cmyk
THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIA
WEATHER
Max: 35OC
Min: 27OC
Rainfall: 6%
ASTROGUIDE
Pilava: Aadi 24
Tithi: Pradhamai
Star: Ayilyam
Rahukalam:
7.30 am to 9 am
Yamagandam:
10.30 am to 12 noon
PRAYERS
Fajar: 4.41 am
Luhar: 12.20 pm
Asar: 3.28 pm
Maghrib: 6.34 pm
Isha: 7.49 pm
CORONA
C UNT
CASES DEATHS
(+35,233) (+427)
3,19,68,793 4,28,319
covid19india.org
STATE GOVERNMENT BULLETINS
(+1,956) (28)
TN:25,75,308 34,317
WORLD CONFIRMED CASES
20,32,67,944
DEATHS
43,05,207
COUNTRIES,
219
AREAS WITH
CASES
worldometers.info
Now, get vaccination
certificate on WhatsApp
New Delhi: Citizens who have
been vaccinated against COVID-
19 can now get their vaccination
certificate through WhatsApp
within seconds, Union Health
Minister Mansukh Mandaviya's
office said on Sunday. Presently,
people have to download their
vaccination certificate by logging
into the CoWin portal.
“Revolutionising common man’s
life using technology! Now get
COVID-19 vaccination certificate
through MyGov Corona Helpdesk
in 3 easy steps. Save contact
number: +91 9013151515. Type &
send ‘covid certificate’ on
WhatsApp. Enter OTP. Get your
certificate in seconds,”
Mandaviya's office tweeted.
UK PM threatened to demote
Rishi over leaked letter
London: British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson is said to have
been furious over a letter being
leaked to the media last week,
which claimed his Chancellor
Rishi Sunak had written to push
for easier international COVID-19
travel norms ahead of a planned
review. The reaction followed
media reports that the Indian-ori-
gin finance minister had written
to his boss, calling for a signifi-
cant easing of the coronavirus
travel restrictions, warning that
they were damaging the econo-
my.
COUNTER POINT
Custodial torture still prevails: CJI
New Delhi, Aug. 8: The
threat to human rights is
the highest in police sta-
tions as custodial torture
and other police atrocities
still prevail in India and
even the privileged are "not
spared third-degree treat-
ment", Chief Justice of India
N.V. Ramana said on
Govt to introduce new bill to
deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle
Fireworks go off around the Olympic Stadium during the closing ceremony of the
Tokyo 2020 Games on Sunday.
Curtains come down on
India’s best ever Olympics
SANTHOSH KUMAR I DC
CHENNAI, AUG. 8
It started with a subdued
opening ceremony, but
ended with a carnival.
Thousands of athletes
from more than 200 coun-
tries danced their way
into the colossal Tokyo
stadium, got together, and
partied as the curtains
came down on the 2020
Olympics on Sunday.
Organised in the middle
of a resurging pandemic,
the 16-day sporting extrav-
aganza certainly lived up
to its billing as the Games
of hope and redemption. It
not only celebrated ath-
leticism and the Olympic
motto, but also showcased
the spirit of humanity by
acknowledging various
social issues.
THAROOR SAYS
BJP THWARTED
MEET ON PEGASUS
New Delhi, Aug. 8:
Shashi Tharoor, senior
Congress leader and chair-
man of the parliamentary
standing committee on IT,
on Sunday said the panel’s
last meeting on July 28
was “disrupted” by BJP
members as they did not
want the Pegasus-related
allegations to be discussed
and the officials who were
to testify “appear to have
been instructed not to
attend”. He, however,
expressed hope that the
snooping issue would be
taken up by the panel
going forward. — PTI
EX TNCC CHIEF
RAMAMURTHY
PASSES AWAY
Chennai, Aug. 8: Former
Tamil Nadu Congress
Committee president
Tindivanam K.
Ramamurthy died here on
Sunday. He was 86.
Ramamurthy had held
various positions in the
party including that of
state secretary, general
secretary and had headed
the Tamil Nadu Congress
unit as its president, a
party release said.
Sunday while batting for a tion about the constitution-
nationwide effort for the al right to legal aid and
"sensitisation of police offi- availability of free legal aid
cers". services is necessary.
The CJI, who is also the
patron-in-chief of National play boards and outdoor
Legal Services Authority hoardings in every police
(NALSA), said that to keep station/prison is a step in
police excesses in check, this direction," he said,
dissemination of informa- adding that "NALSA must
check online gambling
Indian athletes take a selfie during the closing ceremony
of the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
While the uncertainty
posed challenges aplenty
for the organisers, the ath-
letes too had their fair
share of hurdles to cross.
Mental health became the
talking point of the Games
Mixing jabs gives
better result: Study
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, AUG. 8
The mixing and matching
of Covid-19 vaccines may
possibly do more good
than harm, a study con-
ducted by the Indian Cou-
ncil of Medical Research
has claimed. The study
was done by ICMR on 18
individuals who were
“inadvertently” given a
shot of Covaxin after their
first dose of the Covishi-
eld vaccine in Uttar
Pradesh.
“We compared the safety
and immunogenicity pro-
file of them against that of
individuals receiving
either Covishield or Cova-
xin… The findings sug-
gest that immunisation
with a combination of an
adenovirus vector plat-
form-based vaccine fol-
lowed by an inactivated
Long school closure
serious issue: Panel
New Delhi, Aug. 8: The
hazards of not reopening
schools after prolonged
closure due to the Covid-
19 pandemic are “too seri-
ous to be ignored”,
according to a parliamen-
tary panel.
The committee has
noted that the closure of
schools has not only
impacted social fabric of
families in a negative
manner, it has also
increased involvement of
children in household
chores.
"The installation of dis-
CHENNAI I MONDAY 9 I AUGUST 2021
CITY | 2
— AFP
— AP
when American gymnas-
tics superstar Simone
Biles, who was expected to
add more gold medals to
her Rio tally of four,
pulled out of an array of
events. ■ P3
whole virus vaccine was
not only safe but also
elicited better immuno-
genicity,” the study has
claimed.
It added that the IgG
antibody and neutralising
antibody response of the
participants was signifi-
cantly higher among
those who were given the
mixed-up doses compared
to those who were not
given this.
During the study –
“Serendipitous Covid-19
Vaccine-Mix in Uttar
Pradesh, India: Safety and
Immunogenicity Assess-
ment of a Heterologous
Regime” — the reaction
on 18 people who had
received two doses of two
different vaccines was co-
mpared to 40 people who
had got two doses of Covi-
shield and 40 who had got
two doses of Covaxin.
"The closure of schools
for over a year has had a
deep impact on the wellbe-
ing of students, especially
their mental health. The
hazards of not opening the
schools are too serious to
be ignored. The confine-
ment of young children
within the four walls of
the house, being unable to
attend school, has altered
the relationship between
the parent and the chil-
dren adversely.
“The closure of schools
■ P4
also actively carry out
nationwide sensitisation of
police officers."
He was speaking at the
launch of a legal service
mobile application and the
vision and mission state-
ment of NALSA at Vigyan
Bhawan here.
■ P4
Taliban seize 3 more
provincial capitals
TERROR LINK?
NIA RAID ON
JAMAAT OFFICES
IN KASHMIR
YUSUF JAMEEL,
RAJNISH SHARMA
SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI,
AUG. 8
The
Investigation
National
Agency
(NIA) on Sunday carried
out raids at the offices of
the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)
in Jammu and Kashmir
and the homes of its lead-
ers and prominent
activists across
Union territory in con-
the
nection with a case regis-
tered earlier this year by
it against the right-wing
cadre-based socio-reli-
gious-political outfit for
allegedly diverting large
sums of money received
through donations at
home and abroad to fund
separatist militants.
As many as 56 locations
in eight of J&K’s 20 dis-
tricts were raided and
thoroughly searched by
scores of NIA teams,
which were assisted by
the local police and
CRPF personnel, sources
said. The searches were
also carried out at the
offices and other premis-
es of Falah-e-Aam Trust,
a JeI subsidiary which
runs a number of schools
and orphanages in J&K.
The raids were conduct-
ed in Doda, Kishtwar, Ra-
mban, Anantnag, Budg-
am, Rajouri, Doda and
Shopian, among other
areas. ■ Full story on P4
WORLD | 5
Vol. 17 No. 135 Established 1938
White paper on
TN finances today
■ AIADMK’s 10-year rule under scrutiny
R. MOHAN | DC
CHENNAI, AUG. 8
The Tamil Nadu govern-
ment will release the
much-awaited white paper
on the condition of the
state’s finances today. The
120-page white paper, pre-
pared under the watch of
finance minister P.T.R.
Palanivel Thiagarajan, is
expected to highlight the
fiscal mismanagement in
10 years of AIADMK rule
since it came back to
power under the tutelage
of J. Jayalalithaa in 2011
and then with Edappadi K.
Palaniswami as chief min-
ister from February 2017
after her death in
December 2016.
The state budget is to be
presented in the assembly
on August 13 even as the
DMK is ready to celebrate
the first 100 days of M.K.
Stalin's rule on August 14.
The overall outstanding
debt of the state, estimated
to be Rs 4.85 lakh crore as
on March 21, 2021, is
expected to grow to Rs 5.70
lakh crore by March 31,
2022. The debt figure may
well have crossed Rs 5 lakh
crore early this year itself.
It would be interesting to
see what the current
finance minister, thought
of highly as a global bank-
SPORT | 7
India-England 1st
Test ends in draw
ing manager in his profes-
sional career, makes of the
state's debt. He had indicat-
ed that he had doubts
whether the vote-on-
account, presented by pre-
vious finance minister O.
Panneerselvam of
AIADMK in February this
year, had reflected the
actual finance position of
the state.
It has been the DMK's
claim for long that there
has been unprecedented
mismanagement
finances in government
of
departments, particularly
after Jayalalithaa's death.
The debt burden is said to
have risen in the last few
years, with the fiscal
deficit standing at Rs.
92,305 crore for the year
2020-21, while it was Rs.
53,038 in 2019-2020, accord-
ing to unaudited provision-
al figures from the
cmyk
| 8 PAGES| `3.00
The 120-page white
paper is prepared
under the watch of
finance minister P.T.R.
Palanivel Thiagarajan.
The DMK has been
claiming that there has
been unprecedented
mismanagement of
finances, particularly
after Jayalalithaa's death.
Comptroller and Auditor-
General. Government lia-
bilities, which stood at Rs
1.31 lakh crore in 2011-12
when the AIADMK took
over, increased to Rs. 4.85
lakh crore in 2020-21, when
the party left office.
The white paper is
expected to also reveal the
loss of revenues in the last
10 years. The release of a
white paper is not unprece-
dented with the AIADMK,
too, having released one in
2001 pertaining to the pre-
carious state of TN
finances. Now, with the
pandemic having hit rev-
enue collections and the
state's own tax revenue
expected to fall by at least
18 per cent and increased
the debt due to spending on
containment of the epi-
demic, the picture of the
finances is certain to be
gloomier. ■ P2
 CITY
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 9 AUGUST 2021 | CHENNAI
pg 2

OTHER STORIES
Donated organs give
lease of life to many
Hesitancy against vaccine Helping the needy

Chennai: A family recently

donated 51-year-old
Manoharan’s organs after he
was brain dead on sustaining
serious head injuries when
his two-wheeler collided with
another two-wheeler. The
family is hoping that in such
tragic circumstances more
people would come forward
to donate organs.
Manoharan was rushed to a
hospital in Villupuram and
later on moved to SIMS
Hospital - Vadapalani for fur-
ther high-end medical
care.
“After discussing with his
family regarding their will-
ingness to donate his organs,
they generously consented to
it to save lives of others,”
said Dr Vijayakumar
Chockkan, Director - Medical
Services, SIMS Hospital.
After approval from the
Transplant Authority of
Tamil Nadu, doctors at SIMS
Hospital harvested liver, left
kidney, heart, lungs and
corneas. While the liver and
one kidney were transplant-
ed at SIMS Hospital, the
heart and lungs were sent to
high among elderly: Study
T. SUDHEESH I DC
CHENNAI, AUG. 8
A survey carried out by
the Directorate of Public
Health and Preventive
Medicine, under the state
health department, has
found that hesitancy
against Covid-19 vaccines
is high among those aged
above 60 in Tamil Nadu.
The study was conducted
across the state in July to
analyse the perception of
people towards Covid-19
vaccines under the guid-
ance of Director of Public
Health (DPH) Dr T. S.
Selvavinayagam.
The respective Deputy
Director of Health
Services and Community
Medicine, post-graduate
students of the Madras
Medical College and the
Greater Chennai
Corporation led the study.
Random samples were col-
lected from 95 clusters
The study was con-
ducted across the
state in July to analyse
the perception of peo-
ple towards Covid-19
vaccines under the
guidance of Director
of Public Health
(DPH) Dr T. S.
Selvavinayagam
aged above 60 while 16.9
percent of hesitancy was
found among those aged
between 18-44. When it
comes to the 45-60 age
group, the hesitancy rate
is 18.2 percent.
The main reasons for the
hesitancy are no person to
accompany, centre loca-
tion is too far from resi-
dence, long queue or
wastage of time, vaccine
of choice, afraid of injec-
tion, doubts on vaccine
efficacy, fear of complica-
tion and death, service
provider challenges ( diffi-
ness issues (not aware of
vaccine, not aware of
where to get vaccinated
and already got infected
by the virus).
Dr Selvavinayagam said
in a statement on Sunday
that the survey was done
by visiting houses, and
choosing a random family
member from each house.
They were interviewed to
understand their percep-
tion towards Covid-19 vac-
cines, after verifying their
vaccination status. If the
participant was vaccinat-
ed, the reason for their
acceptance of the vaccine
was recorded. If the par-
ticipant was unvaccinat-
ed, the reasons for not get-
ting vaccinated and their
willingness to get vacci-
nated in future was also
recorded.
Among the unvaccinated
people, 80.3 percent of
males and 81.6 percent of
females were ready to get
more willing to get vacci-
nated than rural house-
holds.
As much as 17.5 percent
of the urban population
showed Covid-19 vaccine
hesitancy whereas the
hesitancy in rural areas is
a notch higher at 20.3 per-
cent. At least 82.5 percent
urban residents are will-
ing to take the jab. The
percentage came down to
79.7 percent among the
rural population.
The age-wise vaccine
acceptance in the state
comes as: 18-44: 83.1 per-
cent, 45-60: 81.8 percent
and above 60 : 72.4 percent.
‘’Based on the results of
this study, the DPH will
focus on awareness activi-
ties to address misconcep-
tions among people on Chief Minister M.K. Stalin interacts with a benefiaciary after distributing welfare assis-
Covid-19 vaccines. People stance at Kolathur in Chennai on Sunday. HR&CE minister P.K. Sekar Babu eagerly listens
aged above 60 would be
as the beneficiary narrates her woes.
given special attention
due to high reluctance and
need. New strategies and

DMK resolves to gear

other Chennai hospitals. across the state. Each cult to register, glitches in vaccinated. Vaccine hesi- facilities would be put in
cluster includes at least 30 CoWIN portal, vaccine tancy was observed place to counter the barri-

Water tech co gets

houses. unavailability, not sure on among 19.7 percent in ers and empower everyone
The study revealed that priority groups, bitter male population and 18.4 to get vaccinated with con-

$165 m order in
percent among females. fidence’, said Dr.

up for rural elections

vaccine hesitancy was 27.6 experience from vaccina-
percent among people tion centres) and aware- The urban residents are Selvavinayagam.

