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VIJAYAWADA 9JAFREEN SHAIK:

A TENNIS ACE IN NEED OF HELP

OPINION 6LOSING TOUCH WITH REALITY

SPORTS 12MAYANK’S DOUBLE

DELIGHT

VIJAYAWADA, FRIDAY OCTOBER 4, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

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*Late City Vol. 1 Issue 339*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

}GOPI TO PLAY THE COACH OF

AP FEMALEKABADDI TEAM

Page 11{

AP sets aside 50% marketchief posts for womenPNS n AMARAVATI

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy hasannounced 50 per cent reser-vation for women in MarketChairperson posts, which willbe brought into effect in a fewweeks. In another decision,the CM said a committee willbe formed to look into thelosses incurred by district co-operative banks and stepswill be taken to strengtheningco-op banks based on ananalysis done by some presti-gious organisations.

The AP government hasdecided to set aside half thenumber of market chairper-sons' posts and market com-mittees with effect from endof October. Besides, the gov-ernment has already allotted50 per cent reservation to SCs,STs and OBCs via a GO issuedrecently.

The stake holders should beable to decide the prices ofcrops cultivated,' said YSJagan in a meeting with offi-cials held to review the agri-cultural marketing and coop-erative departments. "Framersshould not have to forcibly selltheir crops to middlemen.They should believe that wehave given them hope," saidJagan.

The Chief Minister also

directed officials to take mea-sures to eliminate the role ofmiddlemen from the system.

The AP government is plan-ning to announce prices ofcrops that do not a minimum

support price (MSP) current-ly. It will start purchasingdry land crops from farmersdirectly. Officials have askedfarmers to get themselvesenrolled online from October10 to participate in the cropsale to government that startson October 15.

CM Jaganmohan alsoordered the establishment ofa board for millets byOctober-end. "Rayalaseemashould be transformed into amillet hub," he said, addingthat the millet board, consist-ing of experts, will have con-trol over agriculture prac-tices, processing and mar-keting of crops.

Continued on Page 2

‘Eradicate anemia, malnutrition among children’CM tells officials to ensure quality food and facilities are provided to women, childrenChief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Thursday held a review meet on issues related to pregnantwomen, infants and their mothers and malnutrition among children. CM Jagan is keen that quality food andfacilities are provided to women, children and schools. He instructed officials to carry out the necessarymodifications in the processes to deliver nutritious food to children and women "to eradicate anemia andmalnutrition in the state." He asked officials to improve the quality of meals provided to children in theafternoon, and set up 65 additional centralised kitchens in the cities to increase capacity. The review meetalso discussed on having one more food item in the children's meals. The government plans to set up15,000 more schools across the state. Work for this is expected to begin in November and completed byMarch 2020. "Don't compromise in providing facilities. We are ready to pay additional money," the CM saidabout the government's will to spend on school development projects. YS Jagan also asked officials toensure that uniforms and books are provided to all schools from the next academic year. Ministers Sureshand Taaneti Vanitha, among others, attended the review meeting.

CM to launchYSR VahanaMitra at Eluru PNS n AMARAVATI

Translating the assuranceinto action, Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohan Reddy willlaunch the YSR VahanaMitra scheme in Eluru onOctober 4 and distribute Rs10,000 financial assistance toauto, taxi and maxi driver-cum-owners.

The promise to self-employed auto and motordrivers was made by YSJaganmohan Reddy in Eluruitself on May 14, 2018 duringthe 3,648 km padayatra whenthe auto drivers had an inter-action with him. This is per-haps for the first time in thecountry that Rs 10,000 isbeing given to self-driven taxiand auto drivers towardsmaintenance.

A GO was issued onSeptember 9 by the State gov-ernment to frame the guide-lines for eligibility and theannual allowance would begiven to them to meet theinsurance premium, licencefees and other recurringexpenses.

The seriousness of thegovernment and its sinceri-ty in approach come to thefore with the State govern-ment has to allocate

Rs 400 crore in the annu-al budget for implementationof the welfare scheme com-pleting the formality of trans-lating the promise intoaction.

Continued on Page 2

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Firing a fresh salvo againstTDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu, Minister for MunicipalAdministration and UrbanDevelopment BotsaSatyanarayana alleged thatcrores of rupees corruption wasdone in running the AnnaCanteens during the TDPtenure. He made these remarkson Thursday at a workshop heldfor Municipal Commissionersand MEPMA officials.

Later, speaking to the media,the minister attributed thefinancial crunch being faced bythe State to the earlier govern-ment, as it had indulged in mis-deeds. The scenario is so pathet-ic that even municipalities haveRs 15,000 crore loans. Heinformed that soon canteenswill be set up in theGovernment Hospitals andassured that the problems

regarding sand supply would beresolved. The minister instruct-ed the municipal officials tohave coordination withMEPMA Department. He stat-ed that there is no clarity on thework and functioning ofMEPMA until now, they haveto work in coordination with theMunicipal Commissioners andhave to work for the urban poor.

Continued on Page 2

State in dire straitsdue to TDP misrule,alleges Botsa

Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development BotsaSatyanarayana addressing the media in Vijayawada on Thursday

Houses, jobsfor boatmishapvictims' kinV I S A K H A PA T N A M :Minister for Tourism MSrinivasa Rao promisedhouses and jobs to the kin ofthe boat tragedy victims.The minister announcedthat this was for the benefitof those who wereu n e m -p l o y e da n dw i t h -out ahouse.

T h eministerh a n d e dover nine checksworth 10 lakhs each to thefamily members of nine ofthe victims as ex-gratia. Theminister added that insur-ance amount would also bepaid to the family membersof the victims.

Regarding other victims,the minister pointed that outof the 17 bodies that wereidentified, 17 were fromVisakhapatnam district,while four other bodies wereyet to be retrieved. The min-ister added that four moreidentified were actually fromNellore district, hence, theex-gratia amount would behanded over by the Nelloredistrict Collector.

Commenting on theinquiry into the tragedy, theminister pointed that thegovernment had appointeda five-member committeeconsisting of IAS officers.

Minister for MunicipalAdministration andUrban DevelopmentBotsa Satyanarayanaattributed thefinancial crunch beingfaced by the State tothe earlier govt, as ithad indulged inmisdeeds

l CM Jagan says decision will come into effect by October-end

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy addressing a review meeting in Amaravation Thursday

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4, 2019

Fans flashing a victory sign after Mayank Aggarwal hitting a double ton on the second day of India-South Africa cricket first Test at the Dr YSR-ADCA Cricket Stadium inVisakhapatnam on Thursday -PPhotos: Tirupathirao G

CRICKET FFRENZY AAT IITS PPEAK

region 02

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Owing to the severity of viralfevers in tribal areas of NorthAndhra region, the tribal asso-ciations demand the state gov-ernment to declare healthemergency. Lack of doctorsand sufficient stock of medi-cines in government hospitals,the tribal patients were beingforced to depend private hos-pitals.

As many tribal people weresuffering from dengue andother fevers, AP GirijanSamakhya members demand-ed declaration of a healthemergency in Agency areas ofthe state. They have recentlymet deputy chief minister andtribal welfare minister PamulaPushpa Sreevani to urge thegovernment to focus on thehealth issues in the Agencyareas.

According to AP GirijanaSamakhya vice-president TAppalaraju Dora, the tribalpatients of Visakhapatnam andVizianagaram districts werefacing a lot of problem due toimproper health facilities in thegovernment hospitals and pri-mary health centres (PHCs).

After bringing patients in a dolito the nearest hospital, therewere no doctors to providetreatment.

District coordinator of hos-pital services (DCHS) BKNayak agreed that there was ascarcity of doctors in the area.However, he denied the short-

age of funds or medicines forthe PHCs and other hospitalsin tribal areas. Though the gov-ernment is ready to pay amonthly salary of Rs 1.90 lakhto the doctors, no one hasshown interest to work in theAgency area.

Declare health emergency,Tribal Bodies to State govt

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Christmas is no fun withoutthe traditional Christmas cakeand making this cake is not aquick and easy task. Markingthe beginning to the festiveseason, WelcomHotel GrandBay revisited the age old tra-ditional Christmas cake mix-ing ceremony here onThursday.

The Christmas cake mixingceremony is a communityevent. The ceremony heraldsthe fest ive season ofChristmas and captures thespirit of New Year.

The first step towards mak-ing Christmas cake is the

mixing of ingredients thatbegins months in advance.The cake mixing ceremony isa ritual religiously followedthe world over and said to bea harbinger of good tidingsand happiness. This ceremo-ny is an old tradition that hasbeen around for centuriesand in many countries marks

the commencement of thefestive season. This ceremonywas also a family affair to wel-come the harvest season.

Executive Chef SreedharKare and their team invited allthe in house guests and thehotel's executives to partici-pate in this ritual. Everyonerolled up their sleeves and had

fun digging their hands intothe huge piles black currants,cashew nuts, red cherries, andfigs, dry apricots, candiedginger, candied orange peels,almonds, prunes, raisins, wal-nut, and spices of ground cin-namon, cardamom and clovesto be used in this cake. Themixing reached a spirited levelwith the adding of bottles ofScotch whiskey, white anddark rum, vodka, gin, wine,and beer and honey syrup.

Rajesh Nath, GeneralManager of WelcomhotelGrand Bay, said that the bak-ing of the delicious Christmascake would start from theDecember 20.

Marking the beginning of the festive season, age-old tradition of Christmas cake mixing ceremony took place at WelcomhotelGrand Bay in Visakhapatnam on Thursday

Cake mixing ceremony marks beginning of festive seasonThis ceremony is an old tradition thathas been around for centuries and inmany countries marks thecommencement of the festive season.This ceremony was also a familyaffair to welcome the harvest season

Continued from Page 1

Based on the guidelines,applications were called forfrom self-employed autoand taxi drivers to avail thescheme of Rs 10 ,000allowance to meet theirrecurring expenses.

The approved documentsof the scheme will be dis-tributed to the beneficiariesunder the guidance of therespective district ministersand collectors. A test runshall be conducted on trans-ferring the amount to theseaccounts.

The money dep ositpro cess wi l l b eg in onOctober 4 and an SMS willbe sent to the beneficiaries.

The eligible candidates candownload the sanct ionorder.

According to the availabledata, of the budget of Rs 400crore, SCs would be gettingRs 68 crore and STs Rs 20core. The rest is beingclaimed by other castes.

In all, 1,75,352 applica-tions were received for thescheme of which 1,73,102were cleared. Of the sanc-tioned number, there are1,56,804 autos, 5,093 maxicabs and taxi cabs accountfor 1,205.

Visakhapatnam tops thelist of beneficiaries with24,512 followed by Krishnawith 20 , 333 and E astGodavari 19,209 autos.

CM to launch YSRVahana Mitra at Eluru

Continued from Page 1Talking about the ongoingonion crisis in the country, hesaid Andhra Pradesh sup-ports its citizens by providingthem onions for lower thanmarket price. AP has so far

imported 660 metric tonnes ofonions from other states. Bydoing this, the state has reg-ulated the price of onions atRs 32 a kg, said officials in thereview meet. Jagan orderedthe setting up of a committeeto scrutinise the losses occur-

ring in district co-operativebanks so as to re-organisethem for better functioning.The meeting was attended byMinisters Kanna Babu andMopidevi Venkatramana andofficials of departments con-cerned.

AP sets aside 50% marketchief posts for women

State in dire straitsdue to TDP misrule,alleges Botsa

Continued from Page 1

Municipal PrincipalSecretary Shyamala Rao,Commissioner Vijay Kumar,MEPMA Additional DirectorSiva Parvati, and other offi-cials participated in the meet-ing.

The minister informedthat a six-member commit-tee was formed to conduct asurvey on orphans andhomeless in urban areas.Three officials will be fromthe government and anoth-er three members will repre-sent NGOs working forurban homeless. MEPMAofficials submitted therecords to the ministerregarding present existingshelters and the money beingspent for their functioning.

High-end bike manufacturersbet big on tier-2, tier-3 citiesPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

While the automobile industryis facing the impact of marketslowdown, the premium bikemanufacturing companies arebetting big on tier-2 and tier-3cities. Even the global brandshave lined up expanding theirbusiness at Visakhapatnam andVijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.

In the modern era of taxiand bike aggregators, there isa visible decline in the sales ofautomobile sector from pastfew years. This was pointed outby Union finance ministerNirmala Sitharaman, who hadearlier blamed that millennialmindset to use ride-hailing ser-vices badly affected the auto-mobile industry.

However, the luxury andpremium motorcycle manu-facturers are not focusing onthe millennials, but the mid-dle-age riders. They have fur-ther improved the technicalaspects of the bikes to suit theroad conditions in rural areas.Some of the manufacturers arealso planning to start servicecentres in the nearest towns.

Italian brand Benelli hasrecently opened a new show-room in Visakhapatnam andVijayawada. The premium bikebrands such as Royal Enfield,KTM, UM Motorcycles andJawa have already opened theirshowrooms here. They are inthe process of expanding theirdealership network.

Vikas Jhabakh, MD ofBenelli India, said: "The com-pany is not targeting only theyouth customers. Our premi-um bikes were preferred by thepeople, who are young at heartand love to go long-distanceroad trips on bike. We organ-ise riding events to motivateand create awareness among

the biking enthusiasts."He further said, "There are

several buyers from tier-2 andtier-3 cities coming to metro-politan cities to buy luxurymotorcycles. Those who areusing sports bikes and cruisemotorcycles want to upgradewith premium and luxuryones. We are soon going tostart service centres atRajahmundry and Kakinada toprovide better riding experi-ence to our customers."

"Benelli 's presence inVisakhapatnam is a platformfor luxury-bike riding enthu-siasts to come and interact withother like-minded riders.Apart from the bikes, it willalso showcase merchandiseand accessories. Motorcyclecustomisation will also beintroduced here in a phasedmanner," Mr Jhabakh added.

25 TDP membersswitch over to YSRCP PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In another severe blow toTelugu Desam Party, as manyas 25 members joined YSRCongress under the leader-ship of state tourism minis-ter Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao(Avanti) in Bhimili con-stituency on Thursday. Over2,000 followers of these lead-ers attended the event.

The leaders includeDistrict LivestockDevelopment Association(DLDA) chairman GaduVenkatappadu, Gottipalli ex-sarpanch Korada VenkataSatyanarayana, Majjipeta ex-sarpanch Majji Venkata Rao,Lakshmipuram ex- sarpanchK. Jogi Naidu, NarayanarajuPeta ex- sarpanch KVenkanna and Thatituru ex-sarpanch Pallanti Rajeswari.Speaking at the event,Avanthi Srinivasa Rao said,"Bheemili constituency in thestate is striving to become thebest constituency by provid-ing employment opportuni-ties to the unemployed youth.We are confident of ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy's leadership." Thenewly invited leaders saidthat Avanti Srinivasa Rao hadpreviously served as a mem-ber of Bhimili constituencyand they have shown confi-dence in his administration.They were attracted towardsthe current welfare pro-grammes under the leader-ship of the chief minister. Maoist bandh

passes offpeacefullyPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The bandh called by thebanned CPI (Maoist) inthe AOB (Andhra OdishaBorder) region in protestagainst the recentencounter of five Maoistsin GK Veedhi mandaldid not evoke muchresponse.

No untoward incidentwas reported from anypart of the agency.

In a letter released onTuesday, by the AOB(Andhra Odisha Border)region secretary of theparty Ganesh, the Maoisttermed the encounter as'unprovoked' firing bythe security forces, andcalled for the bandh.

According to theMaoist, their memberswere returning from ameeting when they weresurrounded by theGreyhounds personneland fired upon. Theyclaimed that three haddied on the spot, andtwo were caught and tor-tured before being shotdead. The encounterstook place on September22 and 23.

As per early reports, allshops and establishmentsremained opened andbuses plied as usual.

Schools and collegesalso remained open.Buses that ply in the inte-rior did not go aheadwith the night halt in theinterior parts, to avoidany untoward incidents.

Meanwhile, the policehave beefed up the comb-ing and area dominationexercise and intensifiedvehicle checks at sensitiveareas.

‘Save beaches,shun use of plastic’PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

More than 300 people participat-ed in a beach cleanup drive at theRK beach as part of the Save ourBeaches initiative of OakridgeInternational School. This activ-ity was part of the Swacch BharatAbhiyan being carried out acrossthe country. The Principal of theSchool, Biju Baby emphasised theimportance of keeping surround-ing clean and the responsibility ofleading a minimalistic life whichGandhiji taught us. He alsoexhorted everyone assembled toshun single use plastic. KalyaniRao, Event Coordinator of theschool added that the beachclean-up activity was carried outin collaboration with IndianMaritime Foundation, Chennaiand International OceanConservancy, USA since 2016.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In order to clear rush of pas-sengers, Railways decidedto run special trains betweenSecunderabad-Guwahati forfour trips from November 7to 30.

The train No. 02513Secunderabad- Guwahatiexpress wi l l leaveSecunderabad on Thursdaysat 05.40am from November7 to 28 which will reachDuvvada at 6.03pm on thesame day and will leave at6.05pm to reach its destina-t ion on Saturdays at08.45am.

The train No. 02514Guwahati-Secunderabadexpress will leave Guwahati

on Saturdays at 11.55pmfrom November 9 to 30,which will reach Duvvada onMondays at 2.03pm andreach its destination onTuesdays at 4.00am.

These pair of trains willhave stoppages at Duvvada,Kottavalasa, Vizianagaram,Srikakulam Road, Palasa,Brahmapur, Khurda Road,Bhubaneswar, Bhadrak overEast Coast Railway.

Special trains toclear rush betweenS’bad and Guwahati

Two youngstersdrowned in seaat RK BeachPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Two youngsters drowned inRK Beach in Vizag city. Thoughthe incident took place onWednesday night, it came tolight on Thursday.

According to sources, fiveyoungsters fromKancharapalem area in Vizagcity had gone to the RK Beachfor a splash.

While they were enjoying inthe waters, they were caught ina strong rip current whichtook them deep inside the sea.Three of them managed toswim safely to the shore, twoothers K Bharat and Mohitdrowned in the waters.

The police said that thedead body of Bharat washedashore on Thursday and thepolice and coast guard officialslaunched a search for the miss-ing Mohit.

Traffic cops to intensify checkingfor pollution control certificatesPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Despite the drives against the rid-ing without PUC, thousands ofmotorists in Vizag are riding thepolluting vehicles at variousplaces in the city.

More than 10,000 owners ofthe vehicles (bikes, cars, and oth-ers) have been fined in the pasttwo years in Vizag for drivingvehicles without a valid Pollutionunder Check or Control (PUC)certificates. Moreover, the oldbuses operated by RTC are seenemitting huge black smoke.

A senior officer with RoadTransport Authority (RTA),Vizag said that they have

observed that not only old vehi-cles but also two to three-year-old vehicles are also emittingblack smoke and causing air pol-lution. If the vehicle has not beenwell-maintained, it will releasedark smoke, he added.

If a vehicle (either bike or car)is not carrying PUC certificate,it is liable to be prosecutedunder Section 190(2) of theMotor Vehicles Act and a penal-ty of Rs 1,000 for the first offenseand Rs 2,000 for every subse-quent offense of violation hasbeen prescribed under the law.

However, motorists ignoreto renew the PUC after theexpiry period of six months.

"We will intensify the driveragainst the riding the vehicleswithout PUC in the comingdays as several motoristsincluding the auto-rickshaw-men causing pollution, a seniortraffic cop said.

After the expiry of the periodof six months from the date ofpurchase of the vehicle, everyvehicle is required to carry a validPUC certificate. For vehiclesfollowing Bharat Stage BS- IVemission norms, either annual orsix months PUC certificates arerequired while for other vehicles,it is mandatory to get PUC cer-tificates every three months, theofficials said.

DCHS BK Nayakagreed that therewas a scarcity ofdoctors in thearea. However, hedenied theshortage of fundsor medicines forthe PHCs andother hospitals intribal areas

The premiumbike brands suchas Royal Enfield,KTM, UMMotorcycles andJawa havealready openedtheir showroomshere

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4, 2019 vijayawada 03Jagan to presentsilk clothes toGoddessDurga today PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy will visit Durga templeatop Indrakeeladri Hills onFriday evening and will presentsilk clothes to the deity.

As the CM is scheduled tovisit Delhi on Saturday, the starauspicious for the deity -Moola-occurs on Friday afternoon, heis going to present the silkclothes on Friday evening.

Meanwhile, theIndrakeeladri Hills impressive-ly bedecked for the DasaraNavaratri celebrations. Thoughthe fly-over construction workscaused obstruction to the cel-ebrations to an extent, the offi-cials did not compromise inmaking arrangements to cele-brate Dasara.

