interested in leaving India while 0.3 per cent responded with "depends" and 9.3 per cent of the respondents were not sure of their answer. Only 6.1 per cent of all the respondents said that if given an opportunity, they would leave India. Surprisingly, only 6.2 per cent of freshers (below 25 years) and 4.2 per cent of young (25-45 years)

respondents said they are willing to leave India given the opportunity while 9.7 per cent of old (60 years and above) people responded with the willingness to leave the country if given an opportunity. Among different income groups, people with higher income showed less willingness to leave India with only 3.3 per cent responding positi vely while 8.9 per cent of the people in lower income group showed willingness to leave the country. The urban-rural divide was stark with only 0.7 per cent people showing willingness to leave the country. On the contrary, 8.4 per cent urban people surveyed showed willingness to leave the country if given an opportunity. The figures were 3.5 per cent for semi-urban people. In the survey, people from south

were more willing to shift abroad with 13.6 per cent responding affirmatively while 4.1 per cent people in east, 4.0 per cent in north and 3.7 per cent people in west showed willingness to leave India given the opportunity. Analysed on religious basis, only 9.7 per cent Muslims showed willingness to leave the leave the country while over 43.5 per cent Christian showed interested in leaving the country if provided with opportunity. The survey was conducted by CVoter in association with Delhi based NGO Gender Mainstreaming Research Association (GMRA) as part of their ongoing effort to develop a comprehensive Happiness Index for India.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Crowd funding, source of fund in Kerala gold smuggling case T

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he ongoing probe by Customs and the NIA in the controversial gold smuggling case, in which even the office of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is allegedly involved, has revealed it was crowd funding -- the main source of funds in gold smuggling. The entire money required to buy gold is transferred through hawala to the UAE. The case which has large scale ramifications across sectors first surfaced when P.S. Sarith, a former employee of the UAE Consulate, here was arrested by the Customs on July 5 when he was facilitating smuggling of 30 kg gold in diplomatic baggage to Thiruvananthapuram from Dubai. It turned murkier when the name of Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE Consulate, here and employed with the IT Department, surfaced and it turned the full circle when her links with the principal secretary of Vijayan - M. Sivasankar, who is also the State IT secretary, were revealed. First Swapna was booted out and then Vijayan quickly removed Sivasankar from both the posts, but it was not enough as the Congress and the BJP went full throttle demanding the suspension of Sivasankar and the resignation of Vijayan. The Centre also stepped in and the NIA was asked to probe the case, even as the Customs is already on it. A day after NIA was put into service, Swapna and her friend Sandeep were taken into custody from Bengaluru and are presently under judicial custody. It was after that the probe went into high gear and the Customs have by now completed a nine hour grilling of Sivasankar, while the NIA have got vital leads after questioning Swapna, Sandeep, THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION Sarith and Rameez, all were arrested. It was the leads, which led to the modus operandi of the operations and according to the Customs, the gold smuggling gangs consist of several layers and include financiers, here who raise the money to buy gold from the Middle East. Then there is another section who transports it to the various end users - which are the jewellers in the state and the vital clogs are those who coordinate the entire operations with precision. At the end of the successful operation, everyone involved gets their due share and Customs have now found out this particular gang in the month of June alone has smuggled 70 kg of gold on three different occasions. Swapna and Sarith are carriers and using their closeness which was built up when the duo worked at the UAE Consulate and her close links with Sivasankar also came as a boon. According to the Customs, it has got vital evidence, the way Swapna functioned on July 5, the present smuggling attempt, which failed. Her mobile was located in the tower where the entire operations were carried out from a flat, which is next door to the State Secretariat.

Another casualty attached to Vijayan -- Arun Balachandran, a former IT fellow of Vijayan and now works in the IT department, who though claims he has nothing to do with it, other than arranging a flat on the directions of Sivasankar, has been now removed from his present post. Now all eyes are on the Customs who is all set to call Sivasankar again, as his mobile phone has already been

confiscated and sent for scientific examination. The NIA is also expected to call in Sivasankar and as and when it happens, all the preliminary links would be established to reign in the fledging gold smuggling racket, but this is the first time, where higher ups directly or indirectly appeared to have a role.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

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he seizure of 30 kg of gold from a diplomatic consignment at the Trivandrum International Airport has snowballed into a major political controversy in Kerala as the prime suspect of the smuggling racket, Swapna Suresh, a woman who wears many hats, happens to be close to the ruling Left Democratic Front government in the state. Swapna Suresh, a high-profile consultant with the Kerala IT department, is reportedly on the run after her name emerged in the investigation of a gold smuggling scandal which links her with top smugglers operating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Speaking on the multi-crore gold smuggling scandal, Sumit Kumar, Customs Commissioner, said that