Russia
Chennai: VA TECH WABAG,
leading pure-play water tech-
nology Indian multinational
group, consolidated its mar-
ket position in the oil & gas
sector by securing a break-
through engineering and pro-
curement order worth $165
million (about `1,230 Crore)
from Amur Gas Chemical
Complex LLC., in Russia.
Wabag will be the technology
and system integrator for the
Integrated Treatment
Facilities (Waste Water
Treatment unit).
The facility will be designed
to recycle and reuse the
waste water released from
the petrochemical unit, sub-
stituting about 25% of the
raw water intake require-
ment.
The order in the Russian
Federation also marks
Wabag’s largest order in the
oil and gas sector.
Govt to introduce new bill
to check online gambling
R. VALAYAPATHY I DC
PUDUKKOTTAI, AUG. 8
The Tamil Nadu govern-
ment will introduce a new
Bill in the ensuing budget
session of the state assem-
bly to check online gam-
bling, according to law
minister S. Regupathi.
Distributing the medical
accessories donated by
the rotary clubs of
Pudukkottai district to
the Raniyaar government
maternity hospital and
the government medical
college hospital at
Pudukkottai on Sunday,
the minister told the
media that a law enacted
hurriedly by the previous
AIADMK government
was rejected by the court.
Referring to the release
of seven accused persons
in the Rajiv Gandhi assas-
sination case, the minis-
ter said Chief Minister
M.K. Stalin had requested
the President of India in
this regard, and hoped Mr
Ramnath Kovind would
take a good decision.
Based on the President's
decision, the state govern-
ment will take further
action after consulting the
legal experts, he added.
The last date for submit-
ting online applications
for admission to the gov-
ernment law colleges is
August 24 and thereafter
the government will deci-
de on the counselling for
the admissions.
The government will
take a decision on reopen-
ing the law colleges short-
ly, he added.
To a question, he said
the state water resources
department is now think-
ing of the next course of
action on Karnataka's
plea in the Supreme Court
for preventing the pro-
posed Cauvery-Gundaru.
Vaigai rivers.
Civic body
intensifies waste
movement by
night
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, AUG. 8
In order to avoid traffic
jams due to the trans-
portation of solid wastes
during daytime, the
Greater Chennai
Corporation (GCC) has
started garbage collec-
tion during nights.
The GCC on Sunday
said in a statement that
about 5,000 metric
tonnes of wastes collect-
ed from the city’s 200
wards had been taken to
dump yards.
Currently, the waste
Chennai, Aug. 8: A meet-
ing of DMK district secre-
taries chaired by party
president and chief minis-
ter M K Stalin in Chennai
on Sunday discussed
preparations for polls to
rural local bodies in nine
districts of Tamil Nadu.
The meeting deliberated
on gearing up for polls in
the nine districts of
K a n c h e e p u r a m ,
Chengelpet, Vellore,
Ranipet, Tirupathur,
Villupuram, Kallakurichi,
Tirunelveli and Tenkasi,
party sources said.
In view of the welfare
measures being taken up
by the party-led regime as
part of efforts to fulfil poll
promises and considering
the popularity the DMK
government enjoyed,
functionaries should
reach out to the people
and work to win local
polls, sources added.
"Makkalai Thedi
Overall revenue deficit for 2021-22
estimated to be around `41,417 cr
From P1
The interim budget had
indicated that while rev-
enue receipts were expect-
ed to fall to about `1.80
lakh crore, the revenue
expenditure might cross
`2.46 lakh crore.
The revenue deficit might
widen to `65,994 crore in
2020-21 to about `96,889
crore.
The overall revenue
deficit for 2021-22 was esti-
mated to be around
regions in nine districts
that would go to rural
polls participated in the
meet. Pending delimita-
tion of territorial wards
in such regions following
`41,417 crore and the fis-
cal deficit estimated at
`84,202 crore for 2021-22.
What the current
finance minister makes of
those projections should
prove interesting, so too
his assessment of the debt
burden of the state. His
financial planning to cope
with what the white paper
may project as the real
debt burden should reflect
in his Budget that he
will be presenting on Aug.
13.
tricts.
While the general and
farm budgets are sched-
uled to be tabled in the
assembly on August 13
and 14 respectively, gov-

Governor lauds TN eye care doctors

DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, AUG. 8
A comprehensive approach
to eye care is needed as we
need to not only treat
cataract but also curable
blindness, said Tamil Nadu
Governor Banwarilal
Purohit, at the 26th anniver-
sary celebrations of Rajan
Eye Care Hospital (RECH) in
Chennai on Saturday.
Blindness due to causes
like diabetes retinopathy and
glaucoma were rising, the
Governor said while point-
ing out that Tamil Nadu was
a leader in adopting tech-
nologies in eye care.
Blindness due to
causes like diabetes
retinopathy and glau-
coma were rising,
the Governor said
while pointing out
that Tamil Nadu was
a leader in adopting
technologies in eye
care
He praised thge system
in Dr Mohan Rajan’s
RECH.
Dr Mohan Rajan talked on
various initiatives that he
hospital had launched
through Chennai Vision
Charitable Trust and Rotary
Rajan Eye Bank in associa-
tion with various organisa-
tions towards community
ophthalmology.
He also revealed that about
30% of the hospital’s servic-
es were being provided free
of cost, including
6,000 cornea surgeries and
1.15 lakh cataract surge-
ries.
movement at night has
been intensified with
Corporation and con-
tract cleaning staff.
For this purpose, at
least 255 battery-pow-
ered vehicles, 53 three
wheeled vehicles, 147
compactor vehicles, 50
mechanical sweeper’s
vehicles, 23 tipper trucks
and 1,786 cleaners are
being used.
The night cleaning
work is being carried
out with extra vehicles
and personnel without
any hindrance to the
traffic and well as pub-
lic’, it said.
Maruthuvam," aimed at
taking healthcare servic-
es to the people's
doorsteps and welfare
assistance, projects and
services to beneficiaries
under "Ungal Thoguthiyil
Mudalamaichar," (chief
minister in your con-
stituency) are among the
DMK government's initia-
tives.
The `4,000 Covid-19 cash
relief to rice ration card
holders were among the
initiatives taken up on the
same day Stalin took over
as chief minister on May
7.
District secretaries,
MLAs and MPs from
reconstitution of dis-
tricts, rural local body
polls were not conducted
in nine districts while the
same was held in 27 other
districts in December
2019.
In view of an order of
the Supreme Court in
June this year, polls to
rural local bodies in these
nine districts are expected
to be conducted by
September 15.
The DMK government
had last month indicated
that polls to urban local
bodies would be held
before December 2021 and
following polls to rural
civic bodies in nine dis-
ernment chief whip Kovi
Chezhian in a statement
said a meeting of party
MLAs would be held here
on August 13, by 5 PM at
party headquarters.
During the previous
AIADMK regime,
Chegalpattu was carved
out of Kancheepuram and
Vellore was trifurcated,
resulting in two new dis-
tricts of Ranipet and
Tirupathur. Kallakurichi
and Tenkasi became two
new districts, and these
were split from
Villupuram and
Tirunelveli districts
respectively.
— PTI

Neeraj creates more room for optimism in Indian sport

R. Mohan
Namma Chennai Diary

I
ndia is not a sporting
superpower. It may
never be in contention
for spots around the top
of the medals table where
USA and China fight their
biggest sporting battles. As
the Olympics were on,
everyone seemed to be con-
vinced that India needs to
measure its national self-
worth in Olympic medals.
And helping such thinking
along was Neeraj Chopra in
his breakthrough moment
with a golden javelin throw
of 87.58 metres, which
changes a lot of things in
Indian sport.
As the archers missed
their mark and shooters
failed to get anywhere close
to Abhinav Bindra’s stan-
dards of perfection, Tokyo
was turning into a great dis-
appointment apart, of
course, from the opening
day’s excitement when the
little known Mirabai Chanu
lifted more than her weight
and created the weightiest
expectations in recent
Games.
It wasn’t until the second
week that the real perform-
ers arrived to restore
national pride in sporting
achievements before
Chopra took it to another
level altogether.
It had been up to PV
Sindhu to prove that today’s
Indian athletes are no
pushovers. The days are
long over when the
Olympics were more for the
Indian hockey team as
champions. The rest of the
Indian contingent would
have done well if they did
their bit in the arena rather
than going out wearing the
tourist attitude and return
after gaping at the compe-
tence of world champions.
It is a far more professional
setup now with perform-
ance the yardstick. Neeraj Chopra, the man with the golden arm who threw the javelin to a winning distance The Indian men’s hockey team that promises a renaissance even with just the bronze, the
Sindhu’s commitment to of 87.58 metres to become the first Indian to win a gold medal in athletics. first medal in 41 years since Moscow in 1980.
her sport was reflected in
her competitiveness and it her world No. 200 ranking, Saturday evening. His first under extreme pressure, far more competitive these been played on synthetic prejudices of selection are
was a shock then that she she was right up there with couple of throws were suffi- with the exception of the days as we see in the silver surfaces for the last 45 being shown the door even
seemed to slip after being the world No. 1, matching cient to propel him so far in likes of Abhinav Bindra medal winning performanc- years. as professional coaches are
right up there until her her stroke for stroke in the front that none could really and Neeraj Chopra. What es that signify the athlete But only now have the taking the responsibility
opponent, world No. 1 Tai leader group on the final challenge him. It may have separates the winners and has been within grasp of Indian men’s team showed like the supremos that they
Tzu-Ying of Taipei, got to 18 two days. held that his biggest threat the rest is that clinching the ultimate prize. What the ability to cope with the ought to be. Finally, it is the
points in the first game. As Having been affected by Johannes Vetter of iron attitude furthering the they do not have is the demands of what is called athletes’ talent, application
the shuttler who used to Covid very recently, she was Germany failed to make the ability to score when it mat- instinct of the sportsman to ‘Total Hockey’ where nearly and ability to perform in
raise her game at the big always a few yards behind last eight. But, as Neeraj ters most. You could say the close out the contest - the the whole team moves up the face of the highest
points, her inability to play off the tee but her short was to say, it’s all about the same of the Indian cricket winners’ ability to not only and down in attack and stress that will bring the
the crucial points well made game is compact and her day’s performance at the team too as it has not pro- perform but also shut out defence respectively and the medals and the titles. But at
the difference. She did erase putting is excellent and Olympics, which is once in duced the goods in the last the competitor when it mat- old slots of specialist posi- least the system is more
it with a dominant perform- comes with a nerveless four years opportunity. This eight years in the most ters most. Call it the win- tions do not matter so much supportive of them. May
ance in the bronze medal touch. It’s a pity then that was Neeraj Chopra’s day. sought after ICC Cup events ning hit or the finishing as having every hand on there be more Neeraj
match to satisfy the Indian she did not hit enough fair- The one point about and not even in the World touch, it’s yet to get univer- deck in the middle of the Chopras to carry Indian
hunger for a medal of any ways on the day that count- Indian athletes, who may Test Championship final. sal among Indian sportspeo- action. sport forward.
metal for their favourite ed the most after being have improved leaps and In the old days, the expres- ple. Post-Tokyo there is room
athlete. briefly in contention for the bounds when it comes to sion was that Indians lack The hockey men’s and for optimism because the (R. Mohan is the
Aditi Ashok was then the gold too. attitude in the face of the the killer instinct as they women’s teams showed a system seems to have Resident Editor of the
sole bright spot as some of It was up to Neeraj Chopra highest competition in their would be seen buckling spark in what appears to be changed between Rio and Chennai and Coimbatore
our wrestlers faded after then to bear the burden of discipline, is that they do under stress in all big ticket a revival of skills at the now. The corrupt practices editions of Deccan
putting up a fight. Belying all national expectations on not produce their best when events. They are generally national game, which has of administration and the Chronicle)
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 9 AUGUST 2021 | CHENNAI
pg 3

STORIES
OTHER
IUML mourns Covid-19: TN
Tindivanam
Ramamurthy demise posts 1,956 cases,
DC CORRESPONDENT
TIRUCHY, AUG. 8