Since it is the first Dasarafor the new regime in thestate, the government tookthe celebrations as a matter ofprestige. Time has been allot-ted for VIPs without causingmuch inconvenience to otherdevotees.

PNS n GUNTUR

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy, who is adevout Christian, recently sub-mitted silk clothes to LordVenkateswara recently but didnot sign in the register owingfaith in Lord Venkateswara,alleged former Chief MinisterN Chandrababu Naidu.

Addressing the media hereon Thursday, Chandrababupointed out that even formerPresident the late AbdulKalam and AICC PresidentSonia Gandhi had signed inthe register expressing faith inthe deity. But, Jagan did notgive the declaration, he point-ed out.

Turning his attention on thepink diamond of Lord Balaji,he pointed out that the jointexecutive officer DharmaReddy had earlier claimedthat the diamond was in hispossession at his house, butnow he is denying it outright.He demanded that the Stategovernment come out with ananswer on whereabouts of thepink diamond.

Each and every social mediapost against the TDP workershas been submitted to DGPGautam Sawang, but the DGPsees no cognizable offence inthem, he lamented.

During his long politicalcareer, he never came acrosssuch denigrated politics, hesaid.

The YSRCP workers postedmany social media postsagainst former Speaker Kodela

Sivaprasada Rao on furnitureworth Rs 1 lakh and abettedhis suicide, he said and ques-tioned about what about YSJaganmohan Reddy whom hecharged with amassing Rs43,000 crore.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The ACB has arrested MotorVehicle Inspector of KurnoolA Siva Prasad in dispropor-tionate assets case. ACB teamsraided the properties of SivaPrasad in Kurnool, Hyderabadand Bengaluru on Thursdayand found property docu-ments worth crores of rupees.

On Thursday, ACB teamsconducted simultaneouslyraids at all three places andunearthed property docu-ments worth Rs 20 crore.They found that two fakecompanies were registered inthe name of his wife for moneylaundering. The ACB sleuthsfound documents pertainingto bank lockers of taintedofficer in Uganda.

G+7 apartment inBengaluru, house plot atUdarhalli (Bengaluru), apart-ment in Jayabheri Towers,Hyderabad, house plot inGajula Mallapuram,Hyderabad, and others werefound by the ACB officials.

One kg gold and Rs 1.45 lakhcash were found at his resi-dence.

Kurnool MVIin ACB net

Naidu questionsJagan's faith in LordVenkateshwara

MVI of Kurnool A Siva Prasad

n Property documentsworth Rs 20 crore seized

n They found that twofake companies wereregistered in the nameof his wife for moneylaundering

n The ACB sleuths founddocuments pertaining tobank lockers of taintedofficer in Uganda

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Syndicate Bank, one of themost trusted and technologysavvy public sector banks,announced that it is hostingunique Customer OutreachInitiative in various Statesacross the country betweenOctober 3 - 5. The outreachprogrammes are being organ-ised as a part of Department ofFinancial Services,Government of India's initia-tive of providing easy access tocredit for customers at publicsector banks. Syndicate Bankhas been vested with theresponsibility of hosting theseprogrammes at 15 cities acrossthe country in first phase of theinitiative.

The two-day programme isbeing conducted in the Statefrom October 4 in Adoni andNandyal and from October 5in Kurnool, Kadapa andProdattur and from October 4in Zahirabad and Sangareddyof Telangana.

The unique outreach initia-tive will provide easy access tovarious credit opportunitiesfor retail (vehicle, home, edu-cation & personal), agricultureand MSME loans from variousfinancial institutions in thevicinity under one roof. Thiswill include representations

from other public sector banks,NBFCs, HFCs, MFIs, SIDBI aswell as NABARD.

All participating financialinstitutions will be displayingvarious innovative productsbeing offered by them formentioned customers. In addi-tion, there will also be provi-sion for savings bank accountopening as well as Aadhaar andmobile seeding facility. Forboosting entrepreneurship,access to details about

MUDRA and Stand up Indiasuccess stories will also be ondisplay.

Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, MD& CEO, Syndicate Bank, said"For financial inclusion, it isimperative that our customers,existing and prospective, arecompletely aware of variousinnovative products at theirdisposal by various public sec-tor financial institutions. Wealso strive to improve penetra-

tion of digital banking at grass-root level. Syndicate Bank hasalways strived to educate andspread awareness and theseoutreach initiatives are exten-sions of that effort."

Financial inclusion and dig-ital banking penetration areother two important objec-tives, which bank intends toachieve through the outreachinitiative. For this, visitors willbe guided to download BHIMapp and assisted in using it too.

Syndicate Bank adds glitter to festivitieswith Customer Outreach Initiative

The outreach programmes are being organised as a part ofDepartment of Financial Services, Government of India'sinitiative of providing easy access to credit for customersat public sector banks. Syndicate Bank has been vestedwith the responsibility of hosting these programmes at 15cities across the country in first phase of the initiative

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu

n He did not sign in theregister owing faith inLord Venkateswara,alleged former ChiefMinister NChandrababu Naidu

n Chandrababu pointedout that even formerPresident the lateAbdul Kalam and AICCPresident Sonia Gandhihad signed in theregister expressing faithin the deity. But, Jagandid not give thedeclaration, he pointedout

PNS n TIRUMALA

The TTD has received a whop-ping 1.29 lakh kgs of vegetablesfrom Karnataka, Tamil Naduand Andhra Pradesh for SriVenkateswara Nitya AnnaPrasadam Trust for makinganna prasadam to lakhs ofdevotees during ongoing annu-al Brahmotsavams, said SVenugopal, the Special Officerof Annaprasadam wing.

Speaking at a press meet inthe Media Center on Thursday,he said on Garuda Seva daytwo lakh packets of pulihora,1.75 lakh packets of tomatorice and Bisibela bath werereadied for distribution amongdevotees besides milk, butter-milk, snacks, drinking waterand annamprasadams.

For preparing Garuda Sevafood packets, 32,500 kgs ofrice, 20,000 litres of milk, 20tonnes of vegetables and 8,000kgs of upma rava have beenearmarked.

The TTD has deployed 10mobile food distribution vehi-cles and the Anna Prasadam

Complex will be open from7.30 am till 11 pm during alldays and on Garuda Seva daywill operate till 1.30 am.

While food packets will beprovided to devotees on themada street galleries till 6 pm.Buttermilk for children, cof-fee and tea for elders will begiven on 24 hours basis.While food courts were set upon walkers paths, VaikuntamQueue Complex. Nearly,10,000 personnel, includingemployees, Srivari Sevakulu,Scouts, TTD Vigilance, police

and others were providedfood at the employees canteenduring Brahmotsavams, headded.

He said presently 1,085 per-sons were engaged in foodarrangements during theBrahmotsavams and 250 morewould be deployed during theGaruda Seva day. Nearly, 1,000Srivari Sevakulu were beingdeployed to serve devotees in175 galleries of mada streets.Food is supplied to devoteesafter tested by food experts inTTD labs, he said.

n On Garuda Seva day two lakh packets of pulihora, 1.75lakh packets of tomato rice and Bisibela bath werereadied for distribution among devotees besides milk,buttermilk, snacks, drinking water and annaprasadams

n For preparing Garuda Seva food packets, 32,500 kgs ofrice, 20,000 litres of milk, 20 tonnes of vegetables and8,000 kgs of upma rava have been earmarked

n The TTD has deployed 10 mobile food distributionvehicles and the Anna Prasadam Complex will be openfrom 7.30 am till 11 pm during all days and on GarudaSeva day will operate till 1.30 am.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP leaders Vakati NarayanaReddy, Sanakkayala Aruna,Jana Sena leader ChintalaPardasaradhi and othersjoined the BJP in Delhi in thepresence of BJP GeneralSecretary Ram Madhav andState BJP President KannaLakshminarayana onThursday.

Earlier, these leaders metRam Madhav and interactedwith him for a while. Listingout all the leaders' names,Kanna Lakshminarayanaexplained about them toRam Madhav. Later in theevening, in the presence ofBJP National President JPNadda all the leaders joinedthe BJP formally.

Former ministerSanakkayala Aruna (TDP),former Minister Vakati

Narayana Reddy (TDP), ZillaParishad Ex-ChairmanPaturi Nagabhushanam(TDP), Thota Nagesh(TDP), Gatt i ChinaSatyanarayana (TDP),Chintala Pardhasaradhi (JanaSena), Bobbili Srinivasa Rao(Congress) joined the BJP.

The people, who don'thave any political affiliation,also joined the BJP on theoccasion. Ramineni DharmaPracharam of RamineniFoundation, Nakka Balayogi,former justice of High Court,Ravi f rom Puthalapattu(industrialist) also joined theparty.

JP Nadda, Ram Madhavand Kanna Lakshminarayanawelcomed and congratulatedthe leaders.

TDP, Cong, Jana Senaleaders join BJP

TDP leaders Vakati Narayana Reddy, Sanakkayala Aruna, Jana Sena leader Chintala Pardasaradhi and others join the BJP inDelhi on Thursday in the presence of BJP National President JP Nadda. BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav and State BJPPresident Kanna Lakshminarayana look on

The people, whodon't have anypolitical affiliation,also joined the BJPon the occasion.Ramineni DharmaPracharam ofRamineniFoundation, NakkaBalayogi, formerjustice of HighCourt, Ravi fromPuthalapattu(industrialist) alsojoined the party

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Former minister DevineniUmamaheswara Rao visitedthe Kanakadurga temple atopthe Indrakeeladri here onThursday and had the darshanof the presiding deity.

Umamaheswara availed thedarshan waiting for his turn inthe queue line. Later, speakingto reporters, he said this timearound, the ruling YSRCP ismaking a lot of hullabalooduring the festival. There aretoo many flexies, but no activ-ity is seen on the ground, headded.

The former minister allegedthat people belonging to theruling party are selling Rs100 tickets by printing VIPstamps on them. He sought toknow under which minister'sinstruction all these anomaliesare taking place. The templeauthorities are stooping solow to 'recycle' even darshantickets.

The common man is beingput to the inconvenience ofwaiting for several hours in thequeue lines, UmamaheswaraRao said.

Stating that the income lev-

els of people have come down,he said this is reflected in thelow turnout of devotees forDasara celebrations in thecity. He said philanthropistshad donated

Rs 60 crore to the templeand the authorities should usethe interest from it to extendbetter facilities to devotees.

GARUDA SEVA DUTY

‘Providebetteramenitiesto pilgrims'PNS n TIRUMALA

TTD Executive Officer AnilKumar Singhal onThursday cautioned all theofficers, who are deputedfor Garuda Seva duty to bemore attentive in providingbetter amenities to pilgrims,keeping in view the pastexperience.

Addressing the officers atthe TTD Control Roomopposite RambhageechaRest House on Thursdayevening, he said theGangaways between gal-leries should be taken careof for smooth distributionof food by Srivari Sevakulu.He also said, all the toiletsin Tirumala should bemaintained in a proper way.

The EO also instructedthe concerned to ensurethere is no parking prob-lems and luggage depositionproblems in the counters.

Earlier, Additional EO AVDharma Reddy briefed theEO on the deployment ofofficers at various duty pointsin Tirumala for Garuda Seva.CVSO Gopinath Jatti wasalso present.

n The former ministersaid this time around,the ruling YSRCP ismaking a lot ofhullabaloo during thefestival. There are toomany flexies, but noactivity is seen on theground

Devineni comes inqueue line for darshanat Durga templeTTD official

quality servicesto devoteesPNS n TIRUMALA

In all, five lakh 500 ml waterbottles would be distributedto devotees in the galleries ofthe four mada streets on theGaruda Seva day on October4 with the assistance of SrivariSevakulu and local volun-teers.

Disclosing this at a pressconference here on Thursday,the TTD Health Officer DrRR Reddy said the healthdepartment is geared to keepTirumala clean and pollu-tion-free as directed by TTDExecutive Officer Anil KumarSinghal under the supervi-sion of Additional EO AVDharma Reddy.

He said the TTD is usinginfection-free, stench freeand eco-friendly products ingarbage clearance and clean-ing operations. Five hundredmore sanitary workers weredeployed in addition to 2,800health staff, along with 1,050Srivari Sevakulu. The madastreets alone had 42 toiletblocks, he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Minister for Industries,Commerce and IT MekapatiGautam Reddy has put theimmediate objective before theState governmetn is to enhancethe brand image of AndhraPradesh.

Addressing the media aftertaking part in the WorldEconomic Forum meeting inDelhi here on Thursday, he saidthat the Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy wantsthat transparency and goodgovernance should be hall-marks of his rule.

The government is takingsteps to provide skill trainingto the unemployed youth toensure 75 of the local jobs goto the skilled youth instead ofoffering the unemployed jobssans skills, he said.

Gautam Reddy said that thegovernment takes upon itselfthe responsibility of providingthe skilled manpower to localindustries assessing the skillrequirements of industriesbeforehand.

An event called Brandathonwill be organised to create anew brand image to AP, he saidadding that youth will be made

to play a crucial role in enhanc-ing the state's brand image byinviting good ideas from them.

A committee would be con-stituted to identify the best andnovel ideas to enhance thebrand image of the AP fur-nished on or before the dead-line October 29, he said addingthat three prizes would begiven to the best ideas. The firstprize carries Rs 50,000, secondprize Rs 25,000 and the thirdprize, Rs 10,000 besides meritcertificates.

On the lines of walkathon,marathon, brandathon is beingorganised to put into practicethe CM's strong belief: Nodevelopment without people'sparticipation, he said.

Efforts on to ensure acceler-ated industrial developmentwith the help of the bran-dathon, he said.

Industrialists are keen toinvest money in AP, which ispractically implementing trans-parency, he said exuding con-fidence that industries will

make a beeline to the state. Many countries, including

Japan, expressed their willing-ness to invest in the state if theserious of discussions heldwith these countries were anyindication, he said withoutmincing words.

The target is to set up 31MSME clusters and to promoteindustrial zones in all 13 dis-tricts, he said.

There is no doubt that theAP would contribute its mite tothe Center's plan to evolve thecountry into a US dollar $ 5-trillion economy, he said.

He put the GSDP of AP,which ranked ninth in thecountry, at Rs 180 billion USdollars. The government tar-geted to double the revenueof the state to take it to thetop position.

Reaching the targets is fea-sible with the no-complex buttransparent industrial policy,he said.

Armed with the policy,exploiting basic infrastruc-tural amenities, electricity,water and other resources,adopting the latest technolo-gy, the government seeks toachieve its goals, he elaborat-ed.

The welfare in state is trail-blazing with the implementa-tion of the Nava Ratnas, hesaid exuding confidence thatthe industrial developmentwill run.

Representat ives ofHindware Industries Limitedcalled on Mekapati GautamReddy at Taj Club Hotel inDelhi. Vice-chairman andMD of the company SandeepSomani and other delegatescalled on him. The MD ofthe company explained aboutthe act iv it ies of theHindware.

‘Aim is to enhance brand image of AP'

Minister for Industries, Commerce and IT Mekapati Gautam Reddy releasing abrochure on Brandathon programme in New Delhi on Thursday

Minister forIndustries, Commerceand IT Gautam Reddysaid that thegovernment takesupon itself theresponsibility ofproviding the skilledmanpower to localindustries assessingthe skill requirementsof industriesbeforehand

S Venugopal, the Special Officer of Annaprasadam wing, addressing a press conference at Tirumala on Thursday

‘1.29 lakh kgs of vegetablesdonated for Brahmotsavams'

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4, 2019 telangana 04

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP chief Dr KLaxman alleged thatTelangana and AndhraPradesh Chief Ministers' - KChandrashekhar Rao and YSJaganmohan Reddy are con-templating to loot the publicmoney in the name of water.

KCR-Jagan are stating thatthey will construct projectsonly to misuse Rs 1 lakhcrore public money, he allegedand questioned the TelanganaChief Minister to tell as tohow he will construct a jointproject with Andhra Pradeshstate.

"Whether the words KCRtold in the past or the wordstelling now on river linkingmight be lies", he doubted. Hequestioned KCR to tell as towhat is the need to divertGodavari water to Srisailam.KCR is planning new projectswith the idea of collectingcommissions, he pointed out.

On Thursday at Delhi afterTDP leader T VeerenderGoud's induction into BJP inthe presence of BJP nationalworking president JP Nadda

and others, Laxman allegedthat KCR weakened the issuesof water, funds and jobs.

"Family and corruption areruling the state. KCR is tellingmagic words in the name ofgolden Telangana. KCRpassed time during Telanganamovement al leging thatAndhra Pradesh lootedTelangana water. How thesame KCR would constructprojects with AndhraPradesh? KCR is enactingprojects drama along withJagan only for the sake of

commissions and filling up ofthe pockets of contractors", healleged.

KCR is winning electionsby distributing money got inthe form of commissions fromcontractors, Laxman alleged.The Kaleswaram project,which was started with theestimation of Rs 30,000 crore,has reached to Rs 80,000crore, he pointed. Allegingthat the Telangana state gov-ernment is deceiving the peo-ple in the name of irrigationprojects, Laxman warned it

saying that BJP will not keepquiet if it misuses the publicexchequer. KCR is trying forcollections and to fill thepockets of contractors evenafter coming to power for thesecond time, he alleged.

‘We approach EC over by-poll'

Laxman alleged that theruling party leaders wereindulging in irregularities inHuzurnagar by-elections.Ruling party is distributing

crores of rupees in by-elec-tions. "How the electionswould be held transparently ifTRS leaders are distributingmoney under the supervisionof Minister", he questionedstating that they will bring theissue to the notice of ElectionCommission. He said thatthey would request the EC toconduct Huzurnagar by-elec-tions in free and fair manner.State BJP leaders MuralidharRao, Garikapati RammohanRao, Vivek and others werepresent.

BJP slams TRS, YSRCP over water sharingn KCR-Jagan are stating that they

will construct projects only tomisuse Rs 1 lakh crore publicmoney, he alleged andquestioned the TelanganaChief Minister to tell as to howhe will construct a joint projectwith Andhra Pradesh State

n Laxman alleged that TRSleaders were indulging inirregularities in Huzurnagarby-elections. The ruling party isdistributing crores of rupeesin by-elections

n "How the elections wouldbe held transparently ifTRS leaders aredistributing money underthe supervision of theMinister", he questionedstating that they will bringthe issue to the notice ofElection Commission

n He said that they wouldrequest the EC toconduct Huzurnagar by-elections in free and fairmanner

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

Panchayat Raj MinisterErrabelli Dayakar Rao onThursday exhorted the pub-lic in the villages to take to the30-day comprehensive actionplan with a concertedapproach.

He was speaking after par-ticipating in the Grama Sabhain Hanwada mandal head-quarters. Minister SrinivasGoud, MP Srinivas Reddyand MLA VenkateshwarReddy along with other offi-cials were also present on theoccasion.

The Minister called uponthe people to take to thecleanliness drive in order torealise the swachchatha pro-grammes on a large scale. TheMinister asserted that thegovernment was keen onundertaking development ina systematic manner andadded that the social evils andfailures of previous govern-ments were thoroughly wipedout by the present govern-ment. Earlier on Wednesday,the Minister for PanchayatRaj conducted surprise checkson the status of sanitation inhouseholds and on mainroads in Wyra mandal ofKhammam.

Accompanied by TransportMinister Puvvada AjayKumar, Women and ChildWelfare Minister SatyvathiRathod, MP Nama NageswarRao and District CollectorRV Karnan, the Ministerinspected a few villages andassessed the progress of 30-

day Action Plan.Errabelli had a surprise

inspection of Gubbagurti inWyra and told the villagers tokeep their surroundings

clean. Addressing a publicmeeting at Bhagavan Naijkthanda, he said inspired byMahatma Gandhi, ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao had chalked out the 30-day Action Plan.

"Every programme that theChief Minister has intro-duced after the formation ofTelangana has been a grandsuccess. Everyone in the vil-lages has to participate in sra-madanam," the Panchayat RajMinister said.

He directed officials todisplay the names of personsparticipated in sramadanamat the of f ices of theCollector, gram panchayatand MPPs. Women groupsinvolved in village develop-ment would be given 'StreeNidhi' loans ranging from Rs50,000 to Rs 3 lakh.