Involved in gold smuggling, high-profile IT consultant creates political storm in Kerala various leads are being pursued by the investigators to unravel the names of those who profited from the racket. "It's a (gold smuggling) case which has links to other countries. We are in the process of identifying the kingpin," Sumit Kumar, a senior IRS officer, told IANS without taking the name of Swapna Suresh. Soon after Swapna Suresh's name cropped up in the smuggling racket, state BJP chief K. Surendran alleged that IT Secretary and Chief Minister THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION Sources in the Customs said that Swapna was born and brought up in Abu Dhabi. In 2011, she got a job in a travel agency in Thiruvananthapuram. Two years later, she joined Air India SATS but left for Abu Dhabi in 2016 when the Crime Branch initiated a probe against her in a forgery case. Swapna then secured a job in the UAE Consulate. As Swapna is fluent in Arabic, she got in touch with Arab businessmen and led several delegations to Kerala. Sources said that during her stint in the travel agency and later in AI SATS, Swapna got in touch with several officials at the airports and

customs. She also got an insight into the delivery and handling of diplomatic consignments. It is believed that due to her connections in Kerala as well as in the UAE, Swapna gradually got acquainted with various groups and allegedly used the system to smuggle gold through diplomatic consignments. "It's too early to say that for how long diplomatic baggage was being used to smuggle gold into India. We have to wait for the interrogation of the prime suspect (Swapna) before we can assess the scale of smuggling racket," said a senior customs official.

Pinarayi Vijayan's office exerted pressure for the release of Swapna. The BJP also alleged that the Kerala IT Secretary was patronising Swapna, who's known for her toplevel connections. The IT Secretary, who also happens to be the Secretary to the Chief Minister, was a frequent visitor to Swapna's residence. Later, Chief Minister Vijayan's office denied any links with Swapna. The state government also terminated Swapna from the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd (KSITL). The IT Secretary, M Sivasankar, was also removed from the post of Secretary to CM. Not content with the action, the opposition has now demanded a CBI probe into Swapna's appointment in KSITL, despite a Crime Branch probe pending against her. THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

No registration of BS-IV vehicles sold after March 31: SC T

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he Supreme Court on July 8 recalled its March 27 order, where it had allowed the sale of BS-IV compliant vehicles for 10 days, barring in Delhi-NCR, after the lifting of the nationwide lockdown imposed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In its March order, the top court had allowed some relief to the auto dealers, permitting the sale of 10 per cent unsold BS-IV inventory. The apex court on Wednesday said that it

will not allow registration of BS-IV vehicles sold after March 31. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra and comprising Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Indira Banerjee pulled up the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association of India (FADA), saying it would be a violation of the court order if it allowed sale of vehicles after opening of the lockdown. "No BS-IV vehicle will be registered if sold after March 31, 2020," noted the top court. The bench observed that registration takes time

after the sale of the vehicle, and told the FADA that BS-IV vehicles are sold and it wants registration for these vehicles despite orders passed earlier. Senior advocate K.V. Viswanathan, representing FADA, argued that the court allowed registration in March, and the order from the top court says no registration after March 31, and if one buys a vehicle before that, registration has to be done. The bench replied that it is asking about transactions after the order was passed. "We will protect only if VAHAN registration is correct. We will ask the government to check VAHAN data. How were vehicles sold online at 3 per cent to 40 per cent off? That too after March 31, what is this fraud," asked the SC bench. Justice Mishra told FADA not to take advantage by playing fraud. The bench asked the Centre to file data on vehicles uploaded on VAHAN portal post March 31, and also 15 days prior to this date. The top court also asked the FADA to give details of the vehicles sold to the government. The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on July 23. On June 15, the apex court had slammed the FADA for not following its order permitting the sale of limited BS-IV vehicles after March 31, after which BS-VI emission norms came into force. The bench observed that the court allowed the sale and registration of 1.05 lakh BS-IV vehicles, but it seems 2.55 lakh vehicles were sold. The apex court has sought details of sale and registration from the FADA. The apex court had fixed the deadline of March 31, 2020, for the sale of BS IV compliant vehicles across the country. It had it clear that no BS-IV vehicles will be allowed to be sold in Delhi-NCR from April 1, 2020.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Over 49% believe coronavirus threat is exaggerated

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n unprecedented 49 per cent of people believe that the coronavirus threat is hyperbolized, even as the number of confirmed cases in the country surged past 12 lakh on July 23. According to the IANS-CVoter Covid-19 Tracker with a sample size of 1,723, 49.3 per cent of people believe that the threat from the pathogen is exaggerated, while 41.2 per cent refute it. The poll was conducted on respondents from across the country between March 16 and July 22.

Interestingly, the day when the first lockdown was imposed, a lot more people felt the situation was exaggerated. On March 23, 53.4 per cent people thought the threat was over-amplified, while a mere 33.1 per cent believed it was grave. Ten days after the country was put behind the doors, the number of people who believed in the gravity of the situation started increasing. On June 1, when the country was flung open as part of 'Unlock 1.0', the percentage stood at 53.1 per cent. Meanwhile, on the first day of 'Unlock 2.0', which is still in the play, the percentage of such people came

down a notch, at 48 per cent. On July 22, however, the percentage plummeted to 41.2 per cent. Even though the graph of people who believed that the situation was more overstated than the reality - was at its peak at the start of the lock down, it fell sharply on May 9 and shot up again on and after June 8. The data holds importance at a time the country is facing the wrath of the deadly virus, which has claimed over 30,000 lives and infected as many as 12 lakh Indians. India has also logged the world's third-largest case load, after the US and Brazil.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

56 DEFENCE COLUMN

WG CDR TJ REDDY VSM (RETD)

