www.thehansindia.com VOL. 10 | NO. 301 | MONDAY 17 MAY 2021 | HYDERABAD | PAGES 10 | `5.

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Simultaneously published from Hyderabad | Warangal | Tirupati | Amaravati | Visakhapatnam | Khammam | Kurnool | Delhi

WINDOWS

POSITIVE
BENT OF
MIND









 

Govt to tweak lockdown rules

More relaxed hours for some establishments likely
WITH
lined
Virus discip or
AT COVID for me: Surviv
TO COMB self isolate
HUSSAIN

GEAR UP
MOHAMMED

Stay calm, recovery

HYDERABAD
Aziz’s
turned Mohammed eye
CORONA virus blink of an
down in the week of

easy
world upside positive in the first
after he tested it was only his confidence;
made
April. However, support that

nity
and family’s 44
positivity almost after

Boost immu Covid

Covid battle Begum and
him win the
his wife Saleha wait
HYDERABAD days. While watch, treat,
could only he stood
son Khadeer
isolate Aziz’s recovery, that he
rest as you and pray for himself
RELAX and mind can heal would tell

at
strong and

levels to be
calm
yourself, including health says would surely
recover.
to The Hans
India, 58-
from “I
everything Pavan Deep While speaking
resident of
Attapur said,
Covid Survivor, Colony in Secun- He
despite year-old Aziz I picked up Covid.”
Keshava Nagar where and the re-
at home he don’t know
felt the pandemic “I only
battled Covid said that he
derabad. his Covid journey,
oxygen levels
political,
atic it was mostly
Sharing sponse to to,” says Azeez.
S Khaim and low he was asymptom to when I had
86-year-old, lungs infection So he was
told that
ng
said that him just a few days
and it took had no symptoms,
it's wore a mask things a little differently.
Now he sees to be made now, before
increased was found. focus on maintaini
should
SERVICE
in the body.
one levels
recover. "I to me, if I
really are
“Your choices – wear a mask and
ensure
no dif- still surprising not neg- ly you get infected he said. On April
5 he
HANS NEWS good immunitypandemic is are Yet I have day, he
KADAPA The Corona immunity levels had Covid. and immediate social distance,” and by the next
result the sick
ferent. If
your stay away
from lected the and followed started feeling fever continued for
the
ld, S virus will to all was
to isolated myself " he added. had a fever.
The worse
good, the his advice getting progressively

HANS NEWS SERVICE

86-year-o who needed measures, ex-
story of an Anyone
they
you. He said d and ensure that levels. self isolation hard next few days, temperature of 102.
an inspiring survivor. am” Sharing his “It's reaching a
high taken to the
HERE is an COVID-19 Prapanch get vaccinate their immunity Pavan said, but immediately
Khaim Ternto leave this “Bhoutika ‘Jo perience, from family Azeez was with Covid-19.
and yourself. will keep boosting
is born has have faith in god who are scared to stay away to do it for their hospital and
was diagnosed
quarantine.
He
so we are forcedI did it too. The adopted home and my
some day (Those However he for breath
wo margaya’ health and I did after test- said, “I had
to struggle
arrange oxygen
dhargaya said. all through only thing stay in a rush to
his principle pa- brothers were I thought that I couldn’t
die) the survivor
always been life as news is to
ing positiveself isolate

60K doses
for me,
This has when he was in active calm and cylinders as I kept
I made it happenrecovered.”
proper make it but
his life evenfor about
57 years. age he never and to take n and rest; I
life, and finally resilience
per agent despite his advancedthe he was medicatio fighting for and
told me his strong hope He
He said when he was
was in iso- all this helpedand we It was
his life back
to normal.
now
felt nervousCovid-19. Khaim much better to- which brought lessons and
learned my

HYDERABAD
by said, “I have changed
affected 14 day. Despite increased levels are pleasant has been
completely ex-
lation for and low oxygen day," he added. my lifestyle like yoga,
good practices I have set up
lungs infection to hospital as I adopted also
get admitted  
about isola- healthy diet,
he did not  $ # ercise and machine at
the entrance
home isolation.
and preferred that I would   ($  Further explaining "We the disinfectant Covid-19 pa-
believed shared that, our Suggesting
“I always said. He advised not   
video calls
with tion, Pavan a mask covering of my house.” in themselves
as it
he and  $ * and having and friends should Wear we tients to have faith survival if one is in-
recover,” ise on diet $( " your family and mouth whenever role in
to comprom thoughts nose and entering plays a crucial virus, he said “Protect
Isolate your- Avoid negative door. Those
most of his open the should also wear a
ons and the never
prayers.
fected with measures,
he spent slept for

negative conversati nega- taking safety le,
However, self in a separate and everything your room the windows yourself by are uncomfortab
prayers and organ- a bathroom anything 10 days mask. We
can Open We that face masks
time doing day. He tried to man- room with 10 days if possible. think getting infected.”
six hours
a in such a for tive for thislow, do some light for ventilationhands frequently it protects
you from

of Sputnik
were if possible rest, relax feel music as
activities
ise all his family members
Rest,
relax,
If you dance for , need to Wash
ner that
the grandson the cycle exercise or to four walls with soap."
Only his a day to give and continueanything you are confined
not troubled.to him thrice own company
he chose without doing busy by read- enjoy your
used to go . Rest of the time back to your mind

PRACTICE
medicines And he bounced
Keep TV shows

High sea waves due to cyclone Tauktae hit Bhagavathi Prem

watching
to be alone. ing books,
. parents about early
normalcy he was told by his and how peo- ignore the un-

THAN
He said havoc vaccine lem is people. That is putting

As corona positive cases

had played turvy till easy,
symptoms on hospitals and

PREACH
how plague things went tipsy become much
ple died and and things due pressure and bringin mis-
take if he observed.n and breathing medical staff and his fam-

TO
one should him
the steps

IT’S EASY
affected
made Meditatio
besides reading re- ery to a patient
they are he should
practice exercise, well for his ily." l Commis-
.
 ! realise that been preaching books worked 14 days, "As Municipalike to appeal
what he has thing he did was

Sinken Dredger, at Surathkal Beach near Mangaluru on Sunday

 $ covery within . sioner, I
would d.

  So the first pos- pointed out get vaccinate
ili- "  $#   # per cent Viswanath to all, whether to all to please
are some
problems
assign responsib to have hundred ex-

reach Hyd
Tirupati, colleagues and stay     $ do physical "I appeal patient Yes, there vaccine, but efforts
  # ")  itive outlook; doctor's advice. you are a
Coronavid never feel But,
ties to his regarding
address them.The

dipped a little after the en-

C P RAO e. he person,
quarantin   
" /..2  $ ercise; follow he did all that or a healthyor panic. are on to d fast.
in home of certain 'irre- %) MC said as part of quick vaccinate d,
CHITTOOR in society  & The people depressed as you take do get
Because ( used to tell programme on all get vaccinate
when there
is a ' persons
sponsible no face mask and  $& ( , # s As long
, like early
detection earlier we we can chase away
AT a time of Covid cases in -  awarenes measures instructions of the faster he added.
who wear follow the Covid &  "    and follow need
steep spike news that Munic- who dont surge is more. Vul-
Covid. easy to preach will be no the virus,
 %( $   "Yes, it is but once
you doctors there ed. The prob-
the district, oner P Vish- norms, the who have

s
   $ /0 & than practice, d to recover
 - &  to get hospitalis

Yoga expert
ipal Commissi sent nerable sections
infected It like BP, diabetes, #& $ are determinepower increases
wanath was among people. dilments , are getting "  he has fast, the
will
shock waves he Cardiac problems said he too  " th. But since

tients says

TaUKTae poUndS
so because The MC Vishwana to everyone
was more distinction of be- was g

forcement of 20-hour lock-

affected. got the infection in house been advocatin
earned the civic body chief must have since Staying alone for
among peoplecon- and

for covid pa
ing the first
novel virus. from one public
g disturbing their stress
to get the th said he took
somethin which eases ng mobility,
his job involves
Vishwana like everyday. pain, maintainithem practice
tact

ce, a relief
decisions, better. and makingeasier to maintain
some quick his family to pa-
side, Covid & 
sending away On other from acute res-  $ #  breathing
 & & oxygen levels.

Yoga practi
easily. Few tients suffer # #&  +
help in breathing stim- distress syndrome  
D too much piratory which a fluid $ # &+
     +
HYDERABA asanas have for few it is not in
(ARDS), the lungs creating # 
ulation andIn Kapalbhati " "
#
leaks into breathing that

down from May 12, the Telan-

signifi- in ' $ &'
playing a advisable.
take fresh
oxygen difficulty body struggles re-

HANS NEWS SERVICE

YOGA is - are several un- 
in the psycho-so asana we stretch our hands is when theoxygen it needs. Yes, there are
cant role tion
inside and which will put done, many Yoga is inhalation
and rehabilita in quar- to get the lungs of searches Rapid active with little ef-
cial care in tadasana lungs and lower proves
patients In the process, will lose derway which on covid ,
of Covid-19 isolation. Yoga is on of and exhalation bhastrika
pressure where ⅔ ARDS patients rigid. While effectively past re- fort is called pump in
antine andly beneficial in al- part of lungs by and turn the
working
and in the that we just
controlled elastin back patients
particular fear and anxiety breath is of lungs. On a bring
yoga won’t we can teach
shows fresh breath
laying the in search alreadypatients in our
resulting lower part of Yoga elastin, but to accept their help
Yoga can

P2
among patients, says the Yoga regular practicein preven- y ill- lungs for
people how and breathe with respirator
easy recoveryRam from Art helps patients tion and to covid 20 times
new normal ness as suchalso

gana government, while

Guru Manas d. tion, rehabilita . is at a go
Hyderaba immunity recovery respi- and we
Of Living, increase related to the practice
  ration and

HYDERABAD

 &
#  ' it for 7
"  yogic breathe
and
exercise help
covid patients asana can
We suggest
yogic breathing
to practise to ensure heal-

WeST CoaST
at first place sness.
breathles . .
ing from breathing
Asanas involving hi

thinking of extending the

s like Kapalabat -
technique
- -

. -
-
-

lockdown beyond May 21, is ABOUT 60,000 doses

BRAVEHEARTS likely to consider relaxing the
The second wave has timings of opening of a few
swept all of us with unimag- business establishments from
inable devastation. While May 22.
the media across various All supermarkets and gro-
platforms is reeling figures cery stores which were selling
that make even a healthy essential commodities are
person sick, The Hans India likely to be permitted to stay
looks at a cross-section of af- open till 6 pm in Hyderabad
fected people from all walks and other major municipal
of life who won over coron- towns in the state. The timings
avirus. The special page cap- for other trading centres would
tures the spirit of hope and
gratitude. All of them bow
their heads to the selfless
remain the same between 6 am
and 10 am. Relaxation will also
be given to the cement and
service by the medical fra-
ternity. They consider that
it's a rebirth for them. They
other construction material
shops to open for extra hours
following request from the
transformed from philo- construction industry.
sophical to practical. A decision on the extension
of the lockdown and permit-
ting shops to open till evening
would be taken at the Cabinet
meeting convened by Chief
Minister K Chandrashekar
Rao on May 20.
"The government is not in
a mood to continue 20-hour
lockdown for all sectors,” of-
ficials said the Medical and
Health department was
compiling corona cases data
Kedarnath temple, which is on a daily basis and will pre-
all set for reopening of its pare a comparative study re-
portals on May 17 port on positive cases be-
(Monday), has been fore and after the lockdown
decorated with 11 quintals in the state.
of flowers. However, in view Continued on Page 5
of the pandemic, the famous
Char Dham yatra has been
suspended this time but the
arrangement has been
made for the devotees to
have online 'darshan' in
Rudraprayag
The second consignment of Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V arrives at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at
Shamshabad in Hyderabad on Sunday
Covaxin effective against
India, UK strains too: Study
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
CITINg a study pub-
lished in peer-reviewed
medical journal, Clinical
Infectious Diseases, the
Hyderabad-based vac-
cine major noted that
vaccination with Covaxin
produced neutralising
titres against all key
emerging variants tested,
including B.1.617 and
B.1.1.7, first identified in
India and the UK, respec-
tively.
Bharat Biotech on sun-
day said its Covid-19 vac-
cine, Covaxin, has been
found to be effective
against coronavirus
strains found in India
and the UK.
The study was con-
ducted in collaboration
with the National Insti-
tute of Virology and In-
dian Council of Medical
Research, it added.
"Covaxin gets interna-
tional recognition yet
again, by scientific re-
search data published
demonstrating protec-
tion against the new vari-
ants. Yet another feather
in its cap," Bharat
Biotech co-founder and
Joint Managing Director
suchitra Ella said in a
tweet.
she also tagged PMO
India, Union Finance
Minister Nirmala
sitharaman and Health
Minister Harsh Vardhan,
among others, in the
tweet. The study found a
modest reduction in neu-
tralisation by a factor of
1.95 against B.1.617 vari-
ant compared to vaccine
variant D614g, Bharat
Biotech noted. Despite
this reduction, neutralis-
ing titre levels with
B.1.617 remain above lev-
els expected to be protec-
tive, it added.
of the second batch of
sputnik, Russia’s
Covid-19 vaccine,
landed at the Rajiv
gandhi International
Airport on sunday.
"Pleased to share
that the consignment
that arrived today in
Hyderabad contains
60,000 doses of the sec-
ond dose component of
the #sputnikV vaccine.
samples from the con-
signment will be sent
for release to the Cen-
tral Drugs Laboratory,"
the drug maker
tweeted. Dr Reddy's
Laboratories on May 14
soft launched the im-
ported Covid-19 vac-
cine sputnik V, priced
at Rs 948, with five per
cent gsT per dose (re-
tail price). "given the
recent launch of the
Russian vaccine in the
Indian vaccination
campaign, this second
delivery has become
very timely. The effi-
cacy of the #sputnikV
is well-known in the
world," Nikolay Kuda-
shev Russian Ambassa-
dor to India tweeted.
Cyclone ploughs through
coastal Kerala, K’taka, Goa
BENGALURU/ PANAJI/
AHMEDABAD
GALE-force winds, heavy
rainfall and high tidal
waves swept the coastal
belt of Kerala, Karnataka
and Goa as Cyclone Tauk-
tae hurtled northwards to-
wards Gujarat on Sunday,
leaving four people dead,
damaging hundreds of
houses, uprooting electric-
ity poles and trees and
forcing evacuation.
According to the India
Meteorological Department
(IMD), Tauktae which has
taken the form of a "very
severe cyclonic storm" is
likely to intensify further
during the next 24 hours
and reach the Gujarat coast
on Monday evening.
An estimated 1.5 lakh
people are being shifted
from low-lying coastal ar-
eas in Gujarat while 54
teams of National Disaster
Response Force (NDRF) and
State Disaster Response
Force (SDRF) have been de-
ployed in the state. Maha-
rashtra too was bracing for
impact as the Met depart-
ment predicted heavy to
very heavy rains at isolated
places in north Konkan,
Mumbai, Thane and Palghar
and extremely heavy rain-
fall in Raigad on Monday.
Four deaths have been re-
ported from Karnataka's Ut-
tara Kannada, Udupi,
Chikkamagaluru and Shiva-
mogga districts in cyclone-
related incidents.
The water level in many
dams across Kerala showed
a rising trend after heavy
rains in the catchment ar-
eas, prompting authorities
to sound an alert. Gusty
winds and heavy rains
started lashing several
parts of Goa since Sunday
morning. Power supply in a
majority of areas of Goa
was disrupted as hundreds
of electric poles were up-
rooted due to the high-
speed winds, state Power
Minister Nilesh Cabral said.
Continued on Page 5

Israeli military
targets top
Hamas leader
Jerusalem: The Israeli military
says it has targeted the home of
Gaza's top Hamas leader after
nearly a week of heavy airstrikes
and rocket fire into Israel from the
territory ruled by the Islamic mili-
tant group. Brig. Gen. Hidai Zilber-
man, an army spokesman, told Is-
rael's army radio sunday that the
military targeted the home of
Yehiyeh sinwar, the most senior
Hamas leader inside the territory,
who is likely in hiding. His home is States to get 51 lakh vaccine
doses in next 3 days
located in town of Khan Younis, in
southern Gaza strip.

