rajinikanth: the role of a transgender · 12/18/2019 · conclusive evidence. a sepa-rate bill was...
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VIJAYAWADA, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 18, 2019; PAGES 12 `3
}RAJINIKANTH: I WANT TO PLAYTHE ROLE OF ATRANSGENDER
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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698
*Late City Vol. 2 Issue 47*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable
Established 1864Published From
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BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD
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any important work)Rahukalam: 12:12 pm- 01:34 pmYamagandam: 08:05 am – 09:28 am
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{Three capitals for Andhra, hints JaganPNS n VIJAYAWADA
Ending the uncertainty overfuture of Amaravati as AndhraPradesh capital, Chief MinisterY. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy onTuesday said the state mayhave three capitals with exec-utive and judicial capitals com-ing up in Visakhaptnam andKurnool respectively.
He said while the legislativecapital may continue to func-tion from Amaravati, thecoastal city of Visakhapatnammay be made the executivecapital and Kurnool may bedeveloped as the judicial cap-ital.
He told State LegislativeAssembly that the state needsto have innovative thinking toensure decentralization.
"Decentralization is the real
concept. We should alsochange. Countries like SouthAfrica have three capitals. Wemay also have three capitals."
"Legislative capital mayremain here. Assembly mayfunction from here. We may
have executive capital inV i s a k h a p a t n a m .Administration may work fromthere. Kurnool may have judi-cial capital. High Court may belocated there," he said.
Continued on Page 3
AP Houseadjournedsine diePNS n VIJAYAWADA
Andhra Pradesh LegislativeAssembly was adjourned sinedie by Speaker TammineniSitaram.
The seven day assemblysession has passed the DishaBill, which seeks expeditioustrial of cases pertaining tocrime against women andchildren.
There were enquiries aboutthe Bill from the Delhi andOdisha governments.
The Bill suggests that theinvestigation should be com-pleted in seven days, trial andjudgement in 21 workingdays in cases where there isconclusive evidence. A sepa-rate Bill was also passed to setup dedicated courts to dealwith crimes against women.A Bill introducing Englishmedium in schools from thenext academic year was alsopassed.
PNS n VIJAYAWADA
Former Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu flew outof handle on Tuesday out ofrage as Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy stated onthe floor of the state legisla-tive Assembly hinting at thestate could be having threecapitals. Talking to mediaoutside the Assembly afterbeing suspended from theHouse, he came crashingdown like a ton of bricks on
the YSRCP government pre-dicting that it will destroy the
state further and comparedthe the rule of the presentregime with that ofMohammad-bin-Tughlaq. Hequestioned why Jagan hasthis much hatred onAmaravati and wonderedwhy he is bent upon killingthe new city. If the state is to have threecapitals, from where willJagan will rule --fromAmaravati? or Visakha? orKurnool?
Continued on Page 3
Opposition delegation meetsPresident, seeks CAA rollbackPNS n NEW DELHI
Amid the protests across thecountry against the CitizenshipAmendment Act, a delegationof 19 opposition leaders onTuesday met President RamNath Kovind and urged him toask the Narendra Modi govern-ment roll back the legislation.
Addressing the media afterthe meeting, Congress' interimPresident Sonia Gandhi saidthat the whole country is agitat-ing on the CAA, and the oppo-sition was anguished with thepolice action against the protest-ers in the northeast and inDelhi.
"Delhi is an example wherethe police has trespassed intothe Jamia women's hostel anddragged them out.... they havebeaten up students mercilessly,you have seen that the Modi
government seems to have nocompassion when it comes toshutting down people's voices,"she said.
Leader of Opposition in theRajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azadsaid that "the government knewthat what is going to happen butdid nothing on it, and in Assamfive people have died and manyhave bullet wounds".
The opposition leaders
assembled at the MahatmaGandhi statue in ParliamentHouse before proceeding tothe Rashtrapati Bhavan withSonia Gandhi leading them.
The opposition delegationalso included Samajwadi Party'sRam Gopal Yadav, DMK's T.R.Baalu, Trinamool Congress'Derek O'Brien, and theCommunist Party of India-Marxist's Sitaram Yechuri.
CAA hasnothing to dowith NRC: MHAPNS n NEW DELHI
Citizenship (Amendment)Act has nothing to do withNational Register of Citizens(NRC) and it does not applyto Indian citizens, includingMuslims, Home Ministrysources said on Tuesday.
The information wasshared following incidentsof violence across many statesover the new Act.
"CAA has nothing to dowith NRC and it does notapply to Indian citizens,including Muslims. It appliesto only six religious commu-nities facing persecution inPakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan," MHA sourcessaid.
As per the source, CAA isa focused law and appropri-ate rules linked to it arebeing framed.
AP withdrawscases onvariousprotesters PNS n VIJAYAWADA
The AP State government onTuesday issued orders liftingcases registered against peo-ple during various agitations,including the one demandingreservation for members ofthe Kapu community.
As many as 63 cases wereregistered against Kapus oncharges of resorting to arsonand violence. Kapu leaderMudragada Padmanabhamwas named as the primeaccused and charged withinstigating the agitators to setfire to Ratnachal Expressand Tuni police station.
Cases registered againstpeople during the agitationagainst land acquisition forthe Bhogapuram Airportwere also withdrawn.
Continued on Page 3
Major accidentaverted asSpiceJet flightaborts landing PNS n NEW DELHI
A "major accident" was avert-ed on Tuesday morning at Goaairport when an alert runwaycontroller forced a SpiceJetflight to abort landing afternoticing that the plane was onfinal approach without deploy-ing its nose landing gear, saidthe Indian Navy spokesperson.
"Alert Indian Navy AirTraffic Services at Goa Airportaverted major accident whenthe Runway ControllerRamesh Tigga, LeadingAirman noticed that the noselanding gear of the SpicejetFlight SG 3568, which was onits final approach, was notdeployed. The RunwayController immediately alert-ed the ATC tower where theDuty Air Traffic Controller, LtCdr Harmeet Kaur informedthe incoming aircraft to abortthe landing," said the IndianNavy spokesperson on Twitter.
Bihar woman,set on fireafter failedrape bid, diesPNS n PATNA
The 23-year old woman, whowas set on fire after a failedrape bid in Bihar's Muzaff-arpur district on December 7,died here on Monday night. She was undergoing treat-ment in Patna'a Appolo hos-pital after receiving 80 percent burns.
The Muzaffarpur districtadministration had assured tobear the entire cost of hertreatment.
According to the familymembers of the victim, herlast words were, "I want jus-tice. The person who hascommitted this crime shouldbe hanged."
The news of her deathbrought widespread grief inher village in Muzaffarpur.
She was set ablaze by RajaRai for resisting rape.
End campus violence or quit: Indian students to ShahPNS n MUMBAI
Terming its as a ‘gross violationof human rights’, around 400Indian students studying invarious American universitiescondemned the “brutal policeviolence unleashed against stu-dents” of Jamia Millia Islamiaand Aligarh Muslim Universityon Sunday.
They also called upon UnionHome Minister Amit Shah toimmediately take the necessarysteps to curb police brutality orresign.
In a detailed statement bear-ing the names, universities ofthe students/alumni signatoriesreleased on Tuesday, they exp-ressed complete solidarity withstudents across the two Indianuniversities who were ‘peace-fully’ protesting against therecent passing of what they te-rmed as “the unconstitutionaland discriminatory” Citize-nship Amendment Act (CAA).
“By every account, it appearsthat police and paramilitary,both at Jamia and at AMU,used violence and pursuedunlawful and reckless tacticsagainst student protesters inviolation of protections underthe Constitution of India andinternational human rightslaw," the statement releasedthrough Jhalak M. Kakkar ofHarvard Law School, said.
They also termed the entry
of police and paramilitary inuniversity premises, indiscrim-inate attacks within the cam-puses, releasing tear gas inlibraries and brutal use of forceagainst civilians "as a blatantviolation of the law and canonly shock the conscience ofany democratic society".
Referring to students' narra-tives of police rampagingthrough hostels, molestingwomen, arbitrary detentions of
Jamia students at police sta-tions, denial of access to legalrepresentation, the statementdubbed it as "complete nega-
tion of every norm that guidethe functioning of the police ina democratic society governedby the rule of law".
PNS n NEW DELHI
Chief Justice S A Bobderecused himself on Tuesdayfrom hearing the plea of con-vict Akshay Kumar Singhseeking review of the 2017apex court judgment uphold-ing his death penalty in theNirbhaya gang rape-and-mur-der case.
At the outset a special benchcomprising the CJI andJustices R Banumathi andAshok Bhushan made it clearthat the review plea has to beheard by another appropriatebench.
The CJI said one of his rel-atives had earlier appearedon behalf of the victim's moth-er in the case and observedthat it would be appropriate
that some other bench hearsthe review plea at 10:30 amtomorrow.
Advocate A P Singh,appearing for Akshay, startedhis submission saying that thecase in hand has sufferedpolitical and media pressureand grave injustice has beendone to the convict.
Continued on Page 3
After chaos, 9 TDPMLAs suspended PNS n VIJAYAWADA
Nine members of oppositionTelugu Desam Party (TDP)were suspended for one dayfrom Andhra PradeshAssembly on Tuesday forstalling the proceedings ofthe House.
Speaker TammineniSeetharam suspended theTDP legislators after Ministerfor Finance and LegislativeAffairs Buggana Rajendranathmoved a resolution to thiseffect.
As the suspended mem-bers refused to leave theHouse, they were bodily lift-ed and taken out by the mar-shals on the direction of theSpeaker.
The opposition legislatorswere staging protest over cer-tain allegations made byFinance Minister while reply-ing to debate on state capitalAmaravati.
Rajendranath alleged thatthe previous TDP govern-
ment had turned Amaravatiinto real estate developmentbusiness with many leaders ofthe then ruling party benefit-ing from it.
The minister alleged thatthe TDP leaders resorted toinsider trading by buyingprime lands in and aroundAmaravati at throwaway pricesbefore announcing the loca-tion of the new state capital.
He claimed that investiga-tions carried out after YSRCongress Party (YSRCP) cameto power revealed that over4000 acres of land were boughtby TDP leaders in 'benami'.
Continued on Page 3State told to give Vivekamurder case report by Dec. 23 Protest over citizenship law turns
violent in Delhi’s Seelampur area
PNS n NEW DELHI
Acknowledging that the econ-omy is passing through a"stressful phase", BJP generalsecretary Ram Madhav onTuesday that Indian economycan't be written off and thestates need to develop at afaster pace to achieve thedesired national GDP rate forthe country.
His remarks come in themidst of the government fac-ing criticism over the droppingGDP growth rate .
"We don't deny the fact thatthe economy is currently pass-ing through a stressful phasebut that doesn't mean we writeoff the Indian economy. There
is no need to be too gloomyabout it...the sentiment is dom-inating the real understandingof the situation," he said at anevent organised by the FICCIat its office.
Underlining that the gov-ernment is open to all goodsuggestions from known andunknown sources to minimisethis phase, Madhav saidgrowth only at the level ofGovernment of India is notsufficient to achieve the desiredgrowth rate, and states alsoneed to grow.
PNS n NEW DELHI
Angry protesters demandingscrapping of the amended cit-izenship law torched severalmotor bikes, pelted stones atpolice and damaged publicbuses in Northeast Delhi'sSeelampur area on Tuesday, infresh violence in the nationalcapital. Police resorted to batoncharges and fired tear gasshells to disperse the protest-ers. Plumes of smoke billowedfrom at least two localities.
Police said two bikes of traf-fic cops were burnt by thedemonstrators, adding a policebooth in the area was dam-aged.A large number of police-
men were deployed followingthe violence.
Police said the protesterswere marching fromSeelampur towards Jafrabad.
Clashes erupted betweenpolice and protesters atSeelampur Chowk when thesecurity personnel tried tostop them from moving ahead.
PNS n VIJAYAWADA
The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt on Tuesday directedthe YSRCP government tosubmit the YS VivekanandaReddy murder case investiga-tion report to it in asealed cover byDecember 23.
The court wasresponding to apetition filed byB.Tech Ravi in theViveka murdercase.
Counsel for the peti-tioner Salman Khurshid saidthat the court was approachedseeking the probe details of themurder case and urged thejudge to order a CBI probe in
the case to rule out any doubtsthat the government was act-ing in a partisan way.
He said that Viveka's fami-ly members had also sought aCBI probe, and also ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan
Reddy. However, theirpetitions are still
pending. Khurshid point-
ed out that the gov-ernment did notfile a charge-sheet
in the case evenafter 90 days, the stip-
ulated time. The court asked the govern-
ment to file a counter affidavitin the case by January 3 andposted the next hearing to thatday.
NIRBHAYA CASE
Chief Justice S A Bobde
Ram Madhav
States need to grow at faster paceto boost economy: Ram Madhav
CJI recuses fromhearing convict's plea
Tammineni Seetharam
Why this much hatred againstAmaravati, asks Chandrababu
No going back on CitizenshipAct, says Amit ShahPNS n MUMBAI
Amid raging protests overthe amended CitizenshipAct, Union HomeMinister Amit Shahon Tuesday assert-ed there was noquestion of goingback on its imple-mentation andaccused the oppositionof engaging in a "false" cam-paign over the legislation.
Speaking at IndiaEconomic Conclave, Shahsaid there was nothing
against minorities in theCitizenship (Amendment)Act (CAA), which was
passed by Parliamentlast week and has
r e c e i v e dPresidential assent.
"There is nogoing back onCitizenship Act,
government is firmlike rock on its imple-
mentation," said Shah amiddemand by opposition par-ties for withdrawal of whatthey called an "unconstitu-tional and divisive" law.
Visakhapatnam may be executive capital, Legal capitalin Kurnool and Legislative capital in Vijayawada From TDP’s Singapore model to YSRCP’s South Africa style, decisions help ruling pary gain political capital
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VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 vijayawada 02
Children showcase their figure skating skills during the National Cadet Championship at Sivaji Park in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.Photos:- Tirupathirao G
POETRY IIN MMOTION
EGG RATES
` 38,030 (10 gm)
30
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` 2200
HYDERABAD 430VIJAYAWADA 452VISAKHAPATNAM 470RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `44..5522
SILVER
VIJAYAWADABULLION RATES
`//110000
CHICKEN RATES
Dressed/With Skin `173
Without Skin `196
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(IN VIJAYAWADA)
IANS n WASHINGTON
Eating foods rich in antioxi-dants, and other micronutrientsmay reduce the risk of head andneck cancer patients losing theirappetite up to one year afterbeing diagnosed, according to arecent study.
The researchers, includingthose from the University ofIllinois in the US, said at least 90per cent of head and neck can-cer patients develop symptomsthat affect their ability or desireto eat, due to either the tumouritself, or the surgery or radiationused to treat it.
They said these problems,called nutrition impact symp-toms, have wide-ranging negativeeffects on patients' physical andmental health, and quality of life.
In the current study, pub-lished in the journal Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers andPrevention, scientists analysedthe dietary patterns of 336 adultswith newly diagnosed head andneck cancers. They obtaineddata on the patients' tumoursites, stages, and treatment fromtheir medical records, and morethan half of them had stage 4tumours at diagnosis.
The study noted that thesepatients had problems with eat-ing, swallowing and inflamma-tion of the digestive tract -- apainful inflammatory condi-tion called mucositis.
According to the researchers,the condition is a common sideeffect of radiation treatmentand chemotherapy.
"Dietary inflammatory poten-tial could impact the presenceand severity of chronic adversetreatment effects among patientswith head and neck cancer," theresearchers wrote in the study.
The diet had mitigatingeffects, particularly in peoplewho had never smoked, and inpatients who were underweight
or normal weight at diagnosisand often experienced the great-est eating and digestive problemsduring treatment, said studyfirst author Sylvia L. Crowderfrom the University of Illinois.
"While previous work hasestablished that the presence ofnutrition impact symptoms isassociated with decreased foodintake and weight loss, no stud-ies have examined how pre-treatment dietary intake mayinfluence the presence of thesesymptoms later in the course ofthe disease," Crowder said.
The patients completed aquestionnaire on their diet,tobacco and alcohol use, andquality of life prior to startingcancer treatment, and againone year post-diagnosis.
They were asked to reportwhether they experienced any ofseven nutrition impact symp-
toms – such as pain or difficul-ty chewing, tasting or swallow-ing foods and liquids – and ratedon a five-point scale how both-ersome each symptom was.
On analysing the patients'eating habits, the researchersfound that they followed one oftwo major dietary patterns.
One of them was the Westernpattern, which included highamounts of red and processedmeats, fried foods and sugar.
The other was the prudentpattern, which included health-ier fare such as fruits and veg-etables, fish and whole grains.
According to the study's find-ings, patients who ate healthierat diagnosis reported fewerproblems with chewing, swal-lowing and mucositis one yearafter treatment. "While the ori-gin and development of nutritionimpact symptoms are complex
and varied, they generally shareone common mechanism – celldamage due to inflammation,"said Anna E. Arthur, study co-author and an oncology dietitianfrom the University of Illinois.
"The prudent dietary patternhas the potential to reduceinflammation and affect thebiological processes involved inthe pathogenesis of these symp-toms," Arthur added.
According to the researchers,some patients may begin eatinghealthier after being diagnosedwith cancer, potentially counter-acting the pro-inflammatoryeffects of their previous dietaryhabits. They said it may also bepossible that the patients' lack ofsymptoms may have enabledthem to consume a broaderrange of foods, including health-ier whole foods, before their can-cer was discovered.
‘Healthier diet may help avert nutritional problems in cancer patients’
Factionism blamedfor murder of TDPleader in Kurnool PNS n KURNOOL
After a long lull, factionismraised its ugly head in Kurnooldistrict on Tuesday afternoon,shattering the otherwisepeaceful atmosphere.
TDP leader Subba Rao, 45,was killed with hunting sick-les and his head was latersmashed with a boulder by hisrivals. After the murder, theattackers fled the scene. Hisbody was found lying in a poolof blood.
The incident has left thepeople of the district in shock.
According to reports, theassailants lay in wait for SubbaRao at Belum Caves inKolimigandla mandal of thedistrict, waylaid his jeep,pulled him out of the vehicleand attacked him with hunt-ing sickles. Later, theysmashed his head with boul-ders and fled.
Subba Rao was a prominentfollower of Banaganapalle for-mer legislator BC JanardhanReddy. He hails fromChintalayapalle ofKolimigundla mandal
Subba Rao owned a granitefactory in Tadipatri ofAnantapur district and had
gone to Belum Caves wheregranite unit works are under-way.
The police sent the body togovernment hospital for post-mortem. They blame it onbusiness rivalry.
According to unconfirmednews, Subba Rao and his rivalshad frequent clashes in thepast over business dealings.
The faction incidentshocked the people of the dis-trict. The police registered acase and are investigating.
Responding to the news,Janardhan Reddy described itas an act of cowardice. Insteadof resorting to such barbaricacts, rivals should settle therows politically, he opined.
State school studentsget to experienceALC's physics labPNS n VIJAYAWADA
Concepts of Physics can belearnt only by experience andit is very important to providean opportunity to youngminds to learn physicsthrough doing experiments,said Andhra Loyola Collegeprincipal Fr. VictorEmmmanuel, while inaugurat-ing a two-day Land-to-Labprogramme. "The present sys-tem lays much stress on scor-ing marks and so the focus ofstudents does not go beyondmarks. When the same con-cepts are taught throughexperiments, learning sciencebecomes fun. The beauty ofscience can be seen onlythrough experiments and stu-dents will discover new per-spectives. It will motivate themto come up with new ideas andinventions and they will alsodiscover their inner poten-tials," Fr Victor Emmmanuelsaid.
The Department of Physicsof the ALC conceived theprogramme to enhance theexperimental learning of IXand X Class students fromgovernment-run schools inthe neighbourhood, throughhands-on experience in
physics experiments," said DrSahaya Baskaran, HoD ofPhysics.
He said that on a particularday, 200 school students visitthe physics lab. These studentsare divided into 16 batches andPG students of physics wouldgive demonstrations onphysics experiments, chosenfrom IX and X class PhysicalScience Books of AP State,under the supervision of thelecturers.
In eight minutes, eachgroup of the visiting studentspractice the experiment andnote their observations andinferences, and move on to thenext experiment.
This way, they practice the16 experiments in a day.
On Tuesday, 200 studentsand four teachers from KBCZP High School, Patamataand TMRC MunicipalCorporation High School,Machavaram participated inthe programme and studentsfrom two more schools will beparticipating on Wednesday.
Coordinator of PG depart-ment of physics B. Johnsonand the staff members K.Seshu Latha, Kunjan andKalyani trained the PG stu-dents.
The patientscompleted aquestionnaire ontheir diet, tobaccoand alcohol use,and quality of lifeprior to startingcancer treatment,and again one yearpost-diagnosis
Gate in Vizag cricket stadiumnamed after Venugopala Rao
PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
Former India cricketer fromVizag city, Y Venugopala Raoon Wednesday joined the elitelist of cricketers when one ofthe gates of the Dr YSRajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA cricket stadium inVizag city was named afterhim.
The Vizag stadium will behosting the ODI under flood-lights between India and WestIndies on December 18.Venugopala Rao was honouredahead of the ODI.
Venugopala Rao was theproduct of Andhra CricketAssociation (ACA). He was theformer captain of Andhra Ranjiteam and also representedTeam India. He played 16ODIs and 65 IPL matches inhis career, announced hisretirement from all forms ofcricket in July 2019.
Rao has been appointed asDirector (Cricket Operations)of ACA.
ACA secretary V DurgaPrasad said that Venugopala
Rao gate was inaugurated onWednesday to loud cheersfrom budding cricketers of thestate. He said the ACA hasnamed the gate afterVenugopala Rao in recognitionof his service to cricket fromVizag and Andhra Pradeshregion.
It may be recalled that for-mer MLA from Vizag Westsegment and senior leader ofYSR Congress Party MallaVijay Prasad demanded that a
gate or stand be named afterVenugopala Rao, a couple ofmonths ago. Vijay Pradad'sdemand was finally fulfilled onWednesday.
So far, only three cricketersfrom ACA -- MSK Prasad, YVenugopala Rao and HanumaVihari represented Team India.The ACA named a gate inVizag stadium after MSKPrasad long back.