It is not the Army A nation that has to fight

he world is witnessing the first recession to be triggered by a pandemic, but also the ‘sharpest decline in per capita income’ since 1870. The world is fighting on two fronts - the Covid-19 pandemic and the likely impacts of global economic collapse which are expected to trickle faster in the immediate short term. India faces the additional challenge of facing a two-front war with China and Pakistan. The stand off in Eastern Ladakh shows little signs of an early resolution. We should not underplay the seriousness of the current situation as it could convey the impression of a defensive attitude and weaken our credibility. This is perhaps the time to do a sober analysis of the situation and look for opportunities for making the nation and the military strong. Challenging times offer opportunities of a lifetime for a nation for a rapid and sustaina ble allround growth. Recent developments on Ladakh front along with LAC post Galwan: There has been no further progress in the disengagement after the meeting of military corps commanders on 14.7.20 between the two countries on Pangong Tso, Hot Springs general

area and Depsang Plains. National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval and Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi are likely to hold a round of talks to deescalate tensions along the Line of Actual Control and discuss a road map ahead and reduce tensions. This has not prevented the Defence Minister to ask the military ‘to stand ready to handle any uncertainty’.

Deployment of airpower in the Ladakh sector: China has brought around 40000 soldiers in the front and depth areas at the LAC in the Ladakh sector besides armoured tanks, artillery, aircraft, radar, jammers. India too has done mirror deployment to counter the Chinese in equal measure. The Air Force has deployed its entire fleet of modern fighters like Mirage 2000, Sukhoi-30, and the

MiG-29 all along with the advanced and forward bases for carrying out both day and night operations. The advanced Apache attack helicopter has also been deployed in forwarding bases along the China border to the Eastern Ladakh region. Mig-29 aircraft of Navy have been moved to Ladakh region. There will be rapid deploy ment and operationalisation of the Rafale fighter jets arriving in the country by the end of July from France. More are expected to arrive in batches. These most advanced jets of the South Asian region with India specific enhancements are going to give an edge to the Air Force with most advanced weapon systems. The Air Force is also working on the integration of the French fighters with the Russian-origin fleet and make them compatible in operations. Unlike in 1962, there is now vision and acceptance of the importance of airpower in what has been till now a significantly landcentric operational philosophy across the LAC Pressure on China: China is under pressure worldwide. The intimidating presence of two aircraft carriers of the US with B52 Bombers in the South China Sea and non-recognition of China’s claims on The South China

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

Sea as a morale booster for the other claimants of South East Asia is pointers. The US, Japan, Australia, Taiwan and South-East Asian Countries are keeping China on tenterhooks on its Eastern Sea Board. China relies heavily on sea routes for its exports. The Indian Navy had conducted a series of manoeuvres off the Andaman Nicobar Islands and had participated in a PASSEX with the Japanese Navy last month. India and US joint naval exercises recently should be viewed from this perspective. The Indian Air Force had also moved half a squad ron of Jaguar fighter jets to the Car Nicobar island in the last fortnight. China and US seem headed for a major diplomatic confrontation as China calling closure of Chinese consulate in Houston as ‘unprece dented escalation’ and taking the retaliatory measure in ordering the closure of US consulate in the south western city of Chengdu. The US has called for a free world to rise up against China. The COVID-19 pande mic has united the world, barring a very few countries, against China. Will there be a war? Will it be a two-front war? All wars are for territory and domination. We prese ntly are locked with China. Should there be a Sino-Indian confrontation, Pakistan will pounce at the opportu nity and it is reasonable to assume there will be two fronts. The require

DEFENCE COLUMN 57

ments of a two-front war are - the availability of militarily acceptable force levels, the ability to hold one front while you tackle the other and sufficient residual power with the ability to disengage and shift forces and equipment rapidly to the other front. All this is to be planned much before and not once the balloon goes up. Hurried efforts to acquire more ammunition and equipment once the front/fronts are activated will be futile. It requires no less the support and backing of friendly and 'neutral' countries and a foreign policy which does not leave you isolated while you tackle the twin adversaries simulta neously. We, however, cannot depend on other countries to come to our assistance unless either we leverage our strengths to demand what we want or they join to fight for their interests. The Way forward : 'Tactics generally flow from a superior position'. India urgently needs to further enhance the capability to fight a successful two-front war. This needs some time to prepare. India needs to use this time to fast track economic reforms to get FDIs flowing in and allow compa nies shift bases from China into India. That weakens the adversary. Numbersuperiority of the force stru cture alone is not necessarily the formula for military success. Backed by strong political leadership, the ethos, leadership and professionalism of our military will

succeed to deli ver. 1962 days are a distant memory. It is also the time to show political solidarity. If our politicians speak in one voice, this would be the loudest message to China, Pakistan and the world.“ Is it Now or Never ?“.Not a simple choice. It is not the Army, it is the nation that has to fight and for that, you require a well equipped, wellarmed, well trained, fully motivated military proud of its standing with the assured knowledge that it holds a place of pride in every citizen’s heart. That assured, ‘the soldier will then face fearful odds and will be ready to die for the country’ Tailpiece: Wars are never won or lost by the military. The country should know that It is the nation and the citizens who win or lose. The only alternative for India is to grow strong. It is like building immunity against the COVID. India has to build its comprehensive National Power to deter China and Pakistan. Strength deters wars and weakness invites it. We require to have muscles which can be flexed. Not just a hollow skeleton. Remember the adage: “When you prepare for war; you are ensuring peace”. (author Wing Commander in the IAF, was a Fighter Controller who actively participated in 1965 and 1971 wars. He was awarded VSM (VishishtSeva Medal) by the President of India. Views expressed are personal.)

