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MONEY 8FROM RUSSIA'S ROSNEFT TO AIRPORTS,

COS QUEUE UP TO TRAIN PERSONNEL

ANALYSIS 7‘CABBAGE TACTIC’ TO

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SPORTS 12CSK SET MI 157-RUN

TARGET

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PARE MYSELF WITHRADHIKA APTE

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HYDERABAD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

GADKARI'S CAR CLOCKS 170 KMPHDURING EXPRESSWAY SPEED TEST RUN

Avideo has surfaced on the internet that shows Nitin Gadkariexamining the construction work with officials of theexpressway in his car. The minister of road transport and

highways is seen sitting on the passenger seat and explaining thebenefits of the upcoming Delhi-Mumbai Expressway (DME). As seenin the video, the driver pressed the throttle immediately after taking aU-Turn. In a matter of few seconds, the MPV reached high speedsand clocked a speed of 170 kmph. As the highway is currently notopen for people and Gadkari's convoy was the only vehicle on thestretch, thus it was safe to perform such a high-speed test.

SPACEX CAPSULE WITH CIVILIANCREW SPLASHES DOWN OFF FLORIDA

Four SpaceX tourists returned to Earth safely on Saturday afterspending three days in space, successfully concluding the firstorbital mission in history with no professional astronauts on

board. The SpaceX Dragon capsule, whose heat shield allowed it towithstand descent, was slowed down by four large parachutesbefore splashing into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida at7:06 pm (2306 GMT), according to a video feed by the company."That was a heck of a ride for us, and we're just getting started,"billionaire captain Jared Isaacman, who financed the trip with a goalof making space a bit more accessible, said shortly after landing.

DECISION ON ALLOWING FOREIGNTOURISTS TO VISIT INDIA IN 10 DAYS

Amid a decline in Covid cases in the country, India may soonreopen its doors for foreign tourists for the first time in one-and-a-half years, officials said. First five lakh foreign tourists will be

issued visas free of cost in an attempt to revive the tourism, hospitalityand aviation sectors badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic since March2020 when a nationwide lockdown was announced. Top Union HomeMinistry officials are deliberating with all stakeholders on the expecteddate and modalities for opening up of the country for foreign tourists.A formal announcement allowing foreign tourists to visit India maycome within the next 10 days, an official from the Home Ministry said.

MONEY TRAIL PRIMA FACIE INDICATESDESHMUKH RECEIVED RS 4.7 CR: COURT

Aspecial PMLA court in Mumbai, while taking cognisance ofa charge sheet filed against former policeman SachinWaze and others in an alleged money laundering case, has

said the money trail prima facie indicates that formerMaharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh received Rs 4.7crore from Mr Waze and his aide Kundan Shinde. TheEnforcement Directorate (ED) earlier this month filed its chargesheet against Waze, Deshmukh's private secretary (anadditional collector-rank officer) Sanjeev Palande, personalassistant Shinde and 11 others in the case.

HHYYDDEERRAABBAADDWWEEAATTHHEERR

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 5:00 PM

FFoorreeccaasstt:: ScatteredThunderstormTTeemmpp:: 29/22HHuummiiddiittyy:: 76%SSuunnrriissee:: 6:04 amSSuunnsseett:: 06:13 pm

AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Bhadrapada & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Purnima 29:23

Nakshatram : Purva Bhadrapada 28:02

Time to Avoid : Time to Avoid (Bad

time to start any important work)

Rahukalam : 7:38 am - 9:08 am

Yamagandam : 10:39 am - 12:09 pm

Varjyam : 10:01 am - 11:39 am

Gulika : 1:39 pm - 3:09 pm

Good Time : (to start any important work)

Amritakalam : 7:50 pm - 9:29 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:45 am - 12:33 pm

Amammoth Ganesh immersion procession was underway in Hyderabad on Sunday amidmassive security arrangements and despite intermittent rains. Thousands of devotees were

participating in the programmes across the city to bid adieu to Ganesh while about 27,000security personnel were deployed as part of the elaborate arrangements for smooth and peacefulconduct of the annual rituals. Amid chanting of slogans, devotees were carrying thousands ofidols to Hussain Sagar lake and more than 50 other lakes and ponds in and around the city.'Shoba yatra', as the immersion procession is called, was underway amidst intermittent rains inHyderabad. Hundreds of trucks were heading towards Hussain Sagar and other lakes amid therains. The Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi, the organisers of the procession, set up specialplatforms at Charminar and Moazzam Jahi Market to welcome idols. -Reports inside

BYE BYE GANESHA

Balapur laddu

fetches Rs 18.90 L

P:3

PNS n HYDERABAD

Prohibition shifts liquor businessunderground. Occasional ban onsale of liquor merely moves biz tomakeshift shops that operatesmoothly in the gullies.

This is what happened onSunday, the grand day of Ganeshnimmajanam, though officiallythere was a ban on sale of liquor.

In view of Ganesh immersionprogramme, the Excise Police hadordered shutdown of all wineshops in the city and banned salesof liquor from 6:00 am on Sundayto 6:00 am of Monday.

In stark violating of the ban, atmany places liquor was sold open-ly in adjacent lanes and bylanes

right near the shops that were sup-posed to be closed. Officiallyspeaking, the shops followed theorders of the police, but the sellersdid not let down tipplers. They ortheir agents made sales in gulliesnear their shops. Many people gottheir fix, thanks to such liquor sales.

Another fact that worked in favourof the liquor shops is that the policewere focused on maintaining lawand order and ensuring incident-free nimmajanam.

Smart tipplers bought theirstocks on Saturday itself. But lateKates too got liquor on Sunday inbylanes and gullies, thanks tomakeshift shops. Even devotees,after piously immersing LordGanesha, went to these makeshiftshops and bought liquor.

All of this came at a premium.Sellers charged 30% extra aftermarking up the original prices,courtesy ban. The buyers, feelinglucky that they got their stockdespite the ban, did not mind theextra charge.

KTR gets invite for WEF meetPNS n HYDERABAD

Indicating Telangana's growingimportance in the comity of nations,state IT and Industries Minister KTRama Rao has received an invitationto attend the prestigious WorldEconomic Forum's 2022 meeting,which will take place in DavosKlosters from January 17 to 21.

Appreciating the work of KTR,WEF President Borge Brende,said, "Your leadership and commit-ment to transforming Telanganainto a leading technology power-house is noteworthy. As Indiaemerges from the impacts of theCOVID-19 pandemic, its ability toquickly adapt to innovation andemerging technologies will be vitalfor a sustainable economic recov-ery. Your insights on harnessingemerging technologies for com-mon good will be key to the dis-cussions at the Annual Meeting."

Brende also stated that it wasessential for the world's foremostpolitical, business, and civil soci-ety leaders to come together onceagain to "restore trust in the abil-

ity to shape the future in collabo-rative ways."

While expressing his happinessover receiving the invitation to theprestigious WEF annual meeting,KTR said: "I see this invitation asrecognition of Telangana govern-ment's initiatives in the fields ofinformation technology, industry,and innovation," he said.

KTR stated that this was anoth-er opportunity for Telangana toshowcase its friendly industrialpolicies and immense scope forglobal firms to invest in the State.The Minister thanked the WEForganizers for the invitation.

New modus operandi of cyber fraudsters electrifying DAVE BENNETT SILVERYn HYDERABAD

With people's increasing dependen-cy on smart phones, messages-driv-en cyber crimes have also been onthe rise, cyber crime officials havewarned. Going by the latest report-ed cases, cyber crime officials say,though fraudsters do not stick to anyspecific groups, a large number ofsenior citizens and retired employ-ees have been targeted by conmenthrough various means.

According to officials, the latestmodus operandi of fraudsters is tosend their potential victim a textmessage concerning his or her elec-tricity connection and warning themthat it would be disconnected for

non-payment of dues. "DEAR CONSUMER IMPOR-

TANT. INFORMATION AFTER10.30 PM TODAY THE ELEC-TRICITY CONNECTION OFYOUR HOUSE WILL BE DIS-CONNECTED. FROM THE

POWER OFFICE BECAUSE PRE-VIOUS MONTH BILL IS NOTUPDATED TO KEEP CONTINUEYOUR CONNECTION PLEASEIMMEDIATELY CONTACTWITH OUR ELECTRICITYPOWER OFFICER CUSTOMER

SUPPORT. +919066868000THANK YOU", screams a messagethat a victim had received.

The 'urgency' of the matter issought to be conveyed by the use ofcapital letters in the text and theabrupt timing mentioned -- 10:30PM, which would panic any con-sumer, said an official. Such texts aresent mainly to older consumers,who then get back to the sender of themessage for a quick solution. Oncethe consumer is hooked, the fraud-ster then deviously advises the con-sumer to install a screen sharing appon the consumer's smart phone, giv-ing the fraudster all access to thephone without the victim knowing so.

YSRC sweeps Parishads polls in APPNS n AMARAVATI

The ruling YSR Congress made aclean sweep of the mandal and zillaparishads elections in AndhraPradesh, routing the oppositionTelugu Desam Party in almost all ofthe 13 districts.

Till 7.30 PM on Sunday, theYSRC bagged 385 out of 515 zillaparishad territorial constituenciesand 5,565 of the 7,221 mandalparishad territorial constituencies forwhich elections were conducted onApril 8.

The TDP 'boycotted' the electionsbut technically its candidatesremained in the fray as the ballotswere printed before the partyannounced its decision.

The election process for theMPTCs and ZPTCs, the second andthe third tiers of the Panchayat Rajsystem began in March 2020 but theCovid-19 pandemic and the subse-quent legal battles stretched it this far.

There are a total of 659 ZPTCs ofwhich the ruling party bagged 126unanimously. It also won 2,271MPTCs unopposed. The TDP won100 MPTCs unanimously.

Eleven unanimous winners in

ZPTCs and 81 in MPTCs diedsince March 2020 even before thepoll process ended. Elections ineight ZPTCs and 355 MPTCs werewithheld for different reasons.

TDP president N ChandrababuNaidu faced humiliation as theYSRC won all the four ZPTC seats

in Kuppam Assembly constituencyrepresented by him. Also, the YSRCclinched 17 of the 19 MPTC seats inKuppam.

In Chandrababu Naidu's nativevillage Naravaripalli, too, the rulingparty won the MPTC seat by a mar-gin of 1,000 votes.

In Chittoor district, the TDPchief 's native, the YSRC clinched allthe 33 ZPTCs for which electionswere held. It had also won theremaining 32 but two of the winnerssubsequently died.

Same was the case in SPS Nellore,Anantapuramu, Krishna, Prakasam,Vizianagaram and Kurnool districtswhere the YSRC held its sway.

Overall, the TDP managed towin only four ZPTC seats out ofthe total 659 while the CPI(M)managed one so far.

Channi to takeoath as Punjab CMPNS n CHANDIGARH

Congress leader Charanjit SinghChanni will take oath as thechief minister of Punjab onMonday.

Channi, who was elected theCongress Legislature Party leaderon Sunday, met the governor inthe evening and said, "The oath-taking ceremony will take place at11 am on Monday.”

He was f lanked by stateCongress chief Navjot SinghSidhu and other leaders.

Channi will be the first Dalit tohold the post in the state.

Channi's election as the CLPleader came a day afterAmarinder Singh resigned as thechief minister amid a bitter powertussle with Sidhu.

A minister in the outgoingAmarinder Singh cabinet,Channi's selection assumes signif-icance as the dissension-rivenCongress faces the Assembly pollsin less than five months.

Country underan undeclaredemergency: AAPPNS n LUCKNOW

Senior AAP leader and RajyaSabha MP Sanjay Singh onSunday alleged that an undeclaredemergency has been imposed inthe country with the media fac-ing consistent attacks.

"There is an undeclared emer-gency imposed in the countrytoday. There are continuousattacks on the fourth estate. In thissituation, adhering to true newsis becoming difficult day-by-day,"said Singh addressing a mediaevent here.

"I am seeing that journalismhas gradually come under thecontrol of some industrialists,and I often think how journalismcan be taken out from this web,”he said.

“One reason is that the costincurred in a copy of a newspa-per is Rs 20, but it has to be soldat a very low price. To meet thisgap one has to depend on the gov-ernment and industrialists,” hereasoned.

“The day this dependencecomes to an end through publicpartnership, journalism will befree from this pressure," he said.

9 of family killed inauto-SUV collisionPNS n RAIPUR

Nine members of a family, includ-ing four women and a one-year-oldgirl, were killed and seven othersinjured on Sunday after theautorickshaw they were travellingin collided with an SUV inChhattisgarh's Kondagaon district,police said.

The accident occurred nearBorgaon turn under the Farasgaonpolice station limits, over 200 kmaway from Raipur, when the occu-pants of the autorickshaw werereturning to their native placePandeaath after attending a funer-al in Godma village, an official said.The SUV was heading towardsJagdalpur.

Seven occupants in the autorick-shaw, including the driver, werekilled on the spot. One more per-son died at the Farasgaon hospitalwhile another succumbed toinjuries while being shifted toRaipur,, he added.

After the accident, the occupantsof the SUV fled the spot, the offi-cial said.

Govt to set upresearch wing forcommunicationPNS n NEW DELHI

The government is planning toset up a research unit within itsinformation dissemination wing– Press Information Bureau(PIB) – through which it aimsto strengthen daily content gen-erated by official channels withwell researched material on allsignificant policy decisions.

The idea behind a researchunit is to ensure that all officialinformation which PIB gener-ates through press conferences,official handouts as well asthrough its social media han-dles, is backed with wellresearched and factual data,which can effectively help indispelling any kind of lack ofinformation or misinterpreteddata, sources aware of the devel-opment said.

The ‘urgency’ of thematter is sought to beconveyed by the use ofcapital letters in thetext and the abrupttiming mentioned --10:30 PM, which wouldpanic any consumer,said an official.

Celebrations at YSR Congress Party's central office in Tadepalli on Sunday, following the party’s spectacular victory in the Parishad polls.

Till 7.30 PM on Sunday, the YSRC bagged 385 out of

515 zilla parishad territorial constituencies and 5,565

of the 7,221 mandal parishad territorial constituencies

for which elections were conducted on April 8.

Kishan knows Ravi Prasad, but...PNS n HYDERABAD

The appointment of Hyderabad-based businessman Yelisala RaviPrasad as a special invitee on thenewly constituted TTD Board isrocking the Bharatiya Janata Partyas he is known to Union MinisterG Kishan Reddy and pictures testi-fying their proximity have appearedon social media platforms.

However, the Union Minister hasdenied making recommendationfor Ravi Prasad's appointment to

TTD and has sought enquiry andsuitable action against thosespreading wrong information inthis regard.

On Saturday, Kishan dashed offa letter to Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddy.

This being so, the demand formaking public the letters given byUnion Ministers recommendingnames for appointment as TTDmembers has gained traction.

Ravi Prasad is CMD ofHyderabad-based Vaishnoi group.

His appointment as a special invi-tee kicked off a controversy as heis in no way connected with theAP's ruling party YSRCP or the BJP,which is heading the ruling dispen-sation at the Centre.

So, the BJP leaders got curiousand dug up information aboutwho might have recommendedhis name. Besides, several otherpersons are dredging up the back-ground of Ravi Prasad.

Liquor biz shifts to gullies, as cops wink at ban

Green drivemakes travel onORR pleasant!

P3

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WHO Experts' Group to take acall on EUL for Covaxin in OctPNS n HYDERABAD

The Strategic Advisory Groupof Experts on Immunization(SAGE) of the World healthOrganisation would be meet-ing in October to make its rec-ommendations on BharatBiotech's COVID-19 vaccineCovaxin on Emergency UseListing.

Bharat Biotech is expected togive a presentation on theVaccine's safety and efficacydata of clinical trials (phase 1-3 trial results and post market-ing)and Risk managementplans and other implementa-

tion considerations, accord-ing to the SAGE draft agenda.

SAGE is authorised withadvising WHO on overall glob-al policies and strategies, rang-ing from vaccines and technol-ogy, research and develop-ment, to delivery of immuniza-tion and its linkages with otherhealth interventions. HannaNohynek, member of SAGE,will be presenting a draft rec-ommendation for the vaccineand the session will make itsrecommendations.

The session will thoroughlydiscuss the clinical data onCovaxin from phase 1, 2, 3 tri-

als and post marketing studieson safety, immunogenicity,efficacy and effectiveness,besides update on global,regional and country levelplans for vaccine safety mon-itoring, the agenda said.

Bharat Biotech recently saidit has submitted all the datapertaining to Covaxin to theWHO for EUL and is awaitingfeedback from the globalhealth watchdog.

The WHO is currentlyreviewing the data submittedby the vaccine maker and thedate for a decision on the jabis yet "to be confirmed,"

according to the update avail-able on the WHO website.

In an update on its website,the WHO said it began rollingdata of the vaccine on July 6.

Rolling data allows theWHO to start its review rightaway, as information continuesto come in, to accelerate theoverall review process.

Covaxin is one of the sixvaccines that have receivedemergency use authorisationfrom India's drug regulatorand is being used in thenationwide inoculation pro-gramme, along withCovishield and Sputnik V.

Monday MirchiAn accomplished babu or

an accomplice?Over the past week, TS Minister K T RamaRao has heaped praises on senior IAS offi-cer Jayesh Ranjan using all possible adjec-tives. KTR has termed Jayesh as ‘partner incrime’, ‘dear friend’, and thanked him for hisunstinted and lovely support over the last sixyears. In his public speeches, KTR has said:'Jayesh is there all time and constantly sup-porting industry' and ' I can vouch that nomatter what it was, Covid or GST issues,Jayesh is I think terrific'.

With big-ticket investments coming intothe state, no wonder the principal secretarydeserves all the praise. But the profusion ofpraise has also raised eyebrows in some cir-cles that wonder if there is going to be achange in Jayesh’s role.

Break into dance, goli maro protocol

Director of Public Health Dr. G. SrinivasaRao, who tells the media often that politi-cians’ reckless behaviour can lead to Covidoutbreak, took everyone by surprise by hisimpulsive action during a procession lead-ing to Lord Ganesh's immersion.

Despite being without a mask, he was seendancing with abandon in public to the beatof drums used during the Ganesh rally.

The video of his dance has gone viral onsocial media, of course with netizens ques-tioning him about his credentials to highlightCovid norms. No doubt, he is fully vaccinat-ed and has already been infected.

But as he states in all his meetings, a maskis important. So is maintaining distance.They do go for a toss when impulse overridesreason.

Speculation that appeals to babus

The 3-capital formula is a forbiddentopic for bureaucrats in Andhra Pradesh.Whenever official discussions veer towardsChief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’splan of three capitals, bureaucrats with wis-

dom deftly avoid the topic.For, they know from the experience of

their peers that any comment on the high-ly sensitive and controversial topic could landthem in trouble, considering that pleasrelating to it are being heard by the HighCourt. In fact, babus are so paranoid aboutit that they don't want to discuss the issueeven in private. Still, a majority of the babuslove Vizag and, given a chance, they are morethan willing to work from there. Any daythey prefer Vizag to Vijayawada.

Although dismissive of most speculations,babus have, however, latched on to one recentspeculation that seems to be working in theirfavour: CM ‘shifting’ his camp office to Vizag!They now say the Chief Minister should ful-fil their wishes by at least shifting his campoffice to Vizag, lending credibility to ‘reason-able suggestions’ in this regard.

Giving loyal Das his due

With the naming of senior bureaucratSameer Sharma as Andhra Pradesh’s nextChief Secretary all speculations about thesuccessor to current Chief SecretaryAdityanath Das have ended.

However, the topic of hot discussion inthe Velagapudi Secretariat’s power corridorsis whether Chief Minister YS JagamohanReddy will honour or, in other words, giveDas his due upon his retirement in the next10 days.

It appears that Das will get his due. For,there is a talk in official circles at higher lev-els that he may be appointed as ChiefAdvisor to look after the irrigation projectsin the state and or as a SpecialRepresentative in Delhi to handle state-Centre relations related to irrigation andfinance.

It would be interesting to see whetherJagan will keep in his ambit Das who hasno doubt been a loyal bureaucrat. Moreover,Adityanath Das is an expert in irrigationprojects with thorough knowledge of eachand every project in both states, and thePolavaram multipurpose project, which isconsidered the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh.

-Yours truly

PNS n HYDERABAD

When it comes to issues oftheir respective states, theychallenge each other andwould not rest until theyprove their point.Nevertheless they are friendswhen it comes to personalmatters.

At a time when Telanganahas accused Andhra Pradeshof constructing projects on theKrishna River illegally andAndhra Pradesh has sued itscounterpart to recover what itclaims are 'power dues' fromTS, Somesh Kunar, ChiefSecretary of the TS govern-ment, on Sunday launched abook of poetry written by hisAP counterpart AdityanathDas.

Few bureaucats reveal theircreative side as well. 'Dancingwith Dreams', a collection of 40poems penned by AdityanathDas, reveals the philosophical,spiritual and humane side ofAdityanath Das.

While releasing the book,Somesh Kumar said that thepoems not only captivatedthe reader's mind but also gavesubtle hints at the mind of thepoet on a journey to exploreinside himself.

While welcoming theguests, publisher and EditorRamprasad recalled how thewhole idea of publishing thepoems came last year duringthe lockdown.

"Poetry is the language toconfront the world withinand outside. These poemsbelong to the Bhakts and

Sufis, as they take their babysteps from Rumi, Kabir,Tukaram and Tagore," said KSatchidanandan, former sec-retary, Sahitya Academy, in hisvirtual message.

