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CELEB TALKS 10SRK: I AM WORKING ON SCRIPTS,

WILL ANNOUNCE MY NEXT FILM SOON

OPINION 6HARNESS THE

POWER OF SUN

SPORTS 12DEAN’S CLASS: ELGAR,

DE KOCK SCORE HUNDRED

VIJAYAWADA, SATURDAY OCTOBER 5, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

}SANTOSH SRINIVAS TO DIRECT

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

Established 1864Published From

VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPALRAIPUR CHANDIGARH BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI DEHRADUNHYDERABAD

*Late City Vol. 1 Issue 340*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy carrying ‘Pattu Vastrams' (silk clothes) which he offered to Goddess Kanakadurga atopthe Indrakeeladri in Vijayawada on Friday. Temple officials, including Executive Officer Suresh Babu, and priests accorded atraditional welcome with Purna Kumbham to the Chief Minister.

CM AAT IINDRAKEELADRI

PNS n MUZAFFARPUR

An FIR has been lodged inBihar's Muzaffarpur againstnearly 50 celebrities, includingAparna Sen, AdoorGopalakrishnan andRamchandra Guha for allegedsedition after they wrote anopen letter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi voicing con-cern over growing incidents ofmob lynching.

Police said the FIR waslodged on Thursday underseveral sections of the IndianPenal Code, including thoserelated to sedition, public nui-sance, hurting religious feelingsand insulting with an intent toprovoke breach of peace.

Reacting sharply to the reg-istration of the FIR againsteminent film personalities,writers and others, Congressleader Rahul Gandhi allegedthe country was movingtowards becoming an "author-itarian state" where anybodywho said anything againstModi or his government wasput behind bars.

The case was lodged fol-lowing an order byMuzaffarpur Chief JudicialMagistrate Surya Kant Tiwarion a petition by local advocateSudhir Kumar Ojha, whoclaimed, among other things,that the letter supported seces-sionist tendencies".

"The CJM had passed the

order on August 20, acceptingmy petition upon the receipt ofwhich an FIR was lodged at theSadar police station here," Ojhasaid.

He said nearly 50 signatoriesto the letter were named asaccused in his petition, whichaccused them of having "tar-nished the image of the coun-try and undermined theimpressive performance of theprime minister", besides "sup-porting secessionist tenden-cies".

The letter was written by 49

eminent personalities, alsoincluding filmmakers ManiRatnam, Anurag Kashyap,Shyam Benegal, actorSoumitra Chatterjee andvocalist Shubha Mudgal inJuly this year.

It said that the lynching ofMuslims, Dalits and otherminorities must be stoppedimmediately, while stressingthere was "no democracy with-out dissent".

It also noted that the 'Jai ShriRam' slogan was reduced to a"provocative war cry".

SEELAM AROZIEn VIJAYAWADA

Outsmarting his opponentsin the game of political one-up-manship, Chief Ministerand YSRCP President YSJaganmohan Reddy is under-stood to have been contem-plating naming one of his gov-ernment's flagship Navaratnaschemes - YSR Rythu Bharosa- after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

According to reliablesources, the proposal is likelyto take a concrete shape dur-ing Jaganmohan Reddy's meet-ing with Narendra Modi inNew Delhi.

Narendra Modi may beinvited to take part in the func-tion to be organised onOctober 15 to mark its imple-mentation.

If it materialises, theCentrally-sponsored schemewill witness free funds flow.The decision will also sendpositive vibes about the rela-tionship of the State with theCentre.

Already at loggerheads withthe TDP, the BJP will send asignal that YSRCP is a betterbet in its aspirations to emergeas the main Opposition party

in the State. The YSR Rythu Bharosa

scheme is part of the YSRCP'selection manifesto and aspromised it was successfullylaunched in June 2019 by thenew government. The imple-mentation of this scheme isscheduled to get underway

from October 2019. The reg-istration and implementationof the scheme on ground levelwill be started from the sched-uled date.

It is fundamentally a welfarescheme for farmers underwhich financial assistance willbe provided to the farmers ofthe State. The list of eligiblefarmers will be prepared andfinancial assistance will bedistributed to them.

Among other things that arelikely to come up for discus-sion during the Jagan-Modimeeting are project funding,financial status of the State,Polavaram project, capital issueand the promises made in theAP Reorganisation Act.

PNS n DHARAMSALA

Lobsang Sangay, the Presidentof the Tibetan government-in-exile, has said that it is not upto China to decide on a suc-cessor to the Dalai Lama afterhis eventual death, but insteadthe Dalai Lama himself.

"The institution of the DalaiLama should continue andthe reincarnation of DalaiLama should be decided byonly the Dalai Lama himself,"Sangay said in an interviewwith Kyodo News.

"Especially not theCommunist Party of China,which is an atheist organiza-tion, which says religion is a

poison and discourages reli-gious practice," he said.

Sangay was speaking on thesidelines of the three-day 3rdSpecial General Meeting ofTibetans that began Thursdayin Dharamsala, where theDalai Lama has lived in exile

for 60 years and where theTibetan government-in-exile isheadquartered.

Over 300 Tibetans from 24countries have gathered todiscuss the relationshipbetween the lineage of theDalai Lama and the Tibetanpeople.

"The Dalai Lama and theTibetan people are inseparable.The great legacy of the DalaiLama should continue," Sangaysaid. China has repeatedly saidit has the sole authority toselect the reincarnations ofTibetan Buddhist religious fig-ures, including the Dalai Lama,as a legacy inherited fromChina's emperors.

RBI reduceskey lendingrate by 25 bpsMUMBAI: To reverse theconsumption slowdown andshore-up growth, the ReserveBank of India on Fridayreduced key lending ratesfor the fifth consecutive time.

Accordingly, the the RBI'smonetary policy committee(MPC) in its fourth policyreview of the current fiscalreduced the repo, or shortterm lending rate for com-mercial banks, by 25 basispoints to 5.15 per cent from5.40 per cent. Consequently,the reverse repo rate wasrevised to 4.90 per cent, andthe marginal standing facili-ty (MSF) rate and the bankrate to 5.40 per Further, theReserve Bank's MonetaryPolicy Committee continuedits accomodative stance.

AYODHYA CASE

SC to wrap uphearing onOct 17NEW DELHI: The SupremeCourt Friday said it wouldwrap up the hearing in thepolitically sensitive RamJanambhoomi-Babri Masjidland dispute at Ayodhya byOctober 17. A 5-judgeConstitution bench headedby Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi,on the conclusion of 37th dayof the hearing, fixed the sched-ule for the final leg of thelengthy arguments. The benchsaid the Muslim sides to thedispute would complete thearguments on October 14 andthereafter, two days would begranted to the Hindu partiesto sum up their rejoinders byOctober 16, and October 17would be the last day forwrapping up the hearing. Thebench, also comprising justicesS A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud,Ashok Bhushan and S ANazeer, had earlier fixed thedeadline of October 18 toconclude the hearing.

‘Big mistake’ toshoot down ourown chopper:Air chiefPNS n NEW DELHI

The shooting down of an Mi-17 V5 helicopter by the IndianAir Force (IAF) on February27 was a "big mistake", AirChief Rakesh Kumar SinghBhadauria said today. Six IAFpersonnel and a civilian werekilled in the incident, whichtook place on a day Indian andPakistani fighter planesexchanged fire along the Lineof Control. Action is beingtaken against two officers. "Itwas a big mistake on our part.We accept it," the Air Chiefsaid, adding that a Court ofinquiry had completed its sit-tings last week.

Moving towardsan authoritarianstate: RahulWAYANAD (KERALA): Comingdown heavily on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, former CongressPresident Rahul Gandhi on Fridaysaid that everyone in the countryand the world knows what's goingin our country. "The country ismoving towards an authoritarianstate and people who speakagainst the government or thePrime Minister are being put injail, the media is being crushed."Presently an ideological fight isgoing on in the country and it'sabout if the country be ruled byone person and one ideology andall the others should shut theirmouth," asked Gandhi angrily. Hewas speaking to the media aftervisiting his constituency Wayanadto show solidarity with theprotesters opposing night trafficban on the national highwaypassing through Bandipur TigerReserve in Kerala.

Sedition slap on celebritieswho penned letter to PM

Adoor Gopalakrishnan:‘What's happening to us?’THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Kerala filmmaker AdoorGopalakrishnan is in "totaldisbelief" after a case of seditionwas filed against him and the 48signatories of an open letter sentto Prime Minister Narendra Modiin July that expressed concernover growing incidents of mobkillings and the allegedweaponisation of the "Jai ShriRam" slogan that madeheadlines in Bengal duringnational elections this year."What is happening to us? Iheard about this in total disbeliefbecause I cannot imagine anycourt admitting a case ofsedition against that letter... it is

against the spirit of that letter toread it like that, "Gopalakrishnan asked, 78,adding, "When someonecriticises the government it isnot sedition. We are living in ademocracy".

Huzurnagar by-poll: ECtransfers Suryapet SPPNS n HYDERABAD

In a rude jolt to the rulingTelangana Rashtra Samiti inthe high-stakes Huzurnagarby-poll, the ElectionCommission of India (ECI) onFriday transferred Suryapet SPRavirala Venkateshwarlu, afteropposition parties complainedthat the senior police officerhad been acting in favour ofTRS candidate SanampudiSaidi Reddy.

R Bhaskaran has beenappointed as the new SP ofSuryapet. R Venkateswarlu islikely to be shifted to the stateheadquarters and posted in aposition that has no connectionwith the by-poll. Several timesin the past two weeks bothCongress and BJP leaders hadalleged that the outgoing SPVenkateswarlu was succumb-ing to pressures from the rul-ing party and acting in favourof TRS candidate Saidi Reddy.

Not up to China to decide onDalai Lama’s successor: Sangay

Dalai Lama

PM Modi to be invited forYSR Rythu Bharosa launch

PNS n HYDERABAD

TSRTC buses will go off theroads from Saturday as talksbetween the three-member IASofficers' committee appointedby the state government andrepresentatives of the JointAction Committee (JAC) ofTSRTC employees and workersunions proved sterile for thethird consecutive day on Friday.

However, RTC managementhas decided to operate about10,500 buses by hiring privatevehicles, including school buses,and engaging temporary dri-vers, conductors and otherstaffers. The idea is to ensure bus

services in line with peakdemand expected in view ofDasara festival.

The JAC had expressed itsresolve to go on indefinite strikefrom October 5 in support of itsdemands, which include merg-er of RTC employees with thestate government staff andimplementation of PRC for

RTC staff on par with other gov-ernment employees.

The JAC representatives, whodid not budge from their posi-tion that the government mustgive a written commitment toresolve their demands with aspecific timeframe, walked outduring discussions on Friday.

JAC convener E AshwathamaReddy said, with no commit-ment from the State govern-ment, they were left with nooption but to observe strike.Except for security and para-medical staff, all TSRTC work-ers and employees will partici-pate in the strike commencingfrom tonight.

CM launches VahanaMitra scheme

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy flanked by auto drivers is all smiles duringthe launch of Vahana Mitra scheme in Eluru on Friday

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy on Fridaylaunched the YSR VahanaMitra scheme, which providesRs 10,000 allowance to self-employed drivers of autos,taxis and maxi-taxis, andannounced that the schemewould be extended till month-end for those who could notapply on time.

Addressing the gathering atthe indoor stadium here onFriday, he said that Rs 10,000is for recurring expenses like,insurance and maintenance ofthe vehicle to procure fitnesscertificate and said that thosewho could not make it on timecan apply till month end and

their applications would beconsidered.

The allowance of Rs 10,000would be given every year andthe amount will be creditedinto the bank accounts direct-ly while the processing wasdone in a transparent manner.It was during his 3,648 kmpadayatra that the promisewas made at this very sameplace where he announcedthat when his governmentcomes to power, Rs 10,000would be given to self-employed drivers of auto, taxisand maxi cabs. A clipping ofhis earlier speech and promisemade in May 2018 was shownto the gathering, which drewa huge round of applause.

Continued on Page 3

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Senior journalist D SreenathReddy has been appointed asChairman of the AndhraPradesh Press Academy(APPA).

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy issuedorders to this effect onThursday. Srinath Reddy hadserved the Andhra PradeshUnion of Working Journalists(APUWJ) and took part in themovements for the cause ofRayalaseema region. He is anative of Koraguntapalle inPulivendula mandal of Kadapadistrict. D Sreenath Reddy

Srinath Reddy isAPPA Chairman

SUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM

Walmart Inc is piloting ablockchain technology for end-to-end traceability of shrimpsourced in Andhra Pradeshand shipped to select Sam'sclub location in the US. Thepilot project is the first knownuse of blockchain to trackshrimp exports from the farmerin India to an overseas retailer.

Ultimately, it will help seafoodfarmers in the region tostrengthen the shrimp supplychain and reinforce customertrust in the product, helpingpromote India as a preferredsource of seafood, while also

enhancing food traceability andtransparency for consumers inthe US.

Shrimp is India's largest agri-cultural export, with the US asits largest market, taking a 46%share of India's shrimp exportsby value in 2018. In Andhra

Pradesh, the heartland ofshrimp farming in India, theState government is encourag-ing farmers to improve qualitystandards and comply withstringent US monitoring pro-grammes to win the trust of theUS retailers and consumers and

strengthen shrimp cultivation asa sustainable long-term growthindustry. Using blockchain tech-nology in the shrimp supplychain supports this effort.

Blockchain is a way to digi-tize data and share informationacross a complex supply chainnetwork in a secure and trust-ed manner. It could also mon-itor food safety proceduresthroughout the growth andprocessing of the shrimp.Blockchain could thus add alevel of visibility to bring extrapeace of mind and value to over-seas customers and reinforceIndia's status as a trusted sourceof seafood.

Continued on Page 3

Shrimp is India'slargest agriculturalexport, with the USas its largest market,taking a 46% shareof India's shrimpexports by value in2018

If it materialises, theCentrally-sponsoredscheme will witnessfree funds flow. Thedecision will also sendpositive vibes aboutthe relationship of theState with the Centre

GOVT INVOKES ESMA AS TALKS FAIL

TSRTC strike from todayBig blow to passengers ahead of Dasara festival

Blockchain to connect AP shrimpfarmers with US importers

{

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated October 04, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Ashwini& Sukla PakshaPanchangamTithi : Saptami : 09:50 amNakshatram: Mula : 01:19 pmTime to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 09:07 am – 10:35 amYamagandam: 01:33 am – 03:01 pmVarjyam: 11:39 am - 01:19 pm11:37 pm - 01:20 amGulika: 06:10 am - 09:07 amGood Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 06:39 am - 08:19 amAbhijit Muhurtham: 11:40 am - 12:28 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: Isolated ThunderstormsTemp: 32/24Humidity: 88%Sunrise: 06.06Sunset: 06.02

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 5, 2019 region 02

Bridge Academystudent tops APModel SchooltestPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Basetty Venkata SreeTe jas , w ho s tudie dClass III, IV and V atBridge InternationalAcademy, Giddalur,topped the admissiontest for Class VI inAndhra Pradesh ModelSchools for 2019-20.He stood top in thetes t by s cor ing 64marks in Prakasam dis-trict.

"We are proud ofTejas. Kudos to histeachers too! And let'snot forget his parentsBasetty Sreekanth, atechnical officer in theMandal DevelopmentOffice and his motherS ow bh a g y a l a k s h m i ,who works as a teacherin a government socialwelfare Gurukul Schoolin Giddalur. We lookforward to nurturingmany more shiningstars across all ourschools in the State."