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

NATION

Ayodhya temple to get bigger, taller, more magniďŹ cent

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he proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya will now be bigger and taller in size. According to Nikhil Sompura, an architect and son of C. Sompura, chief architect of the temple, "The earlier design was prepared in 1988. Over 30 years have passed... the footfall is likely to increase. People are also very enthusiastic about visiting the temple. So, we thought its size should be increased. As per the revised design, the height of the temple has been increased from 141-feet to 161-feet." Sompura said that two mandaps have also been added to the design and all pillars and the stones that were carved based on the earlier design will still be used. Only two new 'mandaps'

have been added. The original design that was prepared in 1988, mentioned its height as 141 feet which has been raised to 161 foot tall. The construction will begin after a grand ground-breaking ceremony on August 5 and for this, invitations have also been sent to the Prime Minister's Office and other VIPs. The construction of temple will take around 3.5 years, Sompura said. "As soon as the ground breaking ceremony or the 'bhumi pujan' is done, the construction work will begin. The team of Larsen & Toubro, along with machinery and materials, have reached the spot and the work on foundation will start right away. It will take 3 to 3.5 years for the comp letion of the work," Sompura said. Three-day long Vedic rituals will

be held ahead of the grand ground breaking ceremony, which will revo lve around the installation of a 40 kg silver brick as the foundation stone. The rituals will begin on August 3 with a 'Gauri Ganesh' Puja , and will be followed by 'Ramracha' on August 4 in which the 'Ram Naam' will be recited without a break. The entire ceremony will be telecast live so that all devotees can watch it from their homes. Sources said that only about 50 persons will be allowed at the event. The restriction on the number of persons has been imposed due to the pandemic. Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra sources said that massive CCTV screens will be put up across Ayodhya so the devotees can watch the programme.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | JULY 2020

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ate Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide case took a new turn after his father K.K. Singh has filed an FIR in the Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna accusing six people, including actress Rhea Chakraborty for abetment to suicide. Chakraborty has admitted to being the late actor's girlfriend in an open letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah pleading for a CBI probe in the matter. Rajiv Nagar police station incharge Yogendra Ravidas said Sushant Singh Rajput's father K.K. Singh has accused six people, inclu ding Chakraborty for abetment to suicide in his complaint (FIR number 241/20). The police is investigating the case. "Rhea Chakraborty and five other persons have been charged under Sections 340, 341, 380, 406, 420 and 306 of IPC after Sushant Singh Rajput's father filed an FIR against them. Further investigation is going on in the case," Sanjay Kumar, IG Patna Central Zone, told reporters. According to sources a fourmember police team from Patna has left for Mumbai to investigate the claims made in the FIR. Chakraborty had earlier disclosed that she received rape and murder threats on social media over the actor's death and added that she "only wanted to understand what prompted him to take the step". Sushant allegedly committed suicide on June 14 in his flat in Bandra. While Mumbai Police is already investigating the case and even several people have been interrogated. Several organisations have been demanding CBI probe into the matter as the death of the actor has literally opened a can of worms with nepotism

NATION

Sushant's father files FIR against Rhea for abetment to suicide charges, groupism and lobbying in Bollywood coming to the fore with many people coming out of closets with their claims of being sidelined by a selected group. So far, around 40 people have already recorded their statements, including director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, filmmaker Aditya Chopra, director Mukesh Chhabra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor, film critic Rajeev Masand, director Mahesh Bhatt among others. Chakraborty's statement was recorded at Bandra Police Station on June 18, four days after Sushant's demise. "Sushant Singh Rajput 's father, KKSingh has registered an FIR against Actress Rhea Chakraborty in Patna. He has alleged that Rhea took money from Sushant and instigated him to commit suicide. Sushant and Rhea dated for a while before the actor died by suicide on June 14," trade analyst Ramesh Bala tweeted from his verified account on Tuesday evening. Bollywood actor Shekhar Suman,

who has been actively voicing his demand for a CBI probe into Sushant's death, tweeted from an unverified account: "Case filed against Rhea and her family under section 306 for abetment to suicide.. also section 340 and 342. #CBI Cant Be Denied For SSR" "Good news coming in.. Presu mably, the cops from Patna are in Bombay already after an FIR has been filed by Sushanr's family and a SIT has been formed to investigate the matter. # CBI Cant Be Denied For SSR #justiceforsushanthforum," Suman mentioned in a separate tweet. Sushant made his Bollywood debut in 2013 with the movie - "Kai Po Che". He was appreciated for his performance in 2015 movie "Dete ctive Byomkesh Bakshy!", "MS Dhoni: The Untold Story", "Sonchi riya" and "Chhichhore". "Dil Bechara", his last movie that was released online on July 24 on Disney+ Hotstar, has drawn praise from critics.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | JULY 2020