"Poetry happens in unsus-pected locations and also withpeople whom we don't sus-pect. It tells us that in all cir-cumstances we can always behuman," commented AshokVajpeyi, former chairman ofLalit Kala Academy, througha video message.

Guest of honour Prof NGopi, former Vice Chancellor,Telugu University, said that forany poet, his first book was thebest book. "Life makes poet-ry possible, and poetryenlightens life, and this is thereason that a poet is morehuman in his day-to-dayaffairs."

Somesh Kumar, TS ChiefSecretary, said that AdityanathDas, hailing from the land ofMithla, which had given birthto famous poets likeVidyapathy to this world, per-

haps had it in his genes towrite poetry. While conclud-ing his speech, he shared averse of William Shakespeare,"The world is a stage, everyoneis an actor, there is an entranceand an exit."

In his acceptance speech,Adityanath Das, AP ChiefSecretary, said that many ofthe poems were written dur-ing his college days. Todayevery form of communicationhappened through technolo-gy, but in olden days all formsof communication had ahuman element.

Talking about God, he saidGod was like a pass code thatsolved all puzzles of life.Through poetry he had triedto look into the eyes of God.He said, the most difficultjourney was the one to con-nect with oneself, far more dif-ficult than connecting withthe person next to you or tothe world. He concluded witha message, "Whatever lifeunfolds for you, welcome witha smile."

(L to R):Padmaja Das, Adityanath Das, Somesh Kumar, Prof N Gopi and Ramprasad.

Release of ‘Dancing with Dreams’bares babus’ humane side

Continued from page 1

Singh added that a campaignshould be run so that truenews can reach the people.

"Efforts should be made todevise the way out throughpublic partnership," he said.

The AAP leader, whileaddressing the All-IndiaFederation of PTIEmployees' Unions here,said, "If anybody is keepingjournalism alive and makingreal news reach the people inthe best possible manner, itis only the PTI."

Countryunder anundeclaredemergency...

Oppn parties join hands to fight against TRS, BJP govts K VENKATESHWARLU

n HYDERABAD

The opposition parties - CPI,TTDP and TJS, which haddistanced themselves from theCongress after the 'MahaKutami' losing the assemblyelections in 2018, have againjoined hands with the Congressparty to wage a fight against theState and Central governments.

However, CPM, CPI-ML,Telangana Inti Party, NewDemocracy, who have alsomade their decision to pair upwith the Congress may be anadded advantage to theCongress to wage the fightagainst the governments.

They will participate in thenation-wide agitation pro-

grammes including the BharathBandh call given by theOpposition parties and thefarmers unions on September27, apart from taking up agita-tion programmes on issues per-taining to Podu lands, landacquisitions and Dharani portal.

The decisions were taken atan all-party meeting convenedby TPCC president and MP ARevanth Reddy at GandhiBhavan on Sunday. The meet-ing was attended by CPI Statesecretary Chada Venkat Reddy,CPI (M) State secretaryThammineni Veerabhadram,Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS)president M Kodandaram,CPI-ML secretary S RangaRao, Cheruku Sudhakar (IntiParty) and Govardhan (New

Democracy). The meeting wasalso attended by TPCCCampaign Committee chair-man Madhu Yaskhi Goud,TPCC senior vice presidentMallu Ravi, Kisan CongressNational vice-presidentKodanda Reddy and othersenior leaders.

Speaking to the media afterthe meeting, the TPCCPresident said an all partyMaha Dharna on farmers'issues would be organised atIndira Park on September 22.He appealed to the farmers andothers to make the MahaDharna a huge success. He saidcommittees would be formedat Parliamentary constituencylevel to ensure that the pro-posed Bharat Bandh on

September 27 is a grand suc-cess. He said prominent lead-ers would lead the protest onthe National Highways con-necting Hyderabad. He alsoappealed to the people to par-ticipate in the Bharat Bandh.

The TPCC President saidthat all-party delegations wouldsubmit joint representationsto the District Collectors onSeptember 30 seeking redres-sal of problems being faced bythe farmers. On October 5, agi-tation programmes would beheld with regard to Podu landsin the 400 KM connectingcorridor. A 'Podu Rasta Roko'from Adilabad to Aswaraopetwill also be organised.

It may be remembered herethat the parties including

Congress, CPI, TJS and TTDPjoined hands in the name of'Maha Kutami' during the 2018Assembly elections to face theTRS party. However, the MahaKutami, which has lost the elec-tions blamed the Congressparty for their defeat allegingthat the delay in seat sharingwas the reason for the 2018election debacle.

Later, the parties of grandalliance contested 2019 LokSabha elections on their owntaking parts from each other.The CPM then didn't joinhands with the Maha Kutami.CPM contested elections on itsown in the name of BahujanaLeft Front (BLF) and failed atthe ballot box.

In the elections which were

held later, the Left partiesextended their support to theruling TRS while other partiescontested on their own. Duringthe Huzurnagar by-election,the CPI withdrew its supportafter the TSRTC strike, butextended their support to theTRS candidate NomulaBhagath in Nagarjuna Sagarby-election.

One of the political analystssaid that the opposition partiesin the state have finally cometo a clarity to fight against theparties ruling at the State andCentral level.

The opposition parties unitywill definitely trouble the rul-ing TRS and also BJP, which isnot in power in the state, andbenefit the Congress party.

New modus operandi of cybe fraudsters...Continued from page 1

The fraudster then goes on totransfer all available amountsfrom the victim's bankaccounts to their own accounts.

Once the victim realizesthat he has been conned, heapproaches the police for help.However, as seen in multiplecases, the amount then getstransferred to multiple bankaccounts within minutes, mak-ing it difficult even for cops totrace the amount. Using theelectricity bill MO, mainlyretired employees and seniorcitizens have been cheated,officials say.

Over the past two years, theuse of smart phone for bank-ing and other operations hasincreased. Kids and adultsalike use smart phones forhours on end.

While complaints have beenreceived about money being

swindled from people belong-ing to all ages, officials notedthat in most cases, the victimwillingly transfers the amountsto fraudsters. In some cases,where people are fed falsehopes of making quick money,victims scan QR codes sent bythe fraudsters, which ultimate-ly leads to huge amounts beingdebited from their own bankaccounts.

Despite umpteen awarenessprogrammes conducted by thepolice and warning messageseven from the applications tonot scan random QR codes,cyber crime officials continueto receive the same type ofcomplaints time and timeagain. "It is like they are will-ingly giving away the moneythemselves to the fraudsters.All it takes is one minute toverify the authenticity of themessage or the person, insteadof panicking and losing thou-

sands," said a cyber crime offi-cial from the Cyberabad Police.

In a recent case, parents ofa two-year-old were connedwhen they were trying to buya dog for their kid online. "Theparents wanted to gift a puppyto their two-year-old daughterand looked for a dog online.They came across an ad andcontacted the number provid-ed. The conman made themtransfer a total of Rs 90,000 onvarious pretexts, claiming thatthe pup was a hybrid one, andclaiming vaccination, de-worming and other expenses.However, soon after receivingthe money, the fraudsterswitched off his phone," saidthe official.

While this was a clear caseof cheating, officials said the ITAct had to be strengthened assmart phones and online trans-fer of funds were involved.

Another complainant lost Rs

4,417 after downloading an appfrom Play store. The victimcomplained that he openedGoogle chrome on his mobilephone and found an app "GetCashback app". When heinstalled it, it directly openedthrough a phonepe app andasked his UPI password.Within a minute of enteringthe password, he lost Rs 4417.

Officials said that texts onbusiness loans being approvedwere also received by victimsthat led to links where similarmodus operandi took placeand they lost money.

The police cautioned thepublic to not transfer funds inadvance to anyone and to bewary of cyber fraudsters.People have been advised notto click on any unknown links,not to install apps, and notshare OTPs and personal infor-mation like KYC informationwith unknown persons.

Govt to set upresearch wing forcommunicationContinued from page 1

The research unit, whichwould be headed by a directorlevel official from the PIB, isexpected to come into exis-tence from this month itself.Sources further said that it willbe under the direct supervisionof the Principal DirectorGeneral of PIB.

PNS n SIDDIPET

Siddipet district president ofCouncil for Protection ofInternational Human RightsKommula Swamy has calledupon the administrativemachinery of the state toconduct awareness campsfrom grassroots-level to thestate-level at the top to pre-vent atrocities on children,women, murders and honourkillings in the state by enforc-ing the human rights lawseffectively.

Addressing media here onSunday, Swamy appealed tothe authorities to take stepsfor eradication of child labourcompletely and pave the wayfor the development of pos-terity by ensuring the chil-dren pursue higher educa-

tion. He appealed to youth to

not to become addicted toliquor and other vices anddischarge their duty as aresponsible citizen to becomeuseful citizens.

Vice-president of the bodyA Srinivas and other leaderswere present on the occasion.

Officials asked to enforcehuman rights effectively

Continued from page 1

The larger question is: how hecould use the name of KishanReddy. In this backdrop, pho-tos of Ravi Prasad and his fam-ily members with KishanReddy have became viral onsocial media.

Ravi Prasad recently donat-ed Rs 1 crore to build Ramtemple at Ayodhya. This toohad become viral on socialmedia platforms.

Now, BJP's anti-Kishangroups are adducing photo-graphic evidence of Ravi'sproximity with Kishan. Party

sources suggest that RaviPrasad might have been hon-oured with TTD Board specialinvitee position in lieu of hisRs 1 crore contribution toRam temple.

Ravi Prasad might be anacquaintance of Kishan Reddy.There was no hard and fastrule that a Minister should rec-ommend his name for a posi-tion on the TTD Board. Whywould Kishan Reddy write toAP CM for a probe into theincident if had given the letterrecommending Ravi Prasad?"questioned a BJP leader, whowished to remain anonymous.

Kishan knows...

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chevella former MP KondaVishweshwar Reddy, who hasinitially expressed shock overmention of his name by TPCCchief A Revanth Reddy in hiswhite challenge, accepted thechallenge on Sunday.

This came after allegationsand counter-allegations ondrug culture in the state tookan interesting turn onSaturday with TPCC presidentRevanth Reddy throwing a'white challenge', where hewanted politicians and celebri-ties to undergo drug analysistests to send a positive messageagainst drug abuse.

"Being role models foryoungsters, people in publiclife should accept my chal-lenge to undergo the testsand invite some more to takeup the same," Revanth Reddysaid on Saturday, revealingthat he was invit ingMunicipal Minister KTRama Rao and formerChevel la MP KondaVishweshwar Reddy to bepart of the challenge.

Vishweshwar Reddy onSunday tweeted that he will

take up the white challenge."I accept the#WhiteChallenge and I willbe there tomorrow 12 pm atGun Park. @revanth_anu-mula," he tweeted.

However, Revanth Reddyre-tweeted, "Thank you foraccepting the#WhiteChallenge graciouslyAnna. Let's meet atAmaraveerula sthupam onMonday 20th at 12 noon."

The former MP in anothertweet said, "I am against drugsnot only as a social activist, butalso as a PARENT. A havebecome prevalent inTelangana. Many rich kids aretaking drugs and they areruining their lives. Now drugsare spreading across the soci-ety ruining families & society."

He also replied to the neti-zens over white challenge,which include, "Unfortunate.But I think it has not spreadinto the villages. Drug ped-dling is mostly in and aroundH y d e r a b a d .#WhiteChallenge." "Whitepowders, chemicals, cocainetc. are very dangerous andshould not be legalized.#whitechallenge." (sic).

Fomer MP accepts ‘#White challenge'

Continued from page 1

Of the seven injured, three criti-cally injured persons were referredto Raipur while four others wereadmitted at Kondagaon hospital,

he added. "All the victimsbelonged to the same family.Their bodies were shifted to thehospital for postmortem," he said,adding that efforts are on to traceabsconding occupants of the SUV.

9 of family killed in auto-SUV collision

YSRC sweeps...Continued from page 1

In the MPTCs, the TDP bagged733, Jana Sena 110, BJP 24,CPI(M) 15 and CPI eight.Interestingly, the Congressmanaged to win four MPTCstwo in Visakhapatnam districtand one each in East Godavariand SPS Nellore. Independentshave so far won 145 MPTCseats, according to informationreleased by the Information andPublic Relations Department.

Meanwhile, the State ElectionCommission issued a notifica-tion fixing September 24 as thedate for the indirect election (bythe elected members) of thepresident and vice-presidentof the mandal parishads.

He appealed to

youth to not to

become addicted to

liquor and other

vices and discharge

their duty as a

responsible citizen

to become useful

citizens.

TDP humbled at the hustingsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

For the Telugu Desam Party(TDP), which has been facinghumiliation since 2019 polls,has once again faced a drub-bing in the Parishad polls,counting for which was heldon Sunday.

It was a total embarrass-ment for the TDP as theYSRCP has won all the fourZPTCs and 98 percent of theMPTCs that come underTDP supremo and formerchief minister NChandrababu Naidu’s homeconstituency Kuppam inChittoor district.

TDP-backed candidatesalso lost more than 90 per-cent of the panchayats thatcome under Kuppam toYSRCP-supported candidatesin the polls held for rurallocal bodies in February.

Most importantly, MPTCsthat come under TDPfounder NT Rama Rao’snative village and his in-lawsthat were adopted by TDPscion Nara Lokesh and hismother Nara Bhuvaneswariin Krishna district also wentto YSRCP.

According to the resultsannounced on Sunday,YSRCP candidates wonGudipal le, Kuppam,Santhipuram andRamakuppam ZPTCs.

Out of the 19 MPTCs inKuppam mandal, YSRCPwon 17 and TDP two. InGudipalle and Ramakuppammandals, YSRCP bagged allthe 12 and16 MPTCs respec-tively. In Shanthipuram man-dal, YSRCP bagged 17MPTCs out of 18.

In Naidu’s native villageNaravaripalle, TDP candi-date has lost to YSRCP can-didate R Rajaiah who wonwith 1,000 votes majority.

MPTCs of Nimmakuruadopted by Lokesh wherelegendary NTR was born andKomaravolu belonging toNTR’s in-laws and adopted byBhuvaneswari went toYSRCP.

Buoyed by the big win inPanchayat polls in Februaryand successful implementa-tion of meticulous poll strat-egy, YSRCP immediately hasset its sights on Parishadpolls in Naidu’s home turfKuppam in Chittoor district.

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 hyderabad 03

Balapur laddu fetches Rs 18.90 L

RTC MD travels in bus with idol

PNS | HYDERABAD: Balapur Ganesh, Hyderabad's most popular21-kg laddu, was on Sunday auctioned for an all-time record ofRs 18.90 lakh. Ramesh Yadav, a member of the AP LegislativeCouncil, along with Marri Shashan Reddy, a businessman fromNadargul, bought the famous laddu. The bidding started for Rs1,116 and within a few minutes it was auctioned for the highest-ever bid amid loud cheers by hundreds of devotees. Yadavtermed this as a gift to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS JaganMohan Reddy. Kolanu Ram Reddy, a businessman and anagriculturist who bought the laddu for Rs 17.60 lakh in 2019,alsoparticipated in the auction this year along with many othersState Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy, former MLA TKrishna Reddy and several other politicians were present towitness the auction. The annual auction of the laddu in Balapurmark the beginning of the Ganesh immersion procession, whichpasses through various parts of the city to reach Hussain Sagar.According to Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi, which organises theauction every year, the laddu was sold for Rs 450 in the firstauction held in 1994. Since then, this sweet grew in its popularityand price. As it is believed to bring prosperity to the winner,businessmen-politicians vie with each other to bid every year. In2018, the laddu was auctioned for Rs 16.60 lakh. Last year, theauction was cancelled due to Covid pandemic.

‘Jumbo yatra' on despiteintermittent rains in city

‘Jumbo yatra' on despiteintermittent rains in city

‘Jumbo yatra' on despiteintermittent rains in city

‘Jumbo yatra' on despiteintermittent rains in city

‘Jumbo yatra' on despiteintermittent rains in city

‘Jumbo yatra' on despiteintermittent rains in city

‘Jumbo yatra' on despiteintermittent rains in city

PNS n HYDERABAD

A mammoth Ganesh immer-sion procession was underwayin Hyderabad on Sunday amidmassive security arrangementsand despite intermittent rains.

Thousands of devotees wereparticipating in the pro-grammes across the city to bidadieu to Ganesh while about27,000 security personnel weredeployed as part of the elabo-rate arrangements for smoothand peaceful conduct of theannual rituals.

Amid chanting of slogans,devotees were carrying thou-sands of idols to Hussain Sagarlake and more than more than50 other lakes and ponds inand around the city.

‘Shoba yatra’, as the immer-sion procession is called, wasunderway amidst intermittentrains in Hyderabad. Hundredsof trucks were heading towardsHussain Sagar and other lakesamid the rains.

The Bhagyanagar GaneshUtsav Samithi, the organisersof the procession, set up spe-cial platforms at Charminarand Moazzam Jahi Market towelcome idols.

About 27,000 policemenwere deployed under the lim-its of Hyderabad, Cyberabadand Rachakonda police com-missionerates as nearly 40,000idols will be immersed inHussain Sagar and other lakes.

Director General of PoliceM Mahender Reddy said theywere monitoring the proces-sions through use of technol-ogy. He said monitoring wasbeing done from police stationlevel to city, district and thestate level through CCTV cam-

eras linked to control rooms.Animal Husbandry Minister

T Srinivas Yadav sailed in aboat to see the immersionpoints and the steps taken todeal with any emergency.

The massive procession withlarge idols began from Balapuron the outskirts of the citywhile dozens of processionsjoined it enroute. The proces-sion moved through commu-nally sensitive old city includ-ing historic Charminar, MJMarket and Basheerbaghbefore reaching Hussain Sagarin the heart of the city.

Idols larger than 10 feetwere being immersed fromTank Bund side while smalleridols were diverted to otherpoints around Hussain Sagar.

Hyderabad's tallest idol fromKhairatabad reached HussainSagar in the afternoon. The 40-feet tall and 23-feet wide idolwas brought to NTR Marg,where it was immersed withthe help of a huge crane. Thelast journey of the idol beganat 8.18 am. Thousands of devo-tees turned up for the last pujaat the pandal and also at thelake.

"The biggest Ganesh idol,the Khairatabad Ganesh, wasfinally immersed What an her-culean task executed withabsolute precision Kudos to theorganisers, technicians , craneoperators and all stakeholdergovernment departments,"tweeted Additional Commissi-oner of Police Shikha Goel.

The mammoth processionhas brought the entire city toa halt. GHMC has installed 330cranes of various capacities at33 lakes and 25 special pondscreated for immersion.

A total of 40 cranes have

been deployed for immersionat Hussain Sagar. The decks forimmersion in this lake werecleared after the SupremeCourt allowed the immersionof idols made of plaster of Parisfor this year. More than 8,000workers, constituting 162Ganesh Action Teams, wouldbe posted on three shifts toensure smooth completion ofimmersion. The GHMCpressed into service 20 excava-tors, 21 earth-movers, 39 minitippers and 44 vehicles with 10tonnes of capacity to removewaste after immersion.

K VENKATESHWARLU | HYDERABAD: The saying 'When inRome, do as the Romans do' perfectly implies to the newlyappointed managing director of Telangana State Road TransportCorporation (TSRTC)managing director VCSajjanar. The officials onSunday travelled in aTSRTC bus in Hyderabadto carry a Ganesh idol forimmersion. The IndianPolice Service (IPS)officer was seen sitting inthe bus holding an idol inhis lap. Clad in whites andwearing a cap, the policeofficer travelled along withhis family members andother devotees. A devoteewas also seen dancing inthe vehicle. The video ofSajjanar travelling in the bus with the Ganesh idol has gone viral.Sajjanar, a 1996 batch IPS officer, was the police commissionerof Cyberabad till late last month when he was transferred andposted as MD of state-owned transport body. Sajjanar, who hadhit the national headlines following the killing of four accused ina gang-rape and murder of a woman veterinarian in 2019, servedas the Cyberabad police commissioner for more than threeyears. The official is known for taking popular measures andleaving his imprint in whatever position he holds. As theCyberabad police commissioner, he came to the rescue ofmigrant workers during the lockdown last year and also played akey role in rendering a helping hand to Covid-patients with blooddonation, isolation centres and oxygen supply. Last week, hetravelled incognito in a TSRTC bus in the city. He boarded a busat the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station and travelled up toLakdikapul with very few people recognising him. Sajjanar saidhe has a few plans to revive the cash-strapped TSRTC.

MinisterSrinivasYadav,HyderabadPoliceCommissioner AnjaniKumar takeschopper rideto monitortheprocessions.

8 killed in three road accidentsPNS n HYDERABAD

Eight people were killed inthree separate road accidents inTelangana on Sunday, policesaid.

Two accidents at the samespot in Nalgonda districtclaimed five lives while threedied in another accident inNagarkurnool district.

Three people, including acouple, were killed when theircar rammed into a containertruck and then hit a tree nearMuthyalamma Gudem inKattangoor mandal of Nalgondadistrict. Gopal Reddy, 31, wason his way to Vijayawada, alongwith his wife Rachana (31), theirminor daughter, and his friendPrashanth (24).

Hailing from Prakasam dis-trict of Andhra Pradesh, Reddywas working in the RajasthanMines Department inRajasthan. As he had receiveda new job offer from South

Africa, he had resigned his jobin Rajasthan and had returnedto Hyderabad. They were ontheir way from Hyderabad toVijayawada in a car.

According to police, the car,being driven by Prashanth,rammed into a container truckwhile overtaking a lorry andthen hit a roadside tree. WhileGopal, his wife, and frienddied, the minor girl escapedwith injuries.