Indian Union Muslim League

28 fatalities: Dept
(IUML) national president Prof Chennai, Aug. 8: Tamil discharged in the last 24
K.M. Kader Mohideen has Nadu recorded a marginal hours, mounting to August 7 it was 1,969. cumulative number of
expressed his condolences over drop in daily coronavirus 25,20,584 leaving 20,407 Meanwhile, Coimbatore specimens examined to
the demise of former Tamil cases with 1,956 new infec- active infections, a med- topped the new infections 3.86 crore till date, the bul-
Nadu Congress Committee tions being reported in the ical bulletin said. among districts with 241 letin said.
president and former Rajya last 24 hours, pushing the Tamil Nadu saw a high people contracting the As many as 31 districts
Sabha member Tindivanam overall tally to 25.75 lakh. in the number of fresh contagion, followed by reported new cases in dou-
Ramamurthy after a brief ill- As many as 28 people have infections with 1,997 cases Chennai 187, Erode 185, ble digits, while there
ness. succumbed to the virus reported on August 5 after Chengalpet 105. were no fresh deaths in 19
In a release at Tiruchy on aggregating to 34,317, the witnessing a slight rise in Ramanathapuram record- districts. Among the 28
Sunday, Mohideen recalled the health department said on daily cases. Since then the ed the least by adding five fatalities, four were with-
efforts of Ramamurthy in Sunday. new infections have been cases. out comorbidity or pre-
developing the Congress base Recoveries were lower on the decline. On August A total of 1,60,229 sam- existing illness, the bul-
in Tamil Nadu. Mohideen Greater chennai corporation painters give final touches to a wall painting at Mylapore on compared to new cases, 6, the state added 1,985 ples were tested in the last letin said.
prayed to God almighty to give Sunday. — DC with 1,807 people getting new cases, while on 24 hours, pushing the — PTI
enough strength to the family
members of the deceased and
the partymen to bear the
irreparable loss. Chennai to get 1,000 HC TO HEAR
Upsets, heartbreaks
and narrow misses women wall painters CBI’S PLEA IN Upasi slams Tea Board
mark Olympics
From P1
T. SUDHEESH I DC
CHENNAI, AUG. 8
women toiling in the con-
struction field risking
their life to earn a liveli-
and architects who can
provide painting jobs for
them. It’s so nice to see
INX MEDIA CASE
New Delhi, Aug. 8: The
Delhi HC is scheduled to
order on public auctions
There were numerous upsets, So far, women might have hood. Today, painting women painters work hear on Monday the B. RAVICHANDRAN I DC Bhansali said the government in the year
heartbreaks and narrow miss- been a notch behind in the workers get at least Rs 500 along with men. It’s not CBI's plea in the INX OOTY, AUG. 8
es. Also, stunning stories of male-dominated wall- a day. It’s also a nine-to- only a matter of women Media corruption case 2001 had repealed the mandatory routing
underdogs punching above painting jobs. But that five job. You can’t paint empowerment but also involving Congress United Planters’ of tea through auctions, in line with the
their weight, terrific teenagers concept too has changed buildings before 9 am and showing them a way to leader P Chidambaram Association of South economic policy of liberalisation and free
sweeping the skateboarding in the post-pandemic life. after 5 pm due to lack of economic prosperity with and his son Karti. India (Upasi) president trade which was subsequently amended in
podium and an unprecedented Yes, at least 1,000 under- sunlight. In that case, it is minimal risks’, said Mr. The CBI has challen- Prashant Bhansali has
occasion of two athletes shar- privileged women from in a very comfortable job for Rao. ged a trial court's order said the Tea Board of 2015. During this period, many tea pro-
ing the high jump gold. and around Chennai will women. As part of the ini- Mahesh Anand, presi- directing the agency to India’s circular directing ducers painstakingly developed domestic
There is no surprise on top of soon be giving finishing tiative, the RCME has dent, Nippon Paint India allow inspection of doc- the manufacturers for markets thereby getting much better
the medal tally though. USA touches to the coloured come up with a one-month (decorative division) uments kept in the mandatory sale of 50 per- prices for their produce
finished first with 113 medals, walls of the city build- training with theory as pointed out that the 'malkhana' (room where cent of the total manufac-
including 39 gold, but only after ings. The innovative gen- well as practical classes to ‘nshakti’ initiative to case properties are kept) tured tea through public Board recently took posi- through auction will
edging out China on the last der-equality concept has make women efficient in train and certify rural by the accused and their auctions will be counter- tive steps towards the gov- result in more percentage
day. It turned out to be a water- become a reality as a meeting the industry stan- women as wall painters counsel. The plea is list- productive due to the wide ernment’s current policy of out lots, resulting in
shed edition for India who result of the initiative dards. In the first step took shape three years ed for hearing before divergence in the auction on “Ease of doing considerable loss to pro-
bagged seven medals, including taken by the Rotary Club they learn the technique ago. Justice Mukta Gupta. prices vis-à-vis retail Business” and reduced ducers. As tea is an agro-
a historic gold in athletics. of Madras East (RCME) in of plain wall painting. In “It is an attempt to HC had on May 18 stay- prices. regulatory compliances based product and the
With one more than the London association with the the long run they can recognise and utilise the ed trial proceedings in He said the government related to a number of policy of the Union gov-
2012 tally, the Tokyo show will ‘nshakti’ campaign of develop design works as skills of rural women by the case involving Chid- in the year 2001 had mandatory licences. But ernment is to reduce
be the country's new Olympic Nippon Paint. per their inclination. providing them with ambaram and his son repealed the mandatory on the other hand the Tea intermediaries in mar-
benchmark. RCME president M. Upon successful comple- employment opportuni- Karti. It had also issued routing of tea through Board’s circular directing keting enabling the pro-
Javelin thrower Neeraj Srinivasa Rao told DC that tion of the programme, ties. Women have a keen notice and sought respo- auctions, in line with the the manufacturers to com- ducers to get a better
Chopra, a farmer's son from the idea took shape after the women painters are aesthetic sense. They have nses of Chidambaram economic policy of liber- ply with the order of share in the sale pro-
Haryana, emerged the new seeing many impover- awarded a professional an eye for colour, and the and others on the CBI's alisation and free trade mandatory sale of 50% of ceeds, the Upasi is of the
posterboy of India with his ished women struggling certificate which qualifies patience required for plea. The CBI has sought which was subsequently the total tea manufac- view that the Tea Board
incredible achievement. He has to cope with the impact of them as professional wall being an expert in the pro- to set aside the special amended in 2015. During tured through public auc- direction of mandatory
shown that Indians too can Covid-19-induced lock- painters. As an initial fession. We want to pro- judge’s March 5, 2021 this period, many tea pro- tions is completely coun- sale of 50% tea through
dominate the world-class field downs. ‘’The wall painting push to set their foot in vide women the necessary order to the extent that ducers painstakingly terintuitive. auction be withdrawn
in athletics. Between weight- job was always dominated the field, the women training and tools. We aim it directed the CBI to developed domestic mar- “Since the auction sys- and instead it be left to
lifter Mirabai Chanu's stupen- by men though it is a painters will be intro- to train at least 1,000 allow inspection of doc- kets thereby getting much tem has finite load han- the discretion of manu-
dous silver medal on day 1 and lighter occupation com- duced to the decision- women as painters in uments kept in malkha- better prices for their pro- dling capacity, pressuris- facturers to decide the
Neeraj's golden finish, there pared to other construc- makers in the industry Chennai in a year,” he na by the respondents duce. ing the system by manda- mode of sale,” Bhansali
were many disappointments. tion works. We see many like Interior designers said. /accused/ their counsel. On one hand, the Tea torily routing of teas noted.

COFFEE-BREAK
CALVIN AND HOBBES|Bill Watterson

Your day today By Dr C.V.B. Subrahmanyam QUICK CROSSWORD

Aries: Spending time in your partner’s
company will give you the opportunity to
relax and enjoy today. Your financial and
business situations will get better this day.
Taurus: Imbibing positive thinking by
looking at the brighter side of a problem
will immensely help you in getting rid of THE WIZARD OF ID|Parker and Hartsd
psychological fear and stress.
Gemini: At professional front, you will find
many changes taking place for the better.
Heart patients are advised to strictly avoid
spicy and fried food today.
Cancer: In financial matters things are likely to
change for the better. Quit smoking to keep
yourself physically sound. You are likely to
publicly exhibit your love.
Leo: Today you will have to cooperate
despite facing obstacles in your friends
circle. You might miss an offer to work in ARCHIE|Bill Henry Scarpelli & craig boldman
an exciting environment.
Virgo: An important date is likely to get cancelled
due to your busy schedule. Do something mean-
ingful to bring joy to your family. Learning lessons
from failures will have positive effects on health.
Across Down YESTERDAY’S ANSWER
1.Prejudiced (6) 1. Unclad (4)
You share your b’day with 3. Bludgeon (4) 2. Lucky charm (6)
Across:
1. Chipolata, 6. Cubes,
Mahesh Babu is an Indian actor, producer and 4. Appearance (4) 7. Extra, 9. Mute, 10.
7. Overwhelming defeat (4) Catnap, 12. Anchor,
philanthropist who works mainly in Telugu cinema. One 8. Steam (6) 5. Coarse jute fabric (6) 14. Ajar, 17. Yacht, 18.
of the highest paid actors in India, he has appeared in 6. Glossy wood coating (7) Linen, 19. Heartbeat.
10. Silvery food fish (7)
more than 25 films, and won several accolades. 9. Film extract for Down: 2. Habit, 3.
13. Oil from flax (7) advertising purposes (7) Posy, 4. Leeway, 5. BLONDIE|Dean Young and John Marshall
Libra: Restrain yourself from gambling with 16. Numb (6) 11. Treeless Arctic plain (6) Titan, 6. Company, 8.
17. Sit for (4) Aspirin, 11. Loiter, 13.
your hard-earned money by putting it in 12. Declare null and void (6) Cache, 15. Junta, 16.
dubious financial schemes. Inflow of money 18. Assist in crime (4) 14. Labyrinth (4) Glib.
will keep you satisfied. 19. Guide (6) 15. Sensed (4)
Scorpio: Keep yourself calm and tension-free
to restore your mental peace. Be very
selective in your investments today. Your Word Mine jumble
media contacts will help you in your work.
Sagittarius: Changing your lifestyle will help you
U
keep tensions and strains of life at bay. Your
financial situation will improve. Invest safely
and be wary of dubious schemes.
YTH
Capricorn: Spend time with your family members.
The decisions you take at work today will be
NCASL ANDY CAPP |Reg Smythe

TODAY’S RATINGS: 24 AVERAGE; 26

appreciated and will reap benefits in the long run. GOOD; 28 OUTSTANDING
Your routine activities will impress your boss. How many words of four or
more letters can you make from
Aquarius: Positive thinking will banish your negative the letters shown in today’s
thoughts. Strengthen your immune system to fight puzzle? In making a word, each
letter may be used once only.
against infections and diseases. Legal battle will be Each word must contain the
sorted out with the timely help of your friends. letter at the top of the pyramid.
There should be at least one
Pisces: An expensive trip is on the cards today. nine letter word. Plurals, foreign
Don’t forget to take out some time from your usual words and proper names are
not allowed.
chores for a romantic meeting. Your pessimistic sultan, thus, tuna, ulna, unlash, unlatch
shun, shunt, shut, staunch, STAUNCHLY, stun, such,
attitude could lead to serious health problems. hunt, launch, lunacy, lunch, lush, lust, lusty, saucy,
ANSWERS: anus, aunt, cult, cushy, haul, haunt, hula,
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN |STAN LEE

