PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Tuesday saidGovernor Bhagat SinghKoshyari acted in a hurry insending his report recommend-ing President's rule inMaharashtra without exhaustingall options for government for-mation. The Shiv Sena, which onMonday suffered a setback in itsefforts to cobble up a non-BJPgovernment in the state, said ifPresident's rule is imposed, it canbe challenged in court.

The governor, who had giventhe NCP time till 8.30 pm onTuesday to express its "willing-ness and ability" to form govern-ment, has submitted a report toPresident Ram Nath Kovind rec-ommending President's rule inthe state. "I condemn this actionwhich has been taken in a hurrywithout exhausting all options.This raises questions about thegovernor's impartiality. Thisalso raises doubt whether thegovernor is acting under pres-sure," Maharashtra Congressspokesman Sachin Sawant toldreporters here. Another seniorCongressman Vijay Wadettiwar,who was leader of the oppositionin the 13th state Assembly, thetenure of which expired onNovember 9, felt President'srule will not be a roadblock ingovernment formation.

Continued on Page 4

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh unit ofthe Bharatiya Janata Party,having drawn a blank in therecent elections, has pinned allits hopes on new entrant andRajya Sabha member Y SChowdary, who switched tothe saffron party recently fromthe Telugu Desam Party.However, there is a catch:Chowdary, who had alwaysbeen a backstage operator forTDP, will now have to changehis methods so as to feel therough and tumble of minglingwith people in field-level pol-itics.

Chowdary is planning to

rope in a few more TDP lead-ers so as to shore up the imageof the saffron party in AndhraPradesh. Given his vast expe-rience and wide contacts, thesaffron party is hopeful of lur-

ing most of the TDP cadre intoits fold, apart from key leaders.

Several TPP leaders are saidto be already in touch withChowdary so as to be in a posi-tion to switch loyalties at theappropriate time.

"Most of these leaders wantsome position or guaranteewhich BJP never gives to any-one. Negotiations are on assome leaders wanted to followin Chowdary's footsteps", saida senior TDP leader, who hint-ed at quitting TDP in thecoming days.

Continued on Page 4

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RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

It's official. The Singapore gov-ernment on Tuesday formallyannounced that it is pulling outof the agreement which wasconcluded for the develop-ment of the Amaravati seedcapital area. It had decided tocancel the agreement sometime ago after studying the pri-orities of the new governmentin Andhra Pradesh. The recentCabinet meeting had alsodecided to cancel the agree-ment. With this, both partieshave agreed to annul the agree-ment mutually. Now, theSingapore government hasannounced it officially.

The Singapore Consortiumwas formed in 2017. TheSingapore government and theAP government were partnersof the consortium which was

meant for the development ofthe seed capital area of 6.84sq.km in Amaravati.

In the first week ofSeptember itself, SingaporeMinister Eswaran had revealedthat they were going to exit theSingapore Consortium agree-

ment which was reached for thedevelopment of Amaravati. OnOctober 30, the government ofAndhra Pradesh decided toallow the Singapore govern-ment to exit the agreement onmutual consent.

The Singapore government

has stated in a press release thatthe present government ofAndhra Pradesh has not listedCapital Amaravati in its prior-ities. Due to this, there is noimportance for the investmentsin Amaravati. But there will notbe any impact on the plans ofinvestments in India or AndhraPradesh because of the cancel-lation of this agreement, itclarified.

With the latest announce-ment of the Singapore govern-ment, there is no scope forinvestments in Amaravati byanybody. The Singapore gov-ernment mentioned that thegovernment of Andhra Pradeshhas informed it that it is notinterested in the developmentof the Capital Amaravati. Itmeans the government of AP isvery clear that it does not wantto develop Capital Amaravati.

It's official: Singaporeexits pact for Amaravati

SEELAM AROZIEn VIJAYAWADA

They are an embodiment ofgrit and determination. Stungby cruel fate early in life, theyhave grown up as visually chal-lenged children. But theirimpairment could never putthem down. They are goingahead with their academicpursuits with unparalleled pas-sion.

Meet Peddinti Nitin Sai andTholeti Sandeep who receivedthe Dr. APJ Abdul KalamVidya Puraskar 2019 forachieving State first rank inIntermediate MEC and HECrespectively in the VisuallyChallenged category. Bothpassed out of Andhra LoyolaCollege.

The son of a bank clerkbelonging to Penamaluru inKrishna district, Nitin Sai losthis sight partially when hewas studying in Standard II.With this, the family was shell-shocked. His parents triedeverything to get him the bestpossible treatment to ensure heregain his sight. But it was not

to be. Doctors pronouncedthat it was an irreversible con-dition.

With this, Nitin's mother PDurga Malleswari, a Sciencegraduate, was determined to

provide the best possible edu-cation to her son. She took per-sonal care in teaching the sub-jects as the tutors refused toteach him as it means an extraeffort for them.

Nitin Sai is at present doinghis BBA. He says, "My aim is todo MBA and then become acivil servant." Asked if he hasa message for differently-abledchildren, he said, "One musttake challenges to come up inlife. Many people discouraged

me when I opted forMathematics as one of theelective subjects inIntermediate. But, I workedhard with the support of mymother and eventually did wellin the examinations."

The case of Tholeti Sandeep,who topped the HEC group inthe Visually Challenged catego-ry, is slightly different. He hasbeen affected by visual impair-ment at birth.

Continued on Page 4

President's rule imposed inMaha amid political impasse

MAHA DRAMA

Shiv Sena moves SC againstMaha Governor's decisionPNS n NEW DELHI

The Shiv Sena on Tuesdaymoved the Supreme Courtagainst the MaharashtraGovernor Bhagat SinghKoshyari's decision not toextend the 24 hour time peri-od given to the party to proveits number on the floor toform the government.

The Sena, which hasemerged as the second-largestparty with 56 seats in the 288-member Assembly, said that itwas constrained to move thetop court seeking urgent reliefagainst the "arbitrary andmalafide actions" of theGovernor. The party soughtquashing of the order of the

Governor and declaring theaction "unconstitutional, arbi-trary, illegal, void-ab-initio, andviolative of Article 14 of theConstitution of India".

Also raising questions onthe Governor's behaviour, itsaid that he cannot act in sucha manner or act on the diktatsof the Central Government.

The Sena was invited by theGovernor when the single-largest party BJP, which won105 seats, said that it cannotform a government. It told thecourt that the Governor was in"hot haste" as he refused togrant even three days' time toprove the requisite majority toform the government.

Continued on Page 4

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari

The Governor, who hadgiven the NCP time till8.30 pm on Tuesday toexpress its"willingness andability" to form govt,submitted a reportrecommendingPresident's rule

Sandeep

Nitin Sai with his mother DurgaMalleswari

The son of a bank clerk belonging to Penamaluruin Krishna district, Nitin Sai lost his sight partiallywhen he was studying in Standard II. With this,the family was shell-shocked. His parents triedeverything to get him the best possibletreatment to ensure he regain his sight

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Sand crisis and introduction ofEnglish medium in govern-ment schools have provided ashot in the arm for the oppo-sition. When the dust over sandcrisis was settling, the govern-ment has given a chance toopposition leaders to target it,as many leaders, includingVice-President M VenkaiahNaidu, objected to the propos-al of introducing English medi-um in government schools.Jana Sena president PawanKalyan has made it clear thatthe party has zero tolerancepolicy towards YSRCP criti-cism of the Jana Sena andclarified that unlike the TDPthe Jana Sena would not keepmum to the criticism of theYSRCP leaders.

In Tamil Nadu, Telugu medi-um schools are there, he point-ed out. Without upgrading theskills of the teachers, how thegovernment can replace Telugumedium with English in gov-ernment schools, he said.Referring to Jagan's criticism ofVice-president M VenkaiahNaidu, Pawan felt that Jagan

should have felt ashamed tospeak against Venkaiah Naidu.

Pawan made it clear that hewas not going to be coweddown by the factionist style offunctioning of Jagan. If Jaganhas so much love for Englishmedium, he dared the ChiefMinister to introduce SriVenkateswara Suprabhatam inEnglish too in Tirumala.

The sand shortage dealt acrippling blow to the houseconstruction sector, he said. In

a strong reply to the YSRCP onTuesday, he said that Jana Senawould regard Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy as a polit-ical leader, but not a leaderbelonging to a particular caste.

Refuting the oft-repeatedcriticism about his three mar-riages, Pawan Kalyan advisedJagan Mohan Reddy to tie theknot thrice and said who thehell on the earth stopped youto do so.

Continued on Page 4

Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan addressing media at Vijayawada on Tuesday

Andhra BJP pins hopes on Chowdary's strategy

PNS n HYDERABAD

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leader NV Subhash onTuesday said that All IndiaMajlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen(AIMIM) chief AsaduddinOwaisi has given an inflam-matory statement against theSupreme Court's Ayodhyaverdict just to serve his ownagenda and to disrupt theunity of the country.

"Mr Owaisi has given aninflammatory speech tospread communal hatredafter the landmark SupremeCourt judgement. Instead ofwelcoming the verdict, he hashis own agendas and is try-ing to disrupt the unity anddiversity of the country," MrSubhash was quoted as say-ing by news agency ANI.

Continued on Page 4

Owaisi ‘hashis ownagenda’: BJP

PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP received Rs 356 crorein donations from an electoraltrust controlled by the TataGroup during 2018-19,according to documents sub-mitted by the ruling partybefore the ElectionCommission.

As per information pro-vided by the BJP to theEC on October 31,it received a totalof over Rs 700crore in dona-tions throughcheques andonline pay-ments duringthe financial year2018-19.

Around half thecontributions -- Rs 356crore -- were made by theTata-controlled ProgressiveElectoral Trust.

India's richest trust -- ThePrudent Electoral Trust --gave Rs 54.25 crore in dona-tions to the party, according tothe documents.

The Prudent Trust is backedby top corporate housesincluding Bharti Group, HeroMotoCorp, JubilantFoodworks, Orient Cement,DLF, JK Tyres, among others.

The information providedpertains to donations of Rs

20,000 and above eachthat were received

by the partythrough chequesor online pay-ments.

Donat ionsreceived in theform of elec-

toral bonds werenot included in the

filing.The BJP received

donations from individuals,companies as well as elec-toral trusts, the documentsaid.

As per the election code,political parties are mandatedto disclose all donations theyreceive in a financial year.

At present, political partiesare not required to declare thenames of individuals andorganisations giving less thanRs. 20,000 or of those whodonate via electoral bonds.

Journalistsprotest 100days ofinternet gag

6 Indianworkers killedin Oman

BJP getsshocker inJharkhandNEW DELHI: The BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) onTuesday received a setbackafter its National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) ally LokJanshakti Party (LJP) decid-ed to contest the JharkhandAssembly polls alone.Addressing a media briefing,Union Minister Ram VilasPaswan's son Chirag Paswansaid, "The decision to contestelection in Jharkhand was tobe taken by the party's stateunit. And the state unit of theLJP has decided to contest on50 seats independently. ByTuesday evening, the partywill release the first list ofcandidates."

Even Nitish Kumar-ledJanata Dal-United (JD-U)has decided to contest theAssembly election indepen-dently. The BJP, LJP and theJD-U currently have a coali-tion government in Bihar.

ED books two babusin sand mining casePNS n NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Tuesday said that ithas registered a case againsttwo IAS officers and some oth-ers in connection to its probeinto the Shahranpur illegalsand mining case.

A senior ED official toldIANS that the agencyhasbooked Ajay Kumar Singhand Pawan Kumar, formerDistrict Magistrates (DM) ofSaharanpur, on the basis of theCBI FIR registered onSeptember 30 this year.

According to the ED, Singh,a 1998-batch IAS, was postedas the Saharanpur DMbetween March 28, 2012 andFebruary 12, 2014. He is nowSecretary of the Khadi andVillage Industries Board.

Kumar, a 2008-batch IASofficer, was posted in the dis-

trict between July 20, 2015 andAugust 6, 2016 and now holdsthe post of Special Secretary inthe Housing and UrbanPlanning Department of theUttar Pradesh government.

According toED officials,Mohammed Wajid, son offormer BSP MLC Haji Iqbal, isone of the beneficiaries who isnamed as an accused in thecase. The other accusednamed in the FIR includeMehmood Ali, Dilshad,Mohammed lnam, lateMehboob Alam, NaseemAhmad, Amit Jain, VikasAgarwal, Mukesh Jain andPuneet Jain.

The ED has also registeredcases of money launderingagainst several senior IAS offi-cers and politicians in thestate in connection with thealleged illegal sand miningcases.

DUBAI: At least six con-struction workers, believed tobe Indian nationals, werekilled in Oman when theywere buried at an excavationsite of a water pipeline projectdue to heavy rains.

The incident happened inthe Seeb area of Muscat fol-lowing heavy rain on Sunday,the Indian Embassy inMuscat said.

"We are deeply saddened tolearn about the incidentinvolving death of six work-ers, who are believed to beIndian nationals, in Seeb areaof Muscat, Oman, followingthe heavy rains on November10," the Indian embassy saidin a tweet.

SRINAGAR: A group ofKashmiri journalists held apeaceful protest at the PressClub in Srinagar on Tuesdayagainst 100 days of internetblockade in Kashmir.

The journalists were hold-ing their laptops in theirhands and carried placards,which read: "100 days, NoInternet".

This is the worst situationthe journalists are facing inKashmir. It's very humiliat-ing. It does not even happenin a war-like situation," MajidMaqbool, an independentjournalist told IANS.

"We are not asking any-thing out of the turn. It's ourbasic right to demand inter-net," said Aakash Hassan, ajournalist in Srinagar whowas also part of the protest.

I will not be cowed down by Jagan'sfactionist style of functioning: Pawan

YS Chowdary

Several TPP leadersare said to be alreadyin touch withChowdary so as to bein a position to switchloyalties at theappropriate time India's richest trust --

The Prudent ElectoralTrust -- gave Rs 54.25crore in donations tothe party, accordingto the documents

BJP got Rs 350 cr indonations from Tatas

n In Tamil Nadu, Telugu mediumschools are there, he pointed out.Without upgrading the skills of theteachers, how the government canreplace Telugu medium with Englishin government schools, he said

n Refuting the oft-repeatedcriticism about his threemarriages, Pawan Kalyan advisedJagan Mohan Reddy to tie theknot thrice and said who the hellon the earth stopped you to do so

New entrant begins visible action on field

SHORT ON SIGHT, NOT IN VISION

Amarinder batsfor access to moregurdwarasPNS n SULTANPUR LODHI

Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh on Tuesdaysaid he would urge PrimeMinister Narendra Modi topersuade Pakistan to grantIndian devotees open access toother historic gurdwaras tooacross the border. Singh madethe announcement during thestate-organised function tocelebrate the the 550th birthanniversary of Sikhismfounder Guru Nanak Dev inthe presence of President RamNath Kovind. The functionwas also attended by PunjabGovernor V P S Badnore andRajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot among otherdignitaries. The CM said hisgovernment has decided tohonour Punjab Police person-nel with ̀ Prakash Parv Tagma(medal) for their services tothe state in the true spirit ofGuru Nanak Dev's teachings.

Haasan's politicalinnings will end ina fiasco: TN CM PNS n SALEM (TN)

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister KPalaniswami on Tuesdayticked off actor-politicianKamal Haasan for "showingoff " as a leader despite lack ofknowledge in basic politicsand claimed that his politicalinnings will end in a fiasco.

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated November 12, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Kartik & Krishna PakshaTithi : Pratipada: 07:41 pmNakshatram: Kritika: 10:01 pmTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 12:00 pm – 01:24 pmYamagandam: 07:47 am – 09:11 amVarjyam: 09:27 am – 11:07 amGulika: 10:36 am - 12:00 pmGood Time: (to start any

important work)Amritakalam: 07:30 pm – 09:11 pmAbhijit Muhurtham: NIL

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: Partly CloudyTemp: 33/23Humidity: 663%Sunrise: 06.19Sunset: 05.40

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HIMACHAL'S COLD DESERT TO GO FOR CONTRACT FARMINGVISHAL GULATInMANALI

Cold desert of HimachalPradesh's Lahaul Valley thatwere once known for producinga bitter taste hops are going toexperiment with exotic variety ofbarley that will be used for mak-ing malt whisky, say agricultureexperts. For this, the State govern-ment has signed a memorandumof understanding with the Polishspirits producer Neilson Europeto initially involve nearly 200farmers of Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaurand Chamba districts to go forcontract farming of a high-yieldbarley variety imported fromScotland.

Once known for producing abitter taste hops, the contractfarming of barley in the remoteLahaul Valley, which has a culti-vation season for less than five

months from May owing toheavy snowfall and extreme coldclimatic conditions, will ushereconomic prosperity, AgricultureMinister and local legislator RamLal Markanda told IANS.

Last week the governmenthas signed a pact with the Polishspirits producer that proposed toinvest Rs 110 crore to produce theorganic Himalayan single maltwhisky.

According to the producer ofthe award winning spirit ZOUKVodka, world's only single estaterye vodka, the geographic and cli-matic conditions of HimachalPradesh is on par with theScotland and many otherEuropean regions, which will leadto deriving a unique and specialterroir.

Surveys by the agriculturedepartment show that the areaunder cash crop potato cultiva-

tion in the Lahaul Valley hasalready declined in 10 yearsfrom 2,000 hectares to 700hectares.

Potato cultivation was startedin 1854 when missionary AWHide from Germany establisheda farm near Keylong in theLahaul Valley. Likewise, there has

been a near decline in the culti-vation of hops, a key ingredientin brewing beer, as a major cashcrop in the valley owing todumping of cheaper varietiesfrom China, the US andGermany. Currently, the areaunder vegetable cultivation in thevalley is around 2,200 hectares.

Ramesh Chand, an exotic veg-etable grower in Sissu village inLahaul district, said the contractfarming of barley could bringeconomic prosperity. "Last year,following news of detection of theNematode virus in the seedpotato samples, growers inLahaul suffered a massive loss.

Many a time untimely heavysnowfall is damaging our cashcrops of peas and apples," he said.Another farmer Deepak Bodhsaid the contract farming wouldbenefit both the producers as wellas the agro-processing firm. Hesaid in the past decade, localshave almost given up the culti-vation of hops owing to poordemand.

"Barley is a cash crop here, butlargely for local consumption andlivestock. If there is contractfarming for high-yield barley, itis a good opportunity for thegrowers to get remunerativeprice," he added. Currently, farm-ers are cultivating cauliflower,cabbage and peas. According tothe Agriculture Department, theyield of cauliflower in the LahaulValley is as high as 400 quintalper hectare compared to 200 to250 quintal elsewhere in the

State. Neilson Europe PresidentGaurav Rajput told IANS that ini-tially 200 farmers would beinvolved in the contract farming."If it is successful, 500-700 farm-ers would be involved." He saidthe company would pay Rs50,000 to each barley grower forits produce on one acre. Theamount is 25 per cent higher thanthe prevailing market rate.

The company would also setup a distillery-cum-bottling plantin the state. The Lahaul Valley,comprising over two dozen small,scattered villages, remains cut offfrom the rest of the world for overfour months from Decemberonwards owing to heavy snowaccumulation in the RohtangPass (13,050 feet) — the onlyroad link with Manali in theKullu district. It re-opens oncesnow starts thawing after mid-April.

n For this, the Stategovernment has signed amemorandum ofunderstanding with thePolish spirits producerNeilson Europe to initiallyinvolve nearly 200farmers of Lahaul-Spiti,Kinnaur and Chambadistricts to go for contractfarming of a high-yieldbarley variety importedfrom Scotland

‘Tiger Triumph' to commence in Vizag from todayPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In consonance with the grow-ing partnership between Indiaand the US, the maiden IndiaUS joint Tri ServicesHumanitarian Assistance andDisaster Relief (HADR)Exercise named 'TigerTriumph' will begin fromNovember 13 to 21.

Indian Naval ships Jalashwa,Airavat and Sandhayak, IndianArmy troops from 19 Madrasand 7 Guards and Indian Air

Force MI-17 helicopters andRapid Action Medical Team(RAMT) would be participat-ing in the exercise.

The US would be repre-sented by the US Navy ShipGermantown with troops fromthe US Third Marine Division.The Exercise is aimed at devel-oping interoperability for con-ducting HADR operations.

The Harbour Phase is sched-uled at Visakhapatnam fromNovember 13 to 16. The open-ing ceremony, along with a

Joint Flag Parade and mediainteraction, will be held

onboard INS Jalashwa onNovember 14.