Govt firm on developingvillages, says Errabelli

Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao interacting wth an elderly manduring the Grama Sabha in Hanwada mandal headquarters of Mahabubnagardistrict on Thursday

CAPSULE

GWMC co-opts fivenew membersWARANGAL: The GreaterWarangal Municipal corporation(GWMC) has elected five newco-option members onThursday. All these membersrepresent the ruling TRS partyand they include Syed UmarPasha, Mekala Babu Rao,Baththini Vasundhara , ShanaazChand Pasha and Vinoda.While Baththini Vasundhara andMekala Babu Rao werepreviously members of GWMCas Corporators, the remainingwere selected on the basis oftheir association with the TRS.Three members from the Co-option list belong to WarangalWest constituency and twomembers belong to WarangalEast. The Mayor Gunda PrakashRao, Deputy Mayor Sirajuddinand MLAs of East and WestConstituencies Narender andVinayabhaskar congratulatedthe newly-elected members.

28 candidates in frayfor Huzurnagar by-pollSURYAPET: A total of 28candidates are in the fray forthe October 21 HuzurnagarAssembly constituency by-election after withdrawal ofnominations on Thursday. Theby-election will essentially bea triangular contest betweenthe ruling TRS, and theopposition Congress and BJP.The last date for withdrawal ofnominations for the by-election ended on Thursday.The candidates left in theelectoral battlefield includeShanampudi Saidi Reddy(TRS), Nalamada UttamPadmavathi (Congress), KotaRama Rao (BJP) and ChavaKiranmaye (TDP). Besidescandidates from other minorparties, there are also 14independents in the fray. Inall, 76 candidates had filedtheir nomination papers withthe Returning Officer for theby-election. Nominations of 45candidates were rejected onvarious grounds. Of theremaining 31 candidates, threeindependent candidateswithdrew their nominations onThursday, leaving 28 in thefield.

Joined BJP to servethe nation, saysVeerender Goud PNS n NEW DELHI

Telangana Telugu Yuvata for-mer president Veerender Goudhas termed his objective of join-ing the BJP is to serve thenation. He joined the BJP onThursday in the presence ofBJP working president JPNadda. Earlier, he met theparty National GeneralSecretary Ram Madhav.

Speaking to the media aftermeeting Ram Madhav,Veerender Goud lauded PrimeMinister Narendra Modi for hiscontribution to development ofthe nation and noted that hewas attracted by Modi's line ofthinking and felt that 'NayaIndia' is possible only withModi, hence, joined the BJP. Itmay be recalled that VeerenderGoud quit the TDP three daysago to join the BJP.

Bathukamma:Celebrations sansenthusiasm?

PNS n HYDERABAD

Bathukamma celebrations arealleged to be a dull and drabaffair as the celebrations sansenthusiasm. The celebrations areinto their sixth day on October3, but the usual feel good feel-ing among the participants isconspicuous by its absence.

The traditional supporters ofthe festival are expressing theiranguish over lack luster celebra-tions going on this time, com-pared to earlier. They attributethe present state of affairs to lackof initiative from government.

Earlier, the government usedto make elaborate arrangementsfor the celebrations at variousvenues - temples, village squaresand immersion ponds. Wherethere are no ponds, the govern-ment used to make ad hocarrangements for the immersionof Bathukammas. The govern-ment used to entrust thesetasks to officials and leaders,unlike the present scenario.

Last year, the governmentreleased Rs 20 crore and cele-brated the festival on a grandscale. However, this time theallocations have been halved toRs 10 crore. Moreover, theavailability of funds is beingmaintained as a closely-guard-ed secrecy. It did not spell outdevolution of funds to variouscultural organisations. Earlier,the celebrations used to be con-ducted on a grand scale underthe aegis of Telangana Jagruti.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Doctors at a Hyderabad hospi-tal have performed a complexprocedure to remove kidneystones from a four-month-oldbaby boy, said to be the world'syoungest patient to undergosuch a procedure.

Three stones of size 8 to 9mm from each kidney wereremoved by the doctors. Whilekidney stone disease is com-mon in the country due todehydration, malnutrition,usage of excessive salt, exces-sive intake of non-vegetarianfood, the ailment is not com-mon among children. Findingit in new-born babies is a rar-ity, said doctors on Thursday.

The baby was brought toNiloufer Hospital as it was notpassing urine, and diagnosedwith kidney stones. Doctors atNiloufer referred the case toPreeti Urology & KidneyHospital, a healthcare institu-tion that specialises in kidneycare and has the expertise inperforming Retrograde IntraRenal Surgery (RIRS).

According to Dr V Chandra

Mohan, who led the team ofdoctors to perform the proce-dure, such type of surgery israre. A few centresfrom China andthe US have donethe procedure onchildren. "But forfirst time in theworld we per-formed RIRS onboth the kidneyssimultaneously forfour-month-old baby," he said.

RIRS is an endoscopicsurgery which allows to reach

the kidney from the ureter. Aflexible ureteroscope is used forthese kinds of procedures.

Through thisdevice a laserfiber (Holmiumlaser) is used totreat the stones,following whichthe small frag-ments areremoved with a

basket.The same RIRS surgery is

done in this baby boy on boththe sides of the kidney in a

span of just one hour, remov-ing all six stones, three stonesfrom each side, he said.

As in performing this proce-dure, no cuts are made orstitches used, no bleeding wasfound, and the baby was dis-charged in few days after theprocedure.

Dr. Chandra Mohan wassupported by radiologist Dr. PRoopa, urologist DrRamakrishna, anesthetist DrPavan and pediatrician DrAjay to perform the proceduresuccessfully.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The number of governmentschools with zero studentshas increased to 916 frommere 127 four years ago. Whatis alarming is the increase ofsuch schools with each pass-ing year. According to NITIAayog authorities, anotherdisturbing factor for the offi-cials of the government edu-cation department is theschools with students less than15. The State has 3,467 suchschools. Furthermore, thereare at least 15,535 schoolswith each having less than 100students.

Apart from these, NITIAayog said that only 22 gov-ernment schools have 1,000students each. The officialattribute the increase in thenumber of zero-studentschools annually to merger ofthe government schools hav-ing students less than 10 withother schools. The enrollmentrate of out of school studentsin schools after summer vaca-tion is poor because of theimplementation of the 'BadiBaata' programme with noproper planning.

According to official statis-

tics, there are 25 lakh studentsenrolled in over 25,131 gov-ernment schools during thecurrent academic year. Of the916 zero-student schools, 300are located in agency areas.

While Nalgonda districtstopping the list of such schoolswith 127, Jogulamba Gadwaldistrict figures at the other endof the spectrum with mere twosuch schools. Mahabubnagardistrict has 97 such schoolsfollowed by Janagoan (42),Nagarkurnool (38) and RangaReddy (34).

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a major acknowledgementof Telangana government ini-tiatives in the field of educationfor marginalised students ofState, Harvard University hasdecided to make a case studyof Telangana Social WelfareResidential Institutions.

The Harvard Universitywould study 'How TelanganaSocial Welfare ResidentialSchools are disrupting the sta-tus quo in education sector inIndia'. Prof. Fernando Reimerswho conducts internationaleducation policy course atHarvard Graduate School ofEducation, the US would crit-ically analyse the efforts andpolicies of Telangana govern-ment in providing quality andequitable education to themarginalised students in theState.

According to the Society,perhaps it was the first timethat any such intervention in

education for the marginalisedis being noticed by therenowned Harvard University.The students and faculty of theEducation School of HarvardUniversity will analyse chal-lenges in professional develop-

ment of teachers and schoolleaders against the backgroundof acquisition of 21st centuryskills by the students.

Telangana Social WelfareResidential EducationalInstitutions Society

(TSWREIS) secretary Dr. RSPraveen Kumar said teachersand students of social welfareresidential institutions workedday and night with utmostdedication to catapult theTSWREIS to the global map

within a span of six years. TheSociety carved a niche foritself by its seamless experi-mentation and syncing withthe emerging trends in theglobal education space, headded.

TSWREIS initiatives to be Harvard University case studyn The Harvard University

would study 'How TelanganaSocial Welfare ResidentialSchools are disrupting thestatus quo in educationsector in India

n Prof Fernando Reimers,who conducts internationaleducation policy course atHarvard Graduate School ofEducation, said the USwould critically analyse theefforts and policies ofTelangana government inproviding quality andequitable education to themarginalised students in theState

The Minister assertedthat the governmentwas keen onundertakingdevelopment in asystematic manner andadded that the socialevils and failures ofprevious governmentswere thoroughly wipedout by the presentgovernment

PNSn HYDERABAD

Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati RajSangathan (RGPRS) Telanganaand Andhra Pradesh States in-charge Kiran Mugabasav allegedthat the Telangana government'sdecision of forming RythuSamanvaya Committees isunconstitutional.

On Thursday at GandhiBhavan, Mugabasav alleged thatthe TRS government is system-atically diluting the powers ofPanchayati Raj institutions andUrban Local Bodies by notreleasing funds for their function-ing. He said that the process oftransfer of power to the peopleis stalled at every level during the150th birth anniversary of Fatherof the Nation Mahathma Gandhiand 75th birth anniversary of for-

mer Prime Minister RajivGandhi, who had the vision forthe country in 21st century.

He said that both Mahathmaand Rajiv were advocates ofempowerment of the masses

and decentralisation of social,economical and political power.He said that the Rajiv GandhiPanchayat Raj Sangathan wouldfight for the rights of PanchayatRaj institutions.

‘Rythu SamanvayaCommittees unconstitutional'

Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sangathan (RGPRS) Telangana and Andhra PradeshStates in-charge Kiran Mugabasav addressing a press conference in Hyderabadon Thursday

916 schools in TShave zero students

n Nalgonda dist tops thechart with 127 schools

n Apart from these, NITIAayog said that only 22government schoolshave 1,000 studentseach. The officialattribute the increase inthe number of zero-student schoolsannually to merger ofthe governmentschools havingstudents less than 10with other schools

Rare surgery on 4-month-oldto remove kidney stones

n Three stones of size 8 to9 mm from each kidneywere removed by thedoctors

n While kidney stonedisease is common in thecountry due todehydration,malnutrition, usage ofexcessive salt, excessiveintake of non-vegetarianfood, the ailment is notcommon among children

n Finding it in new-born babiesis a rarity, according todoctors

n The baby was brought toNiloufer Hospital as it wasnot passing urine, anddiagnosed with kidney stones

n According to Dr V ChandraMohan, who led the team ofdoctors to perform theprocedure, such type ofsurgery is rare

n A few centresfrom China andthe US have donethe procedure onchildren. "But forfirst time in theworld weperformed RIRSon both thekidneyssimultaneouslyfor four-month-old baby, he said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A delegation of Congress lead-ers led by Telangana PradeshCongress Committee (TPCC)Minorities DepartmentChairman Shaik AbdullahSohail met Home MinisterMohammed Mahmood Alidemanding restoration ofaccess to places of worship onthe Secretariat premises tooffer prayers.

Abdullah Sohail, in his rep-resentation, informed theHome Minister that the secu-rity personnel were not allow-ing anyone to enter theSecretariat to reach the twomosques located on itsprecincts to offer prayers. Theentry has been restricted sinceSeptember 30.

"Both mosques are morethan seven decades old and

prayers are being offered inthose mosques for five timesa day since their construction.Similarly, people are not beingallowed to offer prayers at thetemples located on theSecretariat premises," hepointed out.

"It is unfair on the part ofthe authorities to impose aban on entry of people atplaces of worship as itamounts to violation of theirRight to Religion. Themosques and temples are notoffices, which can be closed.They are sentiments attachedto it. We will not allow demo-lition of places of worshipeven if the government getsclearances to construct a newbuilding for the Secretariat,"Abdullah Sohail said.

The Congress leaderpointed out that the mosques

and temples were in exis-tence since several decadesand they could not be demol-ished, or shifted. Thoughthe High Court has stayedthe demolition of Secretariattill next hearing on October14, there is nothing that pro-hibits people from visitingthe places of worship to offerprayers, he said.

Abdullah Sohail urged theHome Minister to permit peo-ple to offer prayers at mosquesand temples on the Secretariatpremises. Furthermore, hedemanded that the govern-ment ensure that no harm isdone to the places of worshipin case a new Secretariat build-ing is constructed in future.The Home Minister hasassured to look into the mat-ter after consulting officialsconcerned.

Cong leaders seek accessto Secretariat mosques

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

NEW DELHI: The secondedition of the Goa MaritimeConclave, which is beingattended by navies of littoralnations of the Indian Ocean,began at the Naval War Collegein Goa on Thursday. A Navyofficial said the three-dayconclave is aimed at promotingmutual interaction amongcountries in the Indian OceanRegion through diplomaticinitiative in the maritimedomain. Top officials from thenavies of Sri Lanka,Bangladesh, Maldives,Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar,Thailand, Seychelles, Mauritiusand Indonesia are participatingin the conclave. Key areas onwhich discussions will be heldduring the conclave includeemerging maritime threats inthe Indian Ocean Region,capacity building of navies oflittoral countries in the IndianOcean and strategies toimprove inter-operability ofdifferent navies. As per officials,India is looking forward toconsolidate its strategicposition in the Indian OceanRegion through bilateraldefence co-operation with itsneighbour countries.Indian Army Chief GeneralBipin Rawat is currently on afive-day visit to Maldives inorder to consolidate militaryties between the two countries.

All-night searches inDelhi after terrormodule alert

Maritime conclave ofIndian Ocean Regionnations kicks off

Manipur CM meetsShah, Nadda to resolvecrisis in state BJPNEW DELHI: The crisis inManipur, where the BJP isfacing a turf war as well as arebellion against Chief MinisterN. Biren Singh, has reachedDelhi with the party's state andnational leadership trying towork out a solution agreeableto all two sides. Biren Singhmet BJP President Amit Shahand Working President J.P.Nadda at the partyheadquarters on Wednesdayand apprised them of thesituation in the state. The threehave another meetingscheduled on Thursdaymorning. This is not the firsttime Biren Singh has flown toDelhi to explain things to theBJP national leadership. Asection of MLAs in the statehave been demanding aleadership change for the pastfive months. There's also a rowover distribution of portfolios.Several state MLAs havealready met the party's centralleadership in New Delhi in thisregard. The matter aggravateda few months ago when BirenSingh took away Power andPublic Works Department(PWD) portfolios from MinisterBiswajit Singh, who has thebacking of the RashtriyaSwayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

NEW DELHI: An alert about thepresence of suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed modules in thenational capital had the DelhiPolice conducting searches indifferent areas all ofWednesday night but withoutsuccess. Teams of the DelhiPolice Special Cell and theCrime Branch carried out theall-night search operation in 15districts of the city till 5 a.m. onThursday. The areas seachedinluded Zafrabad, Seelampurand Welcome Colony inNortheast; Jamia Nagar andOkhla in South; ChandniChowk, Chitli Kabar andChandni Mahal in Old Delhi;several areas in East Delhi; andillegal colonies on the YamunaBank. A top Delhi Police officialsaid: "We had the informationthat some Jaish-e-Mohammadterrorists have sneaked intoDelhi. So the Special Cell wasinvolved in the searchoperation, otherwise the localpolice could have easily nabbedthe criminals." However, thenight-long operation did notyielded anything, except twopersons, who have beendetained and are beingquestioned, said policesources.

PNS n NEW DELHI

If Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan's repeated forecastof a nuclear war between Indiaand Pakistan comes true, any-where between 5 crore to 12.5crore people will die within aspan of less than a week --more than the death toll dur-ing all six years of World WarII, according to new research.

Today, India and Pakistaneach have about 150 nuclearwarheads at their disposal andthat number is expected toclimb to more than 200 by2025. The study conducted byresearchers from the Universityof Colorado Boulder andRutgers University in the USexamined how such a hypo-thetical future conflict wouldhave consequences that couldripple across the globe.

The researchers calculatedthat an India-Pakistan warcould inject as much as 80 bil-lion pounds of thick, blacksmoke into Earth's atmos-phere.

"The picture is grim. Thatlevel of warfare wouldn't justkill millions of people locally,"said Brian Toon from CUBoulder, who led the researchpublished in the journalScience Advances.

"Hopefully, Pakistan andIndia will take note of thispaper. But mostly, I'm con-cerned that Americans aren'tinformed about the conse-quences of nuclear war," theresearchers noted.

The scenario might alsoplunge the entire planet into asevere cold spell, possibly with

temperatures not seen since thelast Ice Age.

"An India-Pakistan warcould double the normal deathrate in the world," said Toon,a professor in the Laboratory ofAtmospheric and SpacePhysics. "This is a war thatwould have no precedent inhuman experience".

Toon believes that suchweapons are still very much athreat -- one that's under-scored by current hostilitiesbetween India and Pakistan.

"They're rapidly building uptheir arsenals," Toon said.

"They have huge populations,so lots of people are threatenedby these arsenals, and thenthere's the unresolved conflictover Kashmir."

In the latest study, Toonand his colleagues wanted tofind out just how bad such aconflict could get.

To do that, the team drew ona wide range of evidence, fromcomputer simulations ofEarth's atmosphere to accountsof the bombings of Hiroshimaand Nagasaki in Japan in 1945.

Based on their analysis, thedevastation would come inseveral stages.

In the first week of the con-flict, the group reports thatIndia and Pakistan combined

could successfully detonateabout 250 nuclear warheadsover each other's cities.

There's no way to knowhow powerful these weaponswould be--neither nation hasconducted nuclear tests indecades--but the researchersestimated that each one couldkill as many as 700,000 people.

Most of those people would-n't die from the blasts them-selves, however, but from theout-of-control fires that wouldfollow.

"If you look at Hiroshimaafter the bomb fell, you can seea huge field of rubble about amile wide," Toon said. "It was-n't the result of the bomb. Itwas the result of the fire."

PNS n NEW DELHI

Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh will join thefirst all-party Indian delegationto Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib inPakistan to attend the 550thPrakash Purb celebrations ofGuru Nanak Dev on November9, Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh said onThursday.

Manmohan Singh hasaccepted his invite, he saidhere. The Chief Minister alsoinvited President Ram NathKovind and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to attend thecelebrations of Guru NanakDev, including the historicopening of the Kartarpur cor-ridor. In separate meetings withthem here, the Chief Ministerurged them to join the megaevents to mark the auspiciousoccasion.

Amarinder Singh later toldthe media that both Kovind andModi accepted the state gov-ernment's invitation to be a partof the historic celebrations andmodalities for their visit wouldbe finalised after the Kartarpurcorridor opening programme isfrozen with Pakistan.

An official spokesperson said

the detailed official programmeof events has been shared withboth, the President and thePrime Minister, and they hadbeen requested by the ChiefMinister to attend as per theirconvenience.

However, the Chief Ministerhas urged them to participate inthe Kartarpur corridor openingat Dera Baba Nanak and theNovember 12 main programmeat Sultanpur Lodhi.

At his meeting with thePrime Minister, AmarinderSingh also urged his personalintervention to facilitate polit-ical clearance for allowing a spe-cial all-party ajatha' or delega-tion to visit Sri Nankana Sahib,

the birth place of the first Guru,now in Pakistan, on the historicoccasion.

He requested that a group of21 persons may be allowed tovisit Sri Nankana Sahib toorganise a apath' or prayer onthe occasion of the 550thPrakash Purb from October 30to November 3 and bring a ana-gar kirtan' or religious proces-sion to Sultanpur Lodhi viaWagha in Amritsar later in theday. The 'nagar kirtan' willarrive in Sultanpur Lodhi inKapurthala district onNovember 4.

The Chief Minister has alsowritten a letter to Minister ofExternal Affairs S. Jaishankar

seeking formal clearance for theNankana Sahib delegation visitand the anagar kirtan' to bebrought from Pakistan toPunjab, according to an officialspokesperson.

The delegation to Pakistanthat will accompany the ChiefMinister to the historic gurd-wara would comprise all the 117state legislators, Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha MPs from Punjab,Shriomani GurdwaraParbandhak Committee(SGPC) members, as well asmembers of the Sant Samaj andrepresentatives of each recog-nised political party in thestate.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A photo of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and Delhichief minister Arvind Kejriwalengaged, seemingly engaged ina deep conversation at Rajghaton the occasion of MahatmaGandhi's 150th birth anniver-sary has gone viral.

The sheer optics of thephoto has people talkingwhether the bitter, often acri-monious relationship betweenthe two leaders has taken aturn towards an arrangementwhere they seem ready to dobusiness with each other, whileleaving the state unit to battleit out ahead of the crucialDelhi Aassembly elections,slated next year.

Someone, who years back ina fit of rage called PM Modi"psychopath", praised the samepersonality last month forbringing in Motor VehiclesAmendment Act.

"There has been an improve-ment in Delhi's traffic eversince the new Motor VehiclesAct has been implemented", hehad said.

Before the September praiseon the Modi government'sMVA Act that were notimplemented by many of theBJP ruled states, Kejriwal hadmet the Prime Minister inJune, soon after he took overfor the second time, with aneven bigger mandate of 303seats.