NEW DELHI (20,28,09,250) to states states with negative bal-

MORE than 1.84 crore
Covid-19 vaccine doses
are still available with
states and UTs, while
nearly 51 lakh doses are in
the pipeline and will be re-
ceived by them within the
next three days, the Union
Health Ministry said on
sunday.
The Centre has so far
provided more than 20
crore vaccine doses
and UTs free of cost, it
said. Of this, the total con-
sumption, calculated
based on average up to
May 14, including
wastages, is 18,43,67,772
doses, according to data
available at 7 pm on sat-
urday.
"More than 1.84 crore
Covid vaccine doses
(1,84,41,478) are still avail-
able with the states and
UTs to be administered.
ance are showing more
consumption (including
wastage) than vaccine
supplied as they have not
reconciled the vaccine
they have supplied to
Armed Forces," the min-
istry said.
It said 50,95,640 vac-
cine doses are in the
pipeline and will be re-
ceived by states and UTs
within the next three days.
Continued on Page 5

Centre rolls out Covid SoPs for rurban

NEW DELHI Health Ministry said. Not-
ing that besides urban areas
As rural areas see a rise in reporting a large number of
Covid-19 cases, the Centre cases, a gradual ingress is
on sunday issued new now being seen in peri-ur-
guidelines for containment ban, rural and tribal areas as
of the virus advising that well, the ministry released
peri-urban and rural areas the 'sOP on Covid-19 Con-
plan a minimum 30-bedded tainment and Management
Covid Care Centre for in Peri-urban, Rural &
asymptomatic cases with Tribal areas' to enable com-
comorbidities or mild cases munities strengthen pri-
where home isolation is not mary level healthcare infra-
feasible. structure at all levels to
Provision of Rapid Anti- intensify Covid-19 response.
gen Test (RAT) kits should It said Covid Care Centres
be made at all public health (CCC) can admit a suspect
facilities, including sub- or confirmed case but
centres or Health and Well- should have separate areas
ness Centres and Primary for suspected and confirmed
Health Centres, the Union cases with preferably sepa-
rate entry and exit for each.
"suspect and confirmed
cases should not be allowed
to mix under any circum-
stances," the sOP said.
According to the sOP, in
every village, active surveil-
lance should be done for in-
fluenza-like illness/ severe
acute respiratory infec-
tions(ILI/sARI) periodi-
cally by AsHA with help of
Village Health sanitation
and Nutrition Committee
(VHsNC). symptomatic
cases can be triaged at vil-
lage level by tele-consulta-
tion with Community
Health Officer (CHO), and
cases with comorbidity or
low oxygen saturation
should be sent to higher
centres.
Identified suspected
Covid cases should link for
testing to health facilities ei-
ther through Covid-19 rapid
antigen testing or by refer-
ral of samples to nearest
Covid-19 testing laboratory,
in accordance with ICMR
guidelines. CHOs and ANMs
should be trained in per-
forming Rapid Antigen
Testing. Provision of RAT
kits should be made at all
public health facilities in-
cluding sub-centres, Health
and Wellness Centres and
Primary Health Centres, the
document said.
Continued on Page 5
 HYDERABAD MONDAY 17 MAY 2021

GEAR UP TO COMBAT COVID WITH POSITIVE BENT OF MIND

Stay calm, self isolate for Virus disciplined
me: Survivor
Boost immunity easy recovery
MOHAMMED HUSSAIN
HYDERABAD

levels to beat Covid

86-year-old S Khaim battled Covid at home despite
increased lung infection and low oxygen levels
HANS NEWS SERVICE
KADAPA
HERE is an inspiring story of an 86-year-old, S
Khaim Tern an Covid-19 survivor. Anyone who is
born has to leave this “Bhoutika Prapancham”
some day so have faith in God and yourself. ‘Jo
dhargaya wo margaya’ (Those who are scared will
die) the survivor said.
This has always been his principle all through
his life even when he was in active life as newspa-
per agent for about 57 years.
He said despite his advanced age he never
felt nervous when he was told the he was
affected by Covid-19. Khaim was in iso-
lation for 14 day. Despite increased
lungs infection and low oxygen levels,
he did not get admitted to hospital
and preferred home isolation.
“I always believed that I would
recover,” he said. He advised not
to compromise on diet and
prayers.
However, he spent most of his
time doing prayers and slept for
six hours a day. He tried to organ-
ise all his activities in such a man-
ner that the family members were
not troubled. Only his grandson
used to go to him thrice a day to give
medicines. Rest of the time he chose
to be alone. And he bounced back to
normalcy.
He said he was told by his parents about
how plague had played havoc and how people
died and things went topsy turvy till vaccine
was made. So he was told that
one should focus on maintaining
good immunity levels.
The Corona pandemic is no dif-
ferent. If your immunity levels are
good, the virus will stay away from
you. He said his advice to all was to
get vaccinated and ensure that they
keep boosting their immunity levels.
HYDERABAD
RELAX and rest as you isolate
yourself, calm mind can heal
everything including health, says
a Covid survivor, Pavan Deep
from Keshava Nagar Colony in
Secunderabad.
Sharing his Covid journey, he
said that he was asymptomatic
and it took him just a few days to
recover. "I had no symptoms, it's
still surprising to me, if I really
had Covid. Yet I have not neg-
lected the result and immediately
isolated myself and followed the
needed measures," he added.
Sharing his self isolation ex-
perience, Pavan said, “It's hard
to stay away from family but
we are forced to do it for their
health and I did it too. The
only thing I did after test-
ing positive is to stay
calm and self isolate
and to take proper
medication and rest;
all this helped me
much better and we
are pleasant to-
day," he added.
Sharing few tips on
self isolation, Pavan
highlighted few major
things which he has
followed, such as:
v Isolate your-
self in a separate
room with a bathroom
if possible for 10 days
v Rest, relax, rest, relax
and continue the cycle
without doing anything
v Keep your mind busy by read-
ing books, watching TV shows
and having video calls with
your family and friends
v Avoid negative thoughts and
negative conversations and
anything and everything nega-
tive for this 10 days
v If you feel low, do some light
exercise or dance for music as
you are confined to four walls ,
enjoy your own company
Further explaining about isola-
tion, Pavan shared that, "We
should Wear a mask covering our
nose and mouth whenever we
open the door. Those entering
your room should also wear a
mask. We can Open the windows
for ventilation if possible. We
need to Wash hands frequently
with soap."
CORONA virus turned Mohammed Aziz’s
world upside down in the blink of an eye
after he tested positive in the first week of
April. However, it was only his confidence;
positivity and family’s support that made
him win the Covid battle almost after 44
days. While his wife Saleha Begum and
son Khadeer could only watch, treat, wait
and pray for Aziz’s recovery, he stood
strong and would tell himself that he
would surely recover.
While speaking to The Hans India, 58-
year-old Aziz resident of Attapur said, “I
don’t know where I picked up Covid.” He
said that he felt the pandemic and the re-
sponse to it was mostly political, “I only
wore a mask when I had to,” says Azeez.
Now he sees things a little differently.
“Your choices are to be made now, before
you get infected – wear a mask and ensure
social distance,” he said. On April 5 he
started feeling sick and by the next day, he
had a fever. The fever continued for the
next few days, getting progressively worse
reaching a high temperature of 102.
Azeez was immediately taken to the
hospital and was diagnosed with Covid-19.
However he adopted home quarantine. He
said, “I had to struggle for breath and my
brothers were in a rush to arrange oxygen
cylinders for me, I thought that I couldn’t
make it but I made it happen as I kept
fighting for life, and finally I recovered.”
It was his strong hope and resilience
which brought his life back to normal. He
said, “I have learned my lessons and now
my lifestyle has been completely changed
as I adopted good practices like yoga, ex-
ercise and healthy diet, also I have set up
the disinfectant machine at the entrance
of my house.” Suggesting Covid-19 pa-
tients to have faith in themselves as it
plays a crucial role in survival if one is in-
fected with the virus, he said “Protect
yourself by taking safety measures, never
think that face masks are uncomfortable,
it protects you from getting infected.”

C P RAO
IT’S EASY TO PREACH THAN PRACTICE
CHITTOOR
AT a time when there is a
steep spike in Covid cases in
the district, news that Munic-
ipal Commissioner P Vish-
wanath was infected has
shocked many. It was more so
because he earned the dis-
tinction of being the first
civic body chief to get the
novel virus.
Vishwanath said he took
some quick decisions, like
sending away his family to
Tirupati, assign responsibili-
ties to his colleagues and stay
in home quarantine.
Because of certain 'irre-
sponsible' persons in society
who wear no face mask and
who dont follow the Covid
norms, the surge is more. Vul-
nerable sections who have
dilments like BP, diabetes,
Cardiac problems, are getting
affected. The MC said he too
must have got the infection
from one among people since
his job involves public con-
tact everyday.
the steps one should take if and things become much easy, lem is people ignore the early
n Municipal Commissioner P Vishwanath getting they are affected made him he observed. symptoms. That is putting un-
infected was a shock to many realise that he should practice Meditation and breathing due pressure on hospitals and
what he has been preaching. exercise, besides reading medical staff and bringin mis-
n He took some quick n First thing he did was to have So the first thing he did was books worked well for his re- ery to a patient and his fam-
decisions, like 100% positive outlook; do to have hundred per cent pos- covery within 14 days, ily."
sending away physical exercise; follow itive outlook; do physical ex- Viswanath pointed out . "As Municipal Commis-
doctor's advice ercise; follow doctor's advice. "I appeal to all, whether sioner, I would like to appeal
family to Tirupati, The MC said he did all that he you are a Coronavid patient to all to please get vaccinated.
assign n Meditation & breathing used to tell people as part of or a healthy person, never feel Yes, there are some problems
responsibilities to exercise, besides reading awareness programme on depressed or panic. regarding vaccine, but efforts
colleagues & stay in books worked well for his Covid. As long as you take quick are on to address them. But,
home quarantine recovery within 14 days "Yes, it is easy to preach measures, like early detection do get vaccinated fast. The
than practice, but once you and follow instructions of earlier we all get vaccinated,
Staying alone in house was Vishwanath. But since he has are determined to recover doctors there will be no need the faster we can chase away
something disturbing for been advocating to everyone fast, the will power increases to get hospitalised. The prob- the virus, he added.

Yoga practice, a relief for Covid patients says Yoga experts

HYDERABAD
YOGA is playing a signifi-
cant role in the psycho-so-
cial care and rehabilitation
of Covid-19 patients in quar-
antine and isolation. Yoga is
particularly beneficial in al-
laying the fear and anxiety
among patients, resulting in
easy recovery says the Yoga
Guru Manas Ram from Art
Of Living, Hyderabad.
What yoga asanas are
taught for Covid patients ?
We suggest covid patients
to practise yogic breathing
at first place to ensure heal-
ing from breathlessness.
Asanas involving breathing
techniques like Kapalabathi,
Tadasana, Gomukasana,
Marjariasana are taught de-
pending on the condition of
the patient. Not everyone
can go for all the asanas, but
on yoga experts advise they
need to select the asana and
practice regularly.
How does yoga help pa-
tients to recover from
Covid-19 ?
Yogic breathing is the one
which we majorly suggest
where we inhale oxygen
slowly and exhale the car-
bon dioxide more slowly
than the inhalation, this will
help in breathing easily. Few
asanas have too much stim-
ulation and for few it is not
advisable. In Kapalbhati
asana we take fresh oxygen
inside and stretch our hands
in tadasana which will put
pressure on lungs and lower
part of lungs where ⅔ of
breath is controlled by
lower part of lungs. On a
regular practice of Yoga
helps patients in preven-
tion, rehabilitation and to
increase immunity.
On other side, Covid pa-
tients suffer from acute res-
piratory distress syndrome
(ARDS), in which a fluid
leaks into the lungs creating
difficulty in breathing that
is when the body struggles
to get the oxygen it needs.
In the process, lungs of
ARDS patients will lose
elastin and turn rigid. While
yoga won’t bring back the
elastin, but we can teach
people how to accept their
new normal and breathe
better.
Do we have any scientific
evidence to say yoga is
working effectively to re-
cover from covid symp-
toms?
Yes, there are several re-
searches done, many are un-
derway which proves Yoga is
working effectively on covid
patients and in the past re-
search already shows that
Yoga can help patients
with respiratory ill-
ness as such covid
recovery is also
related to respi-
ration and the
yogic breathe
exercise and
asana can help
ease lingering
symptoms of
covid19.
What symptoms of
covid 19 can be cured
by Yoga practice ?
People diagnosed with
COVID-19 experience pro-
longed symptoms including
trouble breathing,
headaches, nausea, muscle
pain, and fatigue that lasts
for weeks and for months in
few patiences. Our Yoga
teachers address these
symptoms by activating the
immunity through asanas
which eases their stress and
pain, maintaining mobility,
and making them practice
breathing easier to maintain
oxygen levels.
What is the best breathing
technique that can be fol-
lowed by Post acute Covid
patients ?
Rapid active inhalation
and exhalation with little ef-
fort is called bhastrika,
we just pump in
fresh breath
in our
lungs for
20 times
at a go
and we
practice
it for 7
to 10
minutes
starting
with a few 10
seconds to the
capability of the person. As
patients will have needed
strength post Covid, we sug-
gest “breath control” tech-
niques similar to Ujjayi and
pranayama practices that
call on breath retention to
work through chronic
coughing and breathless-
ness.
However, Yoga Guru says
Combination of balanced
activities and rest is needed
to recover faster.

Lockdown shakes up
‘Nawabi’ Hyderabadis
M M FAROOQUI
HYDERABAD
HYDERABADIS who are known
for waking up late are now seen
making a beeline at grocery
stores and other establishments
with a bag in one hand and an-
other on the yawning mouth.
As the lockdown entered day
five on Sunday, a huge crowd was
seen at most City markets, with
people queuing up in front of
stores and shopping complexes
from early hours at week-end
during the four-hour relaxation.
On Sunday morning people,
who normally rise late especially,
were seen rushing to purchase
their needs. “For last five days, I
had to get up early and rush to
the grocery store and also the
meat shop. Waking up late seems
to be forgotten by people who
now are forced out of bed to go
to markets before the lockdown
relaxation time ends,” said Mo-
hammed Khizar of Shalibanda.
During the day some super
bazaars and main grocery mar-
kets like Begum Bazar, Mir
Alam Mandi, Mahboob
Gunj and all stores/
shops in colonies
were crowded
with people
waiting from
early hours
to make
purchases.
While most
customers
were seen
wearing face-
masks, they
failed to maintain
physical distancing at
most places.
People were seen engaged in
over-purchasing of groceries
Azadi ka Amrit
Mahotsav celebration
HANS NEWS SERVICE
B AHADURPURA
AS a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit
Mahotsav’ celebrations, on
Day-7 a webinar was conducted
on Malabar Pied Hornbill by
the Curator, Nehru Zoological
Park in Bahadurpura on Sun-
day. During which a presenta-
tion was given by Pooja Powar,
a wildlife biologist. About 60
wildlife experts, NGO’s, veteri-
narians, biologists actively par-
ticipated in the webinar which
lasted for one and half hour
Man murdered for seeking treasure, six arrested
HANS NEWS SERVICE
KUSHAIGUDA
THE Kushaiguda police on Sun-
day arrested six persons for
murdering a man by making him
believe that he would find treas-
ure on his property. The accused
were identified as Anthony
Moses alias Srikanth, Vani
Sagar, Srinivas Reddy, Jittu
Singh, Manoj Singh and An-
thony Bhagya and the deceased
was A. Rammurthy (61), a build-
ing contractor.
According to police, the ac-
cused Srinivas Reddy, was a
friend of deceased. The accused
informed Rammurthy that his
even at kirana stores to stock up essen-
s m a l l tial commodities. Now they are
shops of rushing to stores for stock up on
residential their needs.
colonies, “As people are stocking up we
due to re- ran out of groceries. Even as lock-
strictions down relaxation was given, they
enforced by are still in panic and storing com-
the govern- modities,” said Rizwan, owner of
ment in view of a grocery store in the Old City.
the second wave “Daily have to wake up early,
of Covid-19. When as it is only a four-hour relax-
the lockdown began on ation. We have a limited time for
May 12, people thronged veg- purchasing commodities. While
etable shops, supermarkets and stores have a huge rush, daily
BJP urges Governor to include
Covid treatment in Arogyasri
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
TELANGANA BJP president
Bandi Sanjay on Sunday urged
Governor Tamilisai
Soundararajan to direct the
government to include Covid-
19 treatment in Aarogyasri
and also implement the
Aayushman Bharat scheme in
the State.
Bandi Sanjay said that over
80 per cent of the Telangana
population belongs to the
V V L Subhadra Devi, Cura- poorer sections. Since the first
tor thanked one and all for par- wave of Corona in March
ticipating in the webinar and 2020, the Telangana govern-
the week-long programmes ment hasn't done anything to
which came to an end on Sun- ramp up medical infrastruc-
day. ture both in the rural and the
On the day of conclusion, she urban areas, despite funds
expressed happiness and satis- from the union government,
faction and thanked the Cen- which has accentuated the
tral Zoo Authority, New Delhi current corona crisis and the
for giving the opportunity on plight of the poor.
this big platform for showcas- Sanjay said that hundreds of
ing the successful breeding and people who were getting af-
rehabilitation programme on fected by Corona daily have
Mouse Deer and other week- been desperately searching for
long programmes. beds in private hospitals as
friend Anthony has special pow- around and would blackmail
ers to unearth the hidden treas- them by stating that he would
ure from lands and lured him to reveal it to the families of the
travel with Anthony to persons that they were in-
Prakasham district so that he dulging in black magic. The ac-
can get the treasure. As Ram- cused Anthony later took Ra-
murthy agreed to the condi- murthy to his residence and
tions, on May 12, he went to blackmailed him, but when the
meet Anthony along with Srini- victim refused to comply with
vas. his demands, the accused mur-
Upon reaching a location near dered him along with his associ-
Nagaram in Keesara, both Srin- ates and threw his body in a
vas and Rammurthy were wait- nearby lake, said the police.
ing for Anthony, but he arrived However, after a lot of investi-
late because Anthony was a ha- gation the accused gang was ar-
bitual offender and a fraud that rested and charged under sec-
used to bait gullible people us- tions 302, 342, 201, and 384 r/w
ing his associates and click their 120(B) of IPC and remanded
pictures while they were moving them to judicial custody.
some or other needy item is being
missed or is out of stock,” said
Ravi, a customer at a supermar-
ket in Dilsukhnagar.
Immediately after 10 am, the
police were seen making rounds
ensuring that all shops were shut.
They also gave some time to
shopkeepers and buyers to reach
their destinations. Following this,
the police checked vehicles. Peo-
ple working under the essential
services category or with a pass
were allowed to commute during
the lockdown.
the meagre facilities for Co-
rona treatment in the govern-
ment sector is always com-
pletely occupied. The poor
people have no option but to
admit themselves to private
hospitals which are exploiting
the situation and charging in-
Minister KTR and Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar received 200 oxygen concentrators by the leading renewable energy firm
Greenko in Hyderabad on Sunday
KTR thanks Centre for increasing
supplies of oxygen and Remdesivir
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
MUNICIPAL Administration
Minister KT Rama Rao on Sun-
day thanked the Union govern-
ment for increasing the supply
of oxygen and drug Remdesivir
besides other vaccines, which
would help treat patients in
time.
Rao and Chief Secretary
Somesh Kumar at Shamshabad
Airport received on behalf of the
government the oxygen concen-
trators which reached Hyder-
abad in a special flight from
China.. Leading renewable en-
ergy firm Greenko had donated
over 200 oxygen concentrators
to the government.
KTR said the government was
taking all steps to combat the
Covid pandemic, adding that
Hyderabad has been providing
treatment to patients coming
from neighbouring States. The
discriminately. Many poor
people either are dying unable
to afford treatment or mort-
gaging their properties to be
in debt for the rest of their
lives, he said.
The BJP president sought
the intervention of the Gover-
HYDERABAD MONDAY 17 MAY 2021
n Appeals to corporates to
join in combating Covid
n Greenko donates 200
oxygen concentrators to
Telangana govt
n Chief Secretary Somesh
Kumar told additional
2 MTs of oxygen
will be available
Minister said "irrespective of
political parties, public repre-
sentatives are working as a team
to combat the virus.
He stated that the govern-
ment was ensuring continuous
supply of oxygen to avoid any
deaths due to its crisis. “Under
the leadership of Chief Minister
K Chandrasekhar Rao, the gov-
ernment is working with com-
plete coordination with medical
institutions. The public repre-
sentatives and officials are on
the ground to take stock of the
nor in directing the govern-
ment to ensure the inclusion
of Corona under the Aaro-
gyasri scheme which will ben-
efit about 80 lakh families. He
also wanted the government
to implement a worldwide ac-
claimed Ayushman Bharat
scheme under which the eligi-
ble poor will get benefits up to
Rs 5 lakhs.
Sanjay recalled that the
chief minister made a state-
ment on the floor of the house
that Ayushman Bharath
scheme would be imple-
mented in the state which was
further endorsed by Telan-
gana chief secretary in the
CMs meet with the Prime
Minister on December 30.
“The magnitude of the crisis
which has hit the lives and
livelihoods across the spec-
trum of life and the worst hit
are the poor people. We all
have a collective responsibil-
ity to save the vulnerable and
the only way for that is to fa-
cilitate quality medical help,”
said Sanjay.
3
situation and are acting swiftly
during an emergency,” Rao ob-
served.
The minister appreciated the
Greenko Group for donating
1,000 oxygen concentrators to
various States in the country. In
the first phase, the firm donated
oxygen concentrators to Telan-
gana. He thanked Greenko
Group MD and CEO Anil Chala-
masetty for helping the State
during the pandemic. KTR also
thanked the management of In-
digo Airlines for facilitating the
transport of the oxygen concen-
trators from China.
Rao said several corporate or-
ganisations were offering to
help the government during the
pandemic. He appealed to to
corporate firms to join hands in
combating the virus.
The Chief Secretary informed
that with the arrival of 200 con-
centrators, an additional 2 MTs
of oxygen will be now available.
Webinar
organised by
PRCI Hyderabad
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
PUBLIC Relations Council of India
(PRCI), Hyderabad Chapter organ-
ized its first webinar Saturday on the
topic “Dea(r)th of Depth? The
Changing Media Consumption in a
Distracted Digital World!” as a part
of the National Talent Hunt Series
launched by the Governing Council
of PRCI. Anindita Sinha, chairperson,
PRCI Hyderabad Chapter, said “Dur-
ing this fast-changing world, produc-
tion and consumption of news must
be backed by a lot of responsibilities,
and the fast track digitally distracted
world gives all communication pro-
fessionals an opportunity to keep
the stands of news and information
backed by the robust ethical sense
of journalism.” MB Jayaram, chief
mentor and chairman emeritus,
PRCI, T Vinay Kumar, national presi-
dent, PRCI, members of jury; direc-
tors and members of the PRCI gov-
erning council along with members
from the young communicators club;
other national and zonal council
members and other chapter mem-
bers across the country and abroad
including Canada and Nepal partici-
pated and over 100 participants
logged in for this webinar.
4 HYDERABAD MONDAY 17 MAY 2021