It has been decided thatsome more stands in Vizag sta-dium will be named after per-sonalities and administrationwho served ACA.
The 37-year-old YVenugopala Rao from Vizagcity could amass only 218 runswith a lone fifty to his name inthe 11 innings he played forIndia after making his debutagainst Sri Lanka at Dambullaon July 30, 2005.
He played his last ODIagainst West Indies atBasseterre on May 23, 2006.Rao played 121 first-classmatches scoring 7,081 runswith 17 hundreds and 30 fiftiesto his credit.
Traffic restrictions in Vizagimposed for India-WI ODIPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
Vizag city traffic police haveimposed restrictions on NH-16 stretch from 11 am to 11pm on Wednesday to ensuresmooth flow of traffic in thevicinity of the Dr YSRajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA international cricketstadium at PM Palem area onWednesday (December 18),where India will take on theWest Indies for the secondODI cricket match underfloodlights.
The match will commenceat 1.30 pm, however, the traf-fic diversions and restric-tions will begin from around11 am and will be in forceuntil the end of the game at11 pm.
ADCP (Traffic) M RameshKumar said that vehicles com-ing from Kolkata, Srikakulamand Vizianagaram and goingtowards Anakapalle,Vijayawada and Chennai willbe diverted at Anandapuramand will proceed towardsSabbavaram and Anakapalletill the completion of thematch.
Vehicles coming fromYelamanchili, Parawada andAnakapalle, and proceedingtowards Srikakulam andVizianagaram will be divert-ed at Lankelapalem Junctionvia Sabbavaram and
Pendurthi towardsAnandapuram junction onNH-16.
All heavy vehicles goingtowards Srikakulam andVizianagaram from Gajuwakaand Visakhapatnam Port willbe diverted at NAD Junctionvia Gopalapatnam andPendurthi towardsAnandapuram.
All heavy Vehicles goingfrom Vizag city toVizianagaram, Srikakulam,and Kolkata will be divertedat HanumanthuwakaJunction and will proceedtowards Adavivaram,Sontyam and Anandapuram.
Small and medium vehiclesgoing from Vizag city towardsSrikakulam will be diverted atYendada Junction and willproceed towards Rushikonda(Beach Road), Timmapuramand Marikavalasa on NH-16.
Ramesh Kumar said thatthe police would not allowvehicles which don't havepasses in between Yendadaand Car Shed Junction from11 am to 2 pm.
Vehicles (other than for thecricket match) coming fromVizag city from Vizianagaramand Srikakulam will have totake diversion on NH-16 atMarikavalasa and proceedtowards Timmapuram, BeachRoad, Appughar, MVOColony.
ACA secretaryV Durga Prasadsaid thatVenugopala Raogate wasinaugurated onWednesday toloud cheersfrom buddingcricketers ofthe state
TDP leader SubbaRao, 45, was killed withhunting sickles and hishead was latersmashed with a boulderby his rivals. After themurder, the attackersfled the scene
PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
In a bid to undertake activitiesof Technology Cluster Manager(TCM) programme inVisakhapatnam, a workshop on"government policies and initia-tives and knowledge sharing ofbest practices on advancedfuture tooling" was organizedhere on Tuesday.
MSME Technology Centre -Pudi, Visakhapatnam in associ-ation with KPMG conducted theprogramme at Gajuwaka.
In his keynote address, PrasadReddy, Dy.GM, TechnologyCentre (TC), Pudi,Visakhapatnam said, "TheTechnology Centre SystemsProgramme (TCSP), undertak-en by the Ministry of Micro,Small and Medium Enterpriseswith the assistance of the WorldBank, seeks to enhance thetechnological and skill base ofMSMEs in selected manufactur-ing industries to improve thecompetitiveness of MSMEs viaupgraded and new TechnologyCentre."
Krishna Prakash Lal, ClusterDevelopment Expert of KPMGsaid, "We act as Technology
Cluster Manager (TCM) to sup-port Technology Centres toundertake technology and clus-ter development activities, devel-op technological and skill basedof MSMEs and enhance theirbusiness opportunities throughnew market linkages in select-ed manufacturing industries."
Dwelling on advanced futuretooling, Bala Hangadhara,Technical Export from KPMGsaid, in an endeavour to providethe right stimulus for growth ofMSMEs, Tool Rooms provideinvaluable service to the IndianIndustry by way of precisiontooling and providing skilledmanpower in the area of tooland die making.
Highlighting the importanceof TC, R. K. Pavitra Kumar,Director for Central Institute ofTool Design(CITD), Hyderabadsaid: "Ours is first of its kind inIndia and we are still excellingin assisting developing tools forvarious processes for MSMEsand promoting skill develop-ment courses in Designing &Manufacture of Tools, Dies &Moulds in line with Made inIndia. Similar kind of facilitieswill be developed in TC Pudi inthe near future. Synergybetween industry, institutionand students in order keepabreast with latest technicalknow-how". More than 80 par-ticipants turned up for the event.
PBS college to organise ‘Limes 2K19'PNS n VIJAYAWADA
The Department of English ofPB Siddhartha College of Artsand Science would organise lit-erary event 'Limes 2K19' onDecember 20, said collegeprincipal Dr M. Ramesh onTuesday. A poster of 'Limes-2k19' was released on the occa-sion.
He said that the event isorganised to mark the celebra-
tion of English toreflect up on itsomnipresence goingfar beyond text-books to shape reallife situation withgreat communica-tion and vocabularyskills. The college isenriching studentsthrough a variety ofevents and offering platformsfor like-minded students to
meet, he said.Students from
various colleges inthe city can partici-pate in the competi-tions organised atLimes 2K19 like Hitfor brains, Clash ofminds, Talkaholics,O' Bee, Spell me!,
Pic-scribe, Hello! It'sme, Jungle Mangal and Fusions&Fashions.
Future tooling practices inMSME sector discussed
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 vijayawada 03
PNS n AMARAVATI
Despite being invited to dinnerbeing hosted by CM YSJaganmohan Reddy in Vijayawadaon Tuesday evening, Collectors,SPs and MPs have been asked bythe CMO to stay away. Now, onlyMLAs and bureaucrats inVijayawada will partake in the din-ner. Two days ago, the CMOissued a communiqué statingthat a dinner would be hosted forall Collectors and Superintendentsof Police (SPs) in the state onTuesday. Police Commissionersand commissioners of variousdepartments were also been invit-ed to the dinner.
The communiqué said 13tables representing as many dis-tricts in the State would be set.It said the menu would be a pan-Indian spread with all South andNorth Indian cuisine apart from
the Andhra delicacies.The communiqué further said
the Chief Minister would spend10 minutes at each table and havea pep talk with the Collector andthe SP. It was thought that hewould discuss the problems ofeach district with the collectorand the SP and seek their sugges-tions to solve them. The venuewas Punnami Ghat on the banksof Krishna river near Vijayawada.
The dinner meeting is beingseen as an occasion for the partyMLAs and MLCs to interact withthe CM and bring to his noticevarious issues pertaining to theirrespective constituencies. TheChief Minister is likely to solicitthe suggestions of lawmakers onhow to run the administrationtransparently. Meanwhile, thereason behind exclusion of MPs,Collectors and SP, is not known.
Confusion over dinner date with CMSpecial trainsto clear rushof passengersPNS n VIJAYAWADA
In order to clear extra rush ofpassengers, the South CentralRailways, Vijayawada divisionon Tuesday said that six spe-cial trains will be run betweenSecunderabad - KakinadaTown and Kakinada Town -Tirupati - Kakinada Town.
Accordingly, Train No07053, Train No. 07054,Special Train No 07644, TrainNo. 07645, Train No 07053,Train No. 07054 will be runto clear the extra rush, theSCR said.
These special trains willhave AC First Class, AC IITier, AC III Tier and SleeperClass Coaches.
PNS n AMARAVATI
Chaos prevailed in the APAssembly during the discus-sion on Amaravati capital cityon Tuesday, the last day of thewinter session.
Members of the rulingYSRCP and the OppositionTDP traded charges over theissues. TDP members tookserious exception to the man-ner in which the YSRCP mem-bers were dealing with theCapital issue. At one stage, theytried to stall the proceedings.
While the Opposition waskeen to counter criticism fromthe treasury benches, the lattertargeted Opposition leaderChandrababu Naidu, tryingto put him on the mat over theCapital issue.
Srikakulam MLA DharmanaPrasada Rao alleged that theTDP government had resortedto insider trading in land pool-ing for the Capital. He said for-mer Naidu turned the issue intoa real estate business.
He found fault with Naidufor bringing filmmakers toprovide designs for Amaravati.Prasada Rao said he had showgraphics to people on thegrandeur of Amaravati.
Exposing the irregularities ofthe previous government in thecapital city, Finance MinisterBuggana Rajendranath gave ablow-by-blow account on howland was acquired and themethodology used to benefitthe TDP leaders and theircoterie.
"Land was acquired in theperipheries of the proposedcapital region by people closeto TDP leadership monthsbefore the announcement ofthe capital area. This is insid-er trading and there were manyirregularities in land acquisi-tion and awarding contracts toSingapore companies withterms loaded heavily in favourof the foreign companies,"Buggana said, during the dis-cussion on Amaravati.
He said that between Juneand December of 2014, about4,070 acres of land wasacquired by the coterie of TDPin the peripheries which showsthat there was a clear case ofinsider trading. "Prominentamong those who purchasedland during the period, whichis before the announcement ofthe capital, Heritage Foods, thecompany owned by the fami-ly members of Naidu," theminister said.
"They redrew the boundary
and ring road adjacent to thelands to benefit their coterie.They also took away theassigned lands using coercionand later on issue a GO to reg-ularise it and take it for landpooling. After acquisition landallotment there was discrimi-nation in pricing between gov-ernment institutions and peo-ple close to the ruling party,"Buggana said.
The Finance Minister saidthat the previous governmenttried to showcase Singaporecompanies as mascot to createreal estate boom and sell plotswhich they called as selffinanced project. The TDPdid not consider the report ofSivaramakrishanan Committeeand set up a parallel commit-tee of entrepreneurs, he alleged.
Earlier, initiating the debate,Dharmana Prasada Rao saidthat the need of the hour wasdecentralised development andnot concentration on one area."This is a lesson we have to
learn from the Hyderabadexperience," he said.
Lauding Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy for his ini-tiatives, Dharmana said that thegovernment should go for-ward and see that all regions aredeveloped equally and thereshould be no heartburn frompeople of any part of the state.
"The previous TDP cheatedthe people and treated thecapital city as a real estate ven-ture resorting to insider trad-ing and playing truant on theissue. The government paidexorbitant fees to consultantsand encouraged Singaporecompanies with very soft termsand used Swiss Challengethough it is considered a faultysystem," he said.
"What the present govern-ment has to do is to build apeople's capital. The other sug-gestions that have comeinclude multiple capitals indifferent regions of the state,"the minister said.
YSRCP accuses Naidu ofinsider trading on capital
Oppositionparties in
Andhra Pradeshare rejuvenatingand gearing up for
the upcom-ing polls to
local bodies. Theelections to local bod-
ies, likely to be held in thefirst half of 2020, are going tobe the litmus test for all, includ-ing the ruling party. TeluguDesam Party, Janasena and theLeft parties are busy involvingtheir respective cadre inprotests against the policies ofthe YSR Congress government.
TDP is formulating strate-gies for surviving effectively inthe political arena of the state.The party's stir, therefore, isintended to take on the YSRCgovernment on the one handand keeping its flock togetheron the other. For, the rulingparty is believed to be making
attempts to poach from TDPso as to strip it of the rank ofprincipal opposition in theAP Assembly. Just six TDPmembers are enough for theruling party to disturb its bêtenoire politically.
The ruling party, by estab-lishing ward-level secretariatsand the system of volunteers invillages, has the paved the wayfor reaching out to people. So,TDP faces a formidable chal-lenge in regaining its strengthand sustaining its position.Trying to align with BJP couldprove to be a very big task forTDP in the backdrop of YSRC'srelentless efforts to strike afriendly deal with the saffronparty. The issue will be decid-ed, basing on their pros andcons, at the behest of Modi-Shah combination. Whichpolitical combination in APwill be useful for BJP to retainpower at Centre in 2024?
What kind of plan of action isneeded for that? Who will bethe electoral partner for BJP inAndhra? Which party is capa-ble of going the 'extra mile' toget maximum benefits thatcould also turn the tide in BJP'sfavour? These are some theissues that BJP would consid-er while taking a call on pos-sible political tie-ups. In anycase, BJP is eagerly waiting fora political partner in AP to but-tress its strength in Parliament.That future partner in APshould be like AIADMK ofTamil Nadu, which has beenacting as staunch supporter of
BJP on all key issues. It is onlybecause of the unqualifiedsupport extended by partieslike AIADMK that the Modigovernment could have the lastlaugh in the case of CitizenshipAmendment Act. As thingsstand, YSRC may be BJP's nat-ural choice in AP, consideringit has 22 Lok Sabha members.But BJP is wary that a party'spresent strength in legislaturemay get altered followingchange of mood in voters.Still, BJP needs support ofregional parties before the2024 polls.
Janasena Party headed by
film star Pawan Kalyan is pos-sibly going to play a very cru-cial role in the coming elec-tions. He seems to have real-ized his blunder of going italone in the recent polls.Pawan made it clear recentlythat he never alienated himselffrom BJP. In fact, Pawan seemsto be working for a grand
alliance against YSRC in AP.Pawan is concentrating onmass contact programmesrelated to farmers and workingclasses and is trying to projecthimself in national media as afighter solving people's prob-lems. He seems to have pre-pared himself even to lose hislone MLA in AP Assemblywho is slowly getting nearer toCM Jaganmohan Reddy bypraising his policies on thefloor of the House.
Pawan is enjoying thepatronage of BJP without hav-ing single seat in Parliament.The left parties should also beincluded in this proposedalliance as per the opinion ofmany. But the Left partieswon't align themselves with afront in which BJP is a partner.So, it may not be possible evenfor Chandrababu and Pawanto get Left parties included intheir possible combination.
Jaganmohan Reddy is keenon having proper ties with BJPat Centre as the sword ofcriminal cases is hangingabove his head. Hence, YSRCsupported CAB recently.
One incident that took placein Delhi in 1997 needs a closelook. A ninth class girl student,daughter of a Sub-Inspector inDelhi police, got very muchdisturbed to see police atroci-ties on a hapless woman in aBollywood film 'Hamare DilApke Pass Hai' in which hero-ine Aishwarya Rai is subjectedto high degree of harassmentat the hands of a sub-inspector.That girl, in that very particu-lar moment, had a hallucina-tion of seeing her real lifefather in the role of the sub-inspector in that movie. Theadverse comments made byher classmates after watchingthat movie over police harass-ment in general adds fuel to
fire in 'hurting' feelings of thatgirl. Soon after returninghome, that girl fumes at herfather, stating how he could beso cruel towards a haplesswoman. Her father is stunnedon receiving such responsefrom his teenage daughter.This suggests that people havestrong positive opinion onpolice; yet, they easily get dis-turbed if things go wrong evenif it is a fictitious one.
The latest happening in thenational capital makes peopledraw a parallel with the fore-going incident. A womanjournalist Bushra Sheik, work-ing for BBC, got a raw deal atthe hands the Delhi policewhile she was covering mid-night protests of the studentsof Jamia Milia IslamiaUniversity in Delhi over CAA.This real incident seems tohave 'enough stuff ' to defamethe Delhi Police.
M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist
The issue will be decided, basing on theirpros and cons, at the behest of Modi-Shahcombination. Which political combinationin AP will be useful for BJP to retainpower at Centre in 2024?
Opposition geared up for local bodies elections in AP
PIN POINT
PNS n AMARAVATI
Endowments Minister Vellamp-alli Srinivas on Tuesday allegedthat TDP has hatched a conspir-acy to defame the TTD by spr-eading rumours that some peo-ple are propagating non-Hindufaiths on the Tirumala hills.
Speaking during QuestionHour in the Legislative Councilon the last day of the winter ses-sion, Srinivas said MLC NaraLokesh was running a socialmedia smear campaign againstthe YSRCP government and aspart of it, he, along with his team,
was not hesitating to draw evenLord Venkateswara into the con-troversy.
He countered the TDP chargethat Christianity was being pro-
moted on the Tirumala hillswhere a cross was set up. Heoffered to quit as minister if thecharge was proven and daredLokesh if was ready to resignfrom the Council if it was not.
Srinivas said that already, TDPleaders were facing ignominy ofbeing rejected by the people. Hesaid: "If you touch LordVenkateswara, you will bedestroyed."
Stating that during the TDPgovernment, middlemen hadruled the roost atop the Tirumalahills. However, after YSJaganmohan Reddy had become
the Chief Minister, the menacewas eradicated, he said.
The minister questioned thepropriety of the TDP in seekingpermission to raise a question onthe Sri Vani Trust and then talkabout promotion of non-Hindureligions at Tirumala.
Replying to a question on SriVani Trust, he said it was TDPthat had floated the Trust whichtakes up various programmeslike propagation of Hinduism,providing financial assistancefor renovation of Hindu temples,conducting certain rituals attemples and similar activities.
TDP plotting to defame TTD: Vellampalli
PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM
In another development in theVakapalli gang-rape case, thepublic prosecutor of SpecialCourt for SC, ST (preventionof Atrocities) Act soughtdetails of the duty chart of thespecial party police personnelinvolved in the alleged rape of11 tribal women Vakapalli,Visakhapatnam agency andalso arms provided to them onthe day of the incident.
The Armed Reserve Policeand the Paderu police stationshave been directed to come upthe details as the special courtresumed the hearing of thecase on Tuesday.
Special public prosecutorSunkari Rajendra Prasad saidthis evidence would throwlight on the movements of the
accused policemen on the dayof the rape.
Special Sessions Judge OVNageswar Rao thereafterdirected the Reserve Inspectorand the SHO Paderu to pro-duce these records.
In the last three hearings,the Reserve Inspector and theSHO Paderu have been report-ing to the court that the rele-vant registers were not tracedand during the hearing onTuesday, the Reserve Inspectorproduced only the Arms IssueRegister to the Court, theSpecial PP argued that thepolice was deliberately delay-ing the production of registers.
He added that the PoliceStanding Orders mandates themaintenance of these registersand that they cannot bedestroyed.
Continued from Page1
Akshay had sought clemen-cy arguing life in Delhi is any-way becoming short due to ris-ing air and water pollution.
On July 9 last year, the apexcourt had dismissed the reviewpleas filed by the other threeconvicts -- Mukesh (30),Pawan Gupta (23) and VinaySharma (24) -- in the case, say-ing no grounds have beenmade out by them for reviewof the 2017 verdict.
The 23-year-old paramedicstudent was gang raped andbrutally assaulted on the inter-vening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving busin south Delhi by six personsbefore being thrown out on theroad.
She died on December 29,2012 at Mount ElizabethHospital in Singapore.
One of the six accused in thecase, Ram Singh, allegedlycommitted suicide in the TiharJail here.
A juvenile, who was amongthe accused, was convicted bya juvenile justice board andwas released from a reforma-tion home after serving athree-year term.
The top court in its 2017verdict had upheld the capitalpunishment awarded to themby the Delhi High Court andthe trial court in the case.
"The state must not simplyexecute people to prove that itis attacking terror or violenceagainst women. It must persis-tently work towards systemat-
ic reforms to bring aboutchange. Executions only killthe criminal, not the crime...,"said Akshay in the reviewplea, filed through advocateSingh.
Akshay, lodged in a jailhere, has further said thatdeath penalty entails "coldblooded killing" and does notprovide convicts the chance toreform themselves.
The plea referred to themoral reasons for abolition ofthe death penalty and saidthere was no evidence to showthat such a punishment has gota deterrent value.
The convicts, except AkshayKumar Singh, can still filecurative pleas in the top courtagainst their conviction anddeath penalty in the case.
CJI recuses from hearing convict's plea
3 capitals for Andhra...Continued from Page1
Legislators of ruling YSRCongress Party (YSRCP)hailed the chief minister'sannouncement with thethumping of desks and slogansof 'Jai Jagan'.
Reddy said a final decisionin this regard would be takenby expert's committee consti-tuted by the state govern-ment. The panel is seekingopinion of people from all theregions.
The chief minister made theannouncement at the end ofthe heated debate overAmaravati, which saw Speakersuspending nine members ofthe opposition Telugu DesamParty (TDP) for stalling theproceedings.
Ever since YSRCP came topower in May, the fate ofAmaravati was hanging inbalance as the new govern-ment had put all the works onhold, citing irregularities indevelopment of the capitalduring TDP rule.
The government hadformed a five-member com-mittee, comprising urbanplanning experts, to look intothe issue of state capital andmake recommendations. Thepanel had also sought people'sopinion from all 13 districts ofthe state.
The foundation stone forAmaravati as the capital ofAndhra Pradesh was laid byPrime Minister NarendraModi in 2015.
A brainchild of then chiefminister N. ChandrababuNaidu, Amaravati's design wasprepared by Singapore govern-ment. He had planned todevelop the city on the banks
of Krishna river as a world-class city.
However, after coming topower, YSRCP decided to havere-look at the whole issue as italleged that TDP leadersresorted to insider trading bybuying lands in and aroundAmaravati at throwaway pricesbefore deciding the location ofthe state capital.
Why this muchhatred againstAmaravati...
Continued from Page1
The decision will becounterproductive for thestate. Will people makerounds to three capitals toget their works done? Willthey build one home ateach of the capital cities?What the government isgoing to achieve by having asecretariat at Visakhapatnam?
Moreover, the governmentshould be slush with funds tohave three capitals, andquipped that it would bebetter for the government tohave one office in each man-dal. He demanded the CMto make public in whichcapital people can find theministers.
Chandrababu, givingvent to his angst, said thatthe government is takingdecision on the state capi-tals having suspended theOpposition members. Onlytime will teach a lesson topeople like JaganmohanReddy, he said.
Speaker suspendsnine TDP MLAs
Continued from Page1
He said HeritageFoods, a familyf irm of TDPPresident and for-mer ChiefMinister N.C h a n d r a b a b uNaidu, was also abeneficiary. Earlier,there were heated exchanges
between the ruling and oppo-sition parties over
Amaravati. Leader of
O p p o s i t i o nC h a n d r a b a b uNaidu slammedthe government
for ki l l ingAmaravati by creat-
ing confusion and dri-ving away the investors.