"Met Shri Narendra Modiand congratulated him for LokSabha victory," he had said,soon after the meeting.

Kejriwal had invited thePrime Minister to visit a"Mohalla Clinic" - the prima-ry medical centres, part ofAAP's healthcare policy.

Kejriwal had sent out atweet immediately after themeeting in June that read:"Assured full cooperation ofDelhi government to developDelhi, capital city of India. It isimportant that Delhi govern-ment and Centre work togeth-er."

It was a 180 degree turn-around of the 'angry youngman' who loved to challenge

the establishment, even whenhe was in the government.

Seeking to regularise unau-thorised colonies is believed tobe one of the main reasons forthis rapprochement. There are1,797 unauthorised colonieshousing several lakh people inDelhi that are awaiting regu-larisation for years. Accordingto sources, approval of theUnion cabinet for the same isawaited. Manoj Tiwari, DelhiBJP chief is at it saying, "All theunauthorised colonies will beregularised in six months fromnow.

PNS nTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Five assembly constituencies inKerala go to the polls onOctober 21 to elect new legis-lators. In four constituencies,the resignations of the sittingCongress legislators who wonthe recent Lok Sabha polls isthe reason for the fresh polls.

Vattiyoorkavu constituencyin the state capital is onewhich will see a strong three-cornered fight and those in thefray include former Congresslegislator K. Mohankumar,Thiruvananthapuram Mayorand youth CPI-M leader V.K.Prasanth andThiruvananthapuram districtBJP president S.Suresh.

This is a seat where the BJPcame second in the 2016assembly polls and in therecent Lok Sabha polls also theBJP candidate came second.

Aroor constituency inAlappuzha district will see adirect fight between seniorCongress leader ShanimolUsman and youth CPI-Mleader Manu C. Pulikan. Alsoin the fray is BJP leader K.P.Prakash Babu.

Usman is no stranger to theconstituency which is part ofthe Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat,

which she contested but lost tositting CPI-M legislator A.M.Ariff. Konni is another con-stituency which will see whatappears to be a three-corneredfight between local Congressleader A.P. Mohanraj, BJP can-didate K. Surendran, who con-tested the Pathanamthitta LokSabha seat and came a closethird in this constituency. TheCPI-M has fielded K.U. JanishKumar.

Ernakulam is another seatwhich will see a direct contestbetween the Congress candi-date Kochi deputy mayor T.J.Vinod and CPI-M supportedindependent candidate Manu

Roy. Also in the fray is BJPleader C.G. Rajagopal.

The fifth by-election hasbeen caused by the death ofIndian Union Muslim Leagueleader P.B. Abdul Razack lastyear. He representedManjeswaram in the Assembly.The by-election to the seat wasdelayed due to an electionpetition filed by the BJP can-didate K. Surendran in 2016.

Like in the previous twoelections, this time too thefight is going to be between theIUML candidate and the BJPcandidate with the CPI-M alsoexpected to put up a goodshowing.

Campaign opens for 5 KeralaAssembly by-elections

PNS n CHENNAI

DMK President M.K. Stalin onThursday demanded a probe byCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) into the hiring of prox-ies to write the medical entranceexam - National Eligibility cumEntrance Test (NEET).

Speaking to reporters inTiruvarur, Stalin said brokersfrom Tamil Nadu as well asother states are involved inthis crime.

He said if justice is to beobtained, the probe should bedone by the CBI.

Currently, the case is beinginvestigated by the CrimeBranch Crime InvestigationDepartment of Tamil Nadupolice.

To date, police have arrestedfour father-son duos forallegedly hiring proxies forwrite the entrance exam.

The police are also probingto see whether MohammedShafi, father of Irfan, is a quack.

The scam came to light whenthe Dean of the GovernmentMedical College in Theni gottwo e-mails from a person,Ashok Krishnan, complainingagainst a first year student K.V.Udit Surya.

According to the complaint,Surya had failed twice in theNEET. He had cleared therecent exam opting for Mumbaias the exam centre, where aproxy wrote the entrance exam.

The college authorities foundtwo different photographs.

Later, the police arrestedSurya and his doctor fatherVenkatesan, working in theGovernment Stanley Hospitaland an agent in Kerala for hir-ing a proxy to write the entranceexam.

While interrogating Suryaand Venkatesan, police learnedthat there were several otherfirst year medical college stu-dents who had engaged prox-ies for a huge fee - upwards ofRs 20 lakh - to write the exams.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Amidst infighting in itsHaryana unit, the Congress hasreleased the list of all the 90candidates for the October 21Assembly polls but a viralvideo featuring its three seniorleaders has come as a majorembarrassment.

In the video, purportedlyshot on Wednesday in theParliament House complex,Congress Interim PresidentSonia Gandhi's close aide

Ahmed Patel and seniorHaryana leader BhupinderSingh Hooda are seen holdingan impromptu discussion

regarding the affairs of theparty.

While another senior leaderGhulam Nabi Azad, who is in-

charge of Haryana, watches, anupset Patel is seen purported-ly asking Hooda, former ChiefMinister of Haryana, why theCongress is weak in the state.He is heard asking "where hasthe party gone?" Hooda isseen giving some explanationto Patel, the Treasurer of theCongress.

After the embarrassingvideo went viral, the top lead-ership of the Congress was saidto be in a huddle to look fordamage control.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onThursday indicated that it isnot going to dilute the strin-gent provisions of ScheduledCastes and the ScheduledTribes (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act, while reserv-ing the order on pleas chal-lenging validity of theAmendment Act.

A bench headed by JusticeArun Mishra reserved orderon pleas challenging theScheduled Castes and theScheduled Tribes (Preventionof Atrocities) AmendmentAct, 2018, which was broughtto nullify the March 20, 2018Supreme Court judgement.

Criticising the prevailingcaste system in the country, theSupreme Court On Tuesdayhad recalled its direction in theverdict passed on March 20,2018, which had virtuallydiluted the provisions of arrestunder the SC/ST Act. Duringthe hearing on Thursday, thetop court said that amendmentbrought by Centre in SC/STAct to bar anticipatory bailplea to accused lodged underthe Act is unnecessary and saidthat old provisions would berestored in light of its recentverdict.

PNS n KOLKATA

Making his first public appear-ance in 20 days, during whichhe eluded the CBI detectivesfrantically searching for him,senior IPS officer RajeevKumar on Thursday surren-dered before the Alipore courthere and was given him bail inconnection with the Saradhaponzi scheme scam.

Kumar gave himself upbefore the Additional ChiefJudicial Magistrate SubrataMukherjee, as part of formal-ities two days after he wasgranted anticipatory bail by theCalcutta High Court in thecase. The ACJM asked the cur-rent Additional DirectorGeneral of the West BengalCriminal InvestigationDepartment to furnish twosureties of Rs 50,000 each foravailing of the bail.

Kumar was last seen in pub-lic on September 13 at theCalcutta High Court, whichhad on that day withdrawn the

interim protection from arrestgiven to him earlier by thejudiciary. Since then, Kumarhad not appeared before theCentral Bureau of Investigationwhich sent him multiplenotices to appear before thesleuths for questioning in thecase. The CBI, which wantedKumar's custodial interroga-tion, sent a special 12-memberteam in the city to nab him.But despite a manhunt spreadacross several districts, withraids on hotels, guest houses,government offices, bunga-lows and even a private hospi-tal, the federal agency couldnot catch him.

PNS n NEW DELHI

More than half of the sittingMLAs in Maharashtra havedeclared criminal cases againstthemselves, as per an analysisby Association of DemocraticReforms (ADR) andMaharashtra Election Watch(MEW). Of 275 sitting legisla-tors analysed, 158 MLAs (58per cent) have declared crimi-nal cases against themselves.

ADR and MEW haveanalysed the criminal, financialand other background detailsof 275 of 287 sitting MLAs

Of these MLAs, 110 (40 percent) MLAs have declared seri-ous criminal cases, three MLAshave declared cases related tothe murder and 14 MLAs havedeclared cases related toattempt to murder. Coming tothe party wise break up of crim-inal cases against MLAs, 72 or(62 per cent) out of 117 MLAsare from BJP, 46 (75 per cent)out of 61 MLAs belong to ShivSena, 14 (35 per cent) of 40MLAs are from Congress and4 (67 per cent) out of 6Independent MLAs have crim-inal cases against themselves intheir affidavits. A huge chunkof legislators are in the eight fig-ure bracket. Of 275 sittingMLAs analysed, 239 (87%) arecrorepatis. The party-wisecrorepati MLAs include 99 (85%) of 117 MLAs from BJP,51(84 per cent) out of 61MLAs from Shiv Sena, 37(95%) of 39 MLAs from NCP,36 (90 per cent) out of 40 MLAsfrom Congress and 5 (83 percent) out of 6 IndependentMLAs have declared assetsvalued more than Rs 1 crore.

Manmohan Singh

Arvind Kejriwal

The CM alsoinvited PresidentRam Nath Kovindand PM NarendraModi to attend thecelebrations ofGuru Nanak Dev,including thehistoric opening ofthe Kartarpurcorridor Seeking to regularise unauthorised

colonies is believed to be one of themain reasons for this rapprochement.There are 1,797 unauthorised colonieshousing several lakh people in Delhi thatare awaiting regularisation for years.According to sources, approval of theUnion cabinet for the same is awaited

In four constituencies, the resignationsof the sitting Congress legislators whowon the recent Lok Sabha polls are thereason for the fresh polls

SC indicatesnot dilutingSC/ST Act

Over half ofMah MLAshave criminalcases

Rajeev surrendersfor formalities

Rajeev Kumar

Embarrassing viral video hits Cong

HIRING PROXIES TO WRITE NEET

Stalin demands CBI probe

"An India-Pakistan war could double thenormal death rate in the world," saidToon, a professor in the Laboratory ofAtmospheric and Space Physics. "Thisis a war that would have no precedentin human experience"

From calling Modi ‘psychopath'to seeking cooperation

Arvind Kejriwal’s volte face

Manmohan Singh to joinpanel for Kartarpur Gurdwara

India-Pak N-war can kill over 10 cr people: Study

This week we celebrated MahatmaGandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.The Father of the Nation is a herofor me as I am sure he is for mil-lions of people across the world.

His birth anniversary served an opportunetime to examine and reflect how his valuesand principles, the primary pillars of ourfreedom movement, are being imbibed andpractised by the country. As our nationalconscience, he lived by certain values thatI am sure he hoped his children would liveby, too. One such ideal was the importancehe gave to “truth.” To him, “truth” was sosignificant that it found a place in the titleof his autobiography, The Story of MyExperiments with Truth. On this subject,Bapu gave us many memorable quotes butone of them that is my favourite is: “An errordoes not become truth by reason of multi-plied propagation, nor does truth becomeerror because nobody sees it.”

This October 2, 2019, was also the daywhen Prime Minister Modi announcedrural India as “Open Defecation Free”(ODF). When I heard of this claim,Gandhiji’s quote on “truth” popped up in mymind. Bapu’s words in the quote mentionedabove perhaps stood in starker contrast thanusual because of something else that hap-pened later last month. A little less than aweek before the Prime Minister’s bombas-tic claim, two young children from the Dalitcommunity were beaten to death in a vil-lage in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly for defe-cating in the open in the field of a highercaste community.

This horrific incident, where two younglives were quickly extinguished, shouldhaunt us for days to come. Imagine a situ-ation where you are driving on the road withyour children, moving from one city toanother, and no toilet facility is available formiles. This at a time when one of your chil-dren is unwell and needs to relievehimself/herself. Though not ideal, youdecide there is no option but to stop in asecluded field so that your child can getsome relief. For a moment, think of the fearand shame that would grip you, that of beingspotted. Now imagine the fear that grips mil-lions of Indians who have to deal with thistorment every day. And then, you are toldthat India is ODF.

Bhavkedi, the village where the twoyoung children were killed, was declared andrecorded as ODF. Therefore, according tothe Government, every household in this vil-lage has a toilet, which has been built underthe broad aegis of the Swachh BharatAbhiyan (SBA). However, the kids’ deathshows that whatever the statistics, the truthappears to be quite different.

The “truth” is that the success of thescheme is being exaggerated to protect animage that has been created. Multiplereports have highlighted that the con-struction of toilets under the SBA has nothelped create durable sanitation facilities.

Cleanliness has not improveddespite the construction of toi-lets because other than thephysical construction of thetoilet, other requirements suchas running water and a viabledisposal system are absent.

Another reason why India’ssanitation facilities have notimproved really is because whileconstructing toilets may lookgood on paper, the problem ofopen defecation cannot be tack-led unless we address issues sur-rounding caste system and focuson changing people’s mindset.The reason why theGovernment has picked build-ing toilets as a target rather thanactually building compositesanitation facilities is because itis easier to market and talkabout the former than actuallymeasuring whether sanitation inthe country has improved at all.

There has been no discus-sion about the close linkbetween caste system andimproving sanitation as part ofthe SBA even though this isundeniable. This because clean-ing of toilets is typically consid-ered to be impure by large sec-tions of society and is reservedfor the lower castes. It is thismindset that must change toensure the success of any sani-tation drive.

In fact, a popular digital

portal put it rightly when it saidthat SBA had actually worsenedthe oppression faced by Dalitsin three ways. First, the increasein the number of toilets withoutthe requisite improvement insanitation infrastructure such asplumbing and septic tanks hadincreased the need for people toclean out toilets manually. Sincethe upper caste was unwilling todo so, this task fell on theDalits which, therefore,increased the prevalence ofmanual scavenging amongthem.

Second, Dalits are oftenexcluded from the public wel-fare system, including grants tomake toilets under the SBA. Inaddition to this, as per newsreports, pressure on officials toensure constructions of toiletshas led to a situation where indi-viduals are being threatenedwith refusal of access to the pub-lic distribution system.

Third, despite having theability and the option to con-struct toilets, the right to defe-cate in the open itself is a priv-ilege of one’s caste and, therefore,Dalits have a lesser right to doso. They are then faced with aCatch-22 situation. Neither arethey privileged enough to haveaccess to funds to build toiletsor have the right to defecate inthe open without the fear of

being killed. The issue is not that we have

not been able to ensure bettersanitation for Indians. This is ahuge, complicated problem, onethat requires committed effortsand a clear plan of action. Theproblem, however, is thatinstead of looking at groundresults and actually measuringthe success of the SBA, we patourselves on the back, listeningonly to those things that makeus happy.

By avoiding rigid examina-tion, we are only fooling our-selves. The long-term impact ofthis approach, where the pursuitof truth takes a backseat to thehum of propaganda, will be cat-astrophic. This was recentlyechoed by former Reserve Bankof India Governor RaghuramRajan, too, who said that sup-pressing criticism will lead tomistakes and that it should beavoided by Governments.

The words of Bapu thenring just as “true” today aswhen he said: “Truth does notbecome error merely becausenobody sees it.” The tragedy willbe that by the time we actuallydo see the “truth” for what it is,we may have lost more innocentsouls due to willful ignorance.

(The writer is a former IPSofficer, an MP and currently amember of the AAP)National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit

Doval is on a tour of the Middle-Eastwhere he is meeting heads of several

Arabian nations. This, in conjunction withExternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s con-fabulations in the US, is the culmination of awell-planned diplomatic offensive undertakenby India in the aftermath of the abrogation ofArticle 370. This clearly proves that a global

strategy was well in the pipeline before Prime Minister Narendra Modi decidedto bite the bullet on Jammu & Kashmir. After years, possibly decades of losingthe diplomatic initiative to Pakistan, we have finally adopted a well thought-outstrategy of engagement, one that is paying dividends.

Of course, there is no doubt that several pro-Pakistani elements have infil-trated the establishment in several nations, from their foreign ministries to themedia. The latter is clearly evident in the way several “neutral” foreign mediaorganisations have been operating on the Kashmir front. However, after PakistanPrime Minister Imran Khan’s disastrous trip to the US, where he threatened anuclear war, he has had a loss of face. This cost that country’s UN AmbassadorMaleeha Lodhi her job even though she survived several regime changes inIslamabad. India’s quiet strategy, with back-channel meetings and engagementwith think-tanks as well as with nations previously hostile to the country, is nowyielding results. Doval’s charm offensive in the Arabian peninsula in the light ofTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s comments on Kashmir will definite-ly blunt the negative tilt. At the same time, this mission, coming at a time whenPakistan’s economy is on the verge of collapse, could also mean that the ter-rorist nation will find it difficult to raise funds to survive. Clearly, India is trying toscore a point at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which freezes aid to nationsthat are into terror funding, and pile up as many votes as possible against Pakistanand blacklist it. With our neighbour having China and Turkey’s guarantees, weare working on newer member-nations like Saudi Arabia. And since China hasthe current chair of FATF, the Government is sparing no effort to reach out to all39 members. This is the first time in a decade when India has had such a well-coordinated diplomatic initiative. Its earlier diplomatic moves were usually a post-facto fire-fighting mission. It helps that India’s External Affairs Ministry is led bya career diplomat who has already proven his worth as the best Minister in thecurrent Cabinet. Doval’s stellar work in stabilising the situation in the Valley willallow him to negate the propagandists, several of whom are from New Delhi. Infact, India’s dramatically improved ties with the Arab nations is one of Modi’stop diplomatic achievements as they have developed despite its closeness withIsrael. Now comes the difficult task of managing the situation in the Valley forwhich the Government has to ensure a return to normalcy and a meaningful engage-ment with civilians.

Sometimes, ticking off boxes for the heckof it is a lot about missed opportunities.And except for self-gratification and a

willing suspension of disbelief, there are noother takeaways. So though Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announced that 99 per centof villages in India had declared themselvesopen-defecation free (ODF), neither he nor uscan overlook ground realities. While the ODFgoal has got Modi acclaim for “investing polit-ical time and efforts” in issues pertaining tohealth and sanitation, without actionable

intent or neat execution, we cannot claim the next level of the human develop-ment index. What else can explain a recent incident in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuridistrict, where two children were beaten to death for defecating in the open?Simply because they couldn’t make a pretty picture as their family couldn’t afforda toilet, still a luxury in outlying fringes of the hinterland. Besides, though thepanchayat had sanctioned building a toilet in their home, the sarpanch stalled itover ego and caste issues. As Dalits, they are proscribed from pursuing activ-ities reserved for other castes. Incidentally, the village had been declared ODF-free by the Government. And what of the homeless, an estimated 90 lakh ofwhom are too scattered or are forced by circumstance to avail community toi-let facilities? As a result, they are compelled to look for an abandoned terrainwhere they can answer nature’s call. Then there are the many puritanical taboosin remote pockets where people consider toilets as impure and, therefore, bestconfined outdoors. There have been umpteen instances of how newly-built toi-lets have been converted to granaries or storage rooms because of a social psy-che. Yet on paper, all such houses are considered as having toilets, a key crite-rion for labelling a village ODF. Often this entry is made after a “work done sta-tus” without anybody cross-verifying if they are indeed being put to good use.

These instances bring to the fore the many challenges that mar the viabili-ty of an important scheme that has so far at least managed to get a conversa-tion going on sanitation standards, mainstreamed toilets as a social enterpriseand convinced people about the end-use. Its pursuit should not be hasty butmulti-pronged. There should be no rush for a tag until all parameters have beenmet. For example, the lack of water supply is the biggest hindrance to any cleandrive. There is still insufficient knowledge about how to manage the faecal sludgein pits and sewer tanks, dispose it in the absence of an outlet or convert it tomanure and biogas. In other words, a sanitary sub-structure that has been man-dated by the Jal Shakti Ministry needs to be completed as a second-tier planbefore we pin convenient tags. With the Government emphasising the construc-tion of twin leach pit toilets, which can address the issue to an extent, only 30per cent of our total toilets are of this variant. Sludge management itself is a com-plex procedure involving five stages: Containment, desludging, transport, treat-ment and reuse/disposal. To compound the problem, most States do not havesufficient sewage treatment plants (STPs). If the Government doesn’t want tolive with another unfinished agenda, then it needs to first ensure a forward link-age of waste management and a uniform protocol that will help it bring aboutattitudinal change. Rather than forcing the pill down people’s throats, the desir-ability of a toilet must be fed into their minds with equally aggressive awarenessand implementation drives. If we celebrate too early on the basis of numbers,which can be tweaked to suit one’s agenda by just changing the benchmarksof accounting, then we would look like a winner no doubt. Dangerously, it lullsus into a sense of achievement and officials move on to the next mission. Unlesswe want the muck to hit the fan, we must desist from grand declarations. Becauseyou cannot hide certain truths, simply because they show up.