Pleas to set up plasma

collection ambulance
MEGHNA NATH
HYDERABAD:

PLASMA therapy is one of the

key elements for Covid treat-
ment. As there is a continuous
rise of Covid cases in the city si-
multaneously demand for
plasma donors has increased. But
the challenge lies that only out of
1000 donors 10 recovered pa-
tients are turning up to donate
plasma due to fear and the mis-
conception that they would once
again get exposed to the Virus. So
various members of hyderabad
Blood Donor Groups took up this
matter on social media platforms
and have requested to set up
plasma collection ambulances in
every area to reach the people
who want to donate their plasma.
“We as the members of hyder-
abad Blood Donors Society have
been encouraging people to come
forward and Telangana police is
also appealing to the recovered
Covid patients to donate plasma.
But the response is very low, as
Covid cases are increasing day by
day; people are in fear of getting
infected with the Virus. People
who are interested are not able
to donate, as there is no particu-
Out of 1000
donors only
Members of Hyderabad Blood Donor
Groups took up the matter on social
S M Foundation’s gesture to a PWD
HANS NEWS SERVICE riage at Keesara on behalf of S M Chairman regarding inability of
10 recovered media platforms and requested to set HYDERABAD Foundation and Munnuru Kapu disabled person, Deshagoni
patients are up plasma collection ambulances in Sangam, Puttam Purshotham Venkanna Goud in performing
turning up to every area to reach the people who SARDAR Puttam Purushotham said his organisation is striving marriage of his daughter, S M
donate plasma want to donate their plasma Rao,executive Director of S M hard to the help the poorer sec- Foundation and Munnuru Kapu
Foundation and Convener of tions of society through various Sangam came forward and
lar centre where they could go ered from Covid can help to save Society, hyderabad. Telangana Rashtra Munnuru programmes. helped Goud in arranging the
and donate. It would be better if many lives. Like various blood “Only five per cent of Covid Kapu Sangam said 'wealthy and Karre Venkanna Patel,Chair- cash and articles for his daugh-
the State government set up donor societies, we have started positive patients end up needing rich people should and must man, Keesara Munnuru Kapu ter's marriage.
plasma ambulances in every area, an online portal to connect plasma. If everyone who has re- have the generous attitude to Sangam presented the puste To help continuing their activ-
so it would be helpful to the peo- plasma donors with those in need covered from the Virus comes help the poor people in the soci- mettalu, cash and saree to the ities, Vishnu Jagathi chipped in
ple,” said Sai Kumar, a member but people out of fear are not forward and donates plasma, we ety.' Speaking at a function or- bride. he appreciated the S M with pusthe mettalu, cash and sa-
of hyderabad Blood Donors So- coming up. Plasma ambulances can ensure zero casualties. I re- ganised on the occasion of pre- Foundation for helping the poor rees to three poor women for
ciety, LB Nagar. in every area will help people who quest the State government to senting puste mettalu, Rs 20,000 people through its social activi- their marriages at a function or-
“even if half of them come for- are willing to donate plasma can launch a plasma ambulance,” said cash and a silk saree to a girl ties. ganised at VPJ Function hall,
ward to donate their plasma, easily do the needful, said T V Sujan, a member of Blood Bhargavi, daughter of a disabled Following information given Lakshammakkapally, Vontim-
those who have recently recov- Amar, member of Blood Donors Donors Society, hyderabad. person, Venkanna Goud for mar- by Chandra Reddy, Municipal mamidi village, near Gajwel.

Private hospitals are fleecing `2 cr annual

Covid patients, charges Uttam
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
TeLANGANA Pradesh Congress
Committee President N Uttam
Kumar Reddy on Sunday criticis-
ing Telangana government said
that the Covid-19 pandemic has
been plaguing people due to the
thoughtless and negligent rule of
Chief Minister K Chan-
drasekhara Rao.
While addressing the meeting
of the Core Committee of TPCC
through Zoom App, Uttam said
that the government was not
bothered about the problems of
the people, while the private hos-
pay money, and the people of
provide free treatment to their
package for city
student in US
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
AN engineering student of City,
Narkuti Deepthi, who com-
pleted MS from the University
of Florida this month, has se-
cured a job in Microsoft main
office in Seattle with an annual
package of Rs.2 crore, stated to
be the highest for a candidate
with similar qualifications. She
was selected among 300 aspi-
rants. According to informa-
tion reaching her family,
Deepthi got selected in the
campus interview. She is to join
duty on May 17. her father, Dr.
Venkanna, an expert in forensic
science, heads the clues team

Police stops Revanth Reddy

pitals have been collecting lakhs
of rupees from the Covid patients
in the State whereas patients in
the other states have been get-
ting treatment at free of cost.
“Medicines of Covid were not
available, there is shortage for
ventilators, beds were not avail-
able though people were ready to
middle class and poor sections
are in utter panic,” he added.
The Government did not take
steps to add Covid to Arogyasri
and implement Ayushman
Bharat which would provide free
treatment to Covid patients,
whereas other states have been
seizing the private hospitals to
subjects, he alleged.
“Lamented people were de-
prived of basic medical facilities,
private hospitals are fleecing the
people with lakhs of rupees, gen-
eral and oxygen beds were not
available in the State and hun-
dreds were dying as they did not
get treatment in time,” he said.
in the City Police Commission-
erate.
The family sources said
Deepthi, after BTech, had
worked in JP Morgan as a soft-
ware engineer for three years.
She quit the job and went to the
US for pursuing MS in com-
puter science.
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
The city police on Sunday
stopped MP A. Revanth Reddy who
was going to Gandhi hospital to
distribute food to Covid 19
patients and their family
members. The act of the po-
lice led to an argument be-
tween the MP and the Be-
gumpet police.
The police told the MP
that they had orders from
rounded up the vehicle of
the MP.
Revanth expressed his
anger over the attitude of
the police and wondered as
to how the rulers of the
state were doing politics
over the hunger of poor

Rain causes waterlogging in Karwan

HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
The Karwan area of hyder-
abad received about 60 mm of
rainfall in less than an hour
resulting in waterlogging of
colonies and localities on Sun-
day.
According to local MLA
Kausar Mohiuddin, who moni-
tored the situation, Nizam
Colony, Meraj Colony,
Baqtawarguda, hakeempet,
state minister KT Rama Rao
to stop the MP and prevent
him from going to the
Gandhi hospital. The police
people. he also wondered if
it was a crime to feed the
poor during the period of
the ongoing lockdown
Disaster Response Force Meanwhile, the Telangana
n Residents say the same areas were inundated in last year's (DRF) were rushed to areas to State Development Planning
floods. They allege no development work was taken up or clear waterlogging. Society (TSDPS), a rain obser-
preventive measures initiated. They say the area faces floods Residents recalled that vatory, recorded 60.5 mm
as there are several nalas in its surroundings these were the same areas rainfall In Karwan during the
which were inundated in the evening ending at 5.30, mak-
n Telangana State Development Planning Society records previous year's floods. They ing it highest rainfall in the
60.5 mm rain in Karwan at 5.30 pm, making it highest alleged that there no develop- City.
rainfall in the City ment work was taken up or Areas like Yousufguda, Ra-
preventive measures initiated. jendranagar, Jubilee hills,
Qui Qutub Shah Nagar, Bal Additional teams of the They stated that the area faces Serilingampally, Moosapet,
Reddy Nagar, Virasat Nagar monsoon wing from the the threat of floods as there Kukatpally and Gajularama-
and Saleh Nagar reported wa- Greater hyderabad Municipal are several nalas in its sur- ram recorded rainfall between
terlogging. Corporation (GhMC)aand roundings. 15.6 and 60 mm.

MULTI-MORBIDITY
CASES ON RISE IN CITY
HYDERABAD
addING to the Covid-19
spread, seasonal diseases are
joining the virus, leading to in-
crease in multi-morbidity cases
in Hyderabad. a combination of
typhoid and Corona is taking
the first place in such cases.
Says dr Shoba, rMO, Gandhi
Hospital: "In my personal expe-
rience, Covid is often confused
with typhoid. Some people have
both when they get tested. a
large group of patients in Hy-
derabad had both typhoid and
Corona attack, with symp-
toms like fever, vomiting and
diarrhoea. We are also ob-
serving symptoms in patients
like chills and platelet count
dropping, which are also iden-
tified with viral diseases, like
malaria and dengue.
She stated that "according to
symptoms, we are prescribing
tests. We see a large group of
people being attacked with
multi-morbidity. Hence, we
suggest to people not to get ex-
posed to contaminated water,
unhygienic surroundings and
unhealthy food, which cause in-
fection, as these are the prime
sources of viral infections.
Keeping self and surroundings
clean is the only way to prevent
these diseases," she added.
HYDERABAD MONDAY 17 MAY 2021 5
200 tonnes of Liquid
Bribe in conduct of corona
Medical Oxygen
transported to
TS and AP
tests at govt centres
HANS NEWS SERVICE HANS NEWS SERVICE of Greater Hyderabad.
SECUNDERABAD HYDERABAD State Medical and
Health department offi-
INdIaN railways continues to deMaNd for bribe in the cials said that the district
bring Liquid Medical Oxygen to conduct of Corona tests authorities were receiving
explaining the multi-mor- diseases, as the mutant is taking How to prevent the Telangana and andhra free of cost to the sus- complaints from citizens
bidity situation in City, dr ro- different stages. Hence, we are Pradesh. While Guntur has re- pected virus infected pa- that they were not being
hit of Osmania Hospital, said: prescribing to patients to take multi-morbidity? ceived the second Oxygen ex- tients has been reported provided test facility
"In the beginning both tests (Covid- n regular handwash press, Sanath Nagar in Hyder- in many government test- though they waited for
we observed 19 and sea- n building a strong immune abad is likely to receive the sixth ing centres during the hours in the beelines be-
typhoid in A sonal dis- system Oxygen express of Telangana on lockdown period in the fore the testing centres,
Covid eases n Keeping surroundings Monday. railways bring almost State. officials said that soon af-
pa- large group of patients clean 200 tonnes of Liquid Medical The Medical authorities ter the government im-
n eating healthy food, Oxygen in two Telugu States. were charging at least rs posed lockdown from May
have both typhoid and Corona, avoiding junk On the other hand, the sixth 500 for each rapid anti- 11, the demand for bribe to
with symptoms like fever, vomiting n regular exercise for ac- Oxygen express with 06 Con- gen Test and rs 1000 for conduct corona tests in-
tive metabolism tainer tankers filled with 120 rTPCr test at the testing creased as many senior
& diarrhea, we are observing symptoms tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen centres. Currently, as health officials who were
a Covid patient has all these (LMO) has started its journey many as 21 rTPCr centres appointed as test centre
in patients like chills and platelet count symptoms, tests are reported from Kalinganagar in Odisha to and 1064 rapid antizen incharges dedicated most
dropping, which are identified with viral positive on a large scale. at Sanath Nagar in Telangana. Con- test centres were provid- of their time to provide
the same time, if a Corona tinuing this momentum, the sup- ing corona diagnostic treatment to the corona
diseases, like malaria and dengue. People patient has chills and if he ply of LMO is likely to be further services to the needy in patients in the govern-
should not to get exposed to contaminated takes malaria test the report strengthened with the seventh the State. ment run hospitals. as
is positive in 70 per cent Oxygen express having already Those who pay bribe there is no higher author-
water, unhygienic surroundings and unhealthy cases. commenced its journey. The were getting the test done ity, the paramedical staff
That's how we realised that train has been loaded with 4 instantly and receive the deputed at the testing cen-
food, which can cause infection, as these are multi-morbidity cases are ris- tankers filled with 55.42 tons of report in a just 24 hours. tres were flouting all
the prime sources of viral infections. ing. The Covid patients, with a LMO in Odisha and is likely to Others will have to wait norms in registering the
drop in blood platelets count, reach Hyderabad on Monday, for at least three days to names of persons.
Keeping self and surroundings clean is must also go for a dengue test, said senior officer, SCr. undergo rTPCr test in a special task force is al-
as we suspect, they might have Gajanan Mallya, General Man- the government diagnostic ready constituted to moni-
the only way to prevent these both diseases. as monsoon is ager, SCr has assured that the centres. tor the functioning of test
diseases, urged ahead, we must be prepared for railways is taking all necessary More than 1000 compal- centres on a daily basis. all
like all these ailements. We are try- steps to ensure that the Oxygen ints were already received the testing centre in-
tients. the doctors malaria ing to make people to be aware express trains reach in the fastest from the victims and the charges have been asked to
Now sea- and of the diseases," said dr possible time. He said that the issue is under investiga- submit the details of the
sonal diseases dengue) de- Venkateshwar, a physician. movement of these trains is being tion. The menace of de- registered persons for
are also being seen in pending on their symp- "If Covid infection is neg- given the highest sense of ur- mand for bribe was high in tests and ensure every one
them. We are often confused toms", say some City doctors. lected, it might also affect blood gency, with multi-disciplinary the Corona hit districts of who visited the centre will
with seasonal diseases and "If a patient has high fever, vessels and lead to different teams working round the clock rangareddy , Medchal , undergo test on the same
Covid, as Corona symptoms are vomitting and diarrhoea, it is 98 neurological problems," he to ensure speedy delivery. Nalgonda and some parts day.
also co-related to different viral per cent sure case of typhoid. If added.