Bathuku JatkaBandi specialepisode on orphansPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Bathuku Jatka Bandi, with itsdirect and serious involvementwith the lives of participants, hasbeen a major success under non-fiction shows. The innovativeconcept became a commonplatform for estranged couplesand family members to sort outtheir conflicts and in severalsuch instances helped them getback together. This Saturday, theshow will open its doors toorphanage kids and people froman old age home, who are underthe care of Dr Goutham Kumar,founder of Serve NeedyOrganisation.

This weekend episode is aneye opener for all the parents andchildren out there who left theirkids and parents at orphanagesand old age homes. The host ofthe show, actress Roja will dis-cuss with kids and old age peo-ple, what made their familymembers discard them.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

As the design of the world-classcruise terminal readied by IIT-Madras, the VisakhapatnamPort Trust sets a target tocomplete the terminal work byMarch 2021.

The port will also constructanother container terminal.The terminal will largely helpto tap the tourism potential ofthe region. The target set for thecompletion of the deadline is byMarch 2021 as the IIT-Madrashas prepared the design, saidVPT Deputy Chairman PLHaranadh (IRTC), while shar-ing the progress of the port overthe 86 years.

The VPT has already got thegreen signal from the Ministryof Shipping to develop a world-class cruise terminal cruise atits inner harbour. After submit-ting a Detailed Project Report(DPR) to identify facilitiesrequired for the developmentof a cruise terminal at its innerharbour, they received the nodto go ahead with the develop-ment.

The DPR took into consid-eration facilities required forattracting cruise vessels andalso the architectural andstructural designs apart fromthe potential in Vizag for cruisetourism

At present, there is a passen-

ger-cum-cargo ship that sailsfrom Vizag to the Andamanand Nicobar Islands operatedby the island administration.Once the cruise terminalcomes up, VPT can become aninternational cruise hub.

The terminal will accommo-

date passengers arriving oninternational cruise vessels atthe multipurpose terminalbeing.

The project will cost Rs 80crore, of which 50 per cent willbe funded by the governmentand the balance by the port,

said Haranadh. The exit forcruise passengers will be fromthe St Aloysius School gateleading to the Beach Road.

The facility at this port willhave a draft of around 14metres and can easily accom-modate cruise vessels carryingabout 2,000 passengers."International cruise passen-gers sailing from different partsof the world can now enjoy ourCity of Destiny as well," saidHaranadh.

Once ready, it will help theState government attracttourists to the city by utilisingthe port facilities in an optimalmanner.

IIT-Madras designs world-classcruise terminal for Vizag

n The constructionwork wasawarded to JMBaxi group. Theport will alsoconstruct anothercontainerterminal

n The terminal will largely help totap the tourism potential of theregion. The target set for thecompletion of the deadline is byMarch 2021 as the IIT-Madrashas prepared the design, saidVPT Deputy Chairman PLHaranadh (IRTC)

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Auto-rickshaw drivers wereall smiles in the north coastalAndhra after the ministersdistributed Rs 10,000 to eachof the driver under VahanaMitra scheme on Friday.

The annual scheme bene-fits 1.74 lakh people in theState and 24,512 inVisakhapatnam district cost-ing around Rs 24.5 crore.Minister for Tourism MSrinivasa Rao distributed thecash in Visakhapatnam whileDeputy Chief MinisterPamula Pushpasrivani gaveaway the cheques inVizianagaram district.

Speaking on the occasion,Pushpasrivani said ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy promised to pay thedrivers on May 14 in Eluruand kept his promises. Shesaid the money would beuseful for paying insuranceand for annual maintenance.Vizianagaram MLAKolagatla Veerabhdra Swamyand other local leaders werepresent on the occasion.

Minister M Srinivasa Rao,who launched the scheme forthe district from GurajadaKalakshetram, said themoney would be useful forthe unemployed youth whoplanned for purchasing anautorickshaw through banks'loans. For others it would beuseful for repairs and buying

accessories.Chairman of VMRDA

Dronamraju Srinivasa Raosaid the chief minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy ren-dered a great service by pro-viding financial assistanceto autorickshaw drivers whootherwise borrow from pri-vate financiers.

He appealed the beneficia-ries to follow traffic rulessince they availed financialassistance from the govern-ment. Government whipBudi Mutyala Naidu saidmost of the drivers come thepoorest families but providecheapest service to the peo-ple. He said they should usethis money for insurance

and vehicle service.Collector Vinay Chand

said the chief minister dur-ing his padayatra asked theofficials on how to help theautorickshaw drivers andthe officials suggested himabout Vahana Mitra. LocalMLAs were present on theoccasion.

Autorickshaw drivers get cashunder Vahana Mitra scheme

n Minister for Tourism MSrinivasa Raodistributed the cash inVisakhapatnam whileDeputy Chief MinisterPamula Pushpasrivanigave away the chequesin Vizianagaram district

Indira SivasailamEndowment Medalpresented toPantula RamaPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The 10th Indira SivasailamEndowment medal wasbestowed upon leadingCarnatic music exponentDr.Pantula Rama at the annu-al Indira SivasailamEndowment Concert.

The Indira SivasailamFoundation was institutedby MallikaSrinivasan inmemory of her mother IndiraSivasailam. Three accompa-nying artistes, Vidwan R.K.Shriramkumar (Violin),Vidwan, J.Vaidyanathan(Mridangam) and VidushiBhagyalakshmi M. Krishna(Morsing) were awarded theIndira Sivasailam Foundation10th Anniversary SpecialAward for their exceptionalperformance as accompany-ing artistes.

Dr. Pantula Rama alongwithR.K. Shriramkumar, J.V a i d y a n a t h a n a n dBhagyalakshmi M. Krishnaenthralled the audience withtheir exceptional musical per-formance at the IndiraSivasailam EndowmentConcert held at and in collab-oration with The MusicAcademy, Madras.

Vidwan R.K.Shriramkumar belongs to afamily of eminent Carnaticmusicians. He was trained invocal music and violin by hisgrandfather R.K.VenkataramaShastry, a vet-eran violinist.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern NavalCommand (ENC) Vice-Admiral Atul Kumar Jain pre-sented the annual PoorviNausena Kaman RajbhashaTrophy and Best Environment-Friendly Unit Trophies for theyear 2018-19 during the half-yearly Command Staff meet-ing held here on Thursday.

A release said ENC under-takes numerous environment-friendly activities, includingplantation drive, coastalcleanup drive, implementa-tion of 'no plastic zone', waterand energy conservation' andencouraged the participationof units in these environmen-tal friendly activities organisedthroughout the year to fosterclean and green environment.To further enhance the com-mitment and motivation of theunits about participation inenvironmental activities, 'BestEnvironmental Friendly UnitRolling Trophies' are awardedevery year to the units excellingin the field of environmentalprotection since 2012.

INS Circars has beenadjudged as the Best Green

Initiative Unit under ENC forthe year 2018-19. The BestEnvironment-Friendly Unit -Rolling Trophy was awardedto the unit that adopts the bestenvironment-friendly activi-ties and green practices thatare evaluated throughout theyear. In Category I (LargeUnit) INS Eksila has beenadjudged as winner and INSKattabomman has beenadjudged runners up BestEnvironment-Friendly unit.In Category II (Small Unit)

Base Victualling Yard,Visakhapatnam has beenadjudged as winner and PTC(K) has been adjudged as run-ners up of Best Environment-Friendly unit.

Naval Dockyard,Visakhapatnam, was awardedthe Poorvi Nausena KamanRajbhasha Trophy and INSDega is runners-up for the year2018-19. ENC has been award-ing these trophies annually toits units for doing maximumofficial work in Hindi.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Shortage of fund is delaying therelease of payments to the ven-dors in defence sector in somecases, conceded Vice AdmiralSunil Anand, Controller ofLogistics in Indian Navy. He wastaking up questions from the ven-dors at the Vendors' Conclaveconducted by MaterialOrganisation, Visakhapatnam inassociation with Cll (VizagChapter) Representatives fromvarious firms, MSMEs,PSUs/DPSUs, Senior Officialsfrom Cll and young entrepre-neurs participated in the conclave.

The primary aim of this meetwas to spread awareness aboutthe procedures involved indefence procurement, indigeni-sation, inspection modalitiesand complex nature of navalinventory in addition to interac-tion on issues of mutual con-cerns.

Some of the vendors presentin the conclave raised the issueof late payment. "We are gettingthe payment after one year of thedelivering the product to Indian

Navy. When we are missing thedeadline, penalties are beingimposed on us. But, why there isdelay in the payments?" asked avendor to the panellists duringthe discussion forum at the con-clave. Some of them also want-ed to know about how small ven-dors or start-ups with not adecent turn-over can participatein the tendering process and alsotax related issues.

Vice Admiral Sunil Ananddirected the local concernedauthorities to resolve the issues at

the earliest. The conclaves are thebest platform where Indian Navyand vendors can interact witheach other to understand therequirement of each other. Adirect interaction helps to clarifydoubts, share required informa-tion and nurture the vendors torealize the 'Make In India' dream,said vice admiral Sunil Anand.

Officials from the Indian Navyapprised the audience about themandate and role of MaterialOrganisations in providing logis-tics/material support to the war-

ships, submarines and aircraft aswell as establishments of theIndian Navy. The meet alsoaimed to encourage entrepre-neurs, MSMEs and Start-ups toget registered on GovernmenteMarket place (GeM), participatein indigenised manufacturing &development of productstowards reducing imports underthe aegis of 'Make in India' pro-gramme and favourable policiesof the government to boostdefence manufacturing byindigenous manufacturers.

Shortage of fund delaying paymentsto defence sector vendors

INS Circars officials receiving award from Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief ofEastern Naval Command (ENC) Vice- Admiral Atul Kumar Jain in Visakhapatnamon Friday

‘Name gate or stand after former test cricketer's name'PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Former MLA and senior leaderof YSRCP Malla Vijay Prasaddemanded that a gate or stand benamed after former Test cricketerfrom Andhra Pradesh KVenugopal Rao.

Addressing a press conference,along with SKA Hussain, KVijay Mohan, SM Ali, VBrahmaji Rao, Shanmukesh andSamuel Benjamin, here onFriday, Vijay Prasad saidVenugopal should be honouredat the end of the current Testmatch between India and SouthAfrica undergoing at the stadi-um.

During the last Test matchbetween India and England sawmany past cricketers being hon-oured at Vizag and after a gap oftwo years Vizag is hosting its sec-

ond Test. Hence, a gate or a standshould be named after him.

He gave a warning that ifVisakhapatnam District CricketAssociation failed to implementthe same at the end of the Testmatch he would, along with allformer cricketers, would sit on adharna at Gandhi Statue.

He also insisted that theVDCA should conduct elec-

tions with Lodha Committeeimplementations and pave wayfor young blood to run the asso-ciation. He said that the presentVDCA office bearers have put 30years of service without a breakby changing positions amongthemselves and keep the votingrights with them and not allow-ing others to become membersof the VDCA.

SKA Hussain, former cricketerand coordinator for AndhraCricketers Reunion and VizagCricket Development, spokeabout the need and urged VDCAto have Y Venugopala Rao'sname on the stands, or at the gateof ACA VDCA Stadium. He alsospoke about the players fromVizag, who played for the State,to get voting rights to cast theirvote and to see Vizag cricket onthe growth map of world whichVenugopal has placed.

Before they used to be sevento eight cricketers from Vizag inState teams, but now hardly oneor two players can be seen inState teams, he said.

Vizag cricket needs to bedeveloped and these presentmembers should make way fornew fresh ex-cricketers to run thegame, he added.

ENC chief distributes green trophies

Clothes donated topriests, Potu workersPNS n TIRUMALA

TTD Trust Board member VPrasanthi donated Rs 20lakhs worth clothes to 1,000priests and potu workers forrendering impeccable ser-vices in the abode of LordVenkateshwara.

The donation programmetook place at VaibhavotsavaMandapam in Tirumala onFriday.

Additional executive offi-cer AV Dharma Reddy andtemple deputy executive offi-cer Harindranath were alsopresent.

CII to set up adefence clusterin Visakhapatnam PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Confederation of IndianIndustry of Andhra Pradeshhas decided to form a DefenceCluster for the benefit of thevendors and other stakehold-ers.

Defence cluster with inclu-sion of educational institu-tions, industry members,Startup initiatives ofGovernment of India andDRDO will be operational,shortly and requested Navysupport in this connection,said J Srinivasa Raju, ViceChairman, CII VisakhapatnamZone and Convenor, Aerospace& Defence Panel, CII AP. Thecluster will connect all stake-holders and share the Make inIndia dream together, he added.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

D'zire, the country's most premi-um lifestyle exhibition, was inau-gurated with best couture, exclu-sive garments and exquisite jew-ellery and high-end home décorproducts here on Friday.

Designers from all over thecountry are exhibiting their prod-ucts in the two-day expo. "Visitorscan choose from latest jewellerydesigned by experts, trousseau,lifestyle upholstery and acces-

sories, for an affordable price,"said organiser Anita Agarwal.

As many as seventy stalls areon display. Designers, weaversand traders from Mumbai,Benares, Delhi, Kolkata,Lucknow, Jaipur, Jammu andKashmir, Hyderabad and otherplaces are participating in theexhibition," she added.

Malini, a designer ofHyderabad, said all varieties ofdresses and children wear wereavailable in the stall. "We have

different varieties of sarees andother garments," said Bilal, aweaver of Ladakh in Jammuand Kashmir. Coming to jew-ellery, a wide range of necklaces,ear tops, studs, chains, banglesand other varieties are on displayin the stalls arranged by JewelleryWorld of Usman Zariwala.

"We sell latest designs of jew-ellery and silver items for parties,marriages and Dasara festival,"said jewel designer and JewelleryWorld owner Usman of Mumbai.

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EGGRATES

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HYDERABAD 406VIJAYAWADA 422VISAKHAPATNAM 420RETAIL PPRICE `4.22

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 5, 2019 vijayawada 03

CAPSULE

SCR to run Dasara specials VIJAYAWADA: In order to clearextra rush of passengers duringDasara festival, two specialtrains will be run betweenSecunderabad and KakinadaTown via Guntur, Vijayawada andBhimavaram Town. Train No.07011 Secunderabad - KakinadaTown special train will departSecunderabad at 19.25 hrs on5th October, 2019 (Saturday)and arrive Kakinada Town at07.30 hrs on the next day. In thereturn direction, Train No. 07012Kakinada Town - Secunderabadspecial train will depart KakinadaTown at 18.10 hrs on 8thOctober, 2019 (Tuesday) andarrive Secunderabad at 08.50hrs on the next day. En routetheses special trains will stop atCherlapalli, Nalgonda,Miryalaguda, Piduguralla,Sattenapalli, Guntur, Vijayawada,Gudivada, Kaikalur, Akividu,Bhimavaram Town, Tanuku,Nidadavolu, Rajahmundry,Dwarapudi and Samalkotstations in both the directions.These special trains consist ofone AC II Tier, three AC III Tier,Sleeper Class Coaches.

Special trainsbetween Chennai andSecunderabadVIJAYAWADA: In order to clearextra rush of passengers, twospecial trains will be runbetween MGR Chennai Centraland Secunderabad. MGRChennai Central - Secunderabad- MGR Chennai Central (02services). Train No. 06059 MGRChennai Central - Secunderabadspecial train will depart MGRChennai Central at 19.30 hrs(Friday) on 11th October, 2019and arrive Secunderabad at08.25 hrs (Saturday). In thereturn direction, Train No. 06060Secunderabad - MGR ChennaiCentral special train will departSecunderabad at 20.00 hrs(Sunday) on 13th October, 2019and arrive MGR Chennai Centralat 10.00 hrs (Monday). En route,these special trains will stop atSulurpeta, Nayudupeta, Gudur,Nellore, Ongole, Tenali, Guntur,Piduguralla, Miyalaguda andNalgonda stations in both thedirections. These special trainsconsist of one AC II Tier, threeAC III Tier, Sleeper ClassCoaches.

