c m y k c m y k

WEATHERMax: 37OC Min: 28OC Rainfall: Nil

ASTROGUIDESarvari: Aani 8

Tithi: Prathamai/ ThuvithiyaiStar: Thiruvathirai/

PunarpusamRahukalam:

7.30 am to 9 amYamagandam:

10.30 am to 12 noonPRAYERS

Fajar: 4.24 amZohar: 12.14 pm

Asar: 3.35 pmMaghrib: 6.36 pm

Isha: 7.55 pmSUNSET TODAY 6.38 PM

SUNRISE TOMORROW 5.45 AMMOONRISE TODAY 6.28 AM

MOONSET TOMORROW 7.45 PM

COUNTER POINT

SPORT | 8Kohli is a terrificguy, says Smith

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIACHENNAI I MONDAY 22 I JUNE 2020

CITY | 2Don’t give up on Yoga,

observe it at home: Guv

Minneapolis: One man is deadand 11 people suffered non-life-threatening wounds in a shoot-ing in Minneapolis, police theresaid early Sunday. Minneapolispolice had first said 10 people

had been shot with “variousseverity levels of injuries”, but

revised their total in a tweetposted just after 3 a.m.

1 dead, 11 hurt inMinneapolis shooting

New Delhi: BJP spokespersonSambit Patra has moved the

Supreme Court to seek a reviewof its order that barred Lord

Jagannath's Rath Yatra inOdisha due to the COVID-19

outbreak. “Today I filled an application for

clarification/ modification ofearlier order of Supreme Courtand sought permission for the

Holy Rath Yatra of ShriJagannath Mahaprabhu in Puri

scheduled for 23rd June,” Patratweeted.

Sambit Patra moves SCseeking permission to

hold Rath Yatra

deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle Vol. 16 No. 87 Established 1938 | 8 PAGES| `3.00

WORLD | 5Italians cover glacier with

white sheets to slow melting

89,94,429WORLD CONFIRMED CASES

STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS

CASES

(+14,721 )4,26,473

(+2,532)TN: 59,377

DEATHS

(+418) 13,695

757

4,68,514213

DEATHS

COUNTRIES,AREAS WITH

CASES

CORONA C UNT

worldometers.info

covid19india.org

RING OF FIRE Deal firmly with Chineseaggression, troops told

Spike in positivecases, deaths in TN

Uttarakhand offered goodview of annular solar eclipseDehradun, June 21: Theannular solar eclipse wasseen from different parts ofUttarakhand on Sunday,especially in Dehradun andTehri where enthusiasticsky gazers witnessing thesun appear like a ring of firefor some time at noon.

The Himalayan temples ofBadrinath, Kedarnath,Gangotri and Yamunotri,also known as ‘Chardham’were closed at 10.30 pm onSaturday itself. They wereopened for prayers onlyafter the eclipse was over at2.30 pm.

Cloudy skies and socialdistancing played spoil-sport in Chennai and partsof Tamil Nadu. The south-ern states saw only a partialeclipse and not the famous‘ring of fire.’ Enthusiastshad a fine time assemblingon terraces of houses toview the eclipse through X-ray films and such devicesto protect their eyes.

In Haryana’s Kurukshe-tra, about 200 priests gath-ered around the sacredBrahma Sarovar chanted

from the scriptures as theeclipse progressed.

Some scientists were alsoallowed to observe theeclipse in Kurukshetra.Arvind Ranade, a scientistwith the Department ofScience and Technology,was among those who trav-elled there. “We could seethe eclipse clearly, especial-ly the Baily’s beads,”Ranade said.

Named after English

astronomer Francis Baily,Baily's beads are an arc ofbright spots seen duringtotal and annular eclipses ofthe sun.

Apart from Kurukshetra,Dehradun, Chamoli,Joshimath, Sirsa andSuratgarh were some of thetowns on the annulareclipse path – where thering of fire around the suncould be seen if the weatherpermitted. — Agencies

DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JUNE 21

Indian Army has changedits rules of engagement onthe Line of Actual Control(LAC) with China whichwould allow field comman-ders to order troops to usefirearms under “extraordi-nary” circumstances. Thisfollows the violent clashbetween the Indian andChinese army on June 15 inwhich 20 soldiers including16 Bihar’s CommandingOfficer Colonel SantoshBabu were killed.

According to sources,Chinese too have beeninformed about the changein engagement rules andthat India will respondforcefully to any violence.Earlier as per the 1996agreement between Indiaand China, army and ITBPjawans were not carryingloaded guns duringpatrolling and gun barrelsused to be pointed down-wards.

Now commanders atground can use any instru-ment under his commandas he sees fit during anyaggression by Chinesetroops at LAC.

Defence minister RajnathSingh on Sunday in a meet-ing with CDS Gen BipinRawat and chiefs of army,navy and air force reviewedthe situation along the lineof actual control (LAC) withChina as the situation con-tinued to remain tense. Hardening its stance, India

has given its armed forcesdeployed at the LAC fullfreedom, said sources afterthe meeting. During the meeting armed

forces have been asked tomaintain strict vigil onChinese activities aroundland border, airspace and instrategic sea lanes, andasked them to adopt a toughapproach in dealing withany misadventure byChinese forces.

Mr Singh who will beleaving for Russia onMonday also discussed thearms and ammunitionrequirement of the Indianforces. Mr Singh willattend the Victory Paradeon June 24, 2020 to com-memorate the 75thanniversary of the victoryin the Second World War.Chinese defence delega-tion is also visitingMoscow. Both Indian andChinese soldiers are alsoparticipating in theVictory Parade. Duringhis visit, Mr Singh is alsoexpected to discuss defe-nce issues including pur-chase of arms with Russia.

According to an agency

report, the three defenceforces have been givenfinancial powers up to `500crore per project for theacquisition of criticalammunition and weaponswhich would be required incase an all-out or limitedconflict breaks out.

“The Vice Chiefs of thethree services have beengiven the financial powersup to `500 crore per projectto acquire the requiredweapon systems under fasttrack procedures needed tofill whatever shortcomingsor requirement is felt," itquoted a senior governmentofficial as saying. Therequirement of grantingthis power again to theforces was felt by the gov-ernment after the Chineseaggression in EasternLadakh and the way theyhave deployed their troopsin large numbers therealong the Line of ActualControl (LAC).

Yoga can help peoplefight coronavirus: PM DC CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, JUNE 21

Exhorting people to learnand include specific Yogatechniques in their dailyroutine to boost imunityand defeat theCoronavirus, PrimeMinister Narendra Modisaid Yoga gives strengthand patience during a cri-sis. The PM’s remarkscome not just amid theCoronavirus pandemicbut also amid a ragingborder row with China.

Addressing the nationon the sixth InternationalDay of Yoga that is cele-brated every year on June21, PM Modi said, “This isa great ability for any per-son i.e. not giving up andbeing in a balanced stateof mind during an adversi-ty; Yoga gives strengthduring these times. So,you too must have seenand realised that a practi-tioner of Yoga never losespatience during a crisis.”He added, “Yoga also

helps to boost our confi-dence and morale so thatwe can overcome crisesand win. Yoga gives uspeace of mind and alsohelps us to develop disci-pline and stamina.”

PM Modi further said,“Today, the world is real-ising the importance ofYoga even more due to theCoronavirus pandemic. Ifour immunity is strongthen we can more effec-tively defeat this disease.There are several types ofYoga ‘Asanas’ to boost theimmunity. Those pos-tures increase thestrength of our body andstrengthen our metabo-lism.

They have come to blows, willhelp them, says US President SRIDHARKUMARASWAMI | DCNEW DELHI, JUNE 21

United States PresidentDonald Trump on Sundaysaid India and China had“come to blows” and thatthe US would “help themout” in this “tough situa-tion”. He was referring tothe blood clash betweentroops of the two Asiangiants at the Galwan valleyin the Ladakh sector thattook place early last week.

“It’s a very tough situa-tion. We’re talking toIndia. We’re talking toChina. They've got a bigproblem there. They’vecome to blows, and we’llsee what happens. We’lltry and help them out,”President Trump said.

It may be recalled thatPresident Trump had dis-cussed the tense situationon the Sino-Indian borderwith Prime Minister

Narendra Modi a fewweeks ago but that waswell before the deadlyclash at the Galwan valleylast Monday night.

Dismissing Chineseclaims over the Galwanvalley yet again onSaturday, the MEA hadsaid, “The position withregard to the GalwanValley area has been his-torically clear. Attemptsby the Chinese side to nowadvance exaggerated anduntenable claims withregard to Line of ActualControl (LAC) there arenot acceptable. They are

not in accordance withChina’s own position inthe past.”

The MEA hadadded,“Since early May2020, the Chinese side hasbeen hindering India's nor-mal, traditional patrollingpattern in this area. Thishad resulted in a face-off ...Subsequently in mid-May,the Chinese side attemptedto transgress the LAC inother areas of the WesternSector of the India-Chinaborder areas. Theseattempts were invariablymet with an appropriateresponse from us.”

Rahul slams PMwith ‘Surender’Modi tweet

India records 18,413 new viruscases on Sunday

Govt emotionallymanipulatingpeople, says Kamal

New Delhi, June 21: Aday after accusing theprime minister of having“surrendered” Indian ter-ritory to Chinese aggres-sion, Congress leaderRahul Gandhi took aswipe at him on Sunday,saying “Narendra Modiis actually SurenderModi”.

Gandhi took the dig atthe prime minister in atweet, wherein he taggedan article in a foreignpublication with theheadline — “India’sappeasement policytoward China unravels”.“Narendra Modi is actu-ally Surender Modi,” hesaid in the tweet. — PTI

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 21

Kamal Haasan has cautionedPrime Minister NarendraModi against trying to “emo-tionally manipulate people”over the violent face-offbetween Indian and Chinesesoldiers in Ladakh's GalwanValley last week, in which 20Indian troops died for theircountry and dozens morewere injured. “In fact, themischief lies in continuing toemotionally manipulate peo-ple with such statements andI sincerely request the PrimeMinister and his supportersto stop doing that,” KamalHaasan said. � P3

D. SEKAR &M.R. VENKATESH | DCCHENNAI, JUNE 21

In the highest-ever one-dayspike of persons testingpositive for Covid-19, novelcoronavirus, Tamil Naduadded 2,532 positive caseson Sunday, taking the totalnumber of confirmed posi-tive patients in the state tilldate to 59,377. Of the newcases today, Chennai aloneadded 1,493, even as 53deaths took the total deathtoll due to the virus to 757.

The galloping numbersboth in the districts and inChennai is beginning to putpressure on the govern-ment to look at indigneouscomplementary modes oftreatment which are effica-cious, at least to dispel themood of dismay among thepeople at large as the coldstatistics mount every day.

This was partly reflectedin the State HealthMinister, Dr C Vija-yabaskar's tweet onSunday coinciding withthe 'World Yoga Day'. Hesaid in his message, "Yogarefreshes the body and themind. Let's adapt naturalimmunity boosting mea-sures, during #Covid-19;Practice # Yoga and stay

healthy." In fact, at the'fever clinics' that havebeen increased in greaterChennai, visitors are regu-larly given 'KabasuraKudineer', the herbal dri-nk as an immunity boostmeasure, but somethingmore is needed to boost theconfidence of the people atlarge, a source closelytracking the trends says.CIVIC BODY GETSMORE PROACTIVE:While Chennai as a wholecontinues to blaze ahead inthe upswing in Covid-19positive cases, one signifi-cant zonal variation in thespread of the infection wasseen today, as per the fig-ures released by the Chen-nai Corporation. For example, theThiru.Vi.Ka. Nagar zone,one of the hot-spots on thetop of the list for a monthnow, today slipped to thesixth position among the 15zones, reporting 3,440 posi-tive cases. � P4

T. SUDHEESH | DC CHENNAI, JUNE 21

As a result of the Railway’sdecision to convert 15pairs of long-distance pas-senger trains runningacross Tamil Nadu toExpress Trains, theRailway passengersdemand roll back of the

decision as it will make thetransportation costlier.

It was on June 17 theSouthern Railway Boardissued an order to all zonalrailways to initiate actionto convert all 17 pairs ofpassenger trains includingtwo from Kerala runningfor more than 200-km intoexpress trains.

V. Rama Rao, Member,Traffic and TransportationForum (TTF), Chennai,said that the unilateraldecision of the Railwayswould have severe impacton the poor and middleclass commuters who arealready struggling with out-break of Covid19 pandemic.

Once a Passenger train

converted into Express, itwill not only make travelcostly but also reduce thenumber of stops of thetrain. So the commutershave to spend more fortransportation back totheir place by road or railwith additional financialburden and waste of time,he said. � P2

Commuters criticise Rly’s cost-cutting measures in Covid times

Three militants killed in gun fight with forces in Valley YUSUF JAMEEL | DCSRINAGAR, JUNE 21

Three militants believed tobe the cadres of Jammu andKashmir chapter of theIslamic State (ISJK) werekilled in a gunfight withsecurity forces here onSunday.

The police officials saidthat one of the slain mili-tants was involved in thesneak attack carried out bymotorbike-borne gunmenin Ahmed Nagar, Pandacharea on the peripheries ofSrinagar on May 20, leavingtwo Border Security Force

(BSF) jawans Rana Mandaland Zia ul-Haq dead. Theysaid that the SLR riflesnatched from one of theslain BSF men was recov-ered from the encountersite on Sunday.

The house in Pozwalporalocality of Srinagar’sZonimar area in which themilitant trio was holed upwas damaged in the securi-ty forces’ final assault.

Before the combat startedearly Sunday, the policeofficials made an appeal tothe militants to lay downtheir arms through publicaddress system. When they

ignored it, the owner of thehouse was asked to makeone last attempt to per-suade the militants to sur-render.

In a video clip, the man(name withheld) can beheard pleading before themilitants trapped in hishouse, “Please, have mercyon me and my family. I’ve alarge family to look after.My daughter’s wedding isscheduled for next month.My brothers, for God’ssake...have mercy on meand my family. Please, sur-render. I had told you lastnight (about possibility of

the security forces track-ing them down) but youdidn’t listen to me. They(security forces) concededmy request to give you onemore opportunity to sur-render. If you don’t do thatthey will torch my home. Ihave no money to rebuildit. Please, come out andsurrender to save myhome.”

Inspector General ofPolice (Kashmir range),Vijay Kumar, said thatrepeated attempts weremade to persuade the mili-tants to surrender, but theyrejected the offer.

SANJAY KAW | DCNEW DELHI, JUNE 21

With the biggest single-dayspike of 18,413 infections,India on Sunday crossedthe grim milestone of fourlakh cases, taking the over-all count to 4,13,461. Thedeath toll has risen to13,317, with 369 new fatali-ties in the last 24 hours.

With 3,000-plus freshcoronavirus cases, Delhihas now surpassed TamilNadu andemerged as thesecond most infected stateafter Maharashtra.

The Union healthmin-istry data released Sundaymorning said the totalnumber of cases inMaharashtra and TamilNadu had gone up to128,205 and 56,845 respec-tively. The Delhi govern-ment said the infections inthe national capital hadincreased to 59,746.

The fresh fatalities inthree highly infectedstates — Maharashtra,Delhi and Tamil Nadu —are 91, 63 and 38 respec-tively. In all, there havebeen 5,984 deaths inMaharashtra, 2,175 inDelhi and 704 in TamilNadu. The other stateswhere fatalities are highare Gujarat (1,638), WestBengal (540), UttarPradesh (507), MadhyaPradesh (501) andRajasthan (337).

What is alarming is thatover 10,000 cases werereported for the 10th day ina row. It took India 143days to reach the four lakhmark. One lakh cases werereported till

May 19 (it took 64 days togo from 100 cases to onelakh), another fortnight togo to two lakh earlier thismonth, and 10 days moreto reach three lakh, onJune 13.

Sun is seen in the skies of Kurukshetra, Haryana, duringthe solar eclipse on Sunday. — ANI

Total fresh cases on Sunday 2,532

Chennai 1,493

Security personnel rush towards encounter site in Zoonimararea of Srinagar on Sunday. — H.U. NAQASH

���� “It’s a very toughsituation. We’re talk-ing to India. We’retalking to China.They’ve got a bigproblem there,” USPresident DonaldTrump said

���� Defence minister Rajnath Singh onSunday in a meeting with CDS GenBipin Rawat and chiefs of army, navyand air force reviewed the situationalong the line of actual control (LAC)with China as the situation continued toremain tense.���� During the meeting armed forceshave been asked to maintain strict vigilon Chinese activities around land bor-der, airspace and in strategic sea lanes

CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 22 JUNE 2020 | CHENNAI

SHORT TAKESMaking cash access

easy for guestworkers

Chennai: Fintech companyEko India that enables deposit,withdrawal, and remittanceservices for its customers,mostly guest workers; hasbeen successful in easing theaccess of migrants to cash,thereby resolving and cateringefficiently to their monetaryneeds in the current situationin Tamil Nadu. Eko’s networkof over two lakh entrepre-neurs, retailers, and individu-als, across 200 cities in Indiahas been instrumental inbringing about this ease to thelives of migrants.

Eko partners with StateBank of India and other pri-vate sector banks and pay-ments banks to provide bank-ing services to migrants inTamil Nadu. The Governmenthas transferred Rs 32,300crores to bank accounts of 340million beneficiaries, sinceannouncing a relief packagefor migrants at the beginningof April this year. Recenttransaction data researchfrom the initial days of thelockdown revealed an increas-ing trend in AePS usage, espe-cially in rural areas.

Jal Yoga at sea in Rameswaram

SP. LOGANATHAN | DCRAMESWARAM, JUNE 21

Fishermen leadersjoined the volunteers ofthe 'Art of Living' to do'Jal Yoga' in the sea offthe Agnitheerthamshore here on Sunday tomark 'World Yoga Day'.

The participants prac-tised 'Jal Yoga' for onehour in the sea, in ameditative pose, prayingfor the well being ofeveryone and in particu-lar that people should besoon freed from the men-ace of Covid-19, novelcoronavirus, and forworld peace. They saidIndia should take pridein having given 'Yoga' tothe world.

This was followed by aprayer session on theAgnitheertham shore,said N J Bose, a leader ofthe Fishermen'sAssociation and alsolocal organiser of the'Art of Living', foundedby Sri Sri Ravishankar.

Meanwhile, entry intoRameswaram has beenseverely tightened atboth the Parthibanur,the entry point checkpost intoRamanathapuram dis-trict and at variouspolice check posts insidethe district atMandapam, Pambanand Thangachimadam,as all-incoming personsare checked for symp-toms of coronavirus,particularly those whoare coming into the dis-trict from Chennai.

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 21

Despite the extraordinarysituation this year due tothe Covid-19 novel coron-avirus, the Tamil NaduGovernor, Mr. BanwarilalPurohit, exhorted thepeople not to give up onYoga exercises andadvised them to practice'Yoga' at their respectivehomes.

Yoga Day celebrationsare an occasion of massgatherings, but due toextraordinary times, thisyear people of TamilNadu should observe theday at their homes. I alsorequest People of TamilNadu to follow the gov-ernment guidelinesregarding Covid-19scrupulously and stay athome and stay safe, theGovernor said in his mes-sage on 'World Yoga Day'falling on June 21.

Yoga is an invaluablegift of ancient Indian tra-dition. It embodies unityof mind and body;thought and action;restraint and fulfillment;harmony between manand nature and a holisticapproach to health andwell-being, the Governorsaid in his message.CELEBS AT SEVALAYA

Meanwhile, the SixthInternational Yoga Daywas celebrated by the stu-dents at Sevalaya KasavaCentre with great enthu-siasm on Sunday.

Students of classes threeto 12th standard and alsocommunity college stu-dents staying in the hos-tel started with warm upexercises and performedvarious asanas, pranaya-ma and mudras. As perthe instructions andguidelines by the govern-ment the children wereinstructed to wear facemasks and social distanc-ing were adhered strictlyby the students.

The importance of Yogaand about various'asanas' that boost immu-nity, metabolism andstrengthen muscles wasexplained by AS a n k a r a p a n d i a n ,Physical EducationDirector. He also instruct-ed students to performpranayama exercise regu-larly as it improves lungsfunction and to fightagainst the Covid-19 pan-demic.

Don’t give up on Yoga,observe it at home: Guv

Chennai, June 21: Cloudyskies played spoilsport for thefew sky gazers who bravedthe blistering sun to watchthe annular solar eclipse, thefirst for this year, on Sunday.

The eclipse was, however,partial in most parts of TamilNadu and many enthusiastswho managed to take photosof the rare phenomenon post-ed them on the social net-working sites.