Officials to crack whip against commercial Thunderstorms to lash Siddipet,

establishments fleecing people
ESA BIN ABDUL REHMAN
HYDERABAD
AT a time when people have agonised
with the deadly pandemic, the com-
mercial establishments in Hyderabad
and Rangareddy districts are fleecing
the people coming out during the re-
laxation period to purchase essential
commodities. Shops, general stores,
and supermarkets in Rangareddy Dis-
trict were seen bursting into seams
with people thronging into markets to
buy necessary stuff like grains and
food products in order to get a safe
stock for them for at least a period of
lockdown. However, reports were
pouring in from the public that several
shops and commercial establishments
are charging more than the MRP tak-
ing advantage of the situation. “For
every stuff or product, we brought
home during the relaxation period we
Passport Application Processing Counter in RPO
Hyderabad: In order to meet
the emergency travel require-
ments of the passport applicants,
the government has decided to
open a Passport application Pro-
cessing Counter (PaPC) in the
regional Passport Office at Se-
cunderabad between 8 am and 12
noon. The passport operations in
all the passport seva kendras were
suspended from May 12 after the
lockdown in the State. The rPO
at Secunderabad has been func-
tioning with skeletal staff keeping
realised that the shop owners and su-
permarkets have charged at least Rs 5
to Rs 10 extra than the MRP fixed on
the products. This is simply called loot
being carried out by these commercial
establishments taking advantage of
pandemic situations. These traders are
milking profit out of the crisis,” said
Vanitha, a lady resident at Attapur.
Following the complaints of shops
and supermarkets fleecing the cus-
tomers by charging extra against the
Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) taking
advantage of the pandemic time, the
Civil Supply authorities in Rangareddy
have geared up to crack the whip
against the commercial establish-
ments. It is said that the civil supply
officials go into huddle after receiving
frequent such complaints from the
customers rushing into the markets to
buy essential commodities during few
in view of the health of the em-
ployees. Now, in the wake of the
suspension of services in Telan-
gana, it has been decided to open
PaPC in the rPO till the lock-
down period. The applicants with
travel exigencies, who have al-
ready submitted the passport ap-
plications in portal www.pass-
portindia.gov.in or in mPassport
Seva Mobile app and
attended/not attended the ap-
pointments in the passport seva
kendras and those applicants,
hours of the relaxation in lockdown
every morning and getting back with
red faces due to exorbitant rates the
commercial establishments charged
taking advantage of the chaotic situa-
tion out of pandemic. “We are receiv-
ing complaints from various quarters
that the shops, general stores, and su-
permarkets are charging the products
more than the MRP and accordingly
we have planned to make surprise in-
spections under our area of operations
to check the recalcitrance of these es-
tablishments. We have formed a team
to carry out inspects going round the
room soon and will take appropriate
and punitive action against traders
found resorting to such unlawful prac-
tices that too at the time of the pan-
demic,” informed Bala Saroja, Assis-
tant Civil Supply Officer Circle no 3,
Saroornagar, Rangareddy District.
who have not submitted the pass-
ports with the application refer-
ence Number (arN), which was
received after the submission of
online application and payment
of prescribed fee in the portal/app
should approach the rPO with all
supporting documents in original
and proof of travel urgency for the
processing the same. However,
the rPO will continue to function,
as usual from 9 am to 5.30 pm on
all working days during the lock-
down period.
15 other districts today
• Likely to hit RR,
Hyderabad, Medchal-
Malkajgiri, Vikarabad,
Sangareddy & Medak
districts on May 20
• 5 cm rain each in
Chigurumamidy
(Karimnagar) , Itikyal,,
Manopad (Jogulamba
Gadwal)
• Rain or thundershowers
in evening or night in
City from May 17 to 20
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
THe IMd on Sunday warned of
thunderstorms with lightning
very likely to lash isolated
places in adilabad, Kumramb-
heem, Mancherial, Nirmal,
Nizamabad, Nalgonda,
Suryapet, Mahbubabad, Waran-
gal (both ruraul & Urban),
Jangam, Siddipet, Na-
garkurnool, Wanaparthy,
Narayanpet and Jogulamba-
Gadwal districts from May 17 to
20 under the influence of the
very severe cyclonic storm
“Tauktae”.
On May 20 thunderstorms
with lightning will also occur in
Jayashankar-bhupalpalli, Mu-
lug, bhongir, Khammam, ranga
reddy, Hyderabad, Medchal-
Malkajgiri, Vikarabad, San-
gareddy and Medak districts.
Meanwhile, during the last 24
hours ending at 8.30 am on Sun-
day, there was 5 cm rain each in
Chigurumamidy (Karimnagar) ,
Itikyal,, Manopad (both in Jogu-
lamba Gadwal), , 4 cm in Med-
chal, 3 cm each in Serilingam-
pally damaragidda
(Narayanpet), Maldakal ( Jogu-
lamba Gadwal), Narayanpet, 2
cm each in yellareddypeta (ra-
janna Sircilla), achampet ( Na-
garkurnool), Talamadugu (adi-
labad), Konaraopet (rajanna
Sircilla), Vikarabad, Waddepalli
(Jogulamba Gadwal), Makthal
(Narayanpet), aswaraopet
(bhadradri- Kothagudem),
Maganoor (Narayanpet), One
cm rain each occurred in r C
Puram, Hayatnagar, ramayam-
pet, Uppal and Golkonda.
The State reported the maxi-
mum temperatures of 40 de-
grees Celsius and above at a iso-
lated places with highest 42.5 in
Nalgonda.
The bulletin forecast rain or
thundershowers towards
evening or night in Hyderabad
from May 17 to 20, with the day
temperatures falling to 34, 35,
37and 38 degrees Celsius re-
spectively. On May 21 and 22
there would be partly cloudy sky
with ‘thundery development’.
Appreciable fall in day
temperatures
Nalgonda records highest 42.5
deg C, Medak 41.8, adilabad 41.3,
ramagundam 40.2, bhadrachalam
39.2, Nizamabad 39.1, Mahbubna-
gar 39, Khammam & Hanamkonda
38 each, dundigal 35, Hakimpet
34.5, Hyderabad 34.3
With rain occurring on a regular
basis for the last several days and
cloudy sky, the day temperatures
in the State fell appreciably, rang-
ing from 2.1 to 4 degrees Celsius.
However, the IMd bulletin said on
Sunday that there was no large
change in the temperatures.
according to the bulletin, the
maximum temperatures were ap-
preciably below normal by 3.1 to 5
degrees Celsius in some areas of
the State. They were markedly be-
low normal by 5 degrees C or less
in some parts .
The bulletin said the day tem-
peratures were normal in some
parts and below normal in some
other areas.
The maximum temperatures
recorded in the State were: Nalgo-
nda 42.5 deg C, Medak 41.8, adil-
abad 41.3, ramagundam 40.2,
bhadrachalam 39.2, Nizamabad
39.1, Mahbubnagar 39, Khammam
& Hanamkonda 38 each, dundigal
35, Hakimpet 34.5, Hyderabad
34.3

Citizens irked by police penalties

during lockdown relaxation
HANS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD
IT'S a known fact that Telangana
has announced a partial lock-
down by only letting shops and
establishments to run their op-
erations from 6 to 10 am. but the
most concerning point to many
citizens is the police penalising
them in those four hours by
clicking pictures of vehicles
parked on roadsides and impos-
ing fines on people for not main-
taining social distancing norms.
Suresh Kumar, a techie, said,
“In the less time allotted by the
government during the lock-
down, there is huge rush at al-
most every shop. We have to wait
for hours to make purchases. In
the meanwhile, we are either pe-
nalised for not adhering to social
distancing or for wrong parking
by the police, as they are always
n It is ridiculous for govt to even allow cops to penalise out our savings for survival. It is
really painful to pay challans
citizens who are just trying to feed their families
from our hard earned money.
n There should be some streamlining by govt when & how There should be some streamlin-
can challans are issued ing by the government as to
when and how can the police is-
n In a situation wherein we are allowed to operate for only sue challans. First the govern-
four hours, can’t the polices be just lenient & let us earn ment imposes a partial lockdown
something for our livelihood-- a mobile shop-owner and allows us to operate only for
four hours. Within those hours
on a spree and clicking pictures stated: “We are into hardware the police are running in every
randomly.” business. Our entire business is street and clicking pictures to
He noted: “In these difficult in loss since one year. The re- penalise us. Is that justice,”
times, wherein every person is cently announced lockdown has lamented agarwal.
worried for his life and working broken the backbone of our in- rajesh Gulati, a mobile shop-
day in and day out to make ends dustry. On top of it, we are al- owner, stated: “We all know that
meet, while also staying afloat to lowed to open shops for only four the police station in-charges are
survive despite there being no hours. during the relaxation, if given targets to collect some
sufficient income nor savings. In by chance we get two or three specified amount in the form of
such a scenario, it is ridiculous customers, standing for pur- challans. It's totally agreeable.
on the part of the government to chase, the cops are clicking our but in such a situation, wherein
even allow the police to penalise shop photos and booking petty we are allowed to operate for
the common citizens, who are cases against us.” only four hours, can’t the polices Railway Amali Workers sleep on carts as no passangers turn up amid Government imposed lockdown for twenty
just trying to feed their families.” “despite incurring loss, we be just lenient and let us earn days at Secunderabad railway station Photo: Srinivas Setty
Mahesh agarwal, a trader, keep our heads high by taking something for our livelihood.”
6 EDIT HYDERABAD MONDAY 17 MAY 2021

Govt must stay alert as black fungus looms large

D on’t know why the central and State
governments continue to blink at the
impending danger which they are likely
to face if they don’t wake up immediately
and take necessary steps to save the coun-
try from another catastrophe - black fun-
gus.
as aiimS Director Randeep Guleria
and many other doctors say, mucormy-
cosis, also known as 'black fungus', is not
any new infection but the number of cases
has increased due to Covid-19 and we are
on the verge of facing shortage of anti-
fungal drugs. the reason is sudden surge
in black fungus cases and shortage of
drugs in the market which is already being
felt. the production of some antifungal
drugs has gone down due to shortage of
raw material.
Dr Randeep Guleria rightly warned of
the spread of mucormycosis and recom-
mended that with Covid-19 cases increas-
ing, it's of paramount importance that
proper protocols of infection control are
followed at hospitals. But the problem is
that the medical staff is already grappling
with Covid and now this new problem
from old fungus is going to prove to be
another major headache for them.
experts say that doctors should see
that use of excessive steroids should be
avoided as they increase the chances of
black fungus infection. What was a rare
fungus is now becoming a dreaded dis-
ease.
Despite all this no serious measures
seem to be forthcoming from the State
government here. Only a few guidelines
were issued on Saturday but no review of
the measures that need to be taken to ad-
dress likely shortage of beds in hospitals
and availability of drugs etc has not been
made. if the government blinks as it did
in case of Remdesivir, we are in for an-
other heavy black marketing of antifungal
drugs. experts say if the black fungus is
not detected early, it may necessitate sur-
gery and that requires some injections
which are already in short supply.
it’s time the political executive learns
to stop patting its own back day in and
day out saying we are the best or better
than others in Covid management and fo-
cus on the danger bells that are ringing
louder. Wake up and don’t let more lives
be lost.

1 in 2 manufacturers
OBSTRUCTION OF TRADE LAWS facing lack of skilled
IN OUR HEALTH SOVEREIGNTY workers: Survey
m ore than 1 in 2 manufacturers around the world feel their or-
ganisation lacks skilled workers to support smart manufactur-

t
he multi-
THE WAY AHEAD national
Companies
(mnCs) had two-
thirds of the do-
mestic drug mar-
ket of india in
1970. then the
government an-
nulled the “Prod-
Dr Bharat uct Patents” and
Jhunjhunwala allowed indian
companies to
manufacture
drugs that had been patented by mnCs
by alternate processes. this resulted in
a fast increase in domestic drug manu-
facturing and not only indian, but the
world drug market came to be domi-
nated by indian companies. the domi-
nance of indian companies in the drug
market, known as “formulations,” is
maintained as of date. the trajectory of
the “active pharmaceutical ingredients”
or aPis that are the raw materials for
the manufacture of the drugs followed
a different course. Only one percent
aPis were imported in 1991 and 99 per-
cent were made within the country.
this has increased steadily after the
opening of the economy in 1991 and to-
day 70 percent of the aPis are im-
ported—mostly from China. the un-
availability of formulations required to
treat Covid patients in india can be
traced to the unavailability of the im-
ported aPis.
the present dominance of indian
companies in the formulations market
is also under threat. according to Shak-
tivel Selvaraj of Public health Founda-
tion of india, China may enter the for-
mulations market of india in the next
5-6 years and oust indian companies
just as they have done in the aPis.
the government has announced that
Rs 6,940 crore will be spent in the next
six years to strengthen medical manu-
facturing infrastructure in the country.
Further, 19 medical devices have been
earmarked for purchase from domestic
manufacturers. these steps are in the
right direction but too feeble given the
emergency we are facing. as said above,
Chinese formulations are likely to take
over the indian market by the time the
government builds this infrastructure.
more is needed. especially because the
Chinese are able to produce aPis at a
lower cost despite the wages being five
times more. We need to get our act to-
gether even if we want to save our for-
mulations market.
the first step to be taken is regarding
import duties generally, of which the
aPis are a part. Our negative “trade bal-
ance,” that is, the excess of imports over
exports was (-) 1.91 percent of GDP in
1999. it reduced marginally to (-) 1.79
percent in 2004 during the reign of the
Vajpayee Government. then, it in-
creased dramatically to (-) 2.99 percent
in 2014 during the reign of manmohan
Singh. it has reduced marginally to (-)
The present dominance of Indian companies in the formulations
market is also under threat. According to Shaktivel Selvaraj of
Public Health Foundation of India, China may enter the formulations
market of India in the next 5-6 years and oust Indian companies
just as they have done in the APIs.
2.72 percent in 2019 during the first
stint of the modi Government. Once
again, this reduction is feeble given that
the trade balance was only (-) 1.79 per-
cent in 2004 at the end of the Vajpayee
Government. the negative trade bal-
ance means that the cost of manufac-
turing of goods in india is more than
the imported goods hence businessper-
sons prefer to import rather than man-
ufacture them. the immediate step to
be taken to jumpstart manufacturing in
the country is to increase the import
duties so that imports become expen-
sive and domestic manufacturing is
given a fillip. that has been elusive
though. Coming to the medical sector,
Rajiv nath of the association of indian
medical Device industry has said that
he is disappointed with the Budget for
2021-22 for not having increased the
import duties on medical devices.
therefore, we need to increase import
duties and bear the burden of high cost
of domestic manufacturing for a while,
at least, if we have to manufacture the
aPis and medical devices like ventila-
tors and oxygen concentrators in the
country.
the second step is that of investment
in frontline medical technologies. the
strength of indian companies today lies
in the manufacture of generic medi-
cines that are outside the writ of the
Patents act. the inventions are made
by mnCs. they earn huge monies for
the first 20 years during which Patents
protection is available to them—just as
astraZeneca is charging 50 percent of
the sale price of Covishield vaccine that
Serum institute is manufacturing in in-
dia under their license. We need to in-
vest huge monies in the invention of
new drugs. Reportedly, Pfizer and as-
traZeneca have received huge monies
that helped them invent the Covid vac-
cines while india’s Bharat Biotech got
a measly Rs 65 crore. thus himanshu
Baid of Poly medicare has said that the
Budget of 2021-22 does not provide any
encouragement in this direction. Simi-
larly, according to Satish Reddy of in-
dian Pharmaceutical alliance the gov-
ernment needs to give grants for the
innovation of new molecules, automa-
tion and digital technologies.
the third step is to invest in the in-
frastructure needed for jumpstarting
manufacturing in the health sector in
india. the government has announced
in march 2021 that Rs 6,940 crore will
be spent in the next six years to build
this infrastructure. But, as said above,
Chinese formulations may take over the
indian market by that time. again, hi-
manshu Baid of Poly medicare says this
investment should have been front-
loaded and done in the next three years.
the fourth step is to make available
capital for investment. the cost of bor-
rowing for capital investment in China
is about 5 percent against about 12 per-
cent in india. Further, countries are
providing huge assistance to build their
health sovereignty. For example, the
United States Government has pro-
vided an assistance of US dollars 765
million or Rs 5,700 crore repayable in
25 years to eastman Kodak to build aPi
manufacturing capacity in the United
States. it is to be noted that this assis-
tance has been provided under the De-
fense Production act. in other words,
the US Government believes that do-
mestic manufacture of aPis is neces-
sary to defend the country.
the government must plan for the fu-
ture. the Covid virus may mutate and
jump the presently available vaccines.
new viruses and pandemics may be in
the coming because the rapid change of
environment that has been unleashed
by man. therefore, the government
must immediately take four steps. One,
make a sharp and quick increase in im-
port duties on all goods necessary for
our economic sovereignty including
formulations and medical devices. We
must be ready to face the ire of the de-
veloped countries just as the United
States had stopped giving imports from
india under the Generalized Prefer-
ences applicable to developing coun-
tries. two, the government must give
big contracts to private innovators like
Bharat Biotech for making frontline in-
novations; and it must issue compul-
sory licenses to manufacture essential
drugs. We must not forget that Vajpayee
developed the nuclear bomb; and man-
mohan Singh stood up to protect pref-
erential purchases of food grains from
our farmers in the WtO, modi Govern-
ment must similarly stand up to West-
ern pressure and increase import duties
and issue compulsory licenses to pro-
tect our economic- and health sover-
eignty.
(The author is formerly Professor of
Economics at IIM, Bengaluru)
ing digitisation plans, according to a new survey.
Organisational complexity, integration and process reengineering
are the most prevalent challenges for executing smart manufacturing
initiatives.
Combined, these challenges reflect the largest change management
obstacles, according to the survey by market research firm Gartner.
in total, 439 respondents were interviewed across north america,
Western europe, and aPaC regions.
"Our survey revealed that manufacturers are currently going
through a difficult phase in their digitisation journey toward smart
manufacturing," said Simon Jacobson, vice president analyst, with
the Gartner Supply Chain practice.
"they accept that changing from a break-fix mentality and culture
to a data-driven workforce is a must. however, intuition, efficiency
and engagement cannot be sacrificed," Jacobson added.
Connected factory workers leverage various digital tools and data
management techniques to improve and integrate their interactions
with both physical and virtual surroundings while improving decision
accuracy, proliferating knowledge and lessening variability.
across all respondents, 83 per cent agreed that their leadership
understands and accepts the need to invest in smart manufacturing.
"however, it does not reflect whether or not the majority of leaders
understand the magnitude of change in front of them – regarding
technology, as well as talent," Jacobson said.
in the long term, it is important to establish a data-driven culture
in manufacturing operations that is rooted in governance and training
- without stifling employee creativity and ingenuity, the findings
showed. ianS
Covid deaths in
Canada linked to
dementia, Alzheimer's
D ementia and alzheimer's disease were the most common med-
ical conditions linked with all Covid-19 deaths reported in 2020
in Canada, the media reported.
the brain disorders were the most common comorbidity among
women (41 per cent), while among men, it was the second most com-
mon comorbidity at 31 per cent, CtVnews.ca reported citing a new
report from Statistics Canada.
"Of all Covid-19 deaths in 2020, dementia or alzheimer's was re-
ported on 36 per cent of Covid-19 death certificates," the report said.
Further, of the nearly 15,300 people who died of the virus between
march and December 2020, 65 per cent had two or more comorbidi-
ties and 46 per cent had three or more comorbidities, according to
the report.
"these results, along with the specific conditions listed on the
death certificate, highlight some of the populations in Canada most
vulnerable to severe outcomes of Covid-19. although individuals had
pre-existing conditions, it does not imply that they were at risk of
dying if there had been no Covid-19 infection," the report said.
the other most common comorbidities linked to Covid-19 death
included pre-existing cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, in-
cluding hypertension (15 per cent), heart diseases (14 per cent) and
chronic lower respiratory diseases (11 per cent).
Diabetes, Parkinson's, and obesity was the common comorbidity
associated with Covid deaths in the younger population.
Diabetes was a common pre-existing condition among 15 per cent
of Covid deaths among the 45-to-84 age group and 9 per cent among
those below 45.
nervous system disorders, such as Parkinson's or amyotrophic lat-
eral sclerosis diseases (excluding alzheimer's) was most common at
13 per cent among those who died of the virus in the 45-to-64 age
group and 12 per cent among those younger than 45.
there were fewer than 100 deaths due to Covid in people below
45 years in 2020. But, among those who died, obesity was the most
commonly observed comorbidity, the report said.