FEATURE

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ustainability concerns are now influencing consumer behavior among more than half the population. However, despite intentions to be sustainable, there is a gap between what consumers think they know, and what they actually know, about sustainability. A new report from the Capgemini Research Institute examines the impact sustainability has on consumer purchasing patterns and how well consumer product and retail (CPR) organizations under stand consumer expectations. The report finds that sustainability has risen up the customer's agenda with 79 percent of consumers changing their purchase preferences based on social responsibility, inclusiveness, or environmental impact. Moreover, Covid-19 has increased consumer awareness and commitment to buying sustainably with 67 percent of consumers revealing they will be more cautious about the scarcity of natural resou rces due to the Covid-19 crisis, and 65 percent said that they will be more mindful about the impact of their overall consumption in the "new normal". 'Consumer Products and Retail: How sustainability is fundamentally changing consumer preferences' finds that 53 percent of consumers overall and 57 percent in the 18-24 age group have switched to lesser known brands because they were sustainable. More than half of consumers (52 percent) say that they share an emotional connection with products or organizations that they perceive as sustainable. 64 percent say that buying sustainable products makes them feel happy about their purchases; which is even higher in the age-group 25-35 with 72 percent. Both consumers and enterprises

79% of consumers change purchase preferences

have a lot more to learn about sustainability Despite intentions to be sustainable, there is a gap between what consumers think they know, and what they actually know, about

sustainability: 78 percent of consu mers are not aware that it takes 1,000 liters of water to produce a chocolate bar and 68 percent are not aware that an average burger results in more emissions than driving 15km in a large

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

FEATURE car. Nearly 68 percent of consu mers who purchased these products were willing to purchase a more sustainable product once they were made aware of the sustainability issues. CPR organizations also under stand the benefits sustainability has on their relationships with customers: 77 percent indicate sustainability leads to increases in customer loyalty, while 63 percent say it incre ases brand revenue. This highlights the need for more sustainability-related information to be available for consumers and reinforces the importance of brands driving the

sustainability agenda. However, a knowledge gap also exists among retailers and manufa cturers who think their shoppers know more than they do. 65 percent of executives say their consumers are very much aware of their sustaina bility initiatives, but 44 percent consumers say they do not trust product sustainability claims. Most organisations are just scratc hing the surface of sustainability Nearly 80 percent of organi zations mention the impact on margins or cost overruns as a challenge in scaling sustainability

initiatives and for almost three in four organizations, other issues take priority. Three out of four CPR organizations say they have a strategy, infrastructure, and resources in place to drive sustainability and circular economy efforts. However, when it comes to deploying company-wide initiatives that have impact, less than one quarter of organisations have managed this. The most commonly scaled initiatives are fair labor policies and safe working conditions with 48percent of organizations claiming to have achieved scale in these areas. Pia Heidenmark Cook, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ingka Group says, "I think a challenge that many organizations face is change manage ment. A perception many organiza tions have is that sustainability is more expensive. However, they do not realize that initiatives like waste reduction or energy efficiency will reduce your operational costs. So, I would say the key challenge that stands in the way of sustainability is change management - showing the business case, why it makes sense, and influencing and inspiring people to understand why it makes a difference." "So far, many organizations have viewed sustainability as a bolt-on," says Kees Jacobs, Vice President, Consumer Goods and Retail at Capgemini. "However, when baked into an organization's mission and purpose, sustainability has the potential to entirely change an organi zation's relationship with its customers and partners. The pande mic has heightened global desire for authenticity and responsibility, particularly from large organizations. As businesses focus on transfo rmation in the wake of the pandemic, they should put sustainability at the heart of their efforts."

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

LEAGAL

SC notice to Prashant Bhushan

over contemptuous tweets T

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he Supreme Court on July 22 issued notice to advocate Pra shant Bhushan over the alleged con temptuous remarks made on Twitter. The court also asked the Attorney General to assist it in the case. A Bench, comprising Justices Arun Mishra, B.R. Gavai and Krishna Murari, asked Bhushan and Twitter to file reply by August 5. "We are, prima facie, of the view that the aforesaid statements on Twitter have brought the admini stration of justice in disrepute and are capable of undermining the dignity and authority of the institution of the Supreme Court in general and the office of the Chief Justice of India in particular, in the eyes of public at

large," the court said. Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, representing Twitter Inc, USA, contended that he would advise his client to delete the offensive tweets. The Bench questioned Twitter why it couldn't disable the tweets on its own even after a contempt case had been initiated. The counsel for Twitter said he understood it and would convey the court's intent to his client. He also submitted before the Bench to direct it to disable tweets by Bhushan, and insisted that Twitter couldn't delete tweets without the court direction. "We take suo motu cognizance of the aforesaid tweet also, apart from the tweet quoted above and suo motu register the proceedings. We issue notice to the Attorney General for

India and to Prashant Bhushan also," the court said referring to Bhushan's two tweets. The Supreme Court initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against Bhushan for allegedly making derogatory comments against the top court on Twitter. The first tweet, posted on June 27, alleged the last four Chief Justices had played a role in the "destruction of democracy" during undeclared "emergency" for the last six years. The second tweet on June 29 allegedly said the present Chief Justice rode a stationary bike at Nagpur while keeping the apex court in lockdown and denying citizens their right to access to justice. The apex court has been hearing cases through video link all through the lockdown.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