C
bridge ertain plays are five. What should he lead at South draws trumps and despite East-West's com-
deceptively difficult to trick two? runs the clubs, aided by the bined 27 high-card points.
find when they go South opened with a mod- successful finesse. The winning defense is a
PHILLIP against the normal grain. ern favorable-vulnerability West tried to cash the heart switch, forcing South
ALDER We are used to following pre-empt: a weak hand spade queen, but South to ruff in the dummy!
the textbook. When some- with 13 cards, some of ruffed and led the diamond Declarer does best to lead a
OUT OF thing rarely highlighted in a
book crops up, we all strug-
which were in the suit bid!
East did well to double five
king. With the trumps 2-2
and the club finesse work-
trump to a royal, but West
completes his good work by
BOOK, gle to find the winning play.
This is particularly true in
diamonds because five
hearts would have been
ing, South had no trouble in
collecting 11 tricks: five
ducking this, leaving the
defense in control. If South
OUT OF today's deal, which easily defeated. diamonds, five clubs and a plays another trump, the
occurred at an Australian Normally, when declarer is late heart ruff on the board. defenders cash a heart
MIND tournament. threatening to ruff losers in Perhaps East didn't do so trick. Tough.
Against five diamonds dou- the dummy, the defenders well after all. With this Copyright United
bled, West starts with the should shift to trumps. But defense, he should have Feature Syndicate
spade king: three, nine, that doesn't work here. sacrificed in five hearts (Asia Features)
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | MONDAY | 9 AUGUST 2021
SHORT
Trucking resumes
TAKES
at Assam border
Aizawl/Silchar/Guwahati:
Trucks from the rest of the
country rumbled into
Mizoram across a disputed
border with neighbouring
Assam late on Saturday
night, some 12 days after a
bloody clash between police
of the two states. Truckers
who had parked their trucks
at Dholai near the tense bor-
der and refused to move
even after an informal block-
ade enforced by locals was
lifted, started moving essen-
tial supplies including medi-
cines, diesel and cooking gas
after two Assam Ministers
convinced them it was safe
to travel to Mizoram.
CIC: Disclose EVMs,
VVPAT with faults
New Delhi: The Central
Information Commission
(CIC) has ordered the disclo-
sure of the total number of
EVMs and VVPATs that
showed defects and errors
during testing and evaluation
of their firmware by the
Standardisation, Testing and
Quality Certification (STQC)
Directorate. The ruling came
on a petition by activist
Venkatesh Nayak who had
approached the STQC
Directorate under the
MiEITY, seeking information
on testing of firmware of
EVMs of M3 and M2 genera-
tion and VVPAT units manu-
factured by ECIL and BEL,
and used in the 2019 Lok
Sabha election.
Panel: Long closure
of schools a hazard
New Delhi: The hazards of
not reopening schools after
prolonged closure due to the
pandemic are “too serious to
be ignored”, according to a
parliamentary panel. The
committee has noted that
the closure has not only
impacted social fabric of
families in a negative man-
ner, but also increased
involvement of children in
household chores. “The clo-
sure had a deep impact on
wellbeing of students, espe-
cially their mental health. It
has altered the relationship
between the parent and the
children adversely,” the
panel said.
COLLECTOR, SP
SHUNTED AFTER
MINISTER QUIZZED
DC CORRESPONDENT
BHOPAL, AUG. 8
A day after the Union minister
Narendra Singh Tomar was
mobbed by people in Sheopur
in Madhya Pradesh, the local
district collector and superin-
tendent of police were shunted
out on Sunday.
In an order issued on Sunday
morning, the state govern-
ment transferred Sheopur dis-
trict collector Rakesh
Srivastav and posted him as
the deputy secretary in state
secretariat. Similarly, Sheopur
district superintendent of
police Sampat Upadhyay was
shifted as assistant inspector
general at police headquarters
here. Earlier on Saturday, peo-
ple in district headquarters of
Sheopur booed and jeered at
Tomar when he visited the
area. The irate people had also
thrown mud and garbage at
his vehicle.
LORD SHIVA HOLY
MACE TAKEN TO
SRINAGAR TEMPLE
DC CORRESPONDENT
SRINAGAR, AUG. 8
Days before a select group of
sadhus are scheduled to carry
Chhari Mubarak to Amarnath
cave-shrine for the final puja
and darshan on Shravan
Purnima (Raksha Bandhan)
on August 22, the holy mace of
Lord Shiva was on Sunday
taken to Shankaracharya tem-
ple overlooking Srinagar’s Dal
Lake for special prayers.
Mahant Deependra Giri, the
custodian of Chhari Mubarak,
who led a group of hermits to
carry it to the historic Shiva
temple at a height of 1,852.16
metre, said the prayers were
held to mark ‘Haryali-
Amavasya’ (Shravan Amav-
asya), an important occasion
in Hindu calendar, “as per the
age-old customs'”.
A statement issued by his
camp-office here read, “The
sound of a conch shell charged
the whole atmosphere. Pujan
was performed chanting Vedic
hymn”. It said that in view of
the pandemic only a selected
group of sadhus accompanied
the holy mace and participated
in the prayers for 90 minutes.
Flooded Daraganj area due to rise in the water level of Ganga river, following heavy rains in Prayagraj,
SUSHANT CASE
TO DEFAME MAHA
GOVT, SAYS NCP
BHAGWAN PARAB | DC
MUMBAI, AUG. 8
With the CBI completing
one year into the probe
of Bollywood actor
Sushant Singh Rajput’s
death case, the NCP has
alleged that the incident
was used as a conspiracy
to defame the Mahar-
ashtra Vikas Aghadi
(MVA) Government.
“Even after a year, the
CBI has not been able to
ascertain if Sushant
Singh’s death was a mur-
der or suicide. It has also
not issued any clarifica-
tion so far. It goes to
show that it was a ploy
to defame the MVA gov-
ernment,” said chief
NCP spokesperson
Nawab Malik. The inves-
tigation takes place nor-
mally at the same place
where the incident hap-
pened. But in this case,
the Bihar government
filed a complaint in their
own jurisdiction and
asked the CBI to probe
the case. The case was
then used to derive a
political mileage in
Bihar polls, he added.
MHA tells states to stop
tricolours made of plastic
New Delhi, Aug. 8:
Ahead of the Indepe-
ndence Day celebration,
the Centre has asked
states to ensure people
don’t use plastic national
flags as ensuring appro-
priate disposal of the tri-
colour made of non-
biodegradable item is a
practical problem.
In a communication to
all states and union terri-
tories, the Union Home
Ministry said the national
flag represents hopes and
aspirations of the people
of the country and hence
should occupy a position
of honour. “There is uni-
versal affection and
respect for, and loyalty to,
the national flag. Yet, a
perceptible lack of aware-
ness is often noticed
among people and organi-
sations/agencies of the
government, in regard to
laws, practices that apply
School closure for longer period too
serious to ignore, says house panel
From page 1
has impacted the social
fabric of the family in
negative manner leading
to early/child marriage
and increased involve-
ment of children in
household chores. The
present situation has
exacerbated the learning
crisis that existed even
before the pandemic with
the marginal and vulnera-
ble children getting
adversely affected.
Keeping this situation in
mind, it becomes all the
more imperative to open
schools," the panel has
noted.
This week the parlia-
mentary standing com-
mittee on education,
women, children, youth
and sports tabled in
Parliament its report
Custodial torture prevails,
need to sensitise cops: CJI
From Page 1
The mobile App will help
poor and needy people in
applying for legal aid and
seek victim compensa-
tion.
NALSA was constituted
under the Legal Services
Authorities Act, 1987, to
provide free legal services
to the weaker sections of
society and to organise
Lok Adalats for amicable
settlement of disputes.
Terming the project
'Access to Justice' as an
"unending mission", the
CJI said that for becoming
a society governed by the
rule of law, it was neces-
sary to "bridge the gap of
accessibility to justice
between the highly privi-
leged and the most vulner-
able".
"If, as an institution, the
judiciary wants to garner
the faith of the citizens,
we have to make everyone
feel assured that we exist
for them. For the longest
time, the vulnerable popu-
lation has lived outside
the system of justice," he
said.
CAB. SECY TELLS
OFFICERS TO BE
AT I-DAY FETE
New Delhi, Aug. 8:
Cabinet Secretary Rajiv
Gauba warned officers
invited for Independence
Day function at the Red
Fort that a “serious view”
will be taken if they fail
to attend the event. In a
communication to the
secretaries of all Union
ministries and depart-
ments, Gauba said the
Independence Day flag
hoisting ceremony at the
Red Fort, has its own sig-
nificance and officers
must attend. — PTI
to display of the national
flag,” it said. It told the
states and UTs that on the
"Plans to bridge the learn-
ing gap caused due to
school lockdown as well
as review of online and
offline instructions and
exams and plans for
reopening of schools"
headed by Vinay P.
Sahsrabudhe.
The seriousness of the
matter should not be over-
looked and a well balanced
reasoned view may be
taken for opening up of
the schools, the house
panel said.
Accentuating vaccine
programmes for all stu-
dents, teachers and allied
staff so that schools may
start functioning normal-
ly at the earliest; holding
classes on alternate days
or in two shifts to thin out
students along with obser-
vance of physical distanc-
ing and compulsory wear-
Justice N.V. Ramana
The past should not
determine the future and
all should work to bring
equality, Justice Ramana
stressed.
"The threat to human
rights and bodily integri-
ty are the highest in police
stations. Custodial torture
and other police atrocities
are problems that still pre-
vail in our society. In spite
of constitutional declara-
tions and guarantees, the
lack of effective legal rep-
resentation at the police
stations is a huge detri-
ment to arrested/detained
persons.
"The decisions taken in
these early hours will
occasions of important
national, cultural and
sports events, the national
flags made of plastic are
also being used in place of
national flags made of
paper. Since plastic flags
are not biodegradable like
paper flags these do not
get decomposed for a long
time and ensuring appro-
priate disposal of national
flags made of plastic com-
mensurate with the digni-
ty of the flag is a practical
problem, it said.
“You are, therefore,
requested to ensure that
on the occasions of impor-
tant national, cultural and
sports events, flags made
of paper only are used by
the public in terms of the
provisions of the ‘Flag
Code of India, 2002’ and
such paper flags are not
discarded or thrown on
ground after the event,”
the Home Ministry said.
ing of face masks at all
times, frequent hand sani-
tization etc; regular ther-
mal screening at the time
of attendance and con-
ducting random RT-PCR
tests to identify and iso-
late any infected student,
teacher or staff immedi-
ately, are among the rec-
ommendations for reopen-
ing of schools made by the
panel.
“Each school should
have at least two oxygen
concentrators with
trained personnel to
address any eventuality
and provide first aid till
availability of outside
medical help. Frequent
surprise inspection of
schools may be done by
health inspectors and
health workers to ensure
strict adherence to
hygiene and Covid proto-
— PTI
later determine the ability
of the accused to defend
himself. Going by the
recent reports even the
privileged are not spared
third-degree treatment,"
the CJI said.
Stressing the need for
bridging the gap of acces-
sibility to justice between
the highly privileged and
the most vulnerable, the
CJI said "for all times to
come, we must remember
that, the realities of socio-
economic diversity which
prevail in our nation, can-
not ever be a reason for
denial of rights".
Furthermore, he stated
that dissemination of
information about the
constitutional right to
legal aid and availability
of free legal aid services
"is necessary to keep
police excesses in check."
Besides this, he said that
the prevailing obstacles
like internet connectivity
and lengthy, painstaking
and expensive justice
processes add to the woes
of realising the goals of
'Access to Justice' in
India.
ITBP INDUCTS 1ST
WOMEN OFFICERS
IN COMBAT ROLE
Mussoorie (U'khand),
Aug. 8: The India-China
LAC guarding the Indo-
Tibetan Border Police
force on Sunday com-
missioned its first two
women officers in com-
bat after they completed
their training here.
A total of 53 officers
passed out from the
ITBP officers’ training
academy located in
Mussoorie after a pass-
ing out parade was held,
with Uttarakhand Chief
Minister Pushkar Singh
Dhami officiating as the
chief guest. Dhami and
Deswal put the ranks of
Assistant Commandant,
the entry-level officer
rank in the paramilitary,
on the shoulders of the
two women officers —
Prakriti and Diksha —
the passing out parade
and attestation ceremo-
ny where they took oath
to serve India. — PTI
cols,” it said.
"Best practices being fol-
lowed in different coun-
tries for opening of
schools may be taken into
consideration for taking
an informed decision," it
said.
The panel has also noted
that the learning loss of
more than one year due to
prolonged school closure
in wake of the pandemic
would necessarily have
weakened the foundation-
al knowledge of students,
especially in the subjects
of mathematics, sciences
and languages, at school
level.
"This learning loss is a
big deficit and is likely to
impair the cognitive capa-
bilities of students," the
panel said in its report
tabled in Parliament on
Friday.
NIA holds biggest
ever raids in J&K
Finds charity money funnelled to terrorists
YUSUF JAMEEL and
RAJNISH SHARMA | DC
SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI,
AUG. 8
The National
Investigation Agency
(NIA) on Sunday carried
out raids at the offices of
the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)
in Jammu and Kashmir
and the homes of its lead-
ers and prominent
activists across the Union
territory in connection
with a case registered ear-
lier this year by it against
the right-wing cadre-
based socio-religious-
political outfit for alleged-
ly diverting large sums of
money received through
donations at home and
abroad to fund separatist
militants.
As many as 56 locations
in eight of J&K’s 20 dis-
tricts were raided and
thoroughly searched by
scores of NIA teams,
which were assisted by
the local police and CRPF
personnel, sources said.
The searches were also
carried out at the offices
and other premises of
Falah-e-Aam Trust, a JeI
subsidiary which runs a
number of schools and
orphanages in J&K. The
raids were conducted in
Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban,
Anantnag, Budgam,
Rajouri, Doda
Shopian, among other
and
areas. The Union home
ministry had on February
28, 2019 banned the JeI for
a period of five years after
declaring it an “unlawful
association”. The MHA
said it had the potential of
BJP targets 300+
in UP with Dalits
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, AUG. 8
If regional outfits in
Uttar Pradesh — the
Samajwadi Party and the
Bahujan Samaj Party —
are now reaching out to
upper castes’ vote bank,
considered the core vote
bank of the BJP, the
state’s ruling party has
tasked its cadre to make
sure that Dalits and OBCs
in the poll-going state
continue supporting it to
achieve its target of
Mission 300-Plus.
The BJP had won 312
seats out of total 403
Assembly constituencies
in the 2017 Assembly elec-
tions and formed its gov-
ernment in this political-
ly crucial state after a gap
of 14 years.
During his meetings
with BJP leaders in Uttar
Pradesh, party president
J.P. Nadda made a special
mention that party lead-
ers and cadres should
reach out to the maxi-
mum number of dalit vil-
lages and bastis and also
to the OBCs.
While dalits, mainly
Jatavs, are considered the
core vote bank of the
Mayawati-led BSP, the
OBCs, primarily Yadavs,
have been backing the SP,
headed by Akhilesh
Yadav. However, since
2014, the non-Jatavs and
non-Yadavs have come
out in massive support of
PM TO CHAIR
UN SECURITY
COUNCIL
DEBATE TODAY
New Delhi, Aug. 8:
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will
chair a high-level open
debate on 'Enhancing
maritime security: a case
for international cooper-
ation" on Monday via
video conferencing.
His office said on
Sunday the meeting is
expected to be attended
by several heads of state
and government of mem-
ber states of the United
Nations Security Council
(UNSC), and high-level
briefers from the UN sys-
tem and key regional
organisations.
“Modi would be the
first Indian prime minis-
ter to preside over a UN
Security Council Open
Debate,” the Prime
Minister's Office said.
● 56 LOCATIONS in
eight of J&K’s 20 dis-
tricts were raided and
thoroughly searched by
scores of NIA teams,
which were assisted by
the local police and
CRPF personnel, sources
said.
disrupting the nation’s
unity and integrity, and
claimed if the party’s
activities were not curbed
immediately, it was likely
to “escalate its subversive
activities, including an
attempt to carve out an
Islamic State out of the
territory of Union of
India”, continue advocat-
ing the secession of J&K,
and propagate “anti-
national and separatist”
sentiments.
The MHA had claimed
the JeI was the main
organisation responsible
for the propagation of sep-
aratist and radical ideolo-
gy in the former state, par-
ticularly in the Kashmir
Valley. Earlier, the J&K
police had in a major
crackdown arrested the
leadership and key
activists and sympathis-
ers of JeI. Most of them
were subsequently
detailed under J&K’s
stringent Public Safety
Act. The NIA said JeI
members had been collect-
ing funds domestically
and abroad through dona-
tions, particularly zakat
and other forms of
mandatory and voluntary
Islamic charity to help the
needy and carrying out
various welfare activities,
● KEEPING IN mind the
caste arithmetic, the BJP
will be launching mass
contact programmes for
target groups and sec-
tions, starting with a
“booth vijay” campaign
on August 23.
the BJP in the state.
While the OBCs consti-
tute nearly 43-45 per cent
of the state’s total popula-
tion, the Dalits are at 21
per cent. In the last
Assembly polls, the SP
won 47 seats and the BSP
had managed just 19
seats.
Keeping in mind the
caste arithmetic, the BJP
will be launching mass
contact programmes for
target groups and sec-
tions, starting with a
“booth vijay” campaign
on August 23. The BJP
leaders and cadre will be
highlighting the “people
centric” initiatives taken
by the Yogi Adityanath
government in the state
and also the various
measures taken by the
Narendra Modi govern-
ment at the Centre.
From August 10 to
August 20, the BJP has
decided to hold meetings
of its leaders and office
bearers in all 403
Assembly constituencies.
The BJP will be holding
nearly 120 different pro-
grammes to reach out to
the people and cadre .
pg 4
“but these funds are
instead being used for vio-
lent and secessionist
activities”.
It alleged: “The funds
raised by JeI are also
being channeled to mili-
tants such as Hizb-ul-
Mujahideen (HM),
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT)
and others through well
organised networks of JeI
cadres. The JeI has also
been motivating impres-
sionable youth of
Kashmir and recruiting
new arakeen (members)
to participate in disrup-
tive secessionist activi-
ties.”
The NIA said a case
under the relevant legal
provisions was registered
by it against the JeI in
New Delhi on February 5
this year.
The NIA said the search-
es were done at the prem-
ises of office bearers and
members of JeI and also
at the offices of the trusts
purportedly run by it.
“During the searches
today, various incriminat-
ing documents and elec-
tronic devices were seized
from the premises of the
suspects. Further investi-
gation in the case contin-
ues,” the NIA said. No
arrests are reported to
have been made on
Sunday.
Interestingly, Sunday’s
raids were the third major
operation conducted by
the NIA in J&K in the last
three weeks. On July 10,
the NIA had also arrested
six people from different
parts of J&K in terror
funding cases.
TMC SEES BJP OUT
OF TRIPURA BY
NEXT ELECTIONS
RAJIB CHOWDHURI
KOLKATA, AUG. 8
West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Bane-
rjee’s nephew Abhishek
Banerjee on Sunday
claimed that the BJP
would be ousted from
power in Tripura in the
next Assembly Election.
The Trinamul Cong-
ress Diamond Harbour
MP made the claim after
he flew to the neigh-
bouring state in the
morning to ensure the
release of 12 party work-
ers, arrested by the
police on the
Disaster Management
Act charges for violat-
