BENGALURU  THURSDAY  SEPTEMBER 03, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 20  LATE CITY EDITION AIIMS, HEALTH MINISTRY RELEASE FAQs FOR DOCTORS UNNECESSARY DRUGS TO BE AVOIDED According to the guidelines, there is no evidence to support the use of antifibrotic agents such as pirfenidone (to prevent lung fibrosis) and methylene blue, an oxidation reduction agent. Doctors have also been asked not to use favipiravir, an antiviral that has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India for use in mild to moderate cases | P9 AIIMS and Union health ministry on Wednesday released guidelines to help doctors better manage Covid-19 patients ‘USE PLASMA THERAPY WITH CAUTION’ ■ ■ The FAQs said convalescent plasma collected from ABO matched donors can be given to patients at risk of developing severe Covid in early stages of the disease “However, it should also be considered an experimental therapy and should be used with caution,” the document said 8,01,282 ACTIVE COVID-19 PATIENTS IN INDIA, ACCORDING TO UNION HEALTH MINISTRY CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Army gets better tactical position in Finger 4 area Some readjustments in deployment of troops also carried out on the northern bank of the Pangong lake; talks inconclusive M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi IN a significant initiative, the Indian Army consolidated its tactical positions around Finger -4 on Sunday while thwarting Chinese attempts to position themselves in new locations on the southern bank of the Pangong Lake. “To consolidate tactical positions, India has picked up ridges which are at heights around the Finger-4, as militarily, things would not have been tenable if the situation turned hot,” a senior officer explained. The Indian Army has its administrative camp on the foothills of the Finger. Explaining the significance of the initiative, the officer said, “Heights are important in mountains for movement and reactions. The Chinese, till now, had an upper hand as they sat on the high ridges. Now we are around them at places where they were not there.” However, the Army sought to deny reports of Indian troops occupying heights at Finger-4, saying what happened on the ground were ‘readjustments’. “ part of As the precautionary deployment carried out on August 30, 2020, some readjustments of our positions on north bank of Pangong Tso on our side of LAC had also been carried out,” it said. Chinese troops entered up to Finger-4 and had not agreed to move back to their previous position of Finger-8. The mountain spurs jutting towards the ‘Establishment 22’: India’s Tibetan battalion to the fore B A L A C H A U H A N @ Bengaluru THE ‘Vikas Battalion’, or the ‘Special Frontier Force (SSF),’ also known as ‘Establishment 22’ (two-two in military parlance), which has played a vital role in capturing Reqin and taking control of the heights of south of Pangong Tso, largely comprises Tibetans and some Gorkhas now. Its deployment in the current standoff with China is “a political statement (by India) because it is the Tibetans versus the People’s Liberation Army (PLA),” according to Lt General P M Bali (retired). The SFF has been used for selective and highly-sensitive military operations such as ‘Operation Eagle’ (Chittagong Hills in the 1971 Indo-Pak war), ‘Operation Bluestar’ (Golden Temple in 1984) ‘Operation Meghdoot’ (Siachen Glacier in 1984) and ‘Operation Vijay’ (Kargil, 1999). “This was an audacious move by the Army, as neither of these areas were under Indian control since we lost the 1962 war to China,” Lt General P7 Bali (retd) added. 118 more apps tied to China banned India on Wednesday tightened its squeeze by banning 118 more mobile apps, including PUBG, citing data privacy concerns and threat to national security PUBG, WeChat among the barred list  PUBG Mobile  PUBG Mobile Lite  Baidu Exp. Edition  Baidu  WeChat reading  Government WeChat  Tencent Weiyun  APUS Launcher Pro  ShareSave by Xiaomi  Learn Chinese AI  VPN for TikTok  Beauty Camera Plus  Tencent Watchlist  APUS Security  Alipay  FaceU  Cut Cut  CamCard  Hi Meitu lake are termed as the fingers in military parlance. The Army not only thwarted Chinese attempts but also consolidated Indian military deployments on the higher features overlooking the important Spanggur Gap and also on Rechin La. On Monday Army spokesper, son Colonel Aman Anand had said, “Indian troops pre-empted PLA activity on the southern bank of Pangong Tso Lake, undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwarted Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on ground.” India had blocked Chinese attempts to occupy heights and positioned its soldiers at Rechin La, which is about 2.5-3 km from Rezang La along the Line of Ac- 224 Total Chineselinked mobile apps banned by India so far 59 Apps were part of the first lot that were banned in June 29. It included TikTok and UC Browser 47 More clones and variants of those banned in June were barred later tual Control (LAC) on the Indian side. On Tuesday China accused , India of crossing the LAC, which was promptly rebutted. Since then, three Brigade