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he Chinese government has detained more than a million Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps it named ‘Re-education centers’, which is worse than the Nazi concentration camps. Uyghur women are raped and sterilized with harmful injections to make them infertile in a move to stop birth of Uyghurs, while men are subjected to torture and compelled to work as cheap and forcible labour. Several global brands are benefitting from the force labour policy of China Communist Party. A report released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) titled “Uyghurs for Sale” stated that big, well-known global companies in the field of clothing, technology and automotive sectors like Abercrombie & Fitch, Amazon, GAP, H&M, Nike, Jack & Jones, Sharp, Siemens, Skechers, ASUS, Apple, Samsung, Huawei, BMW, Volkswagen, Sony, Polo Ralph Lauren, Puma, Victoria’s Secret, Vivo, among others, are using Uyghur Muslims as “forced labour” in their factories in China. According to the report, these minority labour forces in China are being supplied in a systematic way under the revived and exploitative government-led labour transfer sche me to Chinese factories outside the Xinjiang province in China where this community of Muslims live. The Uyghurs are made to chant constantly "Long live Xi Jinping". The forceful recitation of the slogans such as "leniency for those who repent and punishment for those who resist" must be memorised by the Uyghurs within 14 days. Anyone who couldn't memorise is either denied food or beaten up ruthlessly. In addition to these atrocities, China is performing the huge number

WORLD

China thrives on ‘Halal Organs’ of Uyghur Muslims

of organ transplantation internatio nally which is indicated as far more than the official figure. China’s illegal organ transplant industry is worth $1 billion each year. Uyghur Muslims are slaughtered and their Halal organs are purchased by the gulf countries as they are often considered religiously appropriate. The Halal organs are three times higher in price than the normal organs. In 2017, the Xinjiang admini stration passed a law prohibiting men from growing beards and women from wearing veils and dozens of mosques were also demolished. When 22 countries wrote a letter to the UN Human Rights Council, mainly European and excluding the United States, responding to the

disturbing reports of large scale arbitrary detentions of Uyghurs, condemning the Chinese leadership, 37 countries defended China’s remarkable achievements in the field of human rights. The list of countries which defended China included Muslim-majority countries Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar. What more! Pakistan, which day in and day out criticize India alleging religious intolerance towards Muslims in India has no problem and never raises its voice against persecution of Uyghurs in China. It is time, the world, particularly the Muslim world realize the threat of China to the civilization and pressurize it to stop persecution of Uyghurs.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

HEALTH

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uring the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first and foremost message that one ought to pay heed to is to never let your guard down, it is essential in ensuring that you are safeguarded. However, that doesnâ€™t seem to be the case as most patients seeking online doctor consultation seem to be showcasing a host concerns that need surgical intervention. Rapid increase in the number of gastrointestinal infections has been noted in patients over the past 3-4 months, say experts. These gastrointestinal issues are related to digestion, as there has been a decrease in physical activity or exercise, change in food habits, and binge eating is a common household fad; these lifestyle factors have contri buted to complaints from people facing increasing number of gastroi ntestinal problems, experts said. A number of patients have also been noted to have had problems with hyper-acidity and gastro reflux disease. Another health concern that is common amongst many is Gall Stones, which are associated with severe pain in the abdomen, leading to Gall Bladder Disease. If not treated in time, it can lead to severe life threatening complications, the experts said. Moving downward into the intestinal tract, a number of patients have had complaints of pain in the right lower abdomen as a result of constipation, while others have faced problems with Acute Appendicitis. A majority of these patients have also been operated upon after their Appendix ruptured. A significant number of people are noted to have been faced with great difficulty when passing of stool/ motions, due to lesser fluid intake, odd sleeping hours, leading to break in the

Circadian Rhythm. All of this is being attributed to adoption sedentary lifestyle as most of us were homebound and will remain so with intervals of lockdown. Experts reveal that a significant number of patients have been operated on for Hemorrhoids and Fissures over

all your meals at home. Consume healthy foods and eat small meals every two hours, keep alternating between liquid diet and regular soft diet to ensure smooth digestion If possible, within your physical constraints/ residential premises, go for a mandatory walk daily.

Covid triggered sedentary lifestyle impacting your gut?

the two months, their complications arising out of all lifestyle changes. It is crucial for one to refrain from panicking; medical aid is available through non-COVID OPD's or teleconsultation, which is a good viable option. However, the expert suggests that following certain self-help tips will help ease your health burden. Avoid fermented foods, due to lack of physical activity during the lockdown, consuming fermented food may lead to a lot of reflux issues, and you may not want to end up facing the consequences of for hyper-acidity or acid reflux If you are facing gastrointestinal issues on regular basis, it is best to cook and consume

Maintaining a low fat diet is the key. Lower your intake of carbohydrates and add in more Protein. Sufficient intake of fluids is crucial. Hydrating yourself well is the key to good digestion. Avoid eating the food fast as it leads to Aerophagia (swallowing of air with food) which adds to reflux disease, and a simply enjoy your meal, rather than finishing it like a task, which has a huge impact on digestion, experts suggest. Social and stress-related habits such as alcohol consumption and smoking can be detrimental to compromised digestive system, warn the experts.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