Personnel from both navieswould also participate in train-ing visits, subject matter expertexchanges, sports events andsocial interactions. On com-pletion of the Harbour Phase,the ships, with troopsembarked, would sail for theSea Phase and undertakeMaritime, Amphibious andHADR operations. On reach-ing the HADR area inKakinada, the landing of ReliefForces would be undertaken tothe Exercise scenario.

At the HADR Exercise Area,a Joint Command and ControlCentre, would be establishedjointly by the Indian Army andUS Marines. The IAF RAMTand the US Navy Medical Teamwould establish a medical facil-ity camp for providing medicalaid to victims, who would havebeen previously evacuated byroad and air to the camp. Theexercise would culminate witha closing ceremony onboard USNaval Ship Germantown onNovember 21.

INS AIRAVAT INS JALASHWA USS GERMANTOWN (LSD-42)

n Indian Naval shipsJalashwa, Airavat andSandhayak, Indian Armytroops from 19 Madrasand 7 Guards and IndianAir Force MI-17 helicoptersand Rapid Action MedicalTeam (RAMT) would beparticipating in theexercise

n The US would berepresented by the USNavy Ship Germantownwith troops from the USThird Marine Division. TheExercise is aimed atdevelopinginteroperability forconducting HADRoperations

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Tourists travelling betweenVisakhapatnam and Arakuwill be able to avail a daily rail-cum-road package in the exist-ing Vistadome coach fromDecember 11.

The package is being intro-duced by the AP TourismDevelopment Corporation(APTDC) in collaborationwith Indian Railway Cateringand Tourism Corporation(IRCTC). The package is beingintroduced in the SouthCentral Railway zone.

The decision was taken tointroduce a package in a bid toboost tourism in the area.Additionally, IRCTC andAPTDC are also planning tocollaborate on night-stay pack-ages in Araku in the future.Speaking to the media onTuesday, N Sanjeevaiah, jointgeneral manager of IRCTC,said, "The itinerary willinclude visits to the TribalMuseum, Anantagiri coffeeplantations, Galikonda view-

point and Borra Caves."He further stated that the

Vistadome train will leavefrom Vizag at 6.50 am.According to APTDC andIRCTC, the package will cost2,467 for executive class seats,2,215 for second class seatsand 1,664 for sleeper classseats. Vegetarian meals willalso be provided as a part ofthe package.

Rail-cum-road packagefor tourists travelling in Vistadome coach

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Over 41 million people are fallingvictims to Non-CommunicableDiseases (NCD) every year and85 per cent of premature deathsare occurring in middle andlower income groups.

According to a study, India willhave over 17 million obese chil-dren by 2025. As many as 25 percent of Indians have high BP and20 per cent are diabetics or pre-diabetics, (the three main cor-rectable or controllable life stylediseases) and 60 per cent ofIndians die of these illnesses.

Dr GV Mohan Prasad, RotaryInternational NationalCommittee member (ProjectPositive Health) said here onTuesday that India is the capitalof lifestyle diseases across theworld and most of the deathshappening in recent times are dueto defective lifestyle. Indians aregenetically predisposed to NCDswhich are caused by defectivelifestyle by taking defective food

calorie dense, high in salt, oil andsugar. He said that the NCDspeople suffer from are diabetes,hypertension, heart diseases,cerebral vascular diseases, stroke,chronic kidney diseases and res-piratory diseases.

Rotary International feels thatit should work on this front in amuch more intense and aggres-sive way in addition to its regu-lar activities for human needs inthe society by focusing on posi-tive health of the people. Positivehealth is not just absence of thedisease but the presence of anemotional, social and culturalwell-being of an individual, saidDr Mohan Prasad.

He said the second step is'Know Your Number' whichmeans, knowing about hyperten-sion, blood sugar levels, knowingbody weight according to age andheight and body mass index. Thethird step is for the people whoare on the borderline of NCD'sthe campaign is 'Ek ChemachKum - Char Aadam Agee'.

Non-communicable diseasestake a heavy toll on people

n The package is beingintroduced by the APTourism DevelopmentCorporation (APTDC) incollaboration withIndian Railway Cateringand TourismCorporation (IRCTC).The package is beingintroduced in the SouthCentral Railway zone.

n The decision was takento introduce a packagein a bid to boosttourism in the area

Plea to government torender justice to BCsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Backward Class Employees'Welfare Association presi-dent P Hanumantha Rao saidthat since Independence thegovernments have not beencommitted to render justiceto BCs. He appealed to theruling YSRCP governmentto render justice to BCemployees and solve theirlong-pending issues.

Addressing mediapersonshere on Tuesday, HanumanthaRao said in 1953 KalekarCommission and in 1978Mandal Commission havebeen appointed and thosereports were not implementedtill date which is a big concern.All the previous governmentshad promised to solve theirproblems, but nothing hasbeen done.

He said Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy was giving

importance to all communitiesequally. "We request the ChiefMinister to solve their long-pending issues and problemslike reservations, promotionsand other issues by appointingliaison officer.

He demanded that the gov-ernment immediately cancel

CPS and implement old pen-sion scheme, provide 50 percent reservations for appoint-ing VCs, Registrars, Deansand Principals. He appealed toall the employees to attend theBC Employees' Mahasabha onDecember 29 and make it agrand success.

Backward Class Employees' Welfare Association president P HanumanthaRao addressing the media in Vijayawada on Tuesday

Separate ST Commission demandedPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Tribal AdvisoryCommittee has demanded thata separate ST Commission beconstituted apart from includ-ing 554 villages identified infive districts in the Agencyarea. The committee had ameeting on Tuesday at TribalWelfare Commissioner's officein Tadepalli. Deputy ChiefMinister and Minister forTribal Welfare Pushpasri Vanihas convened the meeting.

Disclosing the details to themedia after the meeting, shethanked Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy for consti-tuting the advisory committeewithin a month after assumingpower in the State. Sheinformed that the Committeehad adopted a draft bill forappointing ST Commissionerseparately.

The Committee requestedthe government to restore'Tribal Mining Corporation',which was meant for allowing

only tribals to do mining in theAgency areas, Dy CM said."We have discussed the ITDA'sfunctioning. We have decidedto prepare an action plan forITDA's functioning so thatthe tribals can get benefits outof it in all the areas. We haverequested the government toinstall Super SpecialityHospitals in every ITDApurview." Principal SecretarySisodia, Commissioner RanjitBasha and MLAs participatedin the meeting.

Reds take out ‘Sand March'VIJAYAWADA: Left party leadersand activists took out a 'SandMarch' in the city on Tuesday.The CPM, CPI, CPI(ML) and NewDemocracy and trade unions,including CITU, AITUC and IFTUtook part in the agitation. Police,who got the wind of the march,stopped agitators at theKanakadurgamma Varadhi andtried to foil their stir. Scores ofpeople were arrested.

Wi l lt h eidea

of makingHyderabadthe nation's

second capital befruitful and yield

expected results? Will suchsecond capital resonate in thesentiments-ridden TelanganaState? Is it really possible for thecentral leadership of BJP to pullit off under the nose of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, polit-ical Bahubali of the country, bygoing against the strong senti-ments of the people of theyoungest state in the country?

After former governor ofMaharashtra Ch. VidyasagarRao adverted to the issue recent-ly, political circles as well as gen-eral public are eager to knowwhether Hyderabad now meritsthe pride of place. The issue isquite old, having been first

mooted by the architect of thecountry's basic statute Dr BRAmbedkar during the initialyears of India's Independence. Itwas then felt that Hyderabadcould be the most-favoured des-tination for people across thecountry, irrespective of theirregion, religion, caste or creed.

However, successive govern-ments at Delhi did not focus onthe issue of Hyderabad asnation's second capital for vari-ous reasons. The main reasonis believed to be the absence ofpolitical need for rulers to goahead with the proposal made byDr. Ambedkar.

If so, why did VidyasagarRao raise this issue now? Hestressed his point by referring tothe grave pollution in the nation-al capital? One cannot ignore hisproximity with Modi ever sincethe latter emerged as an unpar-allel leader of the saffron partyseven years ago. It was not with-

out reason that Vidyasagar wasappointed the Governor ofMaharashtra and made in-charge of Tamil Nadu during thepolitical unrest following thedemise of then Chief MinisterJayalalithaa. After completion ofVidyasagar's tenure atRajbhavan, he has been broughtagain into Telangana politics toprepare the ground for the BJPto really emerge as an alternativeto the ruling Telangana RashtraSamiti.

Vidyasagar is the 'choice' ofModi in Telangana to counterKCR as both of leaders belongto the Velama community,which has attained the status ofruling caste with the emergenceof KCR as an undisputed leaderof people following theTelangana movement. Reddysand Kammas are the othercastes that have been enjoyingprominent status. These twocommunities have ruled theundivided state of Andhra

Pradesh for decades. Both KCRand Vidyasagar had the experi-ence of contesting against eachother in the 2004 elections.Then Union Minister of State forHome Affairs Vidyasagar lost theelection to KCR, TRS' nomineebacked by Congress, in theKarimnagar Lok Sabha seat.Later, KCR had become mem-

ber of the Union Cabinet head-ed by Manmohan Singh.

If Vidyasagar, with such abackground, has once againraked up the subject of secondcapital, the writing on the wallis clear. The plausible reasonappears to be the political futureof BJP in Andhra Pradesh,where the saffron party hasbeen trying hard to leave its ownimpression on the strength ofModi government's achieve-ments like abrogation of Article370 and recent developmentsculminating in SC's verdict onAyodhya issue!

Considering the heartburn ofthe people of AP over the bifur-cation of the unified state, the saf-fron party wants to win the con-fidence of Andhra people. Peoplein AP lost their most beloved cityHyderabad to Telangana, fol-lowing bifurcation. Their wish ofhaving Hyderabad at least as jointcapital too evaporated due to the

adamant attitude of the UPA gov-ernment. The anger of Andhrapeople due this harsh decision ofUPA government reflected in the2014 elections, in which Congresslost its address in Andhra and BJPmanaged to save its face onlybecause it aligned itself withTDP and won four Assembly andtwo LS seats. So, winning thehearts of people of Andhra maynot be all that easy. So, BJP hasto get the patronage of Andhrapeople only by backing the ideaof making Hyderabad secondcapital of the country. And, thatis better done by latching on tothe 'theory of Dr. Ambedkar' inthis regard.

What about the possible lossof BJP's political interests in T-state? Will Telangana peopleagree to this kind of change? BJPbelieves that T-people might bereluctant to share Hyderabadwith Andhra people and maywelcome the move of Modi

government on making the cityas second capital of India. BJPhas slowly been expanding itspolitical base in T-state if theresults of the recent Lok Sabhaelections are any indication.

At the same time, any suchmove may come in handy forTRS to regain public sympathy,considering the dip in its pop-ularity due to the prolongedRTC strike and concerns ofrevenue staff. TRS did praiseDr.Ambedkar for his positivethoughts on Telangana state.Still, it strategically ignored thewords of the same person onthe issue of making Hyderabadthe second capital. This isbecause T-people feel proud ofowning this city, known for itscosmopolitan culture.Regardless of the sentiments inT state, it appears thatHyderabad as nation's secondcapital might be the final wordof BJP's central leadership!.

M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist

After former governor of Maharashtra Ch.Vidyasagar Rao adverted to the issuerecently, political circles as well as generalpublic are eager to know whetherHyderabad now merits the pride of place.The issue is quite old, having been firstmooted by the architect of the country'sbasic statute Dr BR Ambedkar during theinitial years of India's Independence

PINPOINT

Will Hyd as nation's ‘second Capital' resonate in sentiment-ridden TS?

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019 vijayawada 03

CAPSULE

Man thrashes kids,blackmailing wife tosend money from gulfVISAKHAPATNAM: In a bizarreand cruel incident inNarsapuram of West Godavari,a man was arrested for brutallythrashing and harassing histwo minor daughters in orderto force his wife, working inGulf, to send him money. Theincident came to light when thevideos being sent by the manto his wife, recording the timewhile thrashing her small kidsgot leaked. The video is doingrounds on social mediaplatforms now. According tosources, the mother of the twokids had gone to Gulf to workas a labourer there. However,she could not send money toher husband for a few months.Hence, the man was forcing hiswife to send money by beatingup the kids. He was asking hisdaughters to cry for money.Netizens are describing theman as monster for beating upown daughters for money.

Women offering prayers on the occasion of Kartika Pournami in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday

FERVOUR MMARKS KKARTIKA PPOURNAMI

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has taken a strategicdecision to organise 'IsukaVaarotsavam' from November14, the day on which TDPsupremo is scheduled toobserve a dawn-to-duskDeeksha.

Earlier, he instructed offi-cials to decide the time periodfor organising the programme.TDP Chief N ChandrababuNaidu will observe Deekshademanding solution to sandcrisis and almost allOpposition parties supportedthe programme. As floodsstarted receding, the ChiefMinister has taken the decisionto conduct 'Isuka Vaarotsavam'from November 14 to 21,which means on the day of thehunger strike of Naidu, sandsupplies will be ramped up.

A TDP delegation metGovernor Biswa BhshanHarichandan on Tuesday andsubmitted a memorandumnaming YSRCP leaders alleg-ing that they are all transport-ing sand illegally. At the same

time, the Chief Minister hasconducted a review meeting onsand.

In a review meeting held onTuesday, the Chief Ministersaid that in the last one weekthe situation has improvedand chances of increase insand supply are high. Officialsinformed the Chief Ministerthat "Daily supply of sand hasreached 1.2 lakh tonnes.Reaches have increased to 90from 60."

Jaganmohan Reddy hasinstructed officials to increasethe supply from 1.2 lakh tonnesto 2 lakh tonnes in the comingone week. Stock points shouldalso be raised up to 180 from137, he added. "JointCollectors have to take theresponsibility for increasingstock points. Rate cards shouldbe displayed constituency-wise.Anybody, who sells sand atprices above the ones men-tioned in the rate cards, are

liable to be sentenced to twoyears imprisonment.Accordingly, a law will beenacted in this regard."

He instructed officials notto take leaves until the sandsupply situation comes tonormal. Within 10 days,check posts have to bearranged with CCTV cam-eras. Collectors, SPs, R&Bofficials and APMDC shouldmonitor all these activities,he instructed.

TDP submits memo to Guv on illegal sand mining

n Isuka Varotsavam' fromNov 14 to 21

n As floods startedreceding, Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddyhas taken the decisionto conduct 'IsukaVaarotsavam' fromNovember 14 to 21,which means on the dayof the hunger strike ofTDP chief NChandrababu Naidu,sand supplies will beramped up

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for Information PerniVenkataramaiah (Nani) lam-basted Jana Sena Chief PawanKalyan for not recognisingthe welfare and developmen-tal activities taken up by theYSRCP government and focus-ing only on sand issue.

Speaking to the media onTuesday, he called PawanKalyan 'Pawan Naidu' sayingboth are one and the same. Hesaid, "Pawan Kalyan claimedhe had learnt dignity from hisparents. But, there was nodignity in his speech atVisakhapatnam and at severalmeetings held earlier in theState."

Perni Nani wondered whyPawan Kalyan had not askedChandrababu Naidu aboutKapu reservations earlier. Healleged that Pawan Kalyan iscasteist and claimed that YSJaganmohan Reddy had plansfor the welfare of Kapu com-munity.

He said, "JaganmohanReddy has a passion for busi-ness and politics just as youhave on marriages." Perni Nanisaid that Pawan Kalyan hadmade sweeping remarks

against Venkaiah Naidu inKakinada earlier before theelections. "Now, he is botheredabout the remarks made byJaganmohan Reddy onVenkaiah Naidu. Why thisconfusion?" he asked.

The minister explained thatEnglish medium concept wasevolved from the experiencesof the march of YSJaganmohan Reddy."Thousands of students met YSJaganmohan Reddy andappealed to him to introduceEnglish medium in schools sothat they can compete with theconvent-educated students inEngineering, Medical or otherentrance examinations. Theyall belong to Backward Classes,

Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes. After listen-ing to their problems,Jaganmohan Reddy has decid-ed to introduce English medi-um in government schools.Telugu language is mandatory,so why are they bothered?"

He said: "You have dared usto come to fight with you inVijayawada. But, we know youare not Gabbar Singh, you area Rubber Singh. We don't wantany fight with a Rubber Singh".

Pawan blind to devt inState, says Perni Nani

The minister toPawan: "Youhave dared us tocome to fightwith you inVijayawada. But,we know youare not GabbarSingh, you are aRubber Singh.We don't wantany fight with aRubber Singh"

CM responds to newsitem, saves boy's lifePNS n VIJAYAWADA

Responding to a reportpublished in local newspa-pers on Tuesday, ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy has come to the res-cue of a four-year-old boybattling for life at a privatehospital in the city. Theplight of M Sasidhar,belonging to Kasturibaipetarea has caught the atten-tion of the Chief Minister,who immediately orderedrelease of funds through theChief Minister's Relief Fund(CMRF). The boy, who wasaffected by dengue, is in acritical condition as thedisease spread to his brain.

Doctors recommended anoperation to be conductedimmediately for which Rs 3lakh. But, as the boy's parentsare financially weak, they are

unable to go for the opera-tion.

The report that appearedin local newspapers saved theboy's life as the CM immedi-ately responded to it instruct-ing officials to look into thecase and release funds. Theofficials of CMO contactedthe parents and asked themto come with details of thecase.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Greater VisakhapatnamMunicipal Corporation hastied up with the AndhraPradesh Urban InfrastructureAsset Management Limited(APUIAML) to implement apilot project in 'ward 10' of thecity in order to improve its solidwaste management efficiency.

The project envisages com-plete mechanisation of wastecollection, the GPS tracking forvehicles and route mapping,100% door-to-door collection,allocating a certain stretch tosanitary workers with a specialattention towards street sweep-ing and drain clearance.

Prior to the launch of theproject, the GVMC conducteda gap analysis in five wards ofthe city in the first half of thisyear to ascertain the criticalgaps in solid waste manage-

ment services and infrastruc-ture of the city. The study cov-ered various components,including equipment/vehiclesin waste collection and trans-portation vis-a-vis per norms,the extent of garbage ends upin drains, infrastructure forprocessing and disposal, drainsizes, manpower and financialsustainability.

GVMC chief medical officerDr A Hemanth said that thepilot project will be continuedfor the next two to threemonths. "The major objectiveof the project is to achieve effi-cient waste management. Afleet of vehicles fitted withGPS devices were deployed inthe ward with optimised routeplans. We want to ensure 100%

door-to-door collection andsegregation of waste at sourcethrough the process adoptedfor the project. The constantmonitoring will help streamlinethe solid waste managementactivities in the area. Efficientwaste collection leads to effi-cient disposal, recycling andrecovery," said Dr Hemanth.

GPS-tagged garbage collection vehiclesto monitor soild-waste management

Intermediate EducationBoard official in ACB netPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Officials of Anti-CorruptionBureau (ACB) of Srikakulamunit on Tuesday arrestedRegional Inspection Officer(RIO), Board ofI n t e r m e d i a t eE d u c a t i o n ,Srikakulam GRamana Rao, fordemanding andaccepting abribe of Rs20,000 from acorrespondent ofprivate college TRama Rao for doingofficial favour.

ACB officials said that theyhave received a complaintfrom T Rama Rao, working asthe correspondent of KrishnaSai Junior College at Sompetain Srikakulam district citingthat they have submittedadmission list to RIO Ramana

Rao for scrutiny, verify andcertify the admissions of 221first year Intermediate stu-dents in their college for theacademic year 2019-20 and toreturn the admission list to

their college.But, Ramana Raohad kept the file

pending withhim for the pastfew months andhe demanded Rs20,000 bribe for

doing the favour.After verifying the

facts, ACB officialsled by the DSP of ACB,

Srikakulam, BR Murthy, laid atrap and arrested the RIOaccepting the bribe from thecomplainant at his office inSrikakulam. ACB officials saidthat they will produce theaccused RIO before the ACBCourt in Vizag city onWednesday.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy instruct-ed officials to conduct socialaudit in villages for identifica-tion of genuine beneficiaries.In a review meeting with offi-cials on Rythu Bharosa, hestated transparency should bemaintained in implementa-tion of schemes.

He explained the concept ofsocial audit to officials indetail. YS Jaganmohan Reddy

said that beneficiaries shouldbe selected and can be verifiedthrough the audit.

November 15 is the dead-line for Rytu Bharosa scheme.The Chief Minister instructedofficials to receive complaintsfrom farmers, who claim thatthey are not in the list. Afterscrutinising complaints, offi-cials should add their namesto the list accordingly, he said.For tenant farmers, the dead-line has already extended up toDecember 15.

‘Social audit forbeneficiaries' identification'

Majority of driving licences suspended in Vizag for drunken drivingPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Driving while drunk and rashdriving are the major trafficviolations in Vizag that haveresulted in suspension of over50 per cent of driving licencesfor the past few years.