Train rescheduledVIJAYAWADA: Due to trackmaintenance work at ChennaiEgmore station from 10thOctober to 07th December,2019, the following train isrescheduled. Train No. 12390Chennai Egmore - Gaya WeeklyExpress scheduled to departChennai Egmore at 07.00 hrs isrescheduled to depart at 08.00hrs from 10th October to 07thDecember, 2019.

SEELAM AROZIEn VIJAYAWADA

It's political acrimony in fullglare bordering on triviality.While Opposition Leader NChandrababu Naidu finds faultwith the YSRCP government'sdecision to do away with pri-vate liquor shops as a first steptowards total prohibition, hehas failed in his duty to pre-scribe, or proscribe as to whatis to be done in this regard.

Sitting happy in the seat ofpower until JaganmohanReddy took over as the ChiefMinister of the State, the TDPchief, instead of making anyconstructive criticism, has beentrying to whip up passions onits perceived failures. Be itreverse tendering in Polavaramproject, musings over capital,review of Power PurchaseAgreements (PPAs), the newsand policy, or the recruitmentof Village/Ward Secretaries -the TDP's criticism is shallowand mischievous .

Naidu, who claims to haveover 40 years of political expe-rience, has been taking the helpof social media comments, tocorner the government. Thosewho are aware of the socialmedia would never dare quotethe comments or abuses to but-tress their argument. But, hehas been spending most of histime on using the same lan-

guage used in social media justto gain sympathy from hispartymen.

If politics means just whip-ping the ruling party withouttaking the public opinion intoaccount, the discourse will bereduced to crass bitterness.Here in the State, over one lakhjobs have been created in theVillage/Ward Secretariats infour months of the YSRCPcoming to power. It is no meanachievement by any stretch ofimagination, a fact that theTDP has indirectly acknowl-edged. The principal

Opposition's main problem isthe manner in which therecruitment was done.

Significantly, the OppositionTDP, and more particularly itspresident N ChandrababuNaidu has spewed venom onthe initiative questioning theveracity of the entire process ofrecruitment. Buttressing thisview, a Telugu daily and itschannel tried unsuccessfully to'expose' the government's ployto fill the Secretariats with itshenchmen.

The brazenness with whichall this is being done by the

Opposition is raising many aneyebrow. Collaborating withthis view, an upcountry jour-nalist from Delhi asked thiscorrespondent during thelaunch of an R&D centre by aglobal agricultural companyat Bhimadole in West Gofavaridistrict, as to what is happen-ing in this State. "Says he, "I wastaken round the capital region,but I could not find any struc-ture worth its name built dur-ing the five years of the previ-ous TDP government. What isChandrababu Naidu's grouseagainst the YSRCP's govern-

ment in regard to the capital ofthe State?"

He cites the example of NayaRaipur, the capital ofChhattisgarh State. In justabout a span of 10 years, NayaRaipur has caught the imagina-tion of the world with itsworld-class designing. Herecalled an international chan-nel featuring the constructionof the new city spending justabout Rs 2,000 crore.

Now, the question is howmuch land and money doesAmaravati need to be devel-oped as a capital of a State inthis country? That is for any-body's imagination, takingNaya Raipur's experience intoconsideration.

The ruling YSRCP hasscored a brownie point by dri-ving home its decentralisationagenda in the State (barringKrishna and Guntur dis-tricts). The TDP and JanaSena cried foul over a spate ofstatements made by the rul-ing party supporters thatAmaravati will just be a seatof power with structuresrequired for governance ofthe State and the developmentactivities will be taken upwherever the conditions arecongenial. But, this is not tothe liking of the OppositionTDP, which did little duringits rule to give concrete shapeto its rhetoric.

Can Naidu stop the Jagan juggernaut?l Sitting happy in the seat

of power untilJaganmohan Reddy tookover as the Chief Ministerof the State, the TDPchief, instead of makingany constructive criticism,has been trying to whipup passions on itsperceived failures. Be itreverse tendering inPolavaram project,musings over capital,review of Power PurchaseAgreements (PPAs), thenew sand policy, or therecruitment ofVillage/Ward Secretaries -the TDP's criticism isshallow and mischievous

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Disclosing the vision of ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy for the all-rounddevelopment of the State,Minister for MunicipalAdministrat ion B otsaSatyanarayana said that he iskeen to make AndhraPradesh a role model in thecountry.

Addressing the stakehold-ers' meeting here on Friday,he pointed out that if thesales of cement and steel arehigh it is an indication ofdevelopment. It is the aim ofthe government to providehousing for al l . Houseswould be provided to alllower and middle class peo-ple. "The YSRCP govern-ment is people-friendly. Theadvice and suggestions of allstakeholders will be takeninto consideration."

Stating that there are someproblems in layouts, headmitted that there is a delayin issue of building plansthese days.

It is natural for the buildersto assume that the buildingfees are hefty, he said thegovernment is not increasingthe fees for the sake of earn-ing revenue. He made it clearthat the government would

extend the BPS in the future."There are many unautho-

rised layouts in the State.Online system will be furtherstrengthened. We shall setright loopholes, if any. Weshall provide self-declara-tion facility for vacant sites.Membership under RERA isunder consideration," Botsasaid and disclosed that mas-ter plans would be preparedby April.

He asked the stakeholdersto give their suggestions forpreparing master plans. Aworking group would beconstituted to study the rulesin neighbouring States andsteps would be taken toimplement the best prac-tices.

Stating that the stakehold-ers had brought to his notice

25 issues and assured that thegovernment would take theminto consideration, he admit-ted that sand scarcity wascreating some problems.Similarly, inconvenience isbeing caused due to rains, headded.

l It is the aim of thegovernment toprovide housing forall. Houses wouldbe provided to alllower and middleclass people, saidMinister forMunicipalAdministrationBotsaSatyanarayana

l He asked thestakeholders to givetheir suggestionsfor preparingmaster plans. Aworking groupwould beconstituted to studythe rules inneighbouring States

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Telugu Desam Party (TDP)chief N Chandrababu Naiduhas extended his support to themovement against uraniummining.

Addressing a meeting ofparty leaders at the State officeon Friday, he demanded thatChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy spell out his govern-ment's stand on the issue. Hereminded that it was the lateChief Minister YS RajasekharaReddy, who had given thegreen signal for uranium min-ing in Kadapa district.

Stating that five villages inthe district were destroyed byhim, Naidu said now the entireNallamala region is in danger.

Naidu questioned,"Why isJaganmohan Reddy notresponding though agitationsare going on against uraniummining in Allagadda and otherparts of the Kurnool district?"

He said the TDP hasexpressed its support to the all-party meeting to be held atAllagadda on October 6.

On efforts to retrieve the cap-sized boat from the RiverGodavari, Chandrababu Naidusaid though the incident hadtaken place 20 days ago, theYSRCP government is indiffer-ent to the issue. He sought toknow why a judicial inquiry wasnot ordered into the incident in

which 50 people had died.The YSRCP government is

adamantly going ahead withthe reverse tendering processthough the Opposition partieshad warned against it. Healleged that bidders are beingintimidated to ensure that onlyone contractor comes forwardto take part in the tenderingprocess. "Jaganmohan Reddyis reversing the developmentprocess," he added.

Alleging that four sections ofpeople were cheated in fourmonths by the government,Naidu said Jaganmohan Reddyis in the habit of saying onething and doing another. Hesaid the Chief Minister haddeceived women in the firstmonth, farmers in the second,youth in the third, and fivelakh auto, maxi cab and taxidrivers in the fourth.

The government has

received just 1.73 lakh applica-tions and this a failure of thegovernment, he said.

Naidu said a woman hadcommitted suicide unable tobear harassment by YSRCPworkers in the garb of VillageVolunteers at Gadimoga inTallarevu mandal. VillageVolunteers were collectingDasara mamools from elderlyand physically challenged pen-sioners at Rudraram inMachilipatnam mandal, healleged. The government hadfailed to pay salaries to fourlakh panchayat employees,Naidu said and alleged that theState government had plungedinto financial crisis onlybecause of its inefficiency.

The TDP chief furtheralleged that instead of focusingon development, JaganmohanReddy was only planning tocome out of his cases.

TDP backs stir againsturanium mining

‘Naiduspreadingblatant lies’PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Continuing his tirade againstTDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu, Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy lamentedNaidu for his remarks ladenwith blatant lies. Speaking atthe Vahana Mitra launch pro-gramme in Eluru on Friday, theChief Minister said, "NChandrababu Naidu has beenspreading canards against ourgovernment as we have beenlaunching welfare schemes,which are getting nationalexposure. Hence, he has beenspreading lies to divert theattention of the people."

"On October 2, we launchedVillage Secretariat system, whichis one of its kind and unique inthe entire country. Unable todigest the popularity we weregetting, he started speaking liesthat we were selling liquor onthat day." "We proved our sin-cerity on October 1 through theexcise policy wherein we havecut down 20% of the existingliquor shops, reduced the liquorsale timings and are workingtowards total prohibition."

Taking a serious view of theTDP leader's remarks, theChief Minister said wheneverour government is launching amajor event which has thepotential of being watched bypeople of the nation, he comesup with such frivolous episodesto hog limelight.

n N Chandrababu Naidureminded that it was thelate Chief Minister YSRajasekhara Reddy, whohad given the green signalfor uranium mining inKadapa district

n Stating that five villages inthe district were destroyedby YSR, Naidu said nowthe entire Nallamalaregion is in danger

PNS n TIRUMALA

The bright Sunny day onFriday, witnessed LordMalayappa Swamy in His mostbewitching Avatara of Mohini,the cosmic damsel on thecolourfully decked palanquinon the fifth day of annualBrahmotsavams. The beauty ofthe avatara enhanced with thepresence of silver idol of SriKrishna Swamy on anotherpalanquin.

While all the other VahanaSevas were carried by somedivine flora and fauna as vehi-cles start from VahanaMandapam, here the Lordpulls out Himself gracefully ona colorfully decorated palan-quin, bejewelled, well dressedsporting a parrot in one hand,sitting majestically, charmingdevotees which commencesfrom Srivari temple. Accordingto legends, the Lord's appear-ance as bejeweled and charm-

ing Mohini throws the demons(Asura) in confusion and winsthe celestial battle in favour ofthe deities (Devata).

The object ive of theMohini avatara also indi-cates that the entire universeis spell bound under theMystic Moha and that theLord of Tirumala is the king-pin and key architect of thishigh drama in the universe.He informs the devotees tocome out of this "Maya" and

lead a righteous, spirituallife. In other words, throughMohini Avatara, the lordenlightens his devotees not tofall prey to worldly desiresand come out of that "Maya".

TTD Chairman YV SubbaReddy, EO Anil KumarSinghal, Addl EO AV DharmaReddy, CVSO Gopinath Jatti,ACVO Sivakumar Reddy,Temple DyEO Haridranath,Peishkar Lokanadham andothers took part.

Lord Malayappa Swamy bewitchesdevotees in ‘Mohini avataram'

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Friday laid the foun-dation stone for theGovernment Medical Collegein Eluru. The government hasalready released Rs 20 crore forthe college out of the total bud-get of Rs 266 crore allocated forits construction.

The government sanctionedthe college in 2018 and theMedical Council of India(MCI) had earlier issuedguidelines for the constructionof the building. Initially, 100seats would be allocated.

A 518-bed hospital is locat-ed in an area of 12 acres closeto the college. As the collegerequires around 50 acres ofland, the government is plan-ning to build the college closeto the hospital and then acquireland on the outskirts of the cityto build hostels for 380 studentsand accommodation for teach-ing and non-teaching staff.

The Chief Minister has setthe target of completing theconstruction by 2021 and thefunding would be taken fromthe fiscal year of 2019-2020.The GO No 114 was alreadyissued to this effect on October1. With the establishment ofthis college, medical education

will be made available to thestudents of the district and themodern medical services willbe more accessible to the poor.District residents are happythat more research andadvanced medical facilities inthe medical field will be madeavailable to the public.

Officials confirmed that theGovernment General Hospitalhas all the required and nec-essary infrastructure, mod-ern medical equipment, beds,land and medical team inplace as per the MCI norms.It serves a wide range of dis-ciplines, including GeneralMedicine, Gynaecology,General Surgery, Paediatrics,Orthopaedic, Ophthalmology,TB & CD, Skin and STD,Trauma care and ICU. Thehospital was developed into asuper specialty hospital duringthe late Chief Minister YSRajasekhara Reddy's tenure.

The Chief Minister, whowas in the West Godavari dis-trict for the first time since heassumed office on May 30, wasaccompanied by Deputy ChiefMinister Alla Kali KrishnaSrinivas, Pilli SubhashChandrqa Bose, local MPKotagiri Sridhar, DistrictCollector Revu Muthyala Rajuand Minister Taneti Vanitha.

CM lays foundationfor Govt MedicalCollege in Eluru

Blockchain toconnect APshrimp farmerswith US importers

Continued from Page 1

"The possibility of trans-forming the seafood commu-nity with blockchain technol-ogy exists and organisationsneed to do the work to test itspotential to optimise supplychain processes. As one of themost traded commodities inthe world, seafood has a com-plex and wide-reaching supplychain, which makes testingand further developing tech-nology-assisted traceability pro-grammes an important step. Itis encouraging to see a retailleader like Walmart participatein seafood blockchain testing,"said John Connelly, president ofthe National Fisheries Institutein the US in a press release.

For this pilot, the companyworked closely with AndhraPradesh-based seafood proces-sor Sandhya Aqua and the US-based supplier StanleyPearlman Enterprises Inc to addthe shrimp supply chain to theblockchain-enabled IBM FoodTrust and create shared value forthe entire shrimp farm-to-tablecontinuum. Walmart Inc hascollaborated with IBM on theuse of blockchain technology toenhance global food traceabil-ity since 2017. The two partnershave already launched severalinitiatives to strengthen foodsafety in the fresh producesupply chain.

PNS n AMARAVATI

The government will achievegoals in rural employment,according to Minister forPanchayat Raj PeddireddyRamachandra Reddy. In a reviewmeeting here on Friday, he issuedordered to District Collectors torelease Rs 10 crore under theNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (NREGA) toevery constituency in the State.Ramachandra Reddy said"Meetings should be held everymonth to achieve the NationalRural Employment Guarantee

scheme, and there should be 20per cent additional progresscompared to previous year.'

The department plans todevelop internal highways, hor-ticulture and fisheries. The gov-ernment has ordered to conductdrainage and water purificationdrives, he said and asked officialsto focus on Village Secretariats,Anganwadis and schools that aredeprived of facilities. In order toget more funds from the Centralgovernment, Andhra Pradeshshould be ahead in NREGAprogress, he said. The Ministeris keen and instructed the offi-cials to take action immediate-ly if any complaint is reportedagainst field assistants.

‘Govt will achieve goals in rural devt’

Continued from Page 1

The allowance was given to1,73, 531 drivers with the clickof button and the amount wasdirectly credited into theirrespective bank accounts,which has shown to the peo-ple on screen as a sample leafof transparency from the bookof governance of YSJaganmohan Reddy.

'I have seen with my owneyes the difficulties of auto dri-vers. I have seen, I have heardand I am here, was the assur-ance I had given. With the dailyearning of Rs 200 to Rs 500 youpeople have told me that it wasbecoming difficult to run thefamily and pay the insuranceand other expenses required forgetting fitment certificate. Thus

we have evolved YSR VahanaMitra scheme, which will pro-vide Rs 50,000 to the self-employed drivers in five yearsand road tax is abolished. Sucha scheme is available only inour state and nowhere in thecountry,' he said. You are thepeople who ferry the passen-gers safely to their destinationsand there are more welfareschemes in the offing.