AP withdrawscases on variousprotesters
Continued from Page1
Similarly, cases registeredagainst arsonists whoattacked Reliance outlet inundivided Andhra Pradeshin the aftermath of death ofthe then chief minister YSRajasekhara Reddy.
As many as 185 personswere arrested across theState at that time. ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy, during his padayatrain Vizianagaram, promisedthe locals who met him thathe would look into the issueof lifting the cases if hisparty was voted to power.
VAKAPALLI GANG-RAPE CASE
Trace missing duty registersof police personnel: PP
PNS n VIJAYAWADA
The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment is taking measures tostop sale of liquor in a phasedmanner in the State.
The number of wine shopsis being reduced by 20 per centevery year; the number hasalready come down from 4,380to 3,500. Similarly, the numberof bars has been reduced from839 to 487 and additionalexcise retail tax is levied to hikethe prices of liquor in a bid todiscourage consumption. Also,liquor sales timings have beenreduced and it would now besold only between 11 am and8 pm.
Excise Minister KNarayanaswami told theAssembly on Tuesday that theprevious TDP government was
responsible for the mushroom-ing of as many as 43,000 beltshops or unauthorised salescounters. But the YSRCP, aftercoming to power, scrappedall the belt shops, he said.
"While the TDP govern-ment viewed liquor as asource of revenue, Chief
Minister YS JaganmohanReddy saw how the familieshave been ruined women leftsuffering due to liquor. Wehave set up a'Madyavimochana prachara'committee and are makingefforts to distance people fromthe evil of alcohol," he said.
AP to take phased routeon imposing prohibition
Trainingprogramme oneco-friendlypractices heldPNS n VIJAYAWADA
As part of the five-day pro-gramme 'Mission Eco Next -Eco Air and Eco Connect' anational training programmefor developing eco educators,a science exhibition on EcoAir was organised on thepremises of PB SiddharthaArts and Science College onTuesday.
The expo was inauguratedby Dr Grover, chairman,Institute of Chemists NewDelhi and N. Balagopal of thePN Panicker Foundation.
The programme was organ-ised by the National Councilof Science and Technologyunder the guidance of DrAppasani Krishna Rao, CEOand Vice-Chairman ScienceCity of AP.
BugganaRajendranathgave a blow-by-blow account onhow land wasacquired and themethodologyused to benefitthe TDP leadersand their coterie
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 nation 04SHORT READS
11 NFR trains includingManas Rhinopassenger resumeservice: OfficialGUWAHATI: In a major relieffor commuters in Assam and afew neighbouring states, eleventrains, including Manas Rhinopassenger, of the NortheastFrontier Railway (NFR) onTuesday resumed services, asenior official said. Allpassengers and InterCityservices of NFR, which werecancelled on December 12 inview of the situation in Assamover the ongoing protests overthe Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA), had remainedsuspended till Monday. "Eleventrain services, including someIntercity services were onTuesday resumed, as law andorder situation has graduallyimproved in the state," he said."The resumed trains includeManas Rhino passenger, whichconnects New Bongaigaon inBongaigaon district toGuwahati, and will benefitespecially the office-goers,"NFR's Chief Public RelationsOfficer Subhanan Chanda toldPTI. Besides, Guwahati-JorhatTown Janshatabdi Express andGuwahati-Ledo IntercityExpress have also beenresumed from Tuesday, he said.Train services from NFR Zoneto Eastern Railway Zoneremained fully suspended onTuesday, he added.
TN fishermen drivenaway by SL Navy
Priest found hangingfrom tree in ShamliSHAMLI: The body of a templepriest was found hanging froma tree in a field in Gharipukhtaarea here, police said onTuesday. Balakram has left forthe temple but could notreached there and later hisbody was found in Manakpyravillage on Monday evening,they said. The deceased'sbrother Yashpal has lodged amurder complaint againstunidentified assailants, policesaid. The body has been sentfor post-mortem, they added.
RAMESWARAM(TN): In secondsuch incident this week, nearly3,000 Tamil Nadu fishermenwere allegedly chased away bythe Sri Lankan Navy while theywere fishing near Katchatheevuislet on Tuesday. The fishermenfrom this island town had putout to sea on Monday in morethan 500 boats and werefishing off Kathchatheevu earlythis morning when a SriLankan Navy patrol team cameto the spot and drove off agroup of fisherfolks,Rameswaram FishermenAssociation President, S Emiretalleged. The fishermen werethreatened at gun point andforced to return to the shorewithout their catch, he said.Around 3,000 fishermen fromhere were allegedly chasedaway by the Sri Lankan Navynear Katchatheevu, afterdamaging fishing equipment in50 boats on Saturday.
Reminded of Jallianwala Bagh:Uddhav on Jamia crackdownPNS n NAGPUR
Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray on Tuesdaylikened the police crackdown onstudents of the Jamia MilliaIslamia to the Jallianwala Baghmassacre.
Talking to reporters outsidethe Vidhan Bhawan here, hesaid an "atmosphere of fear" wasbeing created with such actions.
The Delhi-based universityvirtually turned into a battlefieldon Sunday after police enteredthe campus and also used force,following protest against theCitizenship Amendment Act.
Reacting to it, Thackeraysaid, "There is a deliberate
attempt to create an atmosphereof unrest in society. The waypolice opened fire on studentsby forcefully entering the com-pound, it appeared like theJalianwala Bagh massacre."
He said fear was being creat-ed in the minds of youth of thecountry, he said.
"I feel no country can remainstable where youth are dis-turbed. I ask the Centre not todestabilise the youth of thiscountry," he said.
Thackeray said the youth arethe country's future and theyhave a lot of potential.
"The youth are like a bombwhich should not be triggered.It is my humble request to theprime minister," the chief min-ister said. On protests againstthe Citizenship Act and theNational Register of Citizens,Thackeray said, "The state ispeaceful so far."
Centre stopped rly services in Bengalover ‘minor incidents': MamataPNS n KOLKATA
Terming the ongoing violenceand arson in the state over thecitizenship law as "minor inci-dents", West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onTuesday said just because theBJP has requisite numbers inParliament, it cannot bully thestates into enforcing the law.
Taking a dig at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, whohad said at a Jharkhand rallythat the "protesters could beidentified by their clothes", sheasserted that "miscreants andcommoners cannot be differen-tiated on the basis of attire orfood habits".
Banerjee, who is also theTMC supremo, claimed that theCentre stopped railway ser-vices in the state over "one ortwo minor incidents" of vio-lence.
"Owing to one or two smallincidents, the Centre hasstopped railways services inBengal. It is the duty of theRailway Protection Force per-sonnel to protect railway prop-erty, yet we provided them sup-port. "We have arrested morethan 600 people (for creating
trouble). I would request therailways and the central govern-ment to resume services," shesaid.
Protests over the amendedCitizenship Act had been ragingacross the state over the past fivedays, with agitators setting fireto trains, buses, railway stationcomplexes in different areas.
Losses incurred in the wakeof the agitation run into croresof rupees. Banerjee on Tuesdayled a protest rally over citizen-ship law -- from Jadavpur 8B busstand in the city to JadubabuBazar in Bhawanipore, around6.5 km away.
The chief minister stressedthat violence over the amend-
ed Act would defeat the purposeof the protest.
"Violence and arson will notbe tolerated; police will takeaction against the culprits. Theseviolent protests are undermin-ing the very purpose of theprotest," she noted.
Alleging that the BJP wasinstigating trouble in the coun-try, she said the Citizenship(Amemdment) Bill was passedin a hurry in Parliament.
"The BJP didn't give opposi-tion parties time to think anddiscuss the bill. It sought thepassage of the bill in a hurry.The bill was not passed in a con-stitutional matter inParliament," she claimed.
6th edition of Panna Bharat Ramtheatre festival to begin from Dec 21PNS n NEW DELHI
The 6th edition of Panna BharatRam theatre festival will featureplays by the likes of GirishKarnad, William Inge, JosephKesselring and Shrilal Shukla.
The theatre festival, organ-ised by the Shri Ram Centre forthe Performing Arts (SRCPA),will open with the Hindi adap-tation of William Inge's"Splendour in the Grass" atShri Ram Centre here onDecember 21.
Directed by veteran directorFeisal Alkazi, the theatricalversion of the 1961 film by thesame name will portray a beau-tiful love story which has allelements of romance, comedyand drama.
The nine-day event will see
Girish Karnad's "Agni aurBarkha" and "Bali", MaheshDattani's "Tara", SantvanaNigam's "Sehaj ka Sargam",Joseph Kesselring's dark com-edy "Arsenic and Old Lace",Kaushik Bose's
"Compunction", ShrilalShukla's iconic satire "RaagDarbari", and Manav Kaul's"Prem Kabootar".
"Over the years, we havebeen presenting a vibrantblend of plays for Delhi theatre
lovers. This year we bring a fineassortment of well acclaimed,award winning productions.Some of the classic onesinclude plays by Girish Karnad,Feisal Alkazi, Mahesh Dattaniand Shrilal Shukla etc.
"While some of these playsdepict topical issues such ascorrupt education system,female infanticide etc. Othersportray intricate human rela-tionship, romance, comedy todark comedy including psy-chological thriller! I amdelighted that these plays whenbrilliantly acted on stage willset a new precedent in theworld of theatre," HemantBharatram, executive vice pres-ident, SRCPA, said.
The event will come to anend on December 29.
Police fire teargas shells toquell protestsPNS n NEW DELHI
A protest against the amendedcitizenship act turned violent innortheast Delhi's Seelampurarea as demonstrators peltedstones at police personnel whofired tear gas shells to dispersethe crowd. According to asenior police officer, the protestbegan around 12 pm and thepeople from the area gatheredat Seelampur T-point. The pro-testers raised slogans against theact, the NRC and the govern-ment.
Unnao rape survivor's mother: Whywas Sengar's co-accused acquitted?PNS n UNNAO (UP)
Mother of the Unnao rapesurvivor on Tuesday expressedunhappiness over the acquittalof Shashi Singh -- a co-accusedalong with expelled BJP MLAKuldeep Singh Sengar in the2017 Unnao rape case.
A Delhi court convictedSengar on Monday for rapinga woman in Unnao in 2017saying the victim's testimonywas "truthful and unblem-ished" against a "powerful per-son". Singh, co-accused in thecase was acquitted of allcharges.
Reacting to the judgement
by a Delhi court, the mother ofthe rape survivor (from Delhi)said, "Why Shashi Singh hasbeen acquitted. She was theone, who had duped mydaughter and had taken her to
Kuldeep Sengar on the pretextof giving her a job."
She said the uncle of the rapesurvivor is still in jail. "Until hecomes out of the jail, I will notget justice," she said.
"I have been able to emergevictorious in this battle withthe help of the media. I am stillfeeling afraid and there isthreat vis-a-vis the Rae Bareliaccident. When he (Sengar)can get an accident donedespite staying in jail, he can doanything," she said.
She was referring to herallegation that Sengar wasbehind an accident in whichthe rape survivor was injured
and two of her aunts werekilled.
She demanded capital pun-ishment for Sengar.
Meanwhile, Naveen Singh,son of Shashi Singh expressedhappiness over his mother'sacquittal.
A Delhi court on Tuesdayadjourned till December 20 thehearing on order for quantumof sentence against Sengar.District Judge DharmeshSharma adjourned hearing inthe case till Friday.
The CBI sought maximumpunishment for Sengar, sayingit was a fight for justice of anindividual against the system.
PNS n JAIPUR
Former Rajasthan chief ministerVasundhara Raje on Tuesdayalleged that the Congress govern-ment, which is divided into twofactions, has failed to keep up itspromises and is celebrating itsone year of misgovernance.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government is cel-ebrating its first anniversaryafter coming into power in thestate.
"There is no day in the statewhen there is no news of rape.Farmers are distressed due tohailstorm, health sector is mis-managed and daughters areinsecure. But far away from itspromises this government whichis divided into two factions, issteeped in the celebration of suc-
cessfully saving its chair," Rajetweeted in Hindi.
The BJP national vice presi-dent said the Congress govern-ment may be patting its back bymaking "false" claims of develop-ment, but it is a truth that thisgovernment has "stalled the paceof development" in the state andalso deprived people of basicfacilities.
She said every class, includingfarmers, youth, women, busi-nessmen and employees, are"feeling cheated and are dis-tressed by the chaos that hasspread in the last one year".People are also worried aboutfacilities like electricity, water,education and roads and crimehas crossed the limits, Raje said.
The former chief ministersaid people are "disappointed" inthe one year of Congress rule asthe government has "snatcheddream of new Rajasthan". "TheCongress government is todaycelebrating completion of its oneyear. But it is not a celebration ofgood governance but the misruleof the failed Congress govern-ment on every front. Today,almost all of its promises haveproved to be a sham," she alleged.
Rajasthan Cong govt celebratingone year of misgovernance: Raje
Mayawati asks Modi govtto withdraw amended CAAPNS n LUCKNOW
BSP President Mayawati onTuesday voiced concern overviolent clashes in differentparts of the country over theamended Citizenship Act, say-ing such incidents happenwhen the government "disre-gards" the Constitution toserve its selfish interests.
She asked the Centre towithdraw CAA in the interestof the country and theConstitution or else it couldhave a damaging impact.
"Such things often happenonly when the government inpower discriminates againstpeople belonging to one sec-tion of society or communityfor its selfish gains, disregard-ing the Constitution," the BSPpresident said.
"The new law totallyneglects Muslims and myparty does not approve ofthis. Taking this Act as divisiveand unconstitutional we hadopposed it in Parliament," shesaid.
The BSP president saidthose who feel that thisaction of the BJP govern-ment is aimed at taking"revenge" for atrocities on
Hindus in Pakistan withMuslims of IndependentIndia then it is improper andagainst humanity.
Mayawati also likened theattitude of the present BJP gov-ernment with that of theCongress during Emergency.
MODI TO CONGRESS
‘Are you ready to accordIndian citizenship to allPakistanis?’
PNS n BHOGNADIH (JK)
Accusing the Congress ofspreading lies over the new cit-izenship law, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Tuesdaydared the main oppositionparty to publicly declare it isprepared to accord Indian cit-izenship to all Pakistanis.
Amid a wave of violentprotests in several parts of thecountry over the Citizenship(Amendment) Act, Modisought to assuage concerns ofIndians apprehensive aboutgetting stripped of their citi-zenship.
"The Congress is spreadinglies, creating an atmosphere offear for Muslims over the newlaw. Citizenship (Amendment)Act neither takes away therights of Indian citizens norharms them in any manner,"
he told an election rally here.He said the law was enact-
ed for religious minorities ofthree nations--Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistan--who fled their countriesbecause of religious persecu-tion.
"It's for people who havefled three countries due toatrocities on account of theirreligious faith. It's for thosewho are living in miserableconditions and cannot goback," he said.
Modi said he wanted toknow how the new citizenshiplaw had encroached upon therights of Indian Muslims, orfor that matter, any citizen ofthe country. "I dare theCongress, its friends to pub-licly declare they are preparedto accord Indian citizenship toall Pakistanis," he said.
PNS n GUWAHATI
Protesters came out in largenumbers across Assam onTuesday demanding repeal ofthe amended Citizenship Actand condemning PrimeMinister Narendra Modi for"ridiculing" the agitators withhis comment that protesterscould be identified by theclothes they were wearing.
Women, youths and seniorcitizens joined protest march-es organised as part of 'MassSatyagrah' by the All AssamStudents' Union (AASU) atseveral places, even as the sit-uation remained largely peace-ful.
"We warn the governmentnot to play with the sentimentsof people who have come outon the roads. "The prime min-ister says that he respects non-violent protesters, but the gov-ernment here is trying to dom-inate and suppress us," AASUchief adviser Samujjal KumarBhattacharya said.
Addressing a huge gatheringat the Latasil playground here,he said that the Assam govern-ment had thought that theprotests would die down with-in 2-3 days and everythingwould settle down.
"They are wrong becauseunless the Citizenship(Amendment) Act is repealed,we will not settle. Do notinsult us everytime.
"Do not blame us laterbecause the agitation will bemore intense in the comingdays," Bhattacharya said.
AASU general secretaryLurinjyoti Gogoi criticised theprime minister for his com-ment that protesters could beidentified by the "clothes theyare wearing".
"It is unfortunate the the PMcannot accept our dress andridiculed us. We strongly con-demn this. "We will assembleeveryday wearing our tradi-tional dress," he asserted.
The prime minister had saidat an election rally in Dumkaon Sunday, "People who are set-ting fire (to property) can beseen on TV... They can be iden-tified by the clothes they arewearing."
Gogoi further said thatterming the protest in front ofthe Indian High Commissionin London by NRIs, mostlyAssamese, as "Pakistan-spon-sored" is an "utmost insult" tothe people of the state and thecountry in general.
University students and pro-fessionals had participated inthe protest that was held inLondon on Saturday and wasorganised by the Facebookgroup 'Assamese in UK'.
Gogoi also dismissed stateFinance Minister HimantaBiswa Sarma's statement onMonday that the Centre willtalk to peaceful agitators to lis-ten to their grievances on thecontroversial Act.
"There will be no discussionat all. This is another attemptto cheat us. Why don't they justrepeal the law?" asked the stu-dent leader. Various agitation-al programmes began fromTuesday morning in manyplaces, including Dhubri,Tezpur and Sivasagar.
A huge protest gathering tookplace at Nagaon, with peoplesinging songs, reciting poemsand performing skits. A protestmarch was also taken out.
"We will not accept this Act.It will kill our culture and iden-tity. That is why we are on theroads today. We did not sendour representatives for bring-ing us on the roads," protesterssaid.
In Jorhat, thousands assem-bled in front of the office of thedeputy commissioner.
The Dibrugarh BarAssociation too observed'Satyagrah' during the day andthe AASU extended its supportto the lawyers.
Meanwhile, DibrugarhDeputy Commissioner PallabGopal Jha said at a press con-ference that 27 persons havebeen arrested in the district.
"We are collecting CCTVfootage for arresting the cul-prits. Chabua is among theworst-affected places," headded.
The state witnessed violentprotests against the Citizenship(Amendment) Act, which fast-tracks naturalisation for non-Muslim minority refugees whofaced religious persecution inBangladesh -- which borders anumber of Northeast states --and two other Muslim-major-ity nations. At least five peopledied during the course of theprotests.
Protestors swell across Assam
“The new law totallyneglects Muslimsand my party doesnot approve of this.Taking this Act asdivisive andunconstitutional wehad opposed it inParliament,”Mayawati said
PNS n NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court Tuesdaydeclined to set up a commit-tee of a retired apex courtjudge to inquire into the inci-dents of violent protests in dif-ferent parts of the countryagainst the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) andsaid that such panels may beappointed by the high courtsconcerned.
It directed all the petition-ers to approach high courts inrespective states, where theincidents of violence haveoccurred, for redressal of theirgrievances and the setting upof inquiry committees.
A bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde noted in its
order that each fact alleged bythe petitioners is disputed, onbehalf of the Centre, bySolicitor General TusharMehta.
Two main concerns of thepetitioners have been that thestudents were indiscriminate-ly arrested and they are injuredand not getting proper med-ical treatment, the benchnoted.
The Solicitor General stat-ed however that only twostudents f rom AligarhMuslim University have beenhospitalised and they arebeing treated at theUniversity hospital itself andwere not injured by thepolice, which was contestedby the petitioners.
PROTESTS AGAINST CAA
SC asks petitioners toapproach HC, declinesto set up committee
Women, youthsand senior citizensjoined protestmarches organisedas part of 'MassSatyagrah' by theAASU at severalplaces, even asthe situationremained largelypeaceful
PNS n NEW DELHI
Netflix series "Delhi Crime",based on the 2012 Delhi gan-grape-murder, which sawnation-wide protests leading toa change in India's rape laws,found acceptance with theaudience as it depicted theprocedural investigation of thecase without exploiting thepain behind it, says actorShefali Shah.
Shah plays VartikaChaturvedi, whose character inthe show was based on formerDelhi Police DCP ChayaSharma who cracked the caseof the brutal gangrape of thephysiotherapy intern within72 hours.
The 23-year-old, who cameto be known as 'Nirbhaya', thefearless one, was assaulted onthe night of December 16,2012 in a moving bus by sixmen and died of her grievous
injuries 13 days later in aSingapore hospital.
Revisiting the heinousness ofthe crime is not somethingmany wanted to do when theseries, directed by Indian-Canadian filmmaker RichieMehta, premiered on thestreamer early this year.
"I got a lot of reactions say-
ing 'we are too afraid and tooscared to open up old wounds.So we don't want to watch it'.A lot of people were very ter-rified about it saying it mightbe a graphic depiction of whathappened, but it is not.
"Then they watched theshow and they appreciated thesensitivity with which it washandled. We weren't harness-ing the pain, we were harness-
ing the strength of being ableto catch the culprits," Shah toldPTI in a telephonic interview.
The actor said the series fol-lowed the investigation of thecase in the five-day aftermath,not the incident.
"I completely respect andunderstand the sentiment. It'snot an easy one to take," sheadded.
Shah, 47, said becoming
Vartika was a challenge but sheeventually managed to findthe soul of the character.
"I think I've managed to fillher shoes, which were verylarge shoes to fill. When youwatch it, you don't think Shefalidid a good job, you just respectand admire Vartika as a person.You understand her strength,the intricacies of who she is. Ican safely say that there can'tbe any other Vartika.
"There might be someoneelse who is powerful than heras a character or even anotheractor playing it much morestrongly than I could. But thisversion of Vartika which hasbeen loved and appreciated,and respected so much, therecan't be another one."
The actor, who recently wonthe best actress iReel Award for2019, said creating a characteris the "highest kick" she gets outof a project.
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS
‘Police crackdown on campus dangerousfor democracy’NEW DELHI: Criticising thepolice crackdown in JamiaMillia Islamia, DelhiCommission for Women chiefSwati Maliwal on Tuesdayurged women to approach thepanel in case they had anycomplaint. "The protest shouldalways be peaceful. The policebrutality with students afterbarging inside the library issaddening. It is very dangerousfor democracy. I hope anatmosphere of peace will beestablished soon. If a girl has acomplaint, please contact us!"she tweeted.