Using cell phones while dri-ving, overloading and involvedin fatal road accidents are thethree major traffic violationsthat have led to licence suspen-sion in the region. In fact, of the3,158 driving licences suspend-ed in Vizag during 2018-19financial year by the transportdepartment, over 1,600 (over50 per cent) of the cases, themotorists were involved in theviolations of either tipsy drivingor rash driving. In over 400cases, the motorists werebooked under using a mobilephone while driving.

According to traffic wingsources, 32,853 motorists werebooked for drunken driving inthe city in 2018 while the num-ber was 30,328 in 2017 and

20,127 in 2016. A total of 1,413offenders were sentenced to sim-ple imprisonment (ranging fromthree days to 15 days) in 2018 fortipsy driving, while the figure was335 in 2017 and 45 in 2016.

In 2019, between Januaryand October over 22,000 chal-lans were issued to motorists fordriving under the influence andover 700 motorists were sen-tenced to simple imprisonment.

Deputy TransportCommissioner GC Raja Ratnamsaid that in the first sevenmonths (April to October-2019)of the present financial year2019-2020, they have suspend-

ed driving licences of 3,296motorists. RTA officials saidthat in 2019-20 also, the mostcommon traffic violation forsuspension of driving licence istipsy driving (50 per cent) fol-

lowed by the rash driving, cellphone driving and a few others,he added.

Sources in police and theRoad Transport Authority(RTA) opined that undergoingcounselling, paying hefty finesand also suffering a jail term isnot deterring Vizagites fromcontinuing to drink and driveand other traffic violations.

If a motorist is booked dri-ving while drunk, rash drivingand other major traffic viola-tion, his or her driving licencecan be suspended for three tosix months. After the suspen-sion period, the motorist has tovisit the nearest RoadTransport Office to collecttheir driving licence.

RTA officials said that dri-ving licence can be suspendedfor violating the traffic normsfor a period ranging from threemonths to six months.Punishment is reserved formore serious offences, especial-ly those that endanger the livesof others.

According to traffic wing sources, 32,853 motorists were booked for drunken driving in the city in2018 while the number was 30,328 in 2017 and 20,127 in 2016. A total of 1,413 offenders weresentenced to simple imprisonment (ranging from three days o 15 days) in 2018 for tipsy driving,while the figure was 335 in 2017 and 45 in 2016

n The project envisagescomplete mechanisationof waste collection, theGPS tracking for vehiclesand route mapping,100% door-to-doorcollection, allocating acertain stretch to sanitaryworkers with a specialattention towards streetsweeping and drainclearance

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

At the plenary session of CIIEXCON-2019 on 'TheChallenges & Opportunities inConstruction Industry: The WayAhead' held here on Monday, theemphasis on technology as a keyplayer of growth of sustainableinfrastructure development washighlighted.

The ambitious target set by theCentre towards achieving $5 tril-lion economy would help theinfrastructure and constructionindustry to explore new avenuesfor growth, which echoed byexperts, who spoke at the session.The session was attended bysenior officials from the govern-ment, industry leaders and stake-holders from the infrastructureand construction equipment sec-

tors. CII EXCON 2019 - SouthAsia's largest construction equip-ment trade fair will demonstratethe role of smart technologies andNextGen construction equip-ment in accelerating the growthof infrastructure in the country.

EXCON-2019, which is sched-uled to be held at the BengaluruInternational Exhibition Centrefrom December 10-14 is spreadover 3,00,000 square metres andwill have the participation of over1,250 exhibitors, including 350+overseas companies from 25countries, including China,Germany, Italy, South Korea,Turkey, the UK and the USamong others. The five-dayexhibition would attract over70,000 business visitors fromIndia and abroad.

The Guest of honour, Waltair

Rly Divisional Manager, ChetanKumar Shrivastava, gave an inter-esting and engaging presentationhighlighting the need of researchin infrastructure developmentand how infra projects are beingcopied from other countries. Healso mentioned about the factorsneed to be considered whiledeveloping infrastructure.

E L Kiran Babu, GeneralManager - Marketing, SchwingStetter (India) Private Limited,said: "This is the 10th edition ofthe EXCON and our theme thisyear is on "Smart i-tech- NextGen India@75". Excon-2019 willdemonstrate the role of smarttechnologies and innovation indesign in the manufacture ofNextGen construction equip-ment and machinery to supportthe rapid pace of infrastructure

development in the country.India is expected to become thethird largest construction marketglobally by 2022 and there hasbeen a rapid investment in infra-structure by the government,which is driving growth oppor-tunities".

Speaking on the occasionKVV Raju, Chairman, CIIVisakhapatnam zone and CEO,Granules Omnichem Pvt.Ltd.said, "Every sector requires atechnological advancement andin India, there exists a hugedemand for houses, thanks tocountry's fast urbanisation. Usingadvanced technology in the con-struction sector, we believe thisdemand could be met alongwith the other government initia-tives for both home buyers andwell as developers".

CII EXCON to demonstraterole of smart technologies

PNS n WASHINGTON DC

The US-based TelanganaDevelopment Forum (TDF),which celebrated its 20thanniversar y here fromNovember 8 to 10, has decid-ed to contribute to the devel-opment of Telangana by pro-moting NRI investments intheir motherland. TheForum's board, which met onNovember 10, resolved to actas a bridge to promote invest-ments in Telangana.

Accordingly, the TDF hasdecided to launch Jai Kisanscheme to benefit farmers ofTelangana and Mana Badi topromote rural schools in thestate. The TDF proposes tosensitise farmers on organiccultivation, mobilising invest-ments, procuring seeds, andmarketing agriculture pro-duce and so on.

It has plans to equip ruralschools with computers,chairs and benches and pro-vide toilets to them. At least100 rural schools inTelangana would be devel-

oped initially. The TDF hasalready mobilized US $50,000 for the same.

The TDF has floated a busi-ness forum to mark its 20thanniversary. It wants to takepart in the development of thestate over the next five yearsand wants to play a crucialrole in policy formulation atthe government level andextend support to the gov-ernment in IT sector.

A meeting of the businessforum was held withBoinapalli Anil in chair.Union Water Resources advi-sor Sriram Vedire, TelanganaState Planning Board vice-chairman Boinapalli VinodKumar, attended.

Vinod Kumar, addressingthe gathering, said that, underthe leadership of ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, Telangana stood second

in terms of ease of doingbusiness. It became possiblewith improved power supplyposition, drinking wateramenities and availability ofother basic amenities.

At a time when the stateswere reeling under the impactof economic slowdown, itsimpact was nil in Hyderabad,he said, adding that therewas no other city l ikeHyderabad in world.

Continued from Page 1

A complaint has been filedagainst the Hyderabad MP forhis controversial remarks.

The BJP leader said that theSupreme Court has, in a his-toric and landmark judge-ment, resolved a centuries-olddispute.

"The judgement was unan-imous. All the Supreme Courtjudges in the matter gave aunanimous statement. This isan example of an inclusiveview of the entire society.Everyone in the society haswelcomed the verdict in thematter," he said.

Subhash said that severalpeople of the Muslim com-munity have welcomed theSupreme Court verdict butMr Owaisi is only trying to"insult his own community".

"He is setting a platform fornot protecting the interest ofthe country. As an MP, he hastaken an oath to protect theconstitution and the people ofthe country. But he has insult-ed his community by sayingthat they don't want the land

on a charity basis," he said.He urged the police to file

an FIR against him in thematter on an immediatebasis.

The BJP leader said MrOwaisi has taken a lot of landon a charity basis inHyderabad and this act showshis double standards.

Owaisi has taken so muchland in and aroundHyderabad from Telanganaand Andhra Pradesh govern-ment. The institutions run byhim, like the medical college,engineering college and hos-pitals are all built on landtaken by the government ona charity. The land value isvery high but you have takenthe land from the governmentfor a very small amount," MrSubhash added.

PNS n NEW JERSEY

TPCC working president ARevanth Reddy asserted onTuesday that TRS supremo KChandrasekhar Rao couldbecome the Chief Minister ofTelangana State only by capi-talising on the faults of theCongress party.

Therefore, steps should betaken to ensure that such mis-takes did not recur, heobserved, while addressing agathering at the Meet-and-Greet programme arrangedby NRIs from Telangana inNew Jersey. He accused KCRof looting the state by takingadvantage of the Telanganasentiments of the people.

Revanth said he was afraidthat there was every chance of"a civil war" breaking out in

Telangana, going by the pre-sent situation. KCR, afterbecoming the Chief Minister,had brought disrepute to pol-itics, he said.

The Congress did not grantstatehood to Telangana to seethe state slide and reflect asorry state-of-affairs, he com-mented.

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019 region 04

PNS n HYDERABAD

Discoms are mulling the intro-duction of pre-paid electricitymeters that would let con-sumers set limits on the linesof prepaid mobile bills.

A decision in this regardwould be taken once TSTrasnco CMD DevulapalliPrabhakar Rao returns fromhis overseas trip during thesecond week of November.

Installing pre-paid meterswould mean purchasing powerfrom the energy department,depending on the consump-tion pattern of the consumer.The pre-paid system is avail-able for government offices.The Discoms now want toextend the same to domestic

power connections. If consumers come forward

voluntarily, Discoms wouldaward a concession of 0.10paise per unit. Discoms haveincluded this as part of theirproposal in its Aggregate rev-enue requirement report for2020-21.

Installation of a pre-paidsingle-phase meter would costRs 8000, while the cost ofthree-phase meter would be Rs12,000.

Discoms put their annualdeficiency of revenue at Rs11,000 crore. In fact, Discomsdid not submit the Aggregaterevenue requirement reportfor the year 2019-20.Therefore, the rates fixed in thereport for 2018-19 are beingcollected.

If the government does notextend subsidies to the depart-ment, rationalization of powertariff is likely. This is attributedto poor financial status of theDiscoms and inability to makepayments for the power pur-chased from others.

PNS n SIDDIPET

The RTC workers' strike her-alds the downfall of ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, BJP State unit presidentDr K Laxman observed hereon Tuesday.

He was speaking to mediapersons after laying the foun-dation stone for BJP office hereon Tuesday. He charged CMwith insulting RTC workerswho had played a crucial rolein the movement forTelangana. The RTC workerswere only pressing for fulfill-ment of the promises made byKCR during the statehoodmovement, he clarified.

Justice was being denied toRTC workers even in theGajwel Assembly constituencyrepresented by KCR. Theflames of RTC strike wouldengulf KCR. BJP alone wascapable of teaching a bitter les-son to CM, he said.

The RTC workers wouldnot mortgage their movementat the behest of ministers or forthat matter RTC Chairman, hesaid. Curses of RTC workers

would affect the state govern-ment, he said.

Referring to RTC workers'suicides in Telangana, Laxmansaid that suicides in Telangana,which emerged from the sac-rifices of many people, wouldmean they are all "state-spon-sored murders", he reasoned.

Referring to KCR's threats

that RTC workers not joiningduty would be sacked, he ques-tioned as to how many timesKCR should dismissed for hisfault of not visiting theSecretariat?

Salaries of MLAs, Ministersand CM were not withheldunlike those RTC workers, hepointed out.

RTC strike heralds beginningof CM's downfall: BJP

BJP State unit president Dr K Laxman laid foundation stone for BJP office inSiddipet on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Government of Telanganahas issued notification to con-stitute temple trust boards fol-lowing reports received fromtemple authorities who laidemphasis on the need to con-stitute the boards.

According to endowmentssecretary V Anil Kumar onMonday, the government hasgiven its green signal to con-stitute trust boards to Ganeshtemple and Ujjaini Mahankalitemple in Secunderabad,Yellamma temple in Balkampet,Kanakadurga temple inAmeerpet, VenkateswaraSwamy temple in Srinagarwhose annual income crossesRs 1 crore-mark. Similarly, thegovernment gave its green sig-nal for constitution of anothereight temples in twin cities

whose annual income crossesRs 25 lakh. The interestedshould submit their applicationswithin 20 days.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Congress hasdemanded the state unit of BJPto reveal what its relationshipis with the TRS party. Findingfault with the Union Ministersfor praising the state schemes,the Telangana Congress askedthe state BJP to disclose whythey were praising the schemeswhen the local leadership isterming them as scams. TheTelangana Congress allegedon Tuesday that the BJP wasadopting double standards inregard to the ruling party.

CLP Leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka has alleged thatthe state BJP is describing theMission Bhagiratha scheme as'scam'; however, Union JalShakthi Minister GajendraSingh Shekhawat has statedthat they will implement thescheme across the nation. Bhattiasked the BJP to tell whether itwill implement the biggest scam

scheme 'Mission Bhagiratha'across the nation. He said thereis a need to order a CBI inquiryinto the Mission Bhagirathascheme. He asked state BJPleaders to reveal their reactionon Shekawath's statement.

While speaking to the mediaat Assembly Media Hall hereon Tuesday, Bhatti said that the

death like AbdullahpurmetMRO Vijaya Reddy never tookplace in the history of thenation. He wondered howChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, who hadno time to speak with the strik-ing tahasildars, got time to givea presentation on the huge'scam' scheme Mission

Bhagiratha. He alleged that thestate government has closedRs.1000 crore worth drinkingwater schemes in Khammamdistrict. However, the stategovernment had borrowedRs.3 lakh crore debts in thename of fund crisis. Bhattialleged that the state govern-ment is introducing schemeswhich allow scams. UnionMinisters were praising theschemes, but state BJP chief DrK Laxman was terming thesame schemes as scams.

He said there is a need toorder a CBI inquiry into theRs.50,000-crore Mission

Bhagiratha scheme scam.Alleging that Tuglaq rule wasgoing on in the state, Bhattisaid that the revenue employ-ees, who were appointed forthe sake of people, were seek-ing protection from the peo-ple. The people were facing alot of troubles as the ChiefMinister is not conductingreview meetings on thedepartments he kept withhim, he alleged. He demand-ed that a CBI inquiry beordered into the irregularitiestaking place in MissionBhagiratha, Kaleswaram,Seetharama projects.

Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka

T Congress fires BJP on Union Minister'spraises on Mission Bhagiratha scheme

PNS n ADILABAD

Minister for Forests,Environment, Endowmentsand Housing Allola IndrakaranReddy on Tuesday urged peo-ple to protect forests, thesource of life for all beings, andthus avoid the probability ofhaving to buy oxygen in future.

He was speaking after layingthe foundation stone for chain-link fencing works to be takenup in Adilabad Harita Haramor Mavala Urban Park, on theoutskirts of Adilabad, at a costof Rs 2 crore.

Indrakaran Reddy under-scored the need for taking upextensive planting of saplingsand nurturing them in order toensure clean air, rain, waterand build a healthy atmos-phere for posterity. "Givinggood health to our kids is abigger asset than property.The government has taken atough stand when it comes toprotecting the green cover.Awareness among the publicover the need to conservewildlife has gone up," heremarked.

The Minister said the Stategovernment was convertingcertain pieces of reserve forestsinto urban lung spaces to tack-

le the problem of dearth ofoxygen in towns and cities.Attractions were being addedto the parks to draw tourists.The Preventive Detention Actwould be invoked againstsmugglers of teak timber, hewarned. The Minister soughtthe cooperation of locals inkeeping parks as sources ofrecreation.

According to Mavala ForestRange Officer A Appaiah, 5km chain link fencing works,passing through Mavala Park,Durga Nagar, KRK Colonyand Tantoli Road, would betaken up. "It is the first step toconvert degraded forests of thepark into high forest. With the

help of the fence, it can beextended up to two more thou-sands of acres as against theexisting area of 1,000 acres," headded.

Later, Indrakaran laid thefoundation stone for the con-struction of 2BHK houses inBoath Assembly constituency.He was accorded a grand wel-come by Boath MLA R BapuRao who presented a sapling tothe lawmaker.

Zilla Parishad chairpersonJanardhan Rathod, AdilabadMLA Jogu Ramanna, CollectorD Divya, District ForestOfficer B Prabhakar FDO VChandrasekhar and other offi-cials were present.

Save forests to avoid buyingoxygen in future: Indrakaran

Minister Indrakaran Reddy laid foundation stone for chain-link fencing works tobe taken up in Adilabad Harita Haram or Mavala Urban Park, on the outskirts ofAdilabad on Tuesday

TDF to help promote NRI investments in TSPlans to support 100 rural schools initially

A women's workshop tohighlight the problemsbeing faced by womenwas held. Severaldelegates like SilpaVedire, Kavita Challa,Jhansi Reddy, JayaTelukuntla, Gandra Jyotitook part in the workshop

Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has alleged thatthe state BJP is describing the MissionBhagiratha scheme as 'scam'; however,Union Minister Gajendra SinghShekhawat has stated that they willimplement the scheme across the nation

Subhash said Mr Owaisi is only trying to‘insult his owncommunity’

The govt gave itsgreen signal forconstitution ofanother eighttemples in twincities whoseannual incomecrosses Rs 25 lakh

A Revanth Reddy

Govt to constitute trustboards to temples soon

Continued from Page 1

Furthermore, he sought toknow why he spent two yearsbehind the bars. AndhraPradesh was carved out on alinguistic basis, he said won-dering whether the ChiefMinister was aware of the his-tory of the State's creation.

Even if YSRCP leaders for-get decency and decorum intheir criticism of Jana Sena,Pawan Kalyan maintained thathe would only criticise thegovernment on the basis ofdefects in the policies.

YSRCP leaders are misin-terpreting the problems, healleged.

Jana Sena does not knowelectoral victories and defeats,but it only knows about howto fight on the people's issues.

The Jagan government is mak-ing the same mistakes as thatof the previous regime, heobserved.

The State reached a positionwhere it no longer couldattract investments, he saidadding that businessmen areafraid of investing their moneyin Andhra Pradesh.

Jagan has been speaking asthough he is the YSRCP leader,Pawan said cautioning himthat Jagan should not forgetthat he is the CM of a State.

Given the numericalstrength being enjoyed by theYSRCP in the Assembly, itshould rule giving no room forthe opposition to criticise it.The current situation pre-vailed as the government failedto rule the state clipping thewings of the Opposition.

Short onsight, not in vision

RTC conductordoubles up as barberPNS n NIRMAL

With no resolution of theRTC strike in sight, a con-ductor who gave up hiscaste-based profession fol-lowing obtaining a job in theRTC resumed the professionto feed his family since he isgoing sans salary for thepast two months.

He was identif ied asMahipal of Ratnapur Kandliin Nirmal district. He joinedthe RTC as conductor in2009. Since then, he stoppedpracticing his family profes-sion. He settled in Nirmal.

As he did not get thesalary for September month,moreover he and his col-leagues are on strike sinceOct 5, he feels pinched formoney.

President'srule imposedin Maha...Continued from Page 1

"When all the three parties(Congress, NCP and ShivSena) show that we have thesupport of more than 144MLAs, the governor will haveto invite us to form govern-ment," he said.

Senior Congress leader andformer Union ministerSushilkumar Shinde echoeda similar view, saying "oncewe have letters of support, thePresident's rule can be lifted".

Congress leader and for-mer chief minister PrithvirajChavan said the governorshould have invited his partyto indicate "willingness andability" to form government.

Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab,however, said if President'srule is imposed, it can bechallenged in court.

Andhra BJPpins hopes onChowdary'sstrategyContinued from Page 1

The fact is that during hisstint in the TDP over the last15 years, Chowdary hadonly been a backstage oper-ator for the party and hadnever mingled with thecrowds. He has never con-tested any direct electiondespite being a solid sup-porter of TDP.

To strengthen his sup-port base in Andhra andTelangana, he has nowstepped up his visible activ-ity with support from hisfollowers. He himself touredKrishna and Guntur dis-tricts extensively to get thefeel of being with the people.

Chowdary is getting readyto contest direct electionsnext time, should the BJPcentral leadership ask him todo so. Sources say thatChowdary may be inductedinto Union Cabinet onceagain in a bid to strengthenBJP in Andhra Pradesh.

Continued from Page 1

Hailing from a financiallyweaker family, he workedhis way up in studies withsheer determination.Sandeep says he wants tobecome a lawyer. At present,he is doing B.A. in EnglishLiterature.

Both the boys gave creditto their mentor G SahayaBhaskaran, who is the coor-dinator of the 'HigherEducation for Persons WithSpecial Needs' floated by thecollege. Twenty other boysshare the plight of these twoboys in the college. The ALChas tied up with Bengaluru-based EnAble India in offer-ing computer training tovisually challenged students.