The ODF challenge

Another setback

Sir — The UK High Court right-ly decided in favour of Indiaagainst Pakistan, making it clearthat the sum — deposited in aBritish bank — belongs to thedescendants of Hyderabad’sruler. This should close thedecades-old dispute over anamount of one million pounds(now appreciated to over `300crore), which was transferred in1948 to Pakistan’s HighCommissioner by the then rulerof Hyderabad for “safe-keep-ing.” The grandsons ofHyderabad’s Nizam had contest-ed Pakistan’s claim on the moneyand were backed by India. Thisis yet another defeat forPakistan, which has been harp-ing on Partition-related issuesthough more than seven decadeshave elapsed.

Padmini Raghavendra Secunderabad

Remembering Gandhi

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Whither Gandhi?(September 2). Whether it wasdesign or destiny that propelled

Gandhi to the forefront of theIndian freedom movement isanybody’s guess. Whatever saidand done, his overwhelmingpresence was the vital glue thatbrought the freedom fighterstogether, regardless of theirpolitical or communal differ-ences, to continue their fight.

They spoke in one voice.Gandhiji will be revered as thefirst exponent of non-violence.At the same time, the contribu-tion of other patriots like SubhasChandra Bose, Bhagat Singhand Veer Savarkar cannot beoverlooked. The Mahatma wasone of those great men who lived

and died for the redemption offellow men from poverty, polit-ical freedom, human dignityand for the salvation of hismotherland. The spirit ofGandhiji’s sacrifice, however,has gradually begun to fadeaway from the minds of the cur-rent generation on account of

the adaptation of Western ideas.How this can be countered willbe interesting to see as Gandhianideals are timeless and have adistinct place in the world.

JS Acharya Hyderabad

Celebrating animals

Sir — World Animal Day, whichis celebrated on October 4 everyyear, is a special day for animal lovers. October 4 is alsothe feast day of St Francis ofAssisi, who loved all creatures,big and small. It is also an occa-sion to acknowledge the diverse roles that animals play inour lives.

We must acknowledge andbe thankful to them for the waythey enrich our lives. All effortsmust be made to conserve themand preserve their habitats sothat they can coexist with us onthis planet. It is time we realisethat we all depend on nature andits creatures to survive. Weshould show respect to all.

Jubel D’Cruz Mumbai

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

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op nionVIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4, 2019

06

Losing touch with reality

AJOY KUMAR

It’s high time the Government accepts some hard truths about its Swachh BharatMission and corrects itself before an altruistic scheme is lost to willful ignorance

If I keep too many barriersor limitations in my mindwhile choosing a film orthe parts I am offered, itwould not help mebecome a massy actor.

Actor—Alia Bhatt

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 RHow khadi can still unite the country

This refers to the editorial, “Whither Gandhi?(September 2). As part of Mahatma Gandhi's 150thbirth anniversary, various institutions, boards,

departments, agencies and organisations came out withexcellent initiatives, plans and programmes. The CentralBoard of Secondary Education (CBSE) asked schoolsacross the country to voluntarily observe khadi-wear-ing day at least once a month. Mahatma Gandhi prop-agated the use of khadi or khaddar during the freedom movement not only to boycott foreign goodsbut also to make Indians self-reliant and use clothesspun by our people with indigenous material that isaffordable, climate-friendly and good for our tropicalconditions.

Gandhiji gave a message to India how wearingkhadi could unite us. The CBSE's proposal is laudableand can be emulated by other organisations. Khadi,being the heritage fabric of our nation and institutions,can generate jobs for rural artisans if we can createa demand by buying them. The fabric promotes unityand equality and by incorporating innovative fashiontechnology, the new generation is sure to accept it with

open arms. Being skin-friendly and adaptable to anyclimatic condition makes it unique. Khadi can teachthe young about our rich heritage, our freedom move-ment and also bind them to the worthy causes ofGandhi.

M Pradyu Kannur

THERE HAS BEENNO DISCUSSION

ABOUT THE CLOSELINK BETWEENCASTE SYSTEM

AND IMPROVINGSANITATION AS

PART OF THE SBAEVEN THOUGH THIS

IS UNDENIABLE.THIS BECAUSE

CLEANING OFTOILETS IS

CONSIDERED TO BEIMPURE BY A

LARGE SECTIONSOF SOCIETY AND

RESERVED FOR THELOWER CASTES

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Mission goodwill

Neither the Indian nor the USGovernment has stated thatthere will be a trade agreementin five minutes. There is nostructural reason why therecan't be one pretty quickly.

US Secretary of Commerce —Wilbur Ross

It is better not to rush after tags or figures but to have auniform matrix for toilets and solid waste management

Between S Jaishankar and Ajit Doval, India’s diplomaticoffensive is well-planned and is delivering results

Fake news is more dangerous than paidnews. There is need forthe Government and the media to combat it jointly.

Union Minister—Prakash Javadekar

No one has explained to Gretathat the modern world is dif-ferent... people in Africa or inmany Asian countries want tolive at the same wealth levelas in Sweden.

Russian President —Vladimir Putin

Booster for corporate India

FOR THE OPPOSITION, POWER IS A MEDIUM FORLOOTING PUBLIC FOR PERSONAL GAIN AND HAS

NOTHING TO DO WITH PUBLIC WELFARE.—UTTAR PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER

YOGI ADITYANATH

IF YOU HEARD MY SPEECH (IN THE ASSEMBLY) IONLY SPOKE ABOUT DEVELOPMENT ANDSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS.—CONGRESS MLA FROM RAE BARELIADITI SINGH

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

In a flurry of announcements made onSeptember 20, 2019 (also described in mediacircles as a third Union Budget in less than

three months), Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman handed out a bonanza to the Indiancorporate sector.

The most pleasing announcement pertainsto the steep reduction in the rate of corporate taxfor new entities incorporated from October 1,2019 in the manufacturing sector, that start pro-duction before March 31, 2023 from the exist-ing 25 per cent to 15 per cent. After subsumingsurcharge and cess, the effective incidence of taxwill be lowered from the existing 29.15 per centto 17.01 per cent — a drop of 12 per cent. Suchcompanies won’t have to pay Minimum AlternateTax (MAT) that is levied on book profit of firmswhich have no taxable profit, courtesy exemp-tions and incentives.

This is a bolt from the blue as in the road-map laid down in the Budget speech for 2015-16, the then Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, hadproposed reduction in the corporate tax to 25 percent (at present, the benefit of this rate is avail-able only to start-ups and firms having an annu-al turnover lower than `400 crore even as com-panies with a turnover higher than this thresh-old pay 30 per cent). There was absolutely no hintwhatsoever about the rate being reduced to anylevel less than 25 per cent even for start-ups.Sitharaman has broken this barrier.

The second announcement relates to anequally significant reduction in the tax rate onexisting companies from 30 per cent to 22 percent. However, this is subject to the firm surren-dering all incentives they are availing under theexisting dispensation (once exercised, the firmis not allowed to change the option subsequent-ly). With surcharge and cess, the effective tax willwork out to 25.17 per cent down from the exist-ing 34.9 per cent — a drop of almost 10 per cent.These firms will also be exempt from MAT.

Existing small and medium enterprises(SMEs) with a turnover of less than `400 crore,currently pay tax at the rate of 25 per cent. Theytoo will have the option to switch to 22 per cent.Inclusive of surcharge and cess, the effective taxincidence will fall from 29.15 per cent to 25.17per cent. The crucial point to note here is thatunder the new regime, existing big companieswill pay tax at the same rate of 25.17 per cent asSMEs. The companies who decide to continuewith the existing dispensation of tax at the rateof 30 per cent with a view to fully utilise theincentives and exemptions that go with it, willalso get covered under the new 22 per cent taxregime, starting from the sunset date of thoseincentives. For the period they remain under thesubsisting regime, they will be liable to pay MATbut at a reduced rate of 15 per cent down fromexisting 18.5 per cent.

There couldn’t be a more attractive packagefor someone keen to undertake fresh investmentin India — be it a domestic investor or a foreigncompany with an Indian partner. The effectivetax rate applicable in such cases at the rate of17.01 per cent being the lowest among all majorcountries (US 21 per cent, Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development aver-age 21.4 per cent, China 25 per cent), makes Indiathe most attractive destination. This may even

prompt companies wanting to relocatefrom China in the light of the worsen-ing trade relations between WashingtonDC and Beijing, to look at India as a toppriority.

For existing investment, the offer iscompelling. Around 2,50,000 compa-nies out of 8,40,000 that filed taxreturns for 2017-18 had paid tax at aneffective rate of 25 per cent or higher.Out of the top 21 companies listed onthe Bombay Stock Exchange, the effec-tive tax rate for 10 is in excess of 25 percent (remaining 11 pay less in view ofthe domineering effect of exemptionsand incentives). These companies willstand to gain by switching over to the22 per cent tax regime. However, muchwill depend on the treatment of MATcredit accumulated in the books of thecompanies concerned.

Though companies are keen thateven after a switchover, they must beallowed to set off MAT credit againstfuture tax liability, the ordinance issilent on this. If the Governmentreplies in the negative, then the optionof immediate switchover loses its sheen.Then, the firms would prefer to wait fora couple of years till such time the accu-mulated MAT credit in the books isfully adjusted (this is permitted underthe existing scheme of things). While,one has to wait and see how the legalbrains in the establishment wouldreact to this, prima facie theGovernment may not be inclined topermit this balancing. This is becausethe new 22 per cent tax (plain vanilla)regime has to be free from the past bag-

gage that included a plethora of exemp-tions, incentive, MAT et al. Further con-sidering that under the new regime, noMAT is levied, then to allow an adjust-ment of the accumulated MAT creditwill be incongruous.

The decisions have been taken inthe backdrop of a significant deceler-ation in the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) growth and a dismal job sce-nario. These are intended to reverse thetrend and put the economy on a highgrowth trajectory by boosting privateinvestment and aggregate demand.Will things pan out in the mannerintended? Much will depend on howthe surplus in the hands of companiesresulting from tax cuts (about `145,000crore annually being the equivalent ofrevenue loss to the Government) isapportioned among them and equally importantly, how it is spent.Broadly, two strands come out quiteclearly.

Considering the steeper drop ineffective incidence of tax on biggercompanies (turnover `400 crore) fromthe existing 34.9 per cent to 25.17 percent, they will get a bigger slice of thebonanza as against SMEs for whomeffective tax is lowered from 29.15 percent to 25.17 per cent. Given the pri-ority all along assigned by the NarendraModi Government to the latter, therewas a strong case for reducing the taxfor them to 15 per cent on par with thatapplicable to new investment (if, ear-lier SMEs were on par with new units,why should the parity not be main-tained now?)

SMEs have a share of about 29 percent in the GDP but account for 40 percent of the total employment. Therefore,leaving more money in the hands ofthese enterprises will be more advan-tageous, especially when it comes to cre-ating jobs and boosting demand in thecountry. But reducing the tax ratealone won’t help, more so when a largenumber of them are incurring lossesand facing closure. They need supportby way of credit, timely payment andrelease of Goods and Services Tax(GST) refunds.

The other crucial aspect is how bigcompanies spend the surplus. Ideally,this should be invested in creation of anew capacity or increasing utilisationof the existing capacity, as this will givea fillip to growth and employment.They may also pay back loans tobanks, which will enable the latter toincrease credit availability for a widerimpact. They should go for distributionof dividend only as a last resort.

To conclude, the near overhaulingof the corporate tax structure, with afocus on making it “competitive” and“simple” is a great leap forward. It haslifted the sentiment and laid the foun-dation for increasing investment,growth and employment. But, thisshould be complemented by measuresto plug loopholes in tax collection,increase farmers’ income and boostinfrastructure development to ensurethat the growth is inclusive and sustain-able.

(The writer is a New Delhi-basedpolicy analyst)

Much will depend on how the surplus in the hands of companies resulting from tax cuts is apportioned among them and equally importantly, how it is spent

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

Incentivise reuseof plastic

KUMARDEEP BANERJEE

The solution to reducing pollution lies inmaking it viable for rag-pickers to collect

carry bags for a guaranteed amount

UTTAM GUPTA

THE NEAROVERHAUL OF

THE CORPORATETAX STRUCTUREHAS LIFTED THESENTIMENT AND

LAID THEFOUNDATION FOR

INCREASINGINVESTMENT,

GROWTH ANDEMPLOYMENT.

BUT, THISSHOULD BE

COMPLEMENTEDBY MEASURES TOPLUG LOOPHOLES

IN TAXCOLLECTION,

INCREASEFARMERS’

INCOME ANDBOOST

INFRASTRUCTUREDEVELOPMENT TO

ENSURE THATTHE GROWTH ISINCLUSIVE AND

SUSTAINABLE

The Government hasn’t imposed a mandatory ban on single-use plastic throughout the country, a measure seen as too dis-ruptive for the industry at a time when it is coping with an eco-

nomic slowdown and job losses in most sectors. This has beenseen by many as a step back from the stated position of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, who seemed to have suggested a com-plete ban on its use by the public, from the ramparts of the RedFort on August 15.

The Prime Minister’s views on single-use plastic have creat-ed enough awareness, regarding the avoidable menace, right at thestreet level where it starts to multiply with every free plastic bagpunched with a few pieces of apples bought. It reaches a peak whenGod-fearing mortals push charity via plastic and thermocol platesfull of food, to be eaten with plastic spoons and washed down withwater from plastic bottles or cups.

The cheap shampoo sachets, the sinful habit of smoking andthe resultant cigarette butts, the bubble wraps used in packagingand a fun stress buster for many, all leave a long-lasting harmfulimpact on the environment.

Is it fine then, to completely ban this toxic substance, whichis a ticking bomb in our lives or, do we need a measured approach?The answer could lie in proper recycling, reuse and collection ofused plastic.

Before we move further, here is an insight picked literally fromthe streets, on how laws ought to be made to ensure a plastic-freeecosystem. A chat between a senior functionary from the Ministryof Environment and Forests and some industry representatives wasgetting rhetorical, when, the official asked if anyone in the roomknew why the Government had banned plastic under 50 micronsto be used for carry bags and planned to make it the same for allpackaging material. After a pause, he asked if anybody knew howplastic in India is recycled. The answer to both these questions israg-pickers, the unseen army of eco-warriors, who go about scav-enging near garbage dumps and urban dwellings, checking everynook and corner for any scrap that can be sold to recycling units.But collecting any plastic item, mostly carry bags, which are lessthan 50 microns in weight doesn’t make any economic sense tothem. Hence the bags lie ignored, before being pushed by unwa-vering forces of nature to end up on Pacific Ocean floors or Himalayantops.

This insight leads to a conclusion that recycling of plastic, ifdone diligently and pushed across all channels, would arrest theregimented crackdowns by beat inspectors on poor vegetable ven-dors doling out a few kilograms of grocery in a plastic bag.

The answer lies in understanding the very nature of the prod-uct, plastic, which is used as different variants by industries, com-merce and traders and by a man buying fruits on the street. To banits use completely often ends with the burden being borne by smalltraders and street vendors, who form a majority of our commer-cial ecosystem. The answer is recycling but it involves minute, yetimportant, behavioral changes.

If one goes by facts, today it is far cheaper to polymerise vir-gin plastic from crude oil than re-synthesising an old plastic carrybag. The cost of recollecting, sorting, cleaning and pushing it throughsupply chains adds up to the cost of recycled plastic. This preventsrecycling plastic as a viable option against say, breaking an old ship,which is potentially more dangerous to the recycling ecosystem.The solution lies in incentivising recycling, making it a potential mini-industry.

After all, the Prime Minister himself had done a great photo opwith a bunch of professional plastic recyclers recently as he triedto understand the issues they face. It is time some of his officersread the signals and start pushing smart tax incentives for this greenplanet initiative. A beginning could be made by factoring in the envi-ronment cost for every new plastic manufactured in the countryand balancing it with tax sops on every piece of recycled plastic.

Second, often we hear bigger brands, rather than large usersof plastic, coming under the spotlight for non-compliance of plas-tic waste collection for their products. While it does draw attentionto the menace, it is easier said than sorted. Imagine the manufac-turer of a mobile handset or television set, also having to deployan army of recyclers who would go about collecting the packingmaterial of the box, unless the plastic used in packaging is madeheavier, which in turn pushes the cost up for the consumer.

The solution lies again at the doorstep, making it viable for rag-pickers to collect this plastic for a guaranteed amount. Clever solu-tions like these will win the bigger war on plastic in the long run.

(The writer is a policy analyst)

No doubt that PrimeMinister NarendraModi’s week-long visit

to the US shows the strength-ening of ties between India andAmerica. In a packed week ofengagements, he participated inboth bilateral and multilateralsummits, including addressingthe United Nations GeneralAssembly (UNGA) and theClimate Action Summit.

What was Modi’s agenda?Before leaving for New York,the Prime Minister said,“Through my participation inUN events, I will showcase oursuccess in realising theSustainable Development

Goals. At the Climate ActionSummit on September 23, I willhighlight India’s robust actionto address climate change inline with global goals and ourinternational commitments. Iam confident that my visitwould present India as a vibrantland of opportunities, a reliablepartner and a global leader andwill also help impart new ener-gy to our relations with the US.”

Has Modi succeeded in hisagenda?

The “Howdy Modi” event,attended by a 50,000-strongIndian diaspora in Houston,dominated the Prime Minister’sUS visit as he wowed theAmericans. The show ofstrength at Houston was meantfor their respective domesticaudience for both Modi andTrump. Modi utilised this tripfor his own image-buildingexercise as an emerging globalleader. The Houston event wasa glittering performance thatassured the American establish-

ment, business community andthe Indian-Americans thatModi was a man of vision.Modi consolidated his positionas a rockstar as Trump com-pared him to the famousAmerican singer and actor ElvisPresley. Second, both Trumpand Modi exhibited their excel-lent chemistry by praising eachother. While Modi said every-body on the planet knewTrump, the latter returned thecompliment by calling him the“father of the nation.” Modieven campaigned for Trump byreminding the Indian-Americans “Ab ki baar Trumpsarkar.”

Third, the profile of theIndian diaspora also got raisedas the 50,000-strong Indian-Americans cheered Modi lusti-ly. They were proud of Modiwho was sharing the dais withthe American President. He hasprojected “Brand India,” as anemerging global power through“Brand Modi.”

With a larger objective inmind, the Prime Minister hadengaged several leaders fromsmall and big countries on thesidelines of the UN meet, push-ing for greater engagementswith larger groups of countries.For the first time, Modi heldplurilateral top-level interac-tions with the leaders of thePacific Island States and lead-ers of the CARICOM(Caribbean Community and

Common Market) group. Heattended 40 meetings with var-ious leaders and groups culmi-nating in his address at theUNGA. At the UN ClimateAction Summit, Modi outlinedIndia’s environmental and cli-mate action policy, particular-ly its solar energy and thedomestic policy on water andtransport.

As for investment, thePrime Minister made a high

pitch, inviting major Americanfirms to come and invest inIndia, promising all facilities inhis meeting with their ChiefExecutive Officers both inHouston and New York. Theresults of this will be known inthe coming months, whetherthey would put their money inan economy, which is on theslide.

The visit began in Houstonwith India and the US cement-ing their energy ties, with India’sState-run Petronet LNG Ltdsigning a pact to negotiate thesourcing of around five milliontonnes per annum (mtpa)Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)from US developer TellurianInc. While some trade dealwas expected in the bilateralmeeting with Trump, it did notmaterialise. Trade deficit is oneof the irritants between the twocountries as the US Presidenthas been demanding moreaccess to Indian markets. TheUS is India’s largest trade part-

ner and Trump wants NewDelhi to eliminate tariffs oninformation and communica-tion technology products andremoval of price caps on med-ical devices, besides otherthings. India, on the otherhand, wants the US to reinstatethe Generalised System ofPreferences revoked byWashington three months ago.

On the diplomatic side,Modi led India by explainingthe irksome Kashmir issue toglobal leaders in his meetingswith them. Claiming thatthings were coming back tonormal, he blamed Pakistan forthe cross-border terrorism. Atthe UNGA, Modi made astatesman-like speech whileImran Khan predictably inter-nationalised the Kashmir issue.Modi focussed on India’s roletowards development, peaceand security, with no mentionof Article 370. “Fellas, work itout,” was the advice given byTrump to Modi and the

Pakistan Prime Minister.Trump called them his “greatfriends” and gave a strong pushto get the two to talk. WhileTrump talked of dialogue, hisadministration talked of humanrights and return to normalcyin Kashmir. The internationalcommunity is still watchingKashmiris. Like it or not,Kashmir has come on the glob-al radar.