Nigerian nabbed with drugs worth lakhs
Modi to students:Bring issues indemocratic mannerBHOGNADIH: Accusing theCongress of peddling lies overthe amended Citizenship Actand creating an atmosphere offear among Muslims, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onTuesday iterated that no citizenin the country would beaffected by the law. Addressinga poll rally here, Modi appealedto college and universitystudents, who had beenprotesting over the amendedAct, to bring forth issues fordiscussion with thegovernment in a "democraticmanner". He alleged that "urbannaxals" were trying to instigateyouth in the country to fomenttrouble. "The Congress isspreading lies, creating anatmosphere of fear for Muslimsover the Citizenship Act. I givemy assurances no citizen in thecountry will be affected by thelaw," he stated.
Murder convictescapes from openprison in MaharashtraAurangabad: A murder caseconvict has escaped from aprison in Maharashtra'sAurangabad district, policesaid on Tuesday. Akalan RisuBhosale, lodged at the Paithanopen jail here, was working ina field when he managed togive police the slip onMonday, police inspectorBhagirath Deshmukh told PTI.Bhosale was pronouncedguilty in a murder case in2011. He was shifted to thePaithan open jail from aprison in Nashik on June 22this year, the official said. "Hewas working in an onion fieldin the prison area when he ranaway. A case has beenregistered and search for theprisoner is on," he said.This year, four prisonersescaped from the jail and thepolice managed to nab one ofthem, the official said.
MUMBAI: A 27-year-oldNigerian national has beenarrested for possession ofmephedrone worth Rs 4.20lakh in the eastern suburb ofMankhurd here, police said onTuesday. The Anti NarcoticsCell's Ghatkopar unit onMonday arrested Anayo OkolieSanday, a resident ofNallasopara in neighbouringThane district, an official said.Sanday had come to sell thedrugs on Sion-PanvelExpressway and was nabbedafter being identified by aninformant, he said. The policeseized 210 gm of mephedroneworth Rs 4.20 lakh from theaccused, he added. The policehave registered a case underrelevant sections of theNarcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances Actand are investigating the sourceof the drug and to whom it wasbeing supplied to, the officialsaid.
Revisiting theheinousness of thecrime is notsomething manywanted to do whenthe series, directedby Indian-Canadianfilmmaker RichieMehta, premieredon the streamerearly this year
PNS n GUWAHATI
AASU leaders Samujjal KumarBhattacharya and LurinjyotiGogoi along with actor BarshaRani Bishaya and hundreds ofother agitators courted arrestfor the second consecutiveday on Tuesday as part of their'Mass Satyagraha' against theamended citizenship law,police said.
Guwahati PoliceCommissioner Munna PrasadGupta told PTI that the AASUactivists had courted arrestand were "not detained".
"They are doing this as partof their Satyagraha pro-gramme. We released themlater and now they are on theirway to their homes," he said.
The agitators courted arrestin front of the office of theDeputy Commissioner ofKamrup Metropolitan district
and were taken to a temporaryjail inside the Dighalipukhuritank complex.
All Assam Students' Union(AASU) chief adviser SamujjalKumar Bhattacharya said theCentre has to either repeal theamended Citizenship Act orkeep arresting them every day.
AASU general secretaryLurinjyoti Gogoi said the gov-ernment is on one side doingnothing to repeal the Act andon the other doing a "drama"by arresting them.
"The government is playingthe Hindutva card. However,Assam will not fall prey totheir communal agenda," hesaid.
PNS n NAGPUR
In unprecedented scenes, twoMLAs of the ruling Shiv Senaand opposition BJP held eachother by the collar over theissue of assistance to farmers.
Soon after proceedingsbegan, BJP MLA AbhimanyuPawar tried to display a ban-ner in front of Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray.
The banner carried a reportpublished in the Sena mouth-piece 'Saamana', aboutThackeray demanding Rs25,000 per hectare for farmershit by untimely rains.
The BJP MLAs sought toremind Thackeray of thisdemand made by him beforehe became the CM of provid-ing assistance to affected farm-ers.
The BJP members rushed tothe well of the House andshouted slogans, seeking
implementation of Thackeray'sprevious demand.
Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwadtried to snatch the bannerfrom Pawar and the two brieflyheld each other by the collarbefore senior ministers andformer ministers pulled themapart.
Speaker Nana Patoleappealed to BJP members toreturn to their seats and allowthe House proceedings to con-tinue.
However, some Sena MLAsalso tried to snatch the flexboards from BJP members,leading to ruckus.
PNS n NEW DELHI
The amended citizenship lawis meant to give citizenship toreligiously persecuted refugeesand not to take away the citi-zenship of Indians of any reli-gion, Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu told traineediplomats from Bangladeshon Tuesday.
He also said that India isaware of the heavy burden onBangladesh as a result of theinflux of lakhs of displacedpersons from the RakhineState of Myanmar and that itappreciates Dhaka for itshumanitarian gesture towardsthese displaced persons.
He said that Bangladeshcould count on India's full sup-port towards their bilateralefforts with Myanmar in therepatriation of displacedRohingyas back to Myanmar,a statement from the VicePresident's Secretariat said.
The vice president'sremarks on the Citizenship
(Amendment) Act come daysafter Bangladesh foreign min-ister A K Abdul Momen andHome Minister AsaduzzamanKhan cancelled their visits toIndia amid protests againstthe legislation in the northeast.
Naidu emphasised thatIndia wants peace and stabili-ty in the neighbourhood andfriendly relations with all itsneighbours.
Without naming Pakistan,he said Kashmir was a settledissue and deplored theattempts by a neighbouring
country to aid, abet, fund andtrain terror outfits to promotecross border terrorism.
The vice president soughtBangladesh's support inrestructuring and reformingmultilateral organisations suchas the United Nations, so thatpolicies that affect the entireworld were not decided by afew.
He told the trainees diplo-mats that the world was mul-tipolar now and it was time torestructure multilateral organ-isations to reflect this newglobal reality.
PNS n CHENNAI
Actor-politician Kamal Haasanon Tuesday opposed the pro-posed nation-wide NRC andhit out at the AIADMK forsupporting the BJP-led NDAgovernment's latest amend-ment to the Citizenship Act,saying the ruling party inTamil Nadu was being "obedi-ent to their masters".
AIADMK's support to theamendment bill in theParliament was a betrayal ofthe Tamils and the nation, theMakkal Needhi Maiam chiefcharged.
"They are obedient to theirmasters, you know who theirmasters are," he told reportersapparently alleging that theAIADMK was dancing to thetunes of the BJP-led Centre.
A day after the MNM saidit has moved the SupremeCourt against the CitizenshipAmended Act, he said theparty would take up the cud-gles against the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) aswell.
"There is this NRC, when itis implemented (at the nation-al level) we will get into thefield (against it) and go as far
as we should go," he said whenasked about the follow upaction by the MNM on theCAA.
MNM would pursue legalsolution against the CAA, headded. To a query on the stu-dents' protest, he said theyoungsters will have to bepolitically aware.
On Home Minister AmitShah saying that the CAA wasnot against Muslims, he quot-ed a Tamil proverb to indicatethe Minister was allegedlyobstinate and does not see rea-son.
The actor-politician soughtto know why the rightbestowed on "Pakistani Hinduwas not given to Sri LankanHindu."
Expressing concern over theplight of Tamil refugees fromthe island nation, he askedwhat answer the country hadfor them who had all alongtrusted Tamil Nadu.
"What is the urgency for thisamendment when everyoneis concerned about the slide ofeconomy and soaring inflationand this question is the start-ing point of the nation-wideprotests," he said.
Rather than answering ques-tions, "throttling" the voices ofthose raising such questions inDelhi, Aligarh and Assam was"state terrorism," he alleged, inan apparent reference tocharges of police excesses whilehandling the student protes-tors.
MINORITIES NEED NOT FEAR CAA
Some parties indulging invote bank politics: GadkariPNS n NEW DELHI
Asserting that minorities inIndia have nothing to fearfrom the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA),Union Minister Nitin Gadkarion Tuesday said some partieswho want to play vote bankpolitics are creating fear andinsecurity.
Road Transport, Highwaysand MSME Minister Gadkarispeaking at 'Agenda Aaj Tak2019' said "deliberate" attemptsare being made by such forcesto create "misunderstanding" ofthe law.
"This Act is against foreign-ers and not against Indian cit-izens... People are being pro-voked by deliberately creatingmisunderstanding about thelaw ...Whoever are Indian cit-izens, whichever religion theybelong to, caste creed or sex -we have neither supported anysuch discrimination nor will dothat. CAA is not againstminorities," Gadkari said.
He said ever since BJP hasrisen to power in the Centre,there are political parties whoare creating fear amongminorities saying that "BJP is
against minorities or will drivethem out which is not true".
The Minister said that cre-ating fear is a part of politics bysome opposition parties whoplay "vote bank politics" whichis not good in a democracy orin national interest or for theunity and integrity of the coun-
try."It is a simple fact that no
country welcomes illegalmigrants by rolling out red car-pet to them. You must beaware that in Assam the previ-ous agitation was held becauseof large scale illegal migrantsentering the country. They
were given right to franchiselater due to vote bank politics.Some of them reachedParliament and Assemblies," hesaid.
Gadkari said in Bangladeshand Pakistan, the number ofHindus, Jains, Sikhs andBuddhists have decreased dras-tically in the last 40-50 yearsbecause of injustice meted outto them.
"They don't have any othercountry to take refuge in. Ifthey want to come to us, wewill give them citizenship. Thisis quite natural. There arethousands of people inKashmir and in other parts andthere is no harm in providingcitizenship to them," he said.
He also added that a sectionof political parties or media aremisquoting "Hindutva" andstressed that all those living inIndia are "Hindus orHindustanis" and Hindu is alifestyle much above the nar-row confines of religion.
The Minister said: "It is notproper to politicalise a nation-al issue (CAA). We are tryingto convince them ... we willconvince them, peace will berestored."
Gadkari said ever since BJP has risento power in the Centre, there arepolitical parties who are creating fearamong minorities saying that "BJP isagainst minorities or will drive them outwhich is not true".
‘Delhi Crime' harnessed strength of beingable to catch culprits, not pain: Shefali Shah
PNS n NEW DELHI
The Human Rights Watch hasurged the Centre to immedi-ately repeal the Citizenship(Amendment) Act in view ofnationwide protests against it,and said there should be anindependent probe into police"brutality and excesses" againststudents and other protesters.
In a statement on Tuesday,the international human rightsbody's South Asia DirectorMeenakshi Ganguly said the"government failed to graspthe extent of public oppositionover erosion of basic rightsevident in these protests".
Its "strongest response to theprotests would be to repeal"the Act and "withdraw itsplan for citizenship verifica-
tion that threatens marginal-ized communities", the organ-isation said.
On the police action againststudents of Jamia MilliaIslamia, Aligarh MuslimUniversity and others innortheastern states protest-ing against the law, she said theauthorities should immedi-ately order all police person-nel to abide by internationalstandards on policing assem-blies.
"The police may have usedexcessive force against demon-strators across the country"and the government "shouldestablish a credible indepen-dent investigation into allega-tions of excessive force, brutal-ity, and vandalism" by police-men, Ganguly said.
Scuffle between BJP, SenaMLAs in Maha Assembly
PNS n BHUBANESWAR
Odisha School and MassEducation minister SamirRanjan Dash on Tuesday saidall district education officershave been asked to look out fora teacher of Gujarat, an accusedin several cases of rape, whomight be working in an educa-tional insititute in the state.
The state governmentrecently received a letter fromthe CBI which informed that49-year-old DhavalkumarHareshchandra Trivedi, aGujarat-based teacher, mightbe hiding somewhere inOdisha.
The premier investigating
agency suspect that Trivedimight be working in anycoaching centre or education-
al institution in a remote partof Odisha as he is a goodEnglish teacher.
"We have received the letterfrom the CBI regarding thefugitive teacher who has beeninvolved in a number ofheinous crime like rape. Thestate government has alreadywritten letters to all the DistrictEducation Officers and BlockEducation Officers to trace
the fugitive teacher if workingin their areas," Dash toldreporters here Tuesday.
The minister said thedepartment has also attachedthe identification of theaccused teacher in the letter.All the educational institu-tions, both government andprivate ones, have also beeninformed about Trivedi, theminister said.
‘Rapist’ Gujarat teacher hiding in Odisha: CBI
Samir Ranjan Dash
Repeal Citizenship(Amendment) Act: HRW
PNS n NEW DELHI
Entry and exit gates at fivemetro stations in northeastDelhi were closed on Tuesdayin view of protest in theSeelampur area.
"Entry and exit gates ofSeelampur and Gokulpuriare closed. Trains will not behalting at these stations,"Delhi Metro RailCorporation (DMRC) tweet-ed.
Earlier DMRC closedWelcome, Jaffrabad andMaujpur-Babarpur metrostations.
Angry protesters demand-ing scraping of citizenshipamendment law clashed withpolice, pelted stones at themand damaged several buses inNortheast Delhi's Seelampurarea.
Police resorted to batoncharges and fired teargasshells on the protesters whowere marching fromSeelampur towards Jafrabad.
PNS n NEW DELHI
Congress MP ManickamTagore has submitted aprivilege notice againstUnion minister SmritiIrani for "misleading" theHouse on Rahul Gandhi's'rape remark' on December13. Sources said Tagoremet Lok Sabha SecretaryGeneral SnehlataShrivastava and moved theprivilege notice against theUnion minister.
Tagore said the noticehas been received by thesecretary general and willbe taken up further.
"Under Rule 222 of therules of Procedure andConduct of Business inLok Sabha, I hereby give anotice of a privilege motionagainst Minister of Textiles,Women and ChildDevelopment Smriti Iranion the statement made byher during the interventionin the in Lok Sabha on 13thDecember, 2019," he saidin his petition. Tagore saidthe minister's assertionson the floor of the houseare "absolutely false".
"The honourable mem-ber has willfully mislednot only members of thehouse, but also the entirenation. The minister hadclaimed that Rahul Gandhihas given a clarion call torape women in India in hisspeech during an electionrally on December 12. Theminister has knowinglyand intentionally misledParliament by falselyattributing a statement toRahul Gandhi," he said.
Privilegenoticeagainst Irani5 Metro
stationsclosed in Delhi
M Venkaiah Naidu
Naidu emphasisedthat India wantspeace and stabilityin theneighbourhoodand friendlyrelations with allits neighbours.
The premier investigating agencysuspect that Trivedi might be workingin any coaching centre or educationalinstitution in a remote part of Odisha ashe is a good English teacher
CAA: AASU leaders,actor court arrest
CAA does not take awaycitizenship of Indians: V-P Naidu
Kamal hits out at CAA; saysMNM opposed to NRC
Even as the thunderous reverbera-tions of the 16-year-old environ-mental activist, Greta Thunberg, atthe UN, just three months ago, areyet to die down, to our utter sur-
prise, the Madrid climate talks under the aegisof COP25 ended in a failure. This is not thefirst time that such discordance amongmember nations has been witnessed. The pre-sent talks failed despite the fact that whileinaugurating this conference, UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres had issued a verystern warning. “I call on anyone who is stilllobbying their Governments for a slow tran-sition or even no transition, to end those activ-ities now. The world is watching,” he empha-sised. Today, the world community appearsto be focussed more on the protection of theirown domestic agenda rather than payingheed to the impending disaster.
The first decade after the Rio de JaneiroEarth Summit of 1992 saw a rare buildingup of consensus on almost all issues.Perhaps it was the decade after the Cold Warand the first Gulf War when the world com-munity saw immense merit in consensus-building. The same was also manifest dur-ing the signing of the WTO Agreement atMarrakesh, Morocco, in 1994. But in thevery next decade, one saw the appearanceof discordant notes, particularly as formerUS President George W Bush virtuallyrefused to follow the Kyoto Protocol evenas America was the largest polluter in theworld. This trend was further aggravatedwhen President Donald Trump followed thesame route as charted earlier by Bush.
Unfortunately, despite the bleak scenario,the voice of a number of smaller and less pol-luting nations, prominently Tuvalu, Maldives,Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan among oth-ers, who are already facing the brunt of theclimate change, seems to have been lost. Onthe other hand, high polluting nations suchas China, India and the European Unioncould not account for their efforts at reduc-ing global warming. They were unable toquantify in specific terms the targets achievedas was laid down under the Paris Agreement.But the prime reason for the failure of theMadrid Summit, which was participated by197 countries across the world, was a lack ofconsensus on development of a marketmechanism to limit carbon emissions.
The concept of trading in carbon mar-kets as a response to climate change was animportant outcome of the Kyoto Protocol. Theprimary purpose of the Protocol was to makethe developed countries pay for their emis-sions while at the same time, monetarilyreward those nations with good record in thisregard. The underlying philosophy was thatsince the developing countries could start withcleaner technologies, they would be reward-ed by those who were stuck with old and pol-luting technologies. In a way, this translatedinto wealthier countries purchasing theextent of reduction in carbon levels achievedby the developing countries.
In this manner, the devel-oped and wealthier nationswould not only be able to selltheir technology to the develop-ing countries but could alsogather carbon credits to meet therequirements of Kyoto Protocolwithout any reduction in theiremission levels. The failure of theMadrid summit, to achieve anyresults in this direction, may havealso disappointed those whoencouraged carbon tradingmechanism like the oil majorRoyal Dutch Shell Plc and theSpanish utility Iberdrola SA.
Such a market mechanismwas also considered important byheavy industrialised countries,who are economically dependenton oil and gas production. In thenormal course, large-scale de-car-bonisation would take muchlonger than as prescribed underthe Paris targets. Besides, itwould also ensure that the richand already developed coun-tries could continue to pollute onthe strength of carbon credit pur-chased by them, while theoptions of developing and rela-tively poor countries would becurtailed. It can, thus, be inferredthat the summit spent moretime in ensuring that the inter-ests of the developed countriesare well protected through thecarbon trading mechanism.
In fact, the scheme of carboncredits is some kind of a smoke-screen which enables the devel-
oped and richer countries toexploit those still developing.Those already developed, thus,escape the limits while the lessindustrialised and less pollutingare loaded with the burden of fur-ther reductions. This may ulti-mately impact and retard theirprogress in the long-run.
In this context, let us take theexample of the GFL gas projectin Gujarat. GFL is one of thelargest producers of carbon off-set credits in the world, sellingthem to many of the biggest pol-luters in the EU. Europe’s pol-luters have had a cheap way tooffset their climate responsibili-ties without actually greeningeven a small patch of the land. EUClimate Action CommissionerConnie Hedegaard admitted thatsuch projects have a “total lack ofenvironmental integrity.”
At the summit, not muchtime was spent on determiningthe targets to be achieved by eachcountry so as to keep the emis-sions of greenhouse gases with-in the overall objective of theglobal warming being limited tothe extent of 1.5 degrees between2018 and 2100. For this tobecome a reality by 2050, weshould be a net-zero emitter. Sofar only about 20 countries,including the UK, France, NewZealand, Norway, Finland,Switzerland, Denmark andSweden, figure in the list ofthose who are expected to meet
this target. India, China and theUS still have a long way to go.
In India, with a perceiveddifficulty in cutting emissionsin order to meet the targets, anambitious plan for harnessingsolar energy has been formulat-ed. We are lucky that sunlightis available in abundance butthe challenge lies in the pro-curement of solar Photo Voltaic(PV) cells, which is one of themajor constraining factors inour efforts to realise the fullpotential. According to a reportsubmitted by the parliamentarystanding committee, in order toachieve the target of 100 GW ofsolar electricity capacity by2022, India should have had aninstalled capacity of 32,000MW by 2017-18. But as ofJanuary 31, 2018, the countryonly had a capacity of 18,455MW in just four years — thisis over 20,000 MW a year andappears difficult to achieve.
Irrespective of the disap-pointing outcome of the Madridsummit, as a responsible nationwith high prestige in the interna-tional arena, India does not havethe luxury of a half-heartedapproach towards this vital area.The phenomenon of globalwarming has to be seen as a glob-al warning.
(The author is a formerGovernor and a Senior Adviser atthe Pranab MukherjeeFoundation)
The American plane-maker Boeing’stremendous confidence in the ability ofits latest jet, the 737 Max, even after two
dramatic fatal accidents in Ethiopia andIndonesia killed close to 400 people, was worthwatching. The Max was grounded worldwidein March but Boeing kept churning them outat a rate touching 42 a month. This has led toover 400 aircraft sitting around Boeing’s fac-tories at Seattle, unable to fly anywhere.Boeing’s confidence in its jet and almost bom-bastic optimism that it would be soon cleared
to fly is not matched by the US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA), which has been embarrassed by a rash of stories of how it had beeninfiltrated by Boeing employees, who led their inspectors up the garden path andessentially gave certification to a plane that had some fundamental issues. Theissues are so fundamental that it now appears the Boeing 737 Max may not actu-ally be recertified to fly, that, too, only in the US initially before February 2020,and possibly even March. It is no surprise, therefore, that Boeing has finally decid-ed to wind down production of the aircraft.
In many other industries, a product failure like this would have been fatal tothe company. Thankfully Boeing operates in a comfortable duopoly with Europeanmanufacturer Airbus, which despite opportunities, has not stuck the dagger intoit. The relationship between Airbus and Boeing then is akin to that between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, not really a rivalry, no matter what the advertising says. Ergo,Boeing will survive the worst of this crisis in all likelihood, even though it mighttake a year or so to get back to its feet. Thankfully, for the global aviation indus-try, a few fortuitous airline collapses, including the demise of Jet Airways in India,have meant that at least for the time being there are enough aircraft available topick up the slack of demand. That said, airlines will be wanting aircraft soon enoughand Boeing will have to get its act together to resolve the problems on the Max.Crucially, the manufacturer will also need to fix the trust deficit that it suffers regard-ing the Max with ordinary airline passengers. The crisis also highlights severeflaws in the aircraft certification process. All in all, aviation is safer today than ithas ever been. That does not mean that we take things for granted. Boeing didin case of the 737 Max and will pay a massive price but hopefully, 2020 will bea better year than 2019 was for global aviation.