Sahaya Bhaskaran, whoheads the PhysicsDepartment of the college,says the college is providingthe infrastructural support toEnAble India to support theboys. He said the HongKong-based Help the BlindFoundation is providingscholarships to visually chal-lenged students at the college."We have a wonderful setupin the college where all stu-dents are volunteers ofHigher Education for PersonsWith Special Needs. Thisunique system enables thespecial students to satisfytheir special needs especial-ly during examinations," hesaid.

Shiv Senamoves SCagainst...Continued from Page 1

"The impugnedactions/decisions of theGovernor is violative of Article14 and Article 21 of theConstitution. It is ex facie arbi-trary, unreasonable, capri-cious and a malafide exerciseof the power in order toensure that the Petitioner No.1 (Shiv Sena) is precludedfrom getting a fair and rea-sonable opportunity of prov-ing its majority on the floor ofthe House," the petition filedthrough senior advocate KapilSibal, lawyers Sunil Fernandesand Nizam Pasha said.

According to the petition,Shiv Sena had requested threedays time to give the letters ofsupport to demonstrate that ithas the requisite majority toform the government on thesame day when it has stakedclaim to form the government.

Owaisi ‘has hisown agenda’: BJP

I will not be cowed downby Jagan's factionist...

KCR becameCM capitalisingon Cong faults

Discoms to introduce pre-paid power meters

PNS n KOLKATA

West Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar has given his assentto the Swami VivekanandaUniversity Bill, 2019, whichwas passed by the stateLegislative Assembly onSeptember 1 this year.

The governor has given hisassent in conformity withArticle 200 of the Constitutionof India, a Raj Bhavanstatement issuedhere on Tuesdaysaid.

" T h eSpeaker of theWest BengalAssembly hadpassed the Billon September1, 2019 and itwas forwarded tothe governor for hisconsideration onNovember 6 afterexamination of the concerneddepartment," it said.

As per the SwamiVivekananda University Bill2019, a university named afterSwami Vivekananda will beestablished in Barrackpore in

North 24 Parganas district.The university will be con-

ferred the status of a pri-vate university, which

will be promoted byan educational andcharitable trustregistered underthe Indian TrustAct, 1882.

"After receiv-ing a proposal for

setting up of theuniversity, the Higher

Education Departmenthad constituted a com-mittee headed by the

vice-chancellor of West BengalState University.

"The panel had recommend-ed to the state government thatthe private educational trustmay be allowed to set up theproposed university which will

espouse the ideals and values ofSwami Vivekananda," a HigherEducation Department officialsaid. The official said aftergoing through the panel's rec-ommendations, the HigherEducation Department decidedto allow the private trust toestablish the self-financed uni-versity in North 24-Parganasdistrict.

A Bill to this regard was thenpassed at the state Assembly.

"The state government willnot bear any financial respon-sibilities (of the proposed uni-versity) as it has proclaimed thestatus of a self-financed one," theBill said.

Science, technology, law,management, social sciences,medicine, education, humani-ties and performing arts wouldbe taught at the university.

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Maha: 2 killed inhighway mishapTHANE:Two persons, includinga woman, were killed and twoothers critically injured in amishap on Mumbai-AgraHighway near Shahapur here inthe early hours of Tuesday, thedistrict rural police said. Theincident took place at around8.30 am at Asangaon village inMaharashtra's Thane district,when a tourist car travellingtowards Nashik collided with agas tanker on the highway,station house officer atShahapur police station said.While two persons, including afemale passenger and thedriver of the four-wheeler, werekilled on the spot, two otherswere severely injured and arebeing treated at Shahapur ruralhospital, the official said. Thepolice are in the process ofregistering a case and bodies ofthe deceased have been sentfor postmortem, he said,adding that the tourist vehiclehad a Rajasthan registration.

Rajasthan policearrests illegal armssupplier from MP

Cigarettes worth Rs 7cr from Cambodiaseized at Chennai PortCHENNAI: Foreign cigarettesworth Rs 7 crore allegedlysmuggled from Cambodia wereseized from acontainer at theChennai Port Trust, officials ofthe Directorate of RevenueIntelligence (DRI) said here.Acting on a tip-off, the officialschecked the container carryingdisposable biodegradableplates on Monday and foundthe cigarettes concealed in thecargo, a DRI press release said.The cigarettes, numbering 50lakh and valued at Rs 7 crore,were recovered and aninvestigation was on, therelease said.

Devotees throng ghatsin UP for holy dip onKartik PurnimaLUCKNOW: A sea of devoteesthronged ghats across UttarPradesh to take a holy dip inthe Ganga, Gomti and Saryurivers on Kartik Purnima. In thetemple town of Ayodhya,people began flocking to theghats of the Saryu since earlymorning amid chants of "SitaRam" playing on loudspeakersin the streets, while manydevotees who came fromneighbouring districts of thestate camped overnight nearthe river. This is the firstreligious congregation in theholy city since the SupremeCourt's judgment in the RamJanmabhoomi-Barbi Masjidcase. Devotees in the statecapital took a dip atMankameshwar ghat on thebanks of the Gomti. A hugecrowd also gathered on thebanks of Ganga and Yamuna inAllahabad. Elaborating on thesignificance of Kartik Purnima,the convenor of Allahabad-based organisations Ram NaamBank and Ram Sewa Trust,Ashutosh Varshney, told PTI, "Itis the full moon day in themonth of Kartik". "It is alsoknown as Dev Deepawali, aDiwali celebrated by Gods. Thefestival is celebrated 15 daysafter Diwali," he added.

CJI under RTI Act: SCto pronounce verdicttomorrowNEW DELHI: The SupremeCourt will pronounce onWednesday its verdict on a pleachallenging the Delhi HighCourt decision bringing theoffice of the chief justice ofIndia under the Right toInformation Act. A five-judgeconstitution bench headed byCJI Ranjan Gogoi willpronounce the judgement at 2pm. Other members of thebench are Justices N VRamana, D Y Chandrachud,Deepak Gupta and SanjivKhanna. The notice regardingthe pronouncement ofjudgement was made public onthe official website of theSupreme Court on Tuesdayafternoon.

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Policehas arrested a notorious illegalarms supplier from Badwanidistrict in Madhya Pradesh onTuesday, an official said. Ateam of SOG from Kota was inMadhya Pradesh sinceThursday. They caught BahadurSingh from his nativeUndikhudri village, ADG of ATSand SOG Anil Paliwal said.Singh was involved inmanufacturing and supplyingillegal arms in various statesfor the last two decades, hesaid. As per the Swami Vivekananda

University Bill 2019, a universitynamed after Swami Vivekananda willbe established in Barrackpore inNorth 24 Parganas district

PNS n JALANDHAR

Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh has assuredthe Punjabi diaspora of tryingto set up special courts to expe-ditiously settle cases of thosewho were declared proclaimedoffenders after fleeing the stateduring the Khalistan militancydays. Singh said he would takeup the issue with the chief jus-tice of the Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court as well as theCentral government.

He gave the assurance whileresponding to a request from agroup of NRIs, currently visit-ing Jalandhar in Punjab on the550th birth anniversary of GuruNanak Dev.

The chief minister honouredthe NRIs by giving them bookson the life and philosophy of theSikhism founder, besides acommemorative coin and amemento each on Monday, anofficial statement said onTuesday.

The NRIs expressed concernthat many of the persons who

had immigrated abroad wereunable to visit Punjab and payobeisance at the Golden Templeand other holy places in thestate as they were declaredproclaimed offenders onaccount of their inability toappear before courts in certaincases. Chief Minister Singhalso assured the visiting NRI ofconsulting the Centre to exam-ine the feasibility of setting upsuch special courts in someoverseas Indian missions likethose in the UK, Canada,Germany, France and the USA,the home to a large Punbjabipopulation.

PNS n SINGAPORE

Prime Minister Lee HsienLoong on Tuesday said theteachings of Guru Nanak Devji are very much aligned to thecore values of Singapore andthe principles of an open,inclusive, and diverse society.

In a message on hisFacebook page, Lee greeted theSikh community here on GuruNanak's 550th birthday cele-bration and thanked them fortheir continued contributionsto Singapore.

"I am glad Guru Nanak'sspirit of service continues inthe Sikh community heretoday. The gurdwaras (sevenSikh temples) here serve freevegetarian meals to thousandsdaily, regardless of religion orrace. Also, happy that the localSikh community's year-longanniversary celebrations haveembraced the ethos of volun-teerism and public service to allSingaporeans, he said. "Theseteachings are very muchaligned to the core values ofSingapore, and the principlesof an open, inclusive, anddiverse society, Lee added.

BRICS Summit to focus ontoning up counter-terrorismPNS n NEW DELHI

The BRICS summit will focuson strengthening ties among theworld's five major economies inkey areas such as digital econ-omy, science and technology,and also build mechanisms forcounter terrorism cooperation,Prime Minister Narendra Modisaid Tuesday.

Modi, who will be in Brazilon 13-14 November to attendthe 11th BRICS Summit, said hewill also meet BrazilianPresident Jair Bolsonaro to dis-cuss ways to enhance the bilat-eral strategic partnership.

"I look forward to exchangingviews with other BRICS leaderswith the aim to further strength-en intra-BRICS cooperationparticularly on the theme of theSummit 'Economic growth foran innovative future'," PrimeMinister Modi said in his depar-ture statement. During the sum-mit, the five major economies ofthe world will aim to signifi-cantly strengthen their cooper-ation in science, technologyand innovation, he said.

The BRICS countries willalso look to enhance coopera-

tion on digital economy andbuild mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation withinthe BRICS framework, Modisaid.

"Our business and industryplay an important role in Intra-BRICS ties. I will be addressingBRICS Business Forum andinteracting with BRICS BusinessCouncil and New DevelopmentBank," he said.

On the bilateral meeting withthe Brazilian president, he saidBrazil and India share close andever expanding bilateral rela-

tions, including in the spheresof defence, security, trade, agri-culture, energy and space.

Close cooperation betweenthe two countries in multilater-al forums has been a significantaspect of our strategic relation-ship, Modi said.

"BRICS Summit will alsoprovide me with the opportu-nity to hold useful bilateralinteractions with leaders ofother BRICS countries," he said.

This will be the sixth timeModi will be participating in theBRICS summit, his first being at

Fortaleza, also in Brazil in 2014.The prime minister is sched-

uled to hold separate bilateralmeetings with Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and ChinesePremier Xi Jinping. He wouldalso attend the BRICS businessforum closing ceremony and the'closed' and plenary sessions ofthe XI BRICS Summit.

In the closed session, thediscussions are expected to befocused on challenges andopportunities for the exercise ofnational sovereignty in the con-temporary world.

Uddhav, BJP leaders visitailing Sena MP RautPNS nMUMBAI

Shiv Sena chief UddhavThackeray on Tuesday metparty leader Sanjay Raut, whounderwent angioplasty atLilavati Hospital here, and latersaid the Rajya Sabha memberwas recoverig fast but refused tocomment on the political crisisin Maharashtra.

BJP leaders HarshvardhanPatil and Ashish Shelar also met57-year-old Raut at the hospi-tal here following which the lat-ter said it was a courtesy visitwith "no political angle".

The visit came in the back-drop of the stalemate over gov-ernment formation continuingin the state even 19 days afterthe Assembly poll results weredeclared. Thackeray met Rautalong with Patil.

Later, talking to reporters,Thackeray said, "Things aretaking shape, I will speak aboutit at the right time. I cannotcomment on politics right now."

Asked about Raut's health, hesaid, "He is recuperating fast. Hehas also resumed work as the

executive editor of (Senamouthpiece) 'Saamana'."

Former Mumbai BJP chiefShelar also met the Sena MPand later said, "Doctors haveadvised Raut to speak less. I methim out of courtesy. It isMaharashtra's culture, we meetunwell people irrespective ofpolitical differences."

"There was no political angleto this meet. A senior BJPoffice-bearer is also admitted inthe same hospital, I also methim," he added.

Earlier, NCP chief SharadPawar also met Raut at the hos-

pital in the morning. Raut, wholed the Sena's charge to seekequal share in power with theBJP after the Assembly pollresults in Maharashtra, com-plained of chest pain onMonday following which heunderwent angioplasty, a pro-cedure to restore blood flowthrough the artery.

The ailing Sena leader in themorning took to Twitter toquote lines of legendary poetHarivansh Rai Bachchan toreaffirm his party's resolve tosucceed and not give up.

PNS n SULTANPUR LODHI

Saying that Guru Nanak Devlives in "our hearts", PresidentRam Nath Kovind on Tuesdaycalled upon the people to followthe path shown by the Sikhismfounder and work towards elim-inating social disparities.

Kovind, along with his wifeSavita, arrived in the morning inthe holy town of Punjab'sKapurthala district to attend thecelebrations on the occasion ofthe 550th birth anniversary ofGuru Nanak Dev.

He was received by PunjabGovernor V P Singh Badnore,Chief Minister Amarinder Singhand his wife Preneet Kaur.

Later, Kovind drove straightto historic Gurdwara Ber Sahib,where he and his wife paid obei-sance.

He then went to the stage setup by the Punjab governmentfor the celebrations, where hewas honoured with a mementoand a ceremonial sword.

Greeting the gathering with"Sat Sri Akal", the President said,"Guru Nanak Dev lives in our

hearts. He is our common lega-cy. He is the guiding light for theentire humanity."

"It is the responsibility of allof us to follow his ideals andwork towards eliminating socialdisparities," Kovind added.

Kovind said Guru Nanak

spread the light of wisdom withhis teachings and preached'Sarbat Da Bhala' (welfare of all)asking people to rise aboveconsiderations of inequalities,caste and creed. "Guru NanakDev ji's life and teachings give amessage of affection, compas-sion and brotherhood for theentire humanity," he said.

"I extend my heartiest con-gratulations to countrymen andthe Indians all over the world onthe occasion," the Presidentsaid. The life of Guru Nanak

Dev inspires people to build asociety based on his teachings ofequality, compassion and socialamity, he said.

Kovind shed light on howGuru Nanak through his teach-ings enlightened the Indiansociety, which during the 15thcentury was plagued with socialills, including casteism, as dark-ness of ignorance prevailed.

The President said GuruNanak made efforts to build asociety where everyone wasequal.

Jagdeep Dhankhar

Bengal Governor gives assent to Swami Vivekananda University Bill

PNS n NOIDA

Over 5,000 litres of liquorworth around Rs 25 lakh thatwas being smuggled fromPunjab to Madhya Pradeshhas been seized from a truckin Greater Noida, police saidon Tuesday.

The person transportingthe liquor was arrested afterthe truck was interceptedalong the PeripheralExpressway under the Dadripolice station area late onMonday night, officials said.

"The truck was interceptedfor checking and 610 cartonsof liquor were found hiddenunder boxes of kinnow fruit.The truck had started fromRopar district in Punjab andwas bound for Gwalior inMadhya Pradesh," a policespokesperson said. "A total of5,275 litres of liquor, estimat-ed to cost around Rs 25 lakhwas seized," the spokespersonsaid. The driver has beenidentified as Vishnu Ram, anative of Abohar in Fazilkadistrict of Punjab, the policesaid, adding his truck hasbeen impounded.

PNS n KOCHI

The Kerala High Court onTuesday directed the police toconduct a probe into the cir-cumstances leading to thekilling of two suspectedMaoists in an allegedencounter in Agali forests ofPalakkad district last month. Italso gave a direction to ascer-tain whether the officers whotook part in the allegedencounter had committed anyoffence.

Justice R NarayanaPisharadi, however, made itclear that the court has noteven remotely expressed anyview with regard to the cir-cumstances under which orthe manner in which the deathof the two occurred.

He also allowed the stateauthorities to cremate the twoas per prevailing rules andnorms.

The order was passed whiledisposing of a plea by the rel-atives of the duo, challenginga sessions court order permit-ting cremation as per rules andseeking investigation into their

deaths. Whatever be the penaland other provisions men-tioned in the FIRs, the cir-cumstances under which thekillings of Karthik aliasKannan and Manivasakamhad occurred and the cause oftheir death shall be investigat-ed, the judge said.

He also ordered the investi-gating officer to seize thefirearms used by police officersduring the encounter and takesteps for sending them forforensic and ballistic analysis.

Finger prints of thedeceased, if not already takenand preserved properly, shallbe taken immediately byappropriate method, beforecremation of the bodies, theCourt said.

It also said a report of com-pliance shall be sent to theSessions Court in Palakkad,without any delay.

The high court further saidif the petitioners were not sat-isfied or aggrieved at a laterstage regarding the investiga-tion, they were at liberty toapproach the lower court forappropriate relief at that stage.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A Delhi court has issued abailable warrant againstCongress leader Shashi Tharoorfor not appearing in a criminaldefamation complaint againsthim over his alleged 'scorpionon Shivling' remarks referring toPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Naveen KumarKashyap on Monday issued thewarrant against the Congressleader for November 27, notingthat neither Tharoor nor hiscounsel appeared before thecourt. The magistrate alsoimposed a fine of Rs 500 on thecomplainant, Delhi BJP leaderRajiv Babbar, who was also didnot appear before the court.

However, Babbar was repre-sented by a junior counsel.

“Neither complainant norhis main counsel is present. Anexemption application is movedon behalf of the complainant.The same is vague in nature. It

is stated in the application thathe is in personal difficulty butwhat is such 'difficulty' is notexplained at all in the applica-tion," the court said.

"Still, taking a lenient view,instead of dismissing the presentcomplaint for reasons of non--appearance of complainant,he is burdened with a cost of Rs500 to be deposited with theDistrict Legal Services Authority(DLSA), Central District, TisHazari Court," it added.

The court also referred to thenon-appearance of Tharoor andhis counsel. It said it was takinga "lenient view" and issuing bail-able warrants against theaccused with a sum of Rs 5,000and notice to his surety forNovember 27, 2019.

PNS n IMPHAL

A day after he was releasedfrom a Guwahati jail havingserved his term for nearly adecade, RK Meghen, the formerchairperson of Manipur-basedinsurgent outfit UNLF, wastaken to Delhi by NIA officialson Sunday evening, his lawyerM Gunedhor Singh said.

Meghen, popularly known asSanayaima (son of soil), wasreleased from jail on Saturday,six months before the comple-tion of his 10-year term —awarded to him by a specialNIA court for "waging a waragainst the country".

He was expected to reachImphal on Monday.

The 75-year-old, however,

was taken to the national cap-ital by the officials of the NIA,amid media speculation that hehas been detained, Singh, whoaccompanied Meghen to Delhi,said over phone. "Sanayaima isa free man. There is no reasonwhy he should be detained orarrested. There is no legal mat-ter pending against the leader,"he clarified.

Narendra Modi

Guru Nanak'steaching verymuch alignedOver 5K litre

smuggledliquor seized

Shashi Tharoor

Ex-UNLF chief taken to Delhiafter release from jail: Lawyer

Kerala HC directspolice to probe killingof suspected Maoists

RK Meghen

Delhi court issues bailablewarrant against Tharoor

Will push for specialcourt: Amarinder Singh

CASES OF ‘PROCLAIMED OFFERDERS’

The BRICScountries will alsolook to enhancecooperation ondigital economyand buildmechanisms forcounter-terrorismcooperation withinthe BRICSframework, Modisaid

BJP leadersHarshvardhan Patiland Ashish Shelaralso met 57-year-old Raut at thehospital herefollowing which thelatter said it was acourtesy visit with‘no political angle’

Kovind, along with his wife Savita, arrivedin the morning in the holy town ofPunjab's Kapurthala district to attend thecelebrations on the occasion of the 550thbirth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev

People should follow Guru Nanak's teachings,work to eliminate social disparities: Kovind

DEFAMATION COMPLAINT

The entire focus and preoccupationon Gross Domestic Product(GDP) as a measure of humanprogress and advancement hasobviously been taken much too

far. It was in 1930 that Lord Keynes came upwith the statement, “For at least another 100years, we must pretend to everyone that fairis foul and foul is fair; for foul is useful andfair is not. Avarice and usury and precautionmust be our gods for a little longer still. Foronly they can lead us out of the tunnel of eco-nomic necessity into daylight.”

It must be remembered that this was aperiod when the global economy was in thedoldrums and, perhaps, a measure whichrecorded the output of goods and serviceswould have been useful as a response to thedistress that the US in particular and otherparts of the world were suffering from. Butperhaps Keynes never anticipated that a sys-tem, which became ingrained in the mindsof every individual and which defined thesystems for measuring human progress,would hardly be easy to replace after a 100years. We know today that reliance on GDPhides a lot of negative effects and external-ities and its flawed effects keep growing.

The extent of waste and the impacts onthe environment, which the modern econ-omy generates, are, unfortunately, not fac-tored into GDP at all. Damage to the envi-ronment and the stock of natural resourcesshould, even on the basis of common sense,be deducted from any compilation of GDPfor a particular society or economic system.Further, it is a well-accepted principle thatwhen environmental damage takes place, thepolluter must pay. This, unfortunately, is notthe case all across the world.