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy hadearlier posed with auto driversand worn the khaki shirt, theuniform of auto driver, whichhe retained throughout thefunction. He reminded timeand again the services ren-dered by Village and WardVolunteers in getting the dataand putting the work in placealong with the Transport

Department officials and staff. The auto drivers had

thanked him for keeping up hisword and for showing therecognition.

Earlier, the Chief Ministerwent round the stalls, showcas-ing the Navaratnas and inter-acted with people of variousDepartments from AmmaVodi, to Water Resources stallto Rythu Bharosa and otherwelfare schemes.

A banner of YSR KantiVelugu, to be launched onOctober 10, was released onthe occasion. Those whoattended the meeting include,Deputy Chief Ministers PilliSubhashchandra Bose, AllaNani, Ministers Perni Nani TVanita, Ch Sriranganadha Rajuand other officials.

CM launches Vahana Mitra scheme

‘Govt wants to make APnumero uno in country'

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 5, 2019 telangana 04

Women employees celebrate Bathukamma at Aranya Bhavan in Hyderabad on Friday

FESTIVE MMOOD

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a bid to increase access tohealth care for communitiesacross the state, the Telanganagovernment has adopted a newframework to use drones forlast-mile delivery. Co-designedwith the World EconomicForum (WEF) and ApolloHospitals Group companyHealthnet Global Ltd, it willbecome the foundation for thepilot project to test drone deliv-ery, according to a release bythe WEF.

"Adopting this frameworkbrings Telangana one step clos-er to rolling out a system thatcould save lives. It outlineswhat challenges drones can

solve, how to oversee opera-tions and how to implementthem. We are looking forwardto the next steps of this project,"

said Timothy Reuter, head ofaerospace and drones, at theWorld Economic Forum.

The framework outlines the

key factors in evaluating droneoperations and the technicalrequirements for each use case.It will ensure that government

services are used as efficientlyas possible and will serve as thestarting point for discussionswith civil aviation authorities.

Telangana IT Minister K TRama Rao said the state hasbeen pioneer in using technol-ogy for improving the lives ofthe citizens. "Using drones todeliver blood and other med-ical goods to people in remoteand inaccessible areas is anexemplary project that demon-strates use of technology for thesocial good."

Apollo Hospitals GroupJoint Managing DirectorSangita Reddy said, "We arehappy working with the WorldEconomic Forum and theGovernment of Telangana, as a

clinical partner in this dronesproject, which I am sure is thenext step in our journey ofremote health care delivery."

This framework is part of theDrones and Tomorrow'sAirspace Portfolio, run out ofthe World Economic ForumCentre for the FourthIndustrial Revolution India. Itbrings together government,business, start-ups, interna-tional organisations and non-governmental organisations toco-design innovative policysolutions to accelerate the ben-efits of emerging technologiessuch as drones, artificial intel-ligence, internet of things, andblockchain while mitigatingthe risks.

HEALTHCARE

GOVT ADOPTS NEW FRAMEWORK TO INCREASE ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE FOR COMMUNITIES ACROSS STATE

PNS n HYDERABAD

The launch event of MicronTechnology's global develop-ment centre in Hyderabad,witnessed bountiful of cama-raderie between NITI AayogCEO Amitabh Kant and ITand Industries Minister KTRama Rao, with the formerheaping praise on latter.

As soon as Amitabh Kanthwas handed over the mike hestarted terming KTR as themost dynamic politicians inIndia. "The very energetic,vibrant and most dynamic

politicians in India KT RamaRao today attracts everyonetowards Hyderabad. Therecan't be a better destinationthan Hyderabad. Every topcompany of the world operatesfrom Hyderabad and they dosome very unique innovativeengineering, research anddevelopment. All the greatinnovations in the world todayare happening from the greatcity of Hyderabad. The futurefor Micron, which is the sec-ond largest manufacturer ofsemiconducters, lies in Indiaand in Hyderabad," said

Amitabh Kanth, patting KTRfor his efforts in promotingHyderabad as the best destina-tion for global MNCs.

"Whoever comes toHyderabad prospers andgrows. I'm sure even Micronwill grow. I'm truly delightedthat you have come toHyderabad. You will be drivenby a very very dynamicMinister KTR. I have greatestof regard and greatest of admi-ration for KT Rama Rao. Hepersonally drives companies. Iwas very fortunate to work himfor Global Entrepreneurship

Summit for which IvankaTrump attended. Because he isone of our dynamic Ministers.We have a unique and greatpartnership. KT Rama Raotruly believes in the partner-ships, believes in handholding,he believes in being a greatfacilitator and great catalyst. Idon't think you can get a bet-ter host than him in any otherplace in the world," saidAmitabh Kanth addressingMicron's representatives andheaping praise on KTR, aseveryone present on the occa-sion cheered.

‘KTR A DYNAMIC POLITICIAN'

NITI Aayog CEO praises IT Minister forattracting everyone towards Hyderabad

‘Parsis’ burial ground encroached upon'PNS n HYDERABAD

The members of the TelanganaState Minorities Commissionvisited the Parsis graveyard,located in Kanteshwar villagein Nizamabad district here onFriday.

During their visit, theCommission chairman,Mohammed Qamaruddin,observed that only 0.11 GTS ofland is covered by graveyard,while the remaining 1.28 acreswas occupied by the unautho-rised persons. MohammedQamaruddin instructed theDeputy Tahsildar, Kanteshwarto conduct enquiry and tostate under what authority theunauthorised persons hascome into possession andaccrued title over the Parsisland.

The Deputy Tahsildarassured that he would appraisethe facts to the Tahsildar andsend report within a week.Later MohammedQamaruddin, the Chairman

and the members of the com-mission visited residentialschools being run under TIM-RIES. They expressed theirsatisfaction over the function-ing of the residential schools.

The DMWO Riyazexplained the chairman aboutthe progress made on variousdevelopmental activities of

Minorities WelfareDepartment, Nizamabad, suchas overseas scholarships,Shadhi Mubarak schemes,Economic Support andTraining Programmes etc.

The chairman also receivedrepresentations from publicwith regard to implementa-tion of Urdu as 2nd language,

construction of building forlocating Urdu MediumSchools and sanction of GirlsCollege Urdu Medium atMalapally of Nizamabad. Themembers of the commission,Shankar Luke, Gusti Noria,Sardar Surender Singh andothers were present on theoccasion.

CAPSULE

7 killed in twoseparate incidentsWARANGAL: In an unfortunateincident, seven people werekilled and four others wereinjured in two separate roadaccidents in the erstwhileWarangal district on Friday.Three persons died and fourwere injured when two carswere involved in a head-oncollision at Singarajupallyvillage in Devaruppula mandalin Jangaon district. Thedeceased were identified asKommu Krishana (38) ofPeddamaduru, Manideep (35)and Soma Narsaiah (40) ofJangaon. The three injured areundergoing treatment atJangaon area hospital. Inanother incident, a car rammedan ambulance betweenKatakshapur and MohammadGousepally village in WarangalRural district. Four personsincluding an eight-month-oldinfant died in the accident. Fourothers were injured. Thedeceased belonged toBheemaram of Hanamkonda.

People throng bus stands KARIMNAGAR: With TSRTCstrike seems imminent and islikely to commence from Fridaymidnight, people across thedistrict thronged the bus standsto reach to their native places.Almost all the bus stationswere abuzz with heavy rush andthe rural services were foundjam packed since morning. Theusual rush of festival used tocommence on Saturday butsince the RTC has announcedits strike schedule four daysbefore and the talks betweenthe government and tradeunions failed, the commutersand festival going public rushhas increased in severalquantum's for the last twodays. On Friday, the RTC busesare plying from Hyderabad tothe district headquarters withtwice to the capacity. Heavyrush of people was reportedfrom all the bus stations acrossthe district. Reports from theindustrial belt of Godavarikhani,Ramagundam, Mancherial ,Jagtial, Korutla and Siricillaindicate heavy rush on the eveof festivals. Though, the SCR isrunning special trains, the rushis unlikely to reduce on the eveof Dasara.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A 25-kg capacity biogas plantto convert wet waste into fueland compost was inauguratedat Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) Transfer station,Chandanagar, Serilingampallyon Friday.

The first 'Bio-Methanenization' gas plantwas set up with joint efforts ofGHMC and HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL),which funded Rs 24.76 lakh,under Corporate SocialResponsibility.

The plant was inauguratedby Serilingampally MLA

Arekapudi Gandhi, MayorBonthu Ramohan and GHMCZonal CommissionerHarichandana Dasari.

According to the CentralGovernment guidelines, everyestablishment which producesmore than 25 ks of garbagemust set up a separate Compostand Biogas unit. "Around5,000 tonnes of garbage is being

generated every day in the cityof out which about 40 per centof garbage is feasible for com-post, Bio Gas generation."Mayor said.

According to GHMC offi-cials, the capacity of this bio-gas plant would be upgraded to10 tonnes in due course. "If allthe major transfer stations setup these plants, the overload ofgarbage on the transfer stationand the problem of shiftinggarbage by GHMC will beeasy," he added.

"If every citizen separates thewet and dry waste at the sourceusing GHMC bins the city willbe more hygienic and sustain-able," said Arekapudi Gandhi.

Hyderabad gets its firstbiogas digester

n The new plant canconvert wet waste intocooking gas

n Authorities planning toincrease its capacity to10 tonnes

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Congress hassought the support of the JanaSena party for the Huzurnagarby-elections. Congress seniorleader V Hanumantha Raovisited the Jana Sena officehere on Friday and submitteda letter in this regard.

Later at the Gandhi Bhavan,Hanumantha Rao stated thatthe Jana Sena representativeshave given clear assurance onextending its support toCongress in the by-elections.VH said that the Jana Senachief Pawan Kalyan will

announce their support toCongress in by-elections as heis not available.

VH said that the Congresswill be strengthened with thesupport of Jana Sena in by-elections and exuded confi-dence that Congress candidatewill win easily.

VH alleged that the TRSgovernment has keptSapranches Association pres-ident Bhumaiah Yadav, whowas on his way to Huzurnagaron September 27 to file hisnominations, in Niramal in jailby arresting him nearSuryapet.

VHR seeks Jana Senasupport in by-polls

Dates for Army recruitment rescheduledPNS n HYDERABAD

Territorial Army (TA) will con-duct Recruitment Rally for theunits of TA GroupHeadquarters, SouthernCommand (Zone-IV) atSecunderabad, Deolali andBelgaum centres. Recruitmentfor Soldier (General Duty),Soldier Clerk and SoldierTradesman in the TerritorialArmy will be conducted fromOctober 30 to November 6instead of 15 October to 25October.

The recruitment is beingconducted for candidates of the

States of Andhra Pradesh,Telangana, Gujarat, Kerala,Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra,Karnataka, Rajasthan, Goa,Union Territories of Dadar &Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu,Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.Online registration onhttps://forms.gle/GjQfTYoBTfxyBSkT7 is mandatory for can-didates who will be appearingfor the recruitment rally atSecunderabad Centre and thelast date for registration is 20thOctober 2019 instead of 06thNovember 2019.

The candidates should bebetween 18 to 42 years of age

on the date of recruitment,Height -160 Cms, Chest -77 cms with minimum expan-sion of 5 cms and weight 50kgs and above. EducationQualification for General DutySoldier is 10th or Equivalentpass with 45% marks in aggre-gate & 33% in each subject orpass/qualified in higher class(i.e. 12th or above). For SoldierTradesman 10th pass (forHouse Keeper and MessKeeper-8th pass) and forSoldier Clerk 10+2 pass fromany stream with minimum60% marks in aggregate and50% marks in each subject.

Nine fined fordrunk drivingPNS n HYDERABAD

A court imposed a fine ofRs10,500 each on nine per-sons who were caught duringdrunk and driving checks inthe city. The penalty wasimposed on the persons afterthe traffic police filedchargesheets against them inthe court. The traffic policehad caught these drivers dur-ing checks at Sultan Bazaar,Falaknuma and Bahadurpurapolice station areas andbooked cases under Section185 of MV Act.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Congress MP f romMalkajgiri A Revanth Reddytook a dig at the TRS by stat-ing that the state governmentwould get a place in theGuinness Book of WorldRecords for its 'laziness'.

He demanded the ChiefMinister K ChandrashekharRao to show the interest onrecruitment of jobs as hewas showing on Delhi toursand by-elections. RevanthReddy addressed an openletter to the Chief Ministerdemanding the latter to givethe appointment orders tothe candidates who got jobsin TRT.

On Friday, Revanth Reddysaid that he was shockedwhile knowing that the gov-ernment has not yet givenappointment orders to the

TRT selected candidateseven after two years. RevanthReddy has extended his sup-port to the selected candi-dates who tried to lay siegeto the Pragathi Bhavan onFriday demanding the stategovernment to allot posts tothe candidates who gotselected.

Revanth Reddy, in his let-ter, mentioned that the TRTselected candidates havebrought to his notice that thecandidates were selected forTRT in 2017 examination.But the government has notyet given appointmentorders to them. The selectedcandidates were in fear thatwhether the government willgive appointment orders ornot. The TRT selection issueis the best example as to howthe government shows inter-est towards youth, he said.

Revanth takes on govtover TRT postings

KCR submits 22-point

charter of demands to Modi

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao on Fridaysubmitted a 22-point charterof demands to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in New Delhiand drew his attention to theneed for early resolution ofpending bifurcation issues.

The meeting between Modiand KCR lasted about 50 min-utes. KCR is learnt to have dis-cussed the proposed linking ofGodavari and Krishna riversby the Telangana and AndhraPradesh governments andsought the Centre's financialassistance for the project.

In a memorandum submit-ted to the Prime Minister, theChief Minister brought to hisnotice the undue delay inimplementing bifurcation-related promises made toTelangana in the APReorganisation Act and in therelease of funds.

The major issues raisedby KCR include:

Release of Rs 450 crore,being the fifth installment offinancial assistance forbackward districts inTelangana as per the StateReorganisation Act, 2014.Revival of CementCorporation of India inAdilabad district with helpfrom the National HighwaysAuthority of India.Enhancement of the numberof Judges in Telangana HighCourt from 24 to 42.Establishment of IndianInstitute of Management(IIM) in Telangana.Sanction of Indian Institute ofScience Education andResearch (IISER).Sanction of JawaharNavodaya Vidyalayas in 23new districtsFunds forexecuting/expediting pendingrailway projects in TSFinancial assistance toMission Kakatiya andMission Bhagiratha asrecommended by NITIAayog (Rs 5,000 crore andRs 19,205 crore respectively)Setting up of Steel Plant atBayyaram in Khammamdistrict as promised in theState Reorganisation Act.Release of funds for the

National Investment andManufacturing Zone (NIMZ)at Zaheerabad, MedakDistrictSetting up of NationalInstitute of Design (NID) inHyderabad. The existinginstitute relocated toVishakhapatnam afterbifurcation.Sub-categorisation of SCs inTelangana as per theresolution adopted by the TSLegislative Assembly.Sanction of IIIT under PPPmodel at Karimnagar Enhancement of reservationsfor BCs in employment andeducation (BC 37%, SC 15%and ST 10%)33% Reservation for OBCsand women in Parliamentand State Legislatures as perthe resolution adopted by theTS Legislative Assembly.Development of Hyderabad-Nagpur & Warangal-Hyderabad IndustrialCorridorsPMGSY (Prime MinisterGram Sadak Yojana) fundsfor upgrading 4,000 kmlength of roads for betterconnectivity in backwardregionsRoad works in Left-wingextremism affected areas.Centre should bear full cost,instead of the present 60:40ratio between Centre andState.Full central funding for TribalUniversity as CentralUniversity in WarangalOne-time grant-in-aid of Rs1,000 crore for the WarangalTextile ParkDeclaration of RamappaTemple as World Heritage SiteSanction of revised cost forthe Flood Flow Canal

KCR also met Union HomeMinister Amit Shah andDefence Minister Rajnath Singhas part of his Delhi visit. KCRrequested Amit Shah to issue anotification approving changesin the TS zonal system to incor-porate two new districts creat-ed in 2019. The TS ChiefMinister requested RajnathSingh to hand over requireddefence lands in SecunderabadCantonment limits to helpwiden roads and build flyoversfor easing traffic congestion inthe area.