ing Covid lockdown
norms, following an
attack on them allegedly
by BJP workers a day
before in Khowai dis-
trict.
This was the second
time in a week the newly
appointed TMC national
general secretary visit-
ed Tripura.
Accompanied by TMC
Rajya Sabha member
Dola Sen, state educa-
tion minister Bratya
Basu and party leader
Kunal Ghosh, Banerjee
laid a siege at the
Khowai police station
for hours in protest of
the arrests. He was also
seen locked in a verbal
duel with a police officer
while demanding the
release of the TMC
workers,
 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | MONDAY | 9 AUGUST 2021
TAKES
SHORT
15 KILLED AS
BUS OVERTURNS
IN TURKEY
Istanbul, Aug. 8: A passenger
bus veered and tumbled off a
highway in western Turkey,
killing 15 people on Sunday.
The governor’s office of Bali-
kesir province said said the
bus overturned at 04:40 local
time (0140 GMT) on Sunday.
Emergency units arrived at the
site, where 11 people died. Four
others died in the hospital. The
governor’s office said 17 people
injured in the crash were taken
to five hospitals for treatment.
The bus belonging to travel
company Efe Tur was traveling
from Zonguldak in northern
Turkey to Izmir in western Tu-
rkey when it went off the road.
REGIME SHELLING
CLAIMS LIVES OF 4
SYRIAN CHILDREN
Beirut, Aug. 8: Regime shell-
ing has killed four children in
Syria's last major rebel bastion
in the northwest of the count-
ry, a Britain-based war monitor
said Sunday.
The artillery fire late Satur-
day hit a residential area in the
south of the jihadist-dominat-
ed bastion of Idlib, the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights
said. The victims in the village
of Qastoun in the Hama
province were from the same
family, it said.
THAI MAN
CHARGED WITH
KILLING SWISS
Bangkok, Aug. 8: A suspect in
the death of a 57-year-old Swiss
woman on Thailand’s tourist
island of Phuket was charged
with murder and robbery, poli-
ce said Sunday.
The suspect, Teerawat Thoth-
ip, a 27-year-old Thai man livi-
ng in Phuket, confessed to the
killing and even spoke by telep-
hone at a police press conferen-
ce to admit his guilt and des-
cribe the crime.
Investigators were able to tr-
ace the suspect using security
camera footage, and during the
interrogation he was found to
have scratches and bruises on
his body, said Police Maj. Gen.
Nuntadech Yoi-nuan, deputy
commissioner of Provincial
Police Region 8. The body of
the Swiss woman, Nicole
Sauvain-Weisskopf, was dis-
covered Thursday.
quick New players aim
BITES to disrupt MF turf
INDICATORS % With the revival of kharif
Sensex 54,277.72 -0.39
Nifty 50 16,238.20 -0.35
S&P 500* 4,436.52 0.17
Dollar (`) 74.15 0.04
Pound Sterling (`) 103.15 0.06
Euro (`) 87.56 0.22
Gold (10gm)* (`) 46,570▼283 0.60
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 70.80 0.69
IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.240 0.53
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 1.287 0.070
* As of Friday/Saturday
Aramco half-year
earnings climb
to $47 billion
Saudi Arabia's oil giant Aramco
announced a net income of
around $47 billion for the first
half of the year, double what it
earned over the same period
last year when Covid-19 pum-
melled global demand for oil.
This puts Aramco back squarely
where it was before the pan-
demic struck and sunk earnings
to $23.3 billion in the first six
months of 2020. CEO Amin
Nasser said the results reflect a
rebound in energy demand.
Printed & Published by
K Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan
Chronicle Holdings Limited. Printed &
Published at Deccan Chronicle Presses
situated at SP-3 Developed Plot,
Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai.
Editor: Kaushik Mitter, RNI Reg. No.
TNENG/2008/25473 Air surcharge Re 1.
© All rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole or in part without written per-
mission of The Editor, Financial
Chronicle ® is prohibited.
Taliban seize 3 more
provincial capitals
Insurgents gain ground in fight to take over Afghan cities
Kunduz, Aug. 8: The Ta-
liban tightened the noose
around northern Afghani-
stan Sunday, capturing th-
ree more provincial capi-
tals as they take their fight
to the cities after seizing
much of the countryside
in recent months.
The insurgents have sn-
atched up five provincial
capitals in Afghanistan
since Friday in a lightning
offensive that appears to
have overwhelmed gover-
nment forces.
Kunduz, Sar-e-Pul and
Taloqan in the north fell
within hours of each
other Sunday, lawmakers,
security sources and resi-
dents in the cities con-
firmed.
In Kunduz, one resident
described the city as being
enveloped in “total chaos”.
“After some fierce fight-
ing, the mujahideen, with
the grace of God, captured
the capital of Kunduz,”
the Taliban said in a state-
ment Sunday afternoon.
“The mujahideen also
captured Sar-e-Pul city,
the government buildings
and all the installations
there.” The insurgents
said on Twitter on Sunday
evening that they had also
taken Taloqan, the capital
of Takhar province.
Parwina Azimi, a wome-
n’s rights activist in Sar-e-
Pul, said by phone that
government officials and
the remaining forces had
retreated to an army bar-
racks about three kilome-
tres (two miles) from the
city. The Taliban had the
compound “surrounded”,
said Mohammad Hussein
Mujahidzada, a member of
the provincial council.
Taloqan was the next to
go Sunday, with resident
Zabihullah Hamidi saying
by phone that he saw secu-
rity forces and officials
leave the city in a convoy
of vehicles.
“We retreated from the
city this afternoon, after
the government failed to
send help,” a security
source said.
“The city is unfortunate-
ly fully in Taliban hands.”
■ Tiny funds bet on tech, low fee to rival titans
RAVI RANJAN PRASAD
MUMBAI, AUG.8
Like discount broking dis-
rupting traditional equity
broking business, Indian
mutual fund industry is
likely to see new players
with innovative products,
aggressive returns and low
fees disrupt the traditional
bank dominated asset
management business in
times to come.
With huge untapped
potential due to low pene-
tration, new mutual fund
players have started
designing differentiated
products and are using
technology to gain market
share with lower fees.
Earlier this year, Flipkart
co-founder Sachin Bansal
acquired Essel Mutual
Fund from the Essel Group
in February and renamed
it as Navi Mutual Fund.
After Bansal's takeover
and renaming, Navi
Mutual Fund has launched
an exchange traded fund
(ETF)—Navi Nifty-50 Index
Fund and recently filed
offer documents for anoth-
er new fund offering, again
an ETF—Navi Midcap 150
Index Fund.
Trust Mutual Fund
which also started at the
beginning of the year as a
Airlines asked to submit India-UK fare details
New Delhi, Aug. 8:
Aviation regulator DGCA
has asked the airlines to
submit details about the
airfares they have been
charging for India-UK
flights during August, an
Afghans inspect a damaged building after airstrikes in Lashkar Gah city of Helmand
province, on Sunday. Airstrikes damaged a health care clinic and high school in the
capital of Helmand province.
Airstrikes hit clinic, school
Kabul, Aug. 8: Airstrikes
damaged a health clinic
and high school in the cap-
ital of southern Afghanis-
tan’s Helmand province, a
provincial council mem-
ber said Sunday. In north-
ern Kunduz province,
Taliban fighters made
additional gains.
A Defence Ministry
statement confirmed that
airstrikes were carried
out in parts of the city of
Lashkar Gah. It said
forces targeted Taliban
positions, killing 54 fight-
ers and wounding 23 oth-
ers. It made no mention of
a clinic or school being
Kunduz is the most sig-
nificant Taliban gain sin-
ce the insurgents launch-
ed an offensive in May as
foreign forces began the
final stages of their with-
drawal. It has been a
perennial target for the
Taliban, who briefly over-
ran the city in 2015 and
again in 2016 but never
managed to hold it for
debt focused fund has got
good response to its NFOs.
Brokerage Samco Securi-
ties is also setting up a
mutual fund in India.
Some existing players
have matured and are pro-
viding competition to older
players with new product
offerings and superior
returns like South Korea
based Mirae Asset Mutual
Fund as per their AUM
growth (Rs 77,674 crore as
on June 30), Nippon India
Mutual Fund (2.4 lakh
crore), PPFAS Mutual
Fund (Rs 11,342 crore) and
PGIM Mutual Fund (Rs
8,110 crore).
The new fund houses are
backed by technology and
offer lowest fees due to
thier technology driven
approach.
Also they offer a low
entry even in the new fund
official said on Sunday.
On Saturday, Sanjeev
Gupta, secretary in the
Union home ministry, had
tweeted that an economy-
class ticket on British
Airways' Delhi-London
bombed. Majid Akhund,
deputy chairman of the
Helmand provincial coun-
cil, said airstrikes hit a
health clinic and a school
in the city’s 7th police dis-
trict late Saturday. But he
said the area is under
Taliban control so any
casualties could have been
caused by Taliban there.
A Taliban surge has int-
ensified as US and Nato
troops wrap up their with-
drawal from the country.
As Taliban attacks increa-
se, Afghan security forces
and government troops
have retaliated with airst-
rikes aided by the United
long. The ministry of
defence said government
forces were fighting to
retake key installations.
“The commando forces
have launched a clearing
operation. Some areas, in-
cluding the national radio
and TV buildings, have
been cleared of the terror-
ist Taliban,” it said.
Spokesman Mirwais Sta-
offers with Rs 500 mini-
mum investment com-
pared to Rs 5,000 required
in other NFOs.
"The Mutual funds space
is ripe for disruption with
a massive opportunity to
create huge value for
investors," Jimeet Modi,
founder director, Samco
Asset Management said.
As on June 30, asset
under management of the
top five bank sponsored
mutual funds SBI Mutual
Fund (Rs 5.23 lakh crore),
ICICI Mutual Fund (Rs 4.16
lakh crore), HDFC Mutual
Fund (Rs 4.16 lakh crore),
Kotak Mutual Fund (Rs
2.46 lakh crore) and Axis
Mutual Fund (Rs 2.08 lakh
crore) own more than half
of the total assets managed
by the MF industry at Rs
33.17 lakh crore.
flight for Aug. 26 was
priced Rs 3.95 lakh. He said
economy-class ticket on
Delhi-London flights of
Vistara and Air India was
also priced between Rs 1.2
lakh and Rs 2.3 lakh.— PTI
— AP
States. The fighting has
raised growing concerns
about civilian casualties.
Dr Ahmad Khan Weyar,
an official from the Hel-
mand public health depar-
tment, said a nurse was ki-
lled when an airstrike hit
a health clinic and a guard
was wounded.
“American invaders bo-
mbed and destroyed anot-
her hospital and school in
Helmand,” the Taliban
said in a statement.
It said Safyano Hospital
and Muhammad Anwar
Khan high school were
bombed.
— AP
nikzai said later that rein-
forcements including spe-
cial forces had been depl-
oyed to Sar-e-Pul and
Sheberghan. “These cities
that the Taliban want to
capture will soon become
their graveyards,” he add-
ed. Kabul’s ability to hold
the north may prove cruc-
ial to the government’s lo-
ng-term survival. — AFP
Labour
absorption
rises in July
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, AUG. 8
sowing activities, absorp-
tion of labour by agricul-
ture reached a high 11.2
million in the month of
July, according to the
Centre for Monitoring
Indian Economy.
Agriculture usually
absorbs an additional 8-12
million persons in the
month. So the July absorp-
tion this year was on the
higher side at 11.2 million.
Often, the increase in
labour begins in June,
peaks in July and some-
times remains elevated in
August, thanks to kharif
sowing and post-sowing
agricultural activities.
The monsoon has been
playing truant this year
and as a result the kharif
sowing activities were
delayed. By the end of June
2021 kharif sowing was
over 20 per cent lower than
it was in 2020. However, by
the end of July sowing
improved and was less
than 5 per cent lower than a
year ago. About 65.3 mil-
lion hectares were sown
during July compared to
19.5 million hectares in
June. "This could be the
reason why we see the
sharp increase in employ-
ment in agriculture," said
Mahesh Vyas, founder,
CMIE.
However, in July this year
employment as farmers
grew by only 1.8 million.
The category of farm
labourers, who are part of
daily wage labourers,
seems to have increased
dramatically during July.
It is likely that once the
kharif sowing season
comes to an end, these
agricultural labourers will
lose this source of employ-
ment.
Saudi to accept foreign
pilgrims for Mecca
Riyadh, Aug. 8: Saudi
Arabia will begin accept-
ing vaccinated foreign pil-
grims seeking to visit the
Islamic holy city of Me-
cca, state media reported
Sunday, around 18 months
after a border closure pro-
mpted by the Coronavirus
pandemic. Authorities in
the ministry responsible
for coordinating foreign
pilgrims will from Mond-
ay begin “gradually recei-
ving Umrah requests from
various countries of the
world,” the Saudi Press
Agency reported.
The umrah is a pilgrim-
age that can be undertak-
en at any time — distinct
from the hajj, which takes
place once annually —
and usually draws millio-
ns from around the globe
each year. The Covid-19
pandemic hugely disrupt-
ed both pilgrimages, whi-
ch are usually key reven-
ue earners for the king-
dom — in normal times,
they together rake in aro-
und $12 billion (10.3 bil-
lion euros) annually.
Before Sunday’s announ-
cement, only immunised
pilgrims resident in Saudi
Arabia were eligible for
umrah permits. — AFP
Boris threatened
to demote Sunak
London, Aug. 8: British
Prime Minister Boris
Johnson is said to have
been furious over a letter
being leaked to the media
last week, which claimed
his Chancellor Rishi
Sunak had written to
push for easier interna-
tional Covid-19 travel nor-
ms ahead of a planned re-
view. The reaction follo-
wed media reports that
the Indian-origin finance
minister had written to
his boss, calling for a sig-
nificant easing of the Co-
ronavirus travel restricti-
ons, warning that they
were damaging the econo-
my. According to The Sun-
day Times, which report-
ed on the letter last Sun-
day, Johnson is said to
To Olympic victors go
the spoils, and a tax bill
SAM MCQUILLAN
AUG. 8
As the Olympic flame has
gone out in Tokyo on
Sunday, marking the end
of the 2020 Games, swim-
ming phenom Katie
Ledecky and pole vault-
ing sensation Katie
Nageotte will both be
leaving with gold.
A hefty tax bill awaits
back in the US, but only
for one of them.
Ledecky, now the most
decorated female swim-
mer of all time, likely
owes the US government
about $44,000 from her
two gold and two silver
medal wins. That esti-
mate is based on her
lucrative corporate spon-
sorships and the prize
money attached to her
medals.
Nageotte, who won gold
in women's pole vaulting,
likely won't pay any taxes
on her winnings, thanks
to a special exemption for
those with more modest
financial success.
"The men's basketball
team isn't going to be
excluded, but a good
majority of Olympians
will be," said John
Karaffa, president of
ProSport CPA PLLC, a
Virginia-based tax and
accounting firm who said
he represents more than
two-dozen Olympians.
Olympic medals don't
have much intrinsic
value, fluctuating from up
to $700 for a gold to about
$5 for a bronze, depending
on the market prices of
their component metals.
But that isn't the focus of
the Internal Revenue
Service. Rather, it's the
prize money the United
States Olympic & "extremely inaccurate"
Paralympic Committee
Brisbane to lift curbs
Brisbane, Aug. 8: Austr-
alia’s third-largest city of
Brisbane will lift a lockdo-
wn Sunday after contain-
ing a virus cluster, while
an outbreak that has kept
Sydney paralysed for wee-
ks continues to grow.
Millions of people in Br-
isbane and surrounding
areas have spent just eight
days under stay-at-home
orders after an outbreak
of more than 100 cases sp-
read among several school
communities.
Deputy Queensland pre-
mier Steven Miles said the
region had achieved “so-
mething quite incredible”
by seemingly bringing the
outbreak under control.
“It looks like we may
have been able to contain
a Delta outbreak in just
eight days of lockdown,
just 10 days from when the
first case was notified,” he
said. Restrictions on leav-
ing the city and gatherin-
gs will remain in place for
at least two weeks.
Authorities also announ-
ced a snap three-day lock-
down for the northern
have been apoplectic with
anger and even suggested
a demotion for Sunak
from the powerful Treas-
ury department to take
charge of Health.
The problem was that
the first Johnson knew of
the letter was when deta-
ils of it appeared in the
media, the report said.
Quoting a senior source
from a meeting, it said
that Johnson then went
on to say in the presence
of around a dozen officia-
ls that he had been think-
ing about a change.
Maybe it’s time we
looked at Rishi as the next
Secretary of State for
Health. He could poten-
tially do a very good job
there. — PTI
Olympic medals
dont have much
intrinsic value, ‘
fluctuating from up
to $700 for a gold
to about $5 for a
bronze, depending
on the market
prices of their
component metals.
But the IRS focus is
on the prize money
awards its medalists,
which for the 2020 Tokyo
Games is:
$37,500 (gold)
$22,500 (silver)
$15,000 (bronze)
Winnings are treated as
income for federal tax
purposes. For top-earning
athletes like Ledecky, who
makes over a million dol-
lars a year in endorse-
ments according to a
report in the Washington
Post, total prize money is
subject to the top-margin-
al tax rate of 37 per cent.
Nageotte, on the other
hand, is spared paying tax
by an Obama-era law that
exempts athletes making
less than $1 million in
total income after deduc-
tions from the so-called
"victory tax."
"Income earned by an
American citizen, even if
its in Timbuktu, is
income on your US tax
return," said Conrad
Teitell, a principal with
Cummings & Lockwood
in Stamford, Connecticut.
"Many other countries
don't tax income earned
while in a foreign coun-
try."
Nageotte has refuted
what she says are
estimates of her net
pg 5
● IRAN REPORTED over
500 daily Covid deaths
for the first time on
Sunday, its health min-
istry announced, as new
infections also hit a
record high. Iran regis-
tered 39,619 new infec-
tions in the 24 hours to
Sunday, taking the total
since the pandemic
started to 4,158,729, the
ministry said.
city of Cairns, after a taxi
driver spent 10 days infec-
tious in the 150,000-strong
community.
They will join millions
of people in Melbourne
and Sydney under stay-at-
home orders, with Austr-
alia’s biggest city about to
enter a seventh week of
lockdown.
New South Wales state
recorded 262 new cases
Sunday, taking the out-
break that began in
Sydney in mid-June to
more than 5,000 cases.
— AFP
PROTESTERS
MARK MYANMAR
UPRISING ANNIV
Yangon, Aug. 8: Myanmar
protesters on Sunday
marked the anniversary of
a 1988 pro-democracy upri-
sing that brought Aung
San Suu Kyi to prominen-
ce, with flash mobs and
marches of defiance agai-
nst the ruling junta.
The country has been in
turmoil since the generals
launched their February
putsch and subsequent
crackdown on dissent that
has killed more than 900
people, according to a local
monitoring group.
But protesters remain un-
deterred, taking to the stre-
ets daily in lightning-quick
rallies to demand the end
to the State Administrati-
on Council — as the junta’s
so-called “caretaker” gov-
ernment has dubbed itself.
worth, saying pole vault-
ing hasn't made her rich.
Of course, her tax status
could change after she
won gold.
"For some of these ath-
letes, their success during
this year's games will
determine the endorse-
ments they'll earn,
whether or not they'll
have income over $1 mil-
lion for this tax year,"
Karaffa said.
Professional athletes in
the US typically owe taxes
to the jurisdictions in
which they compete.
Countries hosting major
international tourna-
ments, though, often
exempt non-resident com-
petitors.
"In Japan, it is legislated
as a special tax treatment
that the prize award given
to non-resident athletes
participating in the
Tokyo Olympics/
Paralympics is exempt
from Japanese taxation,"
said Yoshihisa Kita, first
secretary of finance for
the Japanese Embassy in
the US.
Some countries, partic-
ularly those starved for
Olympic success, offer
their athletes much
greater rewards. Singa-
pore, for example, pays
gold medalists 1 million
Singapore dollars (US
$740,000)-for a first-time
win.
Unfortunately for for-
eign athletes with US resi-
dency, there is no exemp-
tion. "The law is very spe-
cific," Karaffa said. "The
exemption is only for
prize money received by
the US. If somebody earns
less than a million, but got
money from the French
Basketball Association,
that money is fully tax-
able." —Bloomberg
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 9 AUGUST 2021 | CHENNAI
pg 6