From about 10.20 am, a fair-ly bright sky enabled the gaz-ers in Chennai, Madurai,Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore,Salem, Tirunelveli and otherparts of the state to witnessthe celestial occurrence.

“We were able to get a clearview and could even recordthe celestial event till thepeak of the eclipse at noon.Later, the sky became cloudyand the eclipse could not beseen from here,” said SJoseph Winston, Head,Remote Handling andIrradiation ExperimentsDivision, Indira GandhiCentre for Atomic Research,Kalpakkam.

As people had to remainindoors owing to the lock-down being enforced to pre-vent the spread ofCoronavirus, he had madearrangements for live stream-ing of the event. “The visibil-ity of the eclipse was ham-pered due to clouds in mostparts of Tamil Nadu.

Some people in the metroand other parts, too, who hadsolar filters, had attempted tosee the partial eclipse from

the terrace of their houses,”an official of the district sci-ence centre, said.

The obscuration of the sunby the moon during the great-est phase of the annulareclipse was nearly 34 per centin Chennai, he said.

“From noon onwards, theclouds blocked the view andnothing much was wit-nessed,” Joseph said andadded that he had used poly-mer filters to capture imagesfrom a telescope.

Down south, in Tirunelveli,an official of the DistrictScience Centre, said the cen-tre was opened only to

observe the rare phenome-non, but members of the pub-lic were barred from viewingat the centre due to the lock-down. “We captured theimages and uploaded them onour social networking sites,”he added.

This is the first solar eclipseof 2020 and it coincided withthe summer solstice, whenthe Northern Hemispherehas the longest day. Theeclipse started by 10:22 amand ended at around 2 pm.

Temples, including the LordVenkateswara temple in TNagar, remained closed dueto solar eclipse. — PTI

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUN 21

The first “Sunday shut-down” during the secondphase of a 'lockdown with-in a lockdown” in greaterChennai and parts ofthree neighbouring dis-tricts in Tamil Nadu is try-ing to make the best of abad situation in control-ling the Covid-19, novelcoronavirus spread.

In terms of the externalmanifestation, the totalshutdown on Sunday, witheven the regular grocerystores ask to shut down,barring milk, health ser-vicdes and water supply,was visibly a success inkeeping people indoors tobreak the virus chain.

The entire city ofChennai and its suburbscame to a standstill withroads deserted and thepartial solar eclipse givingpeople another reason notto venture out as the peri-od of eclipse covered near-ly half the day. For achange, the curfew wasnot just virtual, but real,thanks to the elaboratearrangements made by theDGP J K Tripathy and theChennai PoliceCommissioner, A KVishwanathan.

While the 'fever clinics'organised by the ChennaiCorporation continued toget good response, as partof the civic body andhealth department's strat-egy to map 'severe acuterespiratory syndrome(SARI) and Influenza like(ILI) cases, to get an idea ofthe prevalence of theCoronavirus spread andtake advance action by iso-lating those pouring intothose clinics, mainly slumdwellers, even World YogaDay was in low-key to keepsocial distancing norms.

The City police said asmany as 4,799 cases havebeen filed for violation ofcurbs and 7,907 vehicles(7,395 two- wheelers, 168auto-rickshaws, 344 lightmotor vehicles) have beenseized. While vegetableshops, groceries andpetrol pumps have beenallowed to function from 6am till 2 pm during the 12-day lockdown period thatbegan on June 19, suchoutlets too are closedtoday.

The government hadalready announced that on

two Sundays (June 21 and28) barring milk supply,pharmacies, hospitals andambulance services, noother services or shopswill be permitted to func-tion. The present spell oflockdown was implement-ed in view of continuingsurge in coronavirus casesand before that most serv-ices and businesses wereallowed to function.

“The fever clinics run bythe Corporation haveevoked tremendousresponse from the people.The services came inhandy for people for manyailments (apart from help-ing detection of coron-avirus symptoms) espe-cially when many clinicsand dispensaries in theprivate sector remainunopened,” said theChennai CorporationCommissioner G Prakash.

The civic body took cred-it that the fever camps,which were 100-plus dur-ing the end of May steadi-ly increased and crossedthe 500-mark on June 18and touched 533 onSaturday. Fever campswere held by GCC onSunday as well in severallocations here and people

were given immunityboosting herbal drink“Kabasurakudineer”.

“People should continueto do it (cooperate),” saidthe Police Commissioner,Mr. Vishwanathan, adding

though there may be somedifficulties in view of thecurbs to fight COVID-19,endurance shall stand peo-ple in good stead. “Policeis afriendof the people.Even if the restrictions

are tough in some areas,people should kindly bearit as the present curbs areintended to facilitatereturn of normalcy,” hesaid and appealed again topeople to cooperate.

Cloudy skies obstruct eclipseview in Chennai, parts of TN

Cloudy skies obstruct clear view of eclipse in Chennai and parts of TN. — DC

Children use various objects like X-ray films to view the eclipsewithout hurting their eyes in the city. — DC

Chennai on a freeze-frameon first ‘Sunday shutdown’

The road in front of Ripon Buildings, the HQ of Chennai Corporation, and Central Station is virtually empty save fora parked two wheeler on Sunday when a near total curfew was declared for the day. — DC

An ambulance rushes on an empty Mount Road in front of the iconic LIC Building. Thestretch would usually be busy with motorists on normal days and even in Covid-19days when the curbs were not as strict. — Sanjay K.

TOTALLOCKDOWN

B.RAVICHANDRANOOTY, JUNE.21

The International Yoga day observedon Sunday was a special one this yearas the globe witnessed the rare celes-tial phenomenon of a solar eclipse.But the corona crisis dampened thespirit of the yoga day commemorationas only a few organizations in Nilgiris

put up events in a small way toobserve the yoga day.

In Nilgiris, yoga day was celebratedenthusiastically at the MadrasRegimental Centre (MRC) atWellington near here as hundreds ofarmy men gathered to demonstratetheir yoga skills.

A MRC release said the MRC organ-ised the special event at the historic

Srinagesh Barracks at MRC. Around850 army staff and a few civilian staffof MRC took part and demonstratedtheir yoga skills. The yoga trainers atthe centre explained about the bene-fits of yoga which includes obesitycontrol, managing blood pressuresand stress. Yoga has been in the regu-lar physical fitness curriculum in thearmy campus at MRC.

Special dayat MRC

Rameswaram stageda unique jal yoga on

International Yoga Day.

Men of MRCdemonstrate Yoga at thehistoric regiment base inWellington in the Nilgiris.

>>>

>>>

Commuters criticiseRailway austerity in

Covid timeFROM PAGE 1

Traders and small time mer-chants will be greatly affectedas the fares will be almost dou-ble resulting in the spilloverimpact on the supply chain. Sowe demand that the Railwayboard reverse the orders andstatus-quo maintained’, headded.

However, the railway offi-cials say that the order wasissued based on the recom-mendation of Bibek Debroycommittee report that wasagainst running passengertrains due to poor revenuereturns. The order is issued ata time when the railwayemployees continue to raiseobjections against the reformsciting public interest.

CITY pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 22 JUNE 2020 | CHENNAI

No takers for fuel on Sunday SHORT TAKESCanara Bank’s

gesture to Covidaffected

DC CORRESPONDENT TIRUCHY, JUNE 21

The Canara Bank OfficersAssociation (CBOA)announced a cash assistanceof Rs 5,000 to the CBOA mem-bers diagnosed as coronaviruspositive and Rs 2,000 to non-members irrespective of thecadre.

The CBOA's General secre-tary G.V.Manimaran said in arelease here on Sunday saidthat the sense of concern is sodeep rooted in CBOA that "ourCanpals are dedicating lots ofmoney, energy and time inserving the society during thetesting times like naturalcalamities."

They are really disturbed bythe news pouring in fromregions like Delhi, Agra, Etah,Mumbai, Pune, Indore andChennai on the increasingnumber of "our officers andemployees testing corona posi-tive", he added.

SSLC exams: IUML’splea to CM

DC CORRESPONDENT TIRUCHY, JUNE 21

Prof.K.M.Kader MohideenNational President of theIndian Union Muslim League(IUML) appealed to the TamilNadu Chief Minister EdapadiK.Palaniswami to also issueorderss canceling the StateBoard SSLC exam whichTamil medium students inother states would have totake, and declare all such stu-dents also as automaticallypromoted to the next class justas it has been done withrespect to State Board X stu-dents in Tamil Nadu. The G.O.issued for Tamil Nadu stu-dents in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, should also clari-fy that the X Board exams iscancelled for Tamil mediumstudents in other States likeMaharashtra also.

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 21

Actor-politician andPresident of the 'MakkalNeedhi Maiyam (MNM)party, Kamal Haasan hassaid that the Central gov-ernment needs to answermuch more about therecent violent face-offbetween Indian andChinese troops in Galwanvalley in East Ladakh, inwhich 20 Indian soldierslost their precious livesand many others wereinjured.

In a hard-hitting state-ment here on Sunday,Kamal Haasan, referringto the contradictions inthe statements put out byMinistry of ExternalAffairs (MEA) and thesubsequent remarks ofthe Prime Minister, Mr.Narendra Modi at the all-party conference in NewDelhi, followed by a clari-fication by the PMO, saidit obfuscated the real issueand took people for grant-ed.

He said China has offi-cially time and again clar-ified that the entireGalwan valley was ontheir side of the LAC.However, the PrimeMinister's statement at

the all-party conference,"contradicting" the state-ments of the Army offi-cers and MEA, and subse-quently the PMO statingthat there was a "mischie-vous attempt" to misrepre-sent the PM's statementson the issue, and also theCentre rebuffing ques-tions raised by the opposi-tion and Indian citizenson this issue as 'anti-National', was totallyunacceptable.

"In fact, the mischief liesin continuing to emotion-ally manipulate peoplewith such statements andI sincerely request thePrime Minister and hissupporters to stop doingthat," Kamal Haasan said.Stating that millions oftrue nationalists like himare deeply pained by thesacrifice by the soldiersdeath, he said queries

raised around thattragedy cannot be anti-national.

Referring to the Modi-XiJin Ping informal summitat Mamallapuram inTamil Nadu last yearbeing termed a "diplomat-ic success", Kamal Haasanasked how just eightmonths after that bon-homie, China could "stabus in the back killing ourunarmed soldiers." Itshowed that either theGovernment's diplomacyhad failed miserably, orthat "they failed to readthe intentions of theChinese correctly." In bothcases, it is the Central gov-ernment which needs toanswer more questions,said the MNM leader.

Asking how Indian sol-diers' lives were beingsafeguarded, Kamal

Haasan wondered whythey would need to sacri-fice their lives when theissue could have been sort-ed out diplomatically andpeacefully through talkswith China. The IndianArmy is among the bestfighting forces in theworld, but "their livesmust not be taken forgranted," he said.

Kamal Haasan furthersaid: "We need to knowwhat is being done to con-trol China’s belligerenceat the border. And let’sremember it is not thearmy’s job to do that. Thearmy is the last resortwhen diplomacy fails.What should have beenachieved through peacetalks and goodwill is beingexpected by our soldiersby sacrificing their lives!"

The MNM leader urgedthe Government todivulge "facts about whatexactly happened on thatday at Galwan so as to stoprumours." To merely say,"don't doubt the army,""don't be an anti-national"will no longer wash,Kamal Haasan said,adding, "we are beyond allthat now". The need of thehour is transparency andaccountability, stressedthe MNM leader.

Centre has more to answer onLAC violence: Kamal Haasan

POINTS OUTFLAWS

ACTOR-POLITICIANSAYS MISCHIEF LIESMORE IN TRYING TO

EMOTIONALLYMANIPULATE

PEOPLE

Most petrol stations in Chennai and surrounding three districts wore a deserted lookon Sunday even as fuel prices were raised for the elevent successive day — Sanjay K

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUN 21

Has DMK President M KStalin sought theCentre’s permission togo to London by a char-tered flight for his rou-tine medical checkup?

Social media was abuzzwith the unconfirmedreport making itsrounds. While DMKsources refused to con-firm the news, there is atalk about it official cir-cles.

It is said that Stalin,who had taken treat-ment at a London hospi-tal many years ago forsome serious ailment,has to go for regular checkups everyyear.

This year, his checkupwas due a few monthsago and he could notmake the journey toLondon due to the out-break of theCoronavirus pandemic,sources said.

Now that there was nosight of the crisis com-ing to an end in the nearfuture, Stalin is said tohave sought permissionfrom the Central govern-ment to fly to London bya chartered flight andreturn home in a fewdays’ time after undergo-ing the checkup.

Stalin to go to London?

DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUN 21

DMK leader, LBalaraman, who was for-merly the party's northChennai district secre-tary, passed away onSunday due to Covid-19.He was 76.

A DMK headquartersaudit committee member,Balaraman was a promi-nent party functionarywho worked hard for thevictory of the party’s sen-ior members like MKarunanidhi and KAnbazhagan when theyhad contested electionsfrom constituencies thatfell under his jurisdic-tion.

Calling him a fearlesswarrior, DMK PresidentM K Stalin said theBalaraman participatedin all the meetings andprotests organized by theparty and has even goneto jail.

His death, coming 10days after the demise ofDMK MLA J Anbalagan,was a great shock, he saidin his condolence mes-sage.

Central Chennai MP,Dayanidhi Maran,described his death as anirreparable loss to theparty and DMK YouthWing secretaryUdayanidhi Stalin alsoexpressed his condo-lences, among others.

DMK’s Balaramansuccumbs to Covid

DC CORRESPONDENT THANJAVUR, JUNE 21:

Bodies of three fisher-men of Rameswaramwho went for fishing inthe sea on June 13 butdrowned due to fault inthe boat were found nearSethubavachatram inThanjavur district.

While the body ofMalarvannan (48) wasfound in the sea nearEripurakarai on Sundaymorning nearSethubavachatram, thebody of Austin Sujinder(19) was found nearKollukadu on Saturdayevening. Body of anoth-er fisherman Rejinbhaskaran was foundnear Kullukadu onFriday.

According to the policefour fishermen ofRameswaram set sail forfishing on June 13. Theirboat capsized due to atechnical fault. Out ofthe four one fishermanJesu (60) swam andreturned safely toRameswaram while theother three weredrowned.

On information givenby Jesu, a search waslaunched byRameswaram fishermenin boats who came toS e t h u b av a c h a t r a m ,stayed there and contin-ued the search with thehelp of Fisheries depart-ment officials andIndian Coast Guard.

FISHERS’ BODIESWASH ASHORENEAR THANJAI

M.R. VENKATESH | DCCHENNAI, JUNE 21

Given Hinduism's enor-mous flexibility, this is thetime to be propitiatingGoddess 'Carona Devi', as adevout priest in Kerala hasrecently visualised andinstalled at a suitable placein his house, as 'mantras'and 'tantras' are invoked togive life to a form of a deityone wishes to, this time todrive away Covid-19, novelcoronavirus, and relievepeople's sufferings.

However, Pavan K. Varma,well known writer-diplomatwho is also into politics, isnot to be blamed for revisit-ing "Maryada PurushottamRam, one of the mostbeloved and revered deitiesof the Hindu faith," as heputs it, through the lens of16th century's literarygenius Tulsidas's 'Ramchar-itmanas', with selectionsfrom the saint-poet's versesand the author's delectablecommentaries.

"Mahatma Gandhi regard-ed the Ramcharitmanas "asthe greatest book in alldevotional literature. InNorth India in particular,the Ramcharitmanas isequivalent to the Bible formost Hindus. The book alsoranks among the greatestworks of literature in theworld, and the work is note-worthy for its scintillatingpoetic skills, but also itsphilosophical sophistica-

tion, its earthly wisdom andabove all its great devotion-al fervour," writes Varma.

These lines not only mir-ror the style and substanceof the author's latest offer-ing, "The Greatest Ode toLord Ram - Tulsidas's Ram-charitmanas- Selectionsand Commentaries", but itis also a subtle pointer tothe way the Indian polityhas been moving in thepost-Ram Janmabhoomimovement scenario, wherepolitics and ideology havealso come to play.

There is no mention,though, of the Ram templemovement in the author'swork. It is wholly on thedevotional outpourings ofTulsidas, his contributionsto India's 'Bakthi' movementwhich reached its zenith inthe 16th-17th CE. Inretelling Rama's story,though inspired byValmiki's Ramayana inSanskrit, Tulsidas' work is,as the author says, in the'Awadhi' dialect of Hindi,the language of the com-mon people, which earnedhim the wrath of the ortho-dox sections in Kashi.

If Tulsidas''Ramcharitmanas' - akin todiving deep into a lake, sim-ilar to the Tamil'Aazhwaars' diving deepinto the roots of devotion-,caught the imagination ofthe common people inNorth India, certainly itslanguage and its aesthetics

played a role and this is oneof the key points the authormakes.

Equally important, PawanVarma, throughout thebook, has underscored,while dwelling on core inci-dents and turning points inthe Epic, how Tulsidasthrough his broader mysti-cal vision, had moved awayfrom the sectarian strife ofHinduism towards articu-lating a unity of theGodhead and the Spirit,though in his case the man-ifestation was through LordRam.

For example when Ramand Lakshman were takenby Sage Vishwamitra toKing Janaka's abode -Tulsidas' aesthetics of beau-ty is incomparable-, forSita's 'Swayamvara', PavanVarma, paraphrasing thoselines about Sita's "irra-tionally worries" aboutwhether Ram would be ableto break the great bow-, fortheir hearts had already seton each other even beforethat-, writes that "Sitareturns to pray again toGirija, in the temple withinthe garden dedicated to theGoddess. Girija is anothername for Parvati, Shiva'sconsort.......It is significantthat Sita prays to Girija andnot to Lakshmi, Vishnu'sconsort."

And then comes PawanVarma's commentary onthose lines: "It is preciselyby these stratagems that

Tulsidas overreaches theschism between theShaivite and Vaishnaviteschools, and projects a har-mony where Hinduism isseen as a holistic unity,undivided by the acri-monies that often becamevery virulent in SouthernIndia." Tulsidas, accordingto the author, does this bybridging the conceptual andmetaphysical gulf between'Sarguna' and 'Nirguna'Brahman (the absolute as aform with attributes andwith no attributes), a philo-sophical tussle that goesback to the period of the'Upanishads'.

In Tulsidas' narration ofLord Ram's story, PawanVarma considers this syn-thesis of two diametricallyopposite theistic visions asa profound philosophicalcontribution that laterunwittingly laid the groundfor a kind of popular'monism' as identified withMaha Vishnu's 'avatar' asLord Ram.

It is only a few steps awayfrom the idealized notion of'Ram Rajya' as one compris-ing a democratic politywherein its citizens are alsoas devoted and as upright asLord Ram. Pawan Varmadiscusses some of theseissues with political finesseand makes clear howGandhi, who adoredTulsidas, had categoricallysaid, 'Ram Rajya' is not'Hindu Raj'. It is about the

notion of an 'Ideal state'where ruler and the ruledare in sync. It "has become akey aspect of India's social,cultural and political her-itage, and has gone muchbeyond merely the narrow-er definition of only anexclusively Hindu State," hesays.

Except for drawing a'Upamana' (comparison) tomake a point, so common inweaker strands of Indianepistemology, the argumentis somewhat tenuous in

Pawan Varma's commen-taries. At best, one can bepolitically correct in reiter-ating the need for strict eth-icality in governance andadherence to 'Truth' and'Righteousness' at all costs,as mirroring a cardinalvirtue in a culture.

In the same breath, thereis in Pawan Varma, a nos-talgic yearning for anUtopian, golden past, evenas the author with his fideli-ty to Tulisidas' text, seemsto show to his contempo-rary readers in India andoutside, how for all thegreat poet's mystic unisonthat 'Bakthi' can generate,there was still then a newemerging residual mono-chromatic picture ofHinduism, for the'Absolute' in Tulsidas'vision is largely seen interms of Lord Ram. Thepath to individual salva-tion ('Bakthi' as eschatol-ogy) should not be con-

fused with the rationaliza-tion of a political ideologyin the theatre of power-play.

Thankfully, the debateover these issues in PawanVarma's book is open-ended, clearly affirming thesecular over the theological.But if the human under-standing is to be remouldedthrough Tulsidas' views,then there are still prob-lems, even as there areloads of wisdom to imbibefrom Tulsidas.

For instance, in the dia-

logue between Angad andRavana in Tulsidas's work,the author writes thatAngad wanted to give diplo-macy a last chance to makeRavana see the futility ofwaging a war against Ramand his 'Vaanara' army.

