MANGALURU  SUNDAY  NOVEMBER 15, 2020  `8.00  PAGES 34  CITY EDITION BIDEN SOLIDIFIES VICTORY IN US PREZ RACE WITH GEORGIA WIN President-elect Joe Biden has won Georgia, major US outlets have projected, bringing the 2020 presidential race to a close RARE TRIUMPH IN REPUBLICAN BASTION After Bill Clinton in 1992, Biden is the first Democratic nominee to triumph in Georgia, as per the projections by CNN. The former vice-president has struck at the heart of what has been a Republican presidential stronghold for nearly three decades, it said. According to NBC News, Biden’s margin in his apparent victory over Trump in the state was 14,152 votes. ■ 306 REPUBLICANS FACE COURT SETBACKS ■ Upholding the three-day extension in view of the pandemic, a court rejected the Republican Party’s efforts to block 9,300 mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day in Pennsylvania The Trump campaign has filed more than 15 legal challenges in Pennsylvania, seeking to reclaim the state’s 20 electoral votes ELECTORAL VOTES BAGGED BY BIDEN ARE JUST AS MANY AS TRUMP’S IN 2016 POLLS 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 Not a happy Deepavali for SRTC staffers Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been celebrating Diwali with soldiers at forward posts since 2014. He was in Rajouri last year, in Uttarakhand in 2018, and in Gurez in 2017. “It is important that the coming generations know about the bravery with which our soldiers and security forces ensured that India is safe from the evil designs of those who eyed our territory,” Modi tweeted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi rides on an Army tank at the Longewala Post in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, on Saturday | PTI Greeting soldiers, Modi gives veiled warning to hostile neighbours DELIVERING an unambiguous message to India’s enemies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that the country will give a “prachand jawab” (fierce reply) if provoked, as he flew to Longewala Post in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district to celebrate Diwali with soldiers, a tradition he has been following since assuming office in 2014. Modi addressed soldiers at the historic Longewala post, which is the stuff of military legend after troops here successfully thwarted numerically higher Pakistani forces in the B I S M A H M A L I K @ Bengaluru @ Bengaluru/Belagavi PM: IF TESTED, INDIA WILL GIVE ‘PRACHAND JAWAB’ R A J E S H A S N A N I @ Jaipur B’luru to transform into product development hub EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE A TRADITION OF DIWALI WITH SOLDIERS 1971 war. He said that there will be no compromise when it comes to border security With. out naming China, he targeted the neighbouring country for its expansionist policy, saying it exposes a “distorted mindset” that belongs to the 18th century. India has become a forceful voice against forces of expansionism, he said, taking an aim at Pakistan. Indian soldiers have hit “sponsors of terrorism” in their home, referring to air and surgical strikes against terror camps in the neighbouring country . “I have brought the greetings and love of every Indian to you. All of you are entitled to a lot of respect. In 2014, I went to Siachen after becoming PM to celebrate Diwali and many people were surprised. One visits their loved ones on Diwali. That is why even today, I have come among my family members. Whether you live in the snowy hills or in the desert, seeing the glow on your faces makes my Diwali auspicious,” the PM said. “No force in the world can prevent our brave soldiers from defending our borders. The world today knows that we will not compromise with our interests even one bit at any cost,” P7 he said. (With inputs from PTI) NOT everyone is celebrating Deepavali this year. Close to 1.5 lakh employees working with four state road transport corporations (SRTCs) have not got their salaries on time since March when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. The KSRTC Union had requested the State Government to pay at least a part of the salary so that the employees could celebrate the festival of lights. But the amount was not sanctioned. Since the salaries were not cleared on Saturday the em, ployees will not be paid till Tuesday, as the banks are closed till then. Recently, SRTCs had asked the government to release Rs 634 crore to pay the salaries till December. Mahesh (name changed), a KSRTC driver, said that before March, employees got their salaries on the first of every month. “Now, we are paid between 15th and 20th of every month. We have families and other expenses. So, we end up taking loans from friends and financiers,” P5 he said. INDIA’s silicon valley, Bengaluru, is undergoing a makeover from a software services exporter to a product development centre hub, as global firms set their footprints in the city Deputy CM C N Ashwath . Narayan believes that the Aatmanirbhar (self-reliance) policy pronounced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the foundation on which this transformation takes place. “From an IT services exporters hub, we are now an attractive destination for product development,” Narayan told TNSE in an exclusive interaction. He underlined the importance of research and development, resources, manpower and regulatory support for overseeing this transformation. ”Earlier, innovation in tech- nology was outside the ambit of law. However, now we are taking several measures to help spur innovation in the digital ecosystem in terms of policy measures, tax incentives and partnerships,” Ashwath Narayan said. The gover nment is looking at substantial budgetary allocations for product development services in the digital