LETTERS these challenging times. he also said that com-

It’s no time to spread calumny
placency and come-what-may attitude after the
first wave was one of the factor that pushed the
country into the present grim state which could
have been otherwise avoided.
distancing won’t to them. UK Prime minister
Boris Johnson also made it clear that his gov-
ernment is going to relax the rules of social dis-
sation advises countries to follow Covid appro-
priate behaviour, even if they are witnessing a
continuous decline in new cases.
is insufficient and Chinese scientists' reveal to
the world facts of this disease at their personal
loss is literally a grave risk given the Chinese psy-
tancing in the entire country from may 17. Kartikey Upadhyay, Vadodara che. now, the whole world is reeling under the
a few months ago, india's attitude towards aura of the venomous corona and it's apt that the

t he article "not pandemic,it's the infedomics

that is hurting" analysed the facts in a prag-
matic manner. the anti-modi narrative gener-
ated by political frustration ultimately led to a
pandemic of information. During the time of
frustration, anxiety, fear due to the health emer-
gency caused by the SaRS-Cov-2 pandemic, it
is the responsibility of everybody including
politicians, media and also people at large to mit-
igate the problems faced during the critical pe-
riod. instead, the way the lies are being spread
is a matter of great concern for the country. it is
high time for those who spread calumny to re-
alise that they are doing more harm to the coun-
try than to an individual.
Prof M.V. Jagannadham
hyderabad
Let us stay united, fight Covid
R SS chief mohan Bhagwat during a lecture
series has rightly said that rather than point-
ing fingers at each for the miseries caused by the
second wave of Covid-19, the country and its cit-
izens along with State governments and the Cen-
tre should stay united and work as a team in
the indian mindset is not one that can be
made to bow or kneel before such catastrophes
and now it is time to stay positive and proactive
to fight the pandemic rather than getting stupe-
fied at the current situation.
as there is a possibility of a third wave, as med-
ical experts and scientists have cautioned, let us
not commit yet another mistake like we did dur-
ing the first one but be prepared and face the
problems with positive solutions and determi-
nation. Let us not lower the guard and take the
third wave, if at all one such arises, head on. Let
us listen to our medical experts and move ahead
according to their advice. Leaders must under-
stand it is high time they utilised all the re-
sources at their command for serving the com-
mon man.
M Pradyu , Kannur
US, UK failed to learn
from India’s mistakes
R eCentLy, US President Joe Biden asserted
that all such persons who have been vacci-
nated need not wear masks and the rule of social
Covid-19 also changed. Be it the central and state
governments or the people of india, all began to
think that india has conquered the pandemic
when we witnessed a continuous decline in the
new cases of Covid-19. Some people even said
that indians are special.
People started enjoying holidays, the election
Commision of india held elections, we started
to celebrate festivals on a large scale, we threw
basic precautions to the winds. Our carelessness
cost us dear as the second wave shook the entire
india.
there was a shortage of beds, oxygen, hospi-
tals, vaccines etc. Parents lost their children,
children lost their parents, a brother lost his sis-
ter, a sister lost her brother etc. had we been
alert, such tragedy could have been prevented.
now, the US and the UK are commiting the
same mistakes. in fact, they are committing big-
ger mistake than india. at least, indian govern-
ment advises the people who have been fully vac-
cinated to continue to wear masks and maintain
social distance. and USa, which has seen double
the number of deaths from Covid-19 as com-
pared to india, is not learning anything from in-
dia's mistakes. even the World health Organi-
Live telecast of SC proceedings
a welcome move
C hieF Justice of india said he was "actively
considering" the proposal to telecast live the
proceedings of the Supreme Court. and concrete
steps would be taken only after seeking a general
consensus among his colleagues. transparency
is a time-honoured principle when it comes to
the judicial process in our country. the role of
the media assumes importance in the process of
disseminating information as he himself was a
journalist for a brief time.
Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandar
Dispassionate scientific
discourse needed
D iSPaSSiOnate scientific discourse is the
need of the hour as 18 scientists from uni-
versities of US, Canada, UK and Swiss have called
for it in their letter published in journal, Science
(thi edit page,15 may). they well quoted the
comment of WhO Director General, tedlor that
SaRC-COV-2 emergence as laboratory accident
vibrant leap by the said 18 scientists and backed
by their vibrant universities/enterprising coun-
tries should move coherently like all of the uni-
verse moved forward like in hiV/aiDS and CDC
like pioneering scientific bodies and fund givers
like Gates' since simian SiV for centuries not
causing aiDS due to protective factors unique to
simian, here also cross species' study is a must.
Dr T. Ramadas, Visakhapatnam.
Good news on Covid front
t he second wave of Covid-19 showing signs
of weakening must bring cheer. Recoveries
surpassed the fresh cases, and the overall test
positivity rate headed south to 19.8 per cent from
21.9 per cent last week. On Saturday, the active
Covid cases dropped by 31,091 compared to Fri-
day. this is the fifth day in succession that active
infections have plateaued. the government also
said that the current decline rate is faster than
was the case in the first wave, which augurs well.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
thehansreader@gmail.com
HYDERABAD MONDAY 17 MAY 2021 NATION/NEWS 7

UP’s ‘cylinder waali bitiya’ delivers oxygen on her scooty

Arshi has so far distributed 20 O2 cylinders for free and is helped by her two bros and some other associates
B
reathing hope into the lives of people in
need of oxygen amidst the Covid-19 pan-
demic, 26-year-old Arshi has earned the
sobriquet of “cylinder waali bitiya”—the daugh-
ter with the oxygen cylinder. What began as a
struggle to procure the life-saving gas for her
coronavirus positive father, who managed to
beat the viral disease, has now turned into a mis-
sion to save as many lives as possible in this dis-
trict and those around it including the neigh-
bouring state of Uttarakhand.
Perched atop her trusted companion—a
scooter—the young woman, a resident of Madaar
Khel locality in Shahjahanpur, has so far distrib-
uted around 20 oxygen cylinders for free and is
helped by her two brothers and some other as-
sociates. Recalling the beginning of her philan- of the city magistrate,” Arshi told PTI. “I then cians. Shahjahanpur district president of Sama-
thropic journey, Arshi said on the first day of came in contact with a social organisation based jwadi Party Tanveer Khan said Arshi has em-
Ramzan, the condition of her father Mashoor, in Uttarakhand through WhatsApp which pro- barked on a mission to provide oxygen cylinders
who was not keeping well, began deteriorating, vided oxygen for my father, and he subsequently to those who need it.
and her worst fears came true when he tested recovered from the illness,” she added. “Amidst the COVID-19, Arshi is doing a his-
positive for Covid-19. While in-home isolation, After this incident, I realised what families of toric work, without caring for her own life,” Khan
his oxygen levels started falling and the doctor Covid patients needing oxygen must be going told PTI. Showering praises on Arshi, local resi-
asked me to arrange an oxygen cylinder. through, she said. “Ever since, anyone who dent Syed Naved said the woman provided him
However, when I approached the authorities, sought oxygen either through phone or What- with three oxygen cylinders for his COVID-19
I was told that patients in home isolation cannot sApp was helped. I have provided oxygen to sev- positive father. “May Allah fulfill all her wishes,”
get oxygen cylinders and was advised to get my eral people in Shahbad and Hardoi (UP) and Ut- he said.
father admitted to a hospital, according to Ar- tarakhand,” the 26-year-old said, adding that she Meanwhile, Shahjahanpur Chief Medical Offi-
shi. does not charge any money. cer S P Gautam said there was no shortage of
“Despite moving from pillar to post, I was not The young woman has received many laurels oxygen in the district and stressed that the life-
able to arrange a cylinder. As desperation grew, for her heroic actions not only from those whom saving gas was being provided to Covid-19 pa-
I somehow managed to get one from the office she has helped but also from the state’s politi- tients who are in home isolation.

WINDOWS
Covid patient
sexually abused
Thiruvananthapuam: Kerala po-
lice have arrested an ambulance as-
sistant in Malappuram district on
charges of sexually assaulting a 38-
year-old Covid patient in the ambu-
lance. The arrested person has been
identified as Prashanth of Pullaman-
thole in Malapuram district.
The offender was arrested on Sat-
urday by the Perinthalmanna police
after the woman told her doctor
about the incident which had taken
place on April 27. The woman said
that as she was too weak following
Covid related complications and
pneumonia, was not able to lodge
the complaint earlier
3.11 lakh new Covid cases, 4,077 dead
Arrest me too, Rahul tweets poster criticising Modi; Amitabh gets 2nd dose of vaccine
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI
WITNESSING a decline in the last 24
hours, India on Sunday reported 3,11,170
new Covid-19 cases, and 4,077 fatalities,
the Union Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare said.
In the past 24 days, India's daily Covid
tally has plateaued over the three-lakh-
mark and over 3,000 casualties for 18
days.
India's total tally of Covid-19 cases now
stands at 2,46,84,077 with 36,18,458 ac-
tive cases and 2,70,284 deaths so far.
According to the Health Ministry, a to-
tal of 3,62,437 people have been dis-
charged in the last 24 hours, with
2,07,95,335 being cured from Covid till
date.
Deserted streets were seen in the me-
tropolis and elsewhere in West Bengal
on Sunday as the 15-day Covid 19-in-
duced lockdown came into effect in the
state, with just a few vehicles seen ferry-
ing essential items during the day.
Police officers deployed in the city's
nooks and corners intercepted some of
the vehicles that plied on the roads to
check their papers before allowing them
to proceed.
Police in Siliguri took three BJP MLAs
into custody on Sunday for flouting lock-
down restrictions, a police officer said.
Amid reports of people being arrested
UP doctors to get
online training
for treating black
fungus cases
LUCKNOW: Doctors in Uttar Pradesh will
be given online training in the treat-
ment of black fungus.
The Uttar Pradesh government has di-
rected authorities to immediately con-
nect all medical colleges, chief medical
officers (CMOs) and other physicians in-
volved in treatment with Sanjay Gandhi
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sci-
ences (SGPGIMS) to facilitate necessary
medical training for them.
The concerned officials to coordinate
with the advisory committee of state
level health experts immediately to for-
mulate and release the necessary
guidelines for its treatment.
To overcome the challenges posed by
the rising number of black fungus
cases, the state government has formed
a 12-member Covid-19 associated to the
A farmer shows juicy strawberries harvested inside her farm during the ongoing lockdown to contain spread of Coronavirus, on the outskirts in Srinagar on mucormyocosis (CAM) management
Sunday. Strawberry is the first fruit that grows after six months of harsh winters in Kashmir and is supplied to various parts of north India including Delhi team of SGPGI.
The team will be responsible for form-
West Bengal goes under complete lockdown ing Rapid Response Teams (RRTs),
making treatment protocol, ensuring
availability of medicines and database

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from

Kennedy Space Centre. The rocket is
carrying a fleet of Starlink
communications satellites
Suspected Pak
drone spotted
SRINAGAR: A suspected Pakistani
drone was seen hovering along the
International Border (IB) in Jammu,
prompting security forces to launch
a massive search operation to check
if it had dropped anything inside the
Indian territory, officials said on
Sunday. However, nothing suspi-
cious was found during the search
operation, they said.This comes two
days after a Pakistani drone
dropped an AK-47 rifle, a pistol and
some ammunition along the IB in
Samba district of Jammu and Kash-
mir.The suspected Pakistani drone
was seen hovering in Kanachak sec-
tor here late on Saturday night.
for putting posters against PM Narendra
Modi in the national capital, Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi has dared the gov-
ernment to arrest him.
Tweeting the poster on Sunday, Rahul
Gandhi said: "Arrest me too."
Meanwhile, Congress leaders, target-
ting the government, are putting up a so-
cial media campaign. Congress leader
Pawan Khera said: "People have expec-
tations from the government which has
broken... so whom the people will ques-
tion when you want all the credit.
"Why should people not ask question
that why their vaccines have been ex-
ported," he asked.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sun-
day said he has received the second and
final dose of the novel coronavirus vac-
cine. The 78-year-old star, who had taken
the first jab last month, took to Instagram
to give an update to fans and followers.
Schools in the United States should
continue to use masks for the 2020-2021
academic year as all students will not be
fully vaccinated, the US Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention said .
‘Schools in US should continue to use masks’
Ex-IAS officer in
UP booked
UNNAO : A former IAS officer-turned-ac-
tivist has been booked by Unnao police for
allegedly making false propaganda
against the state government by tweeting
a seven-year-old photograph of bodies
floating in the Ganga in Unnao and claim-
ing them to be recent ones spotted in the
river in Ballia. In an FIR at Unnao Sadar
Kotwali police station, the 1982-batch for-
mer IAS officer, SP Singh, has also been
accused of claiming on social media that
67 bodies were buried on the Ganga banks
at Unnao using earth movers and without
performing last rites. Police said the case
was lodged on May 13 following several
complaints by locals who alleged that by
making such an irresponsible tweet, he vi-
tiated the atmosphere of the district.
Cong MP Satav
passes away
PUNE: Senior Congress leader and Rajya
Sabha member from Maharashtra, Rajiv
Satav, passed away in a hospital here af-
ter a 23-day long battle with Covid-19,
party officials said here on Sunday.
He was 46, and belonged to the core
team of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Satav had developed Covid symptoms
on April 19 and a swab test turned out to
be positive on April 21.
He was admitted to the Jehangir Hos-
pital in Pune and as his condition wors-
ened, a week later he was put on a venti-
lator. After a brief spell of recovery, his
condition again deteriorated alarmingly
since the last week and he remained in
the ICU where he succumbed early on
Sunday
Drones for
surveillance
CHENNAI: The Trichy district police have
deployed drones for surveillance on
whether people are coming out of their
homes during the lockdown period. The
drones will be in action in five divisions of
Trichy district including, Lalgudi, Jeeyapu-
ram, Musiri, Mannaparai and Thiruverum-
bur. A senior police officer while speaking
to IANS said, "We are deploying drones in
the busy areas and as of now we will have
one drone a day in one division. The drone
facility will help us identify the violators
and people are also aware that we are us-
ing drones, hence most will fall in line."
The police are of the opinion that the gath-
erings in public places in Trichy have come
down drastically but people are venturing
out on two wheelers in large numbers.
of cases, creation of more teams in
state medical colleges and hospitals,
sensitization of healthcare workers for
early diagnosis and management of
cases as per ICMR guidelines, as well as
making recommendations to reduce
panic among public and health care
workers.
The high-risk groups for black fungus
are Covid-19 patients, patients with un-
controlled diabetes mellitus (DM), Type
2 DM patients on high steroids therapy,
patients receiving Immuno-suppressive
therapy and patients in ICU for a long
time, on oxygen therapy and with high
ferritin.
The Yogi Adityanath government has
directed officials to proactively engage
in the efforts to fight black fungus so as
to prevent it from acquiring serious pro-
portions in the state in future. It has
said that the availability of essential
medicines must be ensured, noting that
arrangements should be made for both
prevention and treatment of the dis-
ease.