HEALTH

Telangana hints at possible community transmission

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inting at the possibility of community transmission of Covid-19 in Telangana, state health officials on July 23 called on all people to be cautious for the next 4-5 weeks. "We have noticed transmission of the virus in communities," Director of Public Health G. Srinivasa Rao said while addressing a news confe rence with Director of Medical Edu cation Ramesh Reddy. Stating that coming 4-5 weeks are crucial for the state, Rao hinted at presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the community. The official voiced concern over

the increasing number of cases in tierII cities in the state and advised citizens to be very careful. They urged people to take the treatment at initial stage, saying the basic treatment costs not more than Rs 150. The officials said such peo ple can recover within 10 days and can thus avoid high-cost treatment. "Don't rush to private hospitals in panic and spend lakhs of rupees," Reddy said. In view of the spike in cases in towns and villages, the government is making arrangements for testing at primary health centres. The officials pointed out that 6,500 Covid beds in government hospitals are still vacant. Stating that the treatment for Covid is

being provided in all district head quarters, they advised people to come to Hyderabad only if it is unavoidable. Reddy said the healthcare profe ssionals were discharging their duties with dedication and commit ment without getting scared by Covid. He pointed out that 1,000 healthcare workers and their family members had so far tested positive. The officials claimed that the sit uation in Telangana was better than ot her states. The fatality rate in the state is just 0.88 percent. Most of the dece ased were aged and were suffe ring with other co-morbidities. The officials said for every 10 lakh popu lation, 8,320 tests are being conducted.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

HEALTH

Immunotherapy safe for patients with Covid-19, cancer R

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esearchers have now shown that immunotherapy doesn't necessarily worsen complications for patients with both Covid-19 and cancer. "Many Covid-19 complications result from an overactive immune response, leading to an increased production of proteins called cytokines," said study researcher Layne Weatherford from the University of Cincinnati (UC) in the US. "Increased production of these proteins can cause issues like a respiratory failure. Patients with cancer are more susceptible to Covid19 infection as well as severe

complications from it," Weatherford added. According to the researchers, many patients with cancer are treated with immunotherapy, which activates the immune system against cancer to destroy it. In patients with both Covid19 and cancer, the research team thought that immunotherapy might increase the immune system response, which could already be overactive because of the Covid-19 infection. They thought treating Covid-19 patients with cancer immunotherapy might result in worsening patients' health and overall outcomes. "We are continuing to investigate whether immunotherapy causes an increased production of these proteins by immune cells from Covid-19 patients,

but our initial findings are showing that immunotherapy is not significantly impacting it," said study researcher Wise-Draper. Researchers have conducted this study using blood samples from patients with cancer taken from the UC Covid-19 biorepository. "We examined how immune checkpoint inhibitors, drugs that allow immune cells to respond more strongly, in combination with other treatments, like chemotherapy or radiation, affect the immune cells of Covid-19 patients and patients with both Covid-19 and cancer," she said. The preliminary data show that an anti-diabetic drug, metformin, can reduce the production of these proteins by immune cells of Covid-19 patients. "These are promising, initial findings. Additional research is needed, but our results show that we might be able to treat Covid-19 complications with metformin or a similar drug one day," the study authors noted.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

HEALTH

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mid school and college closures, many teenagers are attending online classes from home. Sitting without a proper desk in wrong postures for long hours, invites a temporary neck and back pain that doctors are seeing more and more of, lately. According to doctors, many teens are complaining of end-of-the-day lower back stiffness because of persistent contraction of postural muscles. Temporary back pain and neck pain issues have started cropping up among teenagers as e-classes and gadget usage are taking a toll on the skeletal health of children. Young students are reporting in OPD complaining of sudden early morning neck spasm. They were unable to turn their head to left side. The reason is online classes, doctors claim. Lockdown spurred on low mobility in people, especially students. Laptops and smartphones have become a daily part of life for teens as they attend online classes. Another peculiar problem that is new to this age group - otherwise common in middle age and elderly - is generalised bodyaches, say the doctors. It is because of lack of sunlight exposure. It leads to Vitamin D deficiency causing osteopenia. Osteopenic bones can't tolerate even normal stresses, if we add bad posture and prolonged sitting -- the obvious result is bodyaches. As parents, it's their duty to understand the deadly mixture of indoor restriction, limited social interaction, little exercise, examination stress and their psychosomatic consequences. We must not add the burden of high expectations on these young

Back and neck pain on the rise in teenagers

shoulders, doctors said. Doctors warn that if a kitchen table or a sofa has become the children's desk at home then it is time to switch to healthy habits for managing the back and neck pain. To reduce back and neck pain, teenagers must take frequent breaks while attending online classes. Do stretching, back, neck, and shoulder exercises. Do not hunch while using a laptop, phone, or tablet. A warm and cold compress can be helpful, exercise

without fail, and incorporate fresh fruits, beans, legumes, vegetables, and healthy fats in your diet. Bid adieu to fried, oily, and packaged foods, and also keep your calcium intake right, doctors suggest. Maintaining correct posture, doing back and neck exercises, and eating wisely can alleviate back and neck pain that can cause serious problems in the near future. Ignoring back and neck pain can result in permanent damage.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

HEALTH

Fertility may decline globally P

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ost-Covid-19, fertility will plausibly decline due to economic uncertainty and increased childcare burdens worldwide, especially in the high-income countries, say researchers. The study, published in the journal Science, leverages historical social, economic and demographic evidence to draw the conclusion that fertility is likely to decline in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Although it is difficult to make precise predictions, a likely scenario is that fertility will fall, at least in high-income countries and in the short run," said study researcher Arnstein Aassve,

post-Covid pandemic

Professor at the Bocconi University in Italy. Throughout history, spikes in mortality due to wars and famines were followed by increased births, while the Spanish Flu resulted in a temporary drop in fertility before recovering during a "baby boom." Contrary to this historic trend, the Covid-19 health emergency will plausibly cause a decline in fertility, without the factors that have brought on a baby boom in the past. In high-income countries, disruption in the organisation of family life due to prolonged lockdowns, the re-internalisation of childcare within the couple following school closures, and deteriorating economic outlook are likely to

lead to postponements in childbearing. According to the study, a further fertility fall in high-income countries will accelerate population ageing and population decline, with implications for public policy. In low- and middle-income countries, the fertility decline observed in recent decades from trends such as urbanisation, economic development and female occupation is unlikely to be fundamentally reversed by economic setbacks. "Difficulties, though, in accessing family planning services might result in a short-run spike in unintended pregnancies and worsening neonatal and reproductive health," the study authors wrote.