TS to use drone for last-mile deliveryTelangana ITMinister K TRama Rao saidthe state hasbeen pioneer inusingtechnology forimproving thelives of thecitizens

PNSn CHANDIGARH

Haryana, once infamous asthe land of turncoat politicians,continues to be a fertile groundfor them with many shiftingtheir decades-old loyalties justahead of the upcoming assem-bly polls. The ruling BharatiyaJanata Party has been the firstchoice for such 'Aaya RamGaya Ram' politicians while theCongress and the JannayakJanta Party too has managed toattract a few.

The term 'Aaya Ram GayaRam' is said to have originat-ed when a legislator fromHaryana, Gaya Lal, changed hispolitical loyalty thrice in amatter of days in 1967, barelya year after Haryana wascarved out as a separate stateon November 1, 1966.

A few of the turncoats, whowere sitting MLAs, also had toface disqualification.

Five legislators of the IndianNational Lok Dal (INLD), fourof whom switched sides byjoining the JJP, were disquali-fied last month as members ofthe Haryana Assembly underthe anti-defection law bySpeaker Kanwar Pal.

Those disqualified wereNaina Singh Chautala, wife of

jailed leader Ajay SinghChautala, Rajdeep Phogat,Pirthi Singh and AnoopDhanak, all of whom joinedthe JJP while another legislatorNaseem Ahmad first switchedover to the Congress and latercame to the BJP fold.

All were disqualified underthe anti-defection law afterpetitions were filed before theSpeaker by INLD leadersAbhay Singh Chautala andBalwan Singh.

With INLD going throughrough times ever since its ver-tical split last year following afeud in the Chautala clan,desertions have hit the partythe most ahead of the October21 assembly polls.

Majority of the legislators offormer Chief Minister OmPrakash Chautala led partyhave switched over to the BJP,

prominent among them beingParminder Dhull, NaseemAhmad, Ranbir Gangwa andZakir Hussain, all of whomwere rewarded with tickets tofight the assembly polls.

All these politicians weresenior leaders of the party.

INLD's Rohtak districtleader Satish Nandal alsoswitched his loyalties to the BJPand has been fielded againstformer Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda fromGarhi Sampla-Kiloi con-stituency.

Lone MLA of the ShiromaniAkali Dal, Balkaur ditchedSAD to join the saffron outfit,barely days before the upcom-ing polls.

Despite BJP ally SAD raisingstrong objection to his joining,Balkaur Singh was rewardedwith a ticket by the BJP from

his Kalanwali reserved seat inSirsa district.

INLD's vice president and itsformer state unit chief AshokArora also snapped hisdecades-old loyalty with hisparent party and joined theCongress and was given tick-et from Thanesar.

While former CongressMLA Sharda Rathore joinedthe BJP, former INLD Ministerlate Jaswinder Singh Sandhu'sson Gagandeep Sandhu joinedthe Congress. Ex-INLD MLAPradeep Chaudhary too joinedthe Congress while seniorINLD leader Rampal Majraswitched over to the BJP.

Tek Chand Sharma, whowas the lone BSP member, alsoswitched over to BJP. FormerMinister and Congress leaderSatpal Sangwan also joinedthe JJP.

The term 'Aaya Ram Gaya Ram' is saidto have originated when a legislatorfrom Haryana, Gaya Lal, changed hispolitical loyalty thrice in a matter ofdays in 1967, barely a year afterHaryana was carved out as a separatestate on November 1, 1966.

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 5, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

30-year old man falls offrunning train, diesJAMMU: A 30-year old man, whofell from a running train in Jammu,has succumbed to injuries, policesaid on Friday. The man fell fromthe Malwa Express train nearKunjwani railway crossing point inJammu on Tuesday. He was takento Government Medical College(GMC) hospital for treatment, wherehe succumbed to injuries, policesaid. The body has been kept foridentification at the hospital, theysaid.

Coast Guard seizesLankan fishing boat

Coal India offers high-end pumps to cleardeluge Patna KOLKATA: Coal India Ltd (CIL)has rushed four heavy duty pumpsto drain out water from low-lyinginundated residential areas ofPatna, a company official said onFriday. Two pumps with apumping capacity of 1,000 gallonsper minute and two others with apumping capacity of 5,000 gallonsper minute have been sent to theBihar capital for the dewateringwork, he said. Torrential rainbetween September 27 and 30 hascreated a flood-like situation in 15districts of Bihar, including thestate capital. At least 73 peoplewere killed in rain-relatedincidents during the period,authorities had said in Patna onThursday. "We have rushed fourpowerful pumps, which havestarted draining out water from thelow-lying inundated residentialareas of Rajendra Nagar, TV Towerand Pataliputra colony of Patna,"the CIL spokesperson said.

KOCHI: Indian Coast Guard hasimpounded a Sri Lankan fishingboat found fishing in Indian waters,a Defence spokesman said here onFriday. He said the boat, beingbrought here, would be handedover to the police after initialinvestigation by the Coast Guard.The seizure comes a day after theCoast Guard arrested 18 Sri Lankanfishermen and impounded theireight boats for fishing in Indianterritorial waters off theNagapattinam coast in southernTamil Nadu.

Ex-minister's supportersattack BJP candidate's car

MUMBAI: Supporters of formerMaharashtra minister PrakashMehta, angry over denial of ticket totheir leader from Ghatkopar,vandalised the car of Parag Shah,the BJP candidate from theassembly seat, on Friday, policesaid. The incident took placearound 11.15 am when Shah wason his way to file his nominationpapers for the October 21 polls, anofficial said. As Shah, accompaniedby a group of BJP activists, headedto the venue of filling papers, menclaiming to be supporters of Mehtareached their and stopped Shahscar, he said. Mehta's supporterswere angry over denial of ticket totheir leader from Ghatkopar (East),from where he won in 2014, by theruling party. They damaged thecar's glass and also other parts ofthe vehicle, he said.Shah was unhurt, but remainedseated inside the car till the crowdwas dispersed, the official said.Mehta's supporters raised slogansagainst Shah and also held himresponsible for denial of ticket totheir leader.

PNSn MUMBAI

With the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC)facing "reduction in revenue",civic body chief PraveenPardeshi has written a letter tosenior officials, asking them tocut down "unnecessary"expenses and create newerways to raise the income.

In the letter, Pardeshi saidthe BMC was struggling tomeet the expenses and mayface a financial crisis if cor-rective measures are not takenimmediately.

"The letter dated September30, marked as highly urgent,was addressed to all high-ranked officers. Pardeshi asked

the law department to fast-track pending court casesregarding water and propertytax disputes and its recovery,"

a civic official said on Friday.Pardeshi also asked the offi-

cials to use the existing man-power more efficiently andappoint new staff only inimportant departments, headded.

"Reduction in income andspike in expenditure haveprompted the civic chief tocaution all his deputies torestrain unnecessary spendingand come up with other meansof income, such as recovery oftax dues from defaulters andcollection of various taxes frompeople," the official said.

The 2019-20 annual budgetof the BMC, which is beingruled by the Shiv Sena, standsat Rs 30,692 crore, which is

higher than several states in thecountry. According to theofficial, Pardeshi has alsocalled for adoption of a six-point agenda in order toincrease the BMC's revenueand to safeguard it frompotential financial crisis.

"One of the agendas saysthat vacant posts should onlybe filled in essential depart-ments, such as roads, watersupply, storm water drain,solid waste management, anddoctors for public health ser-vices," he added.

Opposition NCP, however,targeted the ruling Sena andBJP combine, saying it was anattempt to "privatise" the civicbody.

PNSn NEW DELHI

A plea has been moved in theDelhi High Court challengingthe constitutionality of thedog breeding and marketingrules, including mandatoryregistration, framed underthe Prevention of CorruptionAct (PCA) for running a petshop. The petition, by anassociation of pet shop own-ers, was first filed in theSupreme Court which haddirected it to approach thehigh court.

The Pet Lovers Association,in its plea, has sought direc-tions from the court to declareas illegal and ultra vires theConstitution the rules whichhas made having a licence orregistration mandatory to runa pet shop.

Prior to the rules, there wasno need for a licence or reg-istration to run a pet shop.

The other requirementsunder the new rules includemonthly visits to the veteri-narian, keeping records of ananimal's source and selling theanimal stock within threemonths from date of display.

PNSn NEW DELHI

A parliamentary panel head-ed by Congress leader ShashiTharoor has decided to exam-ine the security and privacy ofthe citizens' data and reviewthe functioning of the UniqueIdentification Authority ofIndia (UIDAI), Lok SabhaSecretariat said on Friday.

The parliamentary stand-ing committee onInformation and Technologyheaded by Tharoor has select-ed various subjects for exam-ination including policy issueson information technologyincluding cross border dataflows, artificial intelligence(AI) and internet of things(IoT).

The committee will alsoreview of functioning of thetelecom regulator TRAI,Bharat Sanchar NigamLimited (BSNL), MahanagarTelephone Nigam Limited(MTNL) and the country'spreparedness for 5G.

"Review of functioning ofUIDAI, Citizens' data securi-ty and privacy, and digitalpayment and online securitymeasures for data protec-tion," are the subjects select-ed by the committee forexamination," the Lok Sabhasecretariat said in its bul-letin. Safeguarding citizens'rights and prevention of mis-use of social or online newsmedia platforms, includingspecial emphasis on womensecurity in the digital space,will also be examined.

PNSn NEW DELHI

The filing of applications fornext year's Haj pilgrimage willbe completely digital and theprocess will start from October10, Minority Affairs ministerMukhtar Abbas Naqviannounced on Friday.

He also said there will be 22embarkation points in 2020.

"The new embarkation pointto be opened for Haj next yearwill be at Vijayawada inAndhra Pradesh. So, in Haj2020, two lakh Indian Muslimswill go for Haj from 22embarkation points across thecountry," he told reporters.

Naqvi said this after chair-ing a review meeting organisedon the completion of Haj 2019where he took stock of thepreparations for next year's pil-grimage.

The meeting was attendedby senior officials from theministries of External Affairs,Civil Aviation and Health.India's Ambassador to SaudiArabia Ausuf Sayeed and HajCommittee of India ChairmanSheikh Jinna Nabi also attend-

ed the meeting.Interacting with the media

after the meeting, Naqvi saidHaj 2020 will be "100 per centonline" and a system has beendeveloped to provide e-visa toall the pilgrims.

"People can apply onlinefor Haj 2020 from October 10till November 10. Applicationsfor Haj can also be be filedthrough a mobile application,"Naqvi said.

The minister said Haj GroupOrganisers (HGOs) can applyon an online portal fromNovember 1 to December 1.

Naqvi said GST on Haj pil-grimage was reduced from 18per cent to five per cent this

year, which ensured that morethan Rs 113 crore were savedby the pilgrims during theHaj in 2019.

"Accommodation in Madinahad also been taken on 100Saudi Riyal less in comparisonto the last year which resultedin savings of Rs 3,000 perIndian pilgrim," he said.

Naqvi said a record numberof 2 lakh Indian Muslims wentto Haj this year through morethan 500 flights from 21embarkation points across thecountry. These pilgrimsincluded about 48 per centMuslim women.

PNSn PANAJI

The Indian Navy is keen toacquire a third aircraft carri-er, but the government has totake a decision on it, AdmiralKarambir Singh said onFriday.

The Chief of Naval Staff alsosaid the Indian Ocean Regionis facing a slew of challenges.

"The Indian Navy is keen onhaving a third aircraft carrier.If you see the blue of 1950s, itwas built on three aircraft car-riers, he said.

Admiral Singh was talkingto reporters on the sidelines ofthe ongoing 'Goa MaritimeConclave' here. The three-daymeet, an initiative of the IndianNavy, is aimed at identifyingcommon maritime priorities oflittoral nations in the Indian

Ocean Region (IOR).Ten countries, located in

India's close and distant neigh-bourhood, are taking part inthe conclave.

"We are very much lookingforward for the government totake a decision on third aircraft

carrier. The procedure for thatis yet to start, the Indian Navychief said.

The conclave, which openedon Thursday, will culminate onSaturday.

National Security AdvisorAjit Doval was the chief guestfor the conclave on Friday.

Speaking about the con-clave, held once in two years,Admiral Singh said its allowsthe chiefs of navies from par-ticipating countries to gettogether and see what are thecommon challenges and findregional solutions.

"For us it was a great occa-sion because the NationalSecurity Advisor was the chiefguest that shows how muchinterest the Government ofIndia is taking in maritimeavenues, he said.

PNSn NEW DELHI

Nearly 1,900 people lost theirlives and another 46 werereported missing this monsoonseason in rains and floodswhich affected more than 25lakh in 22 states, Union HomeMinistry officials said onFriday.

The highest 382 people diedin Maharashtra, followed by227 deaths in West Bengal inrains, floods and landslidesthat hit as many as 357 districtsin the country.

According to the officials,738 people were injured andnearly 20,000 animals werelost. The heavy rains and floodsfully damaged 1.09 lakh hous-es, partially damaged 2.05 lakhhouses and destroyed 14.14lakh hectares of crops.

A total of 1,874 people died,an official said.

Though monsoon remains

active in a few parts of thecountry, the season officiallyended on September 30.During the four-month period,India recorded the highestrainfall since 1994, accordingto the India MeteorologicalDepartment.

In Maharashtra, where 22

districts were hit by floods, 382people died, 369 were injuredand 7.19 lakh people wereforced to seek shelter in 305relief camps.

The monsoon rains andfloods hit 22 districts in WestBengal, where 227 people losttheir lives, 37 received injuries,

four were reported missingmissing and 43,433 took shel-ter in 280 relief camps.

In Bihar, currently reelingunder floods, 161 people havelost their lives and 1.26 lakhhave taken shelter in 235 reliefcamps following the delugethat hit 27 districts in thestate.

A total of 182 people were

killed, 38 were injured andseven have gone missing inMadhya Pradesh, where32,996 people took shelter in98 relief camps set up in 38districts.

In Kerala, heavy rains andfloods claimed 181 lives andinjured 72. Fifteen people werereported missing in 13 districts.As many as 4.46 lakh people inthe state took shelter in 2,227relief camps.

Twenty-two districts inGujarat were hit during themonsoon season.

At least 169 people lost theirlives, 17 received injuries while17,783 people took shelter in102 relief camps.

In Karnataka, 106 people losttheir lives, 14 received injuriesand six were missing due torains and floods in 13 districts.As many as 2.48 lakh peopletook shelter in 3,233 reliefcamps.

1,900 dead in monsoon rains, floods nationwide

PNSn ROORKEE

Research, innovation and cre-ative ideas will help the coun-try achieve its national goals,including 5 trillion USD econ-omy by 2025, President RamNath Kovind said here onFriday.

Addressing the convoca-tion of prestigious IIT-Roorkee, Kovind termed theinstitute an "innovation hub",where more than 300 stu-dents were awarded PhDdegrees on Friday, the maxi-mum in 172 years of its exis-tence.