Farmers lathi-charged in MGMH has a price tag for everything!

ments for cremation of the
Covid-19 victims, the loot con-
tinues. In all including ambu-

Khattar’s Covid event ADEPU MAHENDER

HISAR
HARYANA Chief Minister Manohar
Lal Khattar on Sunday inaugurated a
500-bed COVID hospital here and
said his government is committed to
expand the healthcare facilities in
the sate amid the raging pandemic.
Earlier, a group of farmers tried to
move towards the venue where Khat-
tar was to inaugurate the hospital
but they were dispersed by police by
using force and lobbying tear gas
shells. Khattar said with the inaugu-
ration of the Chaudhary Devi Lal San-
jivani COVID hospital, not only the
coronavirus patients of Hisar district
but the people of nearby districts
would be able to get the required
treatment at the facility. On April 26,
Khattar had visited Hisar and identi-
fied the campus of Jindal Modern
School adjoining Jindal Stainless Lim-
ited unit and after completing all the
necessary procedures, the hospital
was constructed in a record 17 days
time, an official statement said. “In
this difficult time of COVID-19 pan-
demic, this hospital is certainly a
boon for COVID-19 patients as it has
adequate availability of beds and
oxygen,” it said “The hospital will di-
rectly get about eight metric tonnes
of oxygen supply from Jindal Stain-
less Limited, which will be available
at 7.1 liters per minute per bed.”
WARANGAL
EVERyTHING in life has a
price tag. Nothing comes free so
as the way the Mahatma Gandhi
Memorial Hospital (MGMH),
the lifeline of Covid-19 patients
in north Telangana, functions.
The MGMH staff despite being
hailed as the frontline warriors
and avatars of compassion ap-
pears to be in the centre of con-
troversy facing allegations of
fleecing the patients.
This is not the first time that
MGMH is courting infamy as it
was like any other State-run
hospitals where bribes to pro-
vide facilities thrive. Even
though such a phenome-
non is not new, what
hurts is the situation in
which people were in
with the coronavirus pan-
demic threatening to
wipe their lives. The busi-
ness begins as soon as an
ambulance carrying coro-
navirus positive lands in
the MGMH. The
stretcher that takes the
patient into the Covid-19
ward is the beginning of a
bribe with many more to
follow. It’s alleged that
the stretcher boys slap a
‘fee’ of Rs 2,000 leastwise. Into
the ward, the patient needs to
cough out a few more thousands
to get a bed. This apart, a laun-
dered bedsheet has its cost. It’s
no exaggeration to say that with
that cost people can
buy two to three bed-
sheets. To get rid of
trash around your bed,
the patient needs a few
more bucks. The staff is
allegedly charging the
patient Rs 500 for
mounting up a saline
bottle. The cost of allot-
ting a bed with oxygen
facility and ventilator
depends upon the situ-
ation. “The robbery
doesn’t stop even in
case of death. The rela-
tives get the body only
after paying around Rs 5,000.
Even though the administration
claims that it had made arrange-
lance, cremation etc, the rela-
tives have to cough anywhere Rs
30,000,” Sunkari Prashanth, the
founder president of Jwala, an
NGO working for the eradica-
tion of corruption, told The
Hans India. The talk around
private hospitals exploiting the
coronavirus patients may be
true, but the state of affairs at
the MGMH is also no different.
Someway or other way patients
were at the receiving end,
Prashanth said.
Unless you grease someone's
palms, nothing is going to hap-
pen in the MGMH. This needs
to be changed. The authorities
need to look into the issue, said
Praja Vedika State Convener
Tirunahari Seshu.

Govt to tweak lockdown rules
Continued from P1
"Before May 10, the total
number of positive cases were
more than 5,500 and the case
count has come down to 4,500
per day in the last three days,"
the authorities said, adding
that the government was ex-
pecting corona cases would be
below 4,000 by May 21, on the
last day of the 10-day lock-
down.
The State Commercial
Taxes department has already
been assessing the revenue
loss incurred to the exchequer
due to the closure of the en-
tire trading activity in the 10-
day period, officials said,
adding that the revenue loss
will be reduced to some extent
by permitting all grocery
shops and supermarkets open
till 6 pm. During the lockdown
last year, necessary goods’
shops were permitted to open
between 8 am and 6 pm.
Besides, the authorities said
that people were struggling to
buy essential goods in a short
duration of relaxation period
till 10 am and it caused huge
gatherings before the shops.
To avoid the inconvenience,
the only option before the
government is to extend the
time of the closure of the
shops.
Centre sets Covid
SoPs for rurban
Continued from P1
Depending upon the intensity of
surge and number of cases, as far as
feasible, contact tracing should be
done as per Integrated Disease Sur-
veillance Programme's (IDSP's)
guidelines, it stated. "Nearly 80-85
per cent Covid-19 cases are asympto-
matic/ mildly symptomatic. These
patients do not require hospitalisa-
tion and may be managed at home or
in Covid care isolation facilities," the
SOP stated. As monitoring of oxygen
saturation is important for monitor-
ing of Covid patients, it is desirable for
each village to have adequate number
of pulse oximeters and thermometers.
States to get 51 lakh vaccine
doses in next 3 days
Continued from P1
Vaccination forms an integral
component of the comprehen-
sive strategy of Government of
India of containment and man-
agement of the pandemic (in-
cluding Test, Track, Treat and
Covid Appropriate Behaviour).
The Centre has been support-
ing the nationwide vaccination
drive by providing Covid vac-
cines free of cost to states and
UTs, in addition to several ef-
forts to ramp up its production
and supply, the ministry stated.
Implementation of the Liberal-
ized and Accelerated Phase 3
Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccina-
tion has started from May 1 as
part of which the government
has opened up inoculation for
all aged above 18.
Under the Strategy, every
month 50 per cent of the total
Central Drugs Laboratory
(CDL) cleared vaccine doses of
any manufacturer would be
procured by the Centre. It
would continue to make these
doses available to state govern-
ments free of cost as was being
done earlier.
Tauktae pounds
West Coast
Continued from P1
"Many high tension 33 KV feeders are down due to the falling
of trees. Even the 220 KV lines bringing power to Goa from
neighbouring Maharashtra have been damaged," he said. The
electricity department deployed its full force for the restoration
work, but it was getting hampered due to the strong winds, he
said. In Karnataka, over 70 villages in seven districts including
Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu and Hassan have been affected by
the cyclone, the Karnataka State Disaster Management Au-
thority officials said. The highest rainfall of 385 mm was
recorded at Nada Station in Kundapura taluk of Udupi district,
which was the worst affected, and 15 stations recorded more
than 200 mm of rainfall in the district. The rainfall was ac-
companied by strong winds with speed reaching up to 90
km/per along.
 Æ HYDERABAD MONDAY 17 MAY 2021

TWEET PATROL
MADHURI DIXIT NENE
@MADHURIDIXIT
Grateful for the love
& birthday wishes from
everyone
#ThankYou

Remarkable journey of women

entrepreneurship over decades
TEJAL SINHA Women-oriented entrepreneur-
ial training programs, mentor-

D
ue to the growing indus- ship support, networking plat-
trialization, urbanization forms, incubators, and
along with the spread of accelerators, among others, have
higher education and awareness,
the emergence of Women owned
enterprises are highly increasing
enabled the women entrepre-
neurship ecosystem to grow in
prominence and generate more
Over half of India’s employees
in the economies of almost all
countries.
employment opportunities in the
country.While historically, there feel their best work happens
Women entrepreneurs are fast
becoming a force to reckon with
in the business world and are not
were numerous societal restric-
tions and barriers for women to
enter and manage enterprises,
outside office: Survey
only involved in enterprises for the conversation about women in SIDDHI JAIN
survival but to satisfy their inner leadership roles is undoubtedly
Mumbai prefers
urge of creativity and to prove
their capabilities. With the
spread of education and aware-
changing for the better.”

Challenges faced by women

ness, women have shifted from
the kitchen, handicrafts, and tra-
ditional cottage industries to
non-traditional higher levels of
activities. The Government has
also laid special weight age on the
requirement for conducting spe-
cial entrepreneurial training
programs for women to en-
able them to start their
own ventures. WE Hub,
and initiative of Gov-
ernment of Telangana conducted in US, UK and India,
is one such example
who has Financial in- commissioned by Dell, it has been
stitutions and banks
have also set up cells found that the ideal country for a
to help women en-
trepreneurs. woman starting a business could well WE
The Pandemic had
a disproportionate
be India. Access to resources and
impact on women all
over the world. In In-
dia, which has a vast gen-
der gap, women are even
more vulnerable. South Asia
has as many as 16 million
women-owned businesses, fewer
than 20% of all enterprises, with
most of them largely single-person
operations, and making survival
crucial. Women-owned businesses
saw a sharp decline in revenue:
73% reported being negatively im-
pacted by the pandemic, and al-
most 20% were nearly wiped out.
Start-ups from various sectors
are addressing their pandemic-re-
lated challenges, and then exten-
sively mapping solutions with the
prime goal of keeping their busi-
ness afloat. Re-strategizing and
Reconnect with the market are the
way to go for start-ups during
these tough times.
According
to the Women’s Global
Entrepreneurship study
availability of knowledge for
women entrepreneurs has
improved drastically over
the years
Deepthi
Ravula, Ceo of ‘WEHUB’ shares,
“As an enabler for Women Entre-
preneurs, WE HUB's focus during
this time of a global pandemic is
entirely on ensuring that the start- ecosystem so that more Women
ups we work with can sustain dur-
ing this period. We are doing this
by working with our start-ups 1-1
to guide them with interventions
needed in organizational manage-
ment, financial remodelling, finan-
cial Linkages including debit and
credit linkages, Government liais-
ing, new customer acquisition,
product diversification,
ideation including
cians and surgeons in treatment
and surgical planning of their pa-
pivot on a few of our tients. In my journey it was very
start-ups. With the exciting to meet many women en-
steps being taken trepreneurs some with brilliant
by the State and ideas fresh out of college, few have
Central Govern- accelerated their pathways in large
ment to contain corporates offering support to
the COVID-19 other startups, however its very
scenario, we as thrilling to meet many more
HUB are ex- women with expertise and expe-
tending our sup-
port to Women
rience in science and technology,
returning to the industry as entre-
led enterprises to preneurs and leading deep tech-
sustain and scale nology start-ups in the field of
and be prepared for Healthcare, Education, Agricul-
the post lockdown ture, Ocean Technology and many
scenarios.” more.
In 2021, WEHUB has Prathibha Kunda, managing di-
been working with different rector of Surendrapuri shares that
state governments in India to cre- since the turn of the 21st century,
ate avenues to support women en- women entrepreneurs in India
trepreneurs across states like Gu- have progressed from a phase of
jarat, Jammu & Kashmir and aspiration to one of ambition.
Assam. We have also started our She adds, “With the wide-
International startup exchange spread awareness and access to
programmes, built a stronger VC education in the Digital Age,
women are increasingly involving
entrepreneurs can benefit from in businesses of their choice.
access to funding. Families are also more open to
Rupal Mehta, founder and CEO women working in different
of MedMarvel Software Solutions fields. Other than personal front
Pvt Ltd shares, “During my jour- the Government-led policies and
ney I met Dr Nilesh Kurawale, In- schemes, as well as NGO-led ini-
dia’s esteemed Epilepsy Neurosur- tiatives, have helped transform
geon. He introduced me to the the landscape for women entre-
challenges faced by Neurophysi- preneurs over the past few years.
entrepreneurs
Considering that support
from those around you is crucial
to successfully establish an en-
terprise, plenty of aspiring
women entrepreneurs struggle
with family conflicts and the
non-cooperation of their close
family members as many still
manage to perform the dual
roles of a homemaker and an en-
trepreneur.
As property owners in the
past were predominantly males,
women are less likely to have ac-
cess to such properties that can
be used as collateral for obtain-
ing business loans/funds from
banks and other financial insti-
tutions, making the arrange-
ment of finances and support of
bankers more difficult. Addi-
tionally, the lack of education
and know-how, and prevalent
levels of illiteracy amongst
women as compared to men is
the root cause of these gender-
based socioeconomic barriers.
Regardless each woman has to
overcome obstacles, her own
limiting beliefs, break the glass
ceiling by staying focused on her
goals in a gender-neutral man-
ner while respecting the biolog-
ical cycles.
A few questions like ‘Is this
your hobby project?’ or ‘Are
there any fulltime male co-
founders as backup’ does not re-
ally fly well with today’s empow-
ered woman entrepreneurs.
Currently estimated less than
2% woman led startups get
funded, hence more support in
this area is extremely desirable.
T he nationwide Covid-19
lockdown has given rise to
what is, in fact, the largest
‘work from home’ experiment
in global history. The pan-
demic has impacted an indi-
vidual’s preferences of where
they want to work, as a new re-
port reveals that more than
half of the employees in India
feel they do their best work
when not in office.
'A New Sense of Place’ re-
port by Script - A Godrej Ven-
ture ratifies that be it at home
and living spaces like bed-
room, garden, India has be-
come ‘location agnostic’ and a
new sense of ‘workplace’ has
emerged.
Inspired by the concept of
'Freedom of Living’, Script
which creates furniture and
accessories that celebrates
fluid and an evolutionary way
of living, conducted this re-
search to understand how the
role of ‘physical spaces’ in the
lives of Indians has evolved es-
pecially in the current con-
text. It surveyed more than
2000 individuals belonging to
the 18-45-year age group
across four metros.
Even when comparing
cities, employees are leverag-
ing technology and respond-
ing to work related queries. 85
per cent employees in Mum-
bai claimed to respond to work
related messages (WhatsApp,
SMS, Emails) at home, more
often than any other metro
city. In Kolkata, 65 per cent
employees respond to work
related messages often fol-
lowed by 60 per cent in Delhi
and 59 per cent in Bengaluru.
the office
set-up, while
Bengaluru
employees claim
to do their best
work when they
are not in office
Rajat Mathur, Business
Head, Script, says, "The power
of technology has made work
more ‘location agnostic’ which
is further facilitated by the on-
going lockdown. The lines be-
tween working from home and
office spaces has clearly di-
minished. ‘The New Sense of
Place’ report by Script high-
lights our new-age workplace
habits, as well as our changing
preferences. The inferences
picked up from city to city
would enable employers to
recognise a freedom of living
devoid of any physical ab-
solutes, and institute better
measures for their employees
through these challenging
times.”
With the rising number of
zoom calls and the incessantly
high individual screen time
amidst exhaustive working
hours, India’s workforce is
split between going back to of-
fice or not. When employees
eventually return to the work-
place, the report reveals that
41 per cent plan to maintain
working from home best prac-
tices they picked up during the
lockdown.