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

SHOBHA’S PAT ON MIND 69

DR SHOBHA RAJU

“Pandra Augusta?” Is it August 15?

t was in 1990 I think. We used to live in Nallakunta. There was a weird situation. May be a political one. At nights we used to hear people shouting out for help to save them from goons. Everyone was horrified during that time. Intimidating rumors were heard. One of those days, some rumors spread that there was a group of goons coming who were killing people whomever they catch. There was a great commotion. People were running hither & thither. I was in my student’s house for dinner and I remember her husband commenting “Emitandi ee araachakamu?!” (What’s this disorderliness?) My husband said, “Anta perugannam itcheyandi. Chaalu. Praanaalato illujerukunte....“. (Pls give us just a little curd rice. Enough. If we could reach home alive....). As we were rushing back to our home via Shankar Mutt, we met our

maid, Lakshmamma. She was also getting back to our home after buying veggies. Apparently she was confused. “Endamma gidi? Pandra Augusta?” (What’s this Amma? Is it August 15?), she asked me referring to the commotion. I burst out into laughter even in such situation much to the annoyance of my husband. “Pandra August” in our servant maid’s understanding is a massive commotion. My father narrated an incident of his childhood. As a child of six years he walked all the way to Madanapalle, twenty KMs from our village, to see Gandhiji, who were to address a public gathering. By the time my father reached, the meeting was over and people were dispersing. There was stampede it seems causing the dust to rise. Little my father thought that the stampede and rise of dust was called “Gandhi”. O key. Lakshmamma was

uneducated. My father then was a kid. Are educated adults any better? Yes, better to the extent of identifying “Pandra August” as a date concerned to flag hoisting and Gandhiji as a man who was a leader. I asked one of our staff to sing National Anthem. “Jana mana bana badi bayaka jayge barata baja vitaata”, he sang. One of the funniest moments I had in my life. But the fun was mixed with a kind of concern. Concern because there are Indian adults who do not know National Anthem. Not knowing is absurd. But distorting the words with meaningless sounds? I don’t find words to call it. What is the future of Bharat with youth not knowing National Anthem? What will unite them as Indian?! We jealousy our neighbor because he has an Audi car. But our superficial mind tells us that we don’t like him because he is egoistic. Our class mate getting rank in tenth standard creates

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

70 SHOBHA’S PAT ON MIND

stink in our minds. Our mind tells us comfortably that we don’t like her because she is a proud peacock. We don’t like our parents saying they are bothering because they ask us to be orderly. We don’t like our teacher because she imposes certain discipline. We are not in talking terms with our sister because she claimed her right of property. We don’t like our colleague because he got promotion. We don’t like our boss because he always questions my coming late to

the office. We hate our office assistant for he is not our community. . We don’t like our spouse because she/he is nagging. We dispense with anyone however much help they could have done for us, if it comes to the question of our selfishness. We don’t like anyone. We are not grateful to anyone. But we shout “Jai Hind”. We don’t love anyone. But shout“Govinda” loudly at Tirupati. What is a country? Is it not a people comprising the sort we have been

hating out of jealousy? Whom are we loving when we say “I love India”? Just the tiny map of India? Who is God? We worship Him in stone and hate in human? If it is so, our patriotism is called hysteria. Our devotion is called fanaticism. Like the people get a kind of hysteric pleasure supporting one’s own group and grudging the opposite during cock fighting, we say “Jai Bharat” against China. We don’t think of the sacrifice...true sacrifice, our leaders of yester years made for bringing independence to us. Our gratitude confines to a handful of flowers offered mechanically at a leader’s grave at the most. Media has advanced very much. This advancement would have given us the privilege of knowing the truth in all its bareness. But unfortunately truth is twisted as bread dough . Everyone dresses up truth with one’s own choices, preferences and conveniences holding one’s selfishness as the priority. To realize the hardship faced by our leaders for our independence, it requires to place ourselves in their times and be in their shoes. When we can feel there struggle, then only true gratitude flows. Let not Independence Day become dry, feeling it as yet another day for fancy dress, yet another occasion to lecture with big words, yet another opportunity to sing and dance and be in lime light. Let’s dust our hearts and bond with love. Let’s all have true vision of Truth and do anything and everything to get that vision. When we salute the flag, at heart, let’s all say “I love you all” to people, not just to the try color piece of cloth. Let’s love... Let’s live! Happy Independence Day! (Author is a well-known musician, Devotional singer, writer and composer.)

THE NEWS YOU LIKE | AUGUST 2020

The News You Like August, 2020

RNI No: APENG/2013/48048 P.R. No. RNP/HD/1187/2020-22 (DOP: 1st of Every Month; DOP: 8/9-8-2020)