"Three stanzas from thatextensive dialogue areremarkable for the wisdomthat Tulsidas displays,through the dialogues hewrites for his characters.......The purpose was to con-vey to Ravana that Ram wasfar superior to him, but it issimultaneously a statementof worldly wisdom.Tulsidas' illustration of thismaxim is compelling. Whatwould people say if a tiger,who is the king of the for-est, were to spend his ener-gies in killing frogs," theauthor quotes the poet ashaving said. "The messageis that in daily life, and inthe secular realm, peopleshould bear in mind theirstatus before attempting toendear or attack anotherperson," the author infers.

In the chapter onVibhishana-Rama dialogue,Pavan Varma asks whetherTulsidas was being too ide-alistic in his assessment."Perhaps, yes, but not in thecase of Ram. Ram is theembodiment of righteous-ness. That is his strengthand his reason to be asource of inspiration as the'Maryada Puroshottam'.Tulsidas wants to make the

point that Ram has thevirtues to make a personinvincible." Thus, even thetranscendent is linked towhat works on the ground

Commenting on the dia-logue between Bharat andLord Ram, the authorwrites, "this categoricalstatement by Ram empha-sising the importance oftreating others with benevo-lence and stressing theimportance of non-injury, istruly unique and shouldwork as a sharp reminder tothe illiterate bigots who aretoday committing violenceagainst the vulnerable inthe name of Ram," refer-ring to attacks by mobs onMuslims forcing them torecite, "Jai Shri Ram!". LordRam's adherence to thevirtue of "non-injury" isitself the best remedy toreligious fanaticism, writesthe author.

Towards the end of hisnarrative, Pavan Varma isunsure whether to give thebenefit of doubt to Tulsidas-, when he stresses the pur-pose of God incarnations-or whether the poet also hadhis caste prejudices. Thelong dialogue betweenKakabhushundi - a sage andgreat devotee of Lord Ramcursed to become a crow-and Garuda, the King ofbirds, is fascinating. Thebook is very readable as amild counter-narrative tothe dominant Hindutva dis-course of the day.

Writer-diplomat Pavan Varma revisits Lord Ram’s legacy

THE GREATEST ODE TOLORD RAM - TULSIDAS’S

RAMCHARITMANAS,SELECTIONS ANDCOMMENTARIES

by Pavan K. Varma

Westland Publications,Private Limited, Chennai, 2020 Price Rs.699/-

R. VALAYAPATHY| DCTIRUCHY, JUNE 21

Prof. Mini Shaji Thomas,Director, National Institute ofTechnology Tiruchirappalli(NIT-T) has taken over as thePresident of the Shastri Indo-Canandian Institute (SICI) inthe annual General Meeting ofSICI held on June 20.

Dr Thomas was earlier elect-ed as the Vice President 2019 inthe last Indian Mmmber coun-cil meeting held in April 2019and took over as the VicePresident 2019 and President-Elect 2020 during the last AGMin June 2019. Prof. JohnKershaw from University ofNew Brunswick, Canada, tookover as the Vice President ofSICI. Its initiatives support thecreation of bi-national linksbetween academia, govern-ment, the business communityand civil society organisationsin India and Canada.

NIT-T chief MiniThomas takes over

as SICI Prez DC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUN 21

The DMK condemnedthe government for intro-ducing a new scheme ofstudy for higher second-ary students from thecoming academic years,saying that it would ruintheir careers by deprivingopportunities in highereducation and pave theway for more studentsfrom North India to getadmission in the profes-sional colleges in TamilNadu.

Former State EducationMinister ThangamThennarasu and DMKMLA, ThangamThenarasu, in a state-ment on Sunday said thatunder the new schemethere would be only threecore subjects of study inPart III, which wouldmean that students whotake Group I and fail toclear NEET examinationswould not be eligible to

apply for engineeringcourses.

Similarly those takingthe new Group III, underwhich students would betaught only Mathematics,Physics and ComputerScience, also would not beable to apply for engineer-ing.

He urged the govern-ment to repeal the newscheme and revert to theolder form of teachingfour core subjects in PartIII so that students couldapply for both medicaland engineering courses.

Thenarasu saw a con-spiracy behind thechange in the scheme ofstudy, which he said wasbeing sought to be ped-dled as a move to reducethe pressure on students.In fact, the move wouldonly wreak havoc withthe future of students, hesaid, adding that the pres-ent government had fall-en prey to the machina-tions of vested interests.

DMK opposes newpattern of study

���� The TNOpposition leader,DMK’s MK Stalinmay fly out toLondon for acheckup delayedbecause of theCovid lockdown

Chennai’s Commissoner of Police A.K Viswanathan undertook an inspection of theCentral Station on Sunday. — DC

`99.5 lakh illegal cashseizedDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 21

The police here seized Rs 99.5 lakh,suspected to be hawala money from aperson in Mannady, on Saturdayevening.

Police said, they intercepted a two-wheeler rider on Jules Road -Prakasam Salai junction, who wasmoving around violating lockdownrules. As the man gave evasivereplies, police checked his vehicleand found bundles of cash.

The rider was identified as NadhiShahig (35) of Mannadi, and hereportedly said that a businessmanhad asked him to wait at ThayappaMudali street. Police seized the cash,as he did not have proper documents.The cash will be handed over to theIncome Tax department for investiga-tion.

348 strandedIndians returnto ChennaiDC CORRESPONDENTCHENNAI, JUNE 21

Indians in Singapore, Hong Kong andRussia, stranded due to the ban on interna-tional travel, returned to the country onSunday in two special flights operated byAI. One-seventy-eight Indians stranded inSingapore and 26 stranded in Hong Kongflew back to the country in an Air Indiaflight in the early hours of Sunday.

The passengers were provided withsmooth customs and immigration clear-ance. Passengers have been classified, andthey will undergo a 14-day mandatory quar-antine in Melakottaiyur VIT campus andChennai City Hotels, on payment basis asper protocols framed by the Government ofIndia. The Air India flight carrying 144stranded Indians under the third phase of‘Vande Bharat Mission’ departing fromMoscow, Russia, arrived at the ChennaiAirport by 4:30 am.

NATION pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | MONDAY | 22 JUNE 2020

IN BRIEF

FROM PAGE 1

Royapuram zone continues torule high with 6,148 cases fol-lowed by Tondairpet 4,963cases, Teynampet-4,785,Kodambakkam-4,329 andAnnanagar-4,142.

A Chennai Corporation offi-cial said one of the reasons fora significant drop in the newCovid-19 positive cases inThiru.Vi.Ka.Nagar was thatthe patients were isolated andquarantined without any emo-tional stress. A What'sAppgroup was formed as a commu-nicative interface to reachessential articles to the affect-ed people whenever they need-ed provisions or medicines,besides a call centre for urgentresponses. The civic bodyplans to extend this patientmanagement model to otherzones, he said.

BUZZ ABOUT MINISTERSEven as there was buzz about

the State Law Minister,Mr.C.Ve. Shanmugam fallingill, the minister's office said hehas got himself admitted to aprivate hospital in Chennai forroutine medical check-up. Hehad taken a Covid-19 testwhich however, turned out tobe negative, the source said.

Another Tamil Nadu minis-ter has volunteered homequarantine after his officialcar driver had tested positivefor coronavirus, sources said.An official in the Thasildhar'soffice in Poonamallee testedpositive, forcing the authori-ties to close the office tem-porarily and disinfect thewhole place.

Among the districts,Chengalpattu continues to beon an upward curve reporting121 positive coronavirus casestoday, followed by Thiruvallur-120, Cuddalore-90, Vellore-87,Tiruvannamalai-76, Madurai-68, Kancheepuram-64,Thanjavur-44, Trichy-36,Ramnad-30, Tiruvarur andDindigul districts 26 each,Tirunelveli-25 andVillupuram-22.

The number of deaths con-firmed by the Health depart-ment on Sunday was again atan all-time high of 53 personslosing their lives to coron-avirus. Only three of themdied due to direct Covid pneu-monia or acute respiratory dis-tress syndrome.

DC CORRESPONDENTS,HYDERABAD,VIJAYAWADAJUNE 21

Telangana on Sundayreported 730 fresh casesof Covid 19, the highestsingle day spike beingreported in the state,taking the overall tallyto 7,802. The state alsosaw seven deaths, takingthe toll to 210.Of the 730 fresh cases,the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) accounted for659 followed by Jangaon(34) and Ranga Reddydistrict (10), a state gov-ernment bulletin said.A senior Congressleader and former MPtested positive for Covid19 and he has beenadmitted to a privatehospital here on Sunday.Andhra Pradesh contin-ued to register heavyCovid-19 positive caseswith 477 fresh cases reg-istered in past 24 hourson Sunday.As many as 24,451 sam-ples were tested in thelast 24 hours and 477 per-sons tested positive, tak-ing the overall tally to8,929. There were fivedeaths with three inKrishna district and oneeach at Kurnool andChittoor districtsincreasing the toll to 106.Of the 8,929 cases, 7,059belong to the State, 1,540from other States and330 foreign returnees. Asmany as 4,516 are activepositive cases and 4,307have been discharged.Hotbed Kurnool hasreported 1,294 positivecases, followed byKrishna district (1,048)and Anantapur district(800).Meanwhile, in the latestday’s count, 70 caseswere in East Godavaridistrict increasing itstally to 555 in which 258are active cases. Around66 cases were fromKrishna district with itsoverall figure touching1,048 and 559 beingactive cases.As many as 58 caseswere registered inKadapa district with thefigure going up to 388and of which 246 areactive cases.

Washington, June 21:Describing 26/11 con-vict Tahawwur Rana, aP a k i s t a n i - o r i g i nCanadian businessmanas a flight risk, the UShas opposed his releaseon bail, arguing that ifhe were to flee toCanada, he may escapethe possibility of adeath sentence inIndia.

Given the stakes,allowance of bail inany amount would notguarantee Rana’s pres-ence in court. Grantingbail would invite thepossibility of embar-rassing the UnitedStates in the conduct ofits foreign affairs,straining its relation-ship with India,Assistant US AttorneyJohn J. Lulejian told afederal court in LosAngeles last week.

Rana, 59, who wasreleased from jail oncompassionate groundafter testing positivefor the Covid-19, wasrearrested in Los

Angeles on June 10 fol-lowing an extraditionrequest by India, wherehe is a declared fugi-tive.

On Friday, US DistrictJudge JacquelineChooljian of theCentral District ofCalifornia scheduledhis bond hearing forJune 30.

His attorney has beenasked to submit hisplea by June 22 and thefederal government’sresponse is due by June26.

In his submission onbehalf of the US gov-ernment, Lulejianurged the Los Angeles

court that Rana be notreleased pending reso-lution of the extradi-tion proceeding againsthim to India.

Moreover, to protectthe US ability to meetits treaty obligations toIndia, the US attorneyalso requested thecourt to notify the par-ties within a reason-able time in advance ofany contemplatedrelease order.

Asserting that Rana isa flight risk, and argu-ing that his escape toCanada would jeopard-ize his extradition toIndia, the US attorneysaid the court shoulddetain him withoutbond.

India seeks his arreston a number ofoffences, including theconspiracy to commitmurder, conspiracy tocommit forgery for thepurpose of cheating,and murder under rele-vant sections of theIndian Penal Code(IPC). - PTI

ITBP personnel practise yoga near Khardung La to mark the 6th International Day of Yoga in Ladakh onSunday. Yoga has emerged as a force for unity and it does not discriminate as it goes beyond race, colour,gender, faith and nations, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. Covid-19 specifically attacks ourrespiratory system which gets strengthened on doing Pranayama or breathing exercise, he said. - PTI

Telangana seeshighest everspike in Covid-19

US reluctant torelease Rana

�� Rana, 59, who wasreleased from jail oncompassionate groundafter testing positivefor the Covid-19, wasrearrested in LosAngeles on June 10 fol-lowing an extraditionrequest by India, wherehe is a declared fugi-tive.

It will strain ties with India: US attorney

MANOJ ANAND | DCGUWAHATI, JUNE 21

Even after appointmentof members of proposedForeigners Tribunaland building premisestaken on rent, the fate ofAssam government’sambitious plan of set-ting up 200 ForeignersTribunal hangs in bal-ance.

Pointing out that stategovernment was wait-ing for the NationalRegister of Citizens(NRC) office to startissuing “rejection slips”to those whose applica-tion for inclusion ofnames in the NRC wasrejected, officials

sources, however, indi-cated that process maybe further delayed asnew state coordinatorfor the NRC Hitesh DevSarma, has proposed torecheck rejectionorders.

Pointing out that someof the rejection orderswere found to be faulty,the NRC authoritiessaid that it was neces-sary that proper reasonfor the rejection ofnames should be givento every individual tomake the whole exerciseeffective.

The process of issuingthe rejection orders wasto start from March buthas been delayed due to

the lockdown.Claiming that state

government was readyto make these Tribunalsfunctional, sources saidthat the government hasdecided to set up 1,000new tribunals to dealwith the cases of thosewhose applications forinclusion of names inthe NRC were rejected.

Informing that in thefirst phase, 200 ForeignTribunals would be setup, sources said thataccordingly Tribunalmembers were appoint-ed and rented houseswere taken.

The selection processof other Tribunal staffis also complete, but

they are yet to beappointed.

Around 1.9 million outof 33 million applicantswere excluded from thefinal NRC draft pub-lished on August 31,2019. Each of them wassupposed to have beenissued a “rejectionorder” spelling out thereasons for their exclu-sion.

According to the pro-cedures framed underthe supervision of theSupreme Court, a per-son would be entitled toa 120-day window toappeal for inclusionafter receiving such anorder at the Foreigners’Tribunals in Assam.

NRC: Lens on rejection orders;setting up of tribunals delayed

AKSHAYA KUMARSAHOO | DC BHUBANESWAR, JUNE 21

The Shakaracharya ofPuri Govardhan Peeth,Swami NischalanandaSaraswati, on Sundaytermed the stay order onLord Jagannath’s RathYatra a ‘well-orchestrat-ed plan’ to stop the annu-al event.

The seer, who is seen asthe religious head of allHindus, also urgedOdisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik to imme-diately take a decisionon the grand event thathe said is “an insepara-ble temple ritual” and it

must be conductedThe Sankaracharya’s

statement is seen as astrong condemnation ofthe Patnaik govern-ment’s stand on RathYatra. The state govern-ment has endorsed theSC’s stay on the festival.

“On June 20, theSupreme Court couldhave accepted the review

petitions on its June 18order. The review peti-tioners submitted thatthe verdict was givenbased on wrong presen-tation of facts withregard to possible assem-bly of devotees. When nodevotee is likely to visitduring Rath Yatra forCovid-19 restrictions, thecourt was told that 10 to12 lakh devotees willgather. There are prece-dents of the apex courtbeing opened and rul-ings given during vaca-tions. But it did not hap-pen on Saturday,” hesaid.

On June 18, the SCwhile hearing a petition

by one SurendraPanigrahi had stayedRath Yatra.

Gajapati MaharajaDibyasingha Deb of Purihad also on Saturdayurged Odisha ChiefMinister to re-considerthe sensitive issue ofstopping Puri Rath Yatrathis year.

In a letter to the ChiefMinister, he had request-ed the state governmentto approach the SupremeCourt seeking partialmodification of its June18 order so that cen-turies-old festival can beconducted only at Purias a special case.

The king also men-

tioned that the presentCovid pandemic was nota situation which ren-ders impossible the con-duct of Rath Yatra, sinceas suggested by theSrimandir ManagingCommittee in its meet-ing on May 30, the Yatrain Puri can be held with-out any public congrega-tion.

Meanwhile, multiplepetitions, including oneby BJP nationalspokesperson SambitPatra, have been filed inthe Supreme Court inthe past 24 hours seekingpartial modification inthe apex court's June 18order.

Sankaracharya fumes over cancellation of Rath Yatra, says it’s ‘orchestrated plan’

�� The Sankaracharya’sstatement is seen as astrong condemnation ofthe Patnaik govern-ment’s stand on RathYatra. The state govern-ment has endorsed theSC’s stay on the festival.

BHAGWAN PARAB | DCMUMBAI, JUNE 21

The Maharashtra police con-tinues to be hit by the Covid-19pandemic as the number ofpolice personnel tested posi-tive for coronavirus goesbeyond 4,000 on Sunday. Ofthem, 47 policemen have suc-cumbed to the deadly virus sofar.

In the last 24 hours, 88 newpositive cases were found inthe state police force and onesuccumbed to the disease. Thetotal number of Covid-19 casesin the department has nowreached 4,048.

State home minister AnilDeshmukh tweeted, “4,048police personnel have testedpositive for Covid-19. Of these3,000 have recovered and 47have tragically succumbed”.

According to police officials,the number of active cases inthe state police force nowstands at 1,001, comprising 118officers and 883 personnel.

Maharashtra is India’s worstCovid-19 affected state withmore than 1.3 lakh positivecases. The prolonged pandem-ic has left the state police forceoverworked as well as over-stressed.

With many police personneltesting positive for coron-avirus, Maharashtra hadasked for 20 companies of theCentral Armed Police Forces(CAPF) from the Centre to pro-vide relief to the state policeforce. However, 32 companiesof the Central Reserve PoliceForce have already beendeployed in the state.

In view of rising deaths, theMaharashtra police have alsoasked their personnel who areabove 55 years of age to go onleave as a precautionary meas-ure. Besides, police personnelin the age group of 50 to 55have been put on low-risk nor-mal duty. The state has regis-tered several cases of assaulton policemen while enforcingthe guidelines to contain thespread of the virus.

As per the official data, 275incidents of assault on copshave been recorded sinceMarch 22, 2020 and 854 accusedhave been arrested for attack-ing cops. 86 policemen havebeen injured in the attack byanti-social elements while per-forming their duties.

NO DECISIONON LIQUOROUTLETS, SAYSJ&K GOVT New Delhi, June 21: A 41-

year-old Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF) person-nel died of Covid-19 onSunday, taking the total num-ber of fatalities in the forcefrom the pandemic to six, offi-cials said.

This is the 18th death fromthe pandemic among the fivecentral paramilitary forces ofthe Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF), Border

Security Force, Indo-TibetanBorder Police, CentralIndustrial Security Force andthe Sashastra Seema Bal.

Constable Jitender Kumardied at the RML Hospital hereafter he was admitted withfever and difficulty in breath-ing on June 10. The jawan hadcontracted the coronavirusinfection and was deployedfor law and order duties inDelhi. -PTI

Another jawan dies of Coronavirus

YUSUF JAMEEL | DC SRINAGAR, JUNE 21

The Jammu andKashmir governmenton Sunday flashed mes-sages on social media inan attempt to douse theanger in public ignitedby the proposed move ofthe Excise Departmentto open 183 new liquoroutlets across the UnionTerritory.

The governmentthrough its informationdepartment assured thepeople that the UT’sfinance department“has not taken any poli-cy decision regardingissuance of fresh liquorlicenses in unservedareas”.

The message added,“No list of unservedareas has either beenconsidered or approved.No decision will betaken without participa-tion of stakeholders anddue process.”

Earlier, a letter writ-ten by J&K’s excisecommissioner, RajeshKumar Shavan, to thefinance commissioner(finance department)seeking his approval toissuance of licenses forsetting up liquor outletsat 116 and 67 locationsin Jammu and Kashmirregion, respectively wasleaked, triggeringfurore particularly inpredominantly MuslimValley.

Many people took tosocial media platformsto condemn the pro-posed move assertingthat opening new liquoroutlets in such largenumbers would onlycause nuisance in theKashmiri society.

Some people pointedout that the majority ofthe Valley’s populationis of Muslims and thatIslam strictly prohibitsconsumption of liquor.

They also said that theValley is also known as‘Peere Waer’ (the gar-den of saints and sages)where the government’smove to allow liquorsale on such a wide-spread scale would bean insult to them.

Several political,social and religiousgroups includingMutahida Majlis-e-Ulema, an amalgam ofreligions and socio-reli-gious organisationsheaded by chief Muslimcleric Mirwaiz UmarFarooq resented themove and vowed not toallow opening of anynew liquor outlets.

OVER 4,000POLICEMEN HIT BYCORONA IN MAHA

SPIKE IN POSITIVECASES, DEATHS IN

TAMIL NADU

Healthy moves

SHAHAB ANSARI | DC MUMBAI, JUNE 21

The Bombay high courtrefused to entertain a publicinterest litigation (PIL) filedseeking reduction in syl-labus and concession inschool fees due to the coron-avirus pandemic. The courtobserved that these are poli-cy matters and the govern-ment should be left free totake a decision on suchissues.