Tisca Chopra works for transgenders,

Work from Home Day
widows during Covid crisis
N ot to be confused with ‘remote work’ where an employee
is working from home all the time, nor ‘Freelancing’
where the individual is an independent contractor running
their own business from home.
A ctress Tisca Chopra is do-
ing her bit to help trans-
genders and widows, who
an instant yes from me. These
mothers are not just nurturers, but
also providers.Similarly, the trans-
tion around is bad, and the needs of
people are changing every day.
"The situation was terrible mid-
Work from Home Day celebrates those days where office have been affected by the gender community is also in need -- April and stayed that way till about
workers get the opportunity to avoid the commute and work Covid pandemic. many are currently jobless and in the 10th of May. The epicenters
from home for a day. The actress has started an desperate need of support.” kept changing -- first it was
The idea of the day is also to demonstrate that giving people initiative with chef Vikas The actress had started an initia- Mumbai and Delhi, then Kolkata
the freedom to work from home from time-to-time can ben- Khanna called #IndiaFor- tive last year called At Tisca's Table, and Bangalore. Now UP is in
efit both employer and employee. In Mothers, to help support which she reinvented to help people pathetic shape. The need of
short it is saving office costs, helps these groups deal with the during these troubled times. the hour keeps changing, it
ease transport congestion and en- crises. "Tisca's Table is a monthly table was oxygen and ICU beds
courages people to manage their Tisca shares, "When where we bring creative minds to fa- to start with, then plasma
workloads more effectively. Vikas Khanna and his cilitate conversations between the and now it's ECMO ma-
How one celebrates Work team approached me for brightest minds, and I have been do- chines and Ampho-
from Home Day has a lot to do this specific campaign ing that since last year. We rein- tericin medicine for
with the position they hold in #IndiaForMothers to vented the Table for the pandemic Black Fungus is what
their company. If you’re the per- support widows and seeing that it is what is most needed is needed the
son in charge you may want to take transgenders in India right now. It started with us sending most right
some time to examine the way your who have lost out food to nurses and ward boys at now," she
company and industry works and see their liveli- Covid wards at Nanavati and says.
if there’s an opportunity to allow some of hood due Cooper hospitals, to show them love
your employees to work from home on oc- to the pan- for their absolutely selfless work,"
casion. demic, it was she says. The actress says the situa-
If instead, you’re an employee at such an institution, per-
haps try speaking to your leadership and fellow employees
to see if it would be possible to institute such a program at NEWS ROUNDUP
your business.
Work from Home Day’s provides an opportunity for flexi-
bility that can help raise the morale of your employees, avoid
lost productivity, and provide solutions for those going
through temporary hardships.
Shweta Tiwari flaunts
perfect abs in new photo-op
T elevision star Shweta Tiwari showcased her perfect abs in a new photograph she shared on so-
cial media on Sunday.
Shweta posted a picture on Instagram. The mother-of-two, is seen wearing a white and red
crop top, and jeans. The 40-year-old actress is seen showcasing her well-chiseled abs as she
poses for the camera.
"Bring it on," she wrote as the caption.
Shweta is currently in Cape Town, where she is shooting for the Season 11 of the stunt-
based reality show, 'Khatron Ke Khiladi'.
Others who will be seen in the show include Abhinav Shukla, Divyanka Tripathi, Nikki Tamboli,
Anushka Sen, Rahul Vaidya and others will be seen competing with each other.
 The most
dangerous poison
is the feeling of
achievement. The HYDERABAD MONDAY 17 MAY 2021
antidote is to every evening
think what can be done
better tomorrow Stocks.MFs.Bonds.Commodities
— Ingvar Kamprad,
founder of IKEA

Aptus files papers

for `3,000-cr IPO
New Delhi: Aptus Value housing Fi-
Covid, global cues will weigh on stocks
nance has filed preliminary papers with
capital markets regulator Sebi to raise Market players expect stock-specific action to continue given quarterly earnings season
up to Rs 3,000 crore through an initial
share sale. CHERUKURI KUTUMBA RAO The latest pandemic wave is expected coming week are Bharti Airtel, Tata segment continued to witness sharp
The initial public offer (iPO) comprises to significantly moderate the sharp re- MARKET Motors, hindalco industries, State stock specific moves. Nifty closed below

fresh issue of equity shares aggregating
to Rs 500 crore and an offer for sale of up
to 6,45,90,695 equity shares by promoter
and existing shareholders, draft red her-
ring prospectus (DRhP) showed.
The net proceeds from the fresh issue
will be utilised towards augmenting the
company’s capital base and to meet future
growth requirements. According to mer-
chant banking sources, the iPO is expected
to fetch Rs 2,600-Rs 3,000 crore.
Aptus Value housing Finance has a
strong capital sponsorship by marquee
investors like westbridge, Malabar in-
vestments, Sequoia Capital, Steadview
Capital and Madison india. Since the in-
ception of the company in 2010 till date,
the company has pristine asset quality
with very low NPA (non-performing as-
sets) and as of December 2020, the firm’s
asset under management stood at Rs 3,791
crore of which 72.50 per cent were loans
to self-employed customers while the
balance 27.50 per cent accounted for
salaried individuals.
As on December 2020, the company
had 1,844 personnel and a network of
181 branches catering to 56,430 active
loan accounts across Tamil Nadu,
Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
and Telangana.
After successfully growing its presence
outside its home state Tamil Nadu to
other major markets in southern india,
Aptus Value housing Finance is now in-
tending to expand its branch network in
large housing markets in the states of
Maharashtra, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
iCiCi Securities, Citigroup Global
Markets india, edelweiss Financial Serv-
ices and Kotak Mahindra Capital Com-
pany have been appointed as investment
bankers for advising the company on
the public issue.
S
pooked by continued high number
of Covid cases, increased number
of States going for lockdown, fears
of higher US inflation and interest rate
hike in the US due to increasing com-
modity prices; markets corrected during
the week ended.
After rising around 3 percent in pre-
vious two consecutive weeks, the Sensex
corrected 473.92 points to close at
48,732.55, and the Nifty declined 145.35
points to 14,677.80. The broader markets
corrected less than frontline counters.
The BSe Midcap index declined 0.49
percent and the BSe Smallcap index was
down 0.08 percent.
After selling nearly Rs 12,000 crore
in April, Fiis are net sellers to the tune
of Rs 8,700 crore in the month of May
till date. Buying from Diis was also
subdued with purchases of just Rs891
crores till date in May against the buy-
ing of Rs 11,360 crore in April. indeci-
siveness among the institutional play-
ers and inflation worries from US
dragged sentiment.
Volatility due to inflation fears and
uncertainty over the second wave of
Covid-19 kept market participants on
their toes in the week ended. After a gap
of more than six months the next Goods
and Service Tax Council meeting is being
convened on May 28.
As per GOi projection, the shortfall
was expected to be Rs 1,56,164 crore in
2021-22, without taking into consider-
ation the impact of Covid wave-2. iiP
rose by a sharp 22.4 per cent in March
after two months of contraction, helped
by the year-earlier low base due to the
first Covid wave. Retail inflation eased
to a three-month low in April to 4.29
per cent from 5.52 per cent in March
due to softening food prices.
bound in GDP growth that was expected
in the first quarter. Most high-speed in-
dicators such as automobile sales, mo-
bility indices and e-way bills have
shown a decline in economic activity.
Former RBi Governor Raghuram Ra-
jan indicated that Covid-19 pandemic
is probably india's greatest challenge
since independence and added that
in many places the government
was not present to help the
people for various reasons.
economy observers expect Goi to
come out with a “new” stimulus package
to annul the impact of Covid second
Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Lim-
ited offers urea and di-ammonium Phos-
phate (DAP). The company's segments
include Fertilisers and other Agri-inputs
segment, Own Manufactured Phos-
phoric Acid segment, shipping segment
and software & others segment. The Fer-
tilisers and other Agri-inputs segment
includes manufacture and marketing of
urea, single super phosphate (SSP) and
purchase and sale of other fertilizers
and agri-inputs.
The Own Manufactured Phosphoric
Acid segment includes manufacturing and
marketing of Phosphoric Acid. The Ship-
ping segment includes transportation of
crude oil and liquid products through ves-
sels owned and hired by the Shipping Di-
vision. The Software & Others Segment
includes software business, power and in-
frastructure activities of the Company.
Why we recommend
1. One of the largest Agri‐Products
Company in India. Annual production of
more than ~3.3 million MT of urea. Com-
pany accounts for over 13 per cent of the
KHABREIN
wave on economy. important companies
that will release their earnings in the
STOCK PICKS
total urea produced in the country.
Largest single site Urea manufacturer –
significant economies of scale New Urea
Plant (Gadepan‐III) one of the most en-
ergy efficient urea plants in the world.
2. Strong Balance Sheet, Zero short
term debt and financially sound. Selling
a portfolio of products valuing over Rs.
12,500 crore annually.
Buy between Rs245-255 for medium
term price target of Rs425. In the event of
sharp correction in the market, keep stop
loss at Rs215. Risk / Reward ratio is 1:6.
NACL is an established agrochemical
company in India, founded in 1993. The
company started as an active ingredient
manufacturer and has built a sizable busi-
ness in Domestic Retail, B2B and Exports,
with many of the customers being large
MNCs with longstanding relationships.
The company has also emerged as a
strong player in the formulations busi-
Bank of india, Shree Cement, indian
Oil Corporation, hPCl, Federal Bank,
Aarti industries, Canara Bank, Zee
entertainment enterprises, JSw
Steel, United Spirits, Amara Raja Bat-
teries, and Amber enterprises india.
Market players expect the stock-specific
action to continue given the quarterly
earnings season, and feel the market
will closely watch Covid-related updates,
progress of the vaccine drive, global cues
and movement in commodities.
Futures & options / sector watch
On the back of earnings, derivative
ness with over 50 products covering all
major crops. In formulations, the com-
pany manufactures products in all major
categories such as Insecticides, Herbi-
cides, Fungicides, Plant Growth Regula-
tors and Nematicides. NACL is in process
of increasing the existing Plant capacity
of 10,000 MT/Annum to 25,000 MT/Annum.
Why we recommend
1. Presence across the value chain i.e
Technical > Formulations > Research >
Retail > Farmer Outreach. Strong product
portfolio that is spread across insecti-
cides, herbicides, fungicides, plant
growth regulators and nematicides.
2. Long standing business relations
with Multinational agrochemical com-
panies.
3. Reports of the company being an ac-
quisition target. Possibility of takeover
by a Multinational or Indian major is not
ruled out in next couple of years.
Buy between Rs45-48 for medium term
price target of Rs75. In the event of sharp
correction in the market, keep stop loss
at Rs40. Risk / Reward ratio is 1:6.
14700 levels while Bank nifty managed
to take support at its 100 days exponential
moving average and ended the week
above 32000 levels. Option segment wit-
nessed maximum Call open interest at
15,000 strike, followed by 15,300 and
14,900 strikes; and maximum Put open
interest was seen at 14,000 strike, fol-
lowed by 14,500 and 14,600 strikes.
Call writing was seen at 15,000 strike,
followed by 14,900 and 15,300 strikes,
while Put writing was seen at 14,600
strike, followed by 14,400 and 14,700
strikes. The implied Volatility (iV) of
calls closed at 18.64 per cent while that
for put options closed at 19.75 per cent.
The Nifty ViX for the week closed at
20.08 per cent. PCR Oi for the week
closed at 1.52 indicates more puts writ-
ing than calls. Option data indicates a
wide trading range for the Nifty be-
tween 14,400 to 15,000 levels for com-
ing sessions.
Spooked by fears of impact of rising
Covid cases on business and economy,
banking stocks witnessed selling pres-
sure. State Bank of india would be re-
porting earnings on May 21. it is expected
to report strong earnings growth for the
March 2021 quarter on the back of de-
cline in provisions, and strong net interest
income & pre-provision operating profit.
Punters expect rebound in bank counters.
Buy iCiCi Bank, SBi, PNB, Canara Bank
and BOB. Stock futures looking good are
DlF, iCiCi Bank, Pidiliteinds, Powergrid,
ReC, Tata Consumer and Zee enter-
tainment. Stock futures looking weak
are Cholamandalam Finance, indus Tow-
er, Muthoot Finance, Pel and Naukri.
(The author is a stock market
expert. He is former vice
chairman of AP Planning Board)

Balancing investment portfolio key Small caps to outperform indices THOVITIBRAHMACHARY similarly may de-
cline towards,
The only true measure of investment benchmark should be the
goal and how an avenue performed against your investment M arket has given up the ini-
tial gains last week. The
benchmark index, Nifty closed
14,469-14,264-14,191
zone of support. The
defensive sectors
chosen i.e., one must understand at 14,677.8 with 145.35 points like FMCG turned
what the investment is based on, or 0.98 per cent loss. BSe Sensex positive last week,
K Naresh Kumar how it’s structured and top of all is lost one per cent during last and the pharma, iT
the possible risks involved. week. The broader indices Nifty sector, will play an

T hese days with the advent of so-

cial media, it’s very hard for us
to remain concentrated and discon-
nected. while it’s great to remain
connected most of the time, if not
all the time, it also brings in loads of
distraction to our mundane living.
it becomes extremely difficult when
you are part of a social network which
talks about investing ideas and even
sharing their experiences. it’s a two-
edged sword as both their positive
and negative responses only firm up
our biases further, rarely helping to
ease their influence on us.
while there’s no secret for success
in investing, reams of paper are ded-
icated on how our mentality makes
the cut for investing or how our
psychology or behaviour impacts
our investing results. like prescrib-
ing for good health, the good in-
vesting workbook contains small
measures of improvement, deriving
a plan, sticking to a routine, being
flexible, bouts of moderation and
keeping balanced views. Most of
good health advice is either boring
or tasteless. Same is the case with
good investing advice.
The past one year has been a try-
ing one for most of the humanity
with the pandemic raging across
the world, imposition of lockdowns,
grinding down economic activity,
hospitalisation, much more, losing
loved ones but the asset markets
One should be clear on why one
is investing and to what extent one
could take the hit or risk of losing
Midcap-100 declined
by 0.7 per cent, and the
Smallcap-100 index up NIFTY
to cross. 20 weekly average
worked support but, let us
important role in
protecting the market from the
big crashes. These three sectors
the invested money. Alternatively, by 0.3 per cent. wait and see this level 14,620 are in the leading quadrant and
one could have a bucket for such Nifty-500 declined level will hold for next week. moving towards the leading
speculation and live with peace. by 0.72 per cent. PSU bank index in any case, the Nifty closes below quadrant. As suspected last week,
There’s nothing wrong in playing advanced by 3.7 per cent, and this level, which will be another the metal sectors seem to be in
part of the money that’s purely media up by 2.4 per cent on the sign of a bearish zone. overbought and witnessing the
The good ticked as speculation if one is aware sectoral front. Nifty metal de- As mentioned earlier, the profit booking. The energy sector
have been on a mar- investing when you’re stuck in of the consequences of it and to clined by 4.6 per cent. Fiis sold weekly RSi at 58.53 and a move losing momentum and failed to
vellous ride with no a traffic jam, you see cy- what extent it would affect their Rs 8713.25 crores and Diis bought below 55 zone, will create another move into the leading quadrant.
parallel from the past.
workbook clists peddling their way portfolio or wealth. it’s when the just Rs 891.20 crores worth of swing low. with all probability, All the other sectors are avoid-
Doubts were cast on contains small out of the jam and mov- continued outstanding returns equities during the current if the RSi falls below by the next able for now as all of them are
how we approached measures of ing ahead of you. would gives fear into greed is when the month. india ViX declined by weekly close, the Nifty will re- in a lagging quadrant.
investing and while improvement, you not then like to junk trouble begins. 2.67 per cent and settled at 20.27. sume or continue the minor trend The Covid curve started trend-
we constantly were deriving a plan, the car off and get on a The biggest key to success hence Overall market breadth is not down, will the test the recent ing down and may ease lockdowns
questioned about our sticking to a bike to your destination? has been minding the ‘mind’ part so great. low of 14,191 quickly. On a daily from the next two weeks in some
assumptions, estima- But your larger sense of the investment. All investments The Nifty formed the dark chart, the price and RSi diver- states. The vaccine drive also may
tions of our future,
routine, being prevails over your initial are rational i.e., they’re built on cer- cloud cover on a weekly chart. gence are clearly visible. RSi gain momentum as the new vac-
the markets defied flexible, bouts of enticement as you un- tain premises which could be ra- An optimistic opening with a faced resistance exactly at the cine arrivals and the supply im-
every parameter of moderation derstand the limitations tionally explained but most invest- breakout failed to maintain the channel resistance line. it must provements.
the past. and keeping of a bike to your context. ment decisions are emotional. So, momentum and missed the fol- take support at 45-46 level, which importantly, about eight Nifty
At such times, balanced views even in investing, there when making investment decisions low through days. As on Tuesday, is currently 49.74. companies to announce financial
when we see a post would be multiple such one needs to see how a particular the Nifty opened with a sizeable The MACD histogram shows results next week, and over 170
or message from our social network instances when we’re tempted to investment would serve the in- gap down, Monday’s candle has that the initial bullish momentum companies will release the Q4
on how one has made phenomenal discard our philosophy or style to vestor’s objective. At all times, the turned as an evening star. it added is waning. The positive directional results. This may cause a stock-
returns through investing in a par- get on to a new fad to ride the short- only true measure of benchmark distribution days and drifted be- indicator +DMi and the trend specific activity more. As the
ticular avenue, it would dishearten term profits. while stating that, i’m should be the goal and how an av- low the 50DMA once again on strength indicator ADX are falling. benchmark indices trading in
us for not having taken such an ex- not suggesting remaining dogmatic enue performed against it. That al- Friday. The 100DMA support is even on the weekly chart, the sideways, and the out-perfor-
posure. At these instances, we’re in our investment strategy and lose lows us to stay rationale in why we just 100 points away. historically same trend is visible. Overall, all mance of small caps will continue.
very much tempted to make changes out on making money. chose an investment and how we 100DMA worked as support. technical parameters and the pat- Focus on smallcap, Pharma, iT
to our investment strategy to ac- So, how do we bring the balance, evaluate its performance. As the distribution day count tern analysis shows the inherent and FMCG stocks, which are in
commodate these avenues which particularly when the returns are is at three, any increase will weakness in the market. a suitable set up to trade.
found success in others. it’ll be gru- exponential and too tempting to (The author is a co-founder of change the market status to a For the next week, things may (The author is a financial
elling especially when the outper- stay side lines, like in cryptos. One “Wealocity”, a wealth confirmed downtrend. in fact, not change towards the positive- journalist and technical analyst.
formance continues as we remain critical aspect of investment to be management firm and could be the weekly resistance line still ness. The Nifty may face resist- He can be reached at
contemplating on the execution. considered is the kind of avenue reached at knk@wealocity.com) an arduous task for the market ance 14,880-15,000 zone, and tbchary@gmail.com)