The accident had led to a traf-

fic jam on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway.Meanwhile, a speeding carrammed into a truck which hadstopped due to the traffic jam,killing both its occupants.

J Sivaprasad, 23 and R Vinay,21, were proceeding toSuryapet from Hyderabad toattend a religious programmeat an ashram.

In the third accident inNagarkurnool district, three per-sons were killed and three oth-ers were injured, when a bus ofthe state-owned Road TransportCorporation hit an auto-rick-shaw near Maddimadagu inPradara mandal.

The deceased included twowomen of the same family,returning home after attendingKesakhandana (first hair cutceremony) of a child at a tem-ple in a nearby village.

They were identified as KJambrunaiak, 65, J. Poli, 70, andauto driver J Srinu, 32.

T’gana Governorcondoles demise of M BhadraiahPNS n HYDERABAD

Governor Dr TamilisaiSoundararajan on Sundayexpressed grief over thedemise of eminent literaryand cultural personalityMadipalli Bhadraiah.

The Governor stated thatshe was deeply saddened toknow about the passing awayof Shri Bhadraiah, who madean invaluable contributionto the fields of art, culture, lit-erature, and education.

The Governor paid glow-ing tributes to his contribu-tion to the promotion ofTelangana language anddialect through his workslike Telangana DialectDictionary, YadadriShathakam, and AdilabadEncyclopaedia.

Doc charred to deathafter car catches fire PNS n HYDERABAD

A man was charred to deathafter his car caught fire sud-denly on the Outer Ring Roadat Shamshabad late onSaturday night.

The victim was later iden-tified as Nelapati Sudheer, 39,an orthopedic doctor workingwith Yashoda Hospital,Malakpet.

According to the Police,the doctor was a resident ofKPHB Colony and was travel-ling in his Honda Amaze carwhen the incident occured.Sudheer was traveling on tothe ORR from Nanakramgudawhen the cat caught fire whilenearing Shamshabad. Deathwas immediate for the doctor,who got trapped in the car andwas charred immediately.

Passersby informed thePolice and the fire department.

A fire tender reached the spotand the flames were doused.The body was later pulled outand shifted to the morgue forautopsy. The police suspectthat the fire might haveoccurred due to a short circuit.Police initially had difficulty inidentifying the body but werelater able to do so through thecar's registration.

The RGIA Police registereda case and are investigating theincident.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A youth has allegedly diedsoon after consuming thechicken biryani at a restau-rant in Narasapet town in thedistrict on Sunday.

The deceased was identi-fied as Boda Prasad, 23, ofBoda Thanda of Jalli villageof Chennaraopet mandal. Hehas reportedly started vom-iting after coming out of therestaurant and died at the sidedrain in front of the biryanipoint. It is said that he hadvomited blood too. Localswho noticed the incidentinformed the police. Thebody was shifted to the localCommunity Health Centre(CHC) for the autopsy.

Man dies after eating biryani

Green drive makes travel on ORR pleasant!PNS n HYDERABAD

Continuing its efforts atincreasing green cover in andaround the city, HyderabadMetropolitan DevelopmentAuthority (HMDA) has takenup avenue and valley planta-tions on the Outer Ring Road(ORR).

An intensive green drive isturning travel on the OuterRing Road into a much morepleasant experience.

The green drive, which isbeing taken up all along theORR, including at all the inter-sections, medians and also thesideways, has given the alreadystunning facility a deep shadeof green all over.

As per directions of theTelangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, the green

drive was taken up on serviceroads, central median andinterchanges on Outer RingRoad. Accordingly, Outer RingRoad has been divided into 20segments and a senior officialwas appointed to supervise

the drive.The efforts, in fact, began

five years ago and has been onsince with lakhs of saplingsplanted on the differentstretches of the ORR. Avenueand valley plantations were

taken up on different routes,including at Narsingi, theNarsingi-Kollur route, Kollur-Patancheru, Patancheru-Mallampet, Dundigal-Shamirpet and Shamirpet-Keesara stretches.

Maintenance and constantmonitoring is being done bythe HMDA's Urban Forestrywing.

Urban Development SpecialChief Secretary Arvind Kumaron Sunday took to Twitter toshare photographs of the latestgreen drive with some stun-ning aerial shots of the ORRand its greenery.

"An intensive green drive hasbeen taken up on #ORRincluding all intersections,median & sideways," he said,adding that Chief Minister K.Chandrashekhar Rao andMunicipal Administration andUrban Development MinisterKT Rama Rao were reviewingthe progress regularly.

"You will see a pleasant dif-ference every time you driveby," he said.

Two nabbed for bid to abduct minor girlPNS n HYDERABAD

The Sangareddy Police arrest-ed two youngsters who werecaught by locals when theytried taking a minor girl awayon their two-wheeler againsther wishes on Saturday.

A video on Twitter emergedof a young Muslim girl fromSangareddy clearly disturbedas she spoke on the phonewhile her voice and handsshivered. According toRamana Rao, Superintendentof Police, Sangareddy, theminor girl was taken by thetwo boys to see the ongoingGanesh immersions. The fam-ilies of both the parties werewell known to each other.

The boys took the girl withthem on their two-wheelernear Sangareddy town.

However, from there, theduo tried to take her to anoth-er immersion spot inShivampet village. The girl,who refused initially, beganweeping and cried out forhelp. Onlookers then inter-vened, thrashed the duo andrescued the girl. The videothat went viral on social mediaplatforms, showed the minorgirl weeping and explainingher ordeal to passersby whowere attempting to comforther. The locals who gatheredat the spot, thrashed the duobefore handing them over tothe cops.

TS records 173 freshCovid cases, 1 deathPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana reported 173 newCovid infections and onefatality on Sunday taking thecumulative number of deathsto 3,904 and the total num-ber of positive cases to6,63,454. The number ofactive cases in Telangana, ason Sunday, was 5,005.

The authorities today con-ducted 35,160 Covid tests ofwhich results of 633 sampleswere awaited.

A total of 315 individualshave recovered with a recov-ery rate of 98.65 per cent onSunday. So far, a total of2,58,51,688 Coronavirus testshave been conducted in theState out of which 6,63,454have tested positive and6,54,545 persons have recov-ered. The Covid positivecases reported from the dis-

tricts included one fromKomaram Bheem Adilabad,two from Bhadradri Kothag-udem, 64 from areas underGreater Hyderabad Munici-pal Corporation (GHMC),two from Jagtial, three fromJangaon, one from JogulambaGadwal, 17 from Karimnagar,six from Khammam, twofrom Mahabubnagar, fourfrom Mahabubabad, onefrom Mancherial, two fromMedak, nine from Medchal-Malkajgiri, seven from Nalg-onda, two from Nizamabad,three from Peddapalli, onefrom Rajanna Siricilla, 13from Rangareddy, two fromSangareddy, six fromSiddipet, one each fromSuryapet and Vikarabad,three from Warangal Rural,18 from Warangal Urban andtwo from Yadadri Bhongirdistrict.

hyderabad 04HYDERABAD | MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

The code word used by smug-glers at check posts is, 'EkRupya Wallah' to smuggle thePDS rice to other states.

In fact, the 'Ek RupyaWallah' network is everincreasing. The networkreached Sironcha and Gondiain Maharashtra, where thesmugglers have set up theirbases.

The PDS rice upon reachingMaharashtra, is finding its wayto some rice mills in Telangana.The smugglers pay a part of thesmuggled rice to the state gov-ernment of Maharashtratowards levy rice and send therest of the rice to the mills inTelangana illegally.

The state government ofTelangana procures paddyfrom the farmers through IKPCentres, Primary AgriculturalCooperative Societies, marketcommittees hands over them torice millers for custom millingof the rice. The millers willsend to the FCI 67 kg in caseof raw rice and 68 kg in case of

parboiled rice for every quin-tal of paddy milled.

Some rice millers come intothe picture here and they sellthe paddy to states where theMSP is high. In the meantime,they procure the PDS rice ille-gally and mix it with the rice tobe supplied to the governmentfor distribution through thePDS.

First they send the rice toMaharashtra and createreceipts as the seized rice andsend it back to Telangana.Lakhs of rupees change handsin the whole affair.

As per the rules, the ricemillers should mill the paddy.But, they are mixing the illegal-ly procured PDS rice with themilled paddy to save powercharges, man power, transportcharges and so on. They evenemploy middlemen to pro-cure PDS rice from the poor bypaying Rs 7-9 per kg.

They buy it from middlemenat Rs 15 a kg and then sendthem to Sironcha and Gondiarice millers at Rs 25 a kg. Thereis good demand for coarserice in Maharashtra. Themillers supply it to the

Maharashtra government atRs 32 a kg and sell it in openmarket at Rs 40 a kg.

In undivided Karimnagar,Adilabad and Warangal dis-trict, the 'Ek Rupya Wallah'business is being taken care bya single individual.

The rice will be transportedto Maharashtra either throughArjunagutta or via RiverPranahita or via Kaleswaramproject in Mandhani.

The check-posts, revenue,police, food inspectors andcivil supplies officials earnlakhs en route towards bribe.

Because of Covid, onaccount of the intensified secu-rity at check posts, the smug-glers have changed their route.They have been bringing backthe smuggled PDS rice fromMaharashtra to Telanganashowing it as rice seized inMaharashtra with the help offake bills.

Recently, the police haveseized the PDS rice transport-ing vehicles stand as testimo-ny to this. The PDS rice vehi-cles entered Telangana at

Manthani from Sironcha inMaharashtra and travelled upto 70 km without any interrup-tion by the officials.

Karimnagar has become thenucleus for the 'Ek RupyaWallah' network from undivid-ed Karimnagar, Warangal andAdilabad districts. Right frombeggars to top officials havebeen involved in the illegal net-work. Several have beendemanding the officials tocheck the illegal network.

District Supplies Officer ofKarimnagar Suresh Reddy saidthat he did not receive anycomplaints in this regard. Histeam has been conductingraids immediately after receiv-ing such complaints.

Meanwhile, DSO ofPeddapalli Venkatesh said thathis team of officials would nothesitate to bring anyone atanyplace to book if peopleprovide reliable tip off aboutrice smuggling. AdditionalCollector's office is trying suchcases. The seized rice would beauctioned off at the price fixedby the government.

‘Ek Rupya Wallah' network widensPNS n KHAMMAM

Transport Minister PuvvadaAjay Kumar has said that thestate government of Telanganawants people to celebrate allfestivals on a grand scale.

Addressing the gatheringafter flagging off the Ganeshimmersion procession atGandhi Chowk in the city onSunday, the Transport Ministerasked the Ganesh pandalorganisers and SthambadriUtsav Samiti to conduct theprocession without givingscope for any untoward inci-dents.

Later, he went round the cityto inspect the Ganesh immer-sion procession and theprogress.

He said that his organisationcalled Puvvada Foundationpaid Rs 3 lakh towards theelectricity bill of the pandalorganisers and paid Rs 60,000to get permission from the

police department. The Minister appealed to the

people to worship only clayGanesh idols from next year asthere was imminent threat tothe people from the idols madeof the plaster of paris.

Noting that people of all reli-gions are celebrating their fes-tivals on a grand note eversince the new state ofTelangana is created, he saidunderlining the significancethe Ganesh immersion process

has had in the country. Later, he inaugurated the

free drinking water camp andbutter milk cam set up on thebanks of the canal here underthe aegis of Awaaz MinorityDevelopment Forum.

District Collector VPGautam, Mayor PunukolluNeeraja, SUDA chairman VijayKumar, police commissioner,corporations, officials, TRSfunctionaries and others werepresent.

Minister lauds people for celebrating all festivals without any religious bias

PNS n ASIFABAD

A teenager accidentallydrowned in a waterfall whenhe went on a picnic with his sixfriends, on the outskirts ofChintalamadara village inTiryani mandal on Sunday. Hisbody is yet to be fished out.

Tiryani Sub-Inspector PRama Rao said that thedeceased was identified asDaya Amith PrathapChowdary, 17, a native ofMandamarri town.

Amith met with a waterygrave when he ventured toswim at a deepest spot of thewaterfall though he was notfamiliar with swimming. Hisfriends realised that hedrowned in the waters whenhe did not come out for quitea long time. They alertedpolice who in turn rushed tothe spot. The operation totrace the body was suspendeddue to the darkness after sun-set.

It is learnt that the young-ster and his friends spentleisurely at the fall, takingphotographs to share on socialmedia platforms. He was

unaware of the depth of the falland tried to swim in it, result-ing in his death, a local said.The seasonal waterfall is flow-ing in its full glory due torecent rains, attracting naturelovers and tourists.

On July 21, Ram Lokade, a23-year farmer of Devda vil-lage in Rajura Taluq ofChandrapur district ofMaharashtra accidentallydrowned in the same waterfall.Gurle Harish, 24, of Karanjivillage in Jainath mandal, meta watery grave when venturedto cross the stream near thefamous Pochera waterfalls inBoath mandal of Adilabaddistrict.

Teenager drownedin Tiryani waterfalls

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

Excise Minister Dr V SrinivasGoud has termed the ChiefMinister of Telangana KChandrasekhar Rao, as mod-ern Jyotiba Phule as he ishelping the SCs, STs, BCs andMinorities of society to groweconomically.

Addressing SC, ST and BCassociations' leaders at hiscamp office here on Sunday, hesaid that the state govern-ment reserved 10 per cent ofthe wine shops for SCs, 5 percent for the STs and 15 percent for the Gouds in the statewhich is unprecedented inthe country.

He pointed out that thestate government allotted1,000 residential schools forSCs, STs and BCs for thegrowth of these communities.Further, it distributed sheepunits among Golla andKuruma communities. In the

same fashion, it helpedMudiras, trolleys and mobileunits to market fish to revivethe caste-based vocations inthe state.

On the lines of JyotibaPhule, KCR, whom theMinister called as modernJyotiba Phule, has been follow-ing the Jyotiba Phule's foot-steps for the development ofminor communities in thestate.

Reservations in all spheresof activity would usher ingreat change in the country, hesaid adding that several stateswere likely to emulateTelangana for the good of all.

Municipal chairman KCNarsimhulu and others werepresent on the occasion.

Earlier, SC and ST associa-tion and Goudas' associationfelicitated the Minister at hiscamp office for quota in theallotment of wine shops tothese communities.

PNS n MEDAK

On the last day of the GaneshNavaratri, special pujas wereperformed at various pandalsin NGOs' colony of Narsapurtown of the district onSunday in connection withthe Ganesh immersion.

The pandal organisers - SriSai Ganesh Utsav Committee- offered 56 kinds of sweets tothe lord of obstacles. A largenumber of devotees took partin the event to bid fare wellto the deity.

Pandal organisers offer 56 types of sweets to Ganesha

Minister terms KCR as modern Jyotiba Phule

PNS n JAGITYAL

Municipal chairperson BogaSravani had a miraculousescape from a drowning acci-dent on Sunday while immers-ing the Ganesh idols at thelocal tank here on Sunday.

She along with three othersfell into the tank when the floatmeant for immersion of theidols lost balance due to over-weight.

However, others on the floatmanaged to rescue her andthree others. The people of thetown heaved a big sigh ofrelief as no untoward incidenthad taken place during theimmersion.

According to reports,Sravani and others went intomiddle of the tank on a floatto immerse Ganesh idols onSunday.

As the float lost the balanceSravani and three othersslipped and fell into water.However, they were rescued by

others on the float interveningon time averting a majortragedy in the town.

Several residents of the townvoice the opinion that theincident had happened asauthorities have failed to takesuitable precautions near the

tank, which is the main sourceof supply of drinking water tothe town.

The float bent throwingSravani and others into thewater as weight has beenplaced only on one side of thefloat.

Miraculous escape for municipal chief, 3 others during immersion PNS n PATANCHERU

Performing special pujas inplaces of worship, distributionof three-wheeler vehiclesamong physically challenged,feeding the poor marked the58th birthday celebrations ofthe local MLA GudemMahipal Reddy here onSunday.

The MLA's birthday wascelebrated in Ameenpur,Tellapur, Ramachandrapuram,Bharati Nagar, Bollarum,Jinnaram, Gummadidala andBandlaguda areas.

Steady stream of visitors,party activists and followersvisited the MLA at his campoffice. Various leaders of theparty and elected people's rep-resentatives greeted him onthe occasion. The MLAthanked the people for greet-ing him.

Mahipal Reddy said that hewould groom Pathancheruconstituency as the modelconstituency with the sup-port of the people and elect-

ed people's representativesand guidance from the ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao and other Ministers.

The MLA, under the Gift-a-Smile programme of theGMR foundation, distributedthree- wheeler bikes among 11physically challenged. Later,the GMR foundation arrangeda poor-feeding programmeon the occasion. The MLA'sspouse Gudem Yadamma andother family members tookpart in the celebrations.

MLA gifts a smile to 11physically challenged

PNS n PEDDAPALLY

Welfare Minister KoppulaEswar has directed the author-ities concerned to conduct theCovid vaccination programmewith a missionary zeal andappealed to elected people'srepresentatives for completesupport for accomplishing thevaccination in rural areas suc-cessfully.

Addressing the officials con-cerned through video confer-ence on Sunday, he said thatthe Chief Minister, KChandrasekhar Rao, launchedthe special drive in Telanganato administer 3 lakh doses perday and asked the officialsconcerned and elected people'srepresentatives to work withcoordination to administer thevaccine to the last persondown the line.

People should be sensitisedon CVCs in every ward or vil-lage, he said ensuring the localelected people's representa-tives to persuade the people toreceive the vaccine.

Once the vaccine is admin-istered, the scope for contract-ing the pandemic would comedown drastically. Even if peo-ple were to test positive for thevirus, their lives would not bein danger, he explained.

Pregnant women should beencouraged to receive the vac-cine through sensitising themabout the vaccine, he said call-ing for efforts to dispel theirmyths about the vaccine. Heasked medical teams to sensi-tise the people.

There should be one doctorto supervise the activities ofthree vaccination centres, hesaid.

The Minister appreciatedofficials of medical and healthdepartment and employees ofvarious government depart-ments.

District Collector Dr

Sangeetha said that 222 teams- 118 urban and 104 rural - areworking in CVCs. She put thepopulation of adults in the dis-trict at 5.5 lakh. Of them, 4,51,138 received the first dose.Since the special drivelaunched in the district onSeptember 17, daily 13,000are being vaccinated againstthe virus.

ZP Chairman Putta Madhu,local MLA Dasari ManoharReddy, Ramagundam MLAKorukanti Chander, DMHODr Pramod Kumar,Ramagundam Mayor Dr AnilKumar, Peddapalli Municipal

Chairman Mamata Reddy,Manthani municipal chairper-son Putta Sailaja and otherstook part in the video confer-ence.

Conduct vax drive with zeal: Koppula

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

Udandapur reservoir works, apart of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift IrrigationScheme, have come to a grind-ing halt as the project displacedpersons vexed with the delay inrehabilitation and resettlementworks have obstructed thereservoir works.

The displaced persons havebeen stalling the works for thepast one week accusing theofficials of not paying themcompensation even in the past.

However, Excise MinisterSrinivas Goud and ZadcharlaMLA Lakshma Reddy havetough time in persuading theprotesters to withdraw theirdemonstration on Sunday.They assured payment of com-pensation to the displaced per-sons as early as possible.

The displaced farmers saidthat they would have no alter-native except stalling the worksin the absence of initiative bythe government to resolve theirproblem.

The Udandapur reservoirwill inundate not only

Udandapur and Kolluru vil-lages but also several tribalhamlets. Over 2000 familiesand 10,000 people are going tobe displaced by the project.

They alleged that the stategovernment of Telanganaoffered them a compensation

of only Rs 3,50,000 per acre asagainst the open market priceof Rs 50 lakh per acre.Moreover, the state govern-ment has paid the compensa-tion to only some farmers. Thedisplaced persons say that theyhave abandoned their fieldsand house for sake of the pro-ject.

In spite of all this, the stategovernment of Telangana hasbeen showing negligence inextending the compensationpayable to the DPs, leaders offarmers' association allege.

Injustice to the displacedfarmers by irrigation projectsbeing built in South Telanganais being alleged, the peopleallege and say that it was high-time the government paid thecompensation to the farmersand ensured completion ofthe irrigation projects.

PNS n SIDDIPET

District Tribal WelfareOfficer Firangi has invitedappl icat ions f rom t heunemployed of the districtin the age group of 21 to 35on l ine on or b e foreOctober 20 to undergothree-month-long free skilltraining by the NationalAcademy of Constructionin Hydera-bad.

Candidates who havecleared B Tech/BE (civil),inter, ITI (civil), diploma(Civil) should apply onlinewith the help of the portalsw w w. n a c . e du . i n orhttps://tstribalwelfare.cgg.gov.in/ before the dead-line.

NAC to organise three-month-long free skill training

Oustees stall Udandapur reservoir works

PNS n HYDERABAD

Bharatiya Janata Party statesenior leader Gudur NarayanaReddy on Sunday appealed toUnion Home Minister AmitShah to order a serious inquiryon Punjab Congress presidentNavjot Singh Sidhu's affairs inview of the allegations beingmade by outgoing PunjabChief Minister AmarinderSingh.

In a media statement,Narayana Reddy has statedthat the outgoing Punjab ChiefMinister has described NavjotSingh Sidhu as "security threat"to Punjab, "anti-nation-al…unstable, incompetentman." Citing the comments ofAmarinder Singh, the BJPleader said that the outgoing

Punjab Chief Minister hasstated that for the sake of thecountry, he will oppose NavjotSingh Sidhu's name for CM ofPunjab. Amarinder Singh saidthat Pakistan PM Imran Khanis Sidhu's good friend andSidhu has a relation withPakistan army chief GenQamar Javed Bajwa.