The problem of climate change is theresult of Cumulative Emissions of GreenhouseGases (GHGs) since the beginning of indus-trialisation. The sole responsibility for this liesessentially with the industrialised countriesand it is for this reason that the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) clearly came up with the condi-tion of “Common but differentiated respon-sibility.” This was accepted and agreed onessentially because the developing countriesare no doubt at a stage where their energy con-sumption would perhaps outstrip that of thedeveloped world. Yet, the stock of carbondioxide and other GHGs has been thecumulative contribution of the industri-alised countries to an overwhelming extent.The developed nations are now convenient-ly forgetting the historical responsibility thatthey must accept fully.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)came out with a study earlier this year whereit estimated the extent of subsidies that theworld is responsible for in the pricing of fos-sil fuels. “Globally, subsidies remained largeat $4.7 trillion (6.3 per cent of the global GDP)in 2015 and are projected at $5.2 trillion (6.5per cent of GDP) in 2017.”

The study further states, “About three

quarters of the global subsidiesare due to domestic factors —energy pricing reform thusremains largely in countries’ ownnational interest — while coaland petroleum together accountfor 85 per cent of the global sub-sidies. Efficient fossil fuel pricingin 2015 would have loweredglobal carbon emissions by 28 percent and fossil fuel air pollutiondeaths by 46 per cent andincreased Government revenueby 3.8 per cent of GDP.”

In other words, the world,instead of reducing the emis-sions of carbon dioxide — theprimary GHG which causesclimate change — is generous-ly rewarding the production anduse of fossil fuels and, hence, ofcarbon dioxide. This representsa distortion, which clearlyreflects the power of the fossilfuel lobby over decision-makingin most countries.

It was in 2008 that the thenPresident of France, NicolasSarkozy, set up a commission onthe Measurement of EconomicPerformance and Social Progressunder the chairmanship ofJoseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prizewinning economist, the reportfrom which was submitted inSeptember 2009. While theStiglitz Commission analysedthe flaws and shortcomings ofGDP as a measure, it also cameup with some recommenda-tions, which would help modi-fy and refine this metric. It was

brought out that statistical indi-cators are important for design-ing and assessing policies aimedat advancing the progress of soci-ety as well as for assessing andinfluencing the functioning ofeconomic markets.

It is well-known that whatgets measured, gets managed.Hence, when we get measuresthat are flawed, then decisionswill also be flawed or biased andwe may then deviate substan-tially from what constituteshuman welfare.

The first recommendationof the Stiglitz Commission wasbased on coming up with ameasure reflecting material liv-ing standards, which would beclosely associated with netnational income, real householdincome and consumption.Hence, there is a large range ofvariables that would provide asharp deviation between GDPand the well-being of a house-hold or society.

Another recommendationemphasises the fact that citizens’material living standards arebetter followed through mea-sures of household income andconsumption. In fact, data forOECD countries show that realhousehold income has grownquite differently from real GDPper capita and typically at alower rate. Another recommen-dation relates to consideringincome and consumption joint-ly with wealth. It may be inferred

that if we were to apply this prin-ciple, we should also include esti-mates of natural wealth.

With the recent burning ofthe Amazon forest in Brazil, anymeasure of GDP would beover-estimated if we were toignore the massive destructionof nature’s wealth that Brazilowns. Still another recommen-dation highlights greater promi-nence be given to the distribu-tion of income, consumptionand wealth.

On a practical basis, if wehave to overhaul the measure ofGDP and eliminate its flaws suchan effort needs to be led by theSecretary General of the UnitedNations (UN). The effort shouldinvolve setting up a group ofexperts which would provide aroadmap within a period ofthree months on how to ensurethat the world moves its systemsto a new set of metrics by 2030.This effort should then be takenup by the UN General Assemblyto ensure that a new system isdesigned for implementationacross all the countries of theworld during its first phase ofdesign and detailing during 2020to 2022. The following eightyears would then be given to fullimplementation and to ensurethat by 2030 we give GDP a bur-ial after a hundred years ofdominant existence.

(The writer is former chair-man, Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change, 2002-15)

One wonders whether certain moves aremade to malign the image of JawaharlalNehru University (JNU) as the premier

institute of the country, knowing full well thatits students won’t stop questioning or give upwithout a fight. This time the students, led bytheir unions, are protesting against a slew ofdecisions taken by its administration, whichincludes a steep hike in tuition fees, enforce-ment of a dress code and curfew timings forhostellers. So much so that water cannons had

to be used to disperse agitating protesters, some of whom were detained. Thestudents’ angst over the almost 300 per cent hike in fees is understandable asit’s astronomical and insensitive, instead of being graded and phased out as alltransitions to a new protocol should be. For long, JNU has come to be recog-nised as one of the most liberal institutions, which provides quality education ataffordable rates. It has provided succour to the poorest of families, who couldnot afford a respectable education for their children due to the hefty fees chargedby other eminent institutions, which are only getting more expensive by the day.

On the other hand, it is also a fact that JNU’s fee policy had been operatingunder a differential regime — its fee structure was nothing when compared toits counterparts. Could one imagine staying in one of the prime locations of Delhi,paying a room rent of just `20 per month for a single-seater or `10 per monthfor a double seater, that, too without any utility or service charge? That’s some-thing that was unimaginable back in the decade and even now. Perhaps, this isthe reason why students here over-extended their duration of degrees so thatthey could prolong their stay at the hostels, which is comfortable and cheap,the inexpensive food coming as an additional benefit. Some even take short-term courses while working part-time. Then there are also others, who stay oncampus without permission. The accumulation of old students led to a chron-ic hostel shortage for newcomers. The university, too, was at ease for a lot ofits budget came either from the taxpayers’ money or from international dona-tions. In this sense, it is welcome that the varsity finally woke up to the dangersof big subsidies. Yet it must be accepted that a steep hike, coming after a spanof 19 years, is an injustice when not reasonably executed. No consultations weremade with the stakeholders or the management council to arrive at a commonground. Dress codes or hostel timing rules for students, too, are downright silly.The students admitted to this varsity are adults and must be treated as such.

As Maharashtra hur tles towardsPresidential Rule, it has shown how avalid electoral verdict and ethics can be

subverted by political greed of the day. Not onlythat, it shows how a centrist party, no matterwhat the verdict in States, can use the officesunder its purview to turn any result in its favour.And justify its act as only following a prece-dent of Congress or its coalition governmentsat the Centre instead of correcting it. Althoughthe BJP and Shiv Sena had worked out a pre-poll alliance, which was even endorsed by vot-

ers, the former’s arrogance as the lead partner and the latter’s insistence on anequal role tore it apart. The former willingly let its junior partner drift away andchallenged its ability to prop up an alternative coalition. The Sena tried its bestbut with ideological divergences paring down its chances of forming a stableGovernment with the Opposition Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), itis out in the cold without the numbers. No matter how tempting the opportuni-ty to use the electoral window to jump into governance, the Congress and theNCP are looking beyond local legislators to the larger impropriety of conveniencetarnishing their national image. The BJP, which is a keen believer of one-partyhomogeneity across the nation, is having the last laugh as the only possible choice.So it has lost no time in overturning the ethics of the Governor’s office and ema-ciating a democratic federal structure. The Governor, while giving ample time tothe BJP to stake a claim, didn’t even ask for a floor test and gave in to ChiefMinister-elect Devendra Fadnavis’ inability to procure requisite numbers, whichhe ought to have done according to the rules and spirit of parliamentary democ-racy. While Governor BS Koshyari ticked off the boxes on technicality, he did notgive adequate time to the Opposition parties and even an adrift Sena for crys-tallising their adjustments before committing to furnishing letters of support. Onemust remember that individually none of them had the moral right to begin suchexercises given the decisive nature of the verdict in favour of BJP-Sena. Yet theSena got 48 hours to furnish proof and the NCP just 24 hours, the last a biggertravesty as reports emerged that the Governor had recommended President’sRule even before the latter’s deadline expired. Constitutionally, the Governor shouldhave insisted on floor tests in the House as according to the judgment in theBommai vs Union of India case in 1994, “the assessment of the strength of theMinistry is not a matter of private opinion or any individual, be he the Governoror the President.” The ruling is very clear about “demonstrating” strengths andnot relying on subjective assessments. This has only lent credence to theoriesthat President’s Rule anyway was an extension counter of the ruling party andthe State would still be at BJP’s command, with or without Fadnavis. While Senahas moved the Supreme Court questioning the Governor’s role, the State mayappear to be in limbo but in reality, is in the BJP’s kitty.

Going by latest precedents in States, the BJP has assumed power despitenot emerging as the single-largest party, be it by cobbling up post-poll alliances,breaking Opposition ranks or devouring any claimants. Goa, Manipur and Meghalayastand out as examples where the Congress was actually the single-largest party.Then there was the embarrassment of March 2016, when Congress rebels andBJP MLAs challenged the Harish Rawat-led Congress Government in Uttarakhandover the Finance Bill. The rebel MLAs were later disqualified. Governor KK Paulasked the Modi Government to impose President’s Rule in the State, but UttarakhandHigh Court Judge KM Joseph quashed it and Rawat proved his majority in theHouse. All these examples of violations prove there is an internecine plot to erodethe spirit of alliance politics in general and the regional partners in particular, mak-ing them look like puppets in a shadow play, so facile that the voter changeshis/her pattern in the next round of elections. As political parties hide their ambi-tions with the fig leaf of responsibility, Maharashtra is indeed in a crisis. It stillrecords the most farmer suicides — more than 12,000 in the four years from2015-2019. The largest State economy in the country is in the middle of a halt-ing slowdown, a collapsed real estate sector, agrarian distress and loss of jobsand manufacturing. All talk of Marathi pride is actually a condensation of deep-er aspirations to ride out this morass. And that surely cannot happen with animposition of authority but stakeholdership.

This is no endgame

Judicial reforms

Sir — This refers to the article,“Big ticket reforms need of thehour” (November 8) by VKBahuguna. The writer must becomplimented for stressing on theneed for reforms in our justicesystem to ensure faster and effi-cient delivery of justice to the cit-izens. As the writer said, the needis to review the closed method ofselection of judges to the highjudiciary. But there are also manyother issues that matter to the restof us.

First, besides the enormousdelay in the listing of cases, oneof the prime concerns pertains tothe scanty time given to thecommon man for hearing his/herappeal/writ petition even if theyrelate to some gross error com-mitted by the lower court in read-ing a particular file/document.

Second, it is but natural forthe common man to get frustrat-ed when he/she finds that no rea-son has been cited for the dis-missal of the petition, thus negat-ing the basic premise of justicethat not only must it be done; itmust also be seen to be done.

A serious thought must begiven to the shortcomings that

plague the judicial system of thecountry.

B P SrivastavaNoida

Respect the police

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “For the sake of law”(November 7). Clashes betweenthe public and the police must not

be allowed to become a trend.Policemen are servants of theGovernment when in uniform.On the other hand, lawyers areprofessionals, who, too, have pro-tection of law while on duty.

But a lawyer is with an attireand not uniform. Any assault ona police officer in uniform is cat-egorised in statutes — even arough argument with him/hercan attract the charge of misde-

meanour. This is built on the the-sis that the men in uniform rep-resent the face of a transferredauthority by the Government,which is paramount.

Without such construct, theGovernment will be seen as pow-erless to discharge its primaryremit of maintaining peace andorder. While the Governmentmust invariably sustain theauthority of the uniform, the

police has the greater onus of pre-serving its dignity. Else, there canbe no closure to such aberrationsin a democracy.

R Narayanan Navi Mumbai

Balanced verdict

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Return of maryada” (November11). The unanimous verdict deliv-ered by the Supreme Court notonly paved the way for the con-struction of Ram mandir inAyodhya but also put an end to adecade-long dispute. It is disheart-ening that the issue had to drag onfor far too much. The truthremains that the wheels of our judi-cial system runs very slow. Thecourt’s directive to the UttarPradesh Government to allot fiveacres of land within Ayodhya forthe construction of a new masjidmust not be viewed as charity buta recognition of their right to wor-ship. The court’s ruling is soundand balanced. People must acceptthe judgment wholeheartedly.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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

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op nionVIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019

06

False data mechanism

RK PACHAURI

GDP as a measure of human well-being and progress is flawed. A new set ofmetrics that can be implemented across the world is the need of the hour

The Congress leadershipalways puts the party beforethe nation. Now they are giv-ing Maharashtra on a platterto the BJP. Its moribund atti-tude will decimate it soon.

AAP leader—Preeti Sharma

The ability to say no is veryimportant which I haverealised. I'd never go back anddisrespect my certain profes-sional choices because at thatpoint for me, they mattered.

Actor—Yami Gautam

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O TT H E E D I T O R

Migratory birds need a safer world

It was sad to learn that as many as 1,500 migratorybirds of over a dozen species were found dead inSambhar Lake, the country’s largest inland saltwa-

ter lake near Jaipur. Officials suspect water contami-nation as one of the reasons for their death but are wait-ing for the viscera test reports. Such a large numberof deaths of migratory birds is rare in recent history.

Earlier, a medical team from Jaipur had collect-ed a few carcasses and water samples for examina-tion. Ashok Rao, a veterinary doctor who was part ofthe investigation team, ruled out the possibility of birdflu saying no secretion had been found. Other possi-bilities like toxicity of the water and bacterial or viralinfection are being looked into. A few days ago, a hail-storm had hit the area, which could also be a possi-bility for the cause of death. Birds form a major partof the earth’s ecosystem. Migratory birds come main-ly from Siberia and Europe when harsh winter seasonsets in there. These birds migrate to India every year

for food, breeding and nesting. After the passage ofwinter, when it gets hot here, they again migrate tocooler areas. Authorities must take necessary stepsto make the environment clean and unpolluted to wel-come these winged guests.

TK NandananChennai

IF WE HAVE TOOVERHAUL THE

MEASURE OF GDPAND ELIMINATE ITS

FLAWS, EFFORTSNEED TO BE

LED BY THE UNSECRETARY-

GENERAL. THEEFFORT SHOULD

INVOLVE SETTINGUP A GROUP OF

EXPERTS WHICHWOULD PROVIDE AROADMAP WITHIN

A PERIOD OFTHREE MONTHS ON

HOW TO ENSURETHAT THE WORLD

MOVES ITSSYSTEMS TO A

NEW SET OFMETRICS BY 2030

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Fee hike unjustGovernor Koshyari has committed a grave travesty ofdemocracy and made a mockeryof the Constitutional process in recommending President'sRule in Maharashtra.

Congress leader—Randeep Surjewala

The Maharashtra Governor has ticked off boxes rather thanhonouring the spirit of a federal, democratic system

It’s not that JNU students are unreasonable, it’sjust that due process must be followed

India and China are a goodexample of the differencebetween the threat posed by free versus unfree Governments.

Former US Ambassador to the UN —Nikki Haley

Learn from great CEOs

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

One can decidedly differentiate between anordinary Chief Executive Officer (CEO)and a great one. Great CEOs are exem-

plary visionaries, with superlative managerial andleadership skills. They are admired by colleaguesand common men alike and are considered idolsby millions of young aspiring leaders dreamingof making it big in the corporate world. Theirgreatness lies in the fact that not only have theycreated profitable enterprises; they have also cre-ated brands that are etched forever in the imag-ination of consumers. So what are the leadershipprinciples and management philosophies thatdrive these icons and enable them to take theirorganisations to stellar heights?

As Brad Feld, an American entrepreneur andventure capitalist, said, “Don’t be afraid to havea big vision, but make sure it’s a clear one”, clar-ity of vision is one of the main traits of greatCEOs.

Taking an example of Steve Jobs, an uncon-ventional leader who demanded excellence fromhis staff and was controversial for his blunt deliv-ery of criticism. However, his sheer genius; hisamazing ability to articulate his vision and dex-terity to take his people, investors and customerswith him on his journey made him an exception-al leader. Jobs had an exceptional clarity of visionand excelled at designing minimalist devices thatbroke barriers in computer speeds. He createdan ecosystem which could stand alone or worktogether in an interconnected way-like an iPodconnected to a Mac connected to an iTunes store.Apple could manage vast amounts of informa-tion through division of labour among the sys-tems. For example, the Mac controlled systemadministration while iTunes fetched content fromcloud storage, freeing the device to concentrateon playing the music. Jobs was motivated morethan anything to feel he had made a solid andpositive impact on the world during his lifetime.And since he had such high expectations fromhimself, he was able to achieve excellence.

Jack Welch, perhaps the greatest corporateleader of the 20th century, was the youngest CEOof General Electric (GE) when he took over in1981. He followed an incremental leadership styleand during his two-decade stint, the net worthof GE improved by a whopping 4,000 per cent.He is a management theorist and strategicthinker who championed new initiatives like SixSigma quality, differentiation and e-business.

Bill Gates, listed as the richest person on thisplanet for 12 consecutive years, is also a man ofcolossal vision. He envisioned every person onthis planet to have a computer and every com-puter, a programme, designed by Microsoft. Sincethen, he has worked tirelessly to achieve hisvision. In this process, he has been instrumen-tal in the IT revolution that the world has wit-nessed. Great CEOs, apart from adding to thebottomline of the company contribute to the soci-ety in a big way. It would be hard to talk aboutthe life of Bill Gates and not discuss philanthropyand humanitarianism. Heeding to his mother’sadvice before she passed away due to breast can-cer, Gates has always taken a selfless approachto his leadership, spending considerable moneyand time in philanthropic efforts to give to oth-ers. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hasdonated billions of dollars to causes all over the

world, making significant differences inthe lives of children and adults. Thislevel of giving back illustrates Gates’character and focus on social respon-sibility as a global corporate citizen. Italso shows that his pursuit of solutionsand making life better went beyond justmaking a profit. Instead, it was aboutdriving significant change in the worldthat would make a difference for thosewho need it the most.

Indra Nooyi, who is an iconicleader, consistently ranked among the100 most powerful women, when shewas the CEO of PepsiCo, the world’ssecond largest food and beverage com-pany in the world, and was at the helmof managing an employee strength of30,000 and selling in around 200 coun-tries around the world. She believed indeveloping two balance sheets: One wasto provide return to shareholders andthe other was to provide return to theenvironment.Under her leadership,PepsiCo focussed on people and plan-et in addition to profit. Nooyi hadworked tirelessly to reduce the use ofenergy, water and packaging and simul-taneously providing a great workplacefor its employees and associates.

Great CEOs show that great worksare performed not by strength but byperseverance. “It’s not where you startout in life that matters, but where youend up”.

This adage fits Ursula Burns per-fectly. Born in the poor neighbourhoodof Manhattan to immigrant parents andraised by a single mother, she rose tobecome the first female AfricanAmerican CEO of a Fortune 500 com-pany, Xerox and also holds the honourof being the first woman to succeedanother woman CEO, Anne Mulcahy.Having joined Xerox in 1980 as amechanical engineering summerintern, Burns progressed through the

corporate echelons to become the CEOfrom 2009 to 2016. At present, she is theChairperson and CEO of VEON, asenior advisor to Teneo, and a non-executive director of Diageo sinceApril 2018. She is also the member ofthe board of directors of Uber. Sheworked very hard to rise above herunderprivileged background and didnot use her background as an excuse.She worked with perseverance to reachthe top of the corporate world andworked hard to return Xerox to prof-itability. NR Narayan Murthy, a rolemodel for every Indian, is an aptexample of “Simple living, high think-ing”. He is a billionaire with net worthof about $230 crore but still flies econ-omy and drives around in a simple car.Murthy’s life is an inspiration to all ofus and gives a strong message thatworld-class businesses can be createdbased on transparency and good gov-ernance. Born in a middle class fami-ly in Sidlaghatta, Karnataka, the oddsof life were no match to this brilliantand enthusiastic person, who, throughhis discipline and determination creat-ed a “Great Indian IT Success Story.”

Infosys, today, is one of mostrespected IT companies in the worldwith footprints all across the globe andis the second-largest IT company inIndia by revenue. But did you know thathis first entrepreneurial venture,Softronics, failed to take off? One of theinitial challenges faced by Murthy wasthe inability to take admission in theprestigious Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT) even after earning ahigh rank and scholarship as the grantwas not enough to cover his studies.Since his father was unable to fund hiseducation, he enrolled into a local engi-neering college but later did his post-graduation from IIT.

Similarly, the failure of his first

entrepreneurial venture, Softronics,did not stop him from establishingInfosys and lead it to stellar heights.Murthy follows Mahatma Gandhi’spolicy of “practice what you preach.” Hehas always led by example and believesthat the primary responsibility of aleader is to give hope and confidencein the face of adversity.