Options data points to range-bound trading

14,700. it expects the banking
ES
DERIVATIV space to take the lead for the
Nifty movement towards
OUTLOOK Bank Nifty
15,000 in coming sessions.
Bank Nifty recorded offload-
FIIs net sellers in index futures, stock F&O TRADING NSe’s banking index Bank ing of positions as nine per
DASARI SREENIVASA RAO Nifty fell 734.95 points or 2.23 cent closure was observed in
futures, and buyers in index options Product Contracts Turnover (Rs/cr) Premium (Rs/cr)
NSE / As on May 14, 2021

per cent to 32,169.55 points Open interest. however, lack

T he NSe Nifty couldn’t sus-
tain above 15,000 points as
it closed below 14,700 points
in the truncated last week (eid-
ul-Fitr holiday on Thursday)
amid global weakness. The Nifty
has been largely in a broader
range during the past few
months, while stock-specific
trading was witnessed amid on-
going earnings season. Nifty
may continue its range bound
bias with intermediate pivot
levels of 14,700 level.
For the week ahead, sustain-
ability of 14,700 seems crucial
for fresh positive bias from a
trading perspective. From the
options perspective, continued
writing was seen at ATM Calls
and Put strikes suggesting
range-bound bias to continue
with significant activities seen
at OTM Call strikes. Derivatives
analysts hold the view that sus-
tainability above 14,700 is ex-
pected to trigger closure among
Call writers, which may pull the
Nifty towards the higher band
of the consolidation. On down-
sides, levels near 14,500 would
provide support to the index.
even mid-cap and small-cap
stocks recorded some profit tak-
ing in the last couple of sessions
and both indices lost almost
three per cent from highs.
After remaining at 16,000
strike for two consecutive
weeks, the resistance level eased
by 500 points to 15,500 strike,
while support level continued
to be at 14,500 level for three
weeks in a row.
The 15,500 strike, which also
recorded maximum addition of
Call Oi, has the highest Call Oi
followed by 15,300/ 14,800/
14,900/15,400 strikes. 15,300/
15,100/ 15,000/ 14,900/14,800
strikes witnessed significant
Call Oi build up. Coming to Put
side, the 14,600 strike has max-
imum Put Oi followed by
14,500/ 14,400/ 14,700/ 14,100
Index Futures 2,98,812
Stock Futures 10,42,088
Index Options 2,31,00,832
Stock Options 28,42,987
F&O Total 2,72,84,719
strikes. Further, 14,600/ 14,400/
14,200/ 14,700 strikes recorded
reasonable addition of Put Oi.
BSe Sensex closed the week
at 48,732.55 points, a net fall
of 472 points or 0.96 per cent,
from 49,206.47 points. NSe
Nifty too declined by 145.35
points or 0.98 per cent to
14,677.80 points from 14,823.15
points.
Foreign Portfolio investors
(FPis) turned net sellers during
28,330.91 -- from 32,904.50 points. The of formation of short positions
81,791.30 -- Bank Nifty for a fourth con- is indicating limited down-
22,00,230.88 14,212.49 secutive week traded in a range sides.
2,29,825.00 4,762.70 with stock-specific action. iVs remained choppy on a
25,40,178.09 18,975.19 Short Strangle strategies con- weekly basis due to which op-
tinue to make money, which is tion premiums also fell
the week as they sold to the pointing towards further con- sharply. Analysts forecast that
tune of Rs1,356 crore pulling solidation being possible. unless there's any major spike
the key indices lower by one Banking and technology in iVs, the current leg of con-
per cent. in the F&O space, Fiis stocks were the major draggers solidation in the Bank Nifty
were primarily seen in the stock and ended the week near lows. should continue.
futures and index options seg- Metal space also saw some Major support for the index
ment. Fiis were net sellers in cool-off after a sharp surge was is placed at 31,000 whereas on
the index futures segment seen in the last couple of upsides, last week’s high should
worth Rs2,696 crore and also months. however, heavy- act as a supply zone. hence,
they sold stock futures to the weights like Reliance indus- short Strangle of 1,000 points
tune of Rs5,530 crore. however, tries and FMCG stocks came OTM strikes could be the strat-
Fiis bought index options worth to the rescue as the Nifty was egy for the week, according to
Rs7,352 crore. able to close in the vicinity of iCiCi Direct.com.
10 SPORTS HyderaBad Monday 17 May 2021

Coach creating match situations for me in training: Sindhu on gearing up for Olympics
NEW DELHI
The lack of competitions
before the Olympics is a
major concern for Indian
shuttlers but not so much
for PV Sindhu, who trusts her Ko-
rean coach Park Tae Sang to create
match situations for her in training
itself.
Owing to the raging COVID-19 pan-
demic, the
B a d -
minton World Federation has been
forced to cancel the remaining three
Olympic qualifiers in India, Malaysia
and Singapore. These were to be the last
set of events before the Tokyo Games in
July-August.
Asked if cancellations will affect her
preparations, Sindhu said: "Well, we
were thinking that Singapore will be the
last event before Olympics but now we
don't have another option, so I am play-
ing matches against different players
and my coach Park is trying to create
match situations for me in training.
"Different players have different
styles like Tai Tzu (Ying) or Ratchanok
(Intanon) have different styles of play
but Park is there to guide me, to prepare
me for it," Sindhu told PTI.
"Obviously, we will be playing
each other after a few
months and
there will be
something
new in our
games, so I will have to prepare for that."
Sindhu doesn't train with the rest of the
Indian Olympic-bound team. She has
been training at the Gachibowli indoor
stadium in Telangana and does her fit-
ness training at Suchitra academy. The
25-year-old endorsed BWF's decision to
cancel the events, saying while it is sad
that competitions could not take place
but but life is more important than
sports.
"It is sad that the whole world has
come to a standstill but before
sportspersons, we are human beings and
life comes first," Sindhu said. "If tour-
naments happen, we don't know if we
will be safe, we might think we will be
but we can't be sure because we don't
know from where this virus will come.
For the moment, events are being can-
celled and I know sportspersons are sad
but I think it is good for the people...Or-
ganisers take a lot of measures and keep
us in a bubble but still we need to be
careful."
Sindhu, the reigning world champion,
said it will be a tough task for organisers
and athletes to adhere to the COVID-19
protocols in a showpiece event like the
Olympics and everyone has to brace up
for the challenge.
"every country has their own COVID-
19 rules. In Thailand, we were tested
every 2-3 days, in All england an entire
contingent had to pull out for one case
in their flight but we have to deal with
it," the hyderabadi shuttler said.
"even in Olympics, I have heard that
every day they will be testing us. Before
we take off, we have to clear an RT-PCR
test and after getting down we do a test
again, it is definitely a tough task."
There was a lot of chaos in some of
the international badminton events
early this year when a few false positives
forced some of the top players, including
Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth, to
withdraw. Sindhu hoped that such in-
stances do not happen during the
Olympics.
"...it is the Olympics and there will be
so many athletes from so many coun-
tries but they also have to be very care-
ful. As an athlete we have to prepare and
just hope that everything is fine in the
next few months," the world No.7 said.
"...unless you take care of yourself, it
can spread anytime, anywhere. So it will
be tough." Sindhu, who had reached the
finals of Swiss Open in March after re-
turning to action following a long break,
said she is improving as a player. "It has
been a good campaign so far this year. I
have been improving as a player. My
coach has analysed my game, so really
looking forward to the Olympics. My
dad also helps me a lot," she said. (PTI)

FA Cup Final

Tielemans
India’s Tejaswini wins
stunner helps
consecutive high jump
titles in USA
Leicester win
NEW DELHI

REPRESENTING Kansas State University, India's Te-

jaswini Shankar won back-to-back men's high jump
titles in the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Champi-
onships in Manhattan, USA.
Shankar, 22, cleared the bar at 2.28m to win high
jump gold on Saturday, but his efforts fell short of
Tokyo Olympic Games qualification standard of
2.33m. Shankar had also won the men's high jump
title in the 2019 edition of the Big 12 Outdoor Track
and Field Championships while the 2020 edition
was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Delhi-based national record in men's high
jump is studying business administration at Kansas
State University. He is on a four-year athletics
scholarship since 2017.
Shankar had skipped the Federation Cup Athlet-
ics Championships in March as the dates clashed
with his National Collegiate Athletics Association
(NCAA) indoor season. He won the high jump
bronze by clearing 2.24m in the NCAA meet.
Shankar is the third Indian to compete in the
highly competitive USA circuit, the breeding
ground for many US track and field Olympians.
Triple jumper Mohinder Singh Gill, India's leading
jumper in 1970s, and discus thrower Vikas Gowda
are the other Indians to compete in the NCAA. (IANS)
1st ever title LONDON
YOuRI Tielemans scored a wonder goal and the video assistant
referee (VAR) then came to the rescue as leicester City beat
Chelsea 1-0 to win a first FA Cup title in their 137-year club his-
tory.
Tielemans fired into the top left corner from some 25 metres
in the 63rd minute in front of a crowd of around 21,000 fans, al-
lowed into the famed arena as coronavirus restrictions are being
eased in england, DPA reports.
But victory was not theirs until an 89th-minute equalizer from
Chelsea was nullified by VAR because Ben Chilwell was deemed
offside by the smallest of margins in the build-up.
It was leicester's first FA Cup trophy after four lost finals in
the past, the last one 52 years ago in 1969, and their second major
title after a sensational Premier league success in 2016. They
also have three league Cup crowns.
Captain Kasper Schmeichel also made key saves for the team
of manager Brendan Rodgers late in the game before received
the trophy out of the hands of Britain's Prince William, the FA
president.
"So happy I can't begin to describe it. What a day. Indescribable.
It is what dreams are made of. I have dreamt of this since I was a
child," Schmeichel told the BBC.
"We have talked about wanting to win trophies, and the per-
formance today with the grit and the determination - I am so
Leicester City's goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (right) and Wes Morgan hold the trophy aloft at the end of the FA Cup final soccer match against Chelsea at
Wembley Stadium in London, England late on Saturday. Leicester won the match 1-0
proud of everybody." Chelsea were not as strong as in the past up a frantic finale.
weeks under their new manager Thomas Tuchel who had won Chilwell's 78th-minute header was kept out by Schmeichel
the German Cup 2017 with Borussia Dortmund and the French with a little help from the left post, and the Danish keeper made
Cup last year with Paris Saint-Germain. another sensational save against Mount's fierce volley in the 87th.
The Blues eliminated Premier league champions Manchester It all seemed to no avail when Chilwell beat him for a long punt
City in the semi-finals but fell short of a ninth FA Cup title in and the ball deflected into the net but Chelsea's wild celebrations
their 15th final. turned into agony when the goal was disallowed - and it was
Chances were sparse in a rainy first half with Chelsea's Mason leicester and their fans who celebrated wildly a few minutes on.
Mount and Timo Werner aiming wide, and Cesar Azpilicueta un- "The performance today, the grit and determination, I'm so
able to meet Thiago Silva's cross from point-blank range after proud of everybody, everybody contributed to get to the final
Werner had also gone for the ball. everyone has played and been sensational," Schmeichel said.
leicester gained more possession as the sun came out after The two sides meet again on Tuesday in a crucial Premier
the break, and the goal then came in the 63rd when Chelsea lost league date at Stamford Bridge where the loser could miss out
the ball in their half and luke Thomas set up the Belgian mid- on a place in the next Champions league.
fielder Tielemans for the sensational strike high into the net past Chelsea have another chance for silverware when they meet
Kepa Arrizabalaga. City again in the Champions league final in a fortnight on May
Tuchel brought more attacking power plus Chilwell which set 29 in Porto. (IANS)

Iga demolishes Karolina Ex-Saurashtra player

to win Rome Open title
ROME
WORlD No.15 from Iga Swiatek
of Poland was in ruthless
form as she routed No.
9 seed Karolina
Pliskova of the
Czech Republic 6-
0, 6-0 in just 46
minutes to clinch
the Italian Open
title here on Sun-
day.
Iga, 19, dropped just
13 points in all -- four in
the first set and nine in the second
-- and faced only four game points
against her. This was the Polish
player's third career title follow-
ing the French Open last year and
the Adelaide title in February.
Iga raced out of the blocks and
never let up, striking 17 winners
to only five unforced errors in the
match. By contrast, a slow-start-
ing Karolina served two double
faults in each of her first two serv-
ice games, and did not find a win-
ner until she was set point down
after 19 minutes.
Iga's combination of heavy spin
and pace allowed her to exploit
Karolina's movement throughout
the match, and she sealed victory
as the Czech sent a fore-
hand wide.
The result on Sun-
day ensured that Iga
would break into the
top-10 for the first
time when the WTA
rankings are released
on Monday.
It was the first-ever
double bagel to decide the
Rome title, and the most one-
sided Italian Open final since
1983, when hungarian Andrea
Temesvari defeated American
Bonnie Gadusek 6-1, 6-0.The last
double bagel in a WTA final was
Romanian Simona halep's vic-
tory over latvia's Anastasija Sev-
astova at Bucharest 2016.
Iga had never before scored a
double bagel win at the pro level,
though she had notably defeated
Karolina's twin sister Kristyna 6-
0, 6-1 to reach her first WTA final
in lugano 2019.
Rajendrasinh Jadeja dies
RAJKOT
FORMeR Saurash-
tra pacer and match
referee Rajendras-
inh Jadeja passed
away on Sunday due
to Covid-19. he was
66. The Saurashtra
Cricket Association
(SCA) said that
Jadeja died early Sunday morning.
"everyone at Saurashtra Cricket Association
are deeply saddened by the untimely demise of
Rajendrasinh Jadeja, one of the most remarkable
yesteryear cricketers of Saurashtra. he left for
heavenly abode today early morning after fight-
ing a hard battle against Covid-19," it said in a
statement. Jadeja played 50 first class matches
and took 134 wickets. he also played in 11 list A
games and took 14 wickets and also scored 1,536
runs in first class cricket, with 104 runs in list A.
he served as the Board of Control for Cricket in
India's (BCCI) official referee in 53 first-class
matches, 18 list A games and 34 T20s.
"Rajendrasinh Jadeja was the man with qual-
ity, style, ethics and great cricketing capabilities.
his dedication and contribution to Cricket shall
be remembered forever," said BCCI and SCA
secretary Niranjan Shah. (IANS)

Paralympic Games: ‘India women’s cricket North Korea withdraw

Trials to pick Indian
athletics team in June
neW deLHI: The Paralympic Committee
of India (PCI) will conduct national selec-
tion trials next month to select the In-
dian track and field team for the upcom-
ing Tokyo Paralympic games. The trials
will be held at the Jawaharlal nehru Sta-
dium here on June 15 and 16, PCI secre-
tary general gursharan Singh said on
Sunday. "We will conduct the trials in
June to select the national team. In case
we aren't able to hold the trials due to
pandemic, we will find an alternative to
pick the athletes for the Paralympic
games," Singh told IanS. The Paralympic
games are scheduled to be held from
august 24 to Sept. 5. according to Singh,
the International Paralympic Committee
will allot 16 to 20 Tokyo Paralympic
quota places to India in track and field.
team to tour Aust in
September’
Sydney: India women to tour australia
for a bilateral series in September, aus-
tralia fast bowler Megan Schutt has said.
Interestingly, neither the Indian cricket
board nor Cricket australia (Ca) has
made an official announcement on the
tour that was postponed in december
due to the raging Covid-19 pandemic.
"We have got a tour against India in mid-
September," Megan said on no Balls:
The Cricket Podcast, hosted by Kate
Cross and alex Hartley. "So, there's a
couple of camps. I believe we are doing
one in darwin, which will be really
cool...and then the tour against India.
and then pretty much from there things
get crazy with Big Bash, WnCL, ashes,
World Cup, and, hopefully, the Common-
wealth games." (IanS)
from World Cup
football qualifiers
Pyongyang: The asian Football Confed-
eration (aFC) on Sunday confirmed the
withdrawal of north Korea from the
asian qualifiers for the 2022 FIFa World
Cup and the 2023 aFC asian Cup. In a
brief statement, the aFC said the matter
will be referred to the organising commit-
tee for FIFa competitions, and that fur-
ther details on the standings of the asian
qualifying group H, which includes north
Korea, will be announced in due course,
reports Xinhua. Prior to their withdrawal,
n Korea ranked fourth in group H after
five matches, just one point behind group
leaders Turkmenistan. The group also in-
cludes South Korea, Lebanon and Sri
Lanka. The group's remaining matches
will be played in South Korea in a cen-
tralised manner in June.

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