Narayana said that the dif-ferences between AmarinderSingh and Navajot Singh Sidhuhave exposed the character ofPunjab PCC chief and it was amatter of great concern to theentire nation. He said theCentre should not take thecomments of Amarinder Singhlightly and should go deep intothe allegations being madeagainst Sidhu. "Without firethere is no smoke. Amarinder

Singh is not an ordinary man.He worked as Chief Ministerof the most important state ofthe country, Punjab. He mightbe aware of Sidhu's relationswith Pakistan. So the Centreshould take serious cogni-sance of the allegations beingmade by Amarinder Singhand should inquire in detailabout Pakistan," he said.

He said that Punjab is a cru-cial state as far as security ofthe nation is concerned as ithas a long border withPakistan. Pakistan was abettingterrorism in the country andaiding and abetting Kashmirterrorists and other Islamic ter-rorist groups. In the pastPakistan has also helpedPunjab terrorist organisationsto work against India.

Inquire into Amarinder’s allegationson Sidhu: Narayana appeals to Shah

Minister performsNava Chandi Yagam

The Minister along withRamagundam MLA

Korukanti Chander onSaturday performed specialpujas in the temple ofGoddess Jaya Durga andwished that the people ofthe state should live happilywith the blessings of thedeity. He was performingNava Chandi Yagam at thetemple for the second dayon Saturday. The Ministersought the blessings of theGoddess to the people sothat the people would nothave any problems at alland lead a healthy andprosperous life. City MayorDr Bangi Anil Kumar, hisdeputy Nadipelli AbhishekRao, corporator P Rajesh,TRS leaders PatapelliYellaiah, VelagolapuSrinivas, Neela Ganesh,Chelakapalli Srinivas andothers were present.

Errabelli lays foundation for developmental works PNS n WARANGAL

Panchayat Raj MinisterErrabelli Dayakar Rao haslaid foundation for develop-ment works including the CCRoads and construction of thedouble bedroom houses(2HBK) besides inaugurat-ing the Gram Panchayat andRythu Vedika buildings atseveral villages in the erstwhileWarangal district during awhirlwind tour on Sunday.

While he had laid founda-tion for CC Roads at a cost ofRs 50 lakhs and 40 doublebedroom houses at cost of Rstwo crore at Satapurm villageof Palakurti mandal, he alsoinaugurated GP office build-ing constructed at a cost of Rs16 lakhs, and Rythu Vedikabuilt a cost of Rs 22 lakhs

Chennur and GP office build-ing constructed at a cost of Rs20 lakhs at Pedda Thanda (B)village. He has also plantedsaplings on the GP officepremises and also formallylaunched the "Annadhanam"programme at Ganesh Pandalat the village. Later, he hasunveiled the statue of Dr BRAmbedkar at Chikatayapalemin Thorrur town, and laidfoundation for laying CC Roadat a cost of Rs 30 lakhs andinaugurated the 50 doublebedroom houses built at a costof Rs 2.52 crore at the village.

Speaking on the occasion,Errabelli said that the Stategovernment was taking allsteps to check the spread ofCovid and urged people above18 years to get vaccinatedagainst the virus.

nation 05HYDERABAD | MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

UP govt should answer people'squestions: Priyanka Gandhi

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday attacked the BJP government in UttarPradesh, alleging that it had "failed" on several counts such as giving jobs to people, dues to

farmers and in reining in price rise. The Congress general secretary said the Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment should have answered people's questions on its four-and-a-half years in power, but it iscontinuing to peddle "lies, lies and more lies". She was referring to Chief Minister YogiAdityanath's remarks on Sunday that Uttar Pradesh remained riot-free while the governance saw

a total changeover from the past providing benefits ofwelfare schemes directly to the deserving. In a tweetin Hindi, Gandhi said, "On giving jobs to lakhs and fill-ing up vacant posts, in giving dues on sugarcane,wheat, paddy, potato to the farmers, in reducing elec-tricity prices, in reining in price rise, UP governmentfailed". In another tweet, she alleged, "What did theBJP government make Uttar Pradesh, number 1 inmalnutrition, number 1 in crimes against women,number 1 in kidnappings, number 1 in murder cases,number 1 in atrocities against Dalits."

TN govt's preventive measures keptZika, Nipah virus at bay: Minister

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Sunday said as a result of the stringent preventivemeasures taken by the government, Zika and Nipah virus were not able to enter the state from

neighbouring Kerala. With Kerala reporting Nipah virus cases which resulted in the death of a boy, thegovernment has been monitoring the situation by setting up 13 check-posts in Coimbatore districtwhich is close to Kerala on the directives of Chief Minister, M K Stalin, the minister told reporters here."The stringent preventive measures taken by the Tamil Nadu government, including setting up of

check-posts in the border areas with Kerala ensured that Nipahand Zika virus could not enter the state," he added. Those enteringthe state from Kerala had to undergo RT-PCR tests and carryvaccination certificates and were sent back if they failed the testand did not carry the certificates, he said, adding despite strictrestrictions Kerala was reporting more than 20,000 positive Covid-19 cases each day. Subramanian inaugurated a mega vaccinationcamp at a government hospital in nearby Pollachi and alsoopened two oxygen generators-one 1,000 LPM at a cost of Rsone crore with financial support from the Central government andanother 660 LPM with CSR Assistance from ACT Grants.

Delhi BJP expels 3 councillorsfor 6 years over ‘graft charges'

Cracking the whip over complaints of corruption, Delhi BJP president Adesh Guptaon Sunday expelled three municipal councilors from the party for six years, and

said more heads will roll if they are found involved in financial irregularities. Guptatermed the action, coming months ahead of the three municipal corporations earlynext year, as BJP's "zero tolerance" policy. "Not just councilors but officers of themunicipal corporations (MCDs) will also not be spared if they are found involved in

corruption," Gupta told PTI. He said people should makevideos if anyone "extorts" money from them in the name ofMCDs and provide it to Delhi BJP so that FIR can be regis-tered against them. The councillors who have beenremoved from the party over graft charges are Sadulajabcouncillor Sanjay Thakur in South Delhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC), New Ashok Nagar councillor RajniBabloo Pandey in East Delhi Municipal Corporation(EDMC) and Mukherjee Nagar councillor Pooja Madan inNorth Delhi Municipal Corporation, according to the ordersissued by Delhi BJP president.

INDIA

CORNER

PNS n DEHRADUN

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwalon Sunday promised to takebig steps to end migrationfrom Uttarakhand, assuringan unemployment allowanceand an 80 per cent job quotafor people of the state if hisparty comes to power in thenext assembly elections.

Making six promises,Kejriwal said every youth ofUttarakhand would getemployment if the AAP isvoted to power, and assured amonthly allowance of Rs 5,000to an individual from everyfamily till they got a job.

He also promised to reserve80 per cent of both private andgovernment jobs for the peo-ple of the state and to createone lakh employment oppor-tunities within six months ofcoming to power.

A job portal, on the lines ofthe one in Delhi, will belaunched which will providean interactive platform tojob seekers and employers,Kejriwal said, addressing apress conference inHaldwani.

A separate ministry will alsobe created to address the issuesof unemployment and migra-tion, the Delhi chief ministerand Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)convenor added.

Kejriwal also accused suc-cessive governments of doingnothing but lootingUttarakhand's resources foryears.

If voted to power, the AAPwill take big steps for large-

scale creation of jobs and pre-vention of migration from thehills, he said.

Referring to his earlierpromises of free electricity tofarmers round the clock and300 units of power to everyhousehold at no cost, Kejriwalsaid all these are meant to befulfilled.

"Unlike others, we do whatwe say. We are going to keep allour promises. If we say we willgive free power to farmers24x7 or give 300 units of powerfor free, we mean it. We havedone it in Delhi, and we will doit here," he added.

He asserted that all of whathe has said can be done and theonly thing needed is goodintention.

"Successive governments inUttarakhand have been devoidof good intentions and haveonly looted its resources,"Kejriwal alleged.

"When we came to powerin Delhi in 2015, we wereasked from where would webring the money that wasneeded to keep the commit-ments we had made to peo-ple. But we turned a deficitbudget into one of profitwithin four years. All we didwas wipe out corruption andeverything else followed," hesaid.

Kejriwal said the AAP hasrun Delhi and it will bring thatexperience to serve the peopleof Uttarakhand.

Seventy-three per cent of

people in Delhi are getting freeelectricity, he said, adding thatthe Delhi model of develop-ment will be adopted inUttarakhand.

Giving an example of howthe Delhi government was sav-ing money on every develop-ment project, he said a bridgeestimated to be built at a costof Rs 325 crore was built in Rs200 crore only.

Given an opportunity, theAAP will help the people ofUttarakhand overcome themisery of 21 years in just 21months.

If people want all this to hap-pen, they must give AAP'schief ministerial candidate ColAjay Kothiyal a chance,Kejriwal added.

Uttarakhand: Kejriwalpromises jobs, dole

PNS n PURI

A treasure hunt has started at theEmar Mutt (Monastry), located inthe southeastern corner of the12th Jagannath Mandir, withteams of archeologists armedwith metal detectors searching fora lost hoard.

The search started on Thursdayis being carried out following arequest by the Narayan RamanujDas, the Mahant (head) ofUttarparshwa Mutt, who is incharge of Emar Mutt. The Muttauthorities as well as historianssuspect that a hoard of valuablesis buried inside the premises.

The belief that a stash is buriedunderground comes from discov-eries of two earlier troves. In 2011,the police had stumbled on a trea-sure trove of 522 silver ingotsweighing 18 tonnes inside theMutt worth about Rs 90 crore.

Earlier in April this year 45 moresilver ingots weighing about 35 kgeach were found inside the Mutt.

Apart from silver ingots, a sil-ver tree and silver flowers, about16 antique swords, and a bronzecow sculpture were also recoveredfrom the Mutt, stablished byRamanujacharya in 1050 when hecame to Puri.

A special team of the StateArchaeology Department in pres-

ence of officials of Shree JagannathTemple Administration (SJTA),Puri district collector SamarthVerma, Puri SP KV Singh andtrust member of the Emar Mutt,began the search inside thepremises of the Emar Mutt in thepilgrim town on Thursday totrace hidden valuables.

Puri Sub-Collector, BhabataranSahu said: “As of now, no mater-ial was detected during Thursday's

inspection. We will take appropri-ate action on the report of thetechnical team which scanned thepremises.”

The treasures recovered earli-er from the mutt are now kept inthe state treasury in Puri andguarded by armed police.

As many as 18 mutts belong-ing to Ramanuja sect was estab-lished in Puri by Ramanujacharya.All these mutts are closely linkedto the Shree Jagannath Templeand are involved in rituals asso-ciated with the Temple.

Govindacharya or GovindaJeeyar was the first pontiff of thisMutt. Govindacharya was given thename Emperumannar, whichmeans “My Lord” in Tamil.

However, a section of disciplesopposed the name and finallychanged this to “Emar”.Govindacharya wasRamanujacharya's cousin brother.

Treasure hunt at Emar Mutt inJagannath Temple for lost hoard

Man arrested for duping jobaspirants of Rs 2.4 crore

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi Police EconomicOffences Wing has arrested a43-year-old man for allegedlybeing part of a racket thatduped around 40 people on thepretext of getting them jobs inthe Railways, officials said onSunday. Accused MohammadRaghib Firoz of Greater Noidaholds a post-graduate degree inpsychology and a diploma injournalism and mass communi-cation, they said.

He coordinated all activitiesof the racket, including collec-tion of money from victims, fill-ing of various forms regarding

appointment and training,besides other miscellaneousaffairs in the commission of theeconomic offence, police said.

Two people, Brij Kishore andSachin Kumar, were arrested inthe case earlier, they said.

The police said around 40 jobaspirants were cheated to thetune of Rs 2.44 crore by theaccused. Most of the victimscome from poor families in vil-lages around Agra, Hathras andPatna.

According to the police, oneof the accused would pose as anIAS officer and lie to the victimsabout good acquaintance andliaison with the Railway Board,

while others organised bogusjob training sessions for them.

Fake appointment and train-ing letters were issued, fakemedical examinations conduct-ed and three months' job train-ing was also organised inDehradun to earn their trust,said R K Singh, AdditionalCommissioner of Police(Economic Offences Wing).

Investigations revealed thatthe victims had no idea aboutthe whereabouts of the accused,except for their phone numbers.They used to meet them atPaharganj hotels and near theRailway Bhawan in Delhi, thesenior police officer said.

4 die in car-truckcollision inRajasthan'sHanumangarhPNS n JAIPUR

Four people were killed whentheir car collided with a truck inHanumangarh district ofRajasthan, the police said onSunday. The incident occurredon the Rawatsar-HanumangarhMega highway, Station Houseofficer (SHO), Rawatsar policestation, Ashok Bishnoi said.The deceased have been iden-tified as Rajat, Neeraj, Rudrakshand Hemant, all aged between17-20 years, he said. The bod-ies have been handed over tofamily members after post-mortem.

PNS n MUMBAI

A total of 466 idols of LordGanesh and Goddess Gauri wereimmersed till Sunday noon invarious water bodies in Mumbaias curtains came down on the 10-day Ganpati festival held amidvarious restrictions imposed forthe second year in a row in thewake of the COVID-19 pandem-ic, a civic official said.

No untoward incident wasreported till now during theimmersions, he said.

The festival, which in normaltimes used to witness large gath-erings and long queues on streetsoutside public mandals whichhost the celebrations, began onSeptember 10.

This year, the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation set upartificial lakes at 173 locations inthe city, as well as idol collectioncentres and mobile immersionsites at various places to avoidcrowding in the wake of the pan-demic, the BMC official said.

Besides, there were 73 loca-tions of immersion at naturalwater bodies in the city civic lim-its and at all these places neces-sary arrangements were made bythe BMC, he said.

Till 12 noon, 17 idols of 'sar-vajanik' (public) mandals, 444

household Ganesh idols and fiveidols of Goddess Gauri wereimmersed in various water bod-ies here.

Out of these idols, nine of pub-lic pandals, 162 household idolsand three of Goddess Gauri wereimmersed in the artificial ponds,the official said.

The BMC also deployed 715lifeguards at various natural andartificial immersion sites, hesaid, adding that 587 steel plateswere set up at the natural sites sothat vehicles coming for immer-sions could be temporarilyremoved.

The civic body also arranged338 Nirmalya kalash (containersto collect offerings like flowersand other items), 182 Nirmalyavehicles, 185 control rooms, 144first-aid centers, 39 ambulanceswere arranged.

Also, 145 reception rooms, 84temporary toilets, 3,707 floodlights, 116 search lights, 48 obser-vation towers and 36 motorboats and 30 German rafts werefacilitated at natural immersionsites, besides other electricalarrangements.

The BMC had issued guide-lines to public mandals tominimise donation of garlandsat the idols installed at theirpandals.

Mumbaikars bid adieuto Lord Ganesh; over450 idols immersed

Security forces usepump action guns tokill low-flying dronesPNS n NEW DELHI

Security forces that guard vitalinstallations, airports and eventheir own camps have beendirected to use rubber bulletsbearing pump action guns toneutralise low-flying drones tillan appropriate technology isfound to thwart such aerialattacks, official sources said.

Also, forces like the BorderSecurity Force (BSF) have recent-ly installed an improvised ironpole mounted light machinegun (LMG) observa-tion post at some ofits border deploy-ments againstPakistan to takea 360 degreesaim and shootdown drones orunmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs)flying at a high alti-tude, they said.

A latest blueprint prepared bycentral security agencies tocounter the emerging dronethreat has been reviewed by PTIand it directs security forces touse PAGs (pump action guns)that are already available in theirarmoury for "neutralising anylow-flying UAV".

Following the directive, thecentral forces deployed for inter-nal security have begun allocat-ing PAGs to their units vulnera-ble to drone threats, includingthose deployed for anti-Naxaloperations.

"Till a complete technologysolution is found for effectivelychecking and neutralising adrone attack, the security forceshave been asked to use what isavailable with them, like thePAGs.

"Those who do not have ade-quate numbers of these non-

lethal weapons have been askedto procure them," a senior Unionhome ministry officer said.

He said the security unitsdeployed for counter-terroristduties in Kashmir and thoseguarding airport boundaries havealso been asked to provide thesearms to their sentries deployedfor observation and protection ofthe campus.

"It has been found that rubberpellets fired by the PAGs caneffectively bring down a drone

that is flying low at about 60-100 meters from the

ground and attempt-ing to either drop

bombs or to con-duct reconnais-sance of thecamp area or theinstallation," an

officer from aCentral Armed

Police Force (CAPF)said.

For example, he said, theCentral Industrial Security Force(CISF) guards a number of air-ports and facilities in the powerand nuclear domain where thereare either people living close tothe boundary or there is vehicu-lar movement, and hence usinga lethal weapon like an INSASrifle can cause collateral damageand injure a person.

Hence, the officer said it hasbeen advised that if low-flyingdrones are detected, they shouldbe shot using the PAGs and savelarger damage to the facility andthose present there.

"Various CAPFs like the CRPF,ITBP, SSB and the CISF havetheir camps in risk-prone areasand hence they have been advisedto use pump action guns to pro-tect their camps from dronebombings or surveillance sorties,"a third officer said.

7 children havesuccumbed toviral fever in AgraPNS n AGRA

Seven children have died due toviral fever in Uttar Pradesh'sAgra district so far inSeptember, a senior officer saidon Sunday.

Chief Medical Officer(CMO) Arun Kumar Srivastavalso dismissed reports statingthat two children succumbed todengue in Fatehpur Sikri.

Talking to PTI, Srivastav saidseven children have succumbedto viral fever in Agra so far thismonth.

While a 14-year-old boy diedin Chachiha village on Sundaymorning, two siblings died inFatehpur Sikri's Rasoolpur vil-lage on Saturday evening, hesaid.

Two deaths were reportedfrom Giriraj Dham Colonyunder Itimad-ud-Daulah policestation area and one death wasreported from Nunhai localityon Thursday. One child died inKhadia village of Khandoli, headded.

"The peculiar thing about thisfever is that we are getting verylittle time for treatment and peo-ple are dying quickly," the CMOclaimed.

Srivastav dismissed reportsclaiming that dengue was thecause of the two deaths report-ed from Rasoolpur and said thatthe children died due to viralfever. The CMO said Agra hasreported 61 dengue cases so farthis year. While 41 patientshave recovered, 20 are undergo-ing treatment at governmenthospitals.

He appealed to people toimmediately visit a governmenthospital or a community healthcentre in case they experiencesymptoms like high fever, vom-iting and dizziness.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh remained riot-free since 2017 while gover-nance saw a complete transfor-mation from the past with wel-fare schemes now reachingthe deserving and the stateemerging as number two in theease of doing business, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath saidon Sunday while making pub-lic the report card of his ruleof four-and-half years.

The BJP government hasfulfilled every promise men-tioned in the Lok KalyanSankalp Patra in 2017, he saidand voiced confidence thatthe party' tally will cross 350seats in the 403-memberHouse in the 2022 assemblypolls.

The chief minister also hitout at the opposition, sayingthey were busy building theirhouses when they were inpower and indulged in corrup-tion for transfer and postingswhile the state was seen as alaggard in development and itsimage linked with riots.

Uttar Pradesh is now num-ber one in implementing 44central schemes be it the PMAwas Yojna or construction oftoilets in the households and itsimage is no longer liked with

riots due to effective and trans-parent governance, Adityanathsaid at a press conferencewhile listing the achievementsin various fields includingdevelopment, law and orderand handling of the coron-avirus pandemic.

"Unlike them (previous gov-ernments), we did not makeluxurious houses for ourselves.Our government focused onbuilding houses for the poor,"he said, taking a veiled dig athis predecessor AkhileshYadav.

"Government bungalowswere demolished, and therewas a competition to buildhouses for themselves as wellas huge 'havelis' (mansions).But the four-and-half yearswere dedicated to good gover-nance. And we did not buildhouses for ourselves, but for 42lakh poor people of the state,"he said. He said criminalswere firmly dealt with irrespec-tive of their caste and religionto provide a safe and secureenvironment in the state.

"UP remained free from anyriots during four-and-halfyears unlike in the past whenthere used to be communalclashes every 3-4 days," thechief minister said.

He also claimed the govern-

ment displayed sensitivity atevery level.

Facing criticism over thehandling of the COVID-19pandemic, the chief ministerpointed out that the state hasthe highest number of tests andvaccinations and is amongthose with the lowest positiv-ity rates.

He said the investors' confi-dence in the state is growingand UP has emerged as num-ber 2 in the country in termsof ease of doing business.Accusing the previous SP gov-ernment of shuffling officialsfrequently, Adityanath said,"Transfer and posting hadassumed the shape of an indus-try in the previous (SP) gov-ernment. Every post was sold.

"Earlier, the officials wereshuffled like a pack of cards.But in the past four-and-halfyears, no person can level alle-gations of exchange of moneyfor posting."

A booklet titled 'Vikaas keelahar, har gaav har shahr'which listed achievements ofthe UP government was alsoreleased on the occasion.

"In the 2022 Assembly elec-tions, BJP will win 350 seats(out of 403 seats), and thereshould be no doubts on this,"the chief minister said.

Adityanath releases report card;says UP has seen transformation

objectives of education werelimited to rote learning andlearning for examinations, andmarks were the only measure ofthe level of the learner’s excel-lence. It has to be replaced byconceptual understanding andcritical thinking in a learningenvironment characterised bynourishing of inherent curios-ity and creativity.