The division bench of ChiefJustice Dipankar Datta andJustice K.K. Tated disposedof the PIL filed by oneNarayan Gohil seeking direc-tion to the Maharashtra gov-ernment and municipal cor-poration to clean and disin-fect schools that are beingused as quarantine facilities,before reopening them forstudents. The petition fur-ther demanded that the courtshould also direct respon-dents to reduce the syllabusand also give concession inschool fees for the academicyear 2020-21.

The bench observed thatthere is no need to pass anydirection for cleaning anddisinfecting schools as thesame has been taken care ofby the government.

As far as other prayers areconcerned, the bench said,“We observed that reducingthe syllabus and grantingconcession in fees are mat-ters in the realm of academicpolicy and the governmentmust be left free to decide."

With the above observa-tions, the judges said, “Wedon’t find any reason toentertain this PIL and thesame is disposed of.”

DC CORRESPONDENTMUMBAI, JUNE 21

A Mumbai-based builder hashanded over a 19-storey newlyconstructed, ready-to-move-inbuilding to the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC)to house Covid-19 patients.

Mehul Sanghvi, of ShreejiSharan Developers said, “Wedecided to do this willinglyafter discussing with tenants.The building is being used as aquarantine centre for Covid-19patients."

The building, located on SVRoad in Malad, has 130 flats,for which it had received anoccupation certificate from thestate government. It was readyto be handed over to the flatowners.

Till now, 300 patients havebeen transferred to the build-ing — four patients per flat.Their treatment is continuingwithin the building premises.Gopal Shetty, MP from Maladplayed an essential role in thismove.

The North Mumbai legislatorsaid he got in touch withMehul Sanghvi and convincedhim to provide the building forthe cause, in view of the risingnumber of cases in Malad.

“We’re happy that people likeMehul Sanghvi have set asidepersonal interests, in a bid toserve the greater good duringthese difficult times. We hopethat others come forward andcollaborate for such gestures,helping us save as many livesas possible,” he said.

On Saturday, Maharashtrahad reported a single-day riseof 3,874 new Covid-19 cases.With this, the total number ofpositive cases in the state nowstands at 1,28,205, said the statehealth department. With 160deaths, the toll in the state is at5,984.

New Delhi, June 21: A meet-ing of the parliamentarystanding committee on exter-nal affairs should be called atthe earliest and briefed by theforeign secretary, defence sec-retary and other top officialson the violent faceoff withChina in which 20 Indian sol-diers died, several panelmembers from the oppositionparties said on Sunday.

However, panel membersfrom the ruling party termedthe demand an act of politicsand said it wouldn’t be feasi-ble to call the meeting whenthe country is grappling withthe coronavirus crisis.

The committee is chaired byformer Union Minister andBJP MP PP Chaudhary.

Twenty Indian Army per-sonnel were killed in a brutalattack by Chinese troops ineastern Ladakh’s GalwanValley on June 15. This wasthe worst cross-border vio-lence between the two armiesin 45 years and it has frayedties between India and China.

Following the incident,members from various oppo-sition parties demanded thata meeting of the standingcommittee on external affairsbe called to discuss the mat-ter. RSP MP NKPremchandran, a member ofthe panel, said a meeting hasto be called on the standoffbetween India and China.

“A meeting has to be calledat the earliest as it is an issueof national importance.Foreign secretary and defensesecretary should be invited tobrief the panel on the vio-lence faceoff,”Premchandran.

Former Home Minister andsenior Congress leader PChidambaram said all topofficials who can throw lighton the incident should becalled to brief the members.

“A meeting must be calledand the foreign secretaryshould brief on the violentstand-off between forces ofIndia and China in GalwanValley and members must beallowed to call other top offi-

cials of the government whocan throw more light on this,Chidambaram said.

But BJP MP MeenakshiLekhi said political leadersfrom across parties shouldstand united with the govern-ment in a time of crisis. Shealso said there’s politicsbehind this demand at such amoment.

“To fight the Chinese wall,political leaders should standunited with the governmentas a firewall and avoid propa-ganda and politics,” Lekhisaid. Wondering why MPsfrom opposition parties didn’tdemand a meeting of thestanding committee amid thecoronavirus pandemic, sheasserted that “there is defi-nitely politics behind thismeeting (call).

Her party colleague andmember in the committeePoonam Mahajan said themeeting wouldn’t be feasibleas it could be risky for mem-bers of the Lok SabhaSecretariat due to the pan-demic. The members have aright to demand meetings ofthe parliamentary standingcommittees but these panelsare not a platform to do poli-tics on issues of nationalinterest, she said.

Meanwhile, Lok SabhaSpeaker Om Birla and RajyaSabha Chairman M VenkaiahNaidu have asked the secre-tary generals to explore thepossibility of arranging ameeting via video conference.

- PTI

Oppn MPs demandPar panel meeting,briefing by FS

MUMBAI BUILDERHANDS OVER BLDGFOR COVID FACILITY

HC REFUSES TOHEAR PIL SEEKINGREDUCTION INSCHOOL FEES

�� Former Home Minister andsenior Congress leader PChidambaram said all topofficials who can throw lighton the incident should becalled to brief the members.

�� BJP MP Lekhi said politicalleaders from across partiesshould stand united with thegovernment in a time of cri-sis. She also said there’s poli-tics behind this demand atsuch a moment.

WORLD pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | MONDAY | 22 JUNE 2020

Conservationists race to try and stop ice from melting by using tarps that block the sun’s raysSAVING | NATURE

Rome, June 21: A vast ta-rpaulin unravels, gatheri-ng speed as it bouncesdown the glacier over glin-ting snow. Summer is hereand the alpine ice is beingprotected from global war-ming. In northern Italy,the Presena glacier haslost more than one third ofits volume since 1993. Oncethe ski season is over andcable cars are berthed, co-nservationists race to tryand stop it melting by us-ing white tarps that blockthe sun’s rays. “This areais continuously shrinking,so we cover as much of itas possible,” explains Dav-ide Panizza, 34, who heads

the Carosello-Tonale com-pany that does the work.

From covering around30,000 sq metres in 2008,his team now places100,000 sq metres underwraps. The coverings are“geotextile tarpaulins thatreflect sunlight, maintain-ing a temperature lowerthan the external one, andthus preserving as muchsnow as possible,” he said.

On the border betweenthe Lombardy and Trenti-no Alto Adige regions, wo-rkers unroll the sheets inlong strips, covering anarea at an altitude of 2700-3000m. They move method-ically down the mountainunder clear blue skies topull the coverings taut,and sew them together toensure warm drafts do notslip underneath.

Bags of sand then act asanchors against the wind.Once in place, the sheets,which measure 70m by 5m,are hardly distinguishablefrom the packed whitesnow beneath. “There areglacier cover systems simi-

lar to ours on a few Austr-ian glaciers, but the surfa-ce covered by the tarpau-lins is much smaller,” Pan-izza said. The Austrian-made tarps cost up to $450each and it takes the teamsix weeks to install them— and another six weeksto remove them before wi-nter sets in again. FrancoDel Pero, 48, leads the ope-ration and says technologi-cal improvements meancontemporary tarps prote-ct better than earlier ver-sions. “When we removethem in September and wesee that they did their job,we feel proud,” he says.

— Agencies

Italians cover glacier with white sheets to slow melting

Berlin, June 21: Hundreds ofpeople ran riot in Germany’sStuttgart city centre in theearly hours of Sunday, throw-ing stones and bottles at policeand plundering stores aftersmashing shop windows.

“Police are currently securi-ng leads and are interrogatingmore than 20 people who havebeen provisionally arrested,”said authorities from the sout-hwestern city in a statement.More than a dozen police offic-ers were also hurt in the clash-es, added the statement.

Sascha Binder, a leading loc-al MP of the Social DemocraticParty, sharply condemned theviolence. “It is absolutely una-cceptable, that in the middle ofour country civil war-like sce-nes are breaking out. We don’tknow street battles of such sc-ales in Baden-Wuerttemberg.“Tensions built up shortlyafter midnight over police che-cks on drug consumption bysome people who had gatheredclose to the city’s biggest squa-re, the Schlossplatz.

Clashes then broke out, asthe groups went on a rampage,using sticks or poles to smashwindows of police vehicles pa-rked in the area. Police estima-ted that around 500 peoplewere involved in the riot, whi-ch also left shops in neighbou-ring Koenigstrasse attackedand looted. Police called inreinforcements, and were onlyable to quell the violence sev-eral hours later.

HUNDREDSRUN RIOT INSTUTTGART

IN BRIEF2 Pak soldiers, 1ultra die in clash

Islamabad: Two Pakistani sol-diers were killed in a clash

with militants in the restivenorthwestern tribal region

near the Afghan border, themilitary said Sunday. The inc-ident took place at the boun-

dary of turbulent North andSouth Waziristan districts,

where several military opera-tions have been launched inrecent years against home-

grown and foreign militants.The soldiers came under att-

ack during a routine patrol,an army statement said. “Aterrorist was also killed,” it

added. Pakistan has been ba-ttling a homegrown Islamist

insurgency for over a decade,with thousands of civilians

and security personnel killedin extremist attacks. Violence

in Pakistan has declined fol-lowing army offensives, butmilitant groups are still able

to carry out isolated attacks.

Volcano spewsash in IndonesiaYogyakarta (Indonesia): Ind-onesia’s most volatile volca-

no on Sunday spewed ashand hot gas in a massive col-umn as high as 6 kilometresinto the sky. Mount Merapi’sclouds of ash, accompaniedby a rumbling sound heardkilometers away, blanketed

several villages on the mainisland of Java. Indonesia’s

Volcanology and GeologicalHazard Mitigation Center didnot raise Merapi’s alert stat-us, which already was at the

third-highest level since itbegan erupting last August.Villagers living on Merapi’s

fertile slopes are advised tostay three kilometres from

the crater’s mouth and shou-ld be aware of the peril oflava, the agency said. The

2,968-metre mountain is themost active of 500

Indonesian volcanoes.

Mass graves: 215bodies in Mexico

Guadalajara, Mexico: At least215 bodies were found betw-een January and May in ninemass graves near Guadalaja-ra, in Mexico’s Jalisco state,

authorities said Saturday. St-ate prosecutor Gerardo Octa-

vio Solis told a virtual pressconference that “215 bodies

have been found in (mass)graves, of which a large num-ber have already been identi-

fied and made available totheir families.” Most graves

were located on fenced landor abandoned farms in the

towns of Zapopan, Tlajomu-lco, Juanacatlan and El Salto,all in the Guadalajara metro-

politan area. The state prose-cutor acknowledged that the-

re are still five graves pendi-ng analysis due to the lack ofstaff. They warned that oncethese are assessed the num-

ber of bodies will increase.Organised crime has not sto-pped in Mexico, despite con-finement due to the Covid-19

pandemic. Specialists andhuman rights defenders

attribute the violence thatthe country suffers to a con-troversial military crackdownon organised crime launched

in late 2006 by thenPresident Felipe Calderon.

Trump’s latest: TermsChina virus ‘Kung flu’Washington, June 21:US President Donald Tru-mp has once again blamedChina for the global spre-ad of the deadly Covid-19which has killed over467,000 people and infectedmore than 8.9 million oth-ers, terming the disease as“Kung flu”. Trump hasrepeatedly blamed Chinafor the Covid-19 pandemicwhich originated in the ce-ntral Chinese city of Wuh-an in December last yearand accused Beijing of su-ppressing the details ofthe contagion.

The Trump administrat-ion officials have describ-ed it as Wuhan virus dueto its origin. Trump, addr-essing his first election ra-lly on Saturday in Tulsa,Oklahoma, after the out-break of the Covid-19 pan-demic in the US early thisyear, said that the Covid-19is a disease and has manynames than any disease inhistory. “I can name —Kung flu. I can name 19different versions of nam-es. Many calls it a virus,which it is. Many calls it aflu. What difference. I thi-nk we have 19 or 20 versi-ons of the name,” Trumpsaid. Kung fu refers to theChinese martial arts inwhich people use only th-eir bare hands and feet tofight. The US is the worstaffected country with over2.3 million cases and morethan 1,22,000 deaths.

The Covid-19 has also ba-ttered the world economywith the International Mo-netary Fund saying thatthe global economy is bou-nd to suffer a “severe rece-ssion”. Scientists are raci-ng against time to find a

vaccine or medicine for itstreatment. Trump, 74, isseeking re-election in theNovember presidentialelections against formervice president Joe Biden,77, who is the DemocraticParty’s candidate. PTI

MILLIONS TESTED IN BEIJING; PEPSICOSUSPENDS OPS AS WORKERS POSITIVE

INDIA PLAYING‘PHARMACY OFTHE WORLD’ ROLE

Quake hitsOklahomaPerry (Oklahoma), June21: A magnitude 4.2 earth-quake shook northern Ok-lahoma on Saturday andwas felt in parts of Tulsaas protesters filled thecity’s downtown streetsafter President DonaldTrump’s campaign rally.

The US Geological Surv-ey recorded the quake at10:15 pm near Perry, rou-ghly 80 miles west of Tul-sa. The National WeatherService in Oklahoma saidon Twitter that its stafffelt the tremor in its Tulsaoffice, and the earthquakegenerated social mediabuzz after Trump’s appea-rance. It was the largestrecorded earthquake inOklahoma since a magni-tude 4.4 quake in May 2019.

— AP

Beijing, June 21: India isplaying the role as the“pharmacy of the world”during the Covid-19 pande-mic with its vast experie-nce and deep knowledge inmedicine, setting the tonefor many regional and gl-obal initiatives, ShanghaiCooperation OrganisationSecretary-General Vladi-mir Norov has said.

India has so far suppliedmedicines to 133 countriesin the fight against Covid-19, which shows India’s ge-nerosity, despite the factthat its government hastaken urgent measures toprevent and treat the dis-ease on a national scale, hesaid. This is a worthy andresponsible example ofthe behaviour of a majorpower, and at the sametime demonstrates the co-mplementarity and mutu-al support of the SCOmember states, he said.

“I am sure that highlyqualified scientists andmedical professionals inIndia will take an activepart in the efforts of theworld community to studyand research the Covid-19pandemic and develop avaccine,” he said. — PTI

Beijing, June 21: Foodand beverage giant Pep-siCo has suspended opera-tions in Beijing after someof its employees tested po-sitive for the Covid-19 inthe Chinese capital, wherethe city officials are cond-ucting Covid-19 tests onmillions, especially empl-oyees of restaurants, fooddelivery services and mar-

ket vendors. China’s National Health

Commission (NHC) saidon Sunday that it hadreported 32 new Covid-19cases in the country. Alsoon Saturday, seven newasymptomatic cases werereported, it said, addingthat 111 asymptomatic ca-ses were still under med-ical observation. — PTI

SPAIN OPENS BORDER TO TOURISTS;U.S. PRESIDENT WANTS LESS TESTINGBarcelona, June 21: Spa-in reopened its borders toEuropean tourists Sundayin a bid to kickstart itseconomy while Brazil andSouth Africa struggledwith rising Covid-19 infec-tions. At a rally, PresidentDonald Trump said hetold the US government toreduce virus testing, app-arently to avoid unflatter-

ing statistics ahead of theUS election in November.

The head of the WorldHealth Organisation haswarned that the virus’ glo-bal spread is acceleratingafter a high of 150,000 newcases was reported lastweek. Trump said the UShas tested 25 million, butthe “bad part” is it foundmore cases. — AP

Empty seats, infections among stafffeatures of Trump comeback rally

UK park stabbings thatkilled 3 is terror attackLondon, June 21: UK co-unter-terrorism officerson Sunday declared a stab-bing rampage by a Libyan-origin man in a park inthe English town of Read-ing that left three peopledead as a terrorist attack.

The local Thames ValleyPolice had initially launc-hed a murder inquiry andsaid it was keeping anopen mind on the motivebehind the knife rampagein a busy park in the citycentre on Saturday eveni-ng. “Deputy Assistant Co-mmissioner Dean Hayd-on, Senior National Coor-dinator for the CounterTerrorism Policing netwo-rk, has this morning decl-ared the incident a terror-ist incident, and CTPSE(Counter Terrorism Polic-ing South East) will betaking over the investigat-ion,” a Thames Valley Pol-ice statement said.

A 25-year-old man whowas arrested on suspicionof murder Saturday night,remains in police custodyat this time, the statementadded. The knife attacktook place in Forbury Gar-dens in the centre of thecity in Berkshire.

The arrested man is beli-eved to be a Libyan-originresident in Britain. “Thiswas a truly tragic incidentand the thoughts of Tha-mes Valley Police are withall those who have beenaffected,” said Chief Con-stable John Campbell ofThames Valley Police.

“Incidents of this natureare very rare, though Iknow that will be of littlecomfort to those involvedand understand the conce-rn that this incident willhave caused amongst ourlocal community. We willbe working closely withour partners over thecoming days and weeks tosupport the Reading com-munity during this time,as well as with CTPSE asthey progress their inves-tigation,” he said.

“We have made one arr-est and at this stage we arenot looking for any otherpeople in connection withthis incident. There is nointelligence to suggestthat there is any furtherdanger to the public, how-ever we urge people to re-main vigilant and reportanything suspicious bycalling police,” DetectiveChief Superintendent IanHunter, Head of Crime atThames Valley Police hadearlier said.

The police force also co-nfirmed that the attackhad no connection with ananti-racism Black LivesMatter protest that tookplace at the same park ear-lier on Saturday.

Ministers said that UKPrime Minister BorisJohnson and UK HomeSecretary Priti Patel willremain in contact withthe police leading theinvestigation throughSunday.

— PTI

Tulsa, June 21: Preside-nt Donald Trump launch-ed his comeback rally Sat-urday by defining the upc-oming election as a starkchoice between nationalheritage and left-wing ra-dicalism. But his intendedshow of political forceamid a pandemic featuredthousands of empty seatsand Covid-19 cases on hisown campaign staff.

Trump ignored healthwarnings to hold his firstrally in 110 days — one ofthe largest indoor gather-ings in the world during aCovid-19 outbreak thathas killed more than120,000 Americans and put40 million out of work.

The rally was meant torestart his re-election eff-ort less than five monthsbefore the president facesvoters again. “The choicein 2020 is very simple,”Trump said. “Do you wantto bow before the left-wingmob, or do you want tostand up tall and proud as

Americans?” Trump unle-ashed months of pent-upgrievances about the Cov-id-19, which he dubbed the“Kung flu”, a racist termfor the virus, which origi-nated in China. He alsotried to defend his handli-ng of the pandemic, evenas cases continue to surgein many states. — AP

US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday. — AFP

PROTESTER HELDOUTSIDE VENUETulsa, June 21: Policehave arrested a womanwho was inside a securearea outside an arena setto host President DonaldTrump’s first campaignrally during the Covid-19pandemic. The womanwas seen on live video sit-ting cross-legged on theground in peaceful prot-est when officers pulledher away and later puther in handcuffs. — AP

TRUMP OUTDOORRALLY CANCELLEDTulsa, June 21: Preside-nt Donald Trump’s camp-aign has abruptly cancel-led an outdoor campaignrally that had been sched-uled in downtown Tulsa.It said Trump and V-PMike Pence would onlyappear at the scheduledindoor event at the BOKCenter. No reason wasgiven for the cancellationof the outdoor rally rightoutside the venue. — AP

Shooting: 1 dead, 11hurt in MinneapolisMinneapolis, June 21:One man is dead and 11people suffered non-life-threatening wounds in ashooting in Minneapolis,police there said earlySunday. Minneapolis poli-ce had first said 10 peoplehad been shot with “vario-us severity levels of injur-ies”, but revised their to-tal in a tweet posted justafter 3 a.m.

The name and age of thedeceased weren’t immedi-ately released, and it was-n’t clear whether anyonewas taken into custody.An initial tweet from Min-neapolis police advisedthe public to avoid thearea in Uptown Minneap-olis, a commercial districtthat includes several barsand restaurants.

Minnesota began allowi-ng bars and restaurants toreopen with limited servi-ce on June 1 after some sixweeks of closure becauseof the Covid-19 pandemic.

Photographs posted tosocial media showed win-dows at the Landmark’sUptown Theatre and anot-her storefront shot out.Screams were audible ona live video posted to Fac-ebook that showed the aft-ermath at the scene. Smallcrowds of people gather-ed, with some crouchedover victims lying on thepavement before police of-ficers on bicycles showedup to attend to them.