The country has committedto achieving sustainable devel-opment goals adopted by theUnited Nations and also wishto play its role in addressingglobal concerns such as cli-mate change, Kovind said.

"Institutions such as IITRoorkee are not just centres ofeducation. They are also hubsof innovation and creativeideas. And it is research, inno-vation and creative ideas thatwill help us achieve ournational goals as well asaddress the larger concernsconfronting humanity today,"the President said.

"We must nurture innova-tion and creativity. And I amhappy to note that IIT Roorkeeis doing just that. The TIDESBusiness Incubator here sup-ports start-ups and early-stagecompanies working on emerg-ing technologies," he said atthe Institute which was thefirst Engineering Collegeestablished during the Britishrule.

He said creative thinking oncampus has been encouragedby doing away with hierarchyamong academics and by giv-

ing students a representationin academic bodies and deci-sion-making.

"Researchers here are work-ing on technologies and prod-ucts that contribute to the wellbeing of their fellow citizens.These include working in cut-ting edge fields such as nan-otechnology, ArtificialIntelligence, Computer Visionand Bio-materials,” he said.

Kovind said the alumni ofthis great institute can andshould contribute to theiralma mater.

PNSn SRINAGAR

The two-month-long suspen-sion of internet services inKashmir — in the aftermath ofthe Centre's withdrawal ofJ&K's special status on August5 — has hit hard the new gen-eration of entrepreneurs whoextensively use social media totrade.

Scores of young men andwomen across the Kashmirvalley had given wings to theirdreams and started doing busi-ness via social media plat-forms like Facebook andInstagram and depended onthe internet to earn their liveli-hood. However, their busi-ness has been shut since thenight of August 4, when inter-net services were suspendedfor security reasons.

The services – across allplatforms – have remainedsuspended since and thesenew-generation entrepreneurshave been virtually left jobless.

Omaira, a resident ofSrinagar, who runs the onlineoutlet 'Craft World Kashmir'with her friend Binish, saidthey are losing business due tothe internet blockade.

"Our business used to runthrough Facebook andInstagram. We display ourwork there only and do nothave a physical store. We haveover 49,000 followers onInstagram and received ordersonline from our customersand then delivered the prod-ucts," Omaira said.

"Our business was goingwell before the internet block-ade. With the suspension of

internet, our customers are notable to contact us and neitherare we. This has resulted intotal loss."

She said several ordersplaced by their customers wereready, but they were unable todispatch those because of thenetwork gag.

"We used to get four to fiveorders every day, but every-thing has dried up now. We aresitting idle as our workdepends on the orders that weused to receive through theinternet," she said.

Omaira said they hadtrained 14 girls, from under-privileged families, who thenworked with the 'Craft WorldKashmir' for their only sourceof livelihood, but due to the

ban on internet and mobilephone services, those girls alsosuffered.

She said the governmentshould restore the internetservices soon as access to it wasthe basic right of every indi-vidual.

"It is our right and source oflivelihood. We can only waitfor the restoration of the inter-net as it is the only mediumwhich connects us with ourcustomers," she said.

Another such entrepreneur,Sana, who uses the socialmedia to reach customers tosell suits and embroidery mate-rial, said not only were the cus-tomers unable to reach her, shecould not place order herselfdue to the internet ban.

New-gen J&K entrepreneurs hit hard by internet blackout

Scores of young men and womenacross the Kashmir valley had givenwings to their dreams and started doingbusiness via social media platforms likeFacebook and Instagram and dependedon the internet to earn their livelihood.

The highestnumber ofdeaths—382 wasin Maha, followedby 227 deaths inWest Bengal inrains, floods andlandslides that hitas many as 357districts in thecountry

Interacting withthe media after themeeting, Naqvisaid Haj 2020 willbe "100 per centonline" and asystem has beendeveloped toprovide e-visa toall the pilgrims

Plea in HCagainst newpet shop rules

Par panel toreview UIDAI’sfunctioning

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Applications for next year'sHaj pilgrimage to go digital

Cut down expenses, BMC babus told

Indian Navy keen to have thirdaircraft carrier: Admiral Singh

Admiral Karambir Singh

Research, innovationkey to nation’s growth

The Presidentsaid creativethinking oncampus has beenencouraged bydoing away withhierarchy amongacademics and bygiving students arepresentation inacademic bodiesand decision-making

Ram Nath Kovind

Haryana remains fertileground for turncoats

Recently, while addressing theUN Climate Action Summit2019 in the US, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said, “Webelieve that an ounce of action

is worth more than a tonne of preaching”and announced that India had ambitiousplans to harness solar energy. A target ofinstalling 175 gigawatt (GW) of renewableenergy by 2022 has been set, which mayfurther increase to 450 GW by 2030. TheGovernment had an initial target of 20GW of solar capacity by 2022, which wasachieved four years ahead of schedule.Encouraged by this performance, thetarget was revised in 2015 to 100 GW,which has now been further raised, as thePrime Minister informed in his address.

To meet this goal, a series of solarpower projects such as the Solar Parks andUltra Mega Solar Power Projects, CanalSolar Power Project and the installationof 1,00,000 solar pumps for farmers areat different stages of implementation.Solarisation of nearly 50,000 petrol sta-tions across the country is also being promoted. Over 3,000 fuel stations arealready solar-powered. Considering thatIndia is the fourth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, solar ener-gy appears to be a very convenient alter-native.

India is lucky that sunlight is availablein abundance but the challenge lies in theprocurement of solar Photo Voltaic (PV)cells, which is one of the major constrain-ing factors in our efforts to realise the fullpotential. According to a report submit-ted by the parliamentary standing com-mittee, in order to achieve the target of 100GW of solar electricity capacity by 2022,India should have had an installed capac-ity of 32,000 megawatt (MW) by 2017-18.But as of January 31, 2018, the countryonly had a capacity of 18,455 MW. As perthe standing committee, the Ministry ofNew and Renewable Energy has to installthe remaining 81,545 MW in just fouryears — this is over 20,000 MW a year andappears difficult to achieve.

A serious lacuna in the entire exer-cise is our poor record in indigenousmanufacturing of solar panels. TodayChina is the only country that caters tomost of the global PV cell demands. Itproduces the cheapest solar panels. It isdifficult for any country to match suchlow prices. This has led to a situationwhere China has a virtual monopoly andthis may not be desirable in the long run.Our own imports, mostly from China,accounted for 90 per cent of 2017 sales,up from 86 per cent in 2014. Thus, it isparadoxical that both our sources of ener-gy and oil as well as solar are currentlyheavily dependent on imports.

The world’s annual solar capacityreached close to 500 GW last year, whichmay go up to 3,000/5,000 GW by 2030, a

ten-fold increase. In the next30 years, this demand is like-ly to increase by hundredtimes and the major beneficia-ry will be China.

Strategically, it will not belogical for India to continuenourishing the Chinesemonopoly as it would intro-duce serious imbalances in theglobal situation. This calls forthe need to prioritise theexpansion and investment inthe manufacture of PV cellindustry. In the near future,hydrocarbon resources aregoing to be scarce and, hence,the emphasis on electric vehi-cles (EVs). They can becharged directly using PVcells. This will not only bringdown the carbon dioxideemission levels but also reduceour dependence on fossil fuels.

To actualise such a situa-tion, we must start investing inlithium ion batteries. Here,too, the Chinese have an upperhand and, hence, the need tolook for alternatives. Lithiumion batteries being compatiblewith PV cells, once they losetheir efficiency in cars, can bereused for domestic solar bat-tery applications.

In the years to come,demand for solar panels isbound to see a dramatic rise.Land availability for the estab-

lishment of solar plants in adensely populated country likeIndia can become a majorissue. It has been estimatedthat the setting up of a 1 MWpower solar plant requires twoto three hectares of land. Incase the solar panels are thin-film based, requirement ofland can go up to four to fivehectares. As for the first case,wastelands or land that is notavailable for cultivation can beused for the setting up ofsolar parks.

In order to improve effi-ciency of solar panels in theseparks, directional limitations inthe existing design have suit-ably been addressed by devis-ing a tracking system. A solartracker is a device that is usedto orient the panel towards thesun. For flat panel PV systems,a solar tracker ensures that thesun’s rays fall at the correctangle of incidence. A solartracker fitted PV panel canshow considerable improve-ment in its efficiency.

A dual axis tracker rotateson two axis and follows thesun vertically as well as hori-zontally so that the panel getsthe best incidence of sun rays,thus increasing its efficiencyby about 20 per cent.Nevertheless, in areas whereland is available like Rajasthan,

dust is a major problem, whichover a period of time, tends toerode the efficiency of thesolar panels.

But all is not lost as wemay not have to put all oureggs in the Chinese basket. Fordirect generation of electrici-ty, the solar thermal routecan also be explored. An arrayof parabolic mirrors helps putthe focus of the sunlight at theright place to produce suffi-cient heat, which raises steamand can be used to run a tur-bine, thus generate power.

Currently, this technologyis being used in the US(California), Israel, Spain andGermany. In India, two plantsare already operational inRajasthan and six others areunder construction, all in theprivate sector. The modelexperimental plant to harnesssolar energy through the ther-mal route was inaugurated justoutside Delhi in January thisyear and is running up to 50per cent efficiency. The devel-opment of indigenous solarmanufacturing facilities isimportant to harness solarenergy. This needs attentionand on priority.

(The writer is a formerGovernor of Uttarakhand anda Senior Advisor at the PranabMukherjee Foundation)

If there was any doubt about man being theworst predatory species that is depleting ani-mal life as we know it, digest this. At least,

200 freshwater turtles and tortoises per weekhave been poached in India to cater to the ille-gal gourmet food, live pet and medicine mar-ket since 2009, taking the number to a whop-ping 1,11,310 till September 2019. It is knownthat India is a major hotspot in illegal wildlife tradebecause even though it is only 2.4 per cent ofthe world’s land area, it contributes about eight

per cent of known global wildlife. While the main consumer markets are China,South East Asia, the Gulf states, Europe and Northern America, what is alarm-ing is that the domestic demand for exotic meat and pets is also growing.The size of seizures of Indian species within the country is indicative of a well-organised network of collectors, transporters and traffickers operating thistrade. Another fact sheet showed how the Indian star tortoise, marked as avulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature,accounted for 49 per cent of the total reptiles seized and were high in demandby gourmets and mendicants. Most turtles and tortoise species of India areprotected under various Schedules of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, under whichhunting, trade or any other form of utilisation of the species or their body partsand derivatives is banned. All turtle and tortoise species from India are alsolisted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora (CITES) regulating their international trade.

But it’s not just these reptiles that are bearing the brunt of the flourish-ing illegal wildlife trade, some of the species and products incessantly poachedand smuggled out of the country are tiger and leopard skins, their bonesand other body parts, rhino horns, ivory, sea horses, snake venom, muskpods and rare birds. Despite laws, lack of awareness, anonymous e-com-merce, greed and low-risk, high-reward opportunities fuel wildlife crime inthe country. Also, in India like in many other countries, the problem is notof the laws but poor communication, implementation and enforcement. Arrestshave hardly worked as a deterrent. So making laws is not enough, we needsynergy between all law enforcement agencies. In addition to this, provid-ing grant through National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for patrollingin the tiger-rich sensitive forest, combing forest floors in order to keep a checkon the snares for the animals by poachers, improved surveillance using ther-mal cameras are some of the measures needed on a larger scale.

The Congress, against the backdrop ofIndo-Pakistan tension, has had to battlea perception war whenever it has tried

to play the responsible Opposition and critiqueGovernment policy. For Pakistan has mischie-vously played up comments made by partyleaders in the domestic context to justify itsstand on internationalising Kashmir, makingthem look like its ally than nationalist. This time,too, the Congress was stumped by the Pakistanregime’s surprise move to invite its seniorleader and former Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh for the inauguration of the Kartarpur corridor, considering his stature asa Sikh notable. This caused embarrassment in Congress circles because an offi-cial invite for the corridor, that will connect Darbar Sahib, set up in 1522 by Sikhfaith founder Guru Nanak Dev to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur districton our side, was clearly meant to ignore protocol and bypass Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. Had it been well-intentioned, there could have been a joint inau-gural from either side or at least an official communication sent. But it was malef-icent, aimed at embarrassing an Opposition party, which would look weak-kneedand a pawn in Pakistan’s designs to a home audience and rile up the ruling BJPat once. Islamabad’s hypocrisy is stark considering it had not responded to Singh’soffer of visa-free access to the shrine in 2004 when he was the Prime Minister.

The matter though was deftly handled by Punjab Chief Minister and Congressveteran Amarinder Singh. To blunt both Pakistan and any liberal query as towhy Singh would not qualify as a Sikh notable worthy of visiting the hallowedshrine, the Punjabi strongman has now proposed that he be part of an officialState Government jatha or delegation that would visit the shrine. He also clar-ified that the jatha would stay clear of the Pakistan-organised ceremony as itwas in the nature of a pilgrimage. He has even invited Modi and President RamNath Kovind for celebrations on the Indian side. Clearly, now that its level-play-ing field has been upturned in Jammu & Kashmir, and with both the West andthe Islamic world supporting India’s position on its changed status, Pakistandoesn’t want to isolate the Sikhs or lose the trumpcard of Khalistan. Particularly,after its Prime Minister Imran Khan’s “cry wolf” threats of a nuclear war havedented the nation’s credibility at international fora. So the Pakistan Army, with-out whom Khan would not have been in the chair, has decided to up the pro-Khalistan extremist agenda and foment trouble in Punjab. While announcing theKartarpur project initially, Pakistan had appointed several Khalistani separatistson the committee, much to India’s discomfort. Its former Army chief Gen MirzaAslam Beg openly advised the military and the Government to use the Kartarpurcorridor for Khalistan terror and “create trouble for India.” Recently, the PakistanArmy even got pro-Khalistani supporters to challenge the reorganisation ofKashmir. No matter how hard India may try to make Kartarpur a matter of peo-ple-to-people concern, the fact is that Pakistan’s initiative on the Kartarpur cor-ridor will never be free of politics. Pakistan seized the first mover’s advantagein the propaganda warfare by declaring its intention to operationalise it soonafter Capt Amarinder blamed Pakistan and the ISI for the grenade attack on aNirankari gathering near Amritsar. With that announcement, it got its own minor-ity Sikhs on board, a favourable opinion from the extended community aroundthe world, revived the hardline Khalistan sentiment and eventually tried to fomentdisturbance in Punjab. India had no choice but to get into the act immediatelybefore it could assess if it was another attempt by Pakistan to woo the Sikhcommunity. India has to be alert that the base camp on the Pakistan side does-n’t become a hotbed for Khalistani propaganda and meetings in the name ofallowing faith congregations. Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Bajwa stoodin Kartarpur, shaking hands with known Khalistani face Gopal Singh Chawla,much to India’s discomfiture. Pakistan is trying to project itself as a championof minority rights and their religious freedoms and India cannot afford to let itsguard down or allow a new proxy war to brew.

Pilgrim Manmohan

No lessons learnt

Sir — Recently, a young softwareengineer was killed in Chennaiafter an illegal hoarding fell onher, following which she was hitby a water tanker. The MadrasHigh Court had pulled up theState Government, asking it totake appropriate action againstpolice and corporation officialswho were responsible for theincident.

“How many litres of blood doyou want to paint the road with,”rued the court. Following this,various political parties in TamilNadu vowed not to erect hoard-ings. However, warnings wereissued, only to be forgotten soon.

It was disgusting to note thatunder pressure, the same courthas allowed the Tamil Naduand Central Governments toerect banners to welcome PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andChinese President Xi Jinping fortheir informal meet in Chennainext week. The StateGovernment has claimed that itwas customary for the Ministryof External Affairs to welcomea visiting dignitary by way ofbanners.