The National EducationPolicy (NEP-2020) in the thirddecade of the 21st centuryderives its sustenance from thephilosophical ideas that havedeep roots in India, and standdynamically enriched by thegreat tradition of knowledgequest that evolved in theGurukul system and led to thecreation of institutions likeTaxila, Vikramshila and Nalanda.These could set the higheststandards of multidisciplinaryteaching and research whichattracted seekers of knowledgefrom various countries.Effortlessly, though very clear-ly and from the beginning, theIndian tradition of educationand learning entrenched theimportance of man-naturemutuality in the mind of thelearner. The rich heritage ofancient and eternal Indianknowledge has been the guid-ing light for this policy. Thepursuit of knowledge (Jnan),

wisdom (Pragya) and truth(Satya) was always consideredin Indian philosophy as thehighest human goal. The aimof education was not just theacquisition of knowledge aspreparation for life in thisworld, or life beyond schooling,but for complete realisation andliberation of the self. The depic-tion of divinity in nature, a greatstrength of the Indian traditionand unique to it in several ways,is being viewed with consider-able awe by those willing to findsolutions to global concerns likepollution, climate change andthe impending water crisis.The symphony of the processof education, creation and gen-eration of knowledge and itsuse were so established that theessence of it reached everybodyin society. At the highest levelof intellectual effort, theknowledge on trees and plantswas created, keeping in view itsutility in public welfare. Eventoday, one can see how peopleare conscious of such classifi-cations. And all this is foundscientifically accurate!

The challenge emergesfrom the realisation that the tra-ditional knowledge transfer wasdisturbed for various reasons,coupled with the shamelessplundering of natural resources.The globalised world is now

facing its consequences. Indiaaccepts the need to relate its edu-cation system to homegrownphilosophy and practices that, inthis specific context, includes“Aparigraha”, re-articulated byMahatma Gandhi as an eternaltruth that could save mankind:“Nature has sufficient resourcesto meet the need of everyone,but not the greed of anyone.”

Wars begin in the minds ofhuman beings; the initiativesfor “constructing the defence ofpeace” must begin in the earlyyears and continue all along.The realisation of this aspect isone of the most outstandinginclusions in NEP-2020. Forthe first time in contemporaryeducation, the importance ofthe first eight years in schoolsbeginning from 3+ has beenacknowledged, and the entireschool system shall be reorgan-ised accordingly. India shallprepare a generation of youngpersons whose mind “wouldnot be a dustbin to keep anger,hatred and jealousy”. It wouldbe filled with love, nonviolence,empathy, compassion anddharma. That could attractthe whole world towardsIndian institutions once again.

(The author works in education, social cohesion andreligious amity. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

COLD SHOULDER TO AN ALLYSir — The recent formation of AUKUS,where Australia is thrilled to get strategictechnology transfer from the US and UK,has surprised the world and angeredFrance. The trio of Australia, UK and theUS is strategically significant for theIndo-Pacific region. But the disregard ofFrance by Australia on the sidelines ofAUKUS may develop a rift in the relation-ship of like-minded countries. Almost allmajor powerful nations in the world, espe-cially the western, are worried aboutChina’s growing influence.

Australia’s admission into the AUKUSis questionable in geopolitical relevance.France is also one among the major coun-tries who strictly took actions against ter-rorism, radical Islamist views, expansion-ist ideology, and bodies that are against freeand open Indo-Pacific. The US mustrethink which nations must be includedand which must be excluded. In the sameway, Australia must also negotiate withFrance with respect to the economicallyimportant deals. The world today needscollaboration, not isolation or back-stab-bing an ally. It is welcoming that new part-nerships are being created for internation-al development, but geopolitical rift mustalso be avoided for sustainable develop-ment for all.

Kirti Wadhawan | Kanpur

LURES WORTH FALLING FOR?Sir — It refers to pre-poll announcementsabout free electricity upto 300 units, can-cellation of all pending electricity bills andfree electricity for agriculture in UttarPradesh and some other States by theAam Aadmi Party. But in practice, thisresults in heavy electricity bills for othersout of which the worst sufferer is the mutecategory of honest middle-income taxpay-ers because any such heavy dose of elec-tricity bill does not affect the affluent sec-tion of society. On the contrary, many takedifferent electricity connections in thename of different members of the fami-ly to get free electricity in multiples of 300units. The Election Commission shouldtake such pre-poll announcements as

unfair practice to lure voters.It is unfair that people with large fam-

ilies take advantage of free medicines inhospitals of Delhi Government while mid-dle-income small families bear addition-al tax-burden because of such freebiesenjoyed by those with large families.Instead, social and religious organisationslike the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara ManagementCommittee, Rotary Clubs etc. should beprovided space to open shops of genericmedicines to be sold at a no-profit, no-loss basis. If the Government is unable tostop such freebies, it is for the SupremeCourt to stop such schemes.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal | Delhi

THE SHASTRI SAGA COMES TO AN ENDSir — Hats off to RJ Shastri for his roleas India’s chief cricket coach as he helpedimprove the attitude and performance ofIndian players and turned them into aworld-class team. He made the likes of RAshwin work hard in multiple home serieswith long bowling spells, which helped the

Indian team win most of the homeseries. And, his overseas performanceimproved a lot in recent years. Heremains unperturbed during tight situa-tions and played his role as a cool coach.

Watching Shastri grow from a lankyleft-arm spinner into an allrounder whoopened the innings for India in Tests andthen crowned as Champion ofChampions was a stunning transforma-tion. Ravi Shastri is surely one of the mostsuccessful cricketer-cum-coaches whoset higher standards for himself and play-ers around him. During Shastri’s tenure,India also recorded T20 series wins inSouth Africa, New Zealand, Australia andEngland. In his last assignment inEngland, his book launch at the time ofpandemic and some of his partial acts likedropping Ashwin hastened his exit aftera successful stint as a coach.

MR Jayanthi | Mumbai

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

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Several philosophical ideas have deep roots in Indian soil, and standdynamically enriched by the great tradition of quest for knowledge

THE AIM OFEDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA WAS

NOT JUST THEACQUISITION

OF KNOWLEDGE AS PREPARATION

FOR LIFE IN THIS WORLD, OR

LIFE BEYONDSCHOOLING, BUT

FOR COMPLETEREALISATION

AND LIBERATION OF THE SELF

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

JS RAJPUT

It is hard to believe that Captain’s positionbecame untenable because a majority ofMLAs have turned against him. More than

the infighting, it was the high command’spreference for the maverick cricketer-turned-politician, his elevation as the PCCpresident and freedom given to him toundercut the Chief Minister’s authority thatcost Captain the job. Captain preserved hisdignity and reputation; he paled visibly athis forced exit; he had reason to feelwronged and hurt, more so when he per-

formed well, even if not outstandingly andprevented anti-incumbency perceptibly set-ting in; his grievance that he was ‘humili-ated’ might win him public sympathy.

The ouster of the Punjab satrap justfour months before the election has cre-ated a fluid political situation in Punjab.Sidhu’s popularity in electoral termsremains untested so far. How things willpan out with Sukhjinder Randhawa as thenext Chief Minister remains to be seen. TheBJP has angered farmers by passing thethree farm laws so much that it is in noposition to take advantage of the presentpolitical turmoil. It is hard for the Akali Dalto emerge as a choice for being voted topower when its loss of favour with the elec-torate is so complete. Perhaps the AAPstands to gain from the turn of events inPunjab; it can now fancy its chances. Butthen it too is not free from the bane of inter-nal squabbles.

G David Milton | Maruthancode

Rift within consumes the Captain

Building defenceof peace in mind

The creation of the UN onOctober 24, 1945, was anoutcome of aspirationsof anguished humanity

that has suffered WWI andWWII, and gone throughunprecedented sufferings, devas-tation and destruction. Humanityneeded a healing touch and aforum for civilised discourse and,above all, articulation of creatinga value-based society that wouldstrive to give due dignity to everyhuman being, that would empha-sise the equality of all humanbeings irrespective of race, colour,caste, creed, affiliation, religion, orany other diversity. This could bepossible only when an empathet-ic human community is createdglobally, one that acknowledgesthe core human values: Truth,peace, nonviolence, righteous con-duct and love. The essence was wellarticulated in Unesco’s emblem:“Since wars begin in the minds ofmen, it is in the minds of man thatdefence of peace must be con-structed.” Truth, or the search fortruth, is just not possible unless theother four of the five values men-tioned above are also accepted andput to practice in daily life.

After over seven decades of theUN’s establishment, the mandateto achieve an attitudinal transfor-mation amongst humanity seemsto have been forgotten. It is vio-lence, terrorism, fundamentalism,distrust and a vulgar pursuit ofdestructive weaponry all around.The human mind has been stud-ied seriously by modern sciences;it has its intuitional comprehen-sions contained in ancient treatis-es. Swami Vivekananda was per-fectly logical and scientificallyaccurate when he mentioned:“The true basis of education is thestudy of the human mind —infant, adolescent and adult. Anysystem of education founded ontheories of academic perfection,which ignores the instrument ofstudy, is more likely to hamper andimpair intellectual growth than toproduce a perfect and perfectlyequipped mind.” Obviously, thedamage has been inflicted ongenerations that have been educat-ed and evaluated on much soughtafter academic excellence, confinedto a curriculum, textbooks andexaminations that expect repro-duction of the answer as “given inthe textbook”. The pragmatic

SOUNDBITEI hope that CaptainAmarinder Singh jiwill not take anysuch step which willharm the Congressparty.

Rajasthan Chief Minister —Ashok Gehlot

I have initiated adialogue with theTaliban for an inclusive AfghanGovt to include the

Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks.

Pakistan Prime Minister —Imran Khan

Kolkata has an old-world charm...itsnarrow lanes tellyou old stories, andits flyovers showhow modern the city is.

Actor—Yami Gautam

With an annualproduction of 308million tonnes offoodgrains, India is not only in therealm of food security, but is also catering to the needs ofother countries.

Union Agriculture Minister —Narendra Singh Tomar

Disappointed wak-ing up to the newsof the cancellationof the Pakistan VsNew Zealand series

because of security issues.

Former West Indies captain—Darren Sammy

It happened rather suddenly, with nobody even in the BJP’s Bengal unit and polit-ical pundits knowing about it. The BJP’s star campaigner and once Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s blue-eyed boy joined the Trinamool Congress. He joined the party

in the presence of its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and sent shock-waves in the Bengal BJP. Though he had withdrawn from “active politics” after being

removed from the Environment Ministry, no one antic-ipated such a move. He had hinted that he would alsoresign his Parliament seat. This, however, was avert-ed after JP Nadda persuaded him to continue as theMember of Parliament from Asansol. More than any-thing else, it is going to cause a demoralising effecton the BJP. The TMC hardly gains anything frominducting Babul Supriyo in its ranks. Reason — Babulmay have overshot his political expiry. He lost by over50,000 votes in the recent Bengal elections whenhe fought on the BJP’s ticket. Nevertheless, the TMCmight be thinking of sending him to the Rajya Sabha.

Arpita Ghosh, a Rajya Sabha member of the TMC, has been made to resign by theparty. Babul Supriyo might be the new TMC entry into the Rajya Sabha.

After a spectacular victory in the Assembly elections, the TMC’s ambitions aresoaring and it is spreading its wings to fly higher. On the one hand, it is trying tomake a mark in national politics by courting various national parties and, on the other,it is making inroads into nearby States like Assam and Tripura. Babul Supriyo maynot be important for the TMC in the byelections for vote-catching where MamataBanerjee would be seeking people’s mandate but he can certainly be a trigger forothers to leave their party and join the TMC. Four MLAs have already left the BJPand joined the party. It is a huge perception victory and morale booster for the TMC’sworkers. It could even boost the party’s prospects in Assam and Tripura, where theTMC wants to fan out. An additional advantage is Babul’s Asansol parliamentary seatwhich, after his resignation, is going to fall into the lap of the Trinamool Congress.However, this ‘shifting loyalty syndrome’ does no good to the people or the causeof democracy. It shows the leaders in poor light; actually, it is tantamount to cheat-ing and stealing people’s mandate.

Most Chief Ministers in India today are a harried lot. Captain Amarinder Singh, forinstance, felt “humiliated” by the way he was told to go. He resigned as thePunjab Chief Minister but is still with the Congress. Now “they can name as

CM anyone they want”, he said, betraying his hurt. He is the first Congress Chief Ministerin recent years to be sacked in a machination typical of the party. It is déjà vu of the1980s and 1990s when the Chief Ministers in Congress-ruled States called themselvesState guests, certain that the “high command” would any day parachute their replace-ments. The modus operandi has not changed. The only difference today is that theCongress is left with very few Chief Ministers to replace. Three, to be precise. Such isthe fear of the parachuting business, even the Chief Ministers with the majority of MLAssupporting them are apprehensive. The Punjab example would surely have stirred some

fears in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The BJP is notfar behind when it comes to playing the replacementgame. Vijay Rupani, Trivendra Singh Rawat, TirathSingh Rawat and BS Yediyurappa were asked to resignin Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Karnataka. In Assam,Sarbananda Sonowal was asked to shift to Delhi, giv-ing the job to Himanta Biswa Sarma after the Assemblyelections. After Narendra Modi came to power, asmany as 22 Chief Ministers were handpicked and sentto the BJP-ruled States, confirming who the ChiefMinisters are beholden to.

A Chief Minister’s post, as these incumbentswould have realised by now, is not dependent on their abilities to govern or garner thebacking of legislators. It entirely depends on the party leadership’s primary intent ofwinning elections and, thereafter, tackling dissent. Many of these Chief Ministers sharecertain characteristics. Not all of them are leaders in their own right or have a massbase or caste-based support the party cannot ignore. Many are novices where partypolitics is concerned. Nearly all of them are of seasonal utility for their leadership. Onthe other hand, those who have these abilities make Chief Ministers of a different kind.Two kinds, actually. One, like the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy of Andhra Pradesh, themass-based leader who was not overawed by the “high command” because he wield-ed the power to singlehandedly deliver the State to the Congress in two successiveelections. He made a satrapy of the party in the State, took care of the party’s nation-al coffers and brooked no interference from Delhi. The other kind is the regional satrap,who branched out from a national party only to wipe its presence from a State, intro-duced a brand of individualised politics and who is her/his own “high command”. TheseChief Ministers, whether in Telangana, West Bengal, Odisha or Tamil Nadu, are in aposition to eventually introduce the principle of heredity in their States; thus no lesspowerful or dynastic than their former “high commands”.

Uncertainty

Jumping shipBabul Supriyo joining the TMC is likely to

boost the party's prospects rather than his own

PICTALK

Devotees carry idols of Lord Ganesha to immerse them to mark Ganesh Chaturthi, in Ahmedabad AP

The Chief Ministers in several States are aharried lot, unsure of their longevity in office

‘Cabbage tactic’to seize waters

SIDHU IS AN INCOMPETENT MAN. HE HAS A

CONNECTION WITH PAKISTAN. IT WILL BE A

THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY.

—FORMER PUNJAB CM

CAPTAIN AMARINDER SINGH

SIDHU IS NOT A TRAITOR. IF AMARINDER SINGH

CALLS SIDHU A TRAITOR, THEN I WILL

OPEN THE WHOLE BOOK.

—ADVISOR TO NAVJOT SIDHU

MOHAMMAD MUSTAFA

This week will witness PrimeMinister Narendra Modi meet-ing in person with the leaders ofAustralia and Japan, apart from

the US, a move that holds significantimportance and may perhaps changeIndia's foreign policy contours. Themeeting comes in the backdrop ofAustralia's alliance with the UK and theUS - AUKUS -- which aims to providenuclear submarines to Canberra.

Quad and AUKUS objectively over-lap with India's maritime security inter-ests in the South China Sea (SCS).Almost 50 per cent of India's globaltrade transits through the SCS region.The governments of Quad focus on thefreedom of navigation on high seas asa legitimate right.Beijing has activelyadopted a “cabbage tactic”, which ismulti-layered, to increase its leverage bycapturing the SCS. This vital traderoute also happens to be a potentialsource of natural resources such ashydrocarbons. For this purpose, itbuilds artificial islands by claiming its“historic rights” and then legislate-unusual domestic laws on it to exerciseits "sovereignty" over them. The “cab-bage tactic” is used to take control of anisland by surrounding it in multiple lay-ers of fishing boats, coast guard shipsand Chinese naval and military ships tocut off the island from outside support.The more significant motive, of course,is occupying as much space as possibleby threatening other countries.

The UN Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS) does not have a pro-vision to address the issues regardingconstruction, maintenance and milita-rization of artificial islands beyond tastate's “territorial waters”. Article 60 (1)of the UNCLOS allow for artificialislands only in the Exclusive EconomicZone. Artificial islands of China beyondits territorial waters are thus farcing.

The International Court of Justiceasserted the same in its 2016 arbitration,which Beijing refuted. The Chinesemaritime domestic laws conflict with theUN Convention on the Law of the Seaand sharply violate the maritime rightsof the other states. The UNCLOS pro-vides the vital 'freedom of 'navigation'and 'right to innocent passage' on thehigh sea, i.e., area outside internalwaters, the territorial sea, the contigu-ous zone, the exclusive economic zoneand the continental shelf of a state toregulate their maritime trade and move-ment for peaceful purposes such as help-ing the other states in distress, scientif-ic exploration, etc.

Chinese intentions can be ascer-tained by examining its 1992 Law of thePRC. Article 14 emphasized the optionof using a “hot pursuit” against a foreignship if it enters its territorial waters orthe contiguous zone. Further, Article 15insists that baseline of its territorial seawould be “established” by itself, a move

India should be wary of China using the ‘cabbage tactic’ in the Indian Ocean region the same way it tries to grab islands in the South China Sea

CHINA DEFENDSITS PRESENCE IN THE INDIAN

OCEAN REGIONWITH A LAME

EXCUSE OFCOUNTERING

PIRACY IN THEGULF OF ADEN.

WHILE IN THESOUTH CHINA SEA,

IT EXPLICITLYMAINTAINS THAT

ALL THE NAVALVESSELS OF THE OTHERCOUNTRIES MUST SEEK

PRIORPERMISSION

BEFOREENTERING THE

WATERS

Petrol and diesel prices have remained close to Rs. 100 for about10 weeks since July 8, 2021. The impact of this has been onfuel inflation (Wholesale Price Index) which averaged at more

than 25 percent for the last five months.The international crude oil price, however, reveals a different pic-

ture. Brent crude oil prices fell from $77.16 to $65.18 between July5 and Aug 20, a reduction of over 15 percent. In layman's terms, theprice of petrol in India could have been decreased to `85.

Back in 2017, the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) were givena free hand to follow dynamic fuel pricing to make their operationsmore efficient. Why the OMCs have stopped daily price revisions isa mystery. Is it because they are still controlled by the governmentwhich has a majority stake in them?

The RBI has also warned that high prices would trigger higher infla-tion which would affect growth. But it seems the government has decid-ed to continue milking the cash cows — the consumers.

While protection of consumers' interests necessitates governmentinterventions, a reduction of the high prices seems to be far from reality. In May last year, the government imposed additional exciseduty on both petrol and diesel, which included road and infrastruc-ture cess - an additional revenue worth `1.6 lakh crore. Since thecountry was forced into a pandemic-induced lockdown, it made com-monsense as well as economic sense, then. The fiscal situation wasexpected to be tight.

However, since May 2020, the total taxes on petrol have crossed`50 per litre. It was a paltry `9.48 per litre when the BJP govern-ment replaced UPA II in 2014. Is the government still expecting thefiscal situation to be similar to last year's? Let's look at the GST datawhich might give a clue in support of this.

Back in April 2020, when India was under a complete shutdown,the GST revenue collections fell to ̀ 32,294 crores from ̀ 97,597 crores.However, from March to August 2021, the GST collected has been`6,98,257 crores. This was a jump of more than 50 percent com-pared to the same period in the previous year.

The USD/INR exchange rate also has been favourable to importbills of crude oil. The exchange rate corrected from a peak of ̀ 77.10/USD in April 2020 to `72.26/ USD in March 2021. It now is rangingbetween `73 to `75.

A reduction in retail prices is unquestionably possible. All that needsto be done is to roll back additional excise duties. At present, the totalexcise duty on petrol exceeds `37 per litre. The other alternative isto bring the petroleum products under GST.

Since the government has remained stubborn after numerous pleasfor a reduction in the petrol and diesel prices, a set of new questionsarise: Is the government planning to put up a surplus budget in February2022? Is it anticipating a severe third wave and lockdown similar tolast year? Larger subsidy amounts are likely to be given to the poor?

Let's evaluate another argument. Higher prices would reduce con-sumption of the fossil fuel and help reduce global warming. But weneed to reduce dependency on personal vehicles and move to large-scale adoption of public transport. But mass-rapid transport sys-tems are not effective. If the government wants to promote electricvehicles, then we donot have the technology, capacity to producein large quantities, and required infrastructure for re-charging bat-tery-run vehicles.

(The writer is Associate Professor, Goa Institute of Management,Goa. The views expressed are personal.)

From this year onwards,B.Sc.(Nursing) admis-sions will be made

through NEET, which wereconducted last Sunday. Ireceived a panic call from thefather of a young girl who wasconsidering nursing admis-sion but she had three missingfingers in her non-dominanthand and a curvature in herspine. The father was con-cerned about the NationalTesting Agency's urgent pub-lic notice for B.Sc. (Nursing)course aspirants in NEET2021, which cited an IndianNursing Council (INC) letterstating that disability reserva-tion is only allowed for phys-ical disabilities of 40-50 percent and of the lower extrem-ity. It is strange, because howcould this be possible after theenactment of the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities Act(RPDA), but INC has pub-lished a gazette noticeannouncing this clause as wellas revising its nursing curricu-lum for the first time since1947. It will be implementedbeginning with the new batch.