Splatters of blood werevisible on the pavementafter the victims were tak-en to local hospitals. Thearea is about 5 kilometreswest of the Minneapoliscommercial area and nei-ghbourhood hit by riotingin the wake of George Flo-yd’s May 25 death after be-ing arrested by Minneapo-lis police.

Floyd’s death has spark-ed a move to overhaul theMinneapolis Police Depa-rtment. — AP

Shooting in Seattle:1 dead, one injured

5 hurt in morningshooting in AustinAustin (US), June 21: Atleast five people were wo-unded in an early morn-ing shooting in Texas’ ca-pital, officials said Sund-ay. Five adults with “serio-us, potentially life threat-ening injuries” were tak-en to local hospitals byAustin-Travis CountyEMS, the organisation

said in a tweet. The shooting took place

around 3 a.m. in a comme-rcial area of downtownAustin, according to twee-ts from EMS and Austinpolice. Further informati-on wasn’t immediately av-ailable, and it’s unclearwhether anyone was tak-en into custody. — AP

Seattle, June 21: A pre-dawn shooting in a parkin Seattle’s protest zonekilled a 19-year-old manand critically injured ano-ther person, authoritiessaid Saturday. The shoot-ing happened at about 2:30a.m. in the area near thecity’s downtown known asCHOP, which stands for“Capitol Hill OccupiedProtest”, police said.

Officers responding tothe shooting initially hadtrouble getting to the sce-ne because they “weremet by a violent crowdthat prevented officerssafe access to the victi-ms”, police said on theirblog. Two males with gun-shot wounds arrived in aprivate vehicle at Harbor-view Medical Center atabout 3 a.m., said hospitalspokesperson Susan Gre-gg. The 19-year-old man

died and the other personwas in critical conditionin the intensive care unit.

The suspect or suspectsfled and investigators hadno description of the sho-oter or shooters, policesaid. “Homicide detectiv-es responded and are con-ducting an investigation,despite the challenges pre-sented by the circumstan-ces,” police said. Investig-ators were reviewing pub-lic-source video and body-camera video for clues,Seattle Police Sgt. LaurenTruscott said.

The CHOP zone is anarea where protesters cor-doned off several blocksnear a police station in Se-attle’s Capitol Hill neigh-bourhood following demo-nstrations against policeviolence since the policekilling of George Floyd inMinneapolis. — AP

9 shot, wounded at Syracuse,New York ‘celebration’: CopsSyracuse (US), June 21:Nine people were shot at aSaturday night “celebra-tion” in central New York,authorities said. Of thenine victims, one was a 17-year-old boy in critical co-ndition with a gunshotwound to the head and ei-ght others — ranging inage from 18 to 53 — wereexpected to survive, a rele-ase from Syracuse policesaid. No one was immedi-ately taken into custody,and Syracuse Police Chief

Kenton Buckner emphasi-sed that the investigationwas in its early stages inan appearance at a pressconference alongside Syr-acuse Mayor Ben Walsh.

Syracuse officers hadarrived at the scene justbefore 9 p.m. for reports ofa stolen car, but respondi-ng officers were met withby people who said shotshad been fired into the cr-owd of a “few hundred”,Buckner said.

The police chief said his

officers didn’t hear the gu-nshots. The event was“some kind of celebrati-on” that was centralisedin a parking lot near dow-ntown Syracuse, Bucknersaid, adding that therewere multiple locations inthe area where shots werepossibly fired.

No city permits were gr-anted for the event, Walshsaid he believed. “We wou-ldn’t issue approvals for agathering of this size,”the mayor said. — AP

�� ONCE IN place, thesheets, measuring 70mby 5m, are hardly distin-guishable from the pack-ed white snow beneath.

BIDEN IS a helplesspuppet of the

radical left. And he's notradical left. I don't thinkhe knows what he is anymore. But he's contro-lled by the radical left

DONALD TRUMP, US President

EDIT pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 22 JUNE 2020 | CHENNAI

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s June 19 statement before an assem-bly of senior Opposition leaders on the subject of intensive Chinese mil-itary activity in our border areas was a deep disappointment to thecountry, its clarification the following day by the Prime Minister’s

Office was worse. It was deeply dismaying. It appeared to be saying thesame thing as the Chinese. In effect, it mocked the death of India’s 20 sol-diers who fell on June 15 trying to push the Chinese military out from theGalwan River valley in eastern Ladakh, although this could not have beenMr Modi’s intention.

The PM spoke after his colleagues from the Opposition parties had spokenand was gracious enough to acknowledge their sentiment in standing foursquare behind the country and its armed forces, but he delivered a shockwhen he said categorically and explicitly that the Chinese had not enteredthe Indian side of the Line of Actual Control or occupied any Indian posts.

If this was the case, then what’s been all the hullabaloo about in India'smilitary and political circles of late? What was the need for the tension-filled hours long talk between the commander of India’s Ladakh-based 14Corps and his Chinese counterpart on June 6? Why did the Indian readoutof the conversation between our external affairs minister and his Chinesecounterpart speak of Chinese intrusion without any hedging? Indeed, whythe need of the MEA to urge the Chinese to return to “status quo ante” inLadakh?

It is a no-brainer that Mr Modi’s remarks to Opposition leaders are severe-ly at odds with the MEA statement and the external affairs minister's obser-vations. In that case, should heads roll in the MEA? More dramatically,should heads roll in the country’s higher military command since the topbrass too has been committed to facts on the ground and the pith of itsobservations to the media have shown concern about China’s militaryincursion into the Galwan river valley as well as in the Fingers area ofPangong Lake? If heads should roll in these precincts, what is the offencethat should be attributed to them? Being at odds with the understanding ofthe PM? Did the national security advisor, who now carries a cabinet rank,and the newly-appointed Chief of Defence Staff, shape the PM's apprecia-tion, or did they not?

These are subjects of critical importance for our national life and are bestthrashed out in Parliament at the earliest, and not spun around and rungdry for crass propaganda on friendly television channels, in supine sectionsof the media, and by the vicious battalions of the ruling party’s social mediawarriors.

It was indeed sad to see the PMO clarification of the PM's original state-ment speak of “mischievous” elements in characterising those in theOpposition who were surprised by the PM’s original narrative. The clarifi-cation strained itself to persuade the country that Mr Modi’s words hadbeen in the context of the death of our jawans and an officer in the Galwanriverbed alone. However, they succeeded in leaving the frightening impres-sion that our soldiers had intruded into China’s area (since the PM had saidthe Chinese had not come into our side). Evidently, the running of the PMOleaves much to be desired.

22 JUNE 2020

The reports of Davinder Singh, an accused in the case related to aidingterrorists affiliated to Pakistan-backed outfit Hizbul Mujahideen inJammu and Kashmir, being granted bail by a Delhi court in another

terror-related case booked by the special cell of the Delhi police have everyreason to unnerve those who believe in the rule of law in our country.Singh, a suspended deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir police,and another accused, got the relief in the case related to the planning andexecution of terror attacks in Delhi and other parts of the country as theagency failed to file the chargesheet within the stipulated 90 days of theirarrest.

While every citizen has a right to fair trial — and bail is the rule and jailis the exception — it is inexplicable that the Delhi police has shown anirredeemable lapse in attaching to the case the importance it demands,given its background. The Delhi police and the Union ministry underwhich it functions must introspect into how such technical issues benefitthe people accused of serious crimes.

It may be recalled that the same Delhi police and its arms were promptin rounding up people who had protested against the CitizenshipAmendment Act, 2019, and sending them to jail; nothing stopped theagency from thinking that they were exercising their fundamental right toprotest. It ensured that Safoora Zargar, a pregnant student, was arrested,sent to jail. It must disturb all right thinking people that the court, whichdecided not to enlarge her, had suggested that she was paying the price foraligning with the cause though she was not directly related to the violencewhich erupted as part of it. It will be dangerous for the future of democra-cy if law enforcement agencies are seen to be demonstrating double standsin the administration of criminal justice.

Bail in terror case disturbing

Questions and doubtsafter PMO weighs in

So is London inching towardsbecoming “Carona free”?The virus seems to be fadinggently. For the first time in

months there are no “surplusdeaths”: that is, deaths above thefive-year average before Covidstruck. If that continues, more of uscan come out onto the streets- withall shops and restaurants open andmaybe more pubs as well. Theatreswill have to redesign their seats atleast a metre apart (if and when thePrime Minister Boris Johnsonmakes up his mind). But there arereports that the government mightrelax the social distancing rule asthe economy needs to pick up, andhotels and other establishmentsneed to open their doors. ManyBritons will decide to stay in theUK these summer holidays, sincetravelling may well become a night-mare — so local travel and “stayca-tions” will be popular.

Already as the inside of pubs andrestaurants are difficult to main-tain due to social distancing rules,crowds are spilling onto the streetsover this last lovely warm week-end, beer mugs in hand. Open airdrinking and eating is now thenorm. The virus is making us all

sunshine addicts. Perhaps fooddelivery in the parks aroundLondon will be the next Big Idea forcatering.

There is also hope that perhapsthe Oxford vaccine will be ready tobe manufactured by September butin the meantime an age old, out-of-patent drug has also proved effec-tive for serious patients on ventila-tors. Things are finally looking up.

Hope is a much loved four-letterword!

It is the economy that is in ICUnow, while people are becomingcautiously optimistic.

Unemployment is high and whilethe main benefit — UniversalCredit — has coped with two mil-lion extra claimants, it is tight fist-ed. The grant is low so it encour-ages you to seek work. But there isno work to seek!

It is difficult for bureaucrats tochange their own rules as their jobsare never at risk. It took a youngfootball star, Marcus Radford, tomake a difference. Radford who isyoung and Black and a star forManchester United and Englandrequested the government that theweekly food supplement grant par-

ents of school-going children getduring school terms should beextended to the summer holidays.

No one took it seriously. But then he wrote an article that

The Times publicised. So quickly£120 million was found to save facefor Boris Johnson (whose "posh-ness" is now under question, as heveers being between “Hugh Grantand Billy Bunter” as one columnistput it). Radford said that he hadgrown up in a poor Black familyand knew how hard summer holi-days were. A rare use of a great talent.

This is an idea that India couldadapt as well. Keep the middaymeals ongoing, during the pandem-ic. These are meals that childrenfrom poor families get in govern-ment schools.

Aremarkable feature of thiscountry is that it does notforget those who are histori-

cal icons, but also ordinary folk. Sothis week we both celebrated andmourned the death, at 103, of VeraLynn . Vera Lynn is a thoroughlyEnglish heroine. During the SecondWorld War she sang “We shall meetagain”, a song that made her the

soldiers’ sweetheart. It was amorale booster when the Britishwere alone in Western Europe,fighting Hitler. Recently when theQueen’s speech was broadcast dur-ing lockdown, she used the samephrase. Very Lynn’s record againjumped to the top of the charts.

Perhaps we need a similar song inIndia — to remind people of theongoing tensions taking place atthe Indo-China border which mightescalate at any time.

Certainly, the press in the UK hasbeen covering it widely — and mostof the articles are sympathetictowards India.

The Black Lives Matter demon-strations stop and start, spo-radically. Meanwhile the stat-

ue of Churchill has been unveiled,at Westminster Square, and isbeing protected from the protestorsby his fans and the police.

But now, under attack is the stat-ue of Cecil Rhodes who dug up dia-mond mines in Southern Africaand had a vast region named afterhimself — Rhodesia (now Zambiaand Zimbabwe). He was a philan-thropist who gave money to OrielCollege at Oxford and established

the Rhodes Scholarship. BillClinton and Girish Karnad weretwo famous Rhodes scholars.However, his statue at the college isto be removed. We may end up withall the “removed” statues in anational museum dedicated to thehistory of slavery.

Amish Tripathi arrived sixmonths ago to become thenew director of the Nehru

Centre, in London. Even thoughLondon has been in lockdown forthe last three months, Amish hasnot been idle. In the midst of plan-ning for International Yoga Day, healso managed to e-launch his newbook last week, which immediatelyzoomed to the top of the Amazon(India) bestseller list. Called TheLegend of Suheldev - it is based in11th century India, and is a “fic-tional” narration of true events.This time it is about a “forgottenwarrior” who was an inclusiveruler, bringing together all castesand religions against a foreigninvader. Sounds like a must-readbook!

Kishwar Desai is an award-win-ning author

UK cautiouslylooks ahead, tolocal travel and

‘staycations’

Three battles ofPanipat (1526,1556, 1761)sealed India’sg e o p o l i t i c a l

map into several cen-turies’ submission to for-eign invaders. China’ssecond invasion of Indiain 2020 (1962 being thefirst) hasn’t done that yet,despite India’s helplessdependence on importsand a massive tradedeficit, along with the sys-tematic attacks on itsbanking, industry andfinancial sectors by XiJinping’s China.

Credible history showsthat till 1950, the HanChinese had never gonenear the Himalayan fron-tier bordering India.From every angle,Chinese history, culture,tradition and geographywere far removed fromeither the southern ornorthern slopes of theHimalayas or easternKashmir. They werestrangers to the subconti-nent’s life and polity,despite the subsequentattempts by the ChineseCommunist propagandamachine to recreate histo-ry with claims of the Hanempire extending to partsof India and itsHimalayan territories.

Things began to changesoon after the birth of thePeople’s Republic inOctober 1949. A year later,the forcible occupation ofTibet by Chairman Mao’sred brigades was the firstshot at the recreation ofhistory. Tibet had alwaysbeen an independent enti-ty, but the assertive newrulers in Beijing (thenPeking) claimed it hadalways been under Hanoverlordship.

The naked aggression inLadakh in May-June 2020,and the subsequentkilling of over 20 Indiansoldiers, is a continuationof that story, withPresident Xi trying to fur-ther Chairman Mao’sexpansionist agenda.

In 1950, the rulers ofnewly-independent Indiawere either clueless about

the history of the widerneighbourhood beyondthe subcontinent, or didnot have the stomach toconfront the Chinese,who were adept at takingfull advantage of the polit-ical divisions in democra-tic India. No one in a posi-tion of authority in Delhi,not even the Indianambassador to China,knew Mandarin, andwere all too visiblyimpressed with the “revo-lutionary” Communistleadership.

Delhi ignored the reali-ty that over several thou-sand years, only two sig-nificant Chinese pilgrimshad travelled to the sub-continent — Fa Hien, whovisited in 405-411 AD dur-ing the times of ChandraGupta II (Gupta dynasty),who “was struck withadmiration by the famousroyal palace and housesfor dispensing charityand medicines atPataliputra” (Patna); andHiuen Tsang, who metKing Harshavardhana(643 AD). But no Chineseruler ever came near theGanga or its source atGangotri. Indians tooremained largely cluelessabout the Hwang Ho.

The credulity and negli-gence of Indians wasshaken only when Tibetwas destroyed and manyof its people brutally mas-sacred by PLA soldiers.After Tibet, India was inthe CPC’s firing line — asone of the major statesagainst which China hadlarge territorial claims (of140,000 sq km); the otherone being Russia (SovietUnion) in the 1950s, whenBeijing claimed 800,000 sqkm in Russia’s Far East(Siberia).

Russia isn’t out of thewoods completely — as itsvast swathe of resource-rich land in Siberia,sparsely populated, is stillcoveted by the land-hun-gry Chinese Reds. Chinais comparatively land-deficient but has surplusmanpower. No wonderSiberia’s resources andempty spaces are so allur-

ing to a rising power withglobal numero unodreams.

Beijing’s newfoundclaims to territory onland, as in the GalwanValley and elsewhere,find an echo in its newlydiscovered sovereignrights to the sea, with allits reefs, islets, volcanoes,islands, fisheries, miner-als and unexploredwaters. It’s almost remi-niscent of Hitler’sdemands for “greater liv-ing space” for Germanyin the 1930s. But by thatlogic, if the South ChinaSea is China’s sovereignterritory, the EnglishChannel should be part ofthe Queen’s dominions,Tokyo should assert itsexclusive rights over theSea of Japan and theIndian Ocean should besubject to New Delhi’sjurisdiction. With Nepal’srecent China-inspired ter-ritory-acquisition spreeanother grim reminder toNew Delhi, we shouldconsider amending theConstitution of India todeclare the Indian Oceana part of “India, that isBharat…” As we haveseen, altering a country’sConstitution is a conve-nient way to extend anation’s territory!

It is becoming increas-ingly clear that theChinese have been work-ing on a long-term strate-gy targeting India for sev-eral years, but Indianshave not been adept inunderstanding theChinese psyche and tak-ing preventive measuresfor its own interests.Delhi needs to realise thatthe Ladakh standoff, andnow the Nepal “front”,have all the ingredients ofa multi-front Chineseplan, going back toDoklam in 2017. When theextent of the currentLadakh intrusion becameclear and India demandedthe “April 2020 line berestored”, it put us in an

awkward position. If, asthe reports say, China is 6km deep inside the Indianside of the Line of ActualControl, any retreat ofless than all the 6 km willbe a huge gain for Beijing,and a corresponding lossof land for India.

The growing bonhomiebetween India and theUnited States, its partici-pation in the“Quadrilateral” with theUS, Japan and Australia,the tightening controlsover Beijing’s invest-ments and takeover ofIndian companies, amidthe rising negative reac-tions internationally toChina’s Belt and RoadInitiative, had madeChina determined toteach New Delhi a lesson— that it was an “inferi-or” state that must be putin its place. How dare anuppity India try to punchabove its weight? The pri-mary aim was economic— to secure further con-cessions for trade, com-merce, finance and bank-ing, to pave the way forHuawei, MG and othersto make money from theIndian market.

The Chinese, as is theirnorm, will try to do thingsin a clandestine manner;behind the lines in a “tar-get” foreign state. Withthis, they hope to not onlygain economically butalso to corrode India fromwithin. The more India ispenetrated through the“convergence” factor, themore it will impede itssecurity and defence. It is,therefore, vital that Indiafocuses on “divergence”and insists on immediateborder talks to clear outthe Ladakh intruders, lestthe “convergence” resultin a permanent “China inIndia” presence. Likeother recent events inIndia’s neighbourhood,China’s multi-targeting isborn out of desperationand nervousness. Fromthe South China Sea, toHong Kong, to the TaiwanStrait and now Ladakh…something is brewing.India needs to stand itsground, and not kowtowin the face of Chinese bul-lying and naked sabre-rattling and open up itsstrategic sectors out offear of the dragon.

The writer is an alum-nus of the National

Defence College, and theauthor of China in India

The Chinese havebeen working on along-term strategytargeting India forseveral years, butIndians have not

been adept inunderstanding the

Chinese psycheand taking preven-

tive measures

LETTERSCHINA’S FAUX PASThe Chinese social media’sdeleting the PM Modi’sspeech shows that it hasturned jittery. Fearing thatit would earn internationalwrath, it has committed yetanother faux pas, with thefirst one being responsiblefor killing 20 Indian sol-diers along the ALC. (TwoChinese social media sitesdelete Modi speech, June21). It is a bit ironical on thepart of China that of all theattributable reasons, it hasstated that it was forced toremove Modi’s speech as itis unable to view this con-tent because it violates theregulations. It is indeedappalling that China, whichplays dirty politics negat-ing amity with the neigh-bouring nations, has cate-gorically deleted Modi’sspeech on baseless allega-tions.

E.S. ChandrasekaranChennai

Subhani

China has multi-frontstrategy, so stand firm

GALWAN MASSACRECHINA RELEASES 10 Indian soldiersafter the negotiation by Indian teamleader Major General Abhijit Bapatwho made it clear to the Chinese thatthe first condition to resume talks isthe safe return of our soldiers.However, the extent of the brutal clashcan be gauged from the fact that 76Indian Army soldiers are still in hospi-tal. This is the worst flare-up on theLAC in more than five decades and thishas increased the chances of more suchclashes as both sets of soldiers comeface to face every day while patrolling.Chinese have constructed 500 struc-tures, fortified trenches and a newboatshed over 20 kilometres betweenfingers 4 and 5, the proactive nature ofthese new Chinese outposts exactly onthe line separating Indian and Chinesepatrols is a cause of concern for us.

A. KumarChennai

GOOD STARTIT IS heartening to learn that theConfederation of All India Traders(CAIT), a big organisation represent-ing 7 crore small traders and 40,000trade associations, has pledged to boy-cott about 3,000 Chinese productsroughly valued at `1 lakh crore byDecember 2021 as a mark of theirprotest to recent Chinese intrusion.Due to inflow of umpteen varieties ofChinese goods, we are losing our spiritof self-reliance thereby denyingemployment opportunities to millionsof our people.