9 AUGUST 2021

Neeraj Chopra lights a Subhani

flame for Indian sport
N
eeraj Chopra’s golden arm that propelled the javelin to an Olympic
gold promises to change India’s sporting history. A nation with a pop-
ulation in excess of 1.35 billion is filled with zealous followers of sport
but when it comes to winning medals on the track and field in blue
riband events denoting athleticism as defined in the Olympic credo of “faster,
higher, stronger”, it has only been a wistful journey of more than 100 years, of
performances that were nearly there but not quite of the podium kind. It took
a farmer’s son from India’s wheat granary Haryana to put India on the athlet-
ics map. He is the spark that has lit the flame of inspiration.
The ebullient actor-athlete Norman Pritchard, born and educated in India,
was the first Asia-born sportsman to win Olympic medals, bagging two silvers
in the 1900 edition in Paris in the 200m and 200m hurdles. The IOC still credits
those medals to India though the country has been competing officially in the
Olympics only since Antwerp in 1920. It took more than a century for an
Indian sportsperson to win an Olympic gold medal. Abhinav Bindra struck
gold in 2008 in the esoteric sport of shooting in a career marked by a single
minded pursuit of the highest calibre perfor-
India may not mance in the 10-metre air rifle event.
become a sporting Neeraj Chopra is of a similar mould, his record
powerhouse in in the last five years testimony to his graded
improvement at hurling the javelin until majestic
decades to come throws in his first couple of attempts in qualifying
but a path to sport and in the final proving sufficient to win the gold
as a vocation has and let the main Olympic stadium reverberate
Restoring confidence is DISGRACEFUL
SCENARIO
LETTERS

key to economic growth

It’s disconcerting to learn
been illuminated by with the Indian national anthem. The discipline of
a career in the Army as a Subedar was reflected in that the ex-gratia payment
a golden light his endearing comments crediting legendary mid- promised to the family
dle distance runner Milkha Singh, who lost out on members of doctors who
a medal by a whisker in Rome in 1960, as a national inspiration for aspiring
athletes. an entire decade to double total exports. This com- had died of Covid-19 has
It is moot whether Neeraj has opened the floodgates to Olympic gold medals India’s GDP. pares with the $291 billion still not been made by the
but what is assured is there will be no dearth from now of athletes striving to This line of thinking is achieved in 2020-21 and
achieve their dreams. The lumbering Indian system has been changing with Sanjaya Baru also reflected in the views
of another member of the
$313.5 billion attained in
2019-20.
state government. The
promise of a family member
deep-rooted corruption in administration and prejudice in selection just about
making way for an orderly backing of sportspeople with amenities for train- PMEAC, Sajjid Chinoy, While companies and of the deceased being given
a government job also
Sanjayovacha
ing at home and abroad and plenty of incentives to excel. It is said that a who has recently written diplomats can do their bit
teenaged Neeraj tried his hand at sport to reduce his weight and was straight- that exports and public to push exports, the min- remains unfulfilled. What’s
away seen as a natural at the javelin. Since then he has trained hard to be investment will have to istries of finance and com- more painful is that the
amongst the world’s best with the gold medal just desserts for years of effort. drive economic growth in merce will have to play
solatium of `50 lakh,

T
India may not become a sporting powerhouse in decades to come but a path he upward move-
to sport as a vocation has been illuminated by a golden light. There may be ment in India’s
anguish in near-misses as in the golfer Aditi Ashok’s final round of heartache stock market in-
but, going forward, Indian sportspersons can expect to have the backing of a dices, claimed
support team and it will be up to the individual to perform in chosen disci- Union finance
plines. The highest haul of seven medals in an Olympics is representative of minister Nirmala
achievers making their mark in varied fields — javelin, weightlifting, boxing, Sitharaman, in response to
badminton, men’s hockey and wrestling — to show that India is just not all a question in Parliament
cricket when it comes to winning performances. last week, “is driven pri-
marily by the expectations
of future economic
finance minister, to claim-
ing credit for what may
well prove to be, with hind-
sight, “irrational exuber-
ance”. It is not at all sur-
prising that Ms
Sitharaman chose to be so
bold as to claim credit for
the sentiment on Dalal
Street. After all, the Union
government has been des-
the near term given the
subdued sentiments of
firms and households. “All
told”, said Mr Chinoy,
“exports and public invest-
ment will need to create a
growth and jobs bridge
until private investment
andconsumption recover”.
The Union government
has been trying to push
their part too in terms of
addressing exchange rate
and tariff policies. As part
of its “Atma Nirbhar
Bharat” strategy and in
seeking to contain Chinese
imports, the Modi govern-
ment has aligned its trade
policy against imports in
general. The global experi-
ence shows that any strate-
announced by the previous
government, has been
reduced to `25 lakh by the
new dispensation. The doc-
tors had put their heart and
soul into the sole objective
of saving the lives of the
Covid patients, unmindful of

Shot in arm for vaccine effort growth”. Quite under-

standably, the finance
minister attributed these
perate to get hold of some
positive economic indica-
tors so as to boost investor
public investment but fis-
cal constraints have been
imposed on it by slower
gy to push export growth
has to be aligned with a
country’s import policy.
the risk to their own lives.
The state should hang its
head in shame for playing a