Unfortunately, the dis-criminatory National MedicalCommission (NMC) stan-dards for applicants with dis-abilities were framed by a sin-gle, non-disabled expert fromthis subject from a premierinstitution in India, who decid-ed the ablest requirement of“both hands intact” as a must-have for MBBS admission.The Delhi High Court will behearing a case of a girl with anamputated arm who passedthe NEET exam last year butwas denied MBBS admissionto Lady Hardinge Medical

College, causing her to lose anacademic year. Thankfully, theSupreme Court and the GoaHigh Court have alreadygranted MBBS admission togirls with an amputated arm inGujarat and Goa, respectively.

The INC does not need torepeat NMC's embarrassinggaffes. The INC's new curricu-lum mentions the keyword"dignity" six times, whereasNMC's patented competency-based Medical EducationCurriculum does not. In the

Convention on the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities,which India has ratified, andin the preamble of the RPDA,dignity is a key component.

Learning disability is nowa specified disability under thenew law, and it is included inthe 5 per cent reservation inhigher education. But whereare the dyslexic doctors andnurses in India? In India, youwill only see nurses who are“one-legged” or “both legs dis-abled.” Yes, this is the vocabu-lary used by the Ministry ofSocial Justice andEmpowerment and theMinistry of Health to identify,stereotype, and ‘otherize’ us inemployment.

After my litigation in theDelhi HC, which pushedNMC to allow persons withdisabilities of more than 80 per

cent, INC's counterpart hasaccepted disabilities other thanlower limb and surely thoseabove 50 per cent (INC'sbenchmark).

In a recent SC decision onreasonable accommodation inthe instance of a doctor withdysgraphia, Dr Vikash Kumarv. UPSC, the highest court crit-icised an earlier order thatbarred blind and deaf candi-dates with a disability of morethan 50 per cent from becom-ing judges. The statutoryCouncils are still unaware ofthis historical judgment onsubstantive equality in theRPDA era.

Leslie Neal-Boylan whohas written multiple booksand journal articles on nurseswith disabilities has defied themyth that there are patientsafety concerns. The same

myth has been refuted in 2014by the American Associationof Colleges of Nursing's whitepaper which identified outdat-ed admission standards; mis-conceptions about the capac-ity of students with disabilitiesto function effectively in theclinical components of nursingeducation; and, lack of a com-prehensive understanding ofissues related to patient safetyas barriers that deter applicantswith disabilities. The RoyalCollege of Nursing in the UKtoo also issued a range ofemployment options for nurs-es with severe ill health or dis-abilities in 2020.

We don't need superhu-man robots in health care;instead, we need compassion-ate and caring nurses with dis-abilities who understand whatit is like to live with a chronic

illness or disability. They adaptin unconventional ways, theydemonstrate empathy and arebrilliant co-workers. We maybe rejecting many brilliantapplicants who could be out-standing nurses like therenowned FlorenceNightingale if we limit our pro-fession to those without dis-abilities. I hope the INC willlook into the representation ofhealth professionals with dis-abilities which are endorsed by22 nurses with disabilitiesfrom AIIMS New Delhi,Bhopal, Jodhpur, Jhajjar,NIMHANS and DelhiGovernment hospitals. If INCis serious about implementingthe high pedestal ethos ofdiversity indicated in theirnew curriculum, they must actand collaborate with nurseswith disabilities.

Misconceptions about the capacity of students with disabilities to function in the clinical components of nursing education deter such applicants

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNCONSUMERS EASY

PREY TO FOOT THE BILL

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

(The writer is an AssistantProfessor at Central

University of Punjab,Bathinda. The views

expressed are personal.)

Why do we need nurses with disabilities?

SATENDRA SINGH

(The writer teaches atUniversity College of

Medical Sciences, Delhi,and is a disability rights

activist. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

AMIYA KUMAR SAHU

hinting towards its future expansionism. Later, in 2011, China submitted in the UN a

Note Verbale on the SCS speaking about its “indis-putable sovereignty over the islands in the SouthChina Sea and the adjacent waters”. Nonetheless,the terms “historic rights” and “adjacent waters” donot appear in UNCLOS, and there is no recogni-tion. Further, the use of illegal terms serves the pur-pose of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) byexpanding the scope of its 'grey zone tactics' andhence are a distraction to the well-established inter-national norms and principles. China zealouslyguards the SCS, which was recently evident whenChina illegally stopped a German warship fromentering it.

Accompanied by the regularisation of suchwords, its mention of phrases like ‘offshore defence’,'distant sea defence' and its 'interests aboard' trulyreflect its hegemonic behaviour that is set to expandto the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Its nuclear sub-marines are regularly sighted in the IOR and theArabian Sea by the Indian Navy. The presence ofChinese submersibles is a clear-cut violation ofArticle 20 of UNCLOS, which states that “in the ter-ritorial sea, submarines and other underwater vehi-cles are required to navigate on the surface and showtheir flag”. China may be collecting critical under-sea hydrological data from the IOR to plan actionin case of a limited conflict or a full-blown openwar with India. Such moves are a detriment toIndia's core security objectives. China counters itspresence by putting forward a lame excuse with itsnuclear submarines to counter the piracy in the Gulfof Aden. One can only wonder how a nuclear sub-marine can counter piracy.

On the contrary, in the SCS, China explicitlymaintains that all the naval vessels of the othercountries and research ships seek prior permissionbefore they enter the territorial waters of China. Thesame duplicity has been evident in its recent amend-ment to China's Maritime Traffic Safety Law. It nowincludes five types of vessels- "submersibles,nuclear-powered vessels, ships carrying radioactivematerials, ships carrying bulk oil, chemicals, liq-uefied gas or other toxic substances" that need toreport minute details to the Chinese authorities. Thecargo ships are thus now questionable and moreprone to sabotage through "hot pursuits".

Further, Article 11 of the same law asserts that"Non-military vessels of foreign nationality may notenter the internal waters". Additionally, the “mili-tary vessels of foreign nationality may not enter theterritorial waters”. Thepertinent question that aris-es is what are the limits of its "territorial waters"?As per the UNCLOS, itextends upto 12 nauticalmiles from the baseline of a coastal state. In the caseof Beijing, will it start measuringsuch limits fromthe artificial islands that it has builtin the SCS? Thenin such a case, the Spratly and ParacelIslandsrepresent a “sea grab”, similar to a land grab.Does it not then amount to infringing the freedomof navigation of other states? Such illegal occupa-tion affects the trade routes and supply chain lines.Such dual standards need to be exposed and at var-ious regional and multilateral levels.

China's land reclamation activities in FeydhooFinolhu Island leased out to Beijing by the Maldivesin 2016 are China's emerging footprints in theIOR.This comes in addition to its military intelli-gence and surveillance activities in the CocoIslands and Greater Coco islands of the EasternIndian Ocean.The existing geostrategic realities ofChinese hegemonic intentions in the IOR are vis-ible through China's OBOR and its attempts toremould the Asian security order in its favour.China's recent outreach to the Taliban inAfghanistan can increase its tactical manoeuvra-bilityon land. On the other hand, Chinese nuclearsubmarines, illegal fishing, and surveillance activ-ities in the IOR are set to become a significant threatto Indian security interests.

Suppose China would be successful in havingland-sea dominance encircling India, in such a case,it will not only threaten India's immediate and long-term security interests, but it will also adverselyaffect India's economic and cyber security. Chinamight use the “cabbage tactic” in the IndianOcean Region in the same way as in the SouthChina Sea. In this direction, the nation shouldappreciate the establishment of the AndamanNicobar Command and the re-orientation of thebattle commands, which will have joint operabil-ity of the Army, Navy and the Air Force. In the pre-sent circumstances, India's further shift towardsQUAD and AUKUS shouldn't be a surprising devel-opment and should be welcomed by the nation.

NISHTHA KAUSHIKI

A reduction in retail fuel prices is possibleif additional excise duties are rolled back

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Fortune Park Hotels, amember of ITC's hotelgroup, will be opening five

properties with over 375rooms in India by the end ofnext year, as part of its robustexpansion plans in the country.

The company has 38operating hotels with around2,900 rooms across 34 citiesof India."Apart from opening 5 hotels with over 375 rooms across 4cities of India from our active pipeline by the end of December 2022,we are also in advanced negotiations for a few more projects, someof which are anticipated to open before the end of next year," FortunePark Hotels MD Samir MC told PTI.These five hotels will be --Fortune Resort Benaulim Goa, Fortune Park in Hoshiarpur (Punjab),Fortune Park in Tirupur (Tamil Nadu), Fortune Select in Goa and aFortune Inn in Haldwani (Uttarakhand), he added. When asked aboutthe business model the company follows, Samir said, "While ourprimary model is currently on managed hotels, we continueevaluating different operating models including franchise model."

Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) remained net buyers inIndian markets so far in

September by investing a net sumof Rs 16,305 crore. As perdepositories data, overseasinvestors invested Rs 11,287 crore into equities and Rs 5,018 crorein debt segment on a net basis between September 1-17. Duringthis period, the total net investment stood at Rs 16,305 crore.InAugust, FPI investment stood at Rs 16,459 crore. HimanshuSrivastava, associate director - research, Morningstar India notedthat investment in Indian equities has been volatile for sometime."However, continuing rally in the Indian stock markets would havebeen hard for FPIs to ignore and they would have chosen to be apart of it rather than missing out on it," he said. Also, Indiacontinues to be an important and competitive investmentdestination from the long-term perspective, Srivastava added. FPIshave been showing interest in segments like hotels and travel sincethese segments have started to do well, as per V K Vijayakumar,Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

FPIs net buyers at Rs 16K-crso far in September

Four of the top-10 mostvalued companies togetheradded Rs 65,464.41 crore

to market valuation last week,with Bharti Airtel and StateBank of India emerging as thebiggest gainers.

During the last week, the 30-share BSE benchmark jumped710 points or 1.21 per cent. Market benchmark Sensex scaled the59,000-mark for the first time on Thursday. From the top-10 list,Reliance Industries Limited, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever Limited,HDFC, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance were the laggards, whosecumulative erosion was at Rs 43,746.79 crore. Tata ConsultancyServices, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Bharti Airtel were thewinners. The valuation of Bharti Airtel jumped Rs 22,984.14 croreto reach Rs 3,99,901.97 crore. State Bank of India added Rs19,500.28 crore taking its market capitalisation (m-cap) to Rs4,05,221.99 crore.

M-cap of four of top-10 firmsjumps Rs 65,464.41 crores

Debt-ridden telecom operatorVodafone Idea on Sundayclaimed to have recorded a

peak speed of 3.7 gigabit persecond (gbps), highest by anyoperator in India, during 5Gtrials in Pune. The company alsoclaimed to have recorded 1.5gbps download speed in themid-band spectrum in Gandhinagar and Pune. Vi (Vodafone Idea)has been allocated high-frequency bands like 26 gigahertz (Ghz) bythe Department of Telecommunications (DoT), along with thetraditional 3.5 GHz spectrum band, for 5G network trials. "In Punecity, Vi has deployed its 5G trial in a lab set-up of an end-to-endcaptive network of Cloud Core, new generation Transport and RadioAccess Network. "In this trial, Vi has achieved a peak speed inexcess of 3.7 Gbps with very low latency on the mmWave(millimetre wave) spectrum band," Vi said in the statement. TheDoT had approved applications of Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel andVodafone in May, and MTNL later.

VI claims to record peak 5Gspeed of 3 gbps during trials

Fortune Park Hotels to add 5hotels in India by Dec 2022

PNS n NEW DELHI

Most of the merchant bankerswho had submitted bids forfacilitating strategic sale ofLIC-controlled IDBI Bankindicated a time-frame of oneyear to complete the elaborateprocess, sources said.

During a presentation beforethe Department of Investmentand Public Asset Management(DIPAM) held recently, most ofthe eligible transaction advis-ers gave a time-frame of 50-52weeks to undertake severalstages of the privatisationprocess of IDBI Bank, marketsources said. However, thegovernment intends to com-plete the transaction during thecurrent fiscal itself. Thus themerchant banker has to find abuyer in about 26 weeks or sixmonths.

According to marketsources, as many as seven bids-- Deloitte Touche TohmatsuIndia LLP, Ernst and Young

LLP, ICICI Securities Ltd, JMFinancial Ltd, KPMG, RBSACapital Advisors LLP and SBICapital Markets Ltd -- werereceived.

DIPAM on behalf ofGovernment of India had float-ed a tender in June invitingbids from transaction advisorsfrom reputed professional con-sulting firms or investmentbankers or merchant bankersor financial institutions forfacilitating and assisting strate-gic disinvestment of IDBIBank. The last date for submis-sion of bids was July 13.

KPMG placed the lowest bidof Re 1, and was selected as the

transaction adviser, marketsources said, adding, the firmwill assist the government inthe sale for Re 1.

The central governmentand LIC together own morethan 94 per cent equity ofIDBI Bank. LIC, currentlyhaving management control,has 49.24 per cent stake, whilethe government holds 45.48per cent. Non-promoter share-holding stands at 5.29 percent. The transaction advisorwould be required to adviseand assist the government onmodalities of disinvestmentand the timing; recommendthe need for other intermedi-

aries required for the processof sale/disinvestment and alsohelp in identification andselection of the same withproper Terms of Reference.

The transaction advisor willalso assist in preparation of alldocuments like PreliminaryInformation Memorandum(PIM), organise roadshowsto generate interest amongthe prospective buyers andsuggest measures to fetch opti-mum value. The advisorwould also be supportingIDBI Bank in setting up an e-data room and assisting in thesmooth conduct of the duediligence process. As per theeligibility criteria outlined inthe RFP, the bidders shouldhave advised at least one trans-action of strategic disinvest-ment/strategic sale/M&Aactivities/private equity invest-ment transaction of the size ofRs 5,000 crore or more duringthe period from April 2016 toMarch 2021.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The consumer durable indus-try is expecting double-digitgrowth in the festive seasonsales this year, despite infla-tionary pressure on inputs thatled to price hike twice in theyear, shortage of componentssuch as chipsets and a threat ofa third wave of the pandemic.

The makers such asPanasonic, LG, Haier, GodrejAppliances and Lloyds areexpecting a pent-up demandand good growth in premiumproducts across categories likelarge-screen TVs, front-loadwashing machines, and biggercapacity refrigerators.

The companies are keepingtheir supply chain and inven-tory ready for the festive sea-son, which starts in the Northand other parts from Dussehraand goes up to Diwali and usu-ally accounts for up to 30 percent of their sales in a month.

Makers have planned tolaunch new models along witha 360-degree campaign, cashbacks, easy finance options aszero down payment and long-term EMI schemes. A good

festive season sales would alsohelp them recover the lossesincurred on account of the sec-ond wave of the pandemic andlockdowns.

"We are seeing a steady risein demand for value-proposi-tion appliances such as such assmart 4K Android TVs, con-nected range of ACs (HUseries), refrigerators, washingmachines, microwaves andother lifestyle appliances,"Panasonic India President andCEO Manish Sharma told PTI.

He further added that due tothe return of demand, thecompany has seen a growth of25 per cent in August 2021 asagainst last year. "We are hop-ing to maintain the growth

momentum through festiveseason to make up for lossesdue to the pandemic."

South Korean electronicmajor LG had launched arange of flagship productsahead of the festive season.

"Currently, consumer senti-ment is quite positive. Workfrom home and stay at homehave created good demandfor durables, as leisure travel isrestricted so certain section ofconsumers are spending onupgrading consumer durab-les," said LG India Vice-Presid-ent (Corporate Planning)Deepak Bansal. The companyis witnessing good growth inpremium products across cat-egories, he said.

Consumer durable makers expectdouble-digit growth in festive season

PNS n NEW DELHI

From Russian and French ener-gy giants to airport operatorsin India, companies are queu-ing up to train personnel in firesafety and disaster manage-ment at state-owned ONGC'spremier training institute.

Russia's Rosneft, Total ofFrance, domestic energymajors IOC, GAIL, HPCL andOIL, private firms like Cairn,airport operators GMR andAirports Authority of India(AAI) are among a long list ofclients that have at some pointof time trained their personnelat the Institute of PetroleumSafety, Health andEnvironment Management(IPSHEM), its head andONGC Executive Director Atul

Garg said.The Institute, which shut its

physical training module afterthe outbreak of pandemic, is

this month resuming physicaltraining after a gap of one-and-a-half-years.

"We have a backlog of

inhouse personnel who need tobe trained in aspects such assea survival to fire safety. Andso to begin with we will imparttraining to ONGC personneland later look at meetingindustry demand," he said.

From basic fire fightingtraining and environmentmanagement to blowout con-trol and disaster management,the institute offers a widerange of courses. Its vast cam-pus in Goa houses a hostel andreal-life equipment. "TheInstitute is equipped with stim-ulators that are used to recre-ate real life like events such asfire at oil and gas pipelines,depots and tankers, wellheadblowout and fire on heli-copters. Personnel are trainedin controlling fire as well as

rescue at various installationsin a refinery, oilfield, pipelineand fuel storage depot," hesaid. From fire safety manage-ment to investigating inci-dents and accidents, frombreathing apparatus course forfire personnel to conductingsearch and rescue in smokefilled rooms, from helicopterlanding assistance to survivalat sea, the Institute offers com-prehensive training.

Specialised courses such ascrane operators safety, incidentinvestigation and oil spill man-agement are also offered, hesaid adding the institute isaccredited to leading globalbodies.

Started two decades backwith the aim to provide Oiland Natural Gas Corp

(ONGC) personnel with statu-tory disaster managementtraining, IPSHEM has gainedpopularity not just amongenergy peers but also in indus-try where fire training is amust.

"AAI and other airportoperators such as one atMumbai have sent their per-sonnel to train in fire safety.We have requests from a lot ofothers but because of the pan-demic we couldn't train. Nowthat the Institute is reopening,we will first clear the backlogof ONGC personnel and there-after intake outside personnel,"Garg said.

The Institute earned close toRs 1 crore in 2019-20 in feefrom training outside person-nel.

From Russia's Rosneft to airports, cos queue up to train personnel

PNS n NEW DELHI

The decision of the GSTCouncil to correct invertedduty structure on leatherfootwear from January 1,2022, would help reducetax burden of the sector andboost domestic manufac-turing of manmade fibre(MMF) fabrics and gar-ments, CLE said on Sunday.

Counci l for LeatherExports (CLE) ChairmanSanjay Leekha said GST(goods and services tax) onleather footwear worth lessthan Rs 1,000 is 5 per centand over that value, the taxis 18 per cent, but the GSTon inputs for thesefootwears ranges up to 18per cent.

"We have suggested ratio-nalisation of the tax onthese footwears," he said.

The GST Council in itsmeeting on September 17agreed to correct invertedduty structure on footwearand textiles from January 1,2022.

Decision tocorrect invertedduty structure tocut tax burden

PNS n NEW DELHI

Reserve Bank's decision toallow NBFCs and paymentservice providers to apply forobtaining Aadhaar e-KYCAuthentication Licence willpromote digitisation and checkfrauds, opined Fintech players.

The RBI has said NBFCs,Payment System Providers andPayment System Participantsdesirous of obtaining AadhaarAuthentication License - KYCUser Agency (KUA) License orsub-KUA License, may submittheir application to the centralbank for onward submission toUIDAI.

The Reserve Bank's initiativewill also help in improvingtrust levels among customersbecause only licensed entitieswill be permitted to conducteKYC, said Ankit Bhatnagar,Head of Product, Mswipe.

"Now with eKYC, non-bank-ing entities offering financialservices can improve compli-ance and also ensure that thepopular mechanism of cus-

tomer on-boarding for whichthey had to depend on thirdparty players can beoffered directlythrough a KUAlicence," saidBh at - n a g ar.M a n o jChopra, HeadInnovat ionand ProductD e v e l o p -ment, InfrasoftTechnologiesLimited, was ofthe opinion that themove will simplify cus-tomer onboarding for NBFCs,NBFC-Micro FinanceInstitutions (NBFC-MFI), pay-ment system operators andpayment system participants.

NBFCs' are reliant on offlineAadhaar validation or paper-based authentication mecha-nisms like PAN verification.Since such methods involvedsharing pictures of physicaldocuments, it made theprocess slightly cumbersomeand prone to rejections as the

quality of pictures shared maynot be up to the mark, Chopra

said."Now, by availingA a d h a a r

A u t h e n t i c a t i o nLicense – KYC UserAgency (KUA)license or sub-KUA License theseNBFCs can direct-ly leverage an

online database inAadhaar and verify

the identity includingthe photograph seamless-

ly," Chopra said.Commenting on the RBI's

decision, Gurjodhpal Singh,CEO, Tide (India), said it is awelcome move for the fintechecosystem.

According to Singh, thiswill promote digitisation,resulting in a forward thinkingapproach to ensure fast deliv-ery of financial products in thesector and thus improve expe-rience for many customerswho had been facing a lot ofissues.

RBI decision to allow NBFCs applyfor Aadhaar-e-KYC Authentication

PNS n NEW DELHI

With no major domesticmacroeconomic dataannouncement this week,equity markets would keenlytrack the US Fed interest ratedecision and other globaltrends to decide its furthermovement, analysts said.