M. GovindarajGudiyatham

DECCAN CHRONICLE

ADITYA SINHA K. SUDHAKAREditor Printer & Publisher

R. MOHANResident Editor

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AbhijitBhattacharyya

KishwarDesai

London Diary

Licences issued to 1,200 units in 3 months

Hand sanitizer usegoes up by 60-fold

pg 7MONDAY | 22 JUNE 2020 | CHENNAI

New Delhi, June 21: GST will belevied on sale of land for which pri-mary amenities such as drainage,waterline and electricity have beenprovided by a real estate developer,the Authority for Advance Ruling(AAR) has said.

The AAR has also concluded thatsale of developed plots will be cov-ered under the clause 'constructionof a complex intended for sale to abuyer' and accordingly GST wouldbe levied.

An applicant had approached theGujarat bench of AAR to confirm ifgoods and services tax (GST) wasapplicable on the sale of plot ofland for which, as per the require-ment approved by the respectiveauthority (i.e. jila panchayat), pri-mary amenities such as, drainageline, water line, electricity line,land levelling are provided.

“We find that the activity of thesale of developed plots would becovered under the clause 'construc-tion of a complex intended for saleto a buyer'. Thus, the said activityis covered under 'constructionservices' and GST is payable on the

sale of developed plots...,” the AARsaid.

The AAR, while passing the rul-ing, said the applicant sells thedeveloped land as plots and the saleprice includes cost of land, as wellas price of amenities on a propor-tionate basis.

Rajat Mohan, senior partner atAMRG & Associates, said this rul-ing would have a direct, immediate,and adverse impact on the entirereal estate sector, which intends totake away the tax-neutral statusawarded to the sale of developedplots.

This ruling goes against the basicframework of GST, which restrictsto the taxation of moveable goodsand services. Constitutionally, GSTcannot be levied on transactions inimmovable property, Mohan said.

— PTI

Land sold as plots attracts GST: AAR

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, JUNE 21

Hand sanitizer consump-tion in the country hasgone up 60 times in thepast two months. With thegovernment issuing newlicences to 1,200 units,India now has surplus pro-duction, which can beexported after meetingdomestic demand.

Prior to Covid-19, thecountry used to consume10 lakh litres of ethanol-based hand sanitizers peryear. This was mainly con-sumed by hospitals andclinics. The householdusage was almost negligi-ble.

Sensing the increasingdemand for hand sanitiz-ers with the spread of thepandemic, the Departmentof Food and PublicDistribution facilitatedissuance of licences inMarch to 1,200 companiesto produce ethanol-basedhand sanitizers. Thelicences were provided todistilleries and sugar com-panies for producing handsanitizers as well asFMCG companies toeither manufacture or bot-tle hand sanitisers madeby sugar companies anddistilleries, which lackcapabilities to pack insmall units consumed inthe market.

The manufacturing unitsthat have already com-menced production cur-rently have an aggregatecapacity to produce 30lakh litres per day.

“We have been trying tocollate data from the com-

panies that have initiatedproduction. Many of thecompanies are opera-tional, but some have notset up units due to lock-down restrictions. As peravailable data, from Aprilonwards they have pro-duced three crore litres ofhand sanitizers. Of this,they were able to sell twocrore litres in the domes-tic market. Thus, themonthly consumptionwhich was less than onelakh litre in a month priorto Covid-19 has gone up to60 to 70 lakh litres,” a topofficial of the Departmentof Food and PublicDistribution toldFinancial Chronicle.

“The household and per-sonal consumption of

hand santizers have dras-tically gone up with thepandemic and this is beingreflected in the consump-tion going up by morethan 60-fold,” he added.

Initially, the governmenthad prohibited the exportof hand sanitizers, includ-ing ethanol-based produc-tion, fearing shortage ofavailability. Consideringthe surplus production, onJune 1, the DirectorateGeneral of Foreign Tradelifted the ban on exports.Some of the companiesalso have started export ofhand sanitizers after thisnotification, he said.

The increased availabili-ty of hand sanitizers hasbrought down the pricesas well, he added.

SANGEETHA GCHENNAI, JUNE 21

Deploying imported intel-ligent electrical equip-ment and electronic com-ponents in the power sec-tor runs a risk of sabotagein electrical grids. Theindustry is well-equippedto reduce its imports andavoid such risks. It onlyneeds the government totweak its bidding norms tofavour quality products,and not the cheapest ones.

Discoms, gencos andtranscos in the power sec-tor are the main con-sumers of electrical equip-ment and industrial elec-tronics. The industryimports $10.24 billion, or Rs71,000 crore, worth equip-ment, including turbines,generators, transformers,switch gears, capacitorsand energy meters. Of this,30 per cent comes fromChina. The share of China

in the imports had gone upfrom 15 per cent in 2005-06to 45 per cent in 2011-12 andhas gradually come downto 30 per cent.

About 11 to 12 per cent ofthese Chinese importsmeant for power projectscome under the conces-sional duty of 5 per cent.India had introduced thisconcessionalduty in 1986when it didnot have thecapacity toproduce them locally."Now we can produce allthose products locally, butthe concessional duty hasnot been scrapped. Ourmanufacturing units arenow running with a capac-ity utilisation of 30 to 40per cent. We can increaseutilisation rates if importscome down," said SudeepSarkar, director, IndianElectrical and ElectronicsM a n u f a c t u r - e r s ' '

Association (Ieema). Further, some of the

intelligent electronicsproducts imported fromcountries like China canbe remotely controlled.Discoms in some of thestates that have deployedsupervisory control anddata acquisition (SCADA)systems use such imported

i n t e l l i g e n te l e c t r o n i ce q u i p m e n t ." I m p o r t i n gsuch products

poses a risk of sabotage. Itis possible for the supplierto blackout these states.The risk of malware andspyware embedded equip-ment also cannot be dis-missed. The CentralElectricity Authority hadsubmitted a report on suchcyber security threats tothe government last year,"he said.

The industry says that itis confident of manufac-

turing all the finishedproducts on its own. It onlyneeds to import some rawmaterials. "We have thetechnology to producequality products. Ourproducts are being export-ed to developed marketslike the US, UK andEurope. However, the sec-tor still ends up importingcheaper products due tothe bidding norms of thegovernment," he added.

The auctions favouringthe lowest bidder makesthe quality supplier losebusiness due to the cut-throat price competition."China can produce themcheap as the governmentthere provides incentiveson infrastructure ameni-ties. A change in auctionnorms in favour of qualitybidder will make compa-nies look at parameterslike life time cost, perform-ance and cost overrun,"Sarkar said.

Power ware poses risk of sabotage

TAMINGthe Dragon

quickBITES

INDICATORS %Sensex 34,731.73 1.53Nifty 50 10,244.40 1.51S&P 500* 3,097.74 -0.56Dollar (`) 76.19 -0.05Pound Sterling (`) 94.59 0.78Euro (`) 85.42 0.18Gold (10gm)* (`) 48,334▼144 0.29Brent crude ($/bbl)* 42.19 0.01IN 10-Yr bond yield 5.849 0.027US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 0.694 0.001

* As of Friday/Saturday

HDFC Bank toraise `50K cr viadebt securitiesHDFC Bank said its board hasapproved a proposal to raiseup to Rs 50,000 crore in thenext 12 months by issuing vari-ous debt securities. The deci-sion was taken at the boardmeeting held on June 20, thebank said in a regulatory filing."The board of directors hasapproved the issue of perpetu-al debt instruments (part ofadditional tier I capital), tier IIcapital bonds and long termbonds,” the bank said.

◗ With the govt issuing new licences for ethanol-based units, India now has surplus production◗ Prior to Covid-19, India used to consume 10lakh litres of hand sanitizers per year◗ But monthly consumption has gone up to 60 to70 lakh litres from one lakh litres earlier

PROBLEM OF PLENTY

Aries: Things may not work out as expected.Stress may wear you down. Don’t take up diffi-cult tasks. If provoked, respond rationally. Beoptimistic.

Taurus: Your eloquence and creativity willblossom. You may need advice on issuesrelated to professional life. You may find reliefin religious and spiritual activity.

Gemini: Routine activities may keep you busy.It is advisable to control expenses. Mucheffort is needed to get benefits in your person-al and professional life. Cancer: Don’t be disappointed if things don’tmaterialise quickly. They will work out. Makeyour point in a soft way, and you can be sureyou’ll get it across.Leo: You’ll feel depressed over a former lover.Hard work has helped you achieve what youdesired. Financial gain will come throughinvestments and speculation.

Virgo: You will want to be loving, but need tofeel loved first. Money may be spent orreceived for spiritual work. You’ll have finan-cial problems, but you will ultimately comeout ahead and be successful.

Sagittarius: An old friend or lover will suddenlyappear. The day can be full of energy andvigour. Work will get done smoothly. Romanceis in the air, make the most of it.Capricorn: Investing in property sounds appeal-ing, especially for your kids. Take care of yourfinances. You will be spending a lot of time pur-suing sports.

Aquarius: Planning a property deal mightopen new horizons for you and your family.Traveling can be very rewarding, but it canalso strain the wallet.

Pisces: Lack of willpower might cause you emo-tional and mental problems. You will discoverunique travel destinations. Health-related prob-lems could cause uneasiness. It is advisable tolisten to your inner voice for guidance.

Your day today

Sriram Raghavan, Bollywood director and screenwriter. He is best known for his movies Raman

Raghav, Ek Hasina Thi, Johnny Gaddar, Andhadhun,Agent Vinod and Badlapur.

You share your b’day with

COFFEE-BREAK

Across1.Melted (9)

6. Tubes (5)7. Brink (5)9. Ballerina's skirt (4)

10. Riles (6)12. Rounded up,

mustered (6)14. Supplication (4)17. Cuban dance (5)18. Villain (5)19. Insect (9)

Down2. Data fed into com-

puter (5)3. Winner's ribbon (4)4. Amorous (6)5. Spooky (5)6. Large jug (7)8. Leavens (anag) (7)

11 Comment (6)13. Shakespearean

lover (5)15. Reasoned

thinking (5)16. Therefore (4)

QUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

Across: 1.Ancestor, 7. Niece,8. Amigo, 9. Intact,10. Jeep, 12. Hawk,14. Social, 17. Exile,18. Gaffe,19. Reporter.

Down: 1. Alert, 2.Clench, 3. Seam, 4.Olive, 5. Enlighten,6. Compelled, 11.Sought, 13. While,15. Infer,16. Memo.

TODAY’S RATINGS: 9 AVERAGE; 10GOOD; 12 OUTSTANDING

Word Mine

How many words of four ormore letters can you makefrom the letters shown in

today’s puzzle? In making aword, each letter may be used

once only. Each word mustcontain the letter at the top ofthe pyramid. There should beat least one nine letter word.

Plurals, foreign words andproper names are not

allowed.

ANSWERS:hilt, hinging, hint, hinting, light, lighting,LIGHTNING, nigh, night, ninth, thin, thing

HT N I

G G I L N

By Dr C.V.B. Subrahmanyam

Mark Twain said ofRudyard Kipling,"Between us, we cover

all knowledge; he knows allthat can be known, and I knowthe rest."That would be a tough two-some to take on in a generalknowledge quiz. In a bridgesetting, though, it can beimportant to play the card thatyou are known to hold. Howdoes that apply in this four-spade contract?West led the club 10: jack, ace,

eight. After East shifted to theheart eight, what did declarerdo?North's two-diamond responsewas natural and game-forcing.With a diamond to lose, Southcould afford to concede onlyone trump trick. The initialplan was to hope that Eaststarted with royal-10-third orany beneficial doubleton.Declarer would expect to playfirst low to his nine, then low tothe jack.So, South won with dummy's

heart ace and played a spadeto his nine, losing to West'squeen. Now West led anotherheart. Declarer won andplayed a diamond to the queenand ace. After winning East'sdiamond return on the board,South called for dummy's sec-ond spade. What happenedthen?Declarer was getting ready toplay his jack, but East followedsuit with the four. Just in time,South hit the brakes. Whatwas the spade position? East

could not have started with K-10-2. If he had K-10-4-2, thecontract was unmakable. But ifhe had 10-4-2 ... Declarer putup his ace to bring downWest's king and make his con-tract.East should have played thespade 10 on dummy's seven,the card he was known to holdfrom the first round of the suit.

Copyright United FeatureSyndicate

(Asia Features)

bridge

PHILLIPALDER

PLAY THE CARD

KNOWN TO BE HELD

jumble

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

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

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

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

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

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

Libra: You will have financial difficulties butalso opportunities. Stress may cause a healthproblem. Change is inevitable, don’t worry justembrace it. Spread your wings and be free!Scorpio: You will find the balance and freedomyou have long been looking for. Householdexpenses may increase and trouble in busi-ness is on the cards.

Printed & Published by K Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan

Chronicle Holdings Limited. Printed &Published at Deccan Chronicle Presses

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

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

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

Chronicle ® is prohibited.

GAMES pg 8DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | MONDAY | 22 JUNE 2020

SHORT

NBA ALL SET TOPICK DRAFTS

ON OCTOBER 16

TAKES

Golfer Michelleis a mother now

Hatton shareslead at RBC golf

Striker Cavani set to leave PSG

NNeeww YYoorrkk:: Michelle Wie Westnow has a little one of her own.The former U.S. Women’s Open

champion announced onInstagram that she and her hus-

band, Golden State Warriorsexecutive Jonnie West, are par-ents of a daughter born Friday.

‘’Kenna baby, I have waitedmy entire life to meet you,’’ Wie

wrote on Instagram.They named her Makenna

Kamalei Yoona West. The 30-year-old Wie was born and

raised in Honolulu. Kamalei is aHawaiian for ‘’beloved child.’’

Wie and West, the son of NBAgreat Jerry West, were marriedin August. They announced her

pregnancy in January.Wie shot the lowest score

ever by a woman competing onthe PGA Tour with a 68 at Sony

Open when she was 14. Shewon five times on the LPGA

Tour, the biggest at PinehurstNo. 2 in the 2014 U.S. Women’s

Open. — AP

WWaasshhiinnggttoonn:: Britain’s TyrrellHatton closed with a 24-footbirdie putt Saturday to finish

among four co-leaders after thethird round of the US PGA

Tour’s RBC Heritage tourna-ment.

Mexico’s Abraham Ancer andAmericans Webb Simpson and

Ryan Palmer shared the leadentering Sunday’s final round of

the tour’s second event after athree-month Coronavirus hia-

tus.Hatton fired a bogey-free

eight-under par 63 to stand on15-under 198 after 54 holes at

Harbour Town Golf Links inHilton Head Island.

The 28-year-old Englishmanwon the Arnold Palmer

Invitational in March at Bay Hillin the last completed event

before the tour’s three-monthcoronavirus shutdown began.

Hatton birdied four of the firstfive holes, opening with a 40-foot birdie putt and two-put-ting from 35 feet for another

birdie at the par-5 second.He made a 10-foot birdie putt

at the fourth, a 12-footer tobirdie the par-5 fifth. — AFP

PPaarriiss:: Paris Saint-Germain’s all-time record scorer Edinson

Cavani will leave the club aheadof the return of the ChampionsLeague, media reports claimed

on Saturday.Earlier this month it was

announced Uruguay strikerCavani, 33, who has 200 goals

to his name since joining PSG in2013, will depart the Parc de

Princes at the end of the cam-paign with his current contract

up.French broadcaster RMC

Sport and Spanish newspaperMarca also claimed Belgium

left-back Thomas Meunier willalso quit the side on June 30.

The Parisians are through tothe quarter-finals of Europe’s

elite club competition, which isset to be played to a finish in

August.They must also still play the

finals this summer of theFrench Cup, against Saint-

Etienne, and the League Cup,against Lyon.

The Ligue 1 term was declaredover in April due to theCoronavirus pandemic.

— AFP

WWaasshhiinnggttoonn:: The NBA hasfirmed up the schedule for

what will be a hectic time forteams this fall, deciding on

October 16 as the date for thisyear’s draft and saying clubs

can begin talking to free agentstwo days later.

The annual moratorium willbegin on October 19 and con-

tinue through noon on October23, the league told teams on

Saturday.As was the case last season,

teams and free agents canbegin negotiating six hours

before the moratorium.It could be a wildly busy fewdays in October for the NBA.

BRIGHTON SHINESeagulls rally from a goal down to beat Arsenal 2-1 in EPLLondon, June 21:Arsenal’s hopes of quali-fying for the ChampionsLeague suffered a fatalblow as Neal Maupay firedBrighton to a last-gasp 2-1win after Gunners keeperBernd Leno wasstretchered off, whileWatford snatched a late 1-1draw against Leicester onSaturday.

Arsenal’s faint chancesof finishing in the topfour faded further.

Their cause wasn’thelped by the controver-sial injury to Leno, whosescreams echoed round theempty Amex Stadiumafter he slid awkwardlywhen he came to collectthe ball just inside hisown penalty area.

The German seemed totwist his knee and wasgiven oxygen during sev-eral minutes of treatment.

Nicolas Pepe putArsenal ahead in the 68thminute with a superbstrike, the Ivory Coastwinger cutting in from theright and curling into thefar corner from the edgeof the area.

But Arsenal’s defensivefrailties were exposedseven minutes later whenBrighton defender LewisDunk stabbed home fromclose-range after RobHolding’s attempted clear-ance bounced off him.

Adding insult to injuryfor Arsenal, deep intostoppage-time AaronConnolly helped the ballon to Maupay and he kepthis head for a fine finish.

BBOOUURRNNEEMMOOUUTTHH FFAAIILL TTOOBBRREEAACCHH PPAALLAACCEE

Bournemouth remainedstuck in the PremierLeague’s relegation zoneafter losing 0-2 to CrystalPalace. Luka Milivojeviccurled a free kick over thewall and into the top cor-ner from 25 yards (meters)in the 12th minute, beforeJordan Ayew finished offa flowing move involvingWilfried Zaha and Patrickvan Aanholt in the 23rd.

Meanwhile, WestBromwich Albion movedinto first place in theChampionship after a 0-0draw againstBirmingham as theEnglish second tierreturned. — Agencies

Brighton’s Neal Maupay (centre) scores his team’s second goal during their English Premier League match againstArsenal at the American Express Community Stadium in Brighton, on Saturday. Brighton won 2-1. — AFP

Dortmund seal second spotBerlin, June 21: BayernMunich are eyeing the tre-ble this season afterRobert Lewandowskiclaimed the record for themost goals scored by a for-eigner in the Bundesligaas the champions sweptpast Freiburg 3-1 onSaturday, while WerderBremen look set to be rele-gated after losing atMainz.

Borussia Dortmundwrapped up second placewith a 2-0 win at RBLeipzig.

At a spectator-freeAllianz Arena, JoshuaKimmich gave Bayern thelead before Lewandowskiscored twice before half-time to give him 33 leaguegoals this season and 48times in all competitions.

The Poland striker’stally beats the previousrecord of 31 goals set byGabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in2016-2017 for BorussiaDortmund before hemoved to present clubArsenal.

The pressure was offBayern as they werecrowned Bundesligachampions for the eighthconsecutive season inmidweek.

At the foot of the table,

Bremen are set to be rele-gated for the first time in40 years after theyslumped to a 3-1 defeat atMainz.

Elsewhere, Erling BrautHaaland scored twice toseal Dortmund’s winagainst third-placedLeipzig and secure theBundesliga runners-upspot.

Dortmund and Bayernhave both qualified fornext season’s Champions

League, but two out ofLeipzig, Gladbach andLeverkusen can still jointhem.

Haaland now has 13goals in 14 league gamessince joining from RedBull Salzburg after heshowed more lethal fin-ishing from crosses by 17-year-old US midfielderGiovanni Reyna and thenJulian Brandt. Haalandhas 44 goals in 39 gamesfor Dortmund. — Agencies

New Delhi, June 21:Australia’s Steve Smithhas hailed Indian super-star and on-field rival ViratKohli as a “terrific guy”and a strong leader whoplays hard on the field.

While internationalsporting events were halt-ed when the Coronaviruspandemic hit, cricketershave been keeping in touchwith each other throughmessages, phone and videocalls.

“I had few conversationswith him (Virat) off thefield, few messages hereand there in recent timesjust to see how things aregoing in India,” Smith tolda national sports channelon Saturday.

“He is a terrific guy andwe both play hard out onthe field,” Smith added.

After India beat Australiain last year’s World Cup inEngland, Kohli apologisedto Smith for chants of“cheater” from the standstowards the formerAustralia captain for hisrole in the ball-tamperingscandal that rockedAustralia during their 2018tour of South Africa.