Ever since it became a reality, the Rightto Information Act (RTI Act), which guar-antees transparency in governance and
ensures its accountability to citizens, has beendefanged by successive regimes. It all beganwith the Manmohan Singh government whenestablishment hawks claimed that the law wasbeing misused by “frivolous and vexatious”requests for information. Another canard wasalso spread about RTI being used as black-mail, a ruse to stifle it as more and more casesof corruption tumbled out of the cupboard fol-
lowing even simple requests for information. This thread was picked up by HomeMinister Amit Shah who asserted that citizens do not have the need to file RTIapplications because the Modi government is anyway transparent. Obviously,the RTI petitions had led to embarrassing revelations on demonetisation, Aadhaarand even bank NPAs. The judiciary, too, has not been proactive on this as ques-tions have begun to be raised about the lack of transparency in its functioning.Agreed every law has advantages and pitfalls and the RTI could probably dowith some caveats but when the Supreme Court, too, plays up the establish-ment’s anxieties, then the implication becomes serious for the common man.On Monday, the court ruled that the misuse and “criminal intimidation” of RTIshould be stopped and that only petitioners, who are connected or involved withthe issues raised, would be entertained. Describing the huge flow of applica-tions under RTI as a “serious problem”, the Bench said though it was not opposedto the transparency law, there was a need to evolve some mechanism to ensurethat only the affected or concerned person has the recourse to power. The prob-lem with such filtering mechanism is that you first isolate the information seek-er, making it that much easier for the powers that be to hound or silence him/herthan when it is a class action plea. Far too many reports have emerged of RTIactivists being killed. According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative,84 RTI activists have been killed in India since October 2005. Second, infor-mation on a policy matter of far-reaching consequence can never be a matterof personal but general interest. For example, no political party or politician willseek or be a party to a scrutiny of the electoral bond scheme, the working ofwhich impacts voter preferences. Also, if a bidder in a government contractloses out over suspected foul play, will the individual/organisation pursue a peti-tion, the effort for which may disqualify them from future contracts as a trou-ble-maker? The top court, however, directed the Centre and various StateGovernments to fill up vacancies of information commissioners, which havefurther held up crucial files. Independent studies have shown that at one timethere were four vacancies in the 11-member Central Information Commission(CIC) while pendency had been rising every month to touch 33,000. The stud-ies also found out that an appeal in the Andhra Pradesh State InformationCommission could take 18 years for scrutiny. That time taken in Bengal andOdisha would be five and four years.
The RTI is slowly becoming another casualty of democracy, the governmenthaving whittled down its efficacy and the institutions formed by it with an amend-ed version. The new RTI anyway strips the Information Commissioners fromthe immunity that is given to Supreme Court judges and Chief ElectionCommissioners, subjecting their service records, tenure and salaries to the dis-cretion of the government or the Executive. Effectively, it means defanging themas the Government can remove them when it considers them unsuitable to itsdesign. A fixed tenure and autonomy regardless of the government of the daywould enable them to pursue fair probes. Otherwise, they would be afraid to beindependent. Even our first Chief Information Commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah,and several other bureaucrats had written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modito not bring the amendments and dilute what actually empowers the commonman. Modi, who made running a corruption-free government his professed mantrasince 2015, lost credibility by pushing something antithetical to that spirit. Butnow that he has the heft of the Lok Sabha verdict, he is beyond any criticismof the citizenry that voted him. Information Commissions are crucial links in allow-ing access to the workings of the Government. The system was anyway depen-dent on retired bureaucrats and now has loyalists. As it appears, RTI is now arobotic ritual than democratic intervention.
Bad day for democracy
Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Take the lead” (December 16).It’s incomprehensible as to howthe police could forcibly enter aneducational institution withoutany permission. According toJamia Millia Islamia ChiefProctor, Waseem Ahmed Khan,Delhi Police personnel enteredthe university by force withoutany permission and beat up staffmembers and students who wereforced to leave the campus.Photos of injured students speakfor police brutality inside thecampus. Now the question is:Who issued the order, asking thepolice to forcibly enter the univer-sity and resort to violence? Thisshameful act must be condemnedby everyone who believes indemocratic values.
The BJP has alleged that somepolitical parties are spreadingrumours and inciting violence topromote their political interestsand the students are falling into thetrap. Even if this was the case, therecan be no justification to brutalpolice action. The police cannottrample their right to protest.
Sujit DeKolkata
A healing touch
Sir — BJP general secretary RamMadhav said recently that hisGovernment would soon allowdetained political leaders inJammu & Kashmir to come out
in the open and resume politicalactivity. The State has been undera lockdown since August, whenthe Government withdrew thelimited autonomy granted to itunder Article 370 and fully inte-grated it with India. As against theGovernment’s claim that nor-
malcy has returned to the State,the fact is that extreme restric-tions are still in place. Top localpolitical leaders are still in deten-tion, internet services are yet tobe restored and not all commu-nication lines are functional.
Such moves have only creat-
ed more hardships for the locals.The basic premise of the lifting ofArticle 370 was to usher in devel-opment. The Government needsto accelerate its developmentpitch and allay the fears andanxieties of the Kashmiris.
M Shadab Bengaluru
Lacking political will
Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Climate breakdown” (December17). It is disappointing that theUN climate talks ended withoutmaking any significant progress.It could not even frame rules fora new global carbon trading andpostponed them until next year.This will only make the target setby the Paris accord harder torealise. Clearly, it’s not the lack oftechnology but political will thatwill make it difficult for us to tack-le global warming. None candeny that regulated carbon mar-kets can make technologies acces-sible and affordable without hurt-ing the economy.
Sweta SankrityanVia email
P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N
www.dailypioneer.comfacebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/
op nionVIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019
06
Global warning
KK PAUL
Irrespective of the disappointing outcome of the Madrid summit, as a responsible nation,India cannot be making a half-hearted approach to address the issue of climate change
Universities must play a lead-ing role in addressing nation-al challenges. Higher educa-tional institutes must emergeas spaces that nurture freeexpression and ideas.
President—Ram Nath Kovind
#MeToo movement cameand went. It is disappointing.A lot of things that should'vechanged have not changed.A lot of things have notcome out, have not changed.
Actor—Radhika Apte
I look very much forward todebating whoever the luckyperson is who stumblesacross the finish line in thelittle watched Do NothingDemocrat Debates.
US President—Donald Trump
S O U N D B I T E
L E T T E R S T O TT H E E D I T O R
An attack on the idea of India
This refers to the editorial, “Jackboots vs Ahimsa”(December 17). The police brutality unleashed on thestudents of Jamia Millia Islamia university and Aligarh
Muslim University, who were protesting the amended cit-izenship law based on religion, must be condemned. Theright to protest is intrinsic to a democracy. A democraticGovernment cannot stymie protests or use force to quellthem just because they are antithetical to a decision takenor a law passed to implement the ruling party’s agenda.The visuals of students walking with their arms raised weredisturbing. The police cannot equate protesting studentswith criminals, barge into hostels and libraries, switch thelights off and thrash them. Students do not exist for thepolice to give vent to their aggressive instincts and pleasetheir political masters.
Widespread protests against the Citizenship AmendmentAct (CAA), decried as an affront to the Constitution as it linkscitizenship with religion, should awaken the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo to the realisation that Indian democracy isbigger than them and they cannot polarise people and pitone community against the other along religious lines adinfinitum. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that “theycan be identified by the clothes they are wearing” is unbe-
coming of the holder of India’s most exalted office. Thereare no prizes for guessing for which “noun” the pronoun“they” is used. Reneging on his call for a 10-year morato-rium on “communal politics” to create the necessary con-ditions for the pursuit of economic progress, his Governmentis taking steps and engendering social strife. Sadly, it doesnot occur to the Modi Government that a country dividedagainst itself cannot aspire to become a superpower and aneconomic power house.
G David MiltonMaruthancode
AT THE SUMMIT,NOT MUCH TIMEWAS SPENT ON
DETERMINING THETARGETS TO BE
ACHIEVED BYEACH COUNTRYSO AS TO KEEP
THE EMISSIONSOF GREENHOUSE
GASES WITHINTHE OVERALL
OBJECTIVE OF THEGLOBAL
WARMING BEINGLIMITED TO THE
EXTENT OF 1.5DEGREES
BETWEEN 2018AND 2100
Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]
Trust in MaxI want to say (to theOpposition) oppose politically as much as youwant but Modi Governmentis firm on implementingthe citizenship law.
Union Minister—Amit Shah
The SC may argue that pleas are frivolous but the fact is afilter kills the very purpose of ensuring transparency
Ten months after the Boeing 737 Max was grounded, itseems it’s not getting back into the air soon
Defanging RTI
Are SDGs on track?
THE BJP GOVERNMENT HAS DECLARED A WAR ON ITSOWN PEOPLE. IT HAS BECOME THE CREATOR
OF VIOLENCE AND DIVISIVENESS.—CONGRESS CHIEF
SONIA GANDHI
WHAT HAS THE CONGRESS DONE TO PUNISH THE PERPETRATORS OF MOB VIOLENCE DURINGTHE 1984 ANTI-SIKH RIOTS?—DEFENCE MINISTERNIRMALA SITHARAMAN
POINTCOUNTERPOINT
The world cannot survive unless drastic stepsare taken. The member states of the UnitedNations (UN) in 2015 adopted the 2030 agen-
da for Sustainable Development with 17 Goals atits heart. This is a universal call to end poverty, pro-tect the planet and ensure that all people live a pro-ductive, vibrant life and enjoy peace and prosper-ity by 2030. Since 2020 is round the corner and weare just a decade away from 2030, we must analysethe sufficiency of the actions taken by governments,businesses, developmental organisations, scientif-ic community and civil society to make achievementof Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a real-ity. Since these require substantial changes in allaspects, the limited effectiveness of governments maynot be sufficient, unless businesses and civil soci-ety play their part.
The UN’s SDG Report, 2019, is helpful in mea-suring headways made in several critical areas andindicates some positive developments like substan-tial decline in extreme poverty, 49 per cent fall inthe under-five mortality rate since 2000 and accessto electricity to a large chunk of the world’s popu-lation. Marine life has also been safeguarded andprotected areas have multiplied since 2010. Issuesregarding illegal fishing are also being smoothened.The Paris Agreement on climate change has beensigned by 186 parties. Rapid urbanisation has alsobeen addressed worldwide with 150 countries fram-ing policies at the national-level aiming to solve theproblems arising from it. Over 300 policies andinstruments have been developed by several coun-tries, including the EU, to encourage sustainabili-ty in production and consumption. These improve-ments could not have been possible without thewidespread support of all stakeholders and this all-pervasive participation creates considerable opti-mism and promise for a secure future.
However, unified and concentrated action is stillrequired in many areas. Environment protection andaction to reduce climate change are the top prior-ity as it is predicted that global warming will riseto 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in years to comeif greenhouse emissions are not checked. This, cou-pled with increasing sea levels because of it, will havecumulative effects that will be irreversible and dis-astrous. Add to this an increasing ocean acidifica-tion, coastal erosion, extreme weather conditions,the frequency and severity of natural disasters, con-tinuing land degradation, risk of loss of one millionplant and animal species and we have a perfect recipefor the ecosystem’s collapse.
Human suffering is closely linked to this envi-ronmental degradation as it has the capability tomake many parts of the planet derelict. Given theloss of vital plant and animal species and globalwarming — with the last four years being thewarmest on record — food production will be atrisk, leading to large-scale food shortage and increas-ing global hunger. This can potentially displace upto 140 million people by 2050, unless strong anddecisive action on climate change is taken by theentire world.
The goal to end extreme poverty by 2030 alsolooks unattainable as violent disturbances, conflictsand displacements are adding to the exposure to nat-ural disasters, leading to deep-rooted deprivation.At least half of the world’s population lacks essen-tial health services, more than half of the world’s chil-dren do not meet educational standards andwomen in all parts of the world continue to face dis-
advantages and discrimination. Since achieving SDGs is not easy or
possible alone, all stakeholders shouldpartner for the cause. As resources are lim-ited, be it financial, natural or human, soci-ety must make optimum use of the same.By way of partnership, we have the abil-ity to bring together diverse and scarceresources to deliver a higher impact,greater sustainability and increased valueto all. According to the UN, “Partnershipsfor sustainable development are multi-stakeholder initiatives voluntarily under-taken by Governments, inter-govern-mental organisations, major groups andother stakeholders, whose efforts arecontributing to the implementation ofinter-governmentally agreed develop-ment goals and commitments.”
Through this the UN has recognisedthe importance of partnerships by busi-nesses and all leading institutions asimperative in international relations andglobal development. This fundamentalshift in its thinking and approach isexpressed in its clear acceptance of theinterrelations and interdependence ofthriving business, prosperous societyand a healthy environment as a whole. Allsocietal sectors without exception havebeen named as key development actorsand an unprecedented level of coopera-tion and collaboration is the need of thehour for achievement of SDGs.
Since the launch of SDGs, severalwide-ranging development partnershipshave seen the light of the day, both at glob-al and local levels; from international net-works to bilateral arrangements; frommulti-sector, multi-issue platforms, to sin-gle-sector, single-issue interest groups. Tobring some standardisation into the mul-titude of collaborative arrangements withquite different qualities, three basic typesof partnerships can be identified, whichcan be distinguished in terms of the mainobjectives of the partnership and thenature of the relationship between the
partners.The first category,
“Leverage/Exchange” involves partner-ships that are complementary to eachother and are a one-way transfer or rec-iprocal exchange of resources like knowl-edge, services, skills and funding, that theorganisations need to employ towardstheir own strategic goals. It is applicablewhen each partner has something that ismore valuable to the other than to them-selves, resulting in net gain on exchange.For example, the relationship between anaid agency and a university research insti-tute can constitute a partnership of mutu-al benefit where the agency accessesresearch outputs and expertise from theinstitute while providing research fund-ing or sources of data and case studies tothe institute. An example of this type ofpartnership is Coca-Cola and the GlobalFund Project Last Mile, which leveragesCoca-Cola’s logistic, supply chain, distri-bution and marketing expertise to buildAfrican Governments’ capabilities toensure communities have better access tolife-sustaining and life-enhancing medi-cines. Coca-Cola gains by demonstratingits commitment to a better planet as wellas providing employee engagementopportunities.
The second category,“Combine/Integrate”, identifies a cross-sec-tor partnership, which is essentially a part-nership between two or more organisa-tions where complementary resources arepooled to identify solutions to a commonproblem and in the process accomplisha shared strategic goal. Innovativeapproaches, which are developed by all thepartners involved through brainstormingand consistent dialogue and mutualaccountability, are the hallmarks of thistype of partnership. The core belief hereis that one can achieve more by workingtogether and combining the resourcesthan individually. An example in this cat-egory can be seen in Bangladesh between
a social enterprise and a major supplierof renewable energy, SOLshare, andGrameen Shakti, which is being support-ed and enabled by UN DESA. GrameenShakti brings access to its massive exist-ing customer base and network of solarhomes, as well as its knowledge of thecommunities, and SOLshare brings cut-ting-edge, innovative technology with thepotential to transform the supply ofaffordable energy to low-income house-holds in Bangladesh.
The final partnership type“Transform”, is more ambitious andfocusses on the final goal of tackling adevelopment challenge in an innovativeand multi-faceted way where the problemdefinition may be unclear, and partnersbring differing world views and perspec-tives to the issue. For example, Scaling upNutrition is a global, country-led andmulti-sectoral movement to combatundernutrition and catalyse support forcountries with a focus on a set of evidence-based direct nutrition interventions. Herea partnership is developed to facilitate asystem change with the involvement ofvarious actors like countries, variousGovernment ministries (e.g. ministries ofeducation, health and agriculture) aswell as other change agents like business-es, civil society and the UN.
We are at a time where interventionsto save the planet have to be colossal andno country or individual can contributein isolation. The challenges are global andrequire global solutions. The SDGs havebrought countries and communitiestogether to work for a better life and a sus-tainable planet. It is the duty of all stake-holders to develop and to further strength-en international cooperation on climatechange, migration, technology, trade andpartnerships. Let us take the advantage ofmany synergies that we have and worktogether to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
(The writer is an Associate Professor,Amity University)
Since meeting goals by 2030 requires substantial changes in all aspects, the limited effectivenessof governments may not be sufficient unless businesses and civil society play their part
analysis 07F I R S T C O L U M N
Get off the couch
MD FAIZ YUSUF
The time for the citizens to speak against the high-handedness of the Government is now. We
must do so before there is no one left to speak for us
HIMA BINDU KOTA
THE UN’S SDGREPORT, 2019, IS
HELPFUL INMEASURING
HEADWAYS MADEIN SEVERAL
CRITICAL AREASAND INDICATESSOME POSITIVEDEVELOPMENTS
LIKESUBSTANTIAL
DECLINE INEXTREME
POVERTY, 49 PERCENT FALL IN THE
UNDER-FIVEMORTALITY RATESINCE 2000 AND
ACCESS TOELECTRICITY TO ALARGE CHUNK OF
THE WORLD’SPOPULATION
In the past year, the country has seen numerous developmentsin key sectors such as aviation, railways, oil and gas, roadsand bridges, ports and shipping, telecom, power and urban
infrastructure, just to name a few. Despite all the rhetoric, actu-al “development”, as promised by the Modi Government whenit was elected to power, is yet to materialise. Nonetheless, thisisn’t a statement where I mean to say that the currentGovernment is “unsecular.” I believe this was automaticallyimplied when the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, waspassed in Parliament. For, it entails that every “illegal migrant”,Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians fromAfghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and who entered Indiaon or before December 31, 2014, other than the Muslims, areeligible for Indian citizenship.
Neither is there any need to elucidate on the state of theeconomy, which is at its worst phase with the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) seeing a marked fall every quarter. The econom-ic slowdown is in everybody’s mind. Just a few days ago, for-mer Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian termed theeconomic crisis in the country as a “great slowdown” and saidthat it is in the “intensive care due to structural and cyclicalfactors.” Beyond the economy, amid a steep rise in oil prices,agrarian distress, retail inflation and unemployment have posedanother set of problems. Daimler AG and Audi announced almost20,000 job cuts in the past three weeks.
My intention is not to take pot-shots at the Government.But it dragged its name through the mud when the Delhi Policeforced its way into the Jamia Millia Islamia, one of the mostreputed educational institutions in the country, and brutallyassaulted the students over there. Neither do I need to empha-sise the fact that the Government has been lying to its citizensevery since it came to power. From trumpeting a dream pro-ject of a high-speed rail, what has been delivered is that cru-cial sectors like education, defence and healthcare are facingits gravest crisis ever.
Today, we are living in a country where States like Jammu& Kashmir and Assam are boiling. People’s voices are beingsuppressed. Being apolitical is a risk one should not be tak-ing. Because being “apolitical” or in turn “silent” is a weaponthat only backfires. For silence only means being “complicit”to the happenings. When a Government maintains silence, itis considered to be an accomplice of the wrong because thereality says otherwise. When it is silent, it is used as an excuseto continue with the actions that are detestable. Had theGovernment actually been concerned about the problems sur-rounding the citizens, it would have acted maturely. I am nothere to take criticism on my take of “consequences of beingsilent.” I am here to tell you that this is the real world.
This does not mean that one will not be labelled as an “anti-nationalist” when he/she speaks against the establishment. Onealso needs to understand that raising voices against theGovernment does not in any sense mean that one is speakingagainst the nation. Instead, when one tends to take a view, he/sheis trying to protect the interests of the fellow citizens when actu-ally it is the duty of the Government to do so.
If this situation persists, eventually a time will come whenwe will be able to call ourselves the “largest democracy” withas much credibility as modern-day China. Leaders there statethat they run a “socialist democracy” alongside an authoritar-ian rule that strips people off their democratic rights, which isthe very basis of a democratic State.
As a Muslim who has had mostly Hindu friends, I have beenconfiding in them, laughing with them and sharing this idea ofOne India, which I believed, stood as a strong evidence thatwe can embrace diversity and be united even as we boast ofmore than a billion people with different religions, dissimilar lan-guages, individual beliefs and varied cultures. To my dismay,the Government has been trying to bring out a strange under-current of differences among the citizens, which in my opin-ion, did not exist before. One only wishes all of this ends here.It is not just the Muslims who are being isolated but even theAssamese, the Kashmiri Hindus and the students as well.
If we don’t speak even now, when the Government cameafter the students in Jamia, it may act against all of us. At leastone can draw the line and make it realise that such barbaricways will not be tolerated. The time to act is now.
(The writer is an author and is currently pursuingEconomics Graduation from Ashoka University)
Nostradamus, the world’s mostfamous seer, had predictedthat the year 2020 would
mark the beginning of a new era,accompanied by bloodshed andsuffering, but that it would alsobring new hopes. So, as we stand atthe cusp of the new year, one won-ders what 2020 will bring for India?
Politically, the country will bestable, given the massive mandatewon by Prime Minister NarendraModi just six months ago. The BJPis sure to begin the year with a senseof triumph as the Modi Governmenthas achieved most of the party’s coreagenda during its second term,including the abrogation of Article370, a favourable judgment in the
Ayodhya issue, dealing with theissue of illegal immigrants throughthe Citizenship Amendment Act,2019 (CAA) and the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) and soon. However, there is a need toarrest the widespread unrest creat-ed due to the CAA and the NRC asit is not doing the Government anygood.
Going forward, in 2020, theGovernment is likely to form a trustand begin the Ram temple’s con-struction in a grand manner inAyodhya. The Uniform Civil Code(UCC) is the only remaining part ofthe core BJP-RSS agenda and a Billto regulate the population is also onthe anvil.
Though the BJP will not achievemajority in the Rajya Sabha, Modiand his deputy Amit Shah haveshown how Bills could be pushedthrough with the support of someneutral parties like the Biju JanataDal (BJD).
However, the economy is goingto be the biggest challenge for theModi Government. A plunge indomestic consumption, manufac-
turing, construction, real estate,weakening of industrial production,slump in exports and imports anda mess in the banking and financialsectors need urgent attention.
The Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development(OECD) recently marginally cut itsgrowth forecast for 2019 to 5.8 percent but said it will pick up to 6.2per cent in 2020 and further to 6.4per cent in 2021. The global brokingfirm Goldman Sachs has forecast amild recovery of the Indian econo-my by March 2020.