While the visit is beingtouted as successful, trade irri-tants continue to remain andthe Kashmir issue is now inter-nationalised, despite all effortsby New Delhi to downplay it.On the whole, Modi has risenin the eyes of the Americans asthis visit has not only strength-ened him at home and abroadbut also reinforced the view thatthe Indo-US relationship hasbecome an all-weather partner-ship.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

Kashmir is firmly on the global radarWhile Modi has risen in the eyes of the Americans after his recent engagements in the US, trade irritants continue to remain.

Besides, the Kashmir issue has now been internationalised, whether India likes it or not

KALYANI SHANKAR

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Sensex slips 198 pts on financialsector woesMUMBAI: Equity benchmarkSensex furthered losses to thefourth session in a row onThursday, dropping about 199points as financial sectortrouble and renewed trade warconcerns weighed onsentiments. After opening on anegative note, the 30-shareBSE Sensex swung between ahigh of 38,310.93 and a low of37,957.56, before settling at38,106.87, showing a declineof 198.54 points or 0.52 percent. Likewise, the 50-shareNSE Nifty closed down by46.80 points or 0.41 per centat 11,313.10. The Sensex waspulled down mainly by lossesin metal and banking stocks.Globally, markets came underan immense pressure after theUS decision to impose newtariffs on European goods,triggering worries for theglobal economy.

SUV Tata Nexon EVto debut in Q4 FY 20MUMBAI: Automobile majorTata Motors on Thursday saidthat it will debut the SUVNexon EV in Q4 FY19-20.The electric SUV is expectedto be priced between Rs 15and Rs 17 lakhs. According tothe company, the Nexon EVwill be powered by therecently introduced "Ziptron"technology. "Nexon EV will bean aspirational SUV forcustomers looking for athrilling and connected driveexperience,". "This EV willtarget a range of about 300km to address range anxiety."Additionally, the EV will beequipped with a high voltagesystem, zippy performance,fast charging capability,battery and motor withwarranty of 8 years, andadherence to IP67 (dust andwater proof) standard.

‘Credit shamiana'phase 1: PSBs focuson 226 districtsNEW DELHI: The Centre hasselected around 226 districtsfor the first phase of theproposed customer outreachprogramme of the publicsector banks (PSB).As per the list, in the firstphase, State Bank of India, thelargest PSB would hold thehighest number of camps,with around 49 districts underits umbrella. Bank of Barodawould camps in around 26districts across the country.The camps would take place indifferent days across differentdistricts from October 3 toOctober 7. The developmentfollows Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman'sannouncement in Septemberwhereby she had said that thePSBs will organise credit"shamiana meetings" in 400districts beginning October 3to provide loans to NBFCs andretail borrowers, includinghomebuyers and farmers.

PNSn NEW DELHI

After tomatoes, dal is next in lineto bear the brunt of spirallingprices during the festive season.In the last one week, the price ofurad dal has increased by Rs 450-Rs 850 per quintal in the majormarkets of the country. Alongwith urad, the prices of moong,masoor and chickpeas (chana)dal have also gone up. Expertsopine that pulses will be moreexpensive because the urad crophas suffered in Madhya Pradeshdue to the incessant rain. At thesame time, sowing of pulses hasalso been estimated to be less inthis kharif season than last year.

Rajni, a resident of Delhi'sMandawali area, said that afterthe spike in vegetable prices, sheused to manage with potatoesand lentils as the prices were low,but now pulses have also becomeexpensive. Earlier, chickpeas(chana) was available at Rs 55-Rs 60 per kg, but now it has goneup to Rs 65-Rs 70 per kg whilechickpea lentils (chana dal) is atRs 90 per kg.

Mumbai's Amit Shukla, apulses market expert, said thatthere was a rumour in the mar-ket on Tuesday that the govern-ment is going to impose a stocklimit on pulses for wholesale andretail traders, which led to a one-day fall in the prices of all puls-es. But for the last one week, theprices of gram, moong andlentils have been going up. Thewholesale price of Urad's FAQ

(imported from Burma) varietyin the country's financial capitalMumbai on Tuesday was Rs5,450 per quintal, which is Rs 550more than the previous week. Atthe same time, the price ofFAQs in the National CapitalRegion of Delhi was up by Rs450 to Rs 5,400 per quintalfrom the previous week. Theprice of FAQ Urad in Chennaiwas Rs 5,650, UQ of SQ Varietywas Rs 6,775 per quintal. InChennai, the prices of FAQ andSQ have increased by Rs 600 andRs 525 per quintal respectivelyin the last one week. The priceof FAQ Urad in Kolkata rose by

Rs 850 to Rs 6,200 per quintal inthe last one week. The price ofmoong has also increased by Rs100-Rs 200 in various citiesduring the last one week. Theprice of Rajasthan Line Moongwas Rs 6,100 per quintal in Delhion Tuesday. In Delhi, the priceof moong has increased by Rs200 per quintal in the last oneweek. At the same time, the priceof gram has increased by Rs 25-Rs 100 per quintal in major man-dis of the country in the last oneweek. In Ganj Basoda, MadhyaPradesh, the price of desi gramincreased by Rs. 100 to Rs. 4,100on Tuesday.

PNS n MUMBAI

Yes Bank's senior groupPresident Rajat Monga whowas with the company since itsinception in 2004 resignedon Thursday.

Meanwhile, a sharprebound was seen inYes Bank sharesafter the companyon Wednesdayissued clarifica-tion about itsfinancials, whichit described as"intrinsically soundand stable with liq-uidity position well inexcess of regulatory require-ments".

The private lender sharesjumped by nearly 28 per centto Rs 40.95 apiece during theearly trade on Thursday, just

a day after a massive sell-offover the lender's exposure introubled India Bulls HousingFinance was severely pun-ished by the investors. Ittouched its 52 week low of Rs29.05 a piece on October 1.

In a separate exchangefiling on Thursday the

directors of YesBank PromoterG r o u pCompanies -Morgan CreditsPvt Ltd (MCPL)

and Yes Capital PvtLtd (YCPL) said that

the decision to divestour shares at undervalued

share price levels, considerablybelow even the book value wastaken under compelling cir-cumstances with the sole pur-pose of deleveraging MCPLand YCPL.

Yes Bank's group headresigns, stocks rebound

PNS n MUMBAI

Indian equities continued toreel under selling pressure fora fourth straight session onThursday as GST shortfall,financial sector woes andrenewed concerns over globaltrade presented a cocktail ofworries for investors.

Market participants alsomaintained a cautious stanceawaiting the Reserve Bank'smonetary policy outcome dueon Friday.

After opening on a negativenote, the 30-share BSE Sensexswung between a high of38,310.93 and a low of37,957.56, before settling at38,106.87, showing a decline of198.54 points or 0.52 per cent.

Likewise, the 50-share NSENifty closed down by 46.80points or 0.41 per cent at11,313.10.

The benchmark indices —Sensex and Nifty — werepulled down mainly by lossesin metal and banking stocks.

Globally, markets cameunder an immense pressureafter the United States said itwould impose new tariffs onEuropean goods, triggeringworries for the already globaleconomy.

Besides, a series of negativeheadlines in the Indian bank-ing and financial sector have

been playing in the minds ofinvestors, pulling the bench-mark indices down for the pastcouple of sessions.

On the Sensex chart,Vedanta was the biggest loserwith 4.66 per cent decline.Other major laggards werewere Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank,HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, AxisBank, HUL and Bharti Airtel,losing up to 3.36 per cent.

On the other hand, Yes Banksurged about 33 per cent onThursday after five consecutivedays of fall after the bank saidits financials are strong, withthe liquidity position well inexcess of regulatory require-ments.

Others top gainers were TataMotors, ITC, HCL TechPowerGrid, and M&M, gainingup to 6.16 per cent.

The Sensex has lost 882.87points, or 2.27 per cent, in thepast four sessions, while theNifty has dropped 258.10points, 2.24 per cent.

Sectorally, metal was theworst hit with 3 per cent fall,followed by basic materials(1.78 per cent), finance (0.98per cent), banking (0.90 percent) and telecom (1.48 percent).

On the other hand, oil & gasemerged as the top gainer byrising 1.85 per cent, followedby realty (1.14 per cent), ener-gy (0.87 per cent), consumerdurables (0.48 per cent), auto(0.38 per cent) and FMCG(0.16 per cent).

"Weak global economic dataand under performance inbanking stocks bought uncer-tainties to investors. Shortfallin GST collection may impactgovernment's ways and meansto tackle fiscal path. Whilebond yield declined in expec-tation of further interest ratecut by RBI and government'sstatus quo on borrowingplan...," said Vinod Nair, HeadOf Research at Geojit FinancialServices. The Indian rupeerose 20 paise to settle at 70.90against the American curren-cy on Thursday.

Brent futures, the global oilbenchmark, fell 0.28 per centto USD 57.53 per barrel.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Flagging off the second semi-high speed indigenous VandeBharat train from the nationalcapital to Katra in Jammu andKashmir, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah onThursday announced thatKashmir would be in the "list ofmost developed Indian states inthe next decade and a begin-ning in that direction hasalready been made today by theRailways".

Shah said the hurdles in thedevelopment of Kashmir hadbeen erased with the abrogationof Article 370 that gave the erst-while state a special status.

"With the scrapping ofArticle 370, Kashmir hasbecome a part of India like theother states," he said. TheMinister said Article 370, whichwas scrapped on August 5,was not only a hurdle in coun-try's unity and integrity, but alsothe biggest obstacle in thedevelopment of Jammu and

Kashmir, which has now beenbifurcated into two UnionTerritories — Jammu andKashmir with an Assemblyand Ladakh without one.

"I have firm belief that wewill gain success in completeeradication of terrorism andterrorist ideology fromKashmir after abrogation ofArticle 370. Our Kashmirwould be mentioned in the listof most developed Indian stateswithin 10 years," Shah said. The

Minister said the Vande Bharattrain, which has been manu-factured at a Chennai-basedfactory, was a gift to the coun-trymen from Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

"A new history is being cre-ated through Vande Bharat,which will be a great mediumof tourism to Jammu andKashmir," he added.

Vande Bharat Express willrun between Delhi and Katrafacilitating travel upto the

Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi.The booking for the train willstart from Saturday. TheMinister said that there is greatimportance of religious tourismin Jammu and Kashmir for thedevelopment of the region.

Shah said that the journey tothe shrine had been very diffi-cult in the past but VandeBharat would make it veryeasy. This move is part of an ini-tiative adopted by NarendraModi government since it camein power in 2014, the Ministersaid, adding the motive was tospread a web of high speedtrains across the country aimedat bringing down the journeytime with safe travel in felici-tating people to reach their des-

tinations including religious.Shah said it is true that PM

Modi played a great role inadjoining Kashmir with Indiaforever by abrogating Article370, a move which was neverexpected. Recalling MahatmaGandhi, a day after his 150thbirth anniversary, Shah said theindegenous Vande BharatExpress has fulfilled theapproach of the Father of theNation stressing to adopt"Swadeshi". Completed winthin18-month time frame, VandeBharat will bring down thetravel time between Delhi andKatra, the last station on theway to Vaishno Devi temple, toeight hours from the current 12hours.

Expect Kashmir among top states by 2029: Shah

Report calls for multi-pronged steps to boost farm incomePNS n NEW DELHI

Doubling farmers' incomethrough increased production,diversification in farming sys-tems that are eco-regionallysustainable, input cost reduc-tion, availability of credit at lowinterest rate, better incomethrough direct linkages to mar-kets are some of the major rec-ommendations of a report sub-mitted to the governmentrecently.

The report on 'Policies andAction Plan for Secure andSustainable Agriculture' pre-pared by a committee headed byR.S Paroda was recently pre-sented to K. VijayRaghavan,Principal Scientific Advisor.

VijayRaghavan had consti-tuted the committee to review

agricultural policies and suggeststrategies as well as action planto achieve faster, secure and sus-tainable agriculture so as toensure improved livelihood ofsmallholder farmers.

For increased income offarmers, and for attracting youthin agriculture, the report hassaid that emphasis is clearlyneeded now on secondary andspecialty agriculture, supported

well by value chain for efficientpost-harvest handling, ruralbased primary processing andmarketing. In this context, it hasrecommended that the mini-mum support price (MSP) befixed at 1.5 times of cost C2 andthe procurement in future beextended to all commodities,with decentralised procure-ments to be made by the States.

Also, there is need to enhance

markets intensity in rural areasand ensure market linkagesthrough e-NAM requiring uni-form adoption of AgricultureProduce and LivestockMarketing (APLM) Act andContract Farming Act by vari-ous States. Further, the manditax has also to be rationalisedaround 5-7 per cent, as someeven charge more than twice theamount. The Essential

Commodities Act (ECA) andAgricultural Produce MarketingCommittee (APMC) Act alsoneed to be reviewed in regard totheir relevance especially whenintention through e-NAM is tocreate a unified national marketto benefit both the producersand consumers.

The report has highlightedthe need to rationalise inputsubsidies and transfer themhenceforth to farmers throughdirect benefit transfer (DBT)mechanism such as: convertingsubsidies on fertilizers as incen-tives for use as per the needassessed through soil healthcards, power and irrigationsubsidy through adoption ofconservation agriculture as well as micro-irrigationpractices.

After tomatoes, soaring dalprices dampen festive fervour

Earlier, chickpeas (chana) wasavailable at Rs 55-Rs 60 per kg, butnow it has gone up to Rs 65-Rs 70 perkg while chickpea lentils (chana dal)is at Rs 90 per kg

The report on ‘Policies and ActionPlan for Secure and SustainableAgriculture' prepared by a committeeheaded by RS Paroda was recentlypresented to K VijayRaghavan,Principal Scientific Advisor

A new history is being createdthrough Vande Bharat, which will be a great medium of tourism to Jammu and Kashmir

Globally, markets came under animmense pressure after the UnitedStates said it would impose newtariffs on European goods, triggeringworries for the already globaleconomy

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Government haslaunched fourth tranche of theBharat-22 Exchange TradedFund (ETF) on Thursday,aimed at mopping Rs 8,000crore from investors.

The issue opens for anchorinvestors on Thursday andfor other institutional andretail investors, the next day,according to scheme infor-mation document filed byICICI Prudential MutualFund, which manages Bharat-22 ETF.

An advertisement by ICICIPrudential MF said:"Government shall disinvest

the shares of non-financialsector CPSEs and public sec-tor banks forming part of theS&P BSE Bharat 22 indexthrough this Further Fundoffer 2 (FFO-2) to the extentof shareholding of GoI postdisinvestment is maintainedup to 51.5% of the paid-upshare capital of those CPSEsand 52% of the PSBs."

Fourth tranche ofBharat 22 ETF opens

PNS nWASHINGTON

The US has planned to imposetariffs on a wide range of goodsfrom the EU after the WTOgave its permission to levy tar-iffs on USD 7.5 billion of EUexports to counteract subsidiesto Airbus, Office of the USTrade Representative said in astatement. In an arbitrationdecision announced earlier inthe day, World TradeOrganisation (WTO) said onWednesday that the amount iscommensurate with the adverseeffects suffered by Airbus' USrival Boeing in terms of lostsales and impeded deliveries ofits aircraft, Xinhua reported.

The US will begin applyingWTO-approved tariffs on cer-tain EU goods beginningOctober 18, US TradeRepresentative (USTR) RobertLighthizer said in the statement,while adding that "we expect toenter into negotiations with theEuropean Union aimed atresolving this issue."

Although USTR has theauthority to apply a 100 percenttariff on affected products, atthis time the tariff increases willbe limited to 10 percent on largecivil aircraft and 25 percent onagricultural and other products,the statement said.

Following the WTO arbitra-tion decision, the EU releaseda statement quoting its TradeCommissioner CeciliaMalmstrom as saying that "we

remain of the view that even ifthe United States obtains autho-rization from the WTO DisputeSettlement Body, opting forapplying countermeasures nowwould be short-sighted andcounterproductive".

"Both the EU and the U.S.have been found at fault by theWTO dispute settlement systemfor continuing to provide certainunlawful subsidies to their air-craft manufacturers," the state-ment said, adding that "in theparallel Boeing case, the EU willin some months equally begranted rights to impose coun-termeasures against the US as aresult of its continued failure tocomply with WTO rules".Airbus, meanwhile, said in astatement the additional tariffsare "still avoidable". Airbus ishopeful that the United Statesand the EU will agree to find anegotiated solution before "cre-ating serious damage" to the avi-ation industry as well as to traderelations and the global econo-my, it said.

US plans to slaptariffs on EU products

AIRBUS ROW

WTO said that theamount iscommensurate withthe adverse effectssuffered by Airbus' USrival Boeing in termsof lost sales andimpeded deliveries ofits aircraft, Xinhuareported

PNS n NEW DELHI,

Country's largest PSU oil refin-er and retailer Indian OilCorporation has taken up var-ious initiatives to support thegovernment's drive to elimi-nate single use plastic by con-verting these toxic wastes toproductive use.

These initiatives werelaunched to mark the 150thbirth anniversary of MahatamaGandhi and as part of theSwachh Bharat Abhiyan.

The company will use itsrefinery operations to convertthe single use plastic waste intoa specialised bitumen that canbe used for construction ofroads and highways.

A pilot project has beendone at Faridabad via the cre-ation of a "Single Use Waste

Plastic" based bituminousroad. The company will com-mercially supply the spe-cialised bitumen for use inroad construction going ahead.

"Performance of this roadwill be monitored by IndianOilR&D centre in associationwith CSIR-CRRI, and alsofine-tune the concentration ofsingle use plastic to be added,"the company said in a state-

ment. Among other initia-tives, the petrochemical majorhas developed special gradecrumb rubber modified bitu-men (CRMB55) which hasbeen designed using wastesingle use plastic material.

"As a part of ExtendedProducer Responsibility (EPR)and in a bid to achieve plasticneutrality, IndianOil hasworked out these variousoptions of using waste plasticsleading to value creation fordifferent stakeholders in thewaste plastic eco-system," thecompany added.

Furthermore, the companyon Wednesday issued anExpression of Interest (EoI) forprocurement of single-useplastic waste which can be eco-nomically converted into thespecialised bitumen.

IndianOil launches drive to turn plastic waste into bitumen

Indian equities continue tocrumble amid investors’ woes

FridayOctober 4, 2019

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@TheDailyPioneer

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dailypioneer

ndia’s number 1and world’s num-ber 12 hearingimpaired tennisplayer, JafreenShaik, will be rep-

resenting India in theupcoming World Deaf TennisChampionship at AntalyaCity, Turkey, from October12 to 19. She will also be rep-resenting India in theupcoming Asian Gameswhich will be held fromNovember 1 in Hong Kong.Her financial crisis is theonly force that is stoppingher from achieving newheights in the game. Jafreenis looking for support fromthe government to add to thelist of many medals she hadwon at various national andinternational competitions.

After her bronze medal inDeaf Olympics in 2017, thethen Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment assured her to pro-

vide a Group 2 cadre job,allotment of a house site andfinancial assistance. Herfather Shaik Zakeer Ahmedsaid that he had sent repre-sentations to governmentofficials and sports authori-ties requesting release offunds but nothing concretehad come out. He added thathe is facing hardships toarrange money for her toursto various championships. Helamented that even withworld series being a weekaway, there is no responsefrom the government aboutreleasing funds.

Jafreen started playingtennis when she was eight-years-old. She went ontobecome a formidable tennisplayer despite being deaf andwas also noticed by India’sbest female tennis player,Sania Mirza. After gettingtrained at the Sania MirzaTennis Academy in

Hyderabad she went ontorepresent India at the 2013Summer Deaflympics. In2017 Summer Deaflympics,Jafreen Shaik, along withPrithvi Sekhar, claimedbronze medal in the mixeddoubles which is India’s firstever Deaflympic medal intennis.

Currently, she is practisingat the Zeeshan Ali TennisAcademy, Bengaluru. Shesays, “My father sold ourhouse to arrange funds formy tours to various coun-tries. Sania Mirza madamalso helped me to improvemy game and I practised inher academy in Hyderabad.If the government encour-ages me, I will reach newheights in the sport.”

Shaik Zakeer Ahmed says,“In January 2016, we went toShanghai for four months ofintensive tennis coaching andfitness training by Domogoj

Juric from Croatia to helpachieve gold medal in theDeaf Olympics.But unfortu-nately, we could only securethe bronze. To pay for thecoaching I spent up to Rs 14lakhs that I got from sellingall the gold ornaments of mywife and my property. I alsodiscontinued my job as anadvocate to protect mydaughter as she is sufferingfrom hearing impairment.

Now,we are in anacute financial crisisand I am hoping the gov-ernment will come to my aid.”

On a concluding note,Jafreen Shaik says, “My fatherscarified all his life for mypassion. My target is to getthe gold medal for India in the upcoming Deaf

Olympicsto be held inUAE in 2021.”