The gesture was surpris-ing because Kohli had oncestopped just short of call-ing Smith a cheat after aTest match in Bangalore in2017 when the then skipperlooked up towards thedressing room for help dur-ing an umpire review —something not permittedunder the rules.

“Virat’s gesture in theWorld Cup to the Indianfans that were giving meand David Warner a littlebit of a stick — I appreciat-ed that and I shared thatwith him straight up,” saidSmith.

“He is a terrific guy andthe way he has led theIndian team has beenamazing,” he added.

— AFP

Kohli is a terrificguy, says Smith

DDCC CCOORRRREESSPPOONNDDEENNTTCHENNAI, JUNE 21

A professional league canhelp change the profile ofa sport. The rapid growthof kabaddi and football inIndia is a case in point.Some of the prominentnames from Tamil Naduvolleyball on Sunday helda brainstorm to sow theseeds for a potential proleague in the state. But theball is in the court of theadministrators to cash inon the idea.

In a webinar — “Stepforward, a discussion onTamil Nadu volleyball”organised by Goal Quiz —players spoke about theimportance of launchinga professional league.

R. Kamaraj, formerIndia player and a bud-ding coach, said it shouldstart from the districtlevel. “We have been talk-ing about bringing profes-sionalism in volleyball formore than two decades.

The only way to improvethe game is by launchinga pro league. It shouldstart from the districts.There are a lot of localclubs who conduct eventsin districts by spendingabout `2 lakh a tourna-ment. The administratorsshould try and bring themall under one umbrellaand organise a tourna-ment in a bigger way.They should be able tomarket it well if theymanage to get live cover-age in a local TV chan-nel,” said Kamaraj.

Having played in the ProVolleyball League, Indiastar Naveen Raja Jacobknows a thing or two

about its importance. “Proleague is a different worldwhere a player has tofocus only on the gamethroughout that period.We don’t even get accessto our mobile phones.True to its name, a teamtravels with a bunch ofsupport staff, sometimesoutnumbering the play-ers. A fitness trainer, ana-lyst and physio; they caterto all requirements,” saidNaveen.

Naveen said roping inoutstation players for astate league wouldimprove the competitionlevel. “Budding playersfrom our districts canlearn new skills from rub-

bing shoulders with out-station players. And Idon’t see any hurdles forthe players from TamilNadu departmental teamsto be part of the league,”he added.

Naveen suggested a dif-ferent idea for developingthe game at district level.“Tamil Nadu has a lot ofquality volleyball playercompared to other states.But they are not gettingrecognition because ofthe lack of tournaments.When I was a schoolboy, Iused to watch matches inThoothukudi, Tirunelveliand Kanyakumari whichattracted a lot of crowd. Ifwe split the districts intozones and run tourna-ments for schools and col-leges, we will be able toidentify new talent,” headded.

Another former Indiaplayer P. Sivabalan saidinnovative ideas likechanging colour of theball, tweaking the scoring

system and engaging fanswould bring in new andyoung crowd to the volley-ball arena.

“The responsibility ofrunning the league shouldbe handed over to a corpo-rate or sports manage-ment group. The leaguewill also help our coaches.There are quite a fewLevel-I and Level-II coach-es who are sitting idle. Forthe league to happen, thevolleyball fraternityshould stay united,” hesaid.

Chennai Spartans’ man-ager J. Nadarajan said theability to rope in sponsorswill decide the outcome ofthe product. “As it shouldbe handled by profession-als, the league will be a bitexpensive to run. Theteams should also be ableto pump in money to payplayers as well as supportstaff. And, it’s not easy tobring crowd to the stadi-um. It’s the biggest chal-lenge,” added Nadarajan.

Volleyball stars want TN pro league

NNEEHHAA SSUURRAANNAA II DDCCCHENNAI, JUNE 21

Sankar Muthusamy istouted as the next bigthing in Tamil Nadu bad-minton. After makingwaves in the junior cir-cuit, the 16-year-old shut-tler looks ready to make abig leap.

Sankar played a differ-ent racquet sport — ten-nis — before he switchedto the indoor game. “Iused to play tennis withmy dad, who was a state-level player. Later, I justfelt like playing an indoorsport and badminton wasmy first choice. My dadknew coach S. Aravindansir well, so he put me inhis academy. Since then, Ihave been training underhim,” said Sankar.

Sankar had impressedAravindan even when hewas playing tennis as aseven-year-old.

“He was so focused andhis concentration levelwas something really spe-cial. I knew that this boycould achieve somethingbig in badminton,” saidAravindan.

Sankar announced hisarrival when he won abronze medal at the AsianJunior Championship in2018. He thus became thefirst player from TamilNadu to win a medal atthe Asiad. Last year, hetoppled three older play-ers before losing in thesemifinals of the seniornational ranking tourna-ment at Vijayawada.

A product of FireballBadminton Academy,Sankar was the cynosureof all eyes when he repre-

sented ChennaiSuperstarz in the last edi-tion of the PremierBadminton League (PBL).

The PBL proved to be abig learning experiencefor Sankar. “TommySugiarto, a former worldnumber three, was in ourteam and I interacted a lothim. The PBL, in a way,was a big fan moment forme. It was a good opportu-nity to observe and learnfrom their training ses-sions,” said Sankar.

The youngest player ofthe league even managedto step on the court. “Itwas against Lee CheukYiu of Hong Kong. Eventhough I lost, the experi-ence was truly amazing,”Sakar added.

Sankar’s short-term tar-get is to make it to the top100 in the BWF rankings.As the Covid-19 pandemichas played spoilsport,Sankar is striving hard tokeep himself fit and alsopracticing wall-tapping athome.

“I was looking forwardto play a lot of tourna-ment to improve my rank-ing,” said the playerranked 323 in the world.

Aravindan, who is alsothe head coach ofChennai Superstarz,believes Sankar can reachtop 50 if he works on hiscounter-attacking skills.

“He started out as adefensive player, but slow-ly realised he has to bemore attacking. The netwas not his strength.Since the last two years hehas been playing aggres-sively. He has the poten-tial to go up the ladder,”said Aravindan.

SANKAR, A BADMINTONSTAR IN THE MAKING

Dortmund’s Erling Braut Haaland (left) celebrates withhis teammate Julian Brandt after scoring his side’s sec-ond goal during their German league match against RBLeipzig in Leipzig on Saturday. Dortmund won 2-0.— AP

England-Windies series to herald a new era

The flow of key mes-sages has startedwell before interna-

tional cricket resumesoperations atSouthampton, England.The first Test in theEngland against WestIndies series is scheduledfor a July 8 start and doespromise a good start to thenew era of the game.

There will be manychanges the way the gamewill be played, consideringthe forced restrictions cre-ated by Covid-19. Changesthat may be supplementalas the game progresses inenclosed environments

across the globe.Coming back to the mes-

sages that are beingshared in the media, mostare from the visitors whoare undergoing quaran-tine in the British Islesbefore they play they firstinter-squad practice fix-ture at Manchester.Shannon Gabriel threwthe first salvo when hereiterated that the touristsshould play to theirstrengths if they were toretain the Wisden Trophy(the cup that both teamsplay for in Test cricket).

He reminded the hosts oftheir 1-2 loss in the

Caribbean last year andthe role played by pace inEngland's defeat. “Don’tfix anything that is notbroken,” was Gabriel’smantra, going back totheir victory over Englandthat was achieved usingthe fast men of the islands.The tall Trinidadian whohas 133 wickets in 45 Testmatches so far is recover-ing from an ankle injuryand is on stand-by for thecurrent tour.

As is obvious, the WestIndians will rely on paceand hope their current hitman, Kemar Roach getsquickly into rhythm.

A peak into the currentWindies squad, led byJason Holder, will revealthat the outfit comprises ofyoung eager beavers —Roach being the eldest —sprinkled with experience.Being a big fan and follow-er of West Indian cricket,

once cannot but comparethis lot to the one thattoured the Old Blighty fourand a half decades ago.That squad too comprisedof raw, young talent whichwas peppered with a bit ofgrey hair. That tour of 1976turned out to be a turningpoint of Windies cricketwith skipper Clive Lloydrealising that sheer pacewas the best weapon in hisarmoury while licking hiswounds after a 1-5 loss toAustralia down under.

The lanky Guyanese firstused his ammunitionagainst India at Kingston,Jamaica before unleashingit against England thatwas led by Tony Griegwhose pomposity givebirth to a new tactic ofattack that fed on terroris-ing batsmen.

Grieg’s statement that he‘intended to make them(West Indians) grovel’ is

now part of the hall ofshame comments made inworld sport. The statementthat sparked a fire in thebelly of the West Indianteam was compounded asit came from the mouth ofa white South African whohad made England hishome. In these days ofsorry racist incidents pro-pelled by the death of ablack American, the word‘grovel’ will be the amongthose to appear on a searchengine looking for ‘racismin cricket’.

With 28-wickets apiece,Andy Roberts and MichaelHolding blew away theEnglish batting in theirhome conditions with spe-cial ‘treatment’ given toskipper Grieg and BrianClose who was recalledalong with the bespecta-cled David Steele, knownfor their dour batting.Looking back, Roberts,

Holding along withVanburn Holder andWayne Daniel preyed onEngland’s psyche creatingan element of fear to causemaximum damage.Needless to say, the battingcharge was with Sir VivianRichards, Gordon Green-idge and Roy Frederickswho didn’t give the strongEnglish bowling a chanceto settle down. Before thestart of the series, Holderand his band of young menwill need to keep a fewpointers in mind.

First, that they have theWisden Trophy in theircupboard and start of asdefenders. It took a decadefor the Windies to beattheir old foe, England, in aTest series — an exploitthey must preserve.

To continue their suc-cess, coach Phil Simmons,who has many years ofexperience playing in

England, needs to findways to keep his playershungry for success.

The second pointerHolder will need to remem-ber is that they will beplaying in empty stands(hence no partisan crowd),which can make a huge dif-ference. With JamesAnderson and Ben Stokesin their ranks, the hometeam will be relying onseam and swing as theirmain weapon with shortbursts of pace provided byJofra Archer.

Both teams will be start-ing from scratch with nocricket being played forover three months. Thevictor will be the team thatgets into rhythm earlier.One does look forward tothis much awaited Testseries. Will pace prevailover swing or will there bea judicious mixture ofboth?

Hemant KenkreSilly Point

VICTOR HELPSATLETICO BEATVALLADOLIDBarcelona, June 21: ,Atletico Madrid honoredthe club’s victims of theCoronavirus pandemicand earned a hard-foughtvictory Saturday in itsfirst home game since theSpanish league resumed.

Substitute Victor‘’Vitolo’’ Machin scoredin the 81st minute asAtletico beat Valladolid 1-0.

The victory lifted DiegoSimeone’s team pastSevilla and into thirdplace on head-to-headgoal difference.

Atletico used the occa-sion of its first match atthe Wanda MetropolitanoStadium in more thanthree months to pay trib-ute to its former coachRadomir Antic, three for-mer players, and a 14-year-old youth player whodied during the pandem-ic.

A jersey with Antic’sname was placed on a seatnext to Simeone. — AP

Virat’s gesture in theWorld Cup to theIndian fans that weregiving me and DavidWarner a little bit of astick — I appreciatedthat and I shared thatwith him straight up.

— STEVENSMITH

Australian cricketer

P. Sivabalan, R. Kamaraj, Naveen Raja Jacob.

Sankar Muthusamy

Printed & Published byK. Sudhakar on behalf of

Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited and Printed at

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

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

22254751Editor: ADITYA SINHA

Regd. No.TNENG/2010/35692

SWATI SSHARMA

DECCAN CHRONICLE

Indians have given ‘the Chinese food’ arather elaborate twist of their own bycreating dishes packed with spicy

flavours — even if only by mixing soy sauce,chilli sauce, tomato ketchup and Schezwansauce.

In other words, Chinese cuisine in India is amere adaptation of Chinese cooking with anIndian ‘tadka’ added to it. Paneer turned intoSichuan paneer, potato wedges tweaked intochilli potato, rich in curry leaves, noodleswith all Indian vegetables and paneer, chilichicken made in Punjabi-style — the list goeson. Surely, by no means will a Chinese recog-nise any of these dishes as theirs.

So how is one expected to take up UnionMinister Athawale’s call to boycott some-thing that is as Indian as our version of theChinese cuisine?

Celebrity Chef Ranveer Brar explains,“What we know as Chinese food in India isnot Chinese food. It is good that is made withIndian ingredients using products that areactually made in India and it is more Indianthan Chinese. A lot of the dishes, actually 80

percent of thed i s h -

es, that are on Chinese restaurant menu’s isIndian, as we know them as Indian Chineserestaurant. They don’t even exist in China.So, it is our food that is developed over a 150years in India started from Tangram and isnow popular in India as Indo-Chinese food. Ithink this structure, paradigm doesn’t holdtrue for food atleast Chinese food.”

Over the last two centuries, food has evolvedand outgrown its original, points out chefVarun Inamdar. “We call it Chindian and

Desi Chinese, which says it all. We, generi-cally, do not like the original Chinese

because our palates have grown overmanchurian, chowmein, lollypop,

schezwan chutney and friednoodles,” he says. Whatever is

happening at our borders isa geopolitical issue and

must not be clubbedwith any other senti-ments because thatpacks a lot of risk intow, includinghuman, culturaland economic.“Therefore, a blan-ket-ban on‘Chinese’ restau-rants in Indiacomes at an over-hauling price ofinfrastructureand labour. It isnot so easy and

not the most recommended idea of showingNationalism,” Varun points out.

THE INDO-CHINESE WOKFusion 9’s Shankar Krishnamurthy rightlypoints out how food has no boundaries. “It’sthe most basic thing that has brought theworld closer since the evolution of mankind,”he adds. “For time immemorial, man hastravelled the globe and adapted to new foodsthat locally existed. Hence, this argument ofboycotting a certain type of cuisinedoes not holdwater. All said anddone, we have setourselves on apath to encour-age local farm-ers to bring inlocal produce, andrun our menus anddo food accordingly,even in the oriental

fashion. That’s pure-ly beneficial for the

local ecosystem.”While talking to us,

Bunty Bajaj, a jewellerydesigner in the city, alsoreiterated how Chinesecuisine is a staple in

almost every Indian household. “It must haveevolved from China, but today it is as Indianas daal-chaawal. I think it is ridiculous forpoliticians to ask their people to ban Chinese

food or restaurants. IndianChinese food is not Chinese

food. It is an Indian ver-sion of elements takenfrom Chinese ingredi-ents,” states Bunty. Then,she adds, “Plus, all therestaurants that have

been shut for so manymonths need to survivetoo, so asking people to

boycott those would beheartless.”

What we know as Chinesefood in India is not Chinese

food. It is made with Indianingredients using products that areactually made in India and it is more Indian thanChinese. Actually 80 percent of the dishes on theIndian Chinese restaurant menu is Indian! They don’teven exist in China — celebrity Chef Ranveer Brar

While Union Minister Ramdas Athawale compelled Indians and Indian restaurants to boycott Chinese food, anyone would agree that except for the name, there is nothing Chinese

in the Chinese food we relish from our restaurants

We call itChindian

and Desi Chinese,which says it all.We, generically, donot like the original

Chinese because our palates havegrown over manchurian, chowmein,lollypop, schezwan chutney and fried

noodles— chef Varun

Inamdar

Chinese cuisine in India is a mereadaptation of Chinese cooking with anIndian ‘tadka’ added to it. Paneer turnedinto Sichuan paneer, potato wedgestweaked into chilli potato, rich in curryleaves, noodles with all Indianvegetables and paneer, chili chickenmade in Punjabi-style — the list goes on

Over the last two centuries, food has evolved and outgrown its original source

ShankarKrishnamurthy

Indian Chinese is what we relish in India. Pepper chicken, spicy,fried garlic rice, hot and sour soup, chilli chicken and the likes that is not part of Chinese cuisine

MMOONNDDAAYY || 2222 JJUUNNEE 22002200

PG3

NO NNEGATIVITYPLEASE: SSALMAN

ChennaiCHRONICLEChinese, made in India

The hospitalset worth `5crore willhave an ICU,a special ward,general wards,doctor rooms,etc.

2Monday 22 June 2020

Deccan Chronicletollywood

Director G. B. Krishna’s forth-coing film, Black, a thriller,

will showcase Darshana Banik inthe role of a civil engineer. “Iplay an independent girl who hasher set of priorities; it’s an emo-tional yet a matured characterwhere the multiple layers in myrole makes it intriguing,”explains Darshana, adding thatworking in a thriller gave her adifferent perspective.

Darshana, who made herTelugu debut with Aatagallushares with us how she looksforward to her upcomingrole.

“Earlier, I was part ofbreezy entertainers inBengali cinema, but beingpart of a racy and actionthriller such as Blackgave me a new perspectiveover the craft,” points outDarshana, one of the ris-ing stars in the Bengaliindustry.

The actress tells us thatjust as she has picked upnuances in the screen-play, she has also learntTelugu during the lock-down. “I believe know-ing the language makesyou express better, Ithink it is especiallytrue in the case of emo-tional scenes — it makesa great difference whenyou know the meaningof your lines. Because Iwanted to do more Southfilms, I made an effort topick up Telugu duringthis lockdown. It’ll defi-nitely come in handywhen I resume my shoot-ing,” she explains.

Prabhas’filmmakersstart workon their setsArtwork construction for theactor’s upcoming period dramawill resume next week

Filmmakers of Prabhas’ forthcoming film were sup-posed to shoot for one month in Italy and Austria inJune. In the meanwhile, the world shut down with the

pandemic playing spoilsport.While the chances of travelling abroad are unlikely any

time soon, the filmmakers are now planning other options.To ensure no more time wastage, the filmmakers have decid-ed to shoot the Indian sequences for the next two months. Tothis extent, they have even started building a set across fourfloors in a private studio in the city.

A source from the unit informed us that the set is that of ahospital, costing around `5 crore. “It will have an ICU, a spe-cial ward, general wards, doctor rooms and other artwork,” the source adds.

The filmmakers need crew members fromMumbai and other areas to resume shoot-ing in Hyderabad. However, althoughPrabhas is game to join the sets, the risein positive cases is putting off the move-ment of the crew members for theplanned one-month schedule inHyderabad.

“That is also why the filmmakers havedecided to utilise the current idle time tobuild the sets and be ready once the situa-tion is favourable for shooting,” adds thesource, sharing that the hospital set’s con-struction may take place towards theend of the month.

Further more, the makers aremulling over shooting theAustria scenes in Georgiabecause the number ofcases in Georgia is com-paratively low.

“Several sequencesand a song in out-door location wereto be shot inAustria, but theteam is nowreconsidering thelocales and areeyeing Georgiaas an alterna-tive,” shares thesource.

Sai Pallavi iswith Nani againThe two pair up in filmmaker RahulSankrityan’s film titled, Shyam Singha Roy

Nani and Sai Pallavi hadlooked a natural pair in

Middle Class Abbayi (MCA),with a sizzling onscreen chem-istry between them. It seemsfilmmakers seem keen on recre-ating that magic.

We hear that Sai Pallavi — whoseems to have a knack of pick-ing up happening projects andcontinues to okay scripts on thebasis of her gut feeling — hasgreenlit another film oppositeNani. Rahul Sankrityan willdirect the movie, which is titledShyam Singha Roy.

Apparently, the filmmakershad approached Sai Pallavi backin February this year, thoughthe talks never got goingbecause of the pandemic.However, the latest buzz is thatthe talks are at an advancedstage. The film’s director Rahulconfirms approaching Sai

Pallavi. “We have been holdingdiscussions with her, and so far,the talks have been fruitful,”says Rahul, although he alsoadds that it will take some moretime to get a better picture.

Meanwhile, the filmmakers’plans to travel to Kolkata for arecce to construct a special setthere have been put off owing tothe pandemic.

Upskilling during the lockdown

— Snippets by Sashidhar Adivi

3Monday 22 June 2020

Deccan Chronicleglam sham

A black and white picture of Ajay Devgn with his fatherVeeru Devgn Anushka Sharma’s father during her wedding

DC CCORRESPONDENT

While the world spent themorning of June 21 celebrat-ing International Yoga Day,

the evening was spent feasting to cel-ebrate Father’s Day. ActressesTaapsee Pannu and Dia Mirza toopulled out their yoga mats, postingasanas to commemorate the occa-sion. While Taapsee is seen meditat-ing on her terrace, Dia can be seendoing a few stretches.