Politically there could be somerealignments. The Opposition maycontinue to be scattered and weak.The Congress’ prospects are look-ing up a bit. However, it is yet toemerge as an alternative. Both theCongress and the BJP might havenew presidents. While RahulGandhi is expected to return as theparty chief, the BJP might choosethe present working president JPNadda to lead it from now on.
The BJP ended the year byemerging as the single-largest partyin Haryana and Maharashtra. While
the party formed the Governmentin Haryana, the Shiv Sena-Congress-Nationalist CongressParty combine formed theGovernment in Maharashtra,upstaging the BJP there.
With the parting of ways withthe Shiv Sena, the BJP might haveto look for new friends in the com-ing year. As it is, the NDA hasshrunk with the Telugu DesamParty leaving in March 2019 and theSena in December 2019. The JD(U)and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)are the only two big allies left withthe saffron party.
Bihar and Delhi will go forAssembly polls in 2020. Both areimportant for the BJP as it is part ofthe ruling coalition in Bihar and hasbeen trying to get Delhi back as itwas strong in the Capital in the past.The “Modi magic” did not work inboth the States in 2015 as the AamAadmi Party (AAP) won with amassive majority in Delhi and themahagathbandhan, comprising theCongress, JD(U), the RJD andsmaller parties, won in Bihar. Themahagathbandhan has broken up
since then and Nitish Kumar is backas an NDA Chief Minister. Bihar has243 seats and Nitish will lead theBJP-JD(U) combine in the Biharpolls.
As for Delhi, the ruling AAP isgoing strong despite all odds. Thefight there will be three-corneredwith the AAP, the Congress and theBJP fighting for the 70 seats. TheCongress and the BJP have no localleaders to match the stature ofDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal. However, the BJP’s starcampaigner Modi is planning tokick off the poll campaign onDecember 22 with a huge rally at theRamlila Maidan.
Modi has struck up a friendshipwith US President Donald Trump.It is to be seen who wins the crucial2020 US presidential elections. Inany case, India has the support ofboth Democrats and Republicans inthe US and the victory of BorisJohnson in the United Kingdom(UK) might cement the Indo-UKrelationship further, too, makingthings right for the country as far asthe West is concerned. However,
India has to sort out its differencesin the neighbourhood, particularlywith Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The Tokyo Olympics in 2020 isan important event as in the 100thyear of India’s participation, theIndian Olympic Association, withthe JSW Group, will showcase thenation’s heritage and economicmight through an India House. Itseems strange that a country of morethan 1.3 billion people can only col-lect an average of less than onemedal per games. Maybe the newyear will see the nation shore up itswinnings as more and more peopletake to sports and training takes cen-tre stage.
India will be hosting the next‘No Money for Terror’ MinisterialConference in 2020. Restrictingfunding is the key to stopping ter-ror in its tracks, as money is thebackbone for training, attacks andother terror infrastructure.
Though the year 2020 is notpacked with events, nevertheless, itis only the beginning and eventsmight overtake any prediction.
(The writer is a senior journalist)
What lies ahead in 2020?Politically, the country will be stable, given the massive mandate won by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just
six months ago but the BJP has a lot of work still left to do to fulfil its core agenda
KALYANI SHANKAR
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019
www.dailypioneer.com
F O R E I G N E Y E
Understandably distracted,Chile’s lack of leadershipsaw a coalition of Stateswith strong links to fossilfuel industry — the US,Brazil, Australia and SaudiArabia — seize theopportunity to underminethe talks. Their success wasto render meaningless thesummit’s final declaration.This is a snub to scienceand strikers in a year ofunprecedented climateactivism. If this climatedenialism persists, we willpay a heavy price.(The Guardian editorial)
CLIMATE CHANGEDIPLOMACY
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 money 08
CAPSULE
Gold prices risemarginally; silvergains Rs 75NEW DELHI: Gold prices rosemarginally by Rs 11 to Rs38,771 per 10 gram in thenational capital on Tuesday,according to HDFC Securities.The yellow metal had settled atRs 38,760 per 10 gram in theprevious trade. Spot gold for24 Karat in Delhi was tradingmarginally higher by Rs 11 onrupee appreciation whichlimited the upside, HDFCSecurities Senior Analyst(Commodities) Tapan Patelsaid. The spot rupee wastrading around 9 paisestronger against the dollarduring the day, he added.Silver prices also gained Rs 75to Rs 45,610 per kg from Rs45,535 per kg in the previoustrade. In the global market,gold was quoting higher atUSD 1,478.20 per ounce,while silver was trading atUSD 17.02 per ounce.
Lupin's armcompletes stakedivestment in KyowaNEW DELHI: Drug makerLupin on Tuesday said itssubsidiary Nanomi BV hascompleted divestment of itsentire stake in KyowaPharmaceutical Industry toJapan-based equity fundUnison Capital Partners.Nanomi BV held 99.82 percent stake in Japan-basedKyowa, Lupin said in astatement. Last month,Lupin's board had approvedthe stake sale in Kyowa for anenterprise value of JPY 57,361million (around Rs 3,702crore). The Mumbai-baseddrug firm said the transactiongenerates post tax net cashinflow of around JPY 33,429million (Rs 2,157.6 crore) andsignificantly strengthens itsconsolidated balance sheet.The deal helps the companypare its net debt from Rs4,361.8 crore (as onSeptember 30, 2019) to Rs1,075.3 crore. The company'snet debt to equity ratio nowstands at 0.08 as compared to0.32 earlier.
Sensex, Nifty hit lifetime peaksPNS n MUMBAI
Market benchmarks Sensexand Nifty soared to new peakson Tuesday, driven by gainsmainly in metal, financial andIT stocks amid firm globalcues and sustained foreignfund inflows.
After surging to its recordintra-day peak of 41,401.65,the 30-share BSE barometersettled 413.45 points, or 1.01per cent, higher at its all-timehigh of 41,352.17.
Similarly, the broader NSENifty rallied 111.05 points, or0.92 per cent, to its record clos-
ing high of 12,165.Tata Steel was the top gain-
er in the Sensex pack, surging4.38 per cent, followed byBharti Airtel 4.37 per cent,Vedanta 3.50 per cent, TataMotors 3.03 per cent, HDFC2.46 per cent and Bajaj Finance2.39 per cent.
On the other hand, SunPharma fell 1.37 per cent,M&M 0.63 per cent, BajajAuto 0.56 per cent and HUL0.48 per cent.
According to experts,domestic market scaled recordpeaks following positive cuesfrom global equities that rallied
on optimism over US-Chinatrade truce.
"The positive mood of themarkets was also aided by the
RBI Governor's statementabout central bank's furtheraccommodative stance interms of policy rate provided
if there is a need," saidNarendra Solanki, HeadFundamental Research(Investment Services) - AVPEquity Research, Anand RathiShares & Stock Brokers.
The traders were also seenoptimistic ahead ofWednesday's GST Councilmeet and expects some posi-tive outcome from the same,he added.
Sustained foreign fundinflows too boosted marketmood here, experts said.
On a net basis, foreign insti-tutional investors bought equi-ties worth Rs 728.13 crore,
while domestic institutionalinvestors sold shares worth Rs796.38 crore, data availablewith stock exchange showedon Monday.
Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Seoul and Tokyo endedsignificantly higher, whilethose in Europe were tradingon a mixed note.
On the currency front, therupee appreciated 3 paiseagainst the US dollar to 70.96(intra-day).
Brent futures, the global oilbenchmark, was slipped 0.17per cent to USD 65.23 per bar-rel.
n Tata Steel wasthe top gainer in
the Sensexpack, surging4.38 per cent
n Sun Pharma fell 1.37 percent, M&M 0.63 per cent
n Sustained foreign fundinflows too boosted market
41352.17SENSEX
413.45 (+1.01%)
91.35 (+0.76%)12145.30NIFTY
The positive mood ofthe markets was
also aided by the RBIGuv's statement aboutcentral bank's furtheraccommodative stance interms of policy rate providedif there is a need
—NARENDRA SOLANKIHead Fundamental Research
(Investment Services)
PNS n NEW DELHI
India will not sign any freetrade agreement in a hurry or tothe disadvantage of industryand exporters, Union ministerPiyush Goyal said on Tuesday,more than a month after thecountry walked out of the China-backed mega trade deal RCEP.
On November 4, PrimeMinister Narendra Modiannounced in Bangkok that Indiawill not join RCEP as negotiationsfailed to address New Delhi's "out-standing issues and concerns".
Speaking at an event organ-
ised by CII, Goyal said the gov-ernment took the bold decisionin the national interest becauseclearly, the pact had becomenothing but an India-ChinaFTA which "nobody wants".
This, according to Goyal,was a bold decision "as for thefirst time it reflected the resolveof the government that diplo-macy will not prevail overtrade.
Shareholders votefor raising Rs 5K crloan, appoint Sudhir PNS n NEW DELHI
Fraud-hit CG Power andIndustrial Solutions has gotshareholders' nod to borrowup to Rs 5,000 crore to meetworking capital and otherbusiness needs as it looks tospring back from the worst cri-sis in its history.
As many as 99.99 per centof shareholders, at the com-pany's annual general meetingin Mumbai on December 14,voted in favour of a resolutionmoved for raising borrowinglimit, CG Power said in a reg-ulatory filing on Tuesday.
They also approvedappointment of SudhirMathur as whole time execu-tive director of the companywith an overwhelming 99.99per cent voting in favour of theresolution.
Mathur, who along withnon-executive chairmanAshish Kumar Guhahas been overseeingthe clean up of thecompany after thealleged fraud ofover Rs 3,000 crorecame to light, wasfirst appointed as inde-pendent director on CG Powerboard on October 1, 2018and moved into an executiverole from May 10, 2019.
Shareholders approved bothhis appointments, the filingshowed.
They also approved appoint-ment of Narayan K Seshadri asindependent director on theboard of the company.
In the shareholder notice,the firm had stated that its cur-
rent borrowing as of March31, 2019 was Rs 2,455.39
crore (fund basedincluding short termloans) and Rs 1,380.00crore (non fund based).
"Keeping in view theexisting borrowing and
additional fund requirementsand given the current finan-cial condition of the compa-ny, the company is in urgentneed of both long-term cap-ital and working capital andtowards this, the manage-ment of the company is in theprocess of identifying poten-tial sources of capital," it hadsaid.
FRAUD-HIT CG POWER
They also approvedappointment ofSudhir Mathur aswhole timeexecutive directorof the companywith anoverwhelming99.99% voting infavour of theresolution
India slips to 112th place on gender gap; in bottom-5 on health PNS n NEW DELHI
India has slipped four places torank 112th globally in terms ofgender gap amid widening dis-parity in terms of women'shealth and survival and eco-nomic participation -- the twoareas where the country isnow ranked in the bottom-five,an annual survey showed onTuesday.
While Iceland remains theworld's most gender-neutralcountry, India has moved downthe ladder from its 108th posi-tion last year on the WorldEconomic Forum's GenderGap Report to rank belowcountries like China (106th),Sri Lanka (102nd), Nepal(101st), Brazil (92nd),Indonesia (85th) andBangladesh (50th).
Yemen is ranked the worst(153rd), while Iraq is 152nd
and Pakistan 151st."The time it will take to close
the gender gap (globally) nar-rowed to 99.5 years in 2019.While an improvement on2018 -– when the gap was cal-culated to take 108 years toclose -- it still means paritybetween men and womenacross health, education, workand politics will take morethan a lifetime to achieve," theWorld Economic Forum(WEF) said.
Geneva-based WEF, aninternational organisation forpublic-private cooperation, saidthis year's improvement canlargely be ascribed to a signif-icant increase in the number ofwomen in politics.
The political gender gap willtake 95 years to close, comparedto 107 years last year.Worldwide, women now hold25.2 per cent of parliamentary
lower-house seats and 21.2 percent of ministerial positions,compared to 24.1 per cent and19 per cent, respectively lastyear.
However, the economicopportunity gap has worsened,widening to 257 years, com-
pared to 202 years last year. Thereport said one of the greatestchallenges to closing this gap iswomen's under-representationin emerging roles, such ascloud computing, engineeringand data and AI.
The WEF had published its
first gender gap report in 2006,when India was ranked rela-tively higher at 98th place.
Since then, India's rank hasworsened on three of fourmetrics used for the overallranking. While India hasimproved to 18th place onpolitical empowerment, it hasslipped to 150th on health andsurvival, to 149th in terms ofeconomic participation andopportunity and to 112th placefor educational attainment.
The WEF said economic
opportunities for women areextremely limited in India (35.4per cent), Pakistan (32.7 percent), Yemen (27.3 per cent),Syria (24.9 per cent) and Iraq(22.7 per cent).
It also named India amongcountries with very low womenrepresentation on companyboards (13.8 per cent), while itwas even worse in China (9.7per cent).
On health and survival, fourlarge countries -- Pakistan,India, Viet Nam and China --
fare badly with millions ofwomen there not getting thesame access to health as men,the WEF said.
It also flagged abnormallylow sex ratios at birth in India(91 girls for every 100 boys)and Pakistan (92/100).
The WEF said India hasclosed two-thirds of its overallgender gap, but the conditionof women in large fringes ofIndia's society is precarious andthe economic gender gap runsparticularly deep.
Since 2006, the gap has sig-nificantly widened and India isthe only country among the153 countries studied wherethe economic gender gap islarger than the political one.
Only one-quarter of women,compared with 82 per cent ofmen, engage actively in thelabour market -- one of thelowest rates globally (145th).
Geneva-based WEF, an internationalorganisation for public-privatecooperation, said this year'simprovement can largely be ascribedto a significant increase in the numberof women in politics
PNS n NEW YORK
Defence Minister RajnathSingh has said that India isimpacted to some extent bythe global economic slow-down but expressed confi-dence that the country willcome out of the difficult sit-uation within a short time.
Singh, who arrived in theUS on Monday for the 2019US-India 2+2 MinisterialDialogue in Washington DCon September 18, addressedmembers of the Indian com-munity at educational organ-isation Asia Society here at anevent organised by theConsulate General of India.
He said currently the worldover, there is a talk of a glob-al economic slowdown. “Ialso accept that there is glob-al economic slowdown andIndia is also impacted by it tosome extent. But I can saywith full confidence thatIndia will come out of thisdifficult situation in only fewmonths' time,” Singh said.
Singh said this was not amatter of big concern forIndia because the govern-ment has taken several majorsteps and announced eco-nomic packages to boost eco-nomic growth.
"We can face and tackle theglobal economic slowdownonly by increasing consumerdemand," he said.
‘India will emergefrom difficulteconomicsituation soon’
FM sets Rs 1.1L cr monthlyGST collection targetPNS n NEW DELHI
Amid concerns that the gov-ernment may fall short of taxcollection target in a slowingeconomy, the Centre has set anambitious Rs 1.1 lakh croremonthly GST target for theremaining four months of thecurrent fiscal and asked tax-men to step up efforts toachieve the goal.
Revenue Secretary AjayBhushan Pandey held a videoconference meeting with toptax officials of departmentslooking after both income taxand indirect taxes such as GSTand asked them to step upefforts to achieve tax targets,finance ministry sources said.
While taxmen have beenasked to plug evasions, Pandeyimpressed upon them toachieve targets without harass-ing honest taxpayers.
Taxmen were told in nouncertain terms that both theGST as well as the Rs 13.35lakh crore target for directtaxes for 2019-20 will have tobe achieved.
In the meeting, the GST tar-get was set at Rs 1.10 lakh croreevery month betweenDecember 2019 and March2020. Of these four months, Rs
1.25 lakh collections has to beachieved in at least one month,the sources said.
Gross GST collections, whichinclude the share of both Centreand the states, crossed Rs 1 lakhcrore mark in four out of theeights months of the currentfiscal and only once wasabove Rs 1.1 lakh crore. At thecurrent trend, the GSTtax collection target islikely to be missed byat least Rs 1 lakhcrore.
Out of the Rs 13.35lakh crore direct taxcollection target, aboutRs 6 lakh crore or 45per cent of the annualtarget, has been collected tillOctober (first seven months).
For 2019-20, the Union gov-ernment is targeting Rs 6.63lakh crore from its share of GSTrevenues. GST subsumed 17centre and state levies and the
two equally split the revenues.The sources said the revenue
department in the financeministry is taking concertedmeasures to augment collec-tions in the next four collectionmonths and has exhorted its
senior officers, includ-ing Members ofCentral Board of
Indirect Taxes andCustoms (CBIC)and CentralBoard ofDirect Taxes(CBDT), aswell as other
top officials toachieve tax tar-gets both for
direct and indirect taxes.Officers have been particu-
larly urged to ensure that dur-ing such field enforcementdrive and visits, no taxpayer isoverreached or troubled, theysaid.
Also, it was clarified to theofficers that the corporate taxrelief worth Rs 1.45 lakh croreby way of a cut in rates, shouldnot be taken as an excuse forlesser direct tax collection.
The sources said CBIC andCBDT members, as well asprincipal chief commissionersand chief commissioners andother field machinery, wereasked to make field visits on aweekly basis. The revenue sec-retary, despite pressures ofbudget preparation, will him-self be visiting across theregions every weekend to mon-itor and peruse the collectionsefforts, they said.
While the information onGST and income tax and otherfinancial dealings will beanalysed to check evasions,taxmen have been told to bringevaders to book.
If taxpayers have missed outon sharing correct tax infor-mation, they will be asked tofile the revised return, thesources said.
They said the objectivebehind the meeting was toexhort officers at all levels tomaximise tax collection, at thesame time ensuring that gen-uine taxpayers are not troubledor harassed.
Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman holding pre-budget consultation with stakeholder groups of “Industry, Service and Trade”, in NewDelhi on Tuesday. Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Singh Thakur and other dignitaries are seen
Also, it was clarified to the officersthat the corporate tax relief worth Rs1.45 lakh crore by way of a cut inrates, should not be taken as anexcuse for lesser direct tax collection
Hetero unveils ‘Taffic’combo drug for HIV PNS n NEW DELHI
Drug firm Hetero on Tuesdaylaunched an antiretroviralcombination drug, used totreat human immunodefi-ciency virus type (HIV-1), inthe country.
The Hyderabad-based com-pany has introduced the3-in-1 drug under thebrand name 'Taffic' inIndia.
The company'sproduct is a genericversion of Gilead'sBiktarvy and has beenapproved by the DrugController General of India(DCGI).
The product will be mar-keted and distributed byHetero Healthcare Ltd in the
country, the drug firm said ina statement.
"The launch of this productemphasises company's ongo-ing commitment to provideadvanced and effective treat-ments to HIV patients world-wide," it added.
To further this mission,Hetero will be making the
latest combination drugavailable in 116 low andmiddle-income coun-tries upon approvalsfrom the regulatory
authorities there, thedrug firm said.
Taffic, a once-a-day singlepill, is a combination of threemedicines -- Bictegravir(50mg), Emtricitabine(200mg) and TenofovirAlafenamide (25mg).
Bankers: Kotak Mahindra bestsuited to buyYes BankPNS n MUMBAI
Two of India's top bankers onTuesday opined that KotakMahindra Bank (KMB) isbest suited to acquire small-er and capital-starved rivalYes Bank.
Yes Bank's capital buffershave dipped on acceleratednon-performing assets recog-nition under new chief exec-utive Ravneet Gill earlier thisyear.The private sectorlender's capital raising plan isalso passing through uncer-tainties and there are specu-lations on whether Yes Bankis an acquisition target, whichhas been denied by its man-agement.
"I think Uday (Kotak) isthe best candidate to acquireYes Bank. You need deeppockets, Uday has that," SBIChairman Rajnish Kumarsaid at Times Network's IndiaEconomic Conclave here.
When the same questionwas posed to third-largestlender Axis Bank'sManaging Director andCEO Amitabh Chaudhry, itwas answered with the samesuggestion.
"We (Axis Bank) are asmaller bank. We are tryingto ensure that we grow big sothat at some stage we canacquire others. So, yes MrKotak, they are best suitedrather than us," he said.
When contacted, KotakMahindra Group ChiefCommunication OfficerRohit Rao said, "these arecomments made by otherbankers and reflect theirviews, and not ours".
UK PM to outlawBrexit extensionbeyond 2020AFP n LONDON
Prime Minister BorisJohnson plans to pass a lawguaranteeing Britain's Brexittransition period cannot runbeyond the end of 2020, asource in his office said onTuesday.
Johnson won a big major-ity in last week's election ona promise to take Britainout of the European Unionby the end of January, fol-lowed by a transition peri-od when London andBrussels negotiate a tradeagreement.
Rajnath Singh
I can assure all of youthat going forward, noneof the FTAs will be
settled in a hurry or will be settledto the disadvantage of Indianindustry and exporters
— PIYUSH GOYAL, UUnniioonn mmiinniisstteerr
Govt decides to go slow on FTAsto avoid RCEP-like impasse
THE DOMINANT SHIFTame of Thrones wasboth an unprecedentedachievement and old-school role model inthe TV decade that’srolling its final credits.
Instalments of the elaborately pro-duced hit were doled out one at atime by an established outlet, pre-mium cable channel HBO. Thatwas standard TV operating proce-dure until, suddenly, it wasn’t. Thenew era arrived in 2013 when afull season’s worth of House ofCards popped up amid Netflix’son-demand movies and old TVshows.
The drama’s unexpected homeappeared simply to be an optionto the 500-channel universe bornin the 1990s. But House of Cardsforeshadowed a streaming goldrush and volume of programmingdubbed Peak TV in 2015 — andwith no drop in altitude in sight.
The result — nothing is thesame, whether it’s how much tele-vision we consume; how andwhere we do it; who gets to makeit, and the level of respect giventhe creatively emboldened smallscreen. We don’t just watch TV, webinge it until we’re bleary-eyed ifnot sated. We still change channelswith a remote control, but moreoften we’re logging in to watchshows on our phones or otherdevices and on our schedules, notnetwork-dictated appointmentTV.
A comic strip, Zits, recentlysummed up the current reality inthree panels. “What’s on?” a fatherasks his teenage son, who’s sittingcross-legged in front of a TV setand is bracketted by a smartphone on one side and a laptop onthe other. “Everything ever video-taped, filmed, recorded, pho-tographed or otherwise docu-mented whenever I want to watchit,” the teen answers, nonchalantlytossing popcorn into his mouth. “Imiss television,” the downcast dadtells his wife.