Commander-level flag meetings have taken place, but without any consensus on resolving the new tension. In the military movement of Sunday a person, nel of the Special Frontier Force (SFF) lost his life in a mine blast close to the area of operations. The SFF comprises personnel of Tibetan origin. In Washington, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called out China, saying it is engaged in a “clear and intensive intensifying pattern of bullying” its neighbours from Taiwan to P9 the Himalayas. Karnataka opts for GST pragmatism, will borrow from RBI A N U S H A R A V I @ Bengaluru AFTER much deliberations, the Karnataka Government on Wednesday decided to take up the GST Council’s options on borrowings to make up for GST compensation shortfall. In a meeting held at Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s official residence, it was decided that Option 1 — borrowing the shortfall arising out of implementation of GST regime — will be financially beneficial for the state. Karnataka is the first BJPruled state to come out with a decision on borrowing options. At least six non-BJP ruled states have rejected both borrowing options. Under the first option, Karnataka will be eligible for total compensation of Rs 18,289 crore of which Rs 6,965 crore will come from cess collected. For the remainder of Rs 11,324 crore, the state will be allowed to borrow through a special window facilitated by the GST Council through the Reserve Bank of India at a reasonable rate of interest (yet to be fixed). Under this option, the principle and interest repayment will come out of compensation cess after 2022 when the first five years of GST regime ends. “In both options, the Government of India has accepted that full liabilities will lie with it. The first option allows us to borrow a little lesser than actual liability but allows , the state to borrow an additional 1 per cent of GSDP over and above the enhanced limit of 5 per cent. The second option allows us to borrow a little more (about Rs 8,000 crore), but does not allow unconditional additional borrowing of 1 per cent, said Additional Chief Secretary-Finance, I S N Prasad, on the thinking beP3 hind the state’s choice. KARNATAKA Oppn takes ‘Question Hour’ outside 9,860 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE COVID BATTLE Highest positive cases till date TOTAL CASES 3,61,341 5,950 2,60,913 6,287 FRESH DISCHARGES Total Deaths Total Recoveries FULL COVERAGE P4 @ New Delhi OPPOSITION par ties on Wednesday hit out at the Centre for its decision to have do away with the Question Hour in the monsoon session of Parliament starting September 14. Reacting sharply several Op, position MPs said the government cannot run away from key questions on important issues ranging from Covid-19, lockdown, state of the economy , job crisis and trouble with China on the LAC. According to notifications issued by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats, there will be no Question Hour in the upcoming session. Private members’ bills will not be taken up, while Zero Hour will be restricted. NO TIME, SAYS BJP There won’t be enough time for questions as the two Houses will convene only for four hours daily, BJP leader Anil Baluni said, adding that unstarred questions will be allowed. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had spoken to all parties and they all supported this move, he claimed. “But now they have changed their stand,” he alleged “If this is true, it is not just a violation of a member’s right, but it also means that the government is uncomfortable answering questions on governance. Gover nment is answerable to people and any move to cancel Question Hour reflects the autocratic mindset of Government,” said Rajya Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge. The Congress said questioning the government is the lifeblood of parliamentary democracy. By doing away with this tool of accountability, the BJP government seeks to pass laws without any discussion, the party alleged. WHERE INDIA STANDS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY SLUMP Of the 60 countries that released GDP growth/contraction figures for the April-June 2020 quarter, India is the third-worst affected China Vietnam Taiwan South Korea Norway Indonesia Australia Israel Sweden US Japan Germany Canada Singapore Austria Colombia Philippines Malaysia Italy France Mexico UK Spain India Peru Macau +3.2 +0.3 -0.6 -3 -5.3 -5.4 -6.3 -7.8 -8.3 -9.1 -9.9 -11.3 -13.0 -13.2 -13.3 -15.7 -16.5 -17.1 -17.7 -18.9 -19.0 -21.7 -22.1 -23.9 -30.2 -67.8 Figures are year-on-year growth of GDP in % Source: Eurostat, Bloomberg EXPRESS READ RP Sharma suffers bullet injuries Bengaluru: DGP Dr R P Sharma has sustained bullet injuries after his service pistol went off accidentally. Police said that Sharma was at his residence when the incident occurred on Wednesday evening. P7 DKS back in hospital Bengaluru: KPCC chief D K Shivakumar, who was discharged from hospital three days ago, was rushed back to hospital late on Wednesday after he complained of fever, chills and weakness. He has been placed under observation.