Taking care of people is one of thebiggest attributes of great CEOs.Murthy has been generous in reward-ing employees with stock options.Personally, he has given away stocksworth of `50,000 crore to his employ-ees. He reiterates that performanceshould be rewarded suitably. In Infosys,drivers, electricians and secretaries areamong millionaires due to their stockoptions. Indra Nooyi was also a caring,humane CEO who took care of heremployees by being in touch withthem and understanding their con-cerns. She even wrote “thank you” let-ters to the parents of the employees toshow her appreciation to them.

Similarly, Ken Chenault, the formerCEO of American Express, believed inreaching out to each employee. Hemade it a point to answer to each andevery mail he received from any of hisemployees. He travelled around theworld to meet staff at different locationsfrom around the globe.To further con-nect personally with his people, he usedto run an open operation where any-one could talk to him.

Great CEOs, because of their innatequality of perseverance and contribu-tion to society, ensure stability andgrowth of their organisations makingthem the best in the world. They liveby their principles and lead by exam-ple, making them exemplary leaders ofthe corporate world.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,Amity University)

Their greatness lies in the fact that not only have they created profitable enterprises; they havealso created brands that are etched forever in the imagination of consumers

analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N

Choose merit, notpatronage

DEBASISH BHATTACHARYYA

Civil servants, both principled and spineless, existin the system; the former serve the country and

the latter politicians and themselves

HIMA BINDU KOTA

GREAT CEOS,BECAUSE OF

THEIR INNATEQUALITY OF

PERSEVERANCEAND

CONTRIBUTION TOSOCIETY, ENSURE

STABILITY ANDGROWTH OF

THEIRORGANISATIONS,

MAKING THEMTHE BEST IN THE

WORLD. THEYLIVE BY THEIR

PRINCIPLES ANDLEAD BY

EXAMPLE,MAKING THEM

EXEMPLARYLEADERS OF

THE CORPORATEWORLD

In the administrative system, the bureaucracy plays a key role as civilservants or babus function to implement the policies of the electedGovernment in a rational, efficient and non-partisan manner. However,

people have often experienced that when it comes to implementationand delivery, the performance is disappointing, leading to almost non-delivery or poor public services. And, one of the many factors attrib-uted to this is the unholy nexus between politicians, bureaucrats andother vested interests. There are compelling reasons to believe that thisis true. And, it is little wonder, the cost is stupefying. While many feelthat the bureaucracy saps initiative, inhibits risk-taking and crushes cre-ativity; there are others who feel that in a vast and diverse country likeours the bureaucracy is unavoidable. And, there is yet another group ofpeople who feel colonial hangovers in bureaucracy represent an utter-ly frustrated scenario as it can’t meet the social and economic chal-lenges that a welfare State like India faces.

It seems worthwhile, however, to quote Queen Elizabeth-I. After mak-ing Lord William Cecil her secretary, Elizabeth advised him, “This judge-ment I have of you, that you will not be corrupted by any manner of giftand that you will be faithful to the state and that, without respect of myprivate will, you would give me that counsel which you think best.” Eventhough policies, projects and programmes drawn up by the Governmentaim at the development of the country and well-being of the people, suc-cessive governments failed to appreciate the fact that leadership maychange, but the engine of governance does not falter on account of hav-ing a new driver in a Government that possesses a relatively-famed bureau-cracy. However, in demanding political systems, there is less pretencethat the country’s bureaucracies are deeply influenced by people’s inter-ests. Civil servants, both principled and spineless, exist in the system;the former serve the country and the latter politicians and themselves.Thus a section of bureaucracy appears to act as a cog in a political machinethat seeks loyalty to the regime as a means to maintain its hold on power,identify solely with the rulers and the official ideology.

Incidentally, there are not many Ashok Khemkas (the IAS officertransferred over 50 times in 27 years of service and still counting) whohave the guts to stand up against hidden agenda, poor policies, corrup-tion and exploitation to remain aligned with democratic ideals. Put dif-ferently, there are civil servants wishing to sail with confidence, com-petence, courage and commitment but are being hounded for doing theirduty. Let’s not lose sight of the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s recentobservation about Khemka who secured a grading of 9.92/10 by theReviewing Authority: “We are of the view that a person of such profes-sional integrity needs to be protected as the professional integrity in ourpolitical, social and administrative system is depleting very fast....” Thatbeing said, I am reminded of a statement by a retired upright IAS offi-cer and writer and columnist whom I met at India International Centre(IIC). As I congratulated him for writing a bold article against a power-ful Central Minister, he laughed in that very contagious way he had. Ialso gave him unsolicited advice that if he continued writing such pieces,he could not aspire to become a Governor or head a Government-appoint-ed committee or organisation. And in response, he said, “I am not amongthose crafty bureaucrats who enjoy the trust of unscrupulous politiciansand ministers. I was sidelined, transferred for not being politically con-venient and pliable. But I never gave in to temptation.”

However that may be, just a few days ago, speaking at a panel dis-cussion on ‘Has the steel frame rusted’, former Chief Secretary of DelhiGovernment, Shailaja Chandra said, “It is easy to say that politicians havefailed the IAS officers. But I feel this is not entirely correct. Those in theservice need to introspect. If they do not have any extraneous interests,nothing can stop them from serving the people.”

So far, the feeble accountability of public and political processes,have defined the character of public administration in India. The chal-lenge ahead lies in finding and meeting the balance between serving cit-izens while upholding the rule of law without falling prey to either obstruc-tionist and lacklustre bureaucracy or clientelism.

Nevertheless, even as we complain about red tape, paperwork andexcessive bureaucratic rigmarole the fact remains that eventually peo-ple rely on it to structure our country. The NDA Government in its sec-ond term, infused churnings in the Indian civil services by pushing forthe lateral entry of domain experts and forced retirements of officers,but it continues to face enormous social and political challenges. In orderto effectively deal with these trials we need an efficient bureaucracy. And,to find that, the Central Government has to think and act big.

Righting the country’s administrative machinery steadfastly is theonly way it’s going to happen. Indian ethos and the laws of the land man-date an efficient bureaucracy. It is now up to lawmakers, the Ministers— whom the bureaucracy is supposed to report to — to ensure thecountry gets it. It’s time for transition from a patronage-based to merit-based bureaucracy, with which will come accelerated progress.

(The writer is former DGM, IIC, New Delhi and GM, InternationalCentre Goa)

The Central GovernmentHealth Scheme (CGHS) isone of the largest health care

systems in the country, which catersto serving and retired CentralGovernment employees, theirdependents, pensioners and alsoMembers of Parliament. On paperand intention-wise it is one of thebest welfare schemes in the coun-try.

Present in 71 locations in thecountry, it caters to 35 lakh bene-ficiaries and the number is alwaysincreasing. Due to unplannedexpansion to new cities each year,the infrastructure, manpower andother resources of the CGHS are

getting strained.In places like Dehradun more

than 25,000 beneficiaries (includingfrom distant places like Haridwarand Roorkie) throng the wellnesscentres daily and many have to waitfrom 5 AM to 2 PM for their turnto be examined by the doctor.However, many have to returnhome without even getting to meetthe doctor, as the main server inDelhi closes at 2 PM and there is noprovision for manually handling thepaperwork. It was complete chaostill a few months ago, when theSurvey of India Dispensary wasmerged with it and things eased abit. There has been a long-standingdemand to improve the CGHS sys-tem by all quarters and from all overthe country. The biggest problemwith the CGHS is excessive red tape,harassment and too much paper-work, which bogs down thepatients, the wellness centres as wellas empanelled hospitals, laborato-ries and drug suppliers.

Taking note of the shortcom-ings in the CGHS, Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan had solicit-ed suggestions from all stakehold-ers for improving the scheme andsubmitting these proposals latest byNovember 30.

To make any scheme effective,the Government needs to ensurethat it can sustain the patient pres-sure and be innovative and patient-centric rather than procedure-cen-tric. Today, the biggest managementproblem in CGHS is lack of prop-er infrastructure and manpower.The Health Ministry has beenopening new wellness centres with-out proper assessment of the infra-structure and the result is the utterchaos that prevails in these new dis-pensaries and the endless sufferingof patients. The plight of senior cit-izens is particularly bad as they haveto wait long hours just to get treat-ment despite their failing health andweakened condition. The doctorsand nursing staff are also under

tremendous pressure. Now thequestion is how to overcome this sit-uation as it is also necessary toextend the CGHS scheme to covernew areas in the country.

The other problem relates torates of various tests and treatmentprocedures for the empanelled hos-pitals and delay in payments to thelaboratories, that is forcing manydiagnostic centres to refuse patients.The third issue relates to the lack ofproper and honest monitoring ofprivate empanelled hospitals assometimes, due to the mischief ofa few, the entire scheme is put inlimbo.

It is therefore, necessary totake some innovative policy deci-sions. To cope with the ever-grow-ing number of CGHS centres theGovernment should enter into apublic private partnership (PPP)mode and select private hospitals,who in turn should be allowed tohave collaborative partnership withthe CGHS on pre-determined

aspects and also appoint privatedoctors for a few hours on contractto treat the patients. At present thisprovision of hiring exists but it iscumbersome and the wellness cen-tre gets caught in the web of red-tapism. There should be an upfrontdecision to fix the number of doc-tors based on the number of bene-ficiaries and requirement of doctorsand support staff and powers shouldbe delegated up to the Chief MedicalOfficer (CMO) level to allow hiringon contract basis.

The rates of pathological testsand radiological procedures shouldnot be fixed in an arbitrary mannerand should be periodically revised.The payments should be made bi-monthly for which an adequatebudget should be sanctionedupfront for the whole year.

Many private hospitals indulgein malpractices and there is a needfor constant and transparent mon-itoring. If the Government inno-vates and ropes in private hospitals,

enhances the powers of CMOs andregional heads and involves privatemedical professionals, the CGHSmedical bureaucracy can be used forbetter monitoring of these hospitals.

There are two-pronged prob-lems faced by the patients. First, theadministrative hassles at the well-ness centres due to too much red-tapism and poor infrastructure.Also, many times, empanelled hos-pitals harass the patients with toomuch paperwork and deny admis-sion or treatment on f limsygrounds.

Second, is the harassmentpatients face in running from theempanelled hospitals to the wellnesscentres, as each time one needs toendorse the expert advice. To rec-tify this, the Government couldallow patients to directly approachthe empanelled hospitals for specif-ically identified diseases, includingchronic ones like diabetes and so on.The Government had allowedsenior citizens above 75 years of age

to approach empanelled hospitalsdirectly without referral. This pro-vision should also be allowed forsenior citizens above 60 years, tomake things easier for them andreduce the pressure on doctors. Thecollection of medicines and distri-bution should also be streamlined.

Though it is a welfare schemeyet there is no involvement of thebeneficiaries. This is specially nec-essary in cases involving cashlesspensioners and the Governmentmight consider setting up a mech-anism for this as it will bring inmore transparency and expertise ofprivate hospitals and doctors.

The Prime Minister and HealthMinister must take this initiative toits logical end as already, theGovernment is spending on anaverage, nearly a lakh annually onthe health care of each of its employ-ees. Fine tuning of CGHS is essen-tial to make the scheme succeed.

(The writer is retired civilservant.)

A litmus test for medical bureaucracyThe biggest problem with the CGHS is excessive red tape, harassment and too much paperwork, which bogs down the patients, the

wellness centres as well as empanelled hospitals, laboratories and drug suppliers

VK BAHUGUNA

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

NARAYANASAMY ‘SELF-APPROVED’ HIS VISIT TOSINGAPORE BYPASSING THE PROTOCOL OF OBTAINING

PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHORITIES CONCERNED.— PUDUCHERRY LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

KIRAN BEDI

I WAS A CENTRAL MINISTER AND AM FULLY AWARE OFTHE NEED TO GET APPROVAL FROM THE CENTRALGOVERNMENT BEFORE FLYING ABROAD.—PUDUCHERRY CHIEF MINISTER V NARAYANASAMY

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

JLR sales dip 6% in October to 41,866 unitsNEW DELHI: Jaguar LandRover (JLR), a part of TataMotors, on Tuesday reported5.5 per cent decline in totalretail sales at 41,866 units inOctober as compared with theyear-ago period. Sales ofJaguar brand were at 10,606units during the month, down22.9 per cent from October2018, Tata Motors said in astatement. Land Rover saleswere at 31,260 units, up 2.4per cent from the same monthlast year, it added. "Theautomotive tradingenvironment remainschallenging globally. Againstthis background, it is all themore encouraging to see ourChina turnaround strategy andwork with the local retailernetwork generating positiveresults as sales have improvedin China for the fourthconsecutive month," JLR ChiefCommercial Officer FelixBrautigam said.

100X.VC to investover Rs 200 cr instartupsNEW DELHI: Venture capitalfirm 100X.VC is planning toinvest over Rs 200 crore instartups in India by the end ofnext year. The company hasrolled out corporate venturecapital (CVC) program forIndia to partner localcorporations who have corpusto invest in startups. "100X.VCteam research surveyestimates that the top 100corporations in India have keptaside anywhere between Rs10-100 crore of capital toinvest in startups. We expectaround 30-40 corporates tojoin us in CVC program andcontribute upward of Rs 200crore for investment instartups," 100X.VC founderSanjay Mehta said. 100X.VC isIndia's first venture capitalfirm to invest in early stagestartups using India SAFENotes (iSafe).

CIL's coalallocation underspot e-auctionNEW DELHI: CIL's coalallocation under spot e-auctionscheme declined 36.4 per centto 11.25 million tonne in April-September period of theongoing fiscal. Coal India(CIL) had allocated 17.69million tonne (MT) of coal inthe year-ago period, accordingto government data. The coalallocated by the PSU underthe scheme in September alsodropped to 1.97 MT,compared to 2.58 MT in thecorresponding month of 2018-19, it said. Coal distributionthrough e-auction wasintroduced with a view toproviding access to coal forsuch buyers who are not ableto source the dry fuel throughthe available institutionalmechanism, as per theinformation available on CILwebsite.

ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

‘India's Jul-Sep quarterGDP numbers crucial’GURDIP SINGH n SINGAPORE

India's July-September quar-ter Gross Domestic Product(GDP) data, scheduled for arelease on November 29, willbe important as headlinegrowth has already slipped toa six-year low, saidSingapore's DBS Bank in itsdaily report on Tuesday.

"Headline growth hasalready slipped to a six-yearlow of 5 per cent Y-o-Y in thequarter ending June," saidthe bank. A disappointingGDP report could l if tUSD/INR above its two-month range between 70.5and 71.5 and bring it closer tothe year's high around 72.5,believes DBS.

The Indian rupee depreci-ated to 71.47 from 71.29 onMonday, noted the bank.

India's industrial produc-tion contracted sharply by 4.3per cent Y-o-Y in Septemberagainst the 2.5 per cent con-sensus. August's contractionwas revised down to 1.4 percent from 1.1 per cent.

The weakness was broad-

based, cutting across capitalgoods, consumer durables,and infrastructure and con-struction. In particular, thesharp 20.7 per cent decline incapital goods production didnot bode well for investment,a sign that the economicslowdown has becomeentrenched, according to thebank.

In its Monday report, DBSsaid it expected the 2QFY20GDP to show that the econ-omy slowed further against 5per cent in the first quarter.

India's industrial production contractedsharply by 4.3% Y-o-Y in Septemberagainst the 2.5% consensus. August'scontraction was revised down to 1.4 %from 1.1 per cent

DHRITI RANJANA RAY n HANGZHOU (CHINA)

E-commerce giant Alibaba'sSingles' Day sales hit anotherrecord of USD 38.38 billion,even amid concerns of slowingeconomic growth and tradetensions with the United States.

The Alibaba Group's variousshopping platforms' total GMVexceeded USD 10 billion in just29:45 seconds, and broke lastyear's record sales figure after 16hours 31 minutes of the GlobalShopping Festival going live.

At the close of the 24-hrshopping extravaganza, thetotal GMV stood at RMB 268.4billion (USD 38.379 billion).

According to Alibaba, theyear-on-year GMV growth reg-istered a 25.7 per cent rise,

while the number of deliveryorders stood at a massive 1.292billion. The sales figure of thisyear's 11.11 Global ShoppingFestival was keenly watchedamid rising trade war concerns

between China and the US."We have maintained rapid

growth in terms of number ofcustomers, new sales. Robustdomestic demand is driving theeconomy," said Fan Jiang

President of Taobao and Tmall.Alibaba's Tmall platform is

China's biggest B2C marketplacefor both Chinese and interna-tional brands and retailers, whileTaobao is a leading Chineseonline shopping website owned

by Alibaba. As many as 15brands surpassed RMB1 billionin GMV including Apple,

Haier, Huawei, Nike, XiaomI,adidas, L'oreal and Estee Lauderamong others, Alibaba said.

During the 11.11 shoppingfestival some of the major coun-tries/regions that bought fromChina in terms of GMV includeRussia, Hong Kong, Taiwan,United States, Australia,Malaysia and Japan, Alibabasaid. The 11.11 shopping festi-val began in 2009 with partici-pation from just 27 merchantshas evolved into a global shop-ping festival, Chris Tung CMOof Alibaba Group said.

Last year it raked in a recordUSD 30.8 billion in GMV, eclips-ing the Cyber Monday sales ofUSD 7.9 billion and Black Friday

sales at USD 6.22 billion.More than 200,000 brands

participated in this year's event. The shopping festival, also

known as Double 11 came to aclose at mid-night on November11. The event is also referred asSingles' Day because of its date,11/11 (November 11) consists offour 'ones', representing four sin-gles, has emerged as the world'sbiggest shopping festival.

The 11.11 Global ShoppingFestival Gala Celebration sawperformance by GrammyAward winning singer-song-writer Taylor Swift and a host ofother international and localcelebrities. More than 200,000brands from 78 countries andregions participated in 11.11 thisyear, with one million newproducts on offer.

Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hit new record of $38 bnAccording toAlibaba, the year-on-year GMV growthregistered a25.7% rise, whilethe number ofdelivery ordersstood at amassive 1.292 bn

PNS n NEW YORK

Boeing on Monday said itexpects the 737 MAX airplane,which was grounded after twocrashes killed 346 people, toresume flying in January, delay-ing its return by one month.

In a statement, the group saidit still hopes to receive certifi-cation next month from theFederal Aviation Administration(FAA), allowing it to resumeMAX deliveries to airline cus-tomers before the end of theyear. "In parallel, we are work-ing towards final validation ofthe updated training require-ments, which must occur beforethe MAX returns to commercialservice, and which we nowexpect to begin in January,"Boeing said. It had originallyplanned for the model toresume flying in December.

The planes have beengrounded globally since mid-March, following the deadlyLion Air crash of October 2018

and the Ethiopian Airlines crashin March this year. The ground-ing has dragged on far beyondinitial expectations as Boeinghas upgraded systems and facedquestions from regulators andpoliticians over the plane.

Southwest Airlines andAmerican Airlines on Fridaypushed back their timeframeagain for resuming flights on the737 MAX until early March.Boeing said Monday it hascompleted the first of five keymilestones it must meet beforereturning to service: a multi-day

simulator evaluation with theFAA to "ensure the overall soft-ware system performs itsintended function." The groupsaid it still needs to run a sepa-rate, multi-day simulator sessionwith airline pilots to "assesshuman factors and crew work-load under various test condi-tions," before FAA pilots con-duct a certification flight of thefinal updated software.

Boeing has notably changedthe aircraft's ManeuveringCharacteristics AugmentationSystem (MCAS), an anti-stall

mechanism that pilots in bothfatal crashes had struggled tocontrol as the jets careereddownwards. Boeing will thensubmit to the FAA all the nec-essary materials to support soft-ware certification.

The final key step before theresumption of commercialflights is an evaluation by amulti-regulatory body to vali-date training requirements.

SouthwestAirlines and

AmericanAirlines onFriday pushedback their

timeframe againfor resumingflights on the 737MAX until earlyMarch

PNS n JERUSALEM

Israel's newly appointed com-missioner to Expo 2020 saidMonday that next year's worldfair in Dubai offers the coun-try a unique opportunity topresent a fresh face to theArab world, just as the Israelis growing closer to the UnitedArab Emirates and other ArabGulf states.

Elazar Cohen presentedplans for the Israeli pavilion atthe world's largest exhibition,in which it aims to project itstechnological, scientific andagricultural innovations tothe 25 million visitors expect-ed to descend upon the glitzycity-state. But Cohen said thetrue target audience was theEmirati hosts and the major-ity Arab visitors, whom hesaid would find great interestnot only in Israeli technologybut in its good intentions andoutstretched hand.