Equity benchmarks surgedto their fresh lifetime peaks onFriday. Analysts said positiveeconomic data and govern-ment reforms in telecom,banking and automobile sec-tors helped in boosting mar-ket sentiments. "This week isgoing to be critical for theIndian market after a recentoutperformance because thereis some weakness in globalmarkets where the outcome ofFOMC's meeting, which isscheduled for September 21-22, will be a critical factor.Other than the US FederalReserve, the Bank of Japanwill also come out with its

monetary policy onSeptember 22, said SantoshMeena, head (research) atSwastika Investmart Ltd.

"We are in a roaring bullmarket and I believe it maycontinue for the next 2-3years but after a long time, Iam sounding a little cautiousas there are some signs whichindicate that a short-termcorrection is around the cor-ner," Meena said.

During the last week, the30-share BSE benchmarkjumped 710 points or 1.21 percent. Market benchmarkSensex scaled the 59,000-mark for the first time onThursday.

Shrikant Chouhan, head(equity research-retail) atKotak Securities Ltd, said theFederal Reserve will kick offa two-day meeting onSeptember 21, and the globalmarkets will watch for anupdate on their bond-buyingprogramme.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government has receivedmaximum foreign directinvestment (FDI) proposalsin three departments -- elec-tronics and IT, industry andinternal trade, and heavyindustries -- from countriessharing land border withIndia, an official said.

In April 2020, the govern-ment had made its priorapproval mandatory for for-eign investments from coun-tries that share land borderwith India to curb oppor-tunistic takeovers of domes-tic firms following the pan-demic. Countries which shareland borders with India areChina, Bangladesh, Pakistan,Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar andAfghanistan. As per that deci-sion, FDI proposals fromthese countries need gov-ernment approval for invest-ments in India in any sector.

Global trends toinfluence trading

PNS n NEW DELHI

The four-year breather frompayment of regulatory duesoffered as part of the telecomrelief package allows operatorstime to transform and repair,and may cool off price wars,according to a senior analyst atDeloitte India.

The reforms send out astrong message to the globalcommunity, and are expectedto bolster confidence ofinvestors and lenders in thetelecom sector, Peeyush Vaish,Partner and Telecom Sector

Leader, Deloitte India said.The Union Cabinet recent-

ly approved a blockbuster reliefpackage for the stressed tele-com sector that includes afour-year break for companies

from paying statutory dues,permission to share scarce air-waves, change in the definitionof revenue on which levies arepaid and 100 per cent foreigninvestment through the auto-matic route.

The measures, aimed at pro-viding relief to companies suchas Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL)that have to pay thousands ofcrores in unprovisioned paststatutory dues, also include thescrapping of Spectrum UsageCharge (SUC) for airwavesacquired in future spectrumauctions.

Moratorium on telecom dues

allows time to transform, repair

PNS n NEW DELHI

E-commerce major Amazonon Sunday said sellers will nowbe able to register on theAmazon.in marketplace andmanage their online businessin three more languages -Malayalam, Telugu andBengali.

The move comes ahead ofthe festive season and willbenefit thousands of existingAmazon sellers, many poten-tial and new sellers frommarkets across tiers to runtheir business on Amazon.inmarketplace in a language oftheir choice and preference, astatement said. With thislaunch, Amazon.in nowallows sellers to manage theironline business in eight lan-guages including Bengali,Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada,Marathi, Malayalam, Telugu,Tamil and English. Using anyof the regional languages,sellers can do everything fromregistering as an Amazon

seller for the first time, tomanaging orders, inventoryand accessing performancemetrics – all in the languageof their preference, the state-ment said. This experiencehas been made available onthe Amazon seller Central aswell as on the mobile app, itadded.

As Amazon works towardsits commitment to digitiseone crore MSMEs acrossIndia by 2025, it is importantto address sellers' challengeswhen they seek to leverage e-commerce to expand theirbusinesses, Amazon IndiaDirector (Seller PartnerServices) Sumit Sahay said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) State-run C-DOT is developing tech-nology to intercept all medialike television, mobile phones,railway announcements etc forbroadcasting disaster alerts inlocal languages, a senior offi-cial said.

The Centre for Developmentof Telematics (C-DOT) isdeveloping the system forNational Disaster ManagementAuthority (NDMA) andexpects it to be ready in 18months, CDOT chairman andexecutive director RajkumarUpadhyay told PTI.

"We are developing a pan-

India integrated alert systemwhich can send out alertsacross all mediums at one go inan emergency situation. It willbe deployed by NDMA. Oncethe system is deployed, thedepartment concerned willhave to just mark the area onthe map by pen and the alertwill go across all mediums in

that area in the local lan-guage," Upadhyay said.

The state-run organisation isindigenously developing thetechnology for the IntegratedAlert System based onI n t e r n a t i o n a lTelecommunication Union(ITU) recommended Comm-on Alerting Protocol (CAP).

C-DOT to tap all media for broadcasting disaster alerts

PNS n NEW DELHI

The commerce and industryministry on Sunday said itwill observe 'Vanijya Saptah'during September 20-26, inwhich a slew of programmesand events will be organisedacross the country showcas-ing India as a rising econom-ic force, and exporter con-claves. The DPIIT is organis-ing a soft launch of theNational Single WindowSystem and Industrial ParkRating System.

Comm min toobserve ‘VanijyaSaptah' duringSept 20-26

Govt receiving FDIproposals fromnations sharingborder with India

Most merchant bankers indicate 52 weeks' time

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MondaySeptember 20, 2021

SHIKHA DUGGAL

inema and sportshave been comingtogether since areally long time,and as we seenowadays, a mas-

sive audience is drawn tosports biographies! Therecent performance of oursportspersons in the TokyoOlympics andParalympics has pavedthe way for our newgeneration to look atsports in a moreprofessional way.

Keeping all this inmind, the directorof Ajay Devgn star-rer Maidaan payshis tribute to some-one who has bravedthe odds, overcamechallenges in his lifeand achieved lau-rels for not justour cityHyderabad,but also thewhole coun-try — noneother thanSyed AbdulRahim alsoknown as‘Rahim Saab’,an Indianfootball coachand managerof the IndianNational teamfrom 1950until hisdeath. AjayDevgn will beseen playingthe titular role

of the one whois regarded to be the archi-tect of modern Indian foot-

ball! We got in touch withdirector Amit Sharma to

learn more imminentdetails about the film

that’s going onfloors

soon

and he had a lot to say. Hebegins with how ecstatic he isto see that sports basedmovies are accepted widelyby the Indian audiences. Thecountry has indeed woken upto its treasure of cinematicsports!

“The way people lovecricket in this country, thereare parts of the same nationsuch as Kolkata, Hyderabad,Goa, Kerela, where they aredie-hard fans of football. Inmy research term, I noticedeven the supporters don’tremember the football leg-ends. That thrust me to letthe public know about thegolden era of football too,because why not? Footballruled the country from the1950s to 1960s! We today seea lot of youngsters followingdiverse international footballgroups, but how many ofthem know their country’scontribution to it? That iswhat I want to show inMaidaan. As Boney siropened up about in the pressconference recently, abouthow Arjun Kapoor is morekeen on watching football onthe television, we are surethere are many like him,hence, this film will activatethat ‘power of this play’

again!” Promising to be a

ground-breaking film,the director alsoreveals that Ajay pre-pared for the partfrom scratch, rightfrom training infootball to theHyderabadi accent,he researchedeverything and heis no stranger toreal-life charac-ters! “As per ourinvestigations,Raheem Saabpracticed numer-ous tricks with histeam that waslater on picked upby the Europeancoaches and ourcoach has spokenof a lot in thatfraternity. Therewas no technolo-gy or the rightguidance backthen; he wouldgain all knowl-edge about thesport only fromthe books he used

to read. Not to for-

get, as once more mentionedby Boney sir, that the coachwas also a psychologist andhe knew the psyche of thesport he was playing,” addsthe director who is fully fer-vent about making theDeepika-Amitabh starrer TheIntern.

The director further tellsus that, to play Syed AbdulRahim, Ajay worked on hisbody language and accentbrilliantly.

“He did not compromiseon the credibility and authen-ticity for even one shot.Audiences won’t see him asAjay — the star in Maidaan,they will see a football coachwho transformed the wayfootball was perceived in ourcountry. Ajay sir will be seenplaying real football with realplayers in Maidaan.”

Amit says that not just a lotof study, but a lot of time hasalso been put into writing thefilm, some of the footballplayers were of great help tothe team, he says.

Narrating to us a veryheart-felt moment, Amitrecalls an interaction with one of the football playerswho had been coached bySyed Abdul Rahim, who,when Amit asked how thefeeling was when the teamwon a gold medal in football, he instantly wentinside and brought thenational jersey along with themedals and this is what hehad to say to Amit Sharmathat brought tears to thedirector’s eyes: “These are the most valuable laurels ofmy life, only we know howwe won it, but you knowwhat keep these with you, itis in reverence for our coach.”

The director wavered andreplied to the player, “Wecan’t take this, it is youraccomplishment. I’ll takesome pictures and craft simi-lar medals for the film.” But,he insisted and said that he isdone with it and he wants tooffer that for the belovedcoach now, for the truest por-trayal.

“There was another fasci-nating moment I noticedwhile he told us how theywould sometimes cuss on theground — now when he usedthe same cuss word, helooked up in the sky and said‘Sorry Rahim Saab’! This kindof admiration swept me offmy feet,” he concludes.

C

YAMINIKRISHNABANDLAMUDI

hen situationdemands, successbecomes mandato-ry. The adageholds true for 9-year-old Dolly

Sivani Cherukuri fromVijayawada, who has alreadyestablished a name for herselfwith several prestigiousworld records in archery. Inconversation with ThePioneer, her parents sharehow their perseverance madeit possible in training theirdaughter to reach this far.

Realising dreams isundoubtedly a tough task,especially ones that demanda great deal of hard work andperseverance. But what doesit actually take if the samedream has to be chased, over

and again? Doesn’t it soundlike a herculean task?Cherukuri Satyannarayana,60, from Vijayawada, had alot to say about this.

“Our son Lenin won theDronacharya award for hisoutstanding talent as a sportscoach, ranked 4th in archerydivision at an internationallevel, is a certified level 3coach, and has coached theIndian archery team foralmost 18 years. He securedmedals for the country at theAsian and World champi-onships — but our happinesswas short lived. At the youngage of 24, in 2012, he metwith a road accident andbreathed his last, the yearbefore he planned to secure agold medal at the RioOlympics. Though it hit uslike a bolt from the blue, weretained our mental strengthand with a determination to

carry forward Lenin’s and ourVolga Training academy’slegacy, our couple hadplanned for a baby throughsurrogacy and were blessedwith Sivani in 2015. I pinnedall my hopes onto her.Sivani’s mother KrishnaKumari started training herright from her bed — in bowdraw, stretching exercises,and field knowledge — allsince she was just twomonths old. Gradually, shepicked up all the necessarytraits and techniques ofarchery.”

Sivani, who played for theunder 9 category of archery,emerged a national championthrice! She also entered theAsia Book of Records, IndiaBook of Records for fourtimes, and had to her credit,four world records by thevery tender age of three.

Her coach ChandraSekhara Laguri tells us thatSivani created her first Indianand Asian record in 2015 byshooting 5 and 7 metersrespectively, in recurve divi-sion individual event at theage of 35 months. She adds,“Within a three-month gapin the same year, she createdher second record mixedevent with five other boys ofdifferent age groups and dis-tances.”

Sivani, world’s youngestarcher, was appreciated andcalled the second ‘futureOlympian’ and ‘second

Deepika Kumari Olympian’by World ArcheryAssociation and Bollywoodstar Aishwarya Rai Bachchanand director Karan Johar atthe IGT television show.Also, Sivani’s documentarywas screened at therenowned MOMO theatreduring the 60th Film Festivalof New York, USA and it tele-casted on Germany’s popularGalileo, show which got overtwo million views!

Her mother KrishnaKumari Cherukuri proudlyshares that their daughter, bythe time she was two and ahalf, stood as a role model forall the archery kids, and wit-nessing the young talent, bowmanufacturing companiesstarted manufacturing bowseven for the under five agegroup.

Satyannarayana, shoul-dered the responsibility ofVolga Academy of Archery,which is named after Lenin’selder sister, who too hadpassed away five years beforeLenin. He adds that the train-ing centre has produced a

number of talentedsportspersons for India, whonot only participated inCommonwealth Games, theOlympics and differentnational and internationalcompetitions, but alsosecured number of presti-gious medals for the country.

Cherukuri Dolly Sivani,the young talent, who is nowin her 5th standard, is deter-mined to secure a gold medalin the coming Olympics. Shesays her parents are the pil-lars of her success and train-ers Naveen, Manoj andPurushottam Rao are doingall they can, to hone herarchery skills.

The story of glory!

Aiming it right!

W

Veere Di Wedding actress EkavaliKhanna is currently enjoying thelove and adulation she received

from the masses for her performance inALTBalaji’s recent hit Hai Taubba 3. Theanthology, which is all about strongwomen breaking the shackles of society,saw Khanna playing one of the unassail-able women. Interestingly, Ekavali went astep ahead for her next. Ekavaliditched her vanity for the show, abold step for any female actressin the industry. Like DeepikaPadukone refrained fromworking on her eyebrows inSanjay Leela Bhansali’s his-torical drama Padmaavat,Ekavali did the same.

Talking about the riv-eting anecdote, Ekavalishared, “An interest-ing aspect of

Sarla’s character was the way I was styledand my look was created. I don’t know ifpeople will notice but I have not done myeyebrows in the series. Because at thatpoint of time, people were not threadingtheir eyebrows. So it was just a little effortthat I made to get into that character’sheadspace. I also went to wear a sareewithout a blouse. That was something Iwas not comfortable with. However,women used to wear sarees like that. Sowe had to stay true to the era and time.To make myself comfortable, I woresarees without a blouse at my place. Iwalked into my house in my cotton sareeswithout a blouse to get comfortable. Itwas something that I think the costumeand the makeup department really puttheir best self forward. It helped me com-pletely break out of my own mould and

embrace Sarla’s look and feel.”On a parting note, Ekavali said,“That is what makes this whole

experience very gratifying. HaiTaubba was something that I

did step out of my comfortzone and it is being

acknowledged; itis being

accept-ed.”

Actor Ekavali Khannatakes inspiration fromDeepika Padukone's

Padmaavat!

lzheimer’s disease isone of the leadingcauses of loss of inde-pendence in an olderadult. Older adultshave openly expressed

that it is the most dreaded dis-ease they fear.

With Alzheimer’s Day tomor-row (Sept. 21), Dr. PremNarsimhan Naganath,Consultant Geriatric MedicineSpecialist in Jaslok Hospitals, inconversation with The Pioneerexplains myths and facts aboutAlzheimers.

Myth: Memory Loss is a nor-mal part of ageing.

Fact: As people age, it’s normalto have occasional memory prob-lems, such as forgetting the nameof a person you’ve recently met.However, Alzheimer’s is morethan occasional memory loss. It’sa disease that causes brain cells tomalfunction and ultimately die.When this happens, one may for-get the name of a long-timefriend or directions to return to ahome they’ve lived in for decades.

Myth: Alzheimer’s Ds andDementia are same.

Fact: People often use theterms Alzheimer’s disease anddementia interchangeably, butthere is a difference. Dementiarefers to impaired memory,thinking, reasoning, and behav-iour, and Alzheimer’s is just onetype of dementia. The terms arelikely confused becauseAlzheimer’s is the most commoncause of dementia and the mostwell-known. But there are othertypes of dementia, too.

Myth: If I’m forgetting thingsthen I have Alzheimer’s Ds.

Fact: Memory problems aretypically one of the first signs ofAlzheimer’s, but not all memoryproblems mean a person has thedisease. Some forgetfulness isnormal as we age.

Myth: If somebody in my fam-

ily has Alzheimer’s I will get ittoo.

Fact: When a parent or a closerelative gets the disease onemight be worried of getting itwhen older. A person’s chance ofdeveloping Alzheimer’s is higherif they have certain genetic muta-tions or variations that can bepassed down from a parent.However, just because a biologi-cal parent has Alzheimer’s doesnot mean that their children willdevelop it.

Myth: Memory loss is the onlysymptom.

Fact: Memory loss is the mostrecognisable symptom. But othersymptoms include challenges inplanning or solving problems,not able to complete familiartasks, confusion about time orplace, unable to understand therelationship between space andobjects, problems involving writ-ing and speaking, inability toretrace steps, misplacing things,poor judgment, social withdraw-al, and general changes in mood,personality, and behaviour.

Myth: Only older adults get it. Fact: People can get the dis-

ease in the 30’s,40’s and 50’s too.This is called younger-onsetAlzheimer’s (also referred to asearly onset)

Myth: It is not fatal.Fact: True. Alzheimer’s disease

destroys brain cells and causesmemory changes, erratic behav-iours, and loss of body functions.It slowly and painfully takes awaya person’s identity, ability to con-nect with others, think, eat, talk,walk and going back home.

Myth: Alzheimer’s Ds preven-tion is possible.

Fact: There are no provenways to prevent it.

But risk factors can be con-trolled like lifestyle changes,heathy diet, exercise, stayingmentally active and good sleepare important.

Debunkingmyths aboutAlzheimer's

A

PAR

TY

10

Hyderabad Monday September 20, 2021what’s brewing?

Ph

oto

s b

y S

V C

ha

ry

AGroup show at Botanika Art Gallery inGachibowli saw many artists putting theirunconventional artwork on display.

The theme ‘unusual' gave inception to worksunlike any others.UN

USUA

LST

ROKE

S

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

l Each row and column cancontain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

l The sum of all numbers inany row or column mustequal 45.

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

FUN

ZoWed, an online wedding planningwebsite, opened the ZoWed WeddingLounge in Banjara Hills. Siddharth Daga

and Nikitha Pitti of ZoWed and a host offashion influencers like Esha Hindocha, DivyaBoppana, Tanusha Bajaj and actress MonicaTavanam graced the inaugural event at thestore on Road No 10, Banjara Hills.Luxuriously done up in rich color tones andwarm inviting interiors, the store is now readyto welcome its guests.

GET READY TO BE ZOWED!

l Sruthi

l Neha Jain

l Dollze, Devanshi

l Kasula and Pavanil Sweety

l Shikha

l Siddhartha Daga, and Nikitha Pitti

l Sakshi Pitti

l Nidhi

l Ramu

ctor Ram Pothineni isnow on board as thenew brand ambassadorfor CMR shoppingmall in AndhraPradesh! Earlier it was

Victory Venkatesh but nowRam Pothineni turned to be thenew face of the brand. Ram hadearlier stayed away from brandpromotions and commercialads for many years. But it isvery much evident that the

youngherohas

changed his track, with regardto movies and as well as brandendorsements.His recent multilingual com-mercial as the brand ambas-sador for ‘Garnier’ proved itand now, RAPO’s charm isgonna benefit CMR shoppingmall too.

Capturing his market on andoff screen, he’s even aiming forbigger commercial projects andmultilingual releases for hisupcoming movies. His upcom-ing bilingual film RAPO19directed by N. Linguswamy isone of the most awaited filmsin Telugu and Tamil now.

11

Hyderabad Monday September 20, 2021

ctor Nabha Nateshsays she approachedher latest Telugufeature Maestro as afresh film and didn’tsuccumb to the

pressure of the black comedythriller being a remake ofthe acclaimed Hindi filmAndhadhun.

Natesh stars in thefilm as Sophie, a roleplayed by Radhika Aptein the 2018 originalmovie, directed bySriram Raghavan.

Maestro featuresactor Nithiin

stepping intothe shoes

of

Ayushmann Khurrana to playa blind piano player whounwittingly becomesembroiled in a murder. In aninterview with a newsagency, Natesh said sheavoided falling into the trapof comparing how Apte hadperformed the role to retainfreshness in her portrayal. “Ididn’t want to compare withwhat she had done in theoriginal film.

My take on the characterwas to (understand) themindset of a person who fallsin love with a visuallyimpaired person.

“Sophie looks at him assomeone so strong, who hasa desire for life which isbeyond his visual impair-ment. I thought my charactershould stand on the zeal ofhis character and build itaccordingly,” she said.

Directed by MerlapakaGandhi and produced byShresht Movies, Maestro iscurrently streaming onDisney+ Hotstar. The filmalso stars Tamannaah Bhatiain the role originally essayedby Tabu in the NationalAward-winning Andhadhun.

Natesh said in her Telugufilm career of three years andof nearly seven movies,Maestro was the first remakeshe worked in.

Though she had lovedAndhadhun, the 25-year-oldactor initially didn’t knowhow to “approach” the char-acter.

Consequently, she decidedthe first step would be to notrevisit the 2018 film.

“The original film hadmade a huge impact. Itproved that people will watchand support a film likeAndhadhun if it’s well made.

Bringing that content toTelugu, which may not havebeen seen before in theindustry, was extremelyexciting. My character isnothing like what I had donepreviously.

“But I thought if I watchthe film again, I would getinto a conflict. I followedwhat the director was askingme to do. I didn’t rememberevery single frame of theoriginal film, so Maestro wasa fresh film for me once Iwent on sets to begin film-ing.”

The actor made her Telugucinema debut in 2018 withthe romantic drama NannuDochukunduvate co-starringSudheer Babu and found suc-cess featuring in movies likePuri Jagannadh’s sci-fiactioner iSmart Shankar andlast year’s Solo Brathuke SoBetter. Maestro also fit thebill of her experimentingwith the choice of projects,she said.

“I constantly look forwardto doing something differentthan what I have done before,to not be repetitive. It’sembedded in me because Ihave done theatre, where Iwas trained to do charactersthroughout. Whateveropportunities I have beenoffered, my attempt has beento do something new.”