ALL HAIL STREAMINGGenerational nostalgia aside,
consumers have embraced thechange in their media world, saidRobert Thompson, director ofSyracuse University’s Bleier Centerfor Television & Popular Culture.“This was the decade that stream-ing became for many, many peo-ple the dominant way in whichthey watch television,” saidThompson. It’s a rapid shift thatbears little relation to the previousentertainment industry revolution,cable TV.
Only about a quarter of the US
homes had cable in 1980 despiteits availability since the mid-20thcentury. While growth finallyexploded in the 80s, it wasn’tuntill the tail end of the 1990s andthe arrival of HBO’s The Sopranosand Sex and the City that premi-um cable received critical praiseand honours, Thompson said.
In contrast, it took less than adecade for leader Netflix to sky-rocket from about 12 million USsubscribers at the decade’s start to60 million this year and 158 mil-lion worldwide. The streamerreportedly lavished $15 billion onprogramming for 2019 alone, andearned buzz with series includingThe Crown, Stranger Things, andOrange is the New Black. Evenmajor films, among them MartinScorsese’s The Irishman, are mak-ing themselves at home on Netflixwhile still in theatres.
Others in the fray includeAmazon Prime Video, although“streaming wars” became theaggressive phrase applied to theincreasingly competitive market-place. With newly emboldened(and sometimes mega-expanded)media companies intent on gettinga piece of the streaming action,there was a growth surge thatwon’t abate in the new decade.
Apple TV Plus launched onNovember 1 with Oprah Winfreyand Steven Spielberg among itsfirst wave of producers, and wasquickly followed by Disney Plus.The latter has a storehouse ofDisney movies and TV shows todraw on, along with acquiredproperties from MarvelEntertainment and Lucasfilm andits Star Wars franchise.
While cord-cutting became aquest for viewers seeking to shedhefty cable bills, there is still aprice tag for the gusher of riches,as much as $14.99 monthly forHBO Max alone. A bonus forviewers as they sort through thecompeting options — more pro-gramming doesn’t just mean moreof the same.
VARIETY STOREIf retailers can provide every
type of yogurt known to humani-ty, why can’t TV take the sameeclectic approach? It has in thepast 10 years, as the increasingdemand for content and thegrowth of niche programmingcreated opportunities for diverseand candid voices. Ongoingefforts by advocacy groups alsocontributed to the gradual butunmistakable shift.
Ryan Murphy, already estab-lished as a successful producerwith Nip/Tuck and Glee, exercisedhis clout to make FX’s Pose, set inthe LGBTQ ballroom culturescene of the 1980s and 90s. Itsstar, Billy Porter , became the firstopenly gay man to win the bestactor Emmy.
Even mainstream broadcastingexpanded its field of vision, withABC the first network in 20 yearsto air an Asian American familysitcom, Fresh Off the Boat, endingthis season. Nahnatchka Khan wasits executive producer, one of thewomen who gained prominencebehind the camera in a sector longdominated by men.
African American women tookthe spotlight in creator-star IssaRae’s Insecure, while Jenji Kohan’s
Orange is the New Black featuredcharacters notable for their ethnic,sexual and class diversity. Someestablished female producers fur-ther cemented their success.Shonda Rhimes added Scandaland How to Get Away with Murderto her body of work, with the lat-ter’s star, Viola Davis, becomingthe first African American to wina best drama actress Emmy. AvaDuVernay, already a filmmakingforce, spearheaded When They SeeUs and Queen Sugar.
Reese Witherspoon, addingproducing to her portfolio, madegood on her vow to bring strongfemale characters to the screenwith the hit series Big Little Liesand The Morning Show.
Statistics confirm the anecdotalevidence. Across all TV platformsin 2017-18, women accounted fora historic high of 31 per cent ofthose working in key behind-the-scenes jobs including directors,writers and editors, according toresearch by San Diego StateUniversity’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film.
While television moved towardbetter reflecting the world at large,it was forced to look inward aswell.
#METOO FALLOUTRevelations of sexual miscon-
duct hit the TV industry hard andwith more lasting effect than anyother sector of Hollywood, evencompared to producer HarveyWeinstein’s fall from filmmakingheights. Two of media’s toppowerbrokers were brought downin the #MeToo era — Les Moonvesand Roger Ailes.
Top-tier actors also lost theirjobs, including Jeffrey Tambor ofTransparent and Kevin Spacey ofHouse of Cards and Louis CK,whose TV projects includedLouie, which he starred in andproduced. — AP
Here’s how streaming and #MeToo shaped TV decade of change
G
he beauty oftheatre direct-ed for the agegroup of 0 to 6years lies inthe unsaid.
Younsters weredelighted by the sheergrace of DhanendraKawade’s movements inthe play ‘Nal-Jal’, bySwangvale, while theelderly audience experi-enced a universal truth, arare connection to a deli-cate yet weathered stateof being.
‘Nal-Jal’ perfectlyencapsulates the ele-ments of pure play. Ajoyous journey into theflow of water, the show isa one-man act, heldafloat with splendidmusical effects, anenchantingly simple setof faucets, pipes, mugs
and other everydayobjects. With captivatingease, Dhanendra movedacross the stage — creat-ing sublime visuals witha torch and a canister ofwater, making musicwith half-full mugs, elic-iting giggles with slowand rushed gargling. Theaudience’s eyes followedeverything, spellbound.
As ripples spread overthe ceiling, a collectivesigh rippled through theaudience. The 10th yearof the Hyderabad Child-ren’s Theatre Festival hasintroduced a fresh waveof talent to the city —with stunning performa-nces by international and national groups,exhibitions, and work-shops. The 10-day cele-brations wrapped uptoday. — PNS
T
‘NAL-JAL’ ENCAPSULATES THE ELEMENTSOF PURE PLAY. A JOYOUS JOURNEY INTOTHE FLOW OF WATER, THE SHOW IS A ONE-MAN ACT, HELD AFLOAT WITH SPLENDIDMUSICAL EFFECTS, AN ENCHANTINGLYSIMPLE SET OF FAUCETS, PIPES, MUGSAND OTHER EVERY-DAY OBJECTS.
Be it acting orcricket, NANDA
KISHORE has doneit all
o help and inspirepeople, we are plan-ning to form fourcricket teams consist-ing of about 60Telugu television
actors. The four teams are red,green, blue and yellow. Redshows the importance of blooddonation, green is for plantingtrees, blue is for saving water andyellow is for winning medals andmaking India proud, said televi-sion actor Nanda Kishore whodebuted in 2001.
Father's encouragementSpeaking to The Pioneer,
Nanda Kishore says, “My fatheris a railway employee who set-tled in Hyderabad. He is also astage artiste and has previouslyacted in a movie calledHyderabad Blues by NageshKukunoor. I also played a lawyerin it. My father introduced meto theatre and made me joinBhoomika Theatre Group whenI was in college. Bhoomika’sfounder G Udayabhanu is myfather’s friend.”
Basics from theatre
Speaking of his experience as a theatre artiste, Kishoreadds, “I learnt a lot fromBhoomika. Theatre is all aboutdiscipline, punctuality, actingand coordination. I learned mybasics from theatre. I used to bea part of many folk dramas inTelugu and Hindi and per-formed across India. Folk dra-mas help you learn how todance, sing and act at the sametime. Theatre helps in personal-ity development.”
Television career In 2001, he got a chance to
play a constable in AthagaruKotha Kodalu serial. Later, heacted in serials like VeluuguNeedalu, Suryavamsham, Chi LaSow Sravanthi and more. He hasalso done dance shows likeNarthanashala, Star War, Jalsaand proved his dancingprowess. Kishore has also beena part of over 10 Telugu filmsand did his PG Diploma inManagement InformationSystems and ComputerApplications from BadrukaCollege. When asked if he facedany challenges in acting,
Kishore shares, “I have neverfaced any difficulties. I have astrong theatre background andit helped me very well. Now, wehave various mediums for act-ing like cinema, television, webseries and so on and it’s impor-tant that one is doing justice toa particular character. It doesn’tmatter which medium one is in,talent matters.”
Theatre gives satisfactionHe informed that being a part
of a play gives him ultimate sat-isfaction. He explains, “Theserials Chi La Sow Sravanthi hasgiven me name and fame. Forme, theatre gives utmost satis-faction as in theatre, we don’thave retakes and have to exceland mesmerise the audience inone go. If a single artist makes amistake, it impacts the wholeteam. Where as in televisionand cinema, we have retakeswhich gives you a secondchance.”
Fitness Freak Nanda Kishore said that
being fit is important for everyone. He adds, “I believe that
without fitness, there is no longrun for people in any field.Every day, I do yoga and go tothe gym. One hour of fitnessactivities is important for peopleon a daily basis. I’m also atrained personal wellnessteacher and teach a few people.Fitness gives you great strength.”
Cricket League Nanda Kishore is also well
known in the cricket circle. Heis an all rounder in TeluguWarriors team. He says, “It wasa great experience playing crick-et with senior actors likeVenkatesh and Sreekanth. I usedto play cricket very well sincechildhood and it made me anall rounder for our Teluguteam.”
He adds that till date he hasportrayed positive charactersand wants to portray a negativeone soon.
He shares, “Positive charac-ters have certain boundariesthat restrict actors in certainways. Negative roles have noboundaries and it also reachespeople fast. I’m looking to do anegative role soon.”
T
Out of the
BOX
Speaking to V SATEESHREDDY,television actorNanda Kishoreshares hisjourney intotheatre,progressinginto television,being an allrounder for theTeluguWarriorscricket teamand his interestin doingnegative roles
A FRESHWAVE OFTALENT
WednesdayDecember 18, 2019
Follow us [email protected]/dailypioneer
10
Vijayawada Wednesday December 18, 2019 what’s brewing?
ollywood maverickQuentin Tarantinohas cast doubt onplans to make anR-rated Star Trekmovie and says he
is “steering away” from it.Tarantino has been linked
to a new installment in thelong-running sci-fi film fran-chise for months, afterreportedly making a success-ful pitch for an edgier storyto studio officials atParamount Pictures, reportsaceshowbiz.com.
Previous reports suggesteda screenplay is in develop-ment, but Tarantino now sayshe is moving away from theStar Trek project, for whichhe never entered an officialdeal.
“I think I’m steering awayfrom Star Trek, but I haven’thad an official conversationwith those guys (studio boss-es) yet,” he told portalConsequence of Sound.
The last Star Trek movie,Star Trek Beyond, wasreleased in 2016, and fea-tured Chris Pine as CaptainKirk and Zachary Quinto asSpock.
Tarantino says he almostchose to hold back his latestrelease Once Upon a Time inHollywood and make it hisswansong after previously
vowing to step away fromfilmmaking after completinghis 10th movie.
“In a strange way, it seems like this movie,Hollywood, would be mylast,” he said of his ninthfilm. “So, I’ve kind of takenthe pressure off myself tomake that last big voila kindof statement. I mean, tosuch a degree there was amoment when I was writing
(it) and went, “Should I dothis now? Should I do some-thing else? Is this the 10thone?”
Tarantino decided not todelay the project unnecessari-ly, and although he still plans to bow out after movienumber 10, he doesn’t thinkhis final film will be anotherbig production, like OnceUpon a Time in Hollywoodwas.
Quentin Tarantinohas second thoughtson STAR TREK
Netizen calls AkshayKumar “SPINELESS'';Anurag Kashyap agrees
kshay Kumar,who is currentlyfacing wrathfrom people for“accidentally”liking a contro-
versial tweet amidst protestagainst the CitizenshipAmendment Act, wascalled “spineless” by aTwitter user, and filmmakerAnurag Kashyap has similarviews about the Gold actor.
“I have immense respectfor Akshay Kumar. It mustbe extremely difficult to betrained in Martial Arts witha spine missing,” the usertweeted. Reacting to the
tweet, Kashyap wrote:“Absolutely”.
It all started after Akshayon Monday morning tookto Twitter to clarify that hehad earlier “accidentally”liked a tweet by JamiaMillia Islamia universitystudents.
At a time when manyBollywood celebs are lash-ing out at authorities overtension at Delhi’s JamiaMillia Islamia, Akshaylanded himself in a soup byliking a video that mockedthe attack on Jamia.
He later clarified,“Regarding the “like” on the
tweet of Jamia students, itwas by mistake. I wasscrolling and accidentally it must have been pressedand when I realised Iimmediately unliked it as in no way do I support suchacts.”
Kashyap even slammedthe government, calling it“fascist”.
“This has gone too far..can’t stay silent any longer.This government is clearlyfascist.. and it makes meangry to see voices that canactually make a differencestay quiet,” Kashyap tweet-ed on Monday.
Gully Boy out ofOscars gully
ully Boy fails tomake shortlist forOscars’ best inter-national film. Thenews wasannounced by
Film Federation of India inSeptember. Director ZoyaAkhtar’s Gully Boy, featuringRanveer Singh in the lead,was selected as India’s offi-cial entry in theInternational Feature Filmcategory at the 92ndAcademy Awards. Gully Boyhad made headlines when itwas selected as India’s offi-cial entry for the Oscars inthe Best Foreign LanguageFilm category. Ever sincefans have been praying thatGully Boy bags an Oscar.From celebrities to moviebuffs to the critics all werepraise for the movie when itwas released. Even RanveerSingh had posted on hissocial media account show-ing his excitement andthanking the FilmFederation. But it looks likethe movie did not impressThe Academy of MotionPicture Arts and Sciences.
The movie was released inFebruary this year whichhad Alia Bhatt, Vijay Raaz,Kalki Koechlin, SiddhantChaturvedi, Vijay Varmaand Amruta Subhash. Thefilm which was also a com-mercial success in the coun-try was not found on top 10list of films shortlisted forAcademy Award 2020 nomi-nations.
Ten international films,including widely acclaimedofferings from South Korea,Spain and Senegal, are onthe shortlist of movies vyingfor Academy Award nomi-nations.
The best international fea-ture shortlist announcedMonday by the Academy ofMotion Picture Arts andSciences includes Bong JoonHo’s Parasite, PedroAlmodovar’s semi-autobio-graphical Pain and Gloryand Atlantics, Senegal’s entryfrom history-making direc-tor Mati Diop.
In May, Diop became thefirst black woman to com-pete for the top prize at theCannes Film Festival. Thathonor went to Parasite,while Atlantics won the fes-tival’s Grand Prix honor. IfParasite or Atlantics receivenominations, they wouldmark the first for SouthKorea and Senegal, respec-tively.
It is the first year theOscar formerly will beawarded under a new name:best international featurefilm. The category was pre-viously known as the bestforeign language film.
The 10 short-listed filmsare: the Czech Republic’sThe Painted Bird; Estonia’sTruth and Justice; France’sLes Misérables; Hungary’sThose Who Remained;North Macedonia’sHoneyland; Poland’s CorpusChristi; among others.
HG
A
iss World 2017 ManushiChillar and captain ofthe Indian national foot-ball team Sunil Chhetrihave been chosen as
India’s Hottest vegetarians of 2019by People for the EthicalTreatment of Animals (PETA).
“Manushi and Sunil are living,breathing proof that eating veganis good for both animals and ourown health. PETA India is hon-
ouring them for opting for ecoand animal-friendly fare and forencouraging their fans to do thesame,” said PETA India Directorof Celebrity and Public RelationsSachin Bangera.
Last year, Anushka Sharma andKartik Aaryan were named asPETA India’s Hottest Vegetarians.
PETA India selected the win-ners based on several factors,including vote count.
Manushi, Sunil ChhetriPETA India's HottestVegetarians of 2019
M
FUN TIME
Rules
ARCHIE
GARFIELD
SUDOKU
REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD
GINGER MEGGS
NANCY
CALVIN AND HOBBES
l Each row and column cancontain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.
l The sum of all numbers inany row or column mustequal 45.
Yesterday’s solution
he originalDrishyam, starringMohanlal, was oneof the most success-ful films of
Malayalam in 2013, spawningremakes in other Indian lan-guages. Its director JeethuJoseph, who was also thefilm’s writer, directed itsTamil remake, Papanasam,with superstar Kamal Haasan.But then he informs thatDrishyam was a blessing anda curse. “Every film of minethat released after Drishyamwas compared to it. I don’tthink it’s fair because as afilmmaker I want toattempt different genresand I even did so in mycareer. I debuted as adirector with an inves-tigative drama, fol-lowed a family drama.The third one was ahumorous film, whichset the box-office onfire. Unfortunately, I’vedone two thrillers —Memories and Drishyam— in the same year, postwhich I earned the tag of athriller filmmaker,” he sighs.
Continuing with the expla-nation, he goes on, “AfterDrishyam, I did a family filmLife of Josutty but it couldn’tbe a major success althoughthe producer didn’t lose hismoney. Fearing that it mightbe judged against Drishyam, Ieven ran a tagline for the title,saying ‘There is no suspenseor twist’. Yet after release, peo-ple told me that they expectedit to have certain twists. I’mexperimenting but it’s notworking out. However, I willcontinue to experiment. Forany filmmaker, it’d be boring
to do thrillers back-to-back.Also, the problem is I'm aproducer's director. I don'tbother about how muchmoney he makes with mydirectorial but I don't wanthim to incur losses for sure.Producers who are approach-ing me are keen that I makethrillers, saying that's whataudiences expect of me.When I say I have humorousstory ready, they seem averseto it. Which is why, I'm pro-ducing films that satiate the
cre-
ativ-
ity in me.”In fact, from Bollywood as
well, it’s more or less the samestory. “Some three-four bigproduction housesapproached me for thrillers. IfI don’t have a thriller subjectwith me, they are dispatchinga thriller script,” he rues.
Jeethu is right now lookingforward to the release ofDonga, starring Karthi andJyotika. He describes the filmas a family entertainer with amix of action, drama andhumour. “Of course, there's a
small suspense angleas well,” he smiles,adding that the filmhas close to threeemotional sequencesbetween Karthi andJyotika and theynailed it. “Their bondin real life helped thescenes come alive. Attimes, I forgot to saycut, immersed inseeing their per-formances. Theydidn’t even useglycerin for suchbits.”
He also wants todo a Telugu film.
“After Drishyam, Idid get a couple ofoffers. Lack of agood story coupledwith the fact that Iwas busy with otherfilms meant I could-n’t accept thoseoffers. Telugu indus-
try is a powerful andbeautiful place and I
would want to do aTelugu film,” Jeethu,who is reunitingwith Mohanlalagain for Ram,a big-budget-ed actionfilm with arealistictouch toit, con-cludes.—NG
ith the crucial Mondaytoo witnessing nomajor drops in foot-falls, Venky Mama,starring Venkatesh and
Naga Chaitanya, is poised tobecome a major success.Naturally, Chay is chuffed to bits.“I’m extremely happy with thecollections and the reactions.People who have spoken to mehave owned the film. I’m also get-ting a lot of appreciation callsfrom family and women audi-ence. Both Venky mama andSuresh mama showed me how a
commercial blockbuster lookslike. In fact more than for thethree of us, the film is grandfa-
ther Ramanaidu’ssuccess,” he said. Hewas speaking at thefilm’s success meet inHyderabad on Tuesday.
Heaping high praise on thefilm’s director Bobby, Chayadded, “Some directors show mea new direction to my career andthat’s what Bobby did with thefilm in terms of my comic tim-ing and action image. Nobodybelieved that I could do actionuntil Tadakha happened. Stuntmasters Ram-Laxman deservecredit for it. They’ve encour-aged me a lot for the militaryepisode in Venky Mama as well.I extend my thanks to them.”
The Pioneer hasexclusively
learnt she willbe playing thefemale lead in
Adith Arun's nextwith debutant
director Naresh,who assisted
Dasaradh earlier,reports
NAGARAJGOUD
Vijayawada Wednesday December 18, 2019
I don’t see any progress in my acting. In the beginning of our career,we all feel a little shy and nervous but as you work more, it increasesyour confidence. I think acting mainly depends on the director and howhe extracts acting from an actor.
11
tollywood
uperstarRajinikanth sayshe would love toexplore the idea ofplaying a trans-gender in a film.
“I have explored almost allthe genres. I have worked in160 films and it’s been 45years in the film industry. Iwant to play the role of atransgender,” said the Tamilscreen idol, when asked ifthere still was any genre orrole that he would like toexplore after such a gloriousinnings in films.
Rajinikanth opened up atthe trailer launch of hisupcoming film Darbar.Asked if he has beenapproached by any filmmak-er to play a transgender, hesaid: “No, not yet. I thoughtabout it just now andexpressed my wish.”
The 69-year-old actor feelsthat he doesn’t see anyprogress in his acting. “Idon’t see any progress in myacting. In the beginning ofour career, we all feel a littleshy and nervous but as youwork more, it increases yourconfidence. I think actingmainly depends on the direc-
tor and how he extracts act-ing from an actor,” said theveteran actor.
The Tamil superstar enjoysglobal popularity. Who doeshe look up to in his life?
“I have said this manytimes. It is Amitabh Bachchan.He is my inspiration. Heinspires me not only in frontof the camera but off screen,too,” replied Rajinikanth.
Asked what his fond mem-ories of working with Big Bare, he replied: “There aremany moments. He loves me.A few years back in Chennai,he told me, ‘after turning 60,you should be careful ofthree things: Do exercise reg-ularly, be busy and do what-ever you want without both-ering about what people say.The third thing he told me is,‘don’t enter politics’.”
Rajinikanth added: “I havefollowed his first two advicesbut the third thing, I couldn'tfollow because of the circum-stances. So, I have learnt somany things from him.People say I do comedy andother characters very well butI have learnt it from Amitji.”
He announced his entryinto politics on December 31,
2017 and confirmed hisintention to contest in the2021 Tamil Nadu LegislativeAssembly elections in all 234constituencies.
The actor also spoke of hiswish to work in a Marathifilm someday, since his rootsbelong to Maharashtra. Headded that his passion foracting has been the drivingfactor for the last 45 years.
He said: “I do speak inMarathi in my house. Once Ihad an opportunity to workin a Marathi film but thatdidn’t work out. I would liketo work in a Marathi film.Let’s see when it happens. Wehave shot this film (Darbar)for 90 days in Mumbai. Ireally love people ofMumbai.”
Rajinikanth, who was bornas Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in aMarathi family in Bangalore,plays the commissioner ofMumbai in Darbar.