ecosystem. Leveraging an attractive talent pool, incentivised infrastructure, land facilities, global firms in electric vehicle (EV), remote work, ride-hailing, aerospace and health tech sectors including Uber, Zoom, Tata Technologies, Boeing and Siemens Healthineers announced setting up their product development and engineering centres in Bengaluru this year, when the world was challenged P11 by the Covid pandemic. EXPRESS READ ED Director’s tenure extended by one year Delhi’s air quality ‘severe’ on Diwali New Delhi: The Centre has extended the tenure of ED Director Sanjay Kumar Mishra by a year after modifying his 2018 appointment order. P7 New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality turned “severe” on Diwali with stubble burning accounting for 32 per cent of the city’s PM2.5 pollution, officials said. P7 Draft OFC policy out soon, says Deputy CM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru The state IT&BT Department is coming up with a draft optical fibre cable (OFC) policy in coordination with the Urban Development and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Departments to improve internet connectivity across the state. Under the new policy the sin, gle-window system will beExprEss THE nEw sunday introduced which will allow service providers to get all required approvals at one place, said Deputy Chief Minister and Information Technology and Biotechnology Minister Dr AshP11 wath Narayan. Srin T Voices PushPesh PAnt sAthYA sArAn s vAidhYAsuBrAmAniAm AnujA ChAndrAmouli mAdhulikA liddle sAdhGuru jAGGi vAsudev MAGAZINE novemBer 15 2020 sundAY PAGes 12 Going South With OTT platforms helping foster more young talent than ever, we take a look at the br young actors and directors from South Indian cinema EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE here is something about Diwali that brings with it a ray of hope for a new beginning. And a new beginning is what Indian cinema needs this year. After spending the better part of the year locked down, the industry is hoping for a turnaround. And who better to champion such a revival than the brightest young acting and directorial talent. It is not every day that one gets filmmakers and actors making a significant mark with their very first film, and then go on to impress with subsequent work too. With theatres reopening again in the South, here’s a compilation of the best young talent set to take charge for the years to come. Or so, we hope. WITH THIS ISSUE GOING SOUTH Shet Y ash-starrer K nothing else d a rage across the make an even big made her debut w appeared in a han play a more prom limited appearan won scores of fan audience. This lo for a Tamil film a thriller Cobra. W Rahman, she will biggies lined up a career seems to b PLUS 12 PAGES An 8-page Rajyotsava supplement with this issue Pooja Hegde T his Telugu actor’s rise can be attributed to her reluctance to go by stereotypes. Not afraid to take the road less travelled, her biggest hit, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, established Pooja as an actor of note. Sought after by the biggest names in the industry her run looks set to , continue, given that she is all geared up to star opposite Baahubali star Prabhas in his upcoming period drama, Radhe Shyam. She plays a music teacher based in Europe in the film. Like some of her peers down South, Pooja also took a tentative step into Bollywood with Housefull 4. Though the run-of-the-mill comedy is anything close to a big-budget entry into the Hindi film industry the actor , will be looking forward to cementing her arrival with Radhe Shyam, which is a pan-Indian multilingual film. She will also be playing a stand-up comic in Most Eligible Bachelor, co-starring the young heartthrob Akhil Akkineni. It’s this kind of a balancing act that has marked her rapid ascension. Roshan Mathew H e made his acting debut with the role of a rapist in the MammoottyNayanthara Malayalam film, Puthiya Niyamam. It was an unusual and risky move for a first-time actor. But it’s this quality that has got Roshan where he is now. An extremely selective actor, his nascent career has already seen him play roles many lead actors may not be comfortable with. Most recently his performance as Ameer, the mute lover of Nivin , Pauly’s character in Moothon, won accolades. The role was notable for how it wasn’t just another effeminate, gay man depicted in most Indian films. Anurag Kashyap, who wrote the Hindi lines in Moothon, was so bowled over by the performance that he cast Roshan in his own OTT film, Choked. Now, we hear that Roshan will star opposite Alia Bhatt and Vijay Varma in a Hindi production from the Red Chillies Entertainment stable. The actor has also completed another Malayalam film, Varthamanam, which has Parvathy Thiruvothu in the lead, and is working in veteran director Sibi Malayil’s Kothu with Asif Ali. Roshan comes from a strong theatre background, and when not doing films, is known to return to the medium. He recently directed a long-running play called A Very Normal Family, which featured several known faces from the Malayalam film industry It’s clear already that we can expect big things from this man. . Rashmik Mandan O ne of the brightest talents to c Rashmika crossed shores to m industry Having made her debut . went on to star opposite Vijay Dev the recent successes in Telugu. W with an author-backed role in Dea cased her acting chops in quite a starred in Devadas, a multi-starre Dubbed by the Kannada media an she returned to Kannada cinema Dhruva Sarja’s Pogaru in the pipe path to cement her stardom in mu opposite superstar Mahesh Babu act in the Allu Arjun-starrer Push awaited Tamil debut with Karthik Rashmika star in three big movie isn’t a power-packed path to look