T
he decision to grant emergency use authorisation (EUA) to Johnson positive expectations and
& Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine is a welcome move as it the market sentiment to
would augment the country’s vaccine availability at a time when government policy.
every dose counts. The company has claimed the single-shot vaccine is 85 Having made that confi-
per cent effective in preventing severe disease 28 days after vaccination. It dent assertion Ms Sith-
will be administered to people aged 18 years and above. araman went on to reas-
As per the government’s own claim, the US-based company applied for sure Parliament that the
EUA on Friday and was granted it the same day by the Drugs Controller Narendra Modi govern-
General of India. The fast-track approval marks a break from the past ment, the country’s central
when the foreign manufacturers had far too many hurdles to clear before bank and the stock market
they were to get the clearance. The government has now relaxed several of regulator were all monitor-
the earlier conditions, which included production of data on the bridge ing market indices to
trial conducted in India. At present, a vaccine with approval from regula- “ensure orderly function-
tory bodies of other countries or on the list of the World Health ing of the stock markets
Organisation would be given the EUA with the condition that clinical tri- and maintain macro-finan-
als could be continued later. At present, India has five vaccines — Serum cial stability”.
Institute’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s indigenously developed Covaxin, Market analysts, howev-
Russia’s Sputnik V, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. er, take a more nuanced
Indian manufacturers have, of late, increased production of the vaccines view. Some see portfolio
but the fact remains that India is far from being on track to meet the inflows from a global econ-
December 31 deadline it had set for itself to vaccinate all eligible Indians. omy awash with easy
There are many segments of society, including teachers, traders and daily money, thanks to US
wage earners, whose vaccination is critical for the opening of the econo- President Joe Biden’s fis-
my. The government may prioritise the use of the single dose vaccine cal liberalism, fuelling
keeping its advantages in mind for targeted vaccination. It may also adopt market engines in India.
international practices in approving vaccines so that procedural delays do Shying away from China
not stop their launch in the country. for geopolitical and eco-
nomic reasons, they are
coming to India, among
and consumer confidence.
The ride has been rough
for Ms Sitharaman.
Despite her best efforts,
and visible results on the
fiscal front, both invest-
ment and consumption
remain subdued due to
persistent modest expecta-
tions about the near term.
The Reserve Bank of
India’s consumer and busi-
ness confidence surveys
continue to suggest that
both companies and house-
holds are not yet voting for
the future even as there is
an improvement in both
contemporary sales and
capacity utilisation. There
is a post-lockdown recov-
ery, but it is distinctly K-
shaped, indicating a good news on the export
widening gap in income
and expenditure between
the upper classes and the
masses.
Economic and financial
analyst V. Anantha
growth. The slow progress
of privatisation of public
sector enterprises has also
posed a challenge. In some
traditional sectors of pub-
lic sector spending, like
defence production, the
government is hoping that
private investment will in
fact make up for inade-
quate public investment.
In the short term, increas-
ing public investment is
not merely a fiscal chal-
lenge. It is even more an
administrative challenge.
Even the Chief of the Army
Staff had recently
bemoaned the constraints
imposed by bureaucratic
inertia on public spending.
There has been some
front with a 74 per cent
jump in exports in the first
quarter of 2022 over the
“first lockdown” quarter of
2021. Not surprisingly,
Prime Minister Narendra
All major exporting
economies are also import-
ing economies. Given the
structure of Indian
exports, and the commodi-
ty pattern of the recent
surge, this link is all the
more relevant.
While the external affairs
minister has been actively
reviving free trade talks
with the European Union,
Australia, Britain and so
on, the commerce minister
has stopped criticising the
United States, Japan,
South Korea and the
Southeast Asian nations
on trade imbalances. To
top it all, trade with China
is again rising, albeit
below the radar of the
BJP’s Swadeshi Jagran
Manch. India’s exports to
China grew by close to 70
per cent in the first half of
2021, even though the trade
deficit remains significant-
ly high.
dirty game even in such
matters.
P.G. Menon, Chennai
FEES TO GURU MUST
The Madras high court has said that
schools denying TCs to students cit-
ing fee dues or any other reason will
be viewed as contempt of court. This
is unreasonable, to say the least.
Teaching service is a commodity
purchased by parents and they are
bound to pay the fees charged by
schools. Let us spare a thought for
the educational institutions which
have many financial commitments
(say, paying salary to the staff, meet-
ing maintenance expenses and other
exigencies, to mention just a few) in
the society. Tuition fee is the main
source of income for schools and col-
leges and if that is denied to them,
they will find it extremely difficult
to run the show. And it is for no fault
of theirs.
S. Ramakrishnasayee, Chennai

KAUSHIK MITTER
DECCAN CHRONICLE

K. SUDHAKAR
other
economies.
emerging Nageswaran, a member of
the Prime Minister’s
Modi has sought to associ-
ate himself with this good
After spending its first
term in office criticising GOLDEN CHOPRA
Editor Printer & Publisher Others believe that the Economic Advisory news by chairing a meet- the Manmohan Singh gov- Many congratulations to Neeraj
R. MOHAN Reserve Bank of India’s Council, recently wrote on ing with the representa- ernment’s trade policy, the Chopra for scripting history in the
Resident Editor monetary policy, with low his widely read and highly tives of export firms, trade BJP has quietly come to javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics
DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at: rates of interest at a time regarded blog (thegoldstan- promotion councils and terms with the necessity of by winning a gold medal, throwing a
Chennai: SP 3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai 600032. Phones: (044) 22254747, Indian diplomats overseas external trade policy mov-
22254748 when inflationary expecta- dardsite.wordpress.com/au behemoth 87.58 meters. Chopra joins
Coimbatore: 77 Vivekananda Road, Ramnagar, Coimbatore 641009. Phone: (0422) 2231255, 2231256 tions are rising, is en- thor/jeevatma/): “If India where he set a target of ing from inward orienta- shooter Abhinav Bindra in the elite
Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad 500 003. Phone: (040) 27803930-4. Fax: (040) couraging investors, big manages to grow its real $400 billion for this year’s tion to outward orienta- club, besides becoming the only track
27805256. and small, to chase equi- GDP by five per cent and tion. In a democracy, poli- and field athlete to win gold for the
Bengaluru: 5th Floor, BMTC Commercial Complex, 80 Ft. Road, Koramangala, Bangalore-560095. Ph: cy change is more often
08043460500; Fax: 080-22960551/52/55 ties. The rise in valuations nominal GDP at nine per country in 100 years. The historic win
does not necessarily corre- cent between 2021-22 and than not a product of of the 23-year-old spearman from
Visakhapatnam: Survey No. 1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony,
Visakhapatnam - 530 017. Phones: (0891) 2552333/2552334, Fax (0891) 2755285 spond to trends in the real 2029-30 and assuming a
The government is necessity rather than Haryana’s Khandra village is a
Vijayawada: No. C 3 & 4, Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.). Phones: (0866) economy. Indeed, even Ms USD/INR exchange rate of trying to push choice. moment of great pride, and his incred-
2555284/ 2555287, Fax (0866) 2555234
Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry 533125. Phones: (0883) 2417208, 2417618
Sitharaman has focused on 70, India’s real GDP will be public investment ible effort is a perfect antidote to the
Anantapur: Thapovan Colony, Bangalore Bye-Pass Road, Anantapur 515004. Phones: (08554) 276903, “expectations” rather than $6.7 trillion by the end of amid fiscal The writer is an pain the nation endured in a few
“performance”. the decade.” Besides skirt- economist, a former heartbreaks with our women’s hock-
Fax: 08554-276904
Nellore: Survey No. 527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemudugunta Panchayat, Nellore. Over the years Union ing the fact that the econo-
constraints imposed newspaper editor and was ey team and golfer Aditi Ashok sliding
Phone: (0861) 2348581/ 82, Telefax (0861) 2348580 finance ministers have my will not be a $5 trillion by slower growth. an adviser to former Prime out of medal contention by the nar-
Karimnagar: Survey No. 1341, Vavilalapally Colony, Jagityala Road, Karimnagar 505 001.
Phone: (0878 ) 2228908; Telefax (0878) 2220433 had to swing between one in 2024, a goal set by The slow progress Minister Manmohan rowest margins. Subedar Neeraj
Kochi: No. 3-B, 3rd Floor, DD TRADE TOWER, Kaloor-Kadavanthara Road, Ernakulam, claiming that they “do not Prime Minister Narendra of privatisation of Singh. His most recent Chopra sent Indian hearts soaring
lose sleep” over fluctua- Modi in 2017, when India’s book is New Cold War: into the sky and earned immortality
Ph: 0484-4039408
Kozhikode: No 6/1002 E, First Floor City Mall, Opp. YMCA Kannur Road, Kozhikode - 673 001 GDP began approaching
public sector Henry Kissinger and the
tions in market indices, as by securing his stripes as a world-
Fax : 0495 4019018
Dr Manmohan Singh the $3 trillion mark, it also enterprises has also Rise class athlete.
Thiruvananthapuram: St Joseph Press Thycaud post, Cotton Hills, Thiruvananthapuram-14, Ph: 0471-
2735105/6/7, Fax: 0471-4016112 Gram: CHRONICLE Postal registration no: No. H/SD-348/2006-08ss famously did in his days as suggests that it would take posed a challenge. of China. R. Sivakumar, Chennai

T
he double landlocked Central
Asian republic of Uzbekistan
hosted a landmark Conference
on “Central and South Asia
Regional Connectivity: Challenges and
Opportunities” in its capital Tashkent
in the middle of July. Recognising their
Skand Tayal geo-economic centrality for connectivi-
ty, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirzi-
yoyev invited Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani and Pakistan Prime Minister
Imran Khan as his chief guests.
In his inaugural address, the Uzbek
President recalled the ancient era and
project “has already gained broad sup-
port, including from the leading inter-
national financial institutions”. He fur-
ther noted that this Trans-Afghan rail-
way corridor would connect with
China and it fully corresponds with the
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan
spoke at length, offering Karachi and
Gwadar as convenient ports for the
Central Asian republics. He referred to
the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC) as the “flagship project of BRI”
and invited the Central Asian nations
cooperation with all parties in the
region and jointly combat the “three
evil forces of terrorism, extremism and
separatism”. This claim flies in the face
of the consistent Chinese protection
given to Pakistan as a safe haven for
UN-proclaimed terrorists like Masood
Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim as well as
terrorist organisations like the
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-
Mohammad.
For Uzbekistan, the BRI project could
help open the transport corridor
towards the Persian Gulf. Uzbekistan
Mumbai port with Chabahar in Iran
and further to the Caspian Sea.
Uzbekistan will benefit by an INSTC
spur, the Trans-Caspian Railway, head-
ing east from Iran into Turkmenistan,
which connects with the Uzbek rail net-
work through Urgench in Uzbekistan.
In Tashkent, there was some excite-
ment about the proposed “Trans-
Afghan Railway” linking Uzbekistan
via Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan to
Peshawar in Pakistan. This $5 billion
project is linked with the “Quadri-
lateral Traffic in Transit Agreement”,
relentless advance of the Taliban, the
real Quad in connectivity which looms
on the horizon is between a Taliban-
dominated Afghanistan, an expansion-
ist China, a hostile Pakistan and
Uzbekistan — the only country that is
friendly to India in this group.
China has already signalled that it is
willing to work with both sides in
Afghanistan. On July 28, foreign minis-
ter Wang Yi met with a Taliban delega-
tion led by the head of the Afghan
Taliban Political Commission, Mullah
Abdul Ghani Baradar, in Tianjin.

Central Asia’s medieval age links between Central

and South Asia from the Harappan
civilisation to the Baburid states.
to join the CPEC, stressing that it was
“not exclusive”.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi
has already expressed its desire to par-
ticipate in BRI projects through bilater-
al and regional platforms. China is also
between China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan
and Kazakhstan, that also links to the
CPEC. Uzbekistan expressed its desire
Pakistan will continue to block India’s
access to Afghanistan and Central Asia
and this country’s only option might be

bid for access Babur originally came from Fergana conveyed Beijing’s readiness to “join energetically promoting the “Silk Road to join this pact last year. to focus on developing Chabahar Port
Valley present-day Uzbekistan. He hands with the Central and South Economic Belt” and Mirziyoyev was an Eyebrows were raised when at the and the INSTC. The US needs to be per-
noted the current stark reality that Asian countries to forge a closer honoured guest at the First Belt and Tashkent Conference the United suaded to give a waiver to Indian and
“there are no effective trans-boundary regional connectivity partnership Road Forum held in Beijing in 2017. At States, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other multinational companies operat-

to sea may see routes and the trade-economic ties are

poorly developed”.
President Mirziyoyev proposed the
new Quad rise
development of modern, effective and
secure transport and logistics infra-
structure in Central and South Asia. In
his view, “a key element” of this con-
nectivity architecture would be the
Termez-Mazar-e-Sharif-Kabul-
Peshawar Railroad. He noted that this
through high-quality cooperation
under the BRI”. Foreign minister
Wang Yi made a four-point proposal on
promoting connectivity in Central and
South Asia. He also called on World
Bank, the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank and ADB to invest in
these connectivity projects. For the
record, Mr Yi added that China will
deepen law enforcement and security
this forum, the two countries signed
115 deals worth more than $25 billion,
which covered electrical power, oil pro-
duction, chemicals, textiles, trans-
portation, infrastructure, etc., and by
road and rail to the Caspian Sea.
Uzbekistan has also joined the India-
sponsored “International North-South
Transportation Corridor”, or INSTC, a
multi-model route that will connect
Uzbekistan announced the creation of a
new “Quadrilateral Diplomatic
Platform” that focussed on enhancing
regional connectivity. The US media
note said that the “parties intend to
cooperate to expand trade, build transit
links, and strengthen business to busi-
ness ties”.
However, with the shrinking foot-
print of the US in the region and the
ing at Chabahar port.
Afghanistan is poised at the knife’s
edge and the region would see new geo-
strategic equations. India needs to play
its cards adroitly in order to remain rel-
evant and effective.
The writer is a retired diplomat and
has served as India’s ambassador to
Uzbekistan and South Korea