Asked what drives him towork in films after havingachieved everything, he said:“To be frank, it’s aboutmoney (laughs). I have tojustify the money I get, andthat is huge. No, actually it isthe passion. I feel we should
love the work that we do. Ilove acting and I love comingin front of the camera. Ithink the camera and thelight give me energy.”
“Actually, I don’t like to actas a cop because it is relatedwith duty and all the seriousaspects. I love to play happy-go-lucky and entertainingcharacters. In a cop film, youhave to be very serious sincehe goes after criminals, so Iused to avoid it. But (Darbardirector) Murugadoss cameto me with a very good sub-ject. It is not a routine copcharacter. He (Murugadoss)has extracted very differentkind of work from me andwhen you see the film, youwill realise it,” saidRajinikanth.
Darbar is an action thrillerwritten and directed byGhajini maker A.R.Murugadoss. The film starsRajinikanth, Nayanthara,Prateik Babbar, Jatin Sarna,Dalip Tahil, and Sunil Shettyin important roles.
The film is scheduled for aworldwide release in Tamil,Telugu, Malayalam and Hindion January 10, coincidingwith Thai Pongal. — IANS
Rajinikanth:South Superstar opensup at the trailer launchof Darbar about Big B'sadvice to not enter politics, wish to work in aMarathi film and many more
S
I WANT TO PLAYTHE ROLE OF ATRANSGENDER
hivathmikaRajasekhar ison a roll.Days afterboarding
Krishna Vamsi’s RangaMarthaanda to play therole of Prakash Raj andRamya Krishna’s singerdaughter, the one-filmold has green-lit anoth-er film. The Pioneer hasexclusively learnt shewill be playing thefemale lead in AdithArun’s next with debu-tant director Naresh,who assisted Dasaradhearlier.
A source close to thedevelopment says, “Thefilm, titled VidhiVilasam, is a thriller. Itwas the director’s ideato have a Telugu girl onboard. Adith proposedthe name ofShivathmika and he was
instrumental in gettingher mother Jeevithahear the narration. He shares a good bondwith Jeevitha, havingworked with her forPSV: Garudavega. LaterShivathmika too heardthe story and she wassold. The role has a lotof meat for a newcomerlike her and there wasno way she could’ve letit slip out of hands.”
The source adds thatthe film will go to floorsnext year.
“Adith is busy withmultiple projects and heis also required to pro-mote Thagithe Thadananext month, whileShivathmika will startshooting for RangaMarthaanda shortly. Somostly, Vidhi Vilasamwill hit the road inFebruary-end.”
Shivathmika to romance Adith Arun
S
T W
Chay dedicates VENKYMAMA success to
grandfather Ramanaidu
opular Telugu actress KajalAggarwal has become thefirst south Indian femalestar to get her wax statue atMadame Tussauds in
Singapore. In fact, she is the thirdTelugu star to be immortalised in the form of a wax statue after MaheshBabu and Prabhas in the museum.The excited actress has revealed herreplica will be unveiled on February5, 2020. Taking to Instagram, shewrote, “Excited and honoured to
unveil my very own wax figure atMadame Tussauds Singapore! On the5th of February 2020, I will be@mtssingapore in the Ultimate FilmStar Experience to introduce my fig-ure, stay tuned! (sic)”
Sharing some photos of the waxstatue in making, Kajal recounted hervisit to Madame Tussauds as a child.“I remember going to @madametus-sauds as a child and being so fasci-nated with all the figures that I’vealways looked up to, admired and
been in love with.. overwhelmed tobe amongst them myself! (sic),” sheposted further.
Addressing and thanking her fans,she added, “This feels like a fabulousculmination so far and a great way tostart the new decade on a good note..the insane hours of hard work andpersonal sacrifices, all feel worth it..forever thankful to have all of you by my side.. this ones for each one of you! Me and my other half will see you in Singapore on 05/02/2020!(how could I not say that?!”
On the work front, the actress will be next seen inShankar’s Indian 2 andSanjay Gupta’s MumbaiSaga alongside JohnAbraham.
KAJAL to get a wax statuein MADAME TUSSAUDS
P
Drishyam was ablessing and a curse:Jeethu Joseph
PTI n ONGOLE
Delhi put up a disappointing battingperformance to be bowled out for 215
on the opening day against Andhra onTuesday.
By stumps, Andhra were also strug-gling at 16 for two, with both their open-ers back in the hut.
Playing their second match of the sea-son, Kunwar Bidhuri (22) and Nitish Rana(51 off 51) repaired Delhi’s innings witha 60-run stand for the fourth wicket beforea mini collapse pushed them on the backfoot. Their innings ended in 70.6 overs.
Lalit Yadav (50 off 104) also put up amuch-needed fight while batting with tail-enders.
Medium pacer K V Sasikanth (5/38 in20.1 oves) was the pick of the bowlers forAndhra, claiming his fourth five-wickethaul in first-class cricket.
JUYAL HHITS TTONHUBLI: Young Uttar Pradesh opener AryanJuyal struck a gritty 100, as he guided UttarPradesh to a modest 232/5 on the open-
ing day of their Elite Group B game.Electing to bat first at the KSCA Hubli
cricket ground, 18-year-old Juyal (109 off251 balls, 11x4) stood tall, as he played aresponsible and mature knock to pull histeam out of trouble.
He was ably supported byMohammed Saif (56 batting off124 balls, 8x4) who came in atnumber 5.
The duo stuck a 109-runstand and resurrected theinnings.
For Karnataka, Mithun (3-45)was the pick of the bowlers, whileMore (1-22) and Shreyas Gopal (1-45)took a wicket each.
ASHWIN BBAGS 55 WWKTSDINDIGUL: Ace off-spinner RavichandranAshwin starred with a five-wicket haul tohelp Tamil Nadu bundle out HimachalPradesh for 158 in 71.4 overs.
B Aparajith, leading the team in theabsence of Vijay Shankar who missed outdue to a niggle, elected to bowl and thebowlers justified the decision as Ashwin(5 for 67) and left-arm spinner R Sai
Kishore (3 for 22) had the HP batsmenin a spin.
The visiting team looked indanger of being bowled out fora sub-100 score before AkashVashist (35, 94 balls, 4 fours) andMayank Dagar (33, 62 balls, 3
fours) got together at 76 for 7 toadd 53 runs and lend respectabili-
ty to the total.Tamil Nadu openers-Abhinav
Mukund and debutant K Mukunth madeeight runs from three overs before badlight ended play for the day.
MAHA DDISMISS JJ&K FFOR 2209PUNE: Anupam Sanklecha’s four-wickethaul helped Maharashtra dismiss Jammu
& Kashmir for 209 in Group C match.The home team finished the day at
51 for 3 in 15.4 overs, trailing by 158runs.
Sent in to bat, Jammu & Kashmirstruggled against the Maharashtra attackled by veteran medium-pacer Sanklecha(4/56) and slipped to 42 for 5 and 79 for6 before left-handed Abid Mushtaq (50,55 balls, 2 fours, 4 sixes) batting at No9 began the rescue act.
His 54-run last wicket partnershipwith M Mudhasir (18 not out, 1 four, 1six) proved valuable as it took J&K pastthe 200-run mark.
Opener Ahmed Banday (76) was theonly top-order to offer resistance as theMaharashtra bowlers kept pegging awayand picked up wickets at regular inter-vals.
His 149-ball knock which included10 fours, ended when he nicked one tothe 'keeper off Sanklecha.
In reply, Maharasthra lost the in-form opener Ruturaj Gaikwad for 10 asJ&K fought back to have the host at 51for 3 at stumps.
VISAKHAPATNAM: Jasprit Bumrahshowed no signs of rustiness as he wentfull tilt at Rishabh Pant but the resur-gent Prithvi Shaw looked far from beingfit for international cricket during hissession with trainer Nick Webb atIndia’s optional practice on Tuesday.
Bumrah has been out with a stressfracture of the back and is expected tobe available for the New Zealand tournext year while Shaw, after serving hiseight-month doping ban, has alreadymade a successful comeback for Mumbaiin domestic cricket.
The Indian team management, aspart of its policy, wanted to have “a word”with both players while checking their fit-ness levels.A peek into the training sessionwas an indicator that re-induction of aproven match-winner like Bumrah is just amatter of time.
He was given the Indian team’s trainingJersey as he bowled for close to an hour to Pant,Manish Pandey and Mayank Agarwal at thenets.
There was no Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma andKL Rahul during the optional training session.
With coach Ravi Shastri and national selec-tor Devang Gandhi keeping a close eye,Bumrah didn’t show any visible discomfort ashe worked up brisk pace to trouble Pant andAgarwal.
However, Shaw, wearing a plain T-shirt,had a chat with trainer Webb as he did the rou-tine obstacle stuff. After that, he was asked totake some high catches given by fielding coachR Sridhar.
There were a few he didn’t attempt but over-all he didn’t seem to have attained the peak fit-ness levels that captain Kohli demands from everymember of the senior team.
Bumrah’s reintegration may be a matter oftime but for Shaw, it might just be some more wayto travel and runs alone won’t suffice. PTI
VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 sport 12
SHINWARI LLIKELY TTO MMISS 22ND TTEST Karachi: Pakistan's left arm pacer UsmanShinwari is unlikely to play in the second Testagainst Sri Lanka after being hospitalised withhigh fever, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said onTuesday. He said that Usman is being treated andit is highly unlikely he would be available for thesecond Test starting from Thursday at thenational stadium in Karachi. Sri Lanka have alsolost pacer Kasun Rajitha for the second Test,according to head coach Mickey Arthur. “No hecan't play here and he is being looked after forhis left hamstring problem,” he said.
SSIIDDDDLLEE RREECCAALLLLEEDD TTOO BBOOXXIINNGG DDAAYY TTEESSTT Sydney: Australia's cricket selectors gave veteranpaceman Peter Siddle a career lifeline on Tuesday,calling him up to the 13-man squad for the secondTest against New Zealand in Melbourne beginningon Boxing Day. James Pattinson is favourite toreplace Hazlewood but chief selector TrevorHohns said Siddle had plenty to offer at his homeMelbourne Cricket Ground. “Peter has beenbrought in as a 13th player for Melbourne,” Hohnssaid. “He is a proven Test match performer withan exceptional knowledge of the MCG which willbe a valuable part of our preparation.”
LAKSHYA RREACHES CCAREER-BBEST 332 New Delhi: Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Senhas climbed up nine places to a career-best 32ndspot among men's singles players in the BWFrankings issued on Tuesday. Lakshya achieved thefeat by winning the title at the Bangladesh Int’alChallenge. There was no further movement in themen's singles chart with B Sai Praneeth andKidambi Srikanth remaining static at 11th and12th spots respectively. Among the womensingles players, Olympic medallists P V Sindhuand Saina Nehwal are static at the sixth and 11thpositions, respectively.
JAMIESON CCOMES IIN FFOR FFERGUESON Wellington: Uncapped paceman KyleJamieson was drafted into the New Zealand Testsquad on Tuesday after injury sidelined LockieFerguson for the rest of the Test series againstAustralia. The Black Caps had high hopes thatFerguson's lightning pace would make animpression on his Test debut in Perth, but hepulled up with a calf strain on the opening day ashis side slumped to a 296-run loss. Coach GaryStead said it was a bitter blow for Ferguson, whowill be out for four to six weeks.
INDIA MMEN TTO FFACE NNZ IIN OOLY OOPENERTokyo: The Indian men's and women's hockeyteams will open their campaigns against NewZealand and the Netherlands respectively at the2020 Tokyo Olympics on July 25. According to thematch schedule, both the Indian teams will opentheir campaigns on the first day of hockeycompetitions. After New Zealand, eight-timechampions in the men's competition, India willface world number one Australia on July 26,before taking on Spain (July 28), defendingchampions Argentina (July 30) and hosts Japan(July 31) in Group A. The women's team, who arealso clubbed in Group A, will lock horns withGermany on July 27, before meeting Great Britain(July 29), Ireland (July 31) and South Africa(August 1). The men's and women's gold medalmatches will take place on August 6 and 7respectively. AGENCIES
SINGLES
PTI n DUBAI
India opener SmritiMandhana was on
Tuesday named in boththe International CricketCouncil’s ODI and T20teams of the year, cappingoff a memorable season.
Mandhana has JhulanGoswami, Poonam Yadavand Shikha Pandey forcompany in the ODI teamof the year and al l-rounder Deepti Sharmain the T20 side.
The 23-year-oldMandhana has played 51ODIs and 66 T20Is forIndia, besides a couple ofTest matches. She has acombined tally of 3476runs in T20Is andODIs.
Australia’s AlyssaHealy was chosen asthe T20 cricketer ofthe year followingher record-breaking148 against Sri Lankaearlier this year.
The ODI crick-eter of the year hon-our went toAustral ia’s El lysePerry, who scored441 runs at an aver-age of 73.50 and took21 wickets at 13.52.
Perry also pocket-
ed the the RachaelHeyhoe-Flint award forbeing the cricketer of theyear across formats.
Perry has had a stel-lar year across formats,with three hundredsincluding one in thewomen’s Ashes Test.She also became the
first player to complete1,000 runs and 100 wick-ets in T20I cricket.
“It’s an amazing hon-our and I’m a little bitshocked, given how many
amazing performancesthere have been acrossthe year,” said Perry,who has won theRachael Heyhoe-FlintAward for the secondtime in three years.
“It’s amazing tobe acknowledgedand I do trulyappreciate it. It’s areally nice way tofinish the year on apersonal note.”
Australian MegLanning was cho-sen as captain ofboth the ODI andT20 side.
“It’s a hugehonour to benamed captainof the ICC ODI
and T20 Teamsof the Year along-side some incredibleplayers. It’s been anamazing year forthe Austral ianteam and we’re
looking forward tothe challenges that lieahead in 2020,” saidLanning.
PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM
India will have to gettheir bowling combi-nation right after fail-
ing to stop the West Indiesfrom executing a perfectchase in Chennai whenthey take on the buoyantvisitors in the second ODIhere on today, aiming tokeep the three-match series
alive.A series win here
would certainly raiseKieron Pollard’s pro-file from a T20 free-lancer to an able
leader but a blind-er from RohitSharma oranother hun-
dred fromskipper ViratKohli on abatting bel-
ter can’t be ruled out.It wasn’t a nightmar-
ish bowling performancein Chennai by any stretch
of imagination but notbeing able to defend 287 on
a slow track left the teammanagement with a fewpoints to ponder.
With the par-score at theACA-VDCA stadium here setto be in the 320-plus range, afifth specialist bowling option
could be mulled upon consid-ering the plight the hosts facedin the last game with ShimronHetmyer and Shai Hope beau-tifully planning the chase withtheir respective hundreds.
The biggest reason for thesetback in Chennai was spinnersRavindra Jadeja (0/58 in 10overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (0/45in 10 overs) being rendered inef-fective.
Hope and Hetmyer didn’tmurder the attack but didenough during the middleovers to ensure 103 runscame without taking anyadventurous route.
They chose theirbowlers perfectly and as aresult, debutant Shivam
Dube leaked 68 runs in 7.5overs, indicating that he is
certainly a “work in progress” asfar as his bowling is concerned.
However, it’s a tricky pathfor India to tweak their playingXI considering what exactlythey have in their reserves.
They have MayankAgarwal, the reserve opener,who is unlikely to get a chanceas Rohit Sharma and KL Rahulare set at the top.
Then they have ManishPandey, the reserve middle-order batsman, who can only bereplaced at No 6 in place ofJadhav.
And Jadhav did nothingwrong in Chennai, scoring 40
off 33 balls with his typical ‘chipand charge’ game.
The questions that peopleare raising is about Jadhav notbeing given another go after hewas hit for 11 in his solitary over.
On a Chennai track, if hecouldn’t be risked for a secondover, what will happen on a bat-ting friendly Visakhapatnampitch where he could be hitthrough the line easily.
So will Pandey, with a bet-ter range of strokes, be anoption instead of Jadhav? Ifthat’s the case then they willhave to go for a specialist fifthbowler — either seamer ShardulThakur or leg-spinnerYuzvendra Chahal.
In case India go for either ofthe two, then the axe may fall onone of the two all-rounders,Dube or Ravindra Jadeja.
Dube was sent to bat at No8 in the last game and mightnot get to bat here irrespectiveof whether India bat first orsecond.
In that case, Shardul couldbe an option as Jadeja’s expe-rience in all departments is anecessity.
However, it is a well-known fact that Jadeja strug-gles on good batting surfaceswhich creates a case forChahal’s conventional leg-breaks.
For the West Indies,Hetmyer has undoubtedly
been one of their key perform-ers and getting his wicket willbe the key for the Indian team.
West Indies’ pacers werealso on the money as SheldonCotterell and a fit-again AlzarriJoseph did a good job both atthe beginning and the back-end of the Indian innings.
Keemo Paul also did his bitand the West Indies pace attackcould be lauded for using a lotof variations including theslower deliveries to good effect.
But on a true pitch likeVisakhapatnam, it will be a dif-ferent challenge for the pacetroika.
PTI n JOHANNESBURG
Widely-followed SouthAfrican swashbuckler
AB de Villiers is exploringthe possibility of coming outof retirement for next year’sT20 World Cup, Proteascaptain Faf du Plessis hasrevealed.
Du Plessis said that talkshave been going on for near-ly three months to get thestar batsman back into inter-national cricket ahead of themarquee event in Octobernext year.
“People want AB to playand I am no different,” du Plessis said after his Paarl Rocks team— coached by Boucher with de Villiers in the line-up — wonthe Mzansi Super League final on Monday night.
“Those conversations have been happening for two or threemonths already: what does it look like, how does it look overthe next year, and that’s where it starts.”
Considered one of the greatest players to have played forSouth Africa, former skipper De Villiers quit international crick-et in March last year citing exhaustion from the workload thathe had often talked about.
He has since been plying his trade in franchise-based T20tournaments around the world.
There were reports that he had made himself available forselection on the eve of the ODI World Cup earlier this year, butSouth Africa’s selectors felt it prudent to not entertain his requestat that point as he had left it for too late.
Du Plessis added, “T20 cricket is a different beast, it’s not alot of time away from home. If you are a full campaigner, youhave to really get stuck in and spend a lot of time on the road.”
“Those conversations have already taken place and will con-tinue to before the next T20 series starts.”
On Sunday, newly-appointed head coach Mark Boucher hadsaid he may try to persuade a few recent retirees, including deVilliers, to return to the South Africa squad ahead of the T20World Cup.
PTI n MELBOURNE
In-form batsmanM a r n u s
Labuschagne onTuesday earned amaiden call-up tothe AustralianODI squad for thethree-match seriesagainst India nextmonth followinga prolific year inTest cricket.
Labuschagnehas averaged 58.05since making hisTest debut lastyear, scoring hundreds in hislast three games.
All-rounder Sean Abbotthas been recalled after fiveyears while also making acomeback are pacer JoshHazlewood and spinner AshtonAgar.
The big names missingfrom the squad are GlennMaxwell, Usman Khawaja,Shaun Marsh and Nathan Lyon.
The Indian fans will alsoget to see Australia’s star play-ers — David Warner and SteveSmith — in action.
The first ODI will be playedin Mumbai on January 14, fol-lowed by Rajkot (January 17)and Bengaluru (January 19).
Hohns is confident thatLabuschagne will come good inchallenging Indian conditions.
“Marnus Labuschagne isready for his international white
ball debut after his strong formfor Queensland in this form ofthe game,” said Hohns.
“The performance of ourwhite-ball squads has beenstrong and we are hoping tobuild the momentum towardsthe T20 World Cup at home atthe end of the year and ulti-mately build towards the 2023World Cup in India,” he added.
Head coach Justin Langerwill not be travelling to India forthe short tour with assistantcoach Andew McDonald tak-ing charge.SQUAD: Aaron Finch (cap-tain), Sean Abbott, AshtonAgar, Alex Carey, PatCummins, Peter Handscomb,Josh Hazlewood, MarnusLabuschagne, Kane Richardson,Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc,Ashton Turner, David Warner,Adam Zampa.
India out to save seriesHosts fret on bowling combination on batting belter; West Indies aim to lock series
Shai ‘Hope’ful ofpipping Kohli, RohitPTI n VISAKHAPATNAM
West Indies opener ShaiHope is quite “sure”
that some of his teammateswill have tomorrow’s IPLauction on their minds dur-ing the second ODI but forhim it will be “secondary” tobeating Virat Kohli and RohitSharma in the 2019 top run-getters’ list.
Hope, a chip of the oldbloc, carried his bat throughwith a century in the firstgame but one number nuggetthat could interest the unini-tiated is the runs he scored inODIs this year.
Talk about whether IPLauction will be on his mind,Hope sounded dismissive.
“I am sure it would bebut I am sure that’s sec-ondary. We came here to playa series against India sowhatever comes secondary issecondary,” Hope said onthe eve of the second game.
“I am sure some of theguys will be looking forwardto the auction but we have anIndia series to play and that’sthe main thing right now,” headded.
Hope is currently third inthe ODI run-getters' list thisyear with 1225 runs behindVirat Kohli (1292 runs) andRohit Sharma (1268 runs).
Is there an added moti-
vation to surpass the Indiansuperstars?
“Thanks for heads up(on numbers). Obviously Ihave to ask the bowlers to dosome damage as well,” hesmilingly replied
“As a batsman, you wantto contribute as much aspossible and if it helps theteam win even more satisfy-ing. Hopefully, we canremove them at the top andthen get some big runs andget to the top of that run get-ters list,” he said.
Shai Hope tosses the ball as he leavesafter batting in the nets AP
India vvss Windies (2nd ODI)Live from 1:30pm IST
STAR SPORTS 1 & 3
ODIs AT VISAKHAPATNAMHIGHEST TTOTALS
India 356-9 in 50 v Pakistan 05-04-2005
West Indies 321- 7 in 50 v India 24 -10- 2018
HIGHEST IINDIVIDUAL SSCORES
India 157* Virat Kohli v West Indies 24- 10- 2018
West Indies 123* Shai Hope v India 24- 10- 2018
BEST BBOWLING
India 5-18 Amit Mishra v New Zealand 29-10-2016
West Indies 4-60 Ravi Rampaul v India 24-11-2013
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