Despite her success at various international competitions, Kurnool-based hearing-impaired tennis player, Jafreen Shaik, isfighting financial hardships for realising her dream of getting anOlympic medal for India, finds V SATEESH REDDY

I

BRING HERITAGETO LIFE THROUGH VR

eepak John Mathew,

Professor and Head of

the Design Department

at IIT Hyderabad, began

taking interest in design

through photography

when he was a teenager. Now, his

work has attracted acclaim from

many quarters and has also been

recognised by the Centre and state

government. Seeking to introduce

the latest technology during the

Hyderabad Design week — that will

be held from October 9 to 13 —

Deepak plans to install the VR for-

mat to showcase Hyderabad’s cul-

tural heritage at the fest.

“A 60-degree Virtual Reality(VR)

animation film trailer, Ma Saheba,

on the Hayat Bakshi Begum is one of

the technological advancements in

filmmaking. The advantage of the

VR is its 360-degree immersive

experience. The team at the

Department of Design, IIT

Hyderabad, selected an oral histori-

cal narrative of Hayat Bakshi Begum

as she is considered one of the most

influential women rulers of medieval

Deccan. As a daughter, a wife and a

mother she has contributed to three

generations of the Qutb Shahi

dynasty. Begum’s life is a tale of

women empowerment,” says

Deepak.

Speaking about how the project

was developed Deepak says, “Using

premier technology in immersion,

IIT Hyderabad developed a virtual

exploratory landscape which lets

the user experience the historical

monuments of Qutb Shahi like

never before. The use of virtual

reality based technology to preserve

and explore history is a method

that provides results with almost

life like experience. The technology

enables the viewer to visit the

majestic tombs of the Qutb Shahi

and interact with the landscape

even without physically being pre-

sent in the location. The installation

aims at raising awareness about the

intricate history of Hyderabad

which also encourages virtual

tourism.”

Speaking about the work being

done at the Design Innovation

Centre at IIT Hyderabad, he says,

“At the centre we are doing research

and work on four major areas apart

from many small projects related to

digital preservation of heritage.

This is done by scanning the

images of heritage monuments in a

1:1 scale and recreating a virtual

model from them. Using these new

design methodologies we are trying

to develop new ways to improve

teaching and learning habits in

schools. We are also developing

methods to introduce design as a

subject. We have already started

introducing design as a minor sub-

ject to engineering students.”

Deepak’s collaborations with

other stakeholders aim to improve

lives through the optimum use of

design. “Currently, we are working

on creating an autonomous drone

to carry passengers. This is an

urban mobility project in collabora-

tion with the Department of

mechanical and Aerospace, com-

puter science and electrical engi-

neering departments. We are also

doing a project on preserving the

intangible heritage of Gond tribes

in the Telangana region. This

involves photography, documenta-

tion and VR and AR (augmented

reality),” he says.

Sharing a light on how his career

began with photography, he says, “I

have started photography from the

age of 18. When I was a Fire Arts

student I used to do it as a hobby.

Gradually, I started doing fashion,

industrial and advertising photog-

raphy. So this became a serious

affair. Later, at the National

Institute of Design, I became the

head of photography from 2002. In

2008, I ended upstarting the

Masters programme in

Photography at the NIL. This was a

turning point.We also signed a

pact with the UCA in UK and

started a dual degree in photogra-

phy. In 2014, I came to IIT

Hyderabad where I initiated the

process to start the Design

Department at the

IIT-H.”Deepak’s photographs have been

published in a series of books such

as Ananya, a book for the girl child,

published by the Ministry of

Women and Child Welfare of the

Government of India; Vijai Singh

Katyar’s Indian Saris: Traditions —

Perspectives — Design; Darlie O.

Kohsy’s Indian Design Edge, and

AditiRanjan and M P Ranjan’s

Handmade in India and magazines

such as Hi Life and Femina.

When asked to shed light on the

current career prospects and trends

on design and photography, he

says, “Design as a career is one of

the most promising disciplines in

India today. In the current scenario,

I think students haveplenty of

opportunities to explore the corpo-

rate world or can turn entrepre-

neurs. Photography is mostly good

for freelancers because it gives you

the creative freedom. It gives flexi-

ble working hours, choice of loca-

tion and equipment etc.”

When asked about the kind of

opportunities that the design week

provides for city artists, he says,

“Design week is a great opportunity

for designers as well as design stu-

dents. One gets to see

the best design

practices and

interact with

some of the

best design-

ers living

today. This

is a great

initiative

by the

govern-

ment.”The

installations

can be found

at the Rajiv Gandhi International

Airport and Hyderabad

International Convention Centre

for four days; from October 8 to 9

and October 11 to 12 respectively.

The 31st edition of the World

Design Assembly will take place for

the first time in India (11-12

October), in tandem with the

inaugural edition of

Hyderabad Design Week.

The five-day city-wide

event will be organised

by the Government of

Telangana, in partner-

ship with the India

Design Forum (IDF),

aimed at demonstrat-

ing the power of

design to improve

lives. More information

at www.hyderabaddesign-

week.com.

With the Hyderabad Design

week around the corner, ARUN

DANIEL YELLAMATY

speaks with Deepak John

Mathew about his one-of-a-kind

VR installation of the Qutb

Shahi monuments, his design

work at IIT-H and more

D

The use of virtual reality-based

technology to preserve and

explore history is a method

that provides results with

almost life-like experience.

The technology enables the

viewer to visit the majestic

tombs of the Qutb Shahi and

interact with the landscape

even without physically

being present in the location.

DEEPAK JOHN MATHEW

PROFESSOR AND HEAD OF THE

DESIGN DEPARTMENT AT IIT

HYDERABAD

JAFREEN SHAIK: A tennis ace in need of help

n Bronze Medal in the mixed doubles in the Deaf Olympics 2017 at Turkey. n Silver Medal in the Slovenia Deaf Tennis Open 2018, at Portoroz City,

Slovenia. n Gold medal in the Women Doubles Tennis event and bronze medal in the

singles event in the Slovenia Deaf Tennis Open-2016 at Slovenia. n Bronze medal in the Women Doubles Tennis event at 8th Asian Pacific

Deaf Games held at Taiwan 2015.n Represented India in the Deaf Olympics 2013 at Sofia City, Bulgaria.n Bagged two cups and two silver medals in Singles and Doubles events at

the 2nd Open Deaf Youth Tennis Cup held in Germany 2014.n Bagged gold medals in Women Singles and Mixed Doubles in the XXIII

National Games of the Deaf held in Chennai 2019.JAFR

EEN

SHAI

K'S

ACHI

EVEM

ENTS

Afterher bronze medal

in Deaf Olympics in 2017,the then Andhra Pradesh

government assured her of aGroup 2 cadre job, a house siteand financial assistance. Her fatherShaik Zakeer Ahmed said that he

had sent representations togovernment officials and sports

authorities requesting releaseof funds but nothing

concrete had comeout till date

ollywood star Alia Bhatt has come forwardto support an initiative to raise fundsthrough a painting exhibition for childrensuffering from heart diseases.

“I have been told that kids are morepositive than adults because they don’t

know how bad the situation is and they don’t have anegative frame of mind. I feel that’s the reason theyget cured faster,” said Alia, while inaugurating theexhibition named Art for the Heart at Bai JerbaiWadia Hospital for Children in Mumbai onWednesday.

Sharing her thoughts after inaugurating the exhibi-tion, Alia said, “I visited Neonatal Intensive CareUnit of this hospital, which is Asia’s largest unit, andit’s a really good and proud thing for all of us. It’s thefirst year of Art for the Heart initiative, where theyare raising funds through this painting exhibition, sothat they can carry out heart surgery of kids.”

Accompanying Alia was Sumitra Venkatesh, a pae-diatric cardiologist at the hospital.

“I feel Sumitra ma’am along with the other doctorsand staff of Wadia Hospital is doing a fantastic job byhelping people at reduced funds and sometimes freeof cost. I feel we should support and encourage themso that people can understand things like these alsorequire funds,” said Alia.

ctor Sushant Singh Rajput andJacqueline Fernandes starrerheist film Drive will releaseon November 1 on digi-tal platform Netflix.

The streamingportal announced thelaunch date for Drive onFriday. It is directed byTarun Mansukhani andproduced by DharmaProductions.

The film’s firstsong Makhna...was launched onFriday, it hasbeen shot in thebeautifullocales ofIsrael. Thefilm also starsBoman Irani,PankajTripathi, andVibhaChibber.

In an inter-view withIANS earlier,Sushant hadsaid, “Whenyou are going towatch the film,you would notknow what isgoing to happennext.”

This is the first timeSushant and Jacquelinewill be seen sharingscreen space together.

B

A

Vijayawada Friday October 4, 2019

10

‘DRIVE' TORELEASE ONNOVEMBER 1ON NETFLIX

celeb talksational Award-winning actor

Akshay Kumarnever shiesaway from

experimentingwith his characters. And

now, he’s all set to stepinto the role of a trans-

gender in his next,Laxmmi Bomb.

Akshay unveiled hislook on Thursday, as

Laxmmi from theupcoming film, saying it

is a character he’s bothexcited and nervous

about but then life beginsat the end of the comfort

zone.The actor shook social

media with his first lookfrom the horror-comedy

film. In the image,Akshay is seen wearing ared saree, a big red bindi

and a wig tied up to abun, standing in a temple

in front of an idol.“Navratri is about bow-

ing to the inner goddessand celebrating your lim-

itless strength. On thisauspicious occasion, I amsharing with you my lookas Laxmmi. A character Iam both excited and ner-vous about... but then life

begins at the end of ourcomfort zone...isn’t it?

Laxmmi Bomb,” he cap-tioned the image.

The remake of theBlockbuster Tamil horror

comedy Muni 2:Kanchana. The Tamil

film featured R.Sarathkumar, Raghava

Lawrence, Lakshmi Rai,Kovai Sarala,

Devadarshini and Srimanin lead roles. Kiara

Advani will be starringalongside Akshay.

AKSHAY UNVEILSFIRST LOOK FROM‘LAXMMI BOMB', SAYSHE IS BOTH EXCITEDAND NERVOUS

N

trail-blazerinIndiantennis,Sania

Mirza on Thursdayrevealed that as a

child, she was onceasked to stop playing as

“no one would marry” herif her complexion turned

“dark” due to the rigours ofan outdoor sport.

Speaking at the WorldEconomic Forum here, Sania,

who has three doubles andan equal number of mixed

doubles Grand Slams toher credit, reflected on

the challenges shefaced during a panel

discussion onwomen and lead-

ership.Saniaremains

India's

mostsuccessful woman

tennis player, rising to acareer-high world No. 27 in

mid-2007 in the WTA singleschart.

“To start with, parents, neigh-bours, aunties and the uncles(need to) stop telling you howdark you will become and noone will marry you if you play asport. I was just eight (when thiscame up) and everybody thoughtnobody is going to marry mebecause I would get dark. Ithought to myself I am just a kid,I'll be fine,” said the 32-year-old.

“It is so deeply embedded, thisculture about how a girl needs tobe pretty and by that also onemeans fair, I don’t know why.This culture has to change,”

added the Hyderabadi, who alsohas 41 WTA doubles titles to hercredit and was the world No.1 inwomen's doubles in 2015.

Married to Pakistani cricketerShoaib Malik, Sania is currentlyworking towards a comeback tothe professional circuit next yearafter taking a break to become amother.

Reflecting on her journey,Sania said she had justsprint legend P T Usha tolook up to in her growingup years but the times

have evolved forthe better

and sev-eral women ath-letes are becoming rolemodels for the current crop ofaspiring athletes.

“I feel proud that I had, maybe, a little part to play in womentaking up sport. The only sports-woman I could look up to wasPT Usha and she was a couple ofgenerations before me. Today wecan name PV Sindhu, SainaNehwal, Dipa Karmakar, somany of them,” she said.

“We still have some way togo... I still don't think there areequal opportunities. But we havesuperstars now and they are thebiggest in sports outside cricket.Imagine what will happen theyactually get equal opportunities,”she asserted.

Elaborating her take on thegeneral attitude towards profes-sionally successful women, Saniacited a recent interaction toassert that women are stilljudged for how good ahomemaker theyare.

“I was at theMumbai air-port, a gen-tlemancame andtold methat ‘moth-erhood issuitingyou’. Hetook apictureandasked

mewheremy sonwas, I toldhim he is inHyderabad. Hisnext sentence was‘you should be withhim’.”

“I asked him ‘whereis your child?’ He said ‘athome’. I told him ‘well youshould be with him too’. Hedidn’t think that there wasanything insulting to ask methat,” she recalled.

Sania said it is not just ran-dom strangers who are capableof asking awkward questions.

“In my case, questions camefrom close family members, not

outsiders. They (close familymembers) are the ones

who question you themost and make youdoubt yourselves,”revealed theUnited Nations’Women’sGoodwillAmbassadorfor SouthAsia.

ALIA BHATT SUPPORTS

FUNDRAISING FOR KIDS

WITH HEART DISEASES

WHEN SANIA WAS TOLDTO STOP PLAYINGTENNIS AS ‘NO ONEWOULD MARRY' HER

A

ith megastar Chiranjeevi-starrer Sye Raa NarasimhaReddy collecting a whop-ping share of Rs 51.88 croreon day one, producer Ram

Charan is a happy man. He conveneda success meet in Hyderabad onThursday to mark the occasion. Heldat an up market hotel, the event wasattended by the principal cast andcrew of the costume drama.Singling out every single techni-cian and lauding their work,Chiru said that director SurenderReddy has a brightfuture ahead. Heeven spoke highlyof veteran writerSatyanand, who

gave his valuabletips on the cre-ative front. Hefurther addedthat responsethe film g ar ne re dmade himemotion-al.

he Pioneer was the first to inform you thatSree Vishnu will be playing a cop in his nextwith debutant Pradeep Varma. To this end,the latest we hear is that the team had beenforced to go for a change in the music depart-

ment. Initially, Vishnu and Pradeep roped in Tamilcomposer Govind Vasantha, who is best known forhis work in Tamil film ’96, as the film’s tunesmith butwith him citingsome personalissues, the makershad to knock thedoors of ManiSharma, who isfresh off thei m p r e s s i v esoundtrack ofiSmart Shankar.Impressed by thecontent and thescope it had forhim to leave hisimprint in the re-recording section,the famed com-poser hopped onboard. He evenbegan music sessions with the director.

The untitled film is inspired from the lives of someeminent cops and it will be shot like a tense-filledthriller, though it won’t boast of any heavy-duty actionsequences. Vishnu is required to show variations inhis physique for different episodes of the film, whichwill be shot across Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam andforests of AP. Senior cameraman Shekar V Joseph willbe the cinematographer. — NG

lthough MeekuMaathrame Chepthamakers — VijayDeverakonda andVardhan Deverakonda-

initially considered releasing theirfilm, a tragic comedy, on October16, seems they had a change ofmind. The film will now visit thecinema halls on November 1.Announcing the same, Vardhan,Vijay’s father, said, “The responseto the teaser and two songsreleased so far has been excellent.The team has been busy visiting

colleges. It is at these visits that weunderstood how much the audi-ences have connected to the film’sconcept. Everyone works hard tocarry a positive image about him.And in the effort to do so and tosave face, he does a lot of things,which result in a series of comi-

cal events that make our story. Thefilm is presently in post-produc-tion and will be ready for releaseby November 1.”

Directed by debutantShammeer Sultan, the film fea-tures Tharun Bhascker, AbhinavGomatam and Vani Bhojan in lead

roles, while Anasuya, PavaniGangireddy, AvantikaMishra, Vinay Varma andJeevan round off the sup-porting cast.

nnounced last month, Gopichand’s new film with hisGautam Nanda director Sampath Nandi was launchedin Hyderabad on Thursday. Boyapati Sreenu soundedthe clapper board for the muhurat shot, whileRajahmundry MP Margani Bharat Ram switched on the

camera. The likes of BVSN Prasad, Anil Sunkara, KK RadhaMohan and Prasanth Varma among a host of other film person-alities graced the launch.

Speaking later, Gopi said he knows the film’s producersSrinivasaa Chitturi and Pavan for the past eight years and theydid discuss some stories until this project happened. “They arepassionate producers who believe in a strong story. I’m happyto be teaming up Sampath Nandi again. Also, this would be the

first time I will be working with Tamannaah and hopeour chemistry sizzles on screen. She has a beautiful role,”the actor noted.

Sampath Nandi said the film is happening becauseof Gopichand. “I’m doing a sports-based film for thefirst time and I’ve undertaken a lot of research forthe story. Gopi garu will be seen as a coach of the

AP female Kabaddi team while Tamannaah willdon the coach hat for Telangana femaleKabaddi team coach. As many as 25 beauti-ful players will feature in the film,” he said.

Tamannaah said she has been waiting towork with Gopichand if a strong script comesalong. “I’m happy that it finally happenedwith this film. I will be seen in a performance-

driven film and I hope thefilm will be a hearttouching affair,” shesaid.

Soundararajan, whoshot Sampath’s earlier

films like Bengal Tigerand GauthamNanda, will be thecinematographer.

GOPI to play thecoach of AP femaleKABADDI TEAM

riginally from TamilNadu’s Gudiyattam,which bordersChittoor, it was natur-al for Tamil directorThiru to contemplate

directing a Telugu film one day.Having grown up watchingChiranjeevi’s films, he neverknew he would get into films butafter wielding the megaphone inTamil, he always harboured thedream of directing a Telugufilm, which he fulfilled withChanakya, starring Gopichand.“Director Siva (who madeSouryam, Daruvu, Vedalamand Viswasam) is a good friendof mine. We started our careersas assistants for Tamil filmBadri, which was a remake ofTelugu hit Thammudu. WhenSiva made Souryam withGopichand in Telugu, I was indiscussions to make my debutas a director in Tamil. I likedSouryam and felt the need todo an action film with Gopigaru one day," Thiru, who has

done four Tamil films, with major-ity of them featuring Vishal, tells us.

It was 18 months ago that Thirumet Gopi with the story ofChanakya, an espionage thriller.The latter liked the story in total buthad an issue with the film’s roman-tic track. “He told me that he hadfeatured in a similar love track inone of his earlier films. He was gra-cious enough to tell me that if Iwish, he can start the film but askedme to watch the concerned film ofhis. I watched it and could locatesome similarities. I re-worked onthe whole romantic part and devel-oped a fresh one,” the directoravers, adding that Chanakya isabout a RAW agent Arjun’s (playedby Gopi) covert operation across theborder but what the mission is, onehas to watch it unfold on bigscreen. “As a matter of fact, Gopigaru wanted to do a spy film sincelong and luckily I narrated him one.I wanted the film to project in aclassy away à la Ek Tha Tiger.”

He admits to be a fan of anacclaimed Hollywood spy series like

Mission Impossible and Bourne.“Basically, spy genre is my favorite.Before I began writing the screen-play for Chanakya, I read a lot aboutRAW, ISI, CIA, Mossad and the waytheir field agents operate on theground. I was supposed to meet anex-RAW official but he wasn’t com-fortable with the idea of opening up,telling that it’s better for confiden-tial matters to remain confidential.He didn’t even entertain the idea ofme narrating the script at least! Thebooks and the films I’ve watchedhelped a great deal to pen thescreenplay, which I’ve been writingfor the past five years,” he shares.

He goes on to mention that thelife of Ravinder Kaushik, India’sforemost spy, who was conferredthe title of ‘The Black Tiger’ for hisservice to the nation, also inspiredhim. Regarded as India’s best spy toever penetrate the ranks of thePakistan Army, Ravinder wasallegedly trained by RAW, whothen sent him to Pakistan to dotheir bidding in supplying valuableinformation about the neighbour-

ing nation and their internal affairs.It is believed that he was just 23when he was sent on a mission toPakistan. “One particular Indian spyin the film is named Ravinder,”Thiru notes, quick to clear that thefilm will not peddle serotypes ofPakistan as evil. “I’m not cashing inon the Indo-Pak rivalry for sure.The film is about a good versus evil.It so happens that the film’s antag-onist resides in Pakistan.”

The film was in the news earlierthis February when Gopichandwas injured during the shoot inRajasthan, postponing the shoot bynearly two and half months. “It wassupposed to be the last day of theshoot in Rajasthan when he wasinvolved in a bike accident. It wasa horrible accident. I was five feetaway from him. I collapsed. He,however, was composed and confi-dent to pull through it. He asked meto bring a car to go to the hospital.As we were shooting in a remotelocation, we had to travel 250 kmsto admit him in a good hospital.The whole episode is a bad mem-

ory for me. I don’t want to disclosethe nature of his injury. When I methim after he was discharged fromthe ICU, he told me to shoot theportions that don’t involve him. Itold him, ‘Without you I’m notgoing to shoot. I will wait’,” Thirurecalls.