"There is curiosity, mixedwith concern, about this thingcalled Israel and we want toalleviate that concern," he saidin a briefing at Israel's Foreign

Ministry. "We want to projectthat Israel is an open country,that Israel is a democraticcountry, that Israel is a coun-try that respects all its citizens,that everyone finds their placein it."

His presentation, accom-panied by a slick promotion-al video in English, Hebrewand Arabic, delivered by aprominent Arab-Israeli TVpersonality, comes a day afterthe Israeli government offi-

cially confirmed its partici-pation in Expo 2020 andallotted a budget to itsplanned pavilion.

Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu said the participa-tion reflects the country's"continued progress in nor-malization with the Arabstates." Netanyahu frequentlyboasts of warming, behind-the-scenes ties with Gulf Arabcountries, based on sharedenmity for regional foe Iran.But rarely do these ties comeinto the open, due to theyears-long stalemate in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts andIsrael's military occupationof the West Bank.

Egypt and Jordan are theonly Arab countries with for-mal peace treaties with Israel.

Like most of the Arabworld, the UAE does not haveformal diplomatic relationswith Israel. However, it hasbeen at the forefront of effortsto drop the Arab world's his-toric animosity toward Israelas part of burnishing a moreprogressive image with theWest.

Israel: Expo 2020 bridge to Arab worldIndia to cross 200 GWrenewable energycapacity mark by 2022PNS n NEW DELHI

Power and New & RenewableEnergy Minister RK Singhexuded confidence that Indiawill have over 200 GW ofrenewable energy capacity by2022. India has set an ambitioustarget of having 175 GW ofrenewable energy capacity by2022.

"We have decided that by2022 we will establish 175 GWof renewable energy capacity.We are close to achieving thetarget," Singh said at BRICSEnergy Ministers meet inBrasilia, Brazil on Monday.

"The renewable energycapacity which has beeninstalled is 83 GW and underinstallation is 31 GW and 35GW capacity is underbidding.So this becomes around 140-145 GW. In hydro, we haveinstalled capacity of around 45GW and under installationcapacity is about 13 GW, whichmakes it (hydro) around 60GW. So we will cross 200 GWcapacity of renewable energy by2022," the minister said.

Singh said that more than 55per cent of installed powergeneration in India will befrom renewable sources by2030. "India has decided that by2030, about 40 per cent of itsinstalled capacity will comefrom renewables. But we will becrossing that," he added.

"Our Prime Minister at theUnited Nations GeneralAssembly Climate Summitannounced that we will install450 GW or 450 thousand MWof renewable energy capacity by2030...So we have followed a

quick approach towards reduc-ing carbon footprints," headded. Talking about PerformAchieve and Trade (PAT)scheme, Singh said India saved8.63 million tonnes of oil equiv-alent in the first round of thescheme. In the second round,the country achieved a furtherreduction in energy consump-tion of about 3 million tonnesof oil per year.

Under the PAT scheme, theBureau of Energy Efficiencyhad set a target of power sav-ings by designated consumers.

The first round of the schemewas from 2012-13 to 2014-15,while the second round wasfrom 2016-17 to 2018-19.

The designated consumersget energy savings certificateunder the scheme, which can betraded at energy exchanges.

Elazar Cohen presented plans for the Israeli pavilion at the world's largestexhibition, in which it aims to project itstechnological, scientific and agriculturalinnovations to the 25 mn visitors expectedto descend upon the glitzy city-state

RK Singh, Union Minister

We have decided thatby 2022 we willestablish 175 GW of

renewable energy capacity.We are close to achieving thetarget

— RK SINGH Union Minister

PNS n JOHANNESBURG

The world's largest steel makerArcelorMittal's South Africa unithas said it will retrench nearly 1,000workers and shut down itsSaldanha plant due to severe finan-cial losses, amid a global downturnin the steel industry. Global steelmagnate Lakshmi Mittal'sArcelorMittal is the world's lead-ing steel and mining company,with a presence in 60 countries andan industrial footprint in 18 coun-tries.

As part of a strategic review of

its operations, the steel manufac-turer found that its Saldanha oper-ations had lost their competitivecost advantage to compete in theexport market, "mainly due to rawmaterial and regulated prices", thecompany said in a statement.

"This difficult decision wastaken in the context of construc-tive ongoing engagements with keystakeholders, including govern-ment and organised labour, to findalternative solutions to the dire sit-uation in the South African steelindustry," the company said.

The South African government

has expressed "disappointment" atthe decision of ArcelorMittal SouthAfrica (AMSA) to retrench near-ly 1,000 workers across the com-pany and to shut down its opera-tions in Saldanha town.

"This comes despite significantefforts by Government and publicagencies to provide additionalsupport to AMSA over the last fewmonths, and to ensure a solutionwhich would result in the elimi-nation of job losses across the com-pany and the continuation of theSaldanha Works," said Departmentof Trade and Industry.

Edelweiss armgets Rs 525 crfrom SanakaCapital, othersPNS nMUMBAI

The Edelweiss group is a Rs525 crore fund infusion fromgrowth-focused private equi-ty platform Sanaka Capital anda few other co-investors.

The fund raised will bepumped into Edelweiss GlobalI nv e s t m e n tAdvisors, itsinvestmentadvisorybusiness.W h i l eS a n a k aGrowth SPVI has committedto invest around Rs 308 crore,talks are on with others for anadditional Rs 217 crore, thecompany said on Tuesday.

"We look forward to work-ing with the Sanaka team andto capitalise on emergingopportunities and take ourinvestment advisory businessto the next level," group chair-man Rashesh Shah said.

PNS n TEHRAN

Iran accused European nationsof hypocrisy on Tuesday for crit-icising its latest step back froma nuclear deal while failing tofulfil their commitments ofrelief from US sanctions. ButPresident Hassan Rouhani madeno mention of a new reportfrom the UN nuclear watchdogthat reveals that its inspectorsdetected uranium particles ofman-made origin at a unde-clared site in Iran.

Britain, France, Germany andthe EU have been trying to sal-vage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal

since the US unilaterally with-drew from it in May last yearand began reimposing sanc-tions.

A year after the US pulloutfrom the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action (JCPOA), Iranbegan reducing its commit-ments to the deal hoping to win

concessions from thosestill party to the accord.

Iran's latest measurecame last week,when engineersbegan feedingu r a n i u mhexaf luo-ride gas

into mothballed enrichmentcentrifuges at the undergroundFordow plant south of Tehran.In a joint statement on Monday,Britain, France, Germany andthe European Union said Iran'sdecision to restart activities at

Fordow was "inconsistent"with a 2015 nuclear deal.

"The E3/EU have fullyupheld their JCPOA com-mitments, including sanc-

tions-lifting as fore-seen under theJCPOA," they said.

"It is now criti-cal that Iranupholds its

JCPOA commitments andworks with all JCPOA partici-pants to de-escalate tensions."

Iran's Foreign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarif hitback on Tuesday, "'Fully upheldcommitments under JCPOA'YOU? Really?" he tweeted.

Zarif said Iran had already"triggered and exhausted" a dis-pute resolution mechanism inthe troubled accord. GermanForeign Minister Heiko Masshad on Monday threatened theuse of "all the mechanisms laiddown in the agreement" tomake Iran comply with its oblig-ations under the JCPOA.

Britain, France, Germany and the EU have been trying to salvage the 2015 Irannuclear deal since the US unilaterallywithdrew from it in May last year and began reimposing sanctions

Iran accuses Europeans of hypocrisy over nuclear deal Tata Motors' Indiaoperations face acutechallenges: Moody'sPNS n NEW DELHI

Tata Sons infusing USD 914million (around Rs 6,542 crore)equity in Tata Motors is creditpositive for the company butthe country's largest automobilemanufacturer faces acute chal-lenges in sluggish economicgrowth, weak liquidity, andtight financing norms, Moody'sInvestors Service said onTuesday. Moody's assigned aBa3 rating to the proposedsenior unsecured notes to beissued by Tata Motors. The rat-ing outlook is negative, Moody'ssaid in a statement.

"The Ba3 ratings reflect TataMotors Ltd's (TML) leadingmarket position in commercialvehicles (CVs) in India, 100 percent ownership of the premi-um/luxury car manufacturer

Jaguar Land RoverAutomotive Plc,

a n d

ownership by Tata Sons, whichresults in a one-notch uplift,reflecting our expectation ofcontinued parental support,when needed," says KaustubhChaubal, a Moody's VicePresident and Senior CreditOfficer. On October 25, TMLannounced that it will make apreferential allotment of equityshares and convertible war-rants to Tata Sons for a USD 914million equity injection, ofwhich USD 548 million will bepaid immediately, and the bal-ance over a period of 18 months.

Pro-forma the preferentialallotment and the conversion ofthe warrants, Tata Sons' share-holding in TML will increase to46.4 per cent from the current38.4 per cent. "We view the pref-erential allotment as a creditpositive because TML plans toapply the proceeds towardsreducing its debt," addsChaubal, who is also Moody'sLead Analyst for TML.

Boeing says 737 MAX expectedto resume flying in January

ArcelorMittal to shut Saldanha plant in SA, 1K workers hit

WednesdayNovember 13, 2019

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

ost people can’teven bear the hotwax from the can-dle when it falls onthe skin. Imaginethe pain a burn

survivor has to bear from theinjuries that cover 30 to 60percent of the body. Manypeople don’t understand thepain and struggle survivorsgo through just to lead a nor-mal life, said Nihari Mandali,a burn survivor and founderof Burn Survivor MissionSaviour Trust, who recentlystarted the Candle DropChallenge initiative to bringawareness among peopleabout burn survivors.

In 2009, Nihari sufferedburn injuries on 90 per centof her body after she set her-self on fire due to the harras-ment by her husband. Shehad to go through extensivecounselling to recover. Later,in 2014, she started the BurnSurvivor Mission SaviourTrust for the rehabilitation ofburn survivors. She said thather vision is to break throughthe social dogma that hasmarginalised the burn sur-vivors in the society.

“Burn victims are strivinghard to lead a normal life.Many make comments aboutus and take our situationlightly. I started the Candle

Drops Challenge to open adiscussion about the physicaland psychological pain thatburn survivors go through.Through this challenge, I askpeople to pour drops of hotwax on their limbs to get aglimpse of what burn sur-vivors go through. I hope thiswill help people to learnabout our pain,” said Nihari,adding that the challenge hasreceived a mixed responsewith some extended theirsupport and others terming itis dangerous.

Through her NGO, apartfrom organising camps toprovide free surgeries to burnsurvivors, she also provides

psychological counselling.She says, “We offer free ofcost surgical care for burnvictims. We have helpedmore than 100 survivors tillnow. Apart from medicalcamps, we have also conduct-ed fashion shows, group dis-cussions, bike rallies, coun-selling sessions acrossAndhra Pradesh, Telanganaand Kerala.”

“Our vision is to worktogether to support the burnsurvivors by helping over-come their fears. Our mis-sion is to provide a specialidentity and a meaningful lifeto every single burn sur-vivor,” she said.

M

This expo is about how the two Telugu states witnessedchanges over the last 60 years. It showcases the beauty ofAmalapuram, Vizianagaram and other Konaseema areasduring 1960’s and the traditions of Warangal and other cities ofTelangana during 1970’s.

E. ROHINI KUMAR, SENIOR ARTIST

ant to see thebeauty of theTelugu states fromKonaseema toGolconda? Thenyou can head

towards Gallery 78 inHyderabad where seniorartist E. Rohini Kumar isshowcasing his 60 years of artjourney.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Rohini Kumar says, “This

exhibition explains my jour-ney from Konaseema toGolconda. I am also show-casing some of the workdone by my four gurus —Peri Subba Rao, MadhavaRao, A. Paidiraju and K.Seshagiri Rao — who helpedme become the artist I amtoday.”

“My guru, Peri Subba Rao’squick, deft drawings have fas-cinated and inspired manygenerations of students. Hewas an expert in sketchingand painting still-life sub-jects. A. Paidiraju wasacclaimed as a legendaryartist in his lifetime. He had amastery over all mediums, beit watercolours, oils orcrayons. My another guru, K.Seshagiri Rao studied folkpainting of Andhra Pradeshand published numerousarticles and spoke at radioshows about the traditionalart forms. B. Madhava Raosir always inspires me withhis work, which is bothunique and thought provok-ing,” shares Rohini Kumarwho had studied Fine Artsfrom JNTU, Hyderabad.

Even though he followedthe work of his gurus, RohiniKumar wanted to do it in hisown way and portrayed hiswork through various medi-ums like oil colours, water-colours, pen and ink, knifetechniques and more.

About the exhibition, hesays, “This expo is about howthe two Telugu states wit-nessed changes over the last60 years. I also published abook about the same to reachout to more people. Theexhibition showcases thebeauty of Amalapuram,Vijayanagaram and otherKonaseema areas during1960’s. One can observe dif-ferent livelihoods and tradi-tions in it. It is also displaysthe traditions of Warangaland other cities of Telanganaduring 1970’s. I hope theexhibition helps people recol-lect some of the good memo-ries they had.”

Rohini Kumar also didfour art shows about theDeccan rocks in many citiesin India after seeing howsome of these relics werebeing destroyed in the name

of development. He did his solo art shows

at various art galleries inAhmedabad, Benagluru andmore. For his work onKonaseema, Rohini recievedthe Lifetime AchievementAward in 2018 by KonaseemaChitrakala Parishad.

The exhibition is on tillDecember 8 from 11 am and

8 pm.

KONASEEMAGOLCONDA

Artist E. Rohini Kumar's work aims to bringforth good memories for people in the

Telugu states, reports V SATEESH REDDY

W

Burn survivorNihari Mandali ishelping burnvictims acrossTelugu states gettheir lives backon track, reportsV SATEESHREDDY

Striving forrehabilitation ofburn survivors

Candle Drops Challenge will discussabout the physical and psychologicalpain that burn survivors go through.Through this challenge, I ask people topour drops of hot wax on their limbs toget a glimpse of what burn survivorsgo through. I hope this will help peopleto learn about our pain

NIHARI MANDALI

A MUSICAL NIGHTOF NOSTALGIA

ustaining nostalgia andcelebrating the glory of abygone era demand acertain kind of passionand commitment. A 35-odd team of vintage

Hindi film music lovers managed todo the same for over past threeyears through Dakshin Dhwani.The motto of the group — that wasstarted by a family of die-hardmusic lovers — is to celebrate thepassion for old world tunes ofIndian cinema with others.

Now to be registered as a society,Dakshin Dhwani celebrated its thirdanniversary in October and hasrecently attained the distinction ofhosting 50 programmes onNovember 9. Their recent event,called ‘Tongue Twister’, showcased20 songs, both old and new, ren-dered by 16 singers, between theage groups of 25 to 75. The songscovered various languages includingPunjabi, Marathi, Bengali andTamil, apart from Telugu andHindi.

“For us grammar of a film song ismore important than the glamour.It means we focus on its creationthrough the eyes of the lyricist, themusic director, the playback singer,and the film’s director. We honourtheir efforts by celebrating theirsongs,” said T. Balakrishnan, one ofthe co-founders of the group.

The group proposes to organisedifferent kinds of meet-ups and dis-cussions over the next few months.It also performed at various loca-

tions — from an SEZ at Madhapur,for Women’s Day, to CherlapallyJail, on Prisoner's Welfare Day onGandhi Jayanti last year.

S

10

Vijayawada Wednesday November 13, 2019 what’s brewing?

opstar and interna-tional singing sensa-tion Katy Perry land-ed in Mumbai duringthe early hours ofTuesday. The singer

arrived in India to perform at amusic festival in Mumbai onNovember 16. She will also be

joined by another internationalsensation, Dua Lipa.The singer nailed the airport look

by donning a comfy grey jumpsuit andwas all smiles as she walked out of the air-port. The Firework singer accessorizedher look with a pair of classy black sun-glasses and flip flops.

This isn’t the first time that the 35-year-old singer has visited India. She vaca-tioned in the country back in 2010 alongwith her then-boyfriend and RussellBrand. During their trip, they had visitedthe Taj Mahal, Agra, where Brand report-edly proposed her for the marriage.

However, this is the first time that KatyPerry will be performing at a music festi-val in India. In August she took to socialmedia to express her excitement overreturning to India and giving her first-ever performance in Mumbai.

“I am so happy to be returning to Indiaand excited to headline my first-ever per-formance in Mumbai. I am looking for-ward to seeing and singing with all of myIndian KatyCats at the OnePlus MusicFestival,” she had tweeted.

Katy celebrated her 35th birthday thismonth with her fiancee and actorOrlando Bloom in Egypt. The two sharedpictures from their recent trip onInstagram Thursday, which included theirrare PDA as well. “Ancient Egyptiansbelieved that when you pass on your hearthad to be weighed,” Perry captioned pic-tures depicting herself standing before thePyramids of Giza.

“It had to be lighter than a feather tobe qualified for the trip to the afterlife.My mother has called me feather since Iwas a little girl and I hope after all is saidand done my heart is as light as one. Thisis 35.”

While Bloom wrote, “It’s like lookingout over the entire cosmos — Egyptianmagic got my heart open to a downloadof love for my Scorpio's wonder womenboth celebrating their #birthday.”

Bloom and Perry — who have beendating on-and-off since 2016 — gotengaged on Valentine’s Day earlier thisyear.

P

KATY PERRYEXCITEDTO ‘SING

WITHINDIAN

KATYCATS'orldwide music sen-sation DJ Snake is allset to return to Indiafor a special occasion.The global superstarwho flew down to

Mumbai earlier this year andmade our Holi even more festiveis gearing up to slay the fans atthe Sunburn Music Festival2019 as they return to theiriconic venue in Goa this yearmuch to the delight of the fans.

The audience is awaiting togroove on some of his superhitchartbusters like Lean On, letMe Love You and of course, thesensational Taki Taki. The high-light of the show will be DJSnake performing songs fromhis hit album released in Julythis year, Carte Blanche for thevery first time in India.

Talking about his return toIndia, DJ Snake says, “I am sohappy to be coming back toIndia. When I was there duringHoli, the energy and vibe wereso positive it is always amazingwhen you travel with your workto see festivals celebrated andlearn their meanings. I alwayslike to learn when I travel andthat was incredible. I am excitedto play my newest album, CarteBlanche for everyone there. I

had such an amaz-ing response frommy Indian fans Icouldn’t not comeback this year andplay it to them.Iread all theircomments, I feelthe love all thetime, and I wantedto come and end theyear here. It was impor-tant to me. India has beena huge influence on mymusic and Magenta Riddimfrom my album was inspiredfrom here and the video shothere. I have heard so many goodthings about Goa so I am goingto see another new place forme in India, which is anoth-er highlight. I want to seethe whole country.”

The Sunburn festival isknown to bring togethermusic fanatics from allover the country for amusical celebrationthat will beginfrom December27.

DJ SNAKE ALLSET TO RETURNTO INDIAW

FUN TIME

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

undeep Kishan isin a happy space.Six years have goneby without a hit but2019 has beengood to him, with

two of his acting assignments,Ninu Veedani Needanu Neneand The Family Man, provingto be successful. His role inthe latter, a web series for thestreaming giant, AmazonPrime, helped him to connectwith the Hindi audience afterShor in the City. “I’m glad thatThe Family man is a great suc-

cess. Director’s duo Raj-DK alwaysknew they were making a great prod-uct but the magnitude of its successwas what they wanted to see. I alsoearned a good reputation with my roleas an Army Major in the series. I’mhappier that Raj-DK followed up Streewith another success,” Sundeep said.

In fact, the actor wasn’t even on Raj-DK’s mind when they wrote the series.“I put myself in Season 1 because ofthe bond I share with them. I’ve askedthem to cast me as the antagonistMoosa but they didn’t want to showme as a villain and kill me in the end.Which is why, they’ve created the roleof a Major in the series. I will not bethere in Season 2, which is already onsets but will comeback for Season 3,whose screenplay is in place already,”the actor confirmed.

Right now, the actor is awaitingrelease of Tenali Ramakrishna BA BL,directed by G. Nageswara Reddy. Theactor-director have been thinking ofcoming together for a film for manyyears and when they finally decided toteam up, Reddy was keen on an

action-comedy as he felt Sundeephadn’t done one in a long time.

They did search for other

South films to remake but couldn’t findan interesting film. “It was when Iremembered writer Rajasimha’s storyabout a rookie lawyer. I immediatelyarranged a meeting between him andReddy. I was given a narration, which Iliked. It was the director’s idea to set itin Kurnool and give the film a freshlook,” Sundeep says, adding that hehad a blast shooting for the film.