MEDAL TALLY
COUNTRY G S
1. USA 39 41
2. China 38 32
3. Japan 27 14
4. Great Britain 22 21
5. ROC 20 28
6. Australia 17 7 22
7. Netherlands 10 12
8. France 10 12
9. Germany 10 11
10. Italy
48. India
10
1
ROC — Russian Olympic Committee
10
2
Short takes
Kenyan Kipchoge
wins marathon
K enya’s Eliud Kipchoge
underlined his creden-
tials as the undisputed king of
the marathon with a totally
dominant run to retain his
Olympic title on the streets of
Sapporo on Sunday.
The world record holder
clocked 2hr 08min 38sec to
win gold, becoming only the
third man to win consecutive
marathon titles.
Abdi Nageeye of the
Netherlands claimed silver in
2:09.58, just ahead of
Belgium’s Bashir Abdi in the
final event of the athletics
programme at the Tokyo
Games.
Kipchoge’s victory margin
of 1min 20sec was the biggest
since Frank Shorter’s win in
the 1972 Munich Games.
The 36-year-old’s triumph,
his 13th win in the 15
marathons he has raced since
2013, came a day after team-
mate Peres Jepchirchir
secured back-to-back women’s
Olympic marathon titles for
Kenya’s women.
— AFP
Women send out
powerful message
T hey set records everyone
saw coming and others
that surprised the experts.
They suffered, and battled,
and spoke their truth in ways
that hadn’t been heard before.
Over nine days at the near-
empty Olympic Stadium, the
women of track and field
delivered a memorable show.
These are some of the ath-
letes who defined the meet in
Tokyo: Allyson Felix, Sydney
McLaughlin, Sifan Hassan,
Raven Saunders, Elaine
Thompson-Herah.
Sifan Hassan started with
gold in the 5,000m, then came
back with bronze in the
1,500m and closed the show
with a gold in the 10,000m.
Meanwhile, after a slow
start to the season because of
an Achilles injury, Thompson-
Herah swept the 100m and
200m sprints for the second
straight time.
The story of Raven
Saunders is inspiration for
anyone. After she received her
silver medal, Saunders
crossed her arms and formed
an X on the medals stand.
— AP
Bajrang talks of
hurdles in training
S tar India wrestler Bajrang
Punia on Sunday revealed
that his knee injury forced
him to skip mat training for
nearly three weeks which
severely hampered his
Olympic preparations and he
took the mat for the bronze
play-off without any knee pro-
tection, going against the
advice of his support staff.
Bajrang was off-colour in his
first three bouts in Tokyo.
“I could not do mat training
for nearly 25 days. I was not
able to run as well after the
injury. Before a tournament
like Olympics even missing
one day’s training is not
good,” Bajrang said.
“My coaches and physio
wanted me to continue to play
with taped knee in the bronze
bout. But I didn’t feel comfort-
able.
“Injuries can happen in
training also. And most of the
injuries happen during train-
ing because in the tourna-
ments you are completely
focussed. — PTI
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Editor: KAUSHIK MITTER
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | MONDAY | 9 AUGUST 2021
pg 7
Tokyo, Aug. 8: In between an unre-
SAYONARA!
lenting virus and an approaching
typhoon, the extraordinary Tokyo
Olympics drew to a close on Sunday,
B T having oscillated between trials and
33 113 triumphs with an unprecedented show
18 88 of hope and tenacity.
With a large firework display adding
17 58 a burst of sound to the dancing,
22 65 singing and merry-making, the
Japanese capital pulled the curtains
23 71 down on one of history’s most unique
Games come to a close, Tokyo
46 Games, handing over the flag to Paris
with the message of moving forward
14 36 while remembering those who lost
11 33 their lives during the Covid-19 pandem-
ic.
16 37 Despite the global health crisis, the
20
4
40
7
one-year delay, the soaring costs and
strongly divided opinions among
locals, the spectacle saw the light of the
day after staving off numerous chal-
lenges on the way.
hands Olympic baton to Paris
IOC PRESIDENT BACH WRAPS IT UP
In sync with the time he is living in,
International Olympic Committee Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo waves the
president Thomas Bach, after closing Olympic flag during the flag handover
the Games, said, “Athletes went faster, ceremony at the closing ceremony of
went higher and were stronger because the Tokyo Olympic Games at the
they all stood together in solidarity. Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.
“You inspired us with this unified — AFP
symbol of sport. And it was even more
remarkable because of what you faced
in the pandemic,” he added.
Bach, without whom the Games
wouldn’t have happened, added, “For
the first time since the pandemic, the
world came together. People were unit-
ed by emotion, sharing moments of joy
and inspiration. This gives us hope,
this gives us faith in the future.
“The Olympic Games of Tokyo were
the Olympic Games of hope, solidarity
and peace. You the Japanese people can
be extremely proud of what you
achieved. On behalf of all the athletes
we say thank you Tokyo, thank you
Japan,” the IOC president Bach fur-
ther said.
The festivities began in front of the
athletes, dignitaries and officials from
across the world after the Japanese flag
was raised at the 68,000-seater National
Stadium, which was out of bounds to
spectators owing to the Covid-19 pan-
demic.
ATHLETES LET THEIR HAIR DOWN
The athletes entered the stadium and
formed a circle around the rostrum.
Unlike the opening ceremony which is
a formal affair with the athletes
dressed in formal attire, the closing
was a time for the achievers to relax Bronze medallist wrestler Bajrang
and enjoy the occasion. Punia carries the Indian flag at the
A sizeable number walked in holding Olympics Stadium during the closing
their mobile phones to capture the ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics in
moment and some waved flags while US athletes pose during the closing ceremony Sunday. — AP Tokyo on Sunday. — PTI
wiping sweat on a humid Tokyo
evening.
The theme of the closing ceremony
was the ‘Worlds We Share’ and featured
featured live and spectacular celebra-
tions from the next host city as the peo-
ple of Paris and France embraced their
Bach who, in turn, passed it on to the
Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.
“I would like to express my feelings of
then formed the Olympic rings, with
fireworks going off to make it spectac-
ular. Due to the Coronavirus protocols,
One of the many unique aspects of
this ceremony was that unlike at past
Olympics, where only Games volun-
a whole lot of items, from lights to role as host of the 33rd Olympics. gratitude and respect to all the ath- the ceremony was held without specta- teers (field cast) were recognised,
music shows, dazzling fireworks and The segment took hundreds of mil- letes, and to everyone else who over- tors but the organisers put up a screen Tokyo 2020 recognised both the Games
stunts. lions of viewers on a tour of Paris and came so many difficulties to so thor- inside the stadium where fan videos and City volunteers. The volunteers to
Before extinguishing the Olympic treated them to a deep dive into the oughly prepare for these Games and from across the world were projected. be recognised were selected with an
flame that has been burning in the City of Lights to the tune of a re- deliver their absolute best performanc- Bajrang Punia as its flag-bearer, the eye towards balancing representation
cauldron since the opening ceremony, orchestrated version of La es,” said Tokyo Olympics organising largest Indian contingent bid the of genders, ages, and other factors.
the closing of the Tokyo 2020 Games Marseillaise. committee president Seiko Hashimoto. Games a goodbye after finishing their Meanwhile, The USA edged China at
broke away from history and propelled The musicians performing in six dif- campaign with the best medal tally in the top of the medals table. On the last
BAJRANG CARRIES INDIAN FLAG
hundreds of millions of viewers right ferent spots in and around Paris history. day, USA scored victories in volleyball,
into the very heart of Paris. evoked what the world has experienced Bach presented Kenya’s Peres The handover was characterised by track cycling and basketball to top the
For the first time in a handover cere- over the past several months. Jepchirchir with the gold medal for audacity and freedom as it highlighted tally with 39 gold medals, just one
mony, the next host country’s national The message was, “we are apart, we women’s marathon event, while Eliud Paris’ promise to take sport out of its ahead of China.
anthem was broadcast as a film shot can join forces and play together.” Kipchoge received his yellow metal for traditional spaces, to open the Games The 339th and final gold medal went
entirely in the future host city. The Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko winning the men’s marathon. to the city and its people, and to con- to Serbia’s men’s water polo team.
In another first, the closing ceremony Koike, handed the Olympic Flag to Lights illuminated the Tokyo sky and nect with new audiences in new ways. — PTI
Stars shine as India savours best ever Olympics
New Delhi, Aug. 8: It started ● India’s campaign at the Olympic Games was as much And in the boxing ring, an heir
with a bang, tapered off in the apparent to the iconic M. C. Mary
middle and then ended with the
a story of human resilience as of sporting excellence Kom began to take shape in
kind of spectacular fireworks that and it came to the fore on the opening day of Lovlina Borgohain (69kg).
make historic events grand. India competitions itself starting with Mirabai Chanu. Lovlina ended with a bronze on
was quite literally on a roller- August 4 as women got down to
coaster during the Tokyo ● The stage seemed set for a grand finale and it was the task of rebuilding momentum
Olympics. with Neeraj Chopra’s javelin striking gold, India’s first in the Indian camp. And it worked
So, there was the first medal in in 13 years overall and the first ever in athletics. out quite spectacularly. The very
track-and-field which also hap- next day, Ravi Kumar Dahiya
pened to be the first gold in 13 became only the second Indian
years, the first medal in hockey in on the opening day of competi- preparations came up after only wrestler to clinch a silver at the
41 years, the first silver in tions itself starting with Mirabai one, Saurabh Chaudhary, man- Games.
weightlifting, the first boxing Chanu. aged to make the finals and none GOLDEN FINISH BY NEERAJ
medal in nine years, the first
woman with two Olympic medals,
the most number of debutants
The Manipuri weightlifter
stands a mere 4’11” but lifted
202kg (87+115) to fetch a silver and
could get on the podium.
Nobody had a clear answer as to
what went wrong even as stories
The stage seemed set for a grand
finale and it was with Neeraj
ending up on the podium, and the put India on the medals tally, of factionalism, ego battles and Chopra’s javelin striking gold,
most number of medals ever won, showing the world why size does- petty differences began to crop up India’s first in 13 years overall
it all happened in one single n’t and shouldn’t matter. from different corners. and the first in athletics.
Games for India. In her moment of glory, the phe- It seemed that the Indian cam- Bajrang Punia’s resolve paid off
And it all happened at the nomenal weightlifter was a per- paign had hit the disaster note for him with a bronze on the
Games which carried the tag of sonification of perseverance. She early and would not be able to wrestling mat as the debutant
troubled long before the opening had left the same stage in tears recover. grudgingly accepted the medal
ceremony, thanks to the unrelent- and dejection five years ago, fail- SINDHU DOUBLED THE JOY after falling out of the expected
ing Covid-19 pandemic. It all hap- ing to log a single legal lift. gold medal contention.
pened after one year of shutdown And there she was smiling ear to But along came P. V. Sindhu and Then there were those who were
that sent most training and com- ear on July 24 becoming India’s put things back on track with her hit by the curse of the fourth-
petition schedules haywire. first silver-medallist in weightlift- bronze. The seasoned Hyderabadi place finish. Their agony was a
Mighty impressive? No, it was ing. It was just the kind of start shuttler was looking to better the story in itself as golfer Aditi
way more than that. that the country needed but what silver she won in the 2016 Games. Ashok and the women’s hockey
IT ALL STARTED WITH CHANU followed was a lull. She couldn’t do that but managed team ended within touching dis-
Some top contenders bowed out to become the first Indian woman tance of the podium but not quite
India’s campaign at the Olympic without making an impact, the with two Olympic medals. there. So, India’s performance at
Games was as much a story of biggest disappointment being the While she was at it, the two the Games was bigger than the
human resilience as of sporting 15-strong shooting contingent. hockey teams also showed stom- unprecedented seven medals.
excellence and it came to the fore A lot many questions about their ach for fight after early setbacks. — PTI
Day 5 washed out, Test ends in draw KOVAI BEAT NELLAI TO MEET
Nottingham, Aug. 8:
Persistent rain proved to
be anti-climactic as India,
both India and England
log home four points each.
Only 250 plus overs out
It would have taken a
special bowling effort
from England to stop
of takeaways for India
from the opening Test of
the series.
DRAGONS IN THE ELIMINATOR
who had a realistic shot at of a maximum 450 were India from scoring 209 The Indian team in DC CORRESPONDENT centre-stage with the bat Brief scores: Kovai Kings 169/6
victory in the series-open- possible due to the runs despite overcast con- recent times, save the CHENNAI, AUG. 8 and helped them raise a in 20 overs (Shahrukh Khan 64
er, were forced to share inclement weather as ditions which would have series in 2007 and the one total of 169, their bowlers (not out), Suresh Kumar 36; B.
points with England after India, chasing a target of certainly aided seam and in 2014, have always lost Kovai Kings bowlers held were tested to the limit by Aparajith 3/13) bt Nellai Royal
entire fifth day’s play was 209, were well-placed at 52 swing bowling. the opening Test in their nerve in a tense finish the Nellai batsmen. Kings 162/8 in 20 overs (B.
washed out, here on for 1 in 14 overs at the end KL Rahul, who scored a England and this was a to upstage Nellai Royal Kovai Kings will meet Indrajith 49 (not out), Surya
Sunday. of fourth day. dogged 84 in India’s first welcome change in that Kings and qualify for the Dindigul Dragons in the Prakash 36; V. Yudheeswaran
India needed to score 157 While cricket remains a innings, had insisted that respect. The biggest posi- Tamil Nadu Premier Eliminator on Wednesday. 3/33); Chepauk Super Gillies 132
runs on the final day but game of glorious uncer- the surface was not tive for India would be get- League Playoffs at the MA Trichy Warriors who fin- in 20 overs (Radhakrishnan 55;
the rain did not allow a tainties, Virat Kohli and “unplayable” though scor- ting the ‘Test batsman’ KL Chidambaram Stadium ished on top after the P. Saravana Kumar 3/24) lost to
single ball. his men certainly had a ing runs might have been Rahul back, which going here on Sunday. league stage will take on Trichy Warriors 136/3 in 19.1
As part of the new World better shot at full 12 points challenging. forward should benefit the After their captain Musa Chepauk Super Gillies in overs (S. Santosh Shiv 25,
Test Championship cycle, from the match. However there are a lot visitors. — PTI Shahrukh Khan had held the Qualifier 1 on Tuesday. Nidhish Rajagopal 66 (not out)).
DECCAN CHRONICLE | MONDAY | 9 AUGUST 2021 | CHENNAI pg 8