Meanwhile, celebs also took oversocial media to celebrate Father’sDay. Soha Ali Khan not only shared ablack and white picture of her sittingin her father Mansoor Ali KhanPataudi’s lap, she also shared anadorably cute picture of InaayaNaumi Kemmu sharing a laugh withfather Kunal Kemmu that she cap-tioned, “Partners in rhyme, moreoften in crime !! @khemster2 HappyFather’s Day — you got this. (sic).”

Kareena Kapoor Khan shared a pic-ture of Randhir Kapoor holding anice candy and captioned, “All myfavourites in a picture... And I wasn’ttalking about the ice cream#HappyFathersDay.”

Alia Bhatt, sharing a silhouette pic-ture with her father, wrote, “myfather, my friend.. my rock when Ineed to be held.. my water when Ineed to flow.. my air when I want tofly.. how one person can besoo many people I’venever understood.. butwhat I have under-stood is there’s no onelike you! my specialspecial beautifuldaddy.. I feel sograteful to know youeveryday! Thankyou for making meand being you! I loveyou. (sic).”

Shraddha Kapoor, whofondly calls her fatherShakti Kapoor ‘Baapu’ shareda childhood picture with her fatherand wrote, “My rock, my strength,my support and always by my side.So thankful to you. So blessed for

you. Words cannever do justice toexpress how much I

love you.. my pre-cious Baapu Happy

Father’s Day @shak-tikapoor (sic).”

Ajay Devgn, who seldomposts anything on social

media, took to Twitter posting ablack and white picture of hisfather Veeru Devgn directing himon sets of some film. “Those we love

don’t go away, they walk beside useveryday.. Unseen, unheard butalways near, stillloved#HappyFathersDay (sic),” hetweeted along with the picture.

Amitabh Bachchan shared a col-lage of him and his fatherHarivansh Rai Bachchan, whileAnushka Sharma shared a picturefrom her wedding and put out anempowering message.

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja too sharedmultiple pictures with Anil Kapoorto celebrate Father’s Day.

Double delightin Bollywood

While some celebrities pulled

out their yoga matsfor International

Yoga Day, othersrecalled fond

memories of theirfathers

Kunal Kemmu with his daughter Inaaya

Amitabh Bachchanand Harivansh RaiBachchan

Childhood pic of Shraddha with herfather Shakti Kapoor

Soha with her father Mansoor Ali Khan

Alia Bhatt, sharing a silhouette picturewith her father, Mahesh Bhatt

AmitabhBachchan shared a

collage of him and hisfather Harivansh Rai

Bachchan, while AnushkaSharma shared a picture

from her wedding and putout an empowering

message

No negativityplease: SalmanThe actor requested his fans tostand in solidarity with SushantSingh Rajput’s family and fansduring their time of grief

DC CCORRESPONDENT

After actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s untimelydemise, social media was flooded with neti-

zens slamming industry bigwigs and star kids.There was a variety of opinions buzzing onsocial media, be it trending hashtags to boycottKaran Johar and Alia Bhatt or even calling outactors like Salman and Shah Rukh Khan or bigproduction houses forpushing the Kai PoChe! actor to end hislife.

His death has also ledto raging debates onnepotism and pointingout the ‘BollywoodPrivilege Club’ that isrampant in the indus-try. While the debateand backlash havebeen ongoing, SalmanKhan — who has beencalled out by directorAbhinav Kashyapsince then for sabotag-ing his career — urgedhis fans to not give into the negativity onsocial media.

Taking to Twitter,Salman urged his fansto stand in solidaritywith the fans of Sushant Singh Rajput duringtheir time of grief. “A request to all my fans tostand with Sushant’s fans n not to go by the lan-guage n the curses used but to go with the emo-tion behind it. Pls support n stand by his familyn fans as the loss of a loved one is extremelypainful. (sic),” he tweeted.

Since Rajput’s demise, hashtags like #Boycott-SalmanKhan, #BoycottStarKids and #Boycott-Bollywood were trending on social media. Inresponse, fans of the Dabangg star started the#WeStand-WithSalman-Khan, in his defence.

Kim praises Khloe’s exDC CCORRESPONDENT

Kim Kardashian’s sister Khloe and her formerbeau Tristan Thompson have been making head-

lines over their break upfor quite some time now.While the 39-year-old reali-ty star has criticisedThompson for cheating onher sister, a clip from thebonus Season 18 of KeepingUp With Kardashians seesKim praising Tristan, say-ing that he tried hard afterhis split from Khloe.

In the clip, Kim is seenspeaking to KourtneyKardashian’s former partner Scott Disick, and recallsher dinner with Tristan in New York, “It was good.He’s like honestly so nice,” she told Scott aboutTristan. Scott is seen agreeing and said, “He mademistakes, but I feel he’s trying really hard.” Kim wenton to praise the 29-year-old NBA star for his efforts toreconcile with Khloe after the cheating scandal lastyear. Interestingly, Scott also had a falling out withKourtney after dating her for over nine years andeven having three children with her. He remains closeto her and the Kardashian-Jenner family.

SAYONI SSINHA

In 2019, when architectduo Gauri Satam andTejesh Patil were tasked

with salvaging a flood-affectedvillage school nestled on thebanks of river Tansa inMaharashtra, the challenge waslayered. The design approachhad to be self-sustainable,responsive to the region’s flood-prone topography and one thatfosters a learning environment.With a tight budget, Satam andPatil felt it suitable to erect thestructure with residual soil pro-cured from nearby quarries,bricks from nearby kilns alongwith locally-sourced black basaltrocks. A traditional jali was cre-ated from locally-sourced karvitwigs for cross ventilation. “Forus, it’s not just how the builtform looks when completed, it’salso how it is experienced andinhabited by the users, and howgracefully it ages,” the duo sayabout their design philosophyfor the project.

At a time when global warmingand climate change are factorsthat can’t be ignored, spaces areincreasingly being designed andconstructed considering factorsthat impact the environment andthe ecosystem. Satam and Patil’sfirm unTAG has also accountedfor climatic sensibilities in theirdesign mantra, while also adher-ing spatial functionality, materi-al sensitivity and economic via-bility. “The concept of ‘low-costand eco-friendly’ is not new. Ourtraditional homes across Indiaare based on the concept ofbeing climatically sensitive. It’sonly now that city dwellers wantto return to their roots andchoose a lifestyle that has anindelible connection to natureand a minimal carbon foot-print,” says Patil who oftendraws inspirationfrom traditionalarchitecture

that aims to co-exist symbiotical-ly with nature. “We have alwayslooked up to visionary architectssuch as Geoffrey Bawa andLaurie Baker who have definedan architectural language whichis attuned to theregion’s cli-mate, rely onnative materi-als and inte-

grate local art andcrafts. Their projectsare more experientialthan monumental andhence, relatable to thecommon man,” he adds abouttheir design influences.

The regional and contextualsetting of a project unsurpris-ingly plays a vital role in thedesign development of their pro-jects. For instance, in a locationwhere the climate is majorly hotand humid, the house needs to be

well protected throughoverhangs from the

scorching summersun. “It

also needsto be cross-ventilated to createan ambient habitable interiorspace. In such cases, transientspaces such as the verandah playa key role, acting as climaticbuffers,” explains Satam as shegoes on to refer to a house theydesigned and built for a paddyfarmer in Dakivali village inMaharashtra. The 1400 sq.ft.home has been installed with cli-mate control elements such aslocally-sourced fly-ash block jalisthat effectively screen the housefrom dust, and cross ventilatewhile ensuring privacy for the

residents. Calculated over-hangs over cross-ven-

tilated openingsmake the indoors

ambiently habit-able duringpeak tropicals u m m e r swhile alsowithstandingthe harsh mon-

soons. While theterraces have

been painted whiteto reduce incident

heat gain, the architectsalso introduced recharge pits atkey locations to harvest rainwa-ter. “Such cost-effective produc-tive architecture alongside greeninitiatives in landscaping are thenew standards for affordable sus-tainable living with farmingcommunities in the region,” she

says.H e r e ,materialsalso con-t r i b u t ea sm u c h

as the design in makingthese projects eco-friendly. “Wetry and source our buildingmaterials locally, within a radiusof 10 km, as much as possible.These materials have a lowembodied energy and respondbetter to the regional climateand turn out to be more afford-able too,” say the graduates fromthe Sir J J College ofArchitecture explaining theirfirm’s mantra of up-cycling andrepurposing resources. For oneof their projects, a farm stay inMaharashtra, they acquired sea-soned local timber from a demol-ished temple at a nominal priceand salvaged it for the doors andwindows of the house. “Foranother project, a biology profes-sor’s village home, we reclaimedthe basalt stone recovered from anearby excavation to be used forstrengthening the plinth of thehouse,” he adds.

The duo have always steeredaway from the notion that well-designed houses are exclusive toonly those who can afford them.Taking on budget-friendly andsustainable homes has thus beentheir priority. “We have beenconstantly questioning the cur-rent trend of most architectscatering mainly to the rich, carv-ing the surreal image of theirpractice, while prioritising aes-thetics over rational approach.We want our design to be dictat-ed by the brief, budget, climateand context. Through our exper-tise, we wish to provide afford-able luxury to the commonman,” concludes Satam.

Meet the architect duo who arebuilding sustainable, eco-friendly

homes on a budget

4Monday 22 June 2020

social eyes Deccan Chronicle

Going green

This compact farm stay uses laterite stone that responds effectively to the hot-humid climate of Sindhudurg in Maharashtra

The architect duo Gauri Satam and Tejesh Patil

Theregional andcontextual

setting of a projectplays a vital role in

the design development oftheir projects

DC CCORRESPONDENT

Sonakshi appears tohave had it with nega-

tivity in her life. In arather telling post on herInstagram, the actressshared a picture with tanote, “The first step ofprotecting your sanity isto stay away from negativ-ity. And no where more ofthat than twitter thesedays! Chalo, im off —deactivating my account.Bye guys, peace out (sic).”The caption to her post,which garnered close to125,000 likes, reads, “Aaglage basti mein, mein apnimasti mein! [The villagecan burn down for all Icare; I shall stick to myfun ways!] Bye Twitter(sic).” She had disenabledcomments to her post.

Social media has beenabuzz wondering ifSonakshi’s actions haveanything to do with thetalk of nepotism andfavouritism lifting itshead again after theunfortunate and untimelydeath of Sushant SinghRajput. She was heavilytrolled after she paid hertributes to the dead actor.

Karan Johar, anotherperson who faced inces-sant trolling for his trib-ute to Sushant, decided tounfollow several peopleon Twitter. He now fol-lows eight Twitter han-dles, three of whichinclude AmitabhBachchan, AkshayKumar and Shah RukhKhan.

5Monday 22 June 2020

Deccan Chroniclethe buzzWEDDING FESTIVITIESBEGIN? The Internet isabuzz speculat-ing whetheractor Rana andMiheeka Bajajare getting mar-ried on 8 August2020. Miheekaposted a pictureon herInstagram page,where she isseen coyly pos-ing against astair’s railing,looking pictureperfect in herJayanti-Reddylehenga. “Thecelebrationscontinue! Thankyou for makingmy day so muchmore special!”she captionedher post

OFF THE WEB

Pandemic-inspiredvivid dreams Have you noticed that your dreams have become more vivid — anddisturbing — since the coronavirus pandemic? You’re not alone. Onepsychotherapist in California is helping people to interpret them

PAM KKRAGEN

Like millions of oth-ers around the world,local residents in San

Diego have been having fre-quent, vivid and often dis-turbing dreams inspired bytheir anxieties aroundCOVID-19. Twitter is brim-ming with thousands ofposts by celebrities, ath-letes, healthcare workersand everyday folks sharingtheir strange and puzzlingpandemic-fuelled dreams.

Estela Bobadilla, a psy-chotherapist who specialis-es in dream analysis, saysshe noticed an immediateuptick in patients reportingvirus-related dreams afterthe stay-at-home ordersbegan. A long-time mar-riage and family therapist,Estela is a union, orJungian, analyst whobelieves that people’sdreams deliver messagesand symbols from theunconscious mind.

A WINDOW INTO THE SUBCONSCIOUS

In times of greatupheaval, such as wars orpandemics, people suppresstheir anxieties to carry onwith their daily lives. Butthose thoughts rest likeseeds in the unconsciousmind where they “grow likelittle plants, always seekingthe light” in dreams.

“Usually, I tell people tothink of their dreamsas their uncon-scious knock-ing on yourdoor. If youdon’t paya t t e n -t i o n ,t h e y ’ l lknock al i t t l el o u d e r.T h e nthey’ll bangon the doorbecause theyneed your atten-tion,” Estela says. “A lot ofthe dreams people are hav-ing are about COVID-19.They’re scared. Then, wefigure out it’s their innerchild that’s in danger.”

The phenomenon of coro-navirus dreams has becomeso universal that HarvardUniversity is conducting alarge-scale survey on pan-demic dreams.

Deirdre Barrett, an assis-tant professor of psycholo-gy in the psychiatry depart-ment at Harvard MedicalSchool, has gatheredresponses on more than6,000 dreams. In an inter-view for The HarvardGazette last week, Deirdresays she has seen a largenumber of responses frompeople who dream of get-ting COVID-19. She also hasseen “dozens and dozensand dozens” of dreamsto-ries where people wereattacked by bugs, cock-roaches, worms, grasshop-pers and bed bugs, all ofwhich likely represent the

virus.For ty -year-old

Ryan Faheysays he’s been

t r o u b l e dlately by arecurringnightmarew h e r eeither nin-jas arec h a s i n g

him or somei n v i s i b l e ,

ominous pres-ence is coming

towards him.Sometimes, the dreams areso bad he leaps out of bedand runs into the closetbefore he’s fully awake.

Ryan has been workinglong hours lately as the dig-ital marketing director forAya Healthcare in SanDiego, which is now send-ing travelling nurses to hos-pitals across the UnitedStates dealing with COVID-

19 cases. However, Estela says

dreams about approachingnegative forces aren’t neces-sarily pandemic-related.They can be about anxietywhen someone changescareers, finishes college orreaches middle-age and isquestioning who they areand where they’re going.

TELL HER YOUR DREAMSAlexis Apostolidis works

for a special events enter-tainment company in SanDiego. All her company’sjobs were cancelled whenthe pandemic began. Afterthat, she began havingdreams about PresidentDonald Trump showing upat a meticulously plannedevent and causing chaos.

According to Estela,Trump is a frequent figurein people’s dreams. AsPresident, Trump symboli-cally represents the ulti-mate authority figure over-seeing the ruling principlesthat guide our lives. Butnormal processes have bro-ken down during the pan-demic, and Estela saysTrump’s response to the cri-sis may have inspiredAlexis’ dreams.

Susan Farese, a retirednurse who now runs a com-munications firm in SanDiego, says when the pan-demic began, she startedhaving dreams about howshe would organise herhome if family memberscontracted the virus andabout placing a clock on thewall at home. Estela says

clocks in dreams often rep-resent cycles of life-mean-ing births, deaths, mar-riages and divorces. Afterhearing Estela’s analysis,Farese says it made sensebecause she has lost fourfamily members in the pastyears and another is fight-ing stage-4 cancer.

Because Estela enjoys theprocess of interpretingdreams, she holds groupsessions once or twice amonth,which are open tothe public. Estela alsoencourages the public toemail her their coronadream experiences, and shewill offer her interpreta-tions on her blog at este-labobadilla.com/blog/.

When clients are troubledby a recurring scary dream,Estela tells them the bestway to stop it from comingback is to write it downafter they wake up. Thatsends the unconscious a sig-nal that its message hasbeen received.

— (ASIA FEATURES/DPA)

Sonakshi says ‘Bye Twitter’The actress has deactivated heraccount, saying she wants tostay away from negativity. KaranJohar too is reported to haveunfollowed many on TwitterWhile some people may be having trouble sleeping due to worries about the coronavirus,

others are reporting more vivid-and-disturbing-dreams since the pandemic beganP

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Sonakshi Sinha

Karan Johar

Estela Bobadilla, apsychotherapist whospecialises in dreamanalysis, says she noticedan immediate uptick inpatients reporting virus-related dreams after thestay-at-home ordersbegan. Estela believesthat people’s dreamsdeliver messages andsymbols from theunconscious mind

Intimes of great

upheaval, such as wars orpandemics, people suppress

their anxieties to carry on withtheir daily lives. But those

thoughts rest like seeds in theunconscious mind where they“grow like little plants, always

seeking the light” indreams

LIPIKA VVARMA

A long time ago, director RaajShaandilyaa presented produc-

er Sandeep Singh with the story-line for Vande Bharatam, the lat-ter’s directorial debut that was slat-ed to star Sushant Singh Rajput.

The Dream Girl film-maker says he didnot know the leadactor that Sandeephad chosen.

“I had briefly dis-cussed this concept

in 2015-16 to this pro-ducer and the story was finalised by 2017/18. He

had informed me that he was going to nar-rate this story to one hero and shall give

me a surprise about who it is,” hereveals, adding, “I was unaware of

the fact that this producer had nar-rated Vande Bharatam to the lateSushant Singh Rajput. Heinformed me about this develop-

ment just 3-4 days prior to today, asSushant had liked the story very

much. But unfortunately, this couldnot happen.”When asked who the makers are plan-

ning to replace Sushant with, Raaj revealsthat he has some names in mind. “Franklyspeaking, we have not spoken to anyoneowing to the situation. I feel actors likeAyushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao andVicky Kaushal fit the bill. Whoever fits in andwill also understand our subject will be ourmale lead for Vande Bhartam. This film doesnot have any Bihari tone,” he says.Telling us more about the project itself, Raaj

reveals, “Vande Bharatam is a patriotic satire inthe humour space, it is not based on politics.This will showcase the problems that are

prevalent in our country.”The national problems in question includeaccess to utilities like water and electricity.

“The story is about how the male leadwill handle these problems and bring

forth some necessary options. In mystory, we will also highlight the rea-

sons for the existence of all theseproblems. Why is our country not

progressing? All these queriesform the crux of Vande

Bharatam,” he shares beforesigning off.

It remains to be seen whowill be the replacement for

Sushant, whose untimelydeath on June 14 has brought

the nation to tears.

Bips returnswith Aadat

Bipasha Basu, who was last seen in the 2015 film Alone, hasnow completed the shooting of her comeback film called

Aadat Diaries backed by Mika Singh as a producer. The film alsohas her husband and actor Karan Singh Grover piloting the cast.

The actress’ Alone director Bhushan Patel will also directthis film, the post-production of which is slated to start soon.

The film was shot in London and unfortunately, Karanbroke his leg at the time. However, the film was complet-ed successfully and is now being readied for a releasedigitally or in the cinemas. “The film has also beenwritten and produced by Vikram Bhatt along withMika Singh. The principal shoot of the film hasbeen done and the lockdown has given themenough time to think strategies on the film. Thefilm has a lot of British actors as well,” says oursource.

We did develop the aadat of watchingBipasha on screen, and we hope to resume itsoon. — Sanskriti Media

Work is on in a very meticulous manner for the VickyKaushal starrer Sardar Udham Singh — directorShoojit Sircar’s next film after Gulabo Sitabo, which

received a mixed response. Meanwhile, Shoojit, like everyother filmmaker, has been working in a phased man-

ner, locking the edit of the film, first using the edi-tor and an assistant working within a time frameand adhering to safety norms.

Vicky is slated to start dubbing for the film oncethe edit is locked by August. “Once the edit islocked, the dubbing for the film will start. Thework on the visual effects of the film is also pend-ing, which will happen simultaneously with thedubbing and from multiple locations as all ofthem cannot be present in the same place. Vickyand the other actors, meanwhile, will finish theirshare of dubbing for the film and then the soundmix of the film will take place. The VFX will needto be done by a large team of over 12 people andwork will be distributed accordingly — for someto work from the studios and others from home,”

says a source.The Uri actor’s building was also under contain-

ment and he has not been able to step out earlier. Hewill be expected to come to dub after six weeks from now.

While the makers had earlier shifted the release date toJanuary 2021, the current speed of the work consider-ing the magnitude may not necessarily permit thefilm to release on time. “It was earlier slated torelease in October 2020 and then moved toJanuary 2021. But now it does not seem that thefilm will be able to make it unless the work iscompleted on time,” adds the source.

— Sanskriti Media

6Monday 22 June 2020

Deccan Chroniclematinee

Vicky to dub from August

The aactor iis wwaiting ffor hhis SaardaarUdhaamm SSinngh director SShoojit SSircarto ffinish eediting tthe ffilm bbefore hhegoes iin ffor ddubbing

TheUri actor will

be expected tostart dubbing

after six weeksfrom now

Who will replaceSushant?