Even if the role isn’t any-thing different, she said shetries to play it in a way thatthe audience doesn’t feel theyhave seen her do that before.“It’s probably the variations Ioffer or my attempt to notbore the audience with thesame thing which may haveworked for me and I wish tocontinue that going forwardas well,” she concluded.

tollywood

he team of LoveStory on Sunday,welcomedBollywoodsuperstar AamirKhan as the actor

arrived in Hyderabad toattend the film’s unplugged.

The pictures of the samehave been doing the roundson the internet and NagaChaitanya is seen welcom-ing Aamir at the airportwith a warm hug and pre-senting a sapling. Aamirseems to share a great rap-port with Chay, after havingworked together for theupcoming Bollywood filmLaal Singh Chaddha.

The duo has spent somequality time during theshoot and learnt abouteach other prettywell. Apart fromAamir, evenmegastarChiranjeevijoined theunplugand fanswerethrilled

to have so many stars inattendance.

Love Story is one of themost-awaited films afterlockdown to have it hittingthe big screens. Directed bySekhar Kammula, thismovie is all set to release onSeptember 24. NagaChaitanya and Sai Pallaviwill be seen playing the leadroles in the film, that alsohas other brilliant actorsplaying piv-otalroles.

Aamir in town for Chay'sLove Story Unplugged

ow meanwhile, the versatile actorparticipated in the Green IndiaChallenge at the Begumpet

Airport.The 3 Idiots star, along with Naga

Chaitanya and Rajya Sabha MPJoginapally Santosh Kumar, the initiatorof the challenge, planted saplings onSunday.

While appreciating the efforts of RSMP Joginapally Santosh Kumar in tak-ing forward the Green India Challenge,the Mr Perfectionist asked all the peo-ple to come forward for plantation.

Amir Khan said that he has seen manychallenges, but Green India Challengehas become key driver for improving thegreenery of the nation.

ctor ThalapathyVijay has report-edly filed a caseagainst 11 people,including hismother andfather. The news

has taken social media bystorm and is currently atalking topic amongindustry peopleas well.Reportedly,the actorhas filed acase seek-ing aninjunctionrestrainingthem fromusing hisname or thename of his fanclubs in politics.

To the unversed,Vijay’s father and veterandirector SA Chandra sekharstarted a political partycalled the All IndiaThalapathy Vijay MakkalIyakkam. The political partyhas SA Chandrasekhar asgeneral secretary, ShobaChandrasekhar as treasurer,and Padmanabhan as theleader, as filed with theElection Commission ofIndia.

In 2020, there werereports about Vijay joininghis father’s political party.However, the Master actorreleased a statement clarify-ing he has no connectionwith whatever political partyor statement his father gaveout. The statement also read

that he was notbound by his

father’s politi-cal aspira-

tions and hehas dis-tancedhimselffrom thesame.

“I don’thave any

connectiondirectly or indi-

rectly with thepolitical statements

that my father has issued.I’m not bound to follow myfather’s political aspirations.I request my fans not to jointhe party that my father hasstarted. If anyone tries tomisuse my name, photo, ormy fan clubs for their politi-cal aspirations, I will takenecessary actions againstthem”, Vijay's statementreleased in November 2020read.

uccessful produc-er Dil Raju’snephew AshishReddy is makinghis acting debutwith a fresh film

titled Rowdy Boys. Recently, asingle from the movie wasreleased and garnered verygood response. Now the lat-est update is that the teaser ofRowdy Boys will be launchedon September 20 at 7 pm.

A poster for the teaser hasAsish following Anupama

into the college, indicatingthat the movie is going to bea youthful campus entertain-er. The film is helmed byHushaaru-fame HarshaKonuganti. Bankrolled byRaju and Shirish on SriVenkateswara Creations ban-ner, the movie is co-pro-duced by Harshith Reddy.

Devi Sri Prasad is themusic composer, while cine-matography is by MadhieISC, as Madhu takes care ofthe editing.

CMR shoppingmall signs Ram asbrand ambassador

THALAPATHYVIJAY FILES

CASE AGAINSTHIS PARENTS

S

T

A

A

Aamir takes part in GIC

Dil Raju’s nephewto debut

opposite Anupama

NABHA: DIDN’T WANTTO COMPARE MYSELF

WITH RADHIKA APTEA

N

HYDERABAD | MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

IANS n NEW DELHI

West Indies cricketing leg-end Brian Lara is

“shocked” with Indian skipperVirat Kohli’s decision to stepdown as the T20 skipper afterthe ICC T20 World Cup sched-uled to be held in the UAE andOman in October-Novemberthis year.

In a statement issued onsocial media recently, Kohli hadsaid, “Understanding work-load is a very important thingand considering my immenseworkload over the last 8-9years playing all 3 formats andcaptaining regularly for last 5-6 years, I feel I need to givemyself space to be fully readyto lead the Indian Team in Test

and ODI Cricket.”“I was in shock because I

think he’s (Kohli) done atremendous job, played againstall the big countries -- SouthAfrica, England, New Zealand,Australia -- beating all of them,and for me he has done a

tremendous job,” Lara saidduring a video interaction withcricket.com on Saturday.

“This is actually his first(T20) World Cup as a captainso this will end his career as acaptain after that. It’s a bigshock. But the kind of inten-sity that he plays with, I feelthat sometimes it might some-times be good to take a stepaway, concentrate may be onanother format of the game,”said Lara, one of the mostcharismatic cricketers of mod-ern era.

“I have had these issues aswell when I was playing? whena couple of times I steppeddown as captain as it becamevery, very stressful,” added theWest Indian.

IANS n LAHORE

New Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) chairman Ramiz

Raja has emphasised that thecountry’s cricket had gonethrough experiences similarto the one when the NewZealand team pulled out at thelast minute but it had “alwaysmoved forward”.

Raja posted a video on thePCB website after the NewZealand team pulled out hoursbefore the start of the three-match One-day Internationalseries at Pindi Cricket Groundin Rawalpindi on September 17citing security concerns.

The chief executive of NewZealand Cricket (NZC) DavidWhite had said it was simplynot possible to continue with

the tour given the advice he wasreceiving.

“I understand this will bea blow for the PCB, who havebeen wonderful hosts, but play-er safety is paramount and webelieve this is the only respon-sible option.”

Raja said in a video mes-sage to cricket fans that, “Ourpain is shared. Whatever hap-pened isn’t good for Pakistancricket.

But one point that needs tobe emphasised is that we havegone through such experiencesin the past and we alwaysmove forward.

“So I urge our fans tostand behind the Pakistan teamand be its strength at the (T20)World Cup. To my team, Iwould like to say take out your

frustrations on the fieldbecause that is the only reme-dy. When you become theworld’s best team then every-one is queuing up in line to playseries in your country. So Iwant everyone to take this as alesson and move on and not bedisappointed.”

The PCB is reportedlyplanning to take up the issuewith the International CricketCouncil (ICC) after Raja tweet-ed following the cancellation ofthe series that, “Crazy day it hasbeen! Feel so sorry for the fansand our players. Walking out ofthe tour by taking a unilateralapproach on a security threat isvery frustrating. Especiallywhen it’s not shared!! Whichworld is NZ living in??NZ willhear us at ICC.”

IANS n MADRID

Atletico Madrid went to bedas league leaders in Spain

on Saturday night, but DiegoSimeone’s side will be frustrat-ed after being held to a 0-0draw by an effective and disci-plined Athletic Club Bilbaoside that had the best chancesto win the match.

Atletico Madrid’s best andvirtually only chance was aMarcos Llorente shot whichbounced off the post in the sec-ond half and the visitors wouldhave taken all three points ifInaki Williams, who was mak-ing his 200th consecutiveleague appearance, had beenable to finish when one on onewith Jan Oblak, or AsierVillalibre had been able to hitthe target in injury time with

just Oblak to beat.Atletico’s frustration was

compounded when Joao Felixwas sent off with 13 minutesleft to play after saying “you arecrazy, you are crazy” to refer-ee Gil Manzano, while Athleticremain unbeaten and haveconceded just once in their firstfive games.

IANS n NEW DELHI

Indian TT pairs of SiddheshPande and Mudit Dani, and

Fidel R Snehit and SudhanshuGrover ended their campaignwith mens doubles bronzemedals at the 2021 ITTFKazakhstan International Openin Karaganda.

Both the pairs displayed agreat show throughout thetournament before sufferingdefeats in their respective semi-finals. Maharashtra duo Muditand Siddhesh suffered a 0-3loss against the Saudi Arabianpair of Ali Alkhadrawi andAbdulaziz Bu Shulaybi.

In the second men’s dou-bles last-4 clash, Snehit andSudhanshu too went downfighting 2-3 against tough

Kazakh pair of AlanKurmangaliyev and KirillGerassimenko.

The Hyderabad paddlerSnehit was equally impressivein the singles category as heentered the final after defeatingPavel Platonov of Belarus 4-1comfortably in the semifinal.The world No. 405 Indian willtake on world No. 46 KirillGerassimenko of Kazakhstanin the gold medal match.

The pair of Kaushani Nathand Prapti Sen too stormedinto the women’s doubles finalas they outclassed the Uzbekduo of Kamila Khalikova andMekhriniso Norkulova 3-1 inthe last-4 match. They will nowface Valeria Kotcyur andValeria Shcherbatykh of Russiain the final.

IANS n MUMBAI

India on Sunday won a silvermedal in the Asia Rugby

U18 Girls Rugby SevensChampionship 2021, losing21-17 to the United ArabEmirates in a well-fought finalheld at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

In the final, Nandini top-scored for India with sevenpoints while Aditi Kumari andTarulata Nair contributed fivepoints each to the Indian score.Both teams scored three tieseach. For UAE, CarmelaMorralla scored nine pointswhile Hannah Lear addedseven, and Lara Botha con-tributed five.

India had reached the finalby beating Kazakhstan 24-7 in

the semi-final withSapna Kumari top-scoring with 10points including twotries. Tarulata Naikscored nine pointswhile Arti Kumariadded five points.

In the two-day tourna-ment that had five teams —Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, UAE,India, and hosts Uzbekistan --and played in an all-play-allround-robin format, Indiastarted with a 12-10 defeat toKazakhstan on Saturday. Thegirls came back strongly toblank Kyrgyzstan 63-0 withVaishnavi Dattatray Patil scor-ing 15 points from three triesand defeated hosts Uzbekistan20-5.

On Sunday, theylost to UAE girls 20-12,thus finishing third inthe five-team leagueand qualifying for thesemi-finals.

Speaking on theoccasion, Rahul Bose,

actor, director, philanthropist,and a board member of RugbyIndia, said, “This is a greatmoment for Indian Rugby.Both teams (UAE and India)scored three tries in the final.No disgrace losing like that’”

“For our U18 girls’ team toperform as well as they did isall the more remarkablebecause they were 15 years oldwhen the pandemic struck.They have never played aNational tournament, leave

alone an international champi-onship.

For them to come so far isa testament to their skill, grit,and fire to make their countryproud. Our thanks to thecoaching and support staff.Only rugby players know howimportant they are in thissport. This is a new day forIndian Rugby. We go onwardand upward from here,” Bosewas quoted as saying in arelease by Rugby India.

Vikram Ahuja, President,Rugby India said, “Heartiestcongratulations to our U18Girls team, their performancehas been sensational - they dis-played courage, skill, and men-tal toughness far beyond theiryears.”

PTI n CHRISTCHURCH

New Zealand playersshouldn’t be blamed for the cancellation

of the tour of Pakistan as theywere just following the adviceof their government, said Kiwipacer Mitchell McClenaghan.

The 35-year-old pacer wasreacting to a sarcastic tweet bybatsman Mohammed Hafeezon Saturday on eve of thedeparture of the New Zealandteam from Pakistan.

“Come now bro. This has abad taste to it… Don’t blame theplayers or the organisation…blame our government. Theyhave only acted on the advicethey have received. I’m absolute-ly certain these young men – allwanting to prove themselveswanted to play. They had nochoice,” McClenaghan wrote onhis twitter handle.

On Saturday, Hafeez hadtaken a dig at New ZealandCricket (NZC) for calling offtheir tour of Pakistan citingsecurity threats.

“Thanks to the secutity ofpakistan forces to makearrangements to @BLACK-CAPS to reach at airport Safe& Sound. Wonder same route& same security but no threattoday???,” Hafeez had tweeted.

New Zealand had arrivedin Pakistan on September 11for a white-ball series after 18years and were scheduled toplay three ODIs and five T20Internationals.

sport 12

CSK set MI 157-run target asGaikwad rescues side with fiery88 Dubai, Sep 19 (PTI) Electing

to bat, Chennai Super Kings scored156 for six against defending champi-ons Mumbai Indians in the first matchof the second phase of the IndianPremier League (IPL), here on Sunday.

CSK were 44 for 4 at half-waymark after a horrendous start butRuturaj Gaikwad rescued the sidewith his blistering unbeaten knockof 88 runs along with RavindraJadeja (26) and Dwayne Barvo, whoscored 23.

Brief Scores:Chennai Super Kings: 156 for 6 in

20 overs (R Gaikwad 88 not out, RJadeja 26, D Bravo 23; A Milne 2/21,J Bumrah 2/33, T Boult 2/35). PTI

Ruturaj Gaikwad of Chennai Super Kings hitting a boundary during match30 of the Vivo Indian Premier League between Chennai Super Kings andMumbai Indians held at the Dubai International Stadium in the UnitedArab Emirates BCCI

Jasprit Bumrah of Mumbai Indians during match 30 of the Vivo Indian Premier League between Chennai Super Kings andMumbai Indians held at the Dubai International Stadium in the United Arab Emirates BCCI

Gracia Raina with kid during match 30 of the Vivo Indian Premier League betweenChennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians held at the Dubai International Stadiumin the United Arab Emirates BCCI

Struggling KKR look to script turnaround against RCB PTI n ABU DHABI

Enduring a forgettable outingin the first half of this year’s

IPL, two-time former champi-ons Kolkata Knight Riderswould look for reversal of for-tunes when they resume theircampaign against RoyalChallengers Bangalore in thesecond phase of T20 league hereon Monday.

While Virat Kohli’s RCB isthird in the eight-team stand-ings with 10 points from sevengames, 2012 and 2014 champi-ons KKR are languishing at theseventh spot with just two winsout of seven ties.

And Eoin Morgan-led KKRwould be hoping to make aturnaround, just like 2014 edi-tion when they won nine gamesin a row to claim the title.

KKR chief mentor DavidHussey also exuded optimismabout scripting a turnaround,despite a nightmarish first half.

“All we have to do is winthis ... We have done it beforeand so we can do it again... I feelwe have the squad to do it also.You qualify for the finals andwhole competition starts again,”the Australian said.

But it would be easier saidthan done for KKR as they faceRCB, a formidable outfit,whose captain Kohli would begunning for success with the batafter announcing his decision toquit as India’s T20 skipper fol-lowing the T20 World Cupwhich will be held after the IPLin UAE.

Even though KKR leads inhead-to-head record againstRCB, winning 18 and losing 13out of 28 fixtures playedbetween the two sides, the 38-run defeat against Kohli’s teamin the first half of the event inChennai would be fresh ontheir players’ minds.

KKR’s two wins earlier thisyear came against two under-

performing sides — PunjabKings, who are placed just arung above them, and bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad.

KKR would be relyingheavily on the pair of SubhmanGill and Nitin

Rana to deliver the goods intheir batting department, eventhough the duo did not have thebest of outings in the first leg.

While Gill scored just 132runs, Rana managed 201 runsin the first seven games forKKR in this year’s IPL, whichwas postponed in April follow-ing multiple COVID-19 casesinside the bio-bubble in India.

Besides, Morgan will needto let his bat do the talking andlead from the front.

Dinesh Karthik, Andre

Russell, Rahul Tripathy andShakib Al Hasan too need tocome good for KKR if theteam harbours any hopes ofmaking

it to the play-offs. KKR’s bowling department

will be on the shoulders of KiwiTim Southee, who came in asa replacement for Pat Cumminsfor the second half.

RCB, on the other hand, arecurrently placed in a comfort-able position and would behoping for Kohli to play freelyand score big runs, especiallyafter taking the big call of relin-quishing T20 captaincy.

With Glenn Maxwell (223runs from 7 games) and AB deVilliers (207 runs from 7) lead-ing the run scorers chart till

now for the team, RCB’s battingunit looks ominous.

Kohli (198), by his ownstandards, has been a little dis-appointing and DevduttPadikkal (195) too would belooking for a consistent show.

On the bowling front,Mohammed Siraj and KiwiKyle Jamieson would lead theattack which also has HarshalPatel, Navdeep Saini andYuzvendra Chahal, who wouldbe desperate to answer theselectors after being ignoredfrom India’s T20 World Cupsquad.

The additions of Sri Lankaduo of Wanindu Hasarangaand Dushmantha Chameera,who replaced Adam Zampaand Kane Richardson, will alsohold the team in good stead asthey have a good understand-ing of the UAE conditions.

Teams (from):KKR: Eoin Morgan (capt),

Dinesh Karthik, Gurkeerat

Singh Mann, Karun Nair, NitishRana, Rahul Tripathy, ShubmanGill, Harbhajan Singh, KamleshNagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav,Lockie Ferguson, Pawan Negi,M Prasidh Krishna, SandeepWarrier, Shivam Dube, TimSouthee, Vaibhav Arora, VarunChakravarthy, Andre Russel,Ben Cutting, Shakib Al Hasan,

Sunil Narine, VenkateshIyer, Sheldon Jackson, TimSeifert.

RCB: Virat Kohli (capt),Navdeep Saini, Glenn Maxwell,Dan Christian, Rajat Patidar,Dushmantha Chameera, PavanDeshpande, Mohammed Siraj,Harshal Patel, MohammedAzharuddeen, Sachin Baby,Wanindu Hasaranga, GeorgeGarton, Yuzvendra Chahal,Shahbaz Ahmed, DevduttPadikkal, Kyle Jamieson, SuyashPrabhudessai, KS Bharat, Tim David, Akash Deep, AB deVilliers. Match starts at 7:30PM IST.

Gaikwad rescues side with fiery 88

IANS n NEW DELHI

Ahead of the second phase ofthe IPL 2021, Kolkata Knight

Riders’ mentor David Husseybelieves openers Shubman Gilland Nitish Rana will “shock theworld” with their batting in UAE.

KKR did not have a success-ful opening leg of IPL 2021 andthe reason was the failure oftheir opening pair.

Gill scored just 132 in the firstseven games. His partner Ranawas not a lot better, scoring just201 runs before the season wasdeclared postponed due to aCovid-19 outbreak in multipleteam bio-bubbles.

Hussey pinned his hopes onthe duo, calling them the ‘nextgeneration of Indian players’.“They both are quality players,they are determined to do very

well for the team and for them-selves and they have a taste ofinternational cricket now,” Husseytold ESPNcricinfo.

“I think they are about toshock the world that they are thenext generation of Indian players,

not just for one or two series butfor perhaps a decade, so if they getgoing look out for them in the IPL.”The Kolkata franchise is current-ly placed seventh in the pointstable. Hussey, however, believes histeam can script a turnaround.

Gill and Rana are quality players: David Hussey PATEL: WE’LL LOOK TO BUILD ON OURHAPPY MEMORIES FROM IPL 2020 SEASONIANS n DUBAI

Delhi Capitals all-rounder AxarPatel believes that his team

will look to build on its happymemories from the IPL 2020edition ahead of the second halfof the IPL 2021 startingSeptember 19. Patel had taken ninewickets in 15 matches in the 2020 edi-tion of the IPL, where Delhi finished asrunners-up.

“When it was announced that the sec-ond half of the tournament will be held inthe UAE, I thought about our performancethe last time we were here. We have happymemories from that tournament as wereached our first-ever IPL final. We are look-ing to repeat our performance and hope-fully, just go one step further in the final thisseason,” said Patel in a release by the fran-chise on Sunday.

Patel, who was part of the Indiansquad for the Test series in England,

pointed out the massive differencein weather conditions betweenUK and UAE.

“It’s been a drastic change forus as far as the weather is con-

cerned. It was quite cold inEngland and now we are getting

used to the heat here. When we stoodon our balconies during quarantine, we

got an idea about the heat, but we got toknow the full extent of the weather condi-tions when we started practicing in the nets.We are looking to get used to the conditionsin the next 2-3 days.”

When asked about his personal goals forthe remainder of the IPL 2021, the 27-year-old said, “My personal goals are alwaysaligned with the team goals. I always thinkabout what the team needs and then set mypersonal goals accordingly.”

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CHENNAI SUPER KINGS:Ruturaj Gaikwad not out 88

Faf du Plessis c Milne b Boult 0

Moeen Ali c Tiwary b Milne 0

Ambati Rayudu retired hurt 0

Suresh Raina c Chahar b Boult 4

MS Dhoni c Boult b Milne 3

Ravindra Jadeja c Pollard b Bumrah 26

Dwayne Bravo c Pandya b Bumrah 23

Shardul Thakur not out 1

Extras: (LB-3, WD-8) 11

Total (For 6 wickets in 20 overs) 156

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-2, 3-7, 4-24, 5-105, 6-144

Bowling: Trent Boult 4-1-35-2, Adam Milne 4-0-21-2, Jasprit Bumrah

4-0-33-2, Kieron Pollard 2-0-15-0, Rahul Chahar 4-0-22-0, Krunal

Pandya 2-0-27-0. More PTI

CSK SET MI 157-RUN TARGET