“I play a lawyer who believes in acompromise between the warring par-ties in a civil court to make money.What if, such kind of a person, gets acase that needs him to argue and winat any cost? That is the film’s gist. It’s afunny film with quirky humour andsensible moments as well.”

Post the release of TenaliRamakrishna BA BL, the actor willbegin prepping for A1 Express.Confirming that it is a remake of Tamilhit Natpe Thunai, he says, “We tookthe story idea from the Tamil film butwe gave it a new spin by investing closeto six months in the story. We’ve madearound 50 per cent changes to thescript. I will prep in hockey for 15 dayssoon at Begumpet, Hyderabad. Abunch of coaches have been consultedfor the purpose.”

He admits he isn’t in a rush at thisstage of career, keen on taking one pro-ject at a time. “I will do a film only ifthe script appeals to me, else I will sitat home. I haven’t signed anything afterA1 Express. I would also be taking abreak from Tamil cinema as three ofmy films, which I’ve completed, areyet to be released. I’ve been askedfor some web series and a film inHindi after The Family Man but I

didn’t commit. However, I’mkeen on producing a film

with Priyadarshi andRahul Ramakrishna

in Telugu. I wasrecently narratedan interestingscript for bothof them,” he

signs off. - NG

Vijayawada Wednesday November 13, 2019

11

llari Naresh,who has turnedextremelychoosy after hissupporting actin Maharshi

that received glowingreviews, has finally green-lit a film.

This yet-to-be titledfilm will mark the directo-rial debut of VijayKanakamedala, who hadassisted Harish Shankarfor films like Mirapakay,Gabbar Singh and DJamong others. SatishVegesna, who had co-pro-duced Okka Kshanam andMosagallaku Mosagadu, isproducing the film underhis banner SV2Entertainment.

Speaking to ThePioneer exclusively,Vijay, who hails fromSarapaka, a villagenear Bhadrachalam,called the film a con-cept-driven social

drama. Recalling how heconvinced Naresh tospearhead it, he said, “Ipitched him the film’s sto-ryline a couple of monthsago. He instantaneouslygot hooked to it, as he hasbeen on the lookout forsuch a story. He straight-away said we would bedoing it and was keen onknowing the full story. Igave him a detailed narra-tion 10 days ago and heasked me to proceed withthe pre-production. Theentire film’s shoot will bein Hyderabad and we areplanning to hit cinemahalls next summer.”

Shedding some morelight about film, he said,“Naresh will playing a

common man who has toovercome an issue in hislife. This role demandedperformance that only afew like Naresh can deliv-er. It will not have anyresemblance to any of hisfilms in the past. In fact,there will not be a tinge ofcomedy at all. It will be aserious film loaded withstrong emotions.”

While Naresh has madea career out of comedyentertainers, Vijay believesthe audience mindset haschanged, which is why heis making a film, devoid ofhumour and punchlines.“If you show good content,audience will accept it.The success of recent filmslike Agent Sai SrinivasaAthreya andBrochevarevaruraa provedthat. The fact that Nareshis a popular star shouldauger well for ourfilm’s content,” hesigned off.

Actors wellversed in

comedy can alsoexcel in otherkinds of roles.

Though hisname itself

reminds peopleof his comicability, AllariNaresh nowplans to get

serious, findsNAGARAJ

GOUD

VIJAY SAYS THATNARESH'S MOVIEWILL BE A SOCIALDRAMA LOADEDWITH STRONGEMOTIONS

A

tollywoodGUHAN TODIRECTKALYANRAMAGAIN

roducer Mahesh S. Koneruannounced last month that he wouldbe teaming up with his 118 actorKalyanram again next year.Although he refrained from

announcing the director’s name, informingthat they will be dealing with a different kind

of subject, we’ve learnt that Koneru will berepeating 118 director, K.V. Guhan, for theproject. 118 helped Kalyanram get back towinning ways after three below par venturesin a row. Guhan was also praised for the wayhe portrayed the actor in the film. The newfilm, however, will be a mass entertainer with

a novel story idea, we hear. It will move to setsafter Kalyanram wraps up his fantasy dramawith Venu Mallidi, which will mostly roll nextmonth or in January. The likes of SarveshMurari (cinematography) and ShekarChandra (music) have been roped in for thefilm.

P

Nabha out,Malavika in?

outed to be anew-age massentertainer,BellamkondaSreenivas’ nextwith Kandireega

director Santosh Srinivasseems to be facing problemson the casting front.Apparently, iSmart Shankargirl Nabha Natesh was nar-rated the story and althoughshe liked it, she wanted herrole to get a slight extension.To this, Santosh wasn’t will-ing to budge, according tothe grapevine. The deadlockprevailed and the directorwas left with nooption but tosearch on forotheractresses.As is thecasewithprevious

Bellamkonda Sreenivas’films, the makers of thisuntitled film are adamantthat a happening actress becast opposite him. Theyhave now initiated talks withMalavika Mohanan.Daughter of cinematograph-er Mohanan, who shotMahesh Babu-starrerMaharshi, she was supposedto make her Telugu debutwith Vijay Deverakonda-starrer Hero but as the film’snext schedule was deferredto summer of next year, herdates are available. Eventhough she is committed to

star alongside Tamilsuperstar Vijay’s

next withKhaidi direc-

tor LokeshKanagaraj,she stillhas plen-ty ofdates.

T

I wanted to playMoosa in The FamilyMan: SUNDEEPSundeep Kishan has his hands full withfuture projects, all with interesting andpromising premises. Keen on findingscripts that appeal to him, Sundeep ischalking out his career with ease

ALLARI NARESHSWITCHES TRACKS

S

opular sup-portingactressSana’s son

Sayyad Anwar, whoacted in a handful ofTamil TV serialsbesides producingthem, marriednoted TV faceSameera Sherief inHyderabad onMonday in a low-key ceremony. Thecouple goes by anInstagram handleAnvira which has asizeable number offollowers.

Sana's son ties the knotP

Malavika Mohanan

sport 12VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 13, 2019

IANS n KOLKATA

Keeping in mind the dewfactors that comes into

play at the Eden Gardens postsunset on winter evenings, theBoard of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) has agreed to theCricket Association of Bengal’s(CAB) request to start thegame at 1 pm and end the day’splay by 8 pm in the Day-NightTest.

A BCCI official confirmedthe development and said thatsessions have been re-planned

keeping in mind the need tocall stumps by 8 pm as the ballwould get really wet if play car-ried on post 8 pm in Kolkata inlate November.

“Keeping in mind the dewfactor, the BCCI approvedCAB’s request to change theplaying hours in the secondTest. While play will start at 1pm, the first session will end at3 pm. The second session willstart from 3:40 pm and contin-ue till 5:40 pm. The final ses-sion will be played from 6 pmtill 8 pm,” the official said.

PTI n INDORE

Skipper Virat Kohli had his firstexperience of negotiating a pinkball as Indian cricketers took

turns to get used to the new colourduring the net session ahead of thefirst Test against Bangladesh, startingfrom Thursday (tomorrow).

The Indian team did not trainunder the lights and the throwdownswith the SG pink ball was part of thetraditional red-ball practice session.

Usually, three adjacent nets areplaced — for pacers, spinner andthrowdowns — for Indian team’spractice. However, on team’s request,the throwdown-net was created on theother side of the ground on separatepractice turfs with a black sight-screen. It was skipper Kohli, who firstfaced the pink ball.

With throwdown specialistsRaghavendra and Sri Lankan NuwanSenaviratne hurling the pink stuff atexpress pace, the skipper lookedcomfortable. He looked more intenton playing defensive shots.

Once Kohli was done and wentinto the main nets, the other top-orderbatsmen incuding Cheteshwar Pujaramixed and matched, facing red andpink ball simultaneously.

Young reserve opener Shubman

Gill seemed to have taken a hit whenone of the deliveries bounced extra butit was not serious.

The Indian team will get only twofull training days ahead of their firstday/night Test at the Eden Gardens,starting November 22.

Aware that not much time is inhand, the BCCI had arranged a cou-ple of pink ball sessions under lightsfor the Test specialists like AjinkyaRahane, Mayank Agarwal, Pujara,Mohammed Shami at the NCA underRahul Dravid’s guidance.

PTI n INDORE

It’s India’s fast bowling unit whichis now feared in Tests but

Bangladeshi batsmen are moreconcerned about handling spintwins Ravichandran Ashwin andRavindra Jadeja during the two-match series, top-order playerMohammed Mithun said onTuesday.

Mohammed Shami, UmeshYadav and Ishant Sharma areexpected to be more than a hand-ful during the series but Mithunseemed more wary about theAshwin-Jadeja threat.

“We all know the strength oftheir bowling line-up. We areworking on how to tackle theirspinners as it is batting-friendly forthe first two days but afterwardstheir spinners come into play asthey try to attack the opposition,”he said.

“We are working on sometechnical aspects keeping our focuson how to handle them,” Mithunsaid.

They are expecting that battingcoach Neil McKenzie will helpthem decode the Indian spinners.

“Let the technical thingsremain inside the dressing room,”he said without parting with thetrade secrets.

Asked to comment on India’sweakness, Mithun said that hepreferred to look at his ownstrength than opponent’s weakness.

“We are looking at our strengthmore than focusing on their weak-ness because no team could do wellagainst them at their home (in therecent past). We are looking for-ward to do well here. Obviously itwon’t be easy and we need to workreally hard,” he said.

“The five bowlers they (India)have, we cannot take anyone light-ly because everyone is world class.”

Mithun has belief in his youngbowling unit that it can take 20wickets to win a Test match.

“Any batsman can get out any-time. If we can bowl as a unit withdiscipline I feel we can pick 20wickets.

While India are favourites by adistance, Mithun feels that theT20 win in Delhi gives them hopeof enjoying a good result.

“If we look at the past no onegave us any chance when it comesto beating India in the T20 and thattoo in their own backyard.

“But our players had that belief.We are disappointed that we couldnot win the last game (in Nagpur)despite creating chances at thesame time now we are looking for-ward to do well in Test series.”

PTI n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Medium-pacer Deepak Chaharfollowed up his hat-trick in

the final India-Bangladesh T20international with almost a repeat,taking three wickets in the space offour balls for Rajasthan againstVidarbha in a Group B match ofthe Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20tournament here on Tuesday.

However, his heroics (fourwickets in an over) went in vain asRajasthan went down by 1 run (viathe VJD method) finishing with105 for 8 in a game to reduced to13 overs due to rain.

The fast-improving DeepakChahar, who on Sunday lastbecame the first India player totake a T20 international hat- trickand also the best ever bowling fig-ures (6 for 7), picked up the wick-ets of Darshan Nalkande, ShrikantWagh and Akshay Wadkar off the

fourth, fifth and sixth balls of thefinal over of Vidarbha’s innings, butmissed the three-peat as he bowleda wide in between.

His performanced helpedRajasthan restrict the opponent to99 for 9 in 13 overs.

After scalping the wicket ofRupesh Rajkumar of the first ballof the over, he dismissed Nalkandeoff the fourth.

However, he delivered a widethe next ball and then dismissedWagh and Wadkar off the next twoto finish with figures of 4 for 18 in3 overs.

Chahar began the over bypicking up the wicket of RupeshRajkumar Rathod to finish withsuperb figures of 4 for 18 in 3overs.

Earlier, Vidarbha chose to batafter winning the toss and aftersome middling performances bythe batsmen, the Vidarbha innings

imploded and Deepak Chahartriggered the collapse.

His first victim was Rathod,who was caught by his cousinRahul Chahar.

He then had Nalkande caughtby Rajnesh Bishnoi, before havingWagh caught by Chandrapal SinghChundawat.

He then bowled Wadkar tocomplete a hat-trick.

Chasing 106 for victory,Rajasthan faltered after a brightstart provided by Manender Singh,who smashed 6 sixes in 17 ballsbefore falling for 44.

Opener Ankit Lamba (15, 11balls, 1 four, 1 six) and Arjit Gupta(12, 9 balls, 1 four, 1 six) were theonly other batsmen to reach dou-ble figures as the team could makeonly 105 in 13 overs.

Vidarbha tops the points tablewith 16 points from 4 matches inan all-win record.

PTI n MUMBAI

Mumbai registered its fourthwin in the league stage at

Wankhede stadium on Tuesday afterbeating Pondicherry by 27 runs.

The title favourites have beatenMizoram, Haryana and MadhyaPradesh in their first three games.

Asked to bat, Mumbai rode ona blazing half century by skipperSuryakumar Yadav (57 off 37 balls)to post a descent 171/6 on theboard.

Their inform openers Jay Bista(29 off 21 balls) and Aditya Tare(20 off 14 balls) conjured 48runs for the first wicket.

Chasing 172, Pondicherryhad a pathetic start and were reel-ing at 29-2.

But then Parag Dogra (45 off 35balls) and opener Arun Karthik (27balls) tried to resurrect the inningswith 28-run stand, before Karthik

was dimissed by Shivam Dube.Anand Subramanian (39 off 31

balls) and Dogra gave a scare toMumbai, but their bowlers heldtheir nerves to eke out a win.

Pacer Tushar Deshpande (2-29)and Shams Mulani (2-25) shared thespoils.

There are no matches onWednesday and the action resumeson Thursday.

In the first game at theWankhede Stadium, Meghalayastunned Assam by four wickets.

At BKC, Madhya Pradeshdefeated Mizoram by 86 runs.

In the second game,Haryana defeated Bengal byfive wickets as they chased the123-run target with 17 balls tospare.

India spinner YuzvendraChahal, who came back to the

Haryana team after national duty,returned with figures of 1-21.

IANS nPERTH

Having managed to end as the highest run-getter for Pakistan in the just concluded

T20I series against Australia, it will be impor-tant for Babar Azam to turn on the screws inthe longer format as his team gets ready to takeon the Aussies in a two-match Test series, whichalso includes a Day-Night game at Adelaide.

And former Australia batsman MichaelHussey believes that the talented batsman canbe spoken of in the same sentence as that whichhas stalwarts like Virat Kohli, Steve Smith andKane Williamson if he improves his Testrecord.

“I honestly believe this guy can be in the sameconversation when we start talking about the bestplayers in the world,” Hussey was quoted as say-ing by Fox Sports. “We start talking about (Virat)Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Rootgets floated around.

“I think if he can start putting together somebig hundreds like this in the Test arena, he’s thatgood ... he’s a brilliant, brilliant player,” he added.

Babar made a brilliant start to the prepara-tion for the two-Test series as he hit a masterful157 in the practice game against Australia A. Thisafter scoring two fifties in the three-match T20Iseries that saw the hosts win the series 2-0 as thefirst game saw no result thanks to rain.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal chief ministerMamata Banerjee are likely to watch 1st day of D/N Test PTI/File Picture

Hasina, Mamata likely to watchtogether in President’s Box

PTI n KOLKATA

Bangladesh PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina

and West Bengal chief min-ister Mamata Banerjee arelikely to watch India’s firstever Day/Night Test togeth-er after ringing the custom-ary Eden Bell to start theproceedings on November22.

A four-member teamled by Bangladesh’s DeputyHigh CommissionerToufique Hasan did a recceof the Eden Gardens onTuesday and checked theseating arrangements for thePrime Minister and her 80-odd delegates who will gracethe historic occasion.

As per the schedule,Hasina will be on a one-dayvisit and she will watch thematch for some time afterringing the Bell and onceagain will come back at theclosing time 8pm when theCricket Association ofBengal will present a grandfelicitation.

Hasan did not confirmwhether Hasina andMamata will watch thematch together but a CABofficial indicated that theywould be seen together inone of the President’s box atBC Roy Club House.

Giving the details ofHasina’s programme, Hasansaid: “Prime Minister willarrive in the morning on thesame day and will come tothe Eden to ring the Bell justbefore the start at 1pm. She

will leave to take rest afterwatching the match for sometime and will return again at8pm for the main felicitationprogramme.”

“She will be seated inone of the central PresidentBoxes near the Bell. We arehappy with the arrange-ments and looking forwardto be part of the historicoccasion. Eden is known asthe Mecca of Cricket and forthe first time both the coun-tries will play a Day/Nightmatch. Bangladesh peopleare really excited,” he added.

Hasina will leave on thesame day after the felicita-tion. The schedule of herpolitical programmes of theday is not yet finalised.

Hasina and Mamata willbe accompanied by BCCIPresident Sourav Ganguly,BCCI Secretary Jay Shah,cricket icon SachinTendulkar, Rahul Dravid,Naimur Rehman, BCBPresident Nazmul Hasanalong with CAB office bear-ers.

“Following the first day’splay, the players who playedthe first Test between Indiaand Bangladesh will be felic-itated followed by speechesby the hon’ble dignitaries,”CAB Secretary AvishekDalmiya said.

In the break, there areplans for a chat show featur-ing the fabulous five ofSourav Ganguly, SachinTendulkar, Rahul Dravid,Anil Kumble and VVSLaxman.

Kolkata’s iconic stadium Eden Gardens PTI/File Picture

D/N Test to start at1 pm & end at 8 pm

Mix and MatchKohli & Co take pink ball throw downs in between red ball nets

Indian players during a practice session ahead of their first Test match against Bangladesh in Indore on Tuesday PTI

Bhuvitrains totest fitnessPTI n INDORE

Recovering from a hamstringinjury and a side strain, pacer

Bhuvneshwar Kumar assessed him-self for a comeback when he partic-ipated in a “skill session” duringIndian team’s practice.

The Indian team managementseem to have taken charge ofBhuvneshwar’s final phase of reha-bilitation.

His injury has been a concernfor the Indian team since he cameback from the West Indies after thelimited overs series. He followed arehabilitation programme at theNational Cricket Academy.

“Bhuvi is here for a skill sessionwith the team. The team manage-ment just wants him to get into thegroove,” a team source said aboutthe pacer’s presence at the net ses-sion.

He had a catching session withfielding coach R Sridhar and thenparticipated briefly in the net ses-sion. He bowled a few deliveriesfrom full run-up but it was evidentthat he wasn’t going full tilt.

However Bhuvneshwar’s pres-ence at the session is a welcomenews considering that the 29-year-old is still an important member asfar as India’s white ball cricket isconcerned.PINK BALL LESSONS

PTI n INDORE

The pink ball is going to be a very “differentball game”, India vice-captain Ajinkya

Rahane asserted on Tuesday, saying its extralateral movement compared to the red cherrywill force batsmen to play late and closer totheir bodies.Rahane had a couple of practice sessions withthe pink ball under the watchful eyes of NCADirector Rahul Dravid in Bengaluru building upto the historic Day/Night Test startingNovember 22.“We had two good practice sessions, actuallyfour but two with pink ball — one during theday and one under lights. It was actuallyexciting,” Rahane said ahead of the first Test.“For me, it was the first time I played with thepink ball and definitely it’s a different ball game as compared to redball. Our focus was to look into the swing and seam movement andalso play close to our body,” Virat Kohli’s deputy observed.Rahane’s assessment after his initial sessions was that the batsmenwill have to tweak their technique slightly.“What we found out after the practice session was that the (new)pink ball does a lot more than the red ball. You have to play slightlylate and close to your body. We had a word with Rahul bhai as hewas also there.”

BENGALURU: Top batsman Cheteshwar Pujarafeels “visibility at twilight” could be an issuewhen India and Bangladesh venture into theunchartered territory called Day/Night Tests laterthis month in Kolkata.The Test at Eden will not only be the firstday/night affair for both the sides but it willalso mark the first official appearance of SGpink balls.“I have played earlier with pink ball in theDuleep Trophy, that was good experience.Playing with pink ball at the domestic levelcould come in handy,” Pujara told ‘bcci.Tv’.Majority of the cricketers will be playing withthe pink ball for the first time in their careers.However, the likes of Pujara, Mayank Agarwal,Hanuma Vihari, and Kuldeep Yadav have

experience of playing with the Kookaburra pink ball in DuleepTrophy.“Visibility is not an issue during the day, it will be an issue intwilight and under lights, the twilight could be a little difficult.Those sessions will be crucial.”Pujara added, “Most players have said that picking the wristspinners’ wrong ‘un is a little difficult.”For another senior player, Ajinkya Rahane, training ahead ofthe match will come in handy as far as acclimatisation isconcerned. PTI

Visibility at twilight couldbe difficult: Pujara

Need to play late againstpink ball: Rahane

Babar has potential to becompared to Kohli, Smith

Tigers preparing to tackle Ashwin-Jadeja

Daniel Vettori supervises Bangladesh’s training session in Indore on Tuesday BCB/Twitter

Cheteshwar Pujara & Ajinkya Rahanetrain at NCA PTI/File Picture

Chahar almost takes hat-trick in Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Deepak Chahar celebrates after hat-trick PTI

Mumbai record 4th win