The Modi Government has

been doing away with manytime-tested conventions in thelast five years. In the same vein,it should put an end to the ban-ner culture. I am sure the bilat-eral meeting will not fail if theconvention is given up.

N NagarajanVia email

Act before it’s too late

Sir — With the onset of theautumn season, hundreds of farmfires instances have been record-ed in Punjab and Haryana. Everyyear during this time, Delhi isfaced with the difficult task of

maintaining its air quality due tocrop burning from neighbouringStates. Although the DelhiGovernment has shown that it isalert regarding the situation, a per-manent solution is yet to come.

The States of Haryana andPunjab have been doing their bitto help the farmers shun the

practice of stubble burning. Theyhave been provided with manyalternatives and are being offeredsubsidies, too. But farmersremain reluctant and have nowdemanded a bonus of `200 perquintal on paddy or compensa-tion of `6,000 per acre to makethe switch. Perhaps, the DelhiGovernment can help by pitch-ing in some funds.

KristyVia email

Spread awareness

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“The ODF challenge” (September4). Prime Minister NarendraModi’s declaration that rural Indiais open defecation free (ODF) isa tall claim. The fact of the mat-ter is that despite the constructionof thousands of washrooms, manyvillagers prefer to do their businessin the open. The rural populacemust be enlightened about theimportance of hygiene and clean-liness so that they know about theperils of defecating in the open.

KusumVia 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/

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 5, 2019

06

Harness the power of sun

KK PAUL

To achieve the target of installing 100 GW of solar energy by 2022, a more comprehensivemanufacturing strategy is needed. We cannot remain dependent on imports

Hindi is a little child in diapers.Compared to Tamil, Sanskritand Telugu, Hindi is still ayoung language. It is not withderision that I say this.

MNM leader—Kamal Haasan

I didn’t have a Plan B. If I didn’t have this career then Idon’t know what I would havedone. Back then, I was in amess and I was struggling.

Actor— Kartik Aaryan

India is an exception as weare more nationalistic but atthe same time, we don’t see atension between being nation-alistic and being international.

External Affairs Minister—S Jaishankar

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

Miles to go before we achieve ODF status

This refers to the editorial, “The ODF challenge”(September 4). In a welcome move, the Governmentchose October 2, 2019, which also marked the 150th

birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, to celebrate five yearsof its flagship programme, the Swachh Bharat Mission.As a proud citizen, I appreciate the efforts put in by theGovernment to make India open defecation free (ODF). Onthis front, one must agree, great strides have been madetowards ensuring the construction of a record number oftoilets. Around 100 million toilets have been built in about0.6 million villages and another 6.3 million in its cities inthe past five years. Success, however, depends not on thenumber of sanitation facilities but on the availability of water,as well as bringing about definite behavioural change. Toiletshave been built but people still prefer to defecate in theopen. This shows the lack of awareness among the peo-ple about the importance of having a clean and healthyenvironment. That disparity and untouchability are stillprevalent show that the Government has a long way to goto achieve the “ODF” status.

Connected with this is also the issue of manual scav-enging. Many of the toilets built under the Government’s

programme are not of the twin-pit design, the fecal mat-ter has to be evacuated manually. It is unfortunate thatdespite a rise in the number of human deaths in the courseof cleaning drains and septic tanks, the Government hasfailed to find a solution to end this practice. A sustain-able future involves not just the construction of toilets buta lot depends on ensuring a decent living for the people.

Jagriti BhagatVia email

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Turtle poaching

Everybody knows what isgoing on in the country. Infact, the whole world knows it.We are moving into an authoritarian state. It’s clear.

Congress leader—Rahul Gandhi

Capt Amarinder Singh has pre-empted Pak’s invitation byincluding the ex-PM in the all-party jatha to Kartarpur shrine

As the species is culled to cater to the food and medicinemarket, there is a glaring gap in enforcement of wildlife laws

op nion

Toothless tigers

DESPITE THE RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE UNSC,KASHMIR IS STILL BESIEGED AND EIGHT MILLION

PEOPLE ARE STILL STUCK IN KASHMIR.—TURKEY PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN

WE URGE TURKEY TO GET PROPER UNDERSTANDINGOF THE SITUATION ON THE GROUND BEFORE ITMAKES ANY FURTHER STATEMENTS. —MEA SPOKESPERSON RAVEESH KUMAR

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Astrong independent director is an asset toan organisation if he/she has the ability toobjectively analyse affairs to bring about a

convergence in the views of different sharehold-er groups and works towards protecting the inter-ests of minority stockholders and the company asa whole. Such a person increases the transparen-cy and accountability of the board and can pavethe way to making it strong.

After the ̀ 7,000 crore 2009 Satyam financialfraud, several committees were set up and theirrecommendations paved the way for India’s newCompanies Act, 2013, which clearly establishedthe responsibility and accountability of indepen-dent directors and auditors. Over the years, therehas been a sea change in their duties and obliga-tions, with an increased expectation to play anactive and vigilant role in the decisions that arebeing taken by the company at the board level.

In order to make the corporate governancestructure stronger, the Government has tightenedthe norms and taken the relatives of independentdirectors under its ambit and amended theCompanies (Appointment and Qualification ofDirectors) Rules, 2014. It has ordained that no rel-ative of an independent director should be in anyway “indebted” to the company, its holding, sub-sidiary or associate company, promoters or direc-tors. Additionally, relatives cannot give guaran-tee or provide any security in case of indebted-ness of any third person to the company or its pro-moters and subsidiaries. The new rules would gov-ern all transactions involving an amount startingfrom ̀ 50 lakh in the preceding two financial yearsor even the current year.

Now the question arises, whether indepen-dent directors are caught in a catch-22 situationwith stringent regulations on one side but do nothave enough power to govern company operationsas they are not involved in day-to-day function-ing?

It is common knowledge that many boards aremore of a “friends club” with directors rarely rais-ing any contentious issues. According to the the-ory of critical mass, any person, being in minor-ity in a group, would not be able to exert his/herpoint of view and generally tends to go with thedecisions of the majority. So, any independentdirector with a divergent view may not be com-fortable in expressing his/her views and maychoose to follow the crowd. This may have beenquite prevalent, considering the fact that many cor-porate governance mismanagements, like the liq-uidity crisis among the NBFCs due to the unex-pected default by IL&FS, have come to light recent-ly and the independent directors were alsocaught unawares.

Now, a majority of independent directors arefinding it difficult to discharge the stringent statu-tory duties that have been thrust on them by thechanges made to the Companies Act.Consequently, the number of resignations this yearwent up by 30 per cent and many eligible and expe-rienced members of business and bureaucracyrefused to accept positions as independent direc-tors. Although almost all have cited personal rea-sons for quitting, it’s clear that they are resigningbecause of some inkling of corporate mismanage-ment. However, Anil Khandelwal, formerChairman and Managing Director of Dena Bankand Bank of Baroda and also independent direc-

tor of JM Financial Asset ReconstructionCompany, boldly proclaimed the lack oftransparent governance in the compa-ny to be the cause for his leaving.

Some departures are appropriate ifthe board failed in its basic fiduciaryduties, especially where the independentdirectors fail to exercise their liberty.However, on the downside, honest peo-ple may be forced to abandon boards,undermining a system that was meantto bring balance to the boardroom.

One cannot expect independentdirectors to function at their best withpossible information asymmetries,which stems from the fact that the struc-ture of Indian companies is quite differ-ent from that of firms in the West. In theUS, the ownership is diverse and notconcentrated in a few hands and the roleof independent directors is to protect theinterests of shareholders. For instance,61.1 per cent of Dow Jones-listed tech-nology major Apple, is owned by vari-ous institutional investors, 27.89 per centby mutual funds and 1.06 per cent byindividual stakeholders like ArthurLevinson, Chairman and CEO TimCook and so on and 9.95 per cent byother investors. Compare this withIndian technology giant Wipro, 74 percent of whose ownership is with the pro-moter/promoter group, 16 per centwith institutional investors and a mere5.66 per cent with the general public orretail investors. This shows that owner-ship and management are not separatein India, mostly dominated by familiesand maintaining freedom of indepen-dent directors is questionable, peculiarand challenging.

This brings us to the major difficul-ty that is being faced by independentdirectors — the selection process. Willthe monitoring role not be hampered,given that the majority shareholders havea strong influence on selection and sus-

tenance of independent directors? In anattempt to enhance their eligibility cri-teria and role, the Securities andExchange Board of India (SEBI) hasaccepted the recommendations of theKotak Committee that an independentdirector must provide an undertaking ofhis/her liberty and this declarationmust be taken on record by the boardof directors of the listed company afterduly assessing its veracity. In addition,there must be no “board inter-locks”,which means that if A, being a non-inde-pendent director of a listed company X,is an independent director of companyY, then any non-independent director ofcompany Y cannot be an independentdirector of the listed company X.

The second problem faced by themin exercising wisdom is inadequateknowledge about the organisation, asownership and access to informationremain in the hands of the controllingstockholders. This is the case in mostcompanies and independent directorsjust have a ceremonial presence. Theyare generally luminaries in their fieldsand their reputation can get tarnishedbecause of the wrongdoings of firms. Forinstance, the Satyam episode defamedsix famous corporate and academic per-sonalities.

Their plight is apparent from the factthat after the confession by Satyamfounder B Ramalinga Raju on January7, 2009, some 115 independent directorsof more than 100 listed companies quitwithin a month.

As per sub-section four of Section149 of the Companies Act, 2013, at least50 per cent of the board should havenon-executive directors. If the chairmanis a non-executive director, then at leastone-third of the board should compriseindependent directors. If the chairmanis an executive director, then indepen-dent directors should make up at least

half of the board. If an independentdirector resigns or is removed from theboard, he/she has to be replaced by a newone within 180 days. With these changes,it is expected that India Inc. would needan additional 5,000 of them by 2019-end,which is quite challenging in itself.According to the Kotak Committee,there must be at least one independentwoman director on the board of the top1,000 listed companies by April 1, 2020.With the slew of recent resignations,there is a definite gap here. Althoughdatabanks are available from whereindependent directors can be selected,this experience has not been encourag-ing as companies prefer having a knownthan an unknown face on their boards.

Concrete steps need to be taken toimprove the functioning of independentdirectors. First, apart from the control-ling shareholders having a say in theirappointment and removal, minorityshareholders should also participate inthe process for the sake of transparen-cy. Second, SEBI should also create anombudsman where independent direc-tors can report any malpractices. If theyhave to honestly monitor performance,advise the Chief Executive Officer andprotect the interests of minority share-holders, they must unite and become arobust team capable of extracting infor-mation for better decision-making.

Finally, they should not be held liablefor any mismanagement by firms unlessthey have power and knowledge to pre-vent the same. Independent directorsshould have the power to question thepromoter group and dispassionatelyserve the interest of minority sharehold-ers in boardrooms. For this, SEBI has tocreate structures to ensure that they aremore than mute and passive participantsin board meetings.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,Amity University)

Independent directors should be able to question the promoter group and serve the interestsof minority shareholders in boardrooms. For this to happen, the SEBI has to empower them

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

Take a page outof UAE’s book

HIMA BINDU KOTA

IT IS COMMONKNOWLEDGETHAT MANY

BOARDS AREMORE OF A

FRIENDS CLUBWITH DIRECTORSRARELY RAISING

ANYCONTENTIOUS

ISSUES.ACCORDING TOTHE THEORY OFCRITICAL MASS,

ANY PERSON,BEING IN

MINORITY IN AGROUP WOULD

NOT BE ABLE TOEXERT HIS/HERPOINT OF VIEW

AND GENERALLYTENDS TO GO

WITH THEDECISIONS OF

THE MAJORITY.SO, ANY

INDEPENDENTDIRECTOR WITH ADIVERGENT VIEW

MAY NOT BECOMFORTABLE IN

EXPRESSINGHIS/HER VIEWS

AND MAY CHOOSETO FOLLOW THE

CROWD

Indian stock markets are worrying investors, the auto sector isgoing through a bumpy ride, the aviation industry has already wit-nessed an emergency landing with the collapse of Jet Airways,

and in between the land and sky, the rupee is sinking in the foreignexchange markets. All these indicate that the health of the coun-try’s economy is not very sound, if not critical. Right now, the dreamof making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025 seems quite distantand with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at five per cent, thereis a dire need to get closer to all trade allies, including America, theUnited Kingdom (UK), Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE),if it is to be achieved.

Recently, during his trip to the UAE, Prime Minister NarendraModi said, “India has found a valuable partner in the UAE to achieveits ambitious dream of becoming a $5 trillion economy.” He wenton to add that, “There has been an increasing interest in invest-ments in India in sectors ranging from renewable energy, food, ports,airports, defence manufacturing and other industries.”

Close on the heels of Modi’s visit to the UAE, the most recentdevelopment which came into focus was National Security Advisor(NSA) Ajit Doval’s trip to the Gulf nation and his meeting with SheikhMohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Emirate of AbuDhabi. Both these diplomatic initiatives are considered quite mean-ingful for reinforcing trade ties between the two countries, espe-cially oil deals, as the UAE accounts for eight per cent of India’soil imports and is the fifth-largest supplier of crude oil to the coun-try. The NSA also met Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, chair-man of the UAE’s state-owned oil company, the Abu Dhabi NationalOil Company (ADNOC). His initiative is expected to foster the jointinvestment initiative of Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and ADNOC as theyare planning to invest $44 billion in a refinery in India’s west coast.

After China and the US, the UAE is the third-largest trade part-ner of India and the trade between the two countries registered a20 per cent growth in the fiscal year 2018-19. Consequently, Indianexports grew by seven per cent whereas the UAE’s exports increasedby 37 per cent. Now, the two countries are keen to exceed the $100billion-mark in bilateral trade by 2020.

Also, as the UAE accommodates around 3.3 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), it is the highest contributor to India’s remit-tance inflow.

The UAE is known for maintaining good relations with its tradeallies. Be it the US, the UK, Japan, Germany, China or France, theGulf state has cordial business relations with all the leading economiesof the world. Consequently, due to its friendly trade policies andgood infrastructure, the UAE acquired 17th position in the GlobalCompetitiveness Index (GCI). Its smart strategies of enticing for-eign investors and retaining them by providing quality infrastruc-ture enables it to perform better even in a difficult scenario.

The demands of foreign businesses and investors areadvanced infrastructure, business-friendly policies, 100 per centforeign ownership, zero or minimal taxation and political stability.The UAE has all these advantages and that’s why it attracts investors.Also, its policy reforms like unification of local financial markets,new laws to facilitate mergers and acquisitions, the establishmentof the public debt management office and creation of a more effi-cient labour market have played a vital role in strengthening the coun-try’s economy.

India provides ample business opportunities due to the largedomestic market, availability of natural and human resources,improved transportation and logistics, plus easy and affordableaccess to the internet. Besides, it is emerging as a hub for start-ups and the job market is full of competitive talent. In the last fewyears, the Government has launched some commendable pro-grammes such as ‘Make in India’ and ‘Start-up India’ to boost eco-nomic growth but they failed to bring the desired results, primari-ly due to lack of funds. Unfortunately, these initiatives couldn’t impressinternational investors, and many promising ventures were shut downdue to the non-availability of working capital. Indeed, attention wasnot paid by policymakers on factors responsible for assuring for-eign investment.

Thereby, to provide the required stimuli to the Indian econo-my, Modi should emulate the UAE to attract foreign investment andbring the country out of the economic slowdown. Foreign invest-ment is the most pressing need today and all possible steps shouldbe taken to invite it. India has close business allies such as the US,UK, Japan, Israel and Russia and they have enough investment poten-tial. New Delhi needs to convince them that the country is full ofhighly rewarding opportunities.