Continuing in the same vein, headds, “Before starting the film, I’vetold producer Anil Sunkara that Iwill complete the film in 90 days.Despite the accident, I wrapped upthe film in 85 days. I credit Gopi’sco-operation and my cameramanVetri’s hard work for it.”

Like with most spy thrillers,Chanakya too has the scope to bea franchise, Thiru believes. “AnilSunkara garu after watching thefilm told me that we should do thesequel. I have a script ready but it’sdifficult to convince Gopi garu inthe first place. He wants everythingto be perfect. I don’t know when thesequel will happen but if it doesindeed, I would love to make it withhim and Sunkara garu only,” heends on a positive note.

A

t

Aw

11

tollywoodThiru speaks toNAGARAJ GOUDabout his dream ofdirecting a Telugu film, Gopi’s issue with the film'sromantic track, etc.,

o

’96 composermakes way forMani Sharma

GOVIND VASANTHA,WHO IS BEST KNOWNFOR HIS WORK IN’96, WAS ROPED ININITIALLY, BUT WITHHIM CITING SOMEPERSONAL ISSUES,THE MAKERS HAD TOKNOCK THE DOORSOF MANI SHARMA

Deverakonda's productionventure moves to November

CHERRY IS AHAPPY MAN

SPY GENRE IS MYFAVOURITE: THIRU

Vijayawada Friday October 4, 2019

Dil Raju

Jagapathi Babu Satyanand, Surender Reddy and P Venkateswara Rao

Rajeevan and Kamal Kannan

Sushmita

Tam

anna

ah

Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan

AFP n BEIJING

US Open champion BiancaAndreescu paid Naomi

Osaka the ultimate complimenton the eve of their first match,saying the Japanese player’s gamehas similarities with that ofSerena Williams.

Two of the most exciting tal-ents in tennis clash on Friday inthe quarter-finals of the ChinaOpen in Beijing.

Ahead of what could be thestart of a long rivalry, the 21-year-old Osaka called the 19-year-old Canadian Andreescu"an amazing player" and said "Ihave to learn from her".

The Japanese, on theupswing after a slump followingher triumph at the AustralianOpen at the start of the year,smiled: "I'm older than her, verymuch so. "I noticed that sheseems to be very... just focused."

Andreescu, on a winningstreak of 17 matches, returnedthe praise with gusto.

"I know she's an aggressiveplayer. She has similar traits toSerena as well," said the worldnumber six.

"Big serve, big groundstrokes.She moves pretty well, too."

Andreescu, whose ascent hasbeen so fast that she did not evenfeature at the China Open a yearago, added: "She's doing incred-ible, especially at such a youngage as well.

"It's nice to play anotherplayer that's close to my age.

"We're kind of like the nextgeneration. I'm really excited."

Andreescu, playing her firsttournament since stunningWilliams in the final at FlushingMeadows last month, thrashed

American qualifier JenniferBrady.

The teenager started withintent, breaking Brady's first ser-vice game on the way to a bru-tal 6-1, 6-3 win in 68 minutes.

But Osaka, a former worldnumber one, is also in form, yetto drop a set in three matches inBeijing and fresh from winningthe Pan Pacific Open in Japan.

The two-time Grand Slamchampion said she was "angryrelaxed" after a dominant 6-4, 6-0, win over unseeded AmericanAlison Riske. Osaka, ranked four,reeled off 10 games in a row toseal victory. "I'm relaxed, but I'ma little bit angry, it's an angryrelaxed," said Osaka when askedwhat was behind her recent suc-cess in Japan and now China.

Also into the last eight in hotand hazy Beijing was reigningchampion Caroline Wozniacki,

another former world numberone. She faces Russia's DariaKasatkina.

Another in action on Friday iscurrent women's number oneAshleigh Barty of Australia, whoplays the seventh seed PetraKvitova of the Czech Republic.

MEN’S HOLDER EXITSIn the men’s draw, the title-

holder Nikoloz Basilashvili ofGeorgia was on course to pull offa surprise against Stefanos Tsitsipasof Greece.

But the 21-year-old Tsitsipas,ranked seventh, came back to win4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and will play big-serv-ing John Isner of the United Statesin the quarter-finals.

Alexander Zverev, the Germansecond seed, eased into the nextround with a 6-3, 6-1 victory overanother teenage Canadian, FelixAuger Aliassime.

show with their three specialistspinners failing to get much out ofthe dry and slow surface.

Rohit and Agarwal, who beganthe day on 115 and 84 respective-ly with India at 202 for no loss, con-verted their opening partnershipinto a record breaking one with a317-run stand before lunch.

With their massive stand, theysurpassed Virender Sehwag andRahul Dravid to record India'shighest partnership for any wick-et against South Africa.

Agarwal stole the show afterRohit's departure and keeping therequirement of the team in mind,increased the intensity of hisinnings. His first hundred came off204 balls and second off 154 balls.

The Bengaluru-based cricketer,whose previous four Tests were inAustralia and West Indies, collect-ed 23 fours and six maximums,most of them coming against thespinners.

He batted for the majority ofthe afternoon session, which wasextended by 30 minutes to make upfor overs lost due to rain on the firstday.

Agarwal's memorable knockcame to end when he smashed afull ball from Dean Elgar towardsdeep mid-wicket and a divingPiedt took a diving catch.

At tea, India coasted to 450 forfive, scoring 126 runs in the sessionat the loss of four wickets.

South Africa struck throughpacer Vernon Philander first ballafter lunch, raising hopes of a SouthAfrican fightback. CheteshwarPujara (6) was the man dismissed,bowled off a Philander beauty

that moved away just enough torattle his off-stump.

Captain Virat Kohli (20) joinedAgarwal in the middle and lookedin sublime touch during his shortstay.

He was disappointed to get outafter getting set. A regulation ballstopped on Kohli, who ended upoffering a simple return catch todebutant Senuran Muthuswamy,giving the South African his firstinternational wicket.

In the morning session,Agarwal completed his maidenTest hundred while Rohit Sharmamade 176 on his opening debut.

Rohit, who too hit 23 fours andhalf a dozen sixes like Agarwal, waseventually dismissed in the 83rdover. At lunch, India were 324 forone in 88 overs with the host scor-ing 122 runs in the session at 4.28runs per over.

Like on day one, Philander cre-ated some discomfort for the bats-men in the opening hour butapart from that, it was smooth sail-ing for the home team.

Rohit was dropped on 125 offPhilander when keeper Quinton deKock, who was standing up to thestumps, fumbled to take a sharpcatch.

Two balls from Philander keptlow, taking both Rohit and Agarwalby surprise but after that they toyedwith the opposition attack. Theygot the boundaries at will, especial-ly against the spinners and with thesurface not doing much, playingreverse sweep became less risky.

After reaching three figureswith a single, Agarwal stepped upthe offensive. He dispatched DanePiedt for a massive six over deepmid-wicket before reverse sweep-ing him for a four in the same over.

sport 12

POGBA OUT OF FRANCE SQUAD Paris: Paul Pogba was left out of the France squadnamed Thursday for their upcoming Euro 2020qualifiers against Iceland and Turkey, but N'GoloKante and Kylian Mbappe both return. Pogba iscurrently struggling with a foot problem. Kante hashad an injury-hit start to the season while Mbappehas only just returned from a hamstring injury.Elsewhere, Mbappe's PSG teammate PresnelKimpembe returns with fellow defenders SamuelUmtiti and Aymeric Laporte sidelined. TottenhamHotspur's Tanguy Ndombele makes his comeback asArsenal's Matteo Guendouzi drops down to theunder-21 squad, and there is a recall for back-upgoalkeeper Steve Mandanda of Marseille.

TAMMY, TOMORI EARN ENG CALL-UPSLondon: Chelsea's Tammy Abraham and FikayoTomori were rewarded for a fine start to the seasonunder Frank Lampard with a call-up to the Englandsquad for Euro 2020 qualifiers against the CzechRepublic and Bulgaria. Abraham, who has won twocaps for the Three Lions before had flirted withswitching his international allegiance to Nigeria, whohe qualifies for through his father. Tomori, who couldalso represent Nigeria and Canada at internationallevel, has also shone at centre-back for Chelsea.Should either Abraham and Tomori feature in theupcoming qualifiers, they would no longer beallowed to switch international allegiance.

GUJARAT, J&K, BENGAL POST WINS Jaipur: Gujarat posted an impressive seven-wicketwin over Bihar in a Vijay Hazare Group 'C' match hereon Thursday. After Bihar was bundled out for 126 in42.2 overs, Gujarat rattled up the required runs in19.2 overs to notch up a fifth straight win. In anothermatch, Parvez Rasool hammered an unbeaten 118(112 balls, 9 fours, four sixes) to power Jammu &Kashmir to a four-wicket win over Railways. In thethird match of the day, Bengal rode on AbhishekKumar Raman's 122 not out (108 balls, 11 fours) toregister a five-wicket win over Rajasthan.

STOKES SIGNED BY SUPERCHARGERS London: Ben Stokes was picked ahead of Testcaptain Joe Root to play for the Leeds-basedNorthern Superchargers franchise as The Hundredwas officially launched. The eight franchises werenamed and the first batch of players allocated. Root,who plays county cricket in Leeds for Yorkshire, waspicked up by Nottingham-based Trent Rockets. JofraArcher will spearhead the Southern Brave bowlingattack, Jos Buttler will play for Manchester Originals,Chris Woakes represents Birmingham Phoenix andSam Curran joins brother Tom at Oval Invincibles.World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan will play forthe Lord's franchise, London Spirit, with women'scaptain Heather Knight also heading to the home ofcricket.

HUMPY JUMPS TO WORLD NO 3New Delhi: Indian woman chess player KoneruHumpy has jumped to world number 3 position inthe latest rankings released by the world body(FIDE). The 32-year-old from Andhra Pradesh madea brilliant comeback after a two-year hiatus to winthe FIDE women's Grand Prix tournament held inSkolkovo in Russia recently. Grand Master Humpyaccumulated 17 ELO points to rise to the third spotwith a global rating of 2,577. In the Open section,five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand isranked ninth with 2,765 points, while reigning worldchampion Norwegian Magnus Carlsen continued tohold on to the number one spot with 2,876 points.

PAK TO BEGIN TEST C'SHIP IN ENGLAND Karachi: Pakistan will tour the Netherlands andIreland for a limited over series before going toEngland next summer to play their ICC World TestChampionship matches, PCB said on Thursday.Pakistan will play three ODIs against Netherlandsand two T20Is against Ireland in July next yearbefore they play two Tests in England. “The VRACricket Club in Amstelveen will host the three ODIson July 4, 7 and 9, while the two T20Is in Ireland willbe played on July 12 and 14,” PCB said in astatement. After this, they will travel to Englandwhere they will play three World Test ChampionshipTests from July 30 to August 20 before taking on the50-over world champions in three T20Is on August29 and 31 and September 2 respectively.

AGENCIES

SINGLES

India vs SA (Day 3)Live from 9:30am ISTSTAR SPORTS 1 NETWORK

PTI n PANCHKULA

Puneri Paltan edged out TeluguTitans 53-50 in a closely-fought

Pro Kabaddi League match at the TauDevilal Sports Complex here onThursday. Manjeet (12 points),Sushant Sail (11 points) and SureejetSingh (7 tackle points) were the starsfor the Pune side.

The defeat meant Telugu Titans’chances of making it to the playoffscame to a halt with UP Yoddha secur-ing the final spot in the top six.

Telugu Titans were the onlyteam playing for a playoff berth butit was Pune who showed more grit ina dominant first-half performance.

Titans’ star raider SiddharthDesai was successfully tackled byManjeet in the very first minute andthat set the tempo for Paltan as theypicked raid points with ease.

The Pune side inflicted the firstAll-Out in the 6th minute of thematch to move to a 7-point lead andcontinued their good work to securedanother All-Out in the 14th minuteto open a 14-point gap.

The Titans did claw back throughsome strong raids by the Siddharth

Desai but two Super Tackles (bySushant Sail and Surjeet Singh)ensured they prevented an All-Out.

Surjeet clinched his High 5 as thefirst half ended with the scores 31-16with Pune well on top. Sushant Sailstarted the second half with amassive four-point Super Raid asPune rushed to another All-Out inthe third minute of the second half.

Rakesh Gowda was having animpressive game as the raider forthe Titans and his four-point raidin the fourth minute of the matchgave the Titans some much-need-ed impetus to push for an All-Out,which they secured in the 9thminute of the second half.

Pune continued to approach ‘allguns blazing’ instead of seeing outthe remainder of the time whichallowed the Titans to clinch anoth-er All-Out with 6 minutes remain-ing to make it a 9-point game.

The match became a tenseaffair in the closing minutes but athree-point Super Raid by IranianEmad Sedaghatnia helped Puneopen up a sizeable lead whichtheir defenders could hold on to tillthe final whistle.

AFP n LONDON

Ben Stokes has been voted theProfessional Cricketers’ Association

players’ player of the year after starring inEngland’s maiden World Cup win andrepeating his heroics during the Ashesseries. Somerset’s Tom Banton picked upthe PCA young player of the year award,while England bowler Sophie Ecclestonecollected the women’s prize.

Highlights of the English cricket sea-son for Stokes included an unbeaten 84in the World Cup final and a sensation-al 135 not out to win the third Test againstAustralia at Headingley.

All-rounder Stokes,was England’stop run-scorer in the Ashes, which endedin a 2-2 draw.

Speaking at the PCA awards ceremo-ny in London on Wednesday, Stokes toldthe Press Association: “In terms of reflec-tion, I think there will come a time whereI will be able to take it all in but I don’tthink that will come until I retire reallybecause it all comes so thick and fast.

“This will definitely be a summer thatI will be able to look back on forever.”

Doubledelight

Mayank’s 215 put India on top in first Test

PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

South African spinners didnot bowl badly and it was

just sheer brilliance of RohitSharma and Mayank Agarwalthat has taken the game awayfrom the visitors, lead Proteastweaker Keshav Maharaj saidhere on Thursday.

Left-arm spinner Maharaj(3/189 in 55 overs) bowled hisheart out but did not get thesupport from the other end inDane Piedt (107/1 in 19 overs)or debutant SenuranMuthusamy (63/1 in 15 lovers),who did take the prized wick-et of Virat Kohli.

"I wouldn't say they bowledpoorly. I personally judge ifsomeone comes down thewicket and hits you, it's not abad ball. If you are getting hitfrom the crease, if you are get-ting cut, then it's a differentstory," said Maharaj, after daytwo of the first Test.

"Piedt was unlucky.Mayank played superbly welland so did Rohit. Literallyeverything they wanted to dopaid off, it was their day. Iwouldn't look too much if theybowled badly or anything. Senis an all-rounder, a batting all-rounder, so his contribution inhis first Test went pretty well,especially in tough conditions,"he said.

India won the toss and

had no hesitation in battingfirst. The hosts put up mam-moth 502 for seven in their firstinnings. In response SouthAfrica were 39 for three atstumps.

"I suppose the toss doesplay a part because you wantthe best possible conditions tobowl for the spinners but hav-ing said that, we could havebeen a little bit better at timeswhen we did bowl.

"But I suppose the tossdoes play a large factor interms of the outcome of thegame. But we still have a taskat hand in terms of bat as longas possible and try and comeclose to the target if possible,"said Maharaj.

India spinners bowledfaster than their South Africancounterparts and got morepurchase out of the surface.Maharaj said deterioratingpitch was also a reason Indianspinners doing well.

"I also think the deteriora-tion also plays a massive factorin terms of the pace of the ball.Obviously, with the wicket notspinning, you try to beat thebatsman through the air andmaybe slow it to get someassistance.

"May be, the odd faster ballmight grip. But yeah, the dete-rioration of the wicket does playa pivotal factor in terms of thespeeds that you do play."

We didn't bowl badly,Rohit and Mayank weretoo good: Maharaj

*Mayank Agarwal on Thursday became thefourth Indian batsman to convert his maiden cen-tury into a double hundred.

*The 28-year-old is now the fourth Indian bats-man after Karun Nair, Vinod Kambli and DilipSardesai to convert their maiden Test tons into a dou-ble century. Nair had scored 303, his first Test cen-tury against England in 2016, Kambli had scored 224against England in 1993 and Sardesai had scored200* against New Zealand in 1965.

*His individual score of 215 is thus far the high-est score by any batsman in Test cricket this year,surpassing Australian star Steve Smith's 211 whichhe scored in the fourth Ashes Test in Manchesterin September. The other players who have manageddouble hundreds this year are Jason Holder (202*),Kane Williamson (200*.) and Ross Taylor (200).

*It took the 28-year-old Agarwal, who madehis debut against Australia in Melbourne inDecember 2018, eight innings to register his maid-en Test century. He also became the 86th Indian bats-man to score a hundred in Test cricket.

*Mayank, was also involved in a record break-ing 317-run opening partnership with RohitSharma. The pair became the third Indian batting

pair to stitch together a partnership of 300 runs ormore in Test cricket. Rohit, who was opening theinnings for the first time in Test cricket, scored 176while Mayank contributed with 137 during their his-toric partnership.

*The other two Indian opening pair to stitchtogether a partnership of more than 300 runs inTest cricket are Vinoo Mankad-Pankaj Roy (413against New Zealand in 1956) and VirenderSehwag-Rahul Dravid (410 against Pakistan in2006).

*The record-breaking partnership was also the12th highest opening partnership in Test cricket.Mayank got out for 215 from 371 deliveries. Hisinnings was studded with 23 fours and six sixes.

*Newly promoted Test opener Rohit Sharmahas taken to the role like fish takes to water andhit a majestic 176 in the first innings. In the process,he equalled Rahul Dravid’s record of most num-ber of consecutive fifty-plus scores in Tests at home.Dravid had scored six straight fifty-plus scores inTests at home between 1997 and 1998. Rohit too,now has six consecutive fifty-plus scores at homein the longest format of the game after his knockagainst the Proteas.

PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

Mayank Agarwal showed insatiableappetite for runs, converting his maid-en Test hundred into a brilliant dou-

ble before the Indian spinners tightened thenoose around the exhausted South Africans onthe second day of the series opener here onThursday.

Playing his first Test in India, Agarwalshowed remarkable concentration andendurance for his monumental 215 off 371 ballsthat allowed the hosts to declare their firstinnings at 502 for seven in 136 overs.

In response, South Africa were staring downthe barrel at close of play, losing AidenMarkram (5), Theunis de Bruyn (4) and nightwatchman Dane Piedt (0) under floodlights tobe 39 for three in 20 overs, trailing India by 463runs.

Ravichandran Ashwin provided the break-throughs by getting through the defences ofMarkram with a classical off-break that turned

sharply. He then had De Bruyn caughtbehind before Ravindra Jadeja crashedthrough Piedt's defences.

While day one was all about RohitSharma (176 off 244), the second

day certainly belonged toAgarwal, who made full useof friendly batting condi-tions.

Barring lead pacerVernon Philander, the

South Africanbowling put

up ano r d i -

nary

HIGHLIGHTS

Puneri Paltan pip Telugu Titans

Osaka, Andreescu set Beijing date

AFP n TOKYO

David Goffin of Belgiumadvanced to the Japan Open

quarterfinals after squeezing byCanada’s Denis Shapovalov 7-6(7/5), 7-6(7/2) on Thursday.

Both men kept all of theirservice games — withShapovalov nailing 10 acesagainst third-seed Goffin’s four— in the close match that last-ed nearly two hours.

Goffin, winner here in 2017,used his footwork to survive twobreak points while the big-serv-ing Canadian kept up the pres-sure.

Goffin will now face ChungHyeon of South Korea, whopulled an upset victory againstsixth-seed Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6,6-1.

“It was tough. We were bothreally solid on our servicegames,” Goffin said of his match.

In the rest of the tourna-ment, Japanese wild card TaroDaniel defeated Australian rivalJordan Thompson 6-4, 7-6(7/3).

He will next face Australianqualifier John Millman, whodefeated South African LloydHarris 6-3, 6-2.

Goffinadvances toJapan last 8

Stokes winsplayers’ award

IN RESPONSE TOINDIA’S 502, VISITORSWERE STARING DOWNTHE BARREL AT CLOSEOF PLAY, LOSING AIDEN

MARKRAM (5),THEUNIS DE BRUYN (4)AND NIGHT WATCHMANDANE PIEDT (0) UNDERFLOODLIGHTS TO BE 39

FOR THREE IN 20OVERS, TRAILING

HOSTS BY 463 RUNS

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 4, 2019