(The writer is president, Indo-Arab Chambers of Commerceand Industries)

The USA loves India”,tweeted AmericanPresident Donald Trump

as he enthusiastically shared theIndian Prime Minister’s Offices’message thanking and applaud-ing the energetic presence ofthe huge Indian diaspora atHouston, to mark the success-ful celebration of the HowdyModi event. The strength andshow of personal chemistrybetween Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and Trump atHouston does mark a water-shed moment in Indo-US rela-tions. As Modi called for astanding ovation for Trumpfrom the 50,000-strong Indian-

American community, he alsothanked the American peoplefor their “exceptional welcomeand hospitality” during hisvisit to the US.

Beginning from the meet-ing between former USPresident Obama and Modi in2014, to the first-ever trilater-al engagement between India,Japan and America in 2018, theleadership of both the countrieshas reaffirmed the importanceof strong Indo-US ties. Thereis a greater set of convergencebetween both the nations, rang-ing from a “free and open”Indo-Pacific region to the fightagainst global terrorism. Overthe years, the relationshipbetween these two maturedemocracies has evolved signif-icantly, which is not subject toany kind of “transactionalframework” and rather is wit-nessing a more robust “strate-gic alignment.”

India has sought to trans-form itself from being a “bal-ancing power” to a more “will-ing state” in redefining its pri-

orities in the international sys-tem. The same is reflected inIndia’s active public diplomacyin the last few years, seekingincreased global footprints withan emphasis on the nation’s softpower attributes and civilisa-tional strengths. This includesemphasis on yoga, spiritualism,peace and harmony. It alsoinvolves capitalising on thestrength of the Indian diaspo-ra. The Indian-American com-munity has been one of mostsuccessful in driving theadvanced technological revolu-tion in the US.

Modi’s charismatic andpopular leadership appeal andits hyper-energetic diplomacyhave backed this process inrecent years across the globe.The Howdy Modi event was anexpression of the same desireand objective. The soft powercredential of India is nowbacked by hard power choicesin terms of strategic align-ment and tactical diplomacy inforeign policy-making underhis leadership.

In the last few years, theIndian Government has soughtto build on developing newlinkages in Indo-US relation-ship. The Declaration ofFriendship to elevate strategicdialogue to a strategic andcommercial dialogue inJanuary 2015, the JointDeclaration againstCombatting Terrorism inSeptember 2015, developing

International Solar Alliance in2016 and the initiation of the2+2 Dialogue between Indiaand the US are some key devel-opments which define thenature of bilateral relations inrecent years. Indo-US defenceties have also seen an increasedlevel of engagement. In 2016,the two governments signedthe Logistics ExchangeMemorandum of Agreement

(LEMOA) and in 2018, theC o m m u n i c a t i o n sCompatibility and SecurityAgreement (COMCASA). Itenabled India access to UStechnology and utilisation of itsexisting platforms. Today, Indiais a major defence partner ofthe US, and there has been asignificant amount of increasein military hardware imports tothe country. Moreover, after agap of nearly eight years, theCope India exercise betweenIndian and American air forceswas organised.

Nonetheless, bilateral rela-tions still face limitations on thetrade front as market access hasbeen a key issue of contention.However, Modi pitched for USinvestment support as Indialooks to build a $5 trillioneconomy. While Modi reas-sured Trump that he was learn-ing from the President the “artof the deal”, it remains to beseen how both the leaders sur-mount difficulties in bilateraltrade negotiations.

On the global level, these

developments do pave the wayfor a greater understandingand better institutional cooper-ation. More importantly, thedevelopments in the Indo-Pacific have come with theirown set of challenges thatunderline the necessity ofcooperation. The meeting offoreign ministers from India,the US, Japan and Australiaexpressed their commitment tostrengthen “rules-based order”in the Indo-Pacific.

At his speech at the UnitedNations General Assembly,Modi highlighted the impor-tance of global action to fightagainst terrorism; climatechange and healthcare chal-lenges. The visit in his ownwords has been an “extremelyproductive one”, as he engagedwith a wide and different set ofpeople from industry to diplo-macy; civil society; businesscommunities and political lead-ers. To mark the 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi, Modi invoked hisvision for peace and prosperi-

ty for all at the inauguration ofthe Gandhi Solar Park. In hismeeting with leaders fromPacific island nations, heunderlined India’s commit-ment to advance their develop-ment priorities.

The show of politicalwarmth and trust betweenboth the leaders shall lead tosomething more tangible interms of trade negotiationsand cooperation. This willallow them to set more long-term objectives for commercialand trade engagements.

As both India and the USseek to consolidate on gainsfrom this comfort in relation-ship, it is necessary that bothmove beyond the framework ofa “top-down approach” andseek to institutionalise this“strategic alignment” at differ-ent levels to make it a morecogent and structural partner-ship in the future.

(The writer holds a PhDin East Asian Studies from

JNU and teaches at DelhiUniversity).

Igniting the Indo-American dreamThe success of Howdy Modi is a reaffirmation of India’s global impact and its growing soft power in the world

ABHISHEK PRATAP SINGH

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 5, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

ANIRBAN SARKAR

Modi should emulate the Gulf nation to attractforeign investment and bring the country out of

the economic crisis it is in

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 5, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Maruti sells over 2lakh units of BS VIcars in 6 monthsNEW DELHI: Maruti SuzukiIndia (MSI) on Friday said ithas sold over 2 lakh units ofBS VI emission compliantvehicles in just six months oflaunching first such car in thecountry. The auto major hadlaunched its BS VI compliantrange, starting with Alto 800and Baleno in April 2019.The company has eightmodels, out of 16, which arenow BS VI compliant."We believe that massadoption is one of the mostimportant factors for successof any new technology.Offering eight BS 6 compliantpetrol vehicles in the masssegment, much ahead oftimeline, has helped us toreach this technology to alarger customer base," MSIMD and CEO Kenichi Ayukawasaid in a statement.

Tata Motorslaunches limitededition Tiago WizzNEW DELHI: Tata Motors onFriday said it has launched alimited edition of its entry levelmodel Tiago priced at Rs 5.4lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). TheTiago Wizz comes with a 1.2litre multi-drive petrol engine."The Tiago is one of the mostpopular car in its segment andhas been on constant growthsince its launch..This youthfullimited edition will add to thepremium and fun quotient ofthe brand," Tata MotorsPassenger Vehicle BusinessUnit Head Marketing VivekSrivatsa said in a statement.

Godrej ConsumerProducts recordsvolume growth NEW DELHI: FMCG majorGodrej Consumer ProductsLtd (GCPL) on Friday said ithas recorded volume growthin the July-September quarterof this fiscal, even as theindustry is facing aconsumption slowdown.GCPL in a quarterly updates tothe regulatory exchanges saidthat it expects "higher thanmid single digit volumegrowth" in the third quarter ofof this year. For the domesticmarket, the company expectsits sales value growth to be"very close to the last quarter'ssales value growth". TheGodrej group firm registeredvolume growth helped byrecovery in its householdinsecticides segment, newproduct launches andmarketing campaigns alongwith consumer offers, GCPLsaid. "In India, demandcontinued to be challenging,impacted by a generalconsumption slowdown.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The RBI's decision to cut keypolicy rate by 25 basis pointswill boost consumer senti-ment as well as housing salesduring the ongoing festive sea-son which is a crucial periodfor realty sector, property con-sultants said on Friday.

However, they said the RBIshould ensure effective trans-mission of rate cuts, announcedon Friday as well as earlier, tohome loan borrowers.

"Consumers are spendingless on everything from FMCGto automobiles – and, ofcourse, real estate. Naturally,the sector eyes RBI's monetarypolicy for cuts in the key lend-ing rates to support variousmeasures taken by the gov-ernment to boost consumptionsentiment," AnarockChairman Anuj Puri said.

The move would go some wayin improving consumersentiment in the fes-tive season, whichis a crucial peri-od for realestate sales, headded.

"However,m u c hdepends onhow efficientlybanks transmitthe benefits totheir homebuyingborrowers," Puri said.

Dhruv Agarwala, GroupCEO of Housing.com andPropTiger said, "The RBI'sdecision to further reduce reporate gives the real estate sectora reason to cheer at a timewhen it expects sales toimprove in the ongoing festiveseason."

"A reduction in interest ratesmeans more cost-effectivehome loans for buyerswhen key propertymarkets alreadyoffer themgreat ready-to-move-inoptions topick from,on afford-able rates,"he added.

CBRE India Chairman andCEO Anshuman Magazinesaid, "The timing of the cut iscrucial as it is expected to spurreal estate demand and con-

sumption in the festive seasonas it is an important period forinvestment/consumption

across sectors."While the RBIhas done its bit,

it is now crit-ical thatbanks facil-itate af a s t e rtransmis-sion of

these ratecuts to

ensure that themeasures reap

results, he added.JLL India CEO &

Country Head Ramesh Nairsaid the real estate sector islikely to witness acceleratedsales owing to favourable pol-icy reforms and the gradualtransmission of rate cuts toend-consumers through low-

ering of mortgage rates."The consecutive rate cuts

have been a succour for realestate sector thereby making itthe most opportune time forbuying homes," he added.

However, Knight FrankIndia CMD Shishir Baijal saidthe rate cut should have beensteeper to boost housing sales.

"In light of the ongoing eco-nomic distress in the country,the 25 basis points cut in pol-icy rate is short of expectation.While it is the fifth consecutiverate cut this year, it is insuffi-cient to support the flaggingconsumer demand.

"The stressed real estate sec-tor was looking up to a strongrate cut and sector specificlending provisions to improveboth liquidity scenario andconsumer spending ability,"Baijal said. A slew of factorssuch as slowing economic out-put, rising unemployment rate

and low consumerconfidence have hin-dered the percola-tion of these smallquantum rate cutsto the economy atlarge, he added.

‘RATE CUT WILL BOOST HOUSING DEMAND’ No call yet on LVB-Indiabulls merger move: Das

PTI n MUMBAI

Placing Lakhsmi Vilas Bankunder the prompt correctiveaction framework cannot beconstrued as RBI having madeup its mind on the lender'smerger proposal withIndiabulls Housing, governorShaktikanta Das said Friday.

He also advised the allstakeholders not to draw anyinferences now based on thepunitive action on the South-based mid-sized lender.

Indiabulls promoters' rootsin the realty space has madethe RBI decision on its merg-

er proposal with LVB a keen-ly watched event, as the cen-tral bank has a pronounceddistaste for the sector fraughtwith volatilities.

However, LVB's low capitalbuffers, because of which it hasbeen placed under PCA, hasmade it into difficult choice forthe regulator as the merger willensure it gets the gush of cap-

ital it needs.Asked if placing LVB under

PCA should be seen as the RBIhaving made up its mind onthe merger not going through,Das termed this as a "specu-lative question".

"As long as a decision isgiven out in the publicdomain, it is not correcton our part (to interpret).

I would not like to com-ment on individualcases till we comeout publicly," Dastold reporters.

The Indiabullsm an a g e m e nthas been mak-ing public pro-

nounce-m e n t s

on how they would bringdown their stake if the

merger goes through andas part of that havealready started to exitthe non-kosher realtybusinesses.

The merger,announced in April

2018, hasreceived all

necessaryapprovals,but the alli m p o r -tant nodfrom the

RBI.

However,they said the

RBI should ensureeffective transmission

of rate cuts, announcedon Friday as well asearlier, to home loan

borrowers

Rate cut tocomplementsteps to boostgrowth: Fin MinPTI n MUMBAI

The Finance Ministry on Fridaysaid the Reserve Bank's decisionto lower benchmark lendingrate will complement recentmeasures taken by the govern-ment to accelerate growth.

Earlier in the day, RBI cutthe repo rate by 25 basispoints to 5.15 per cent.

Government has noted thereduction in repo rate from5.40 per cent to 5.15 per centannounced by the MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC)and believes that this willcomplement the recent mea-sures taken by the govern-ment to accelerate growth, anofficial statement released bythe Finance Ministry said.

The government has takena slew of measures since August23 to pull the economy out ofa six-year low growth and a 45-year high unemployment rateby reviving private investments.

Last month, the govern-ment cut corporate tax rate byalmost 10 percentage points,a move which has a tax impli-cation of Rs 1.45 lakh crore.

As part of the exercise, thegovernment also withdrewenhanced surcharge on long-and short-term capital gainsfor foreign portfolio investorsas well as domestic portfolioinvestors with revenue impli-cation of Rs 1,400 crore.

It further said that the gov-ernment has also taken noteof revised growth projec-tions of MPC at 6.1 per centfor 2019-20 along withgrowth projections made byother bodies, including theIMF, ADB, among others.

RBI increases lendinglimit of MFIs to Rs 1.25 LPNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India hasraised the lending cap formicrofinance institutions to Rs1.25 lakh, against the earlierlimit of Rs 1 lakh, to improvecredit availability in rural andsemi-urban areas.

It has also been decided to"increase the householdincome limit for borrowers ofnon-banking financial com-panies-micro finance institu-tions (NBFC-MFIs) from thecurrent level of Rs 1 lakh forrural areas and Rs 1.60 lakh forurban/semi urban areas to Rs1.25 lakh and Rs 2 lakh,respectively".

Taking into considerationthe important role played byMFIs in delivering credit tothose in the bottom of the eco-nomic pyramid and enablethem to play their assignedrole in a growing economy, theReserve Bank of India (RBI)observed in its Statement onDevelopmental andRegulatory Policies.

The income and loan lim-its to classify an exposure as aneligible asset were last revisedin 2015.

Detailed guidelines in thisregard will be issued shortly,the central bank said.

It is to be noted that the asub-committee of the centralboard of the Reserve Bankunder the chairmanship of YH Malegam was constituted tostudy issues and concerns inthe sector in the wake of theAndhra Pradesh micro financecrisis in 2010.

Based on the recommenda-tions of the committee, it wasdecided to create a separatecategory of NBFC - non-bank-ing financial company-micro-finance institution (NBFC-MFI) - and a detailed regula-tory framework for NBFC-MFIs was put in place inDecember 2011.

‘Rate cut reflectseconomicgrowth plans’PNS n MUMBAI

Niti Aayog Vice-chairman RajivKumar on Friday said the RBI'sfifth consecutive rate cut reflectsIndia's overall ambition toaccelerate economic growth totouch 8 per cent sooner ratherthan later.Speaking here at theIndia Economic Summit, Kumarsaid with several steps taken bythe government in the pastcouple of months to boost theeconomy,growth isexpectedto bearound6.5 percentthis year,although itis "lower thanexpected"."Given all the work done in thelast couple of months andtoday's RBI's fifth consecutiverate cut you can see thateverything is focused now inaccelerating growth further."And we do want to have thisgrowth probably at 6.5 per centthis year, which is lower thanwhat we expect. We want it togo up to 8 per cent soonerrather than later," Niti AayogVice-chairmanRajiv Kumar said.

As long as a decision is given out in the publicdomain, it is not correct on our part (to interpret). I would not like to comment on individual cases till

we come out publicly— SHAKTIKANTA DAS, RBI GGovernor

Detailed guidelinesin this regard willbe issued shortly, the centralbank said

Sensex plunges 434 pts on RBI policy, sensitive stocks tankPTI n NEW DELHI

Equity benchmark BSE Sensexplummeted 434 points onFriday, dragged by heavy loss-es in banking stocks after theRBI slashed the country's eco-nomic growth outlook for thisfiscal.

In its fourth bi-monthly pol-icy review, the central bank alsoreduced its benchmark lendingrate by 0.25 per cent to revivegrowth that has hit a six-yearlow.

After opening nearly 300points higher, the 30-shareindex gave up all the gains toturn negative after the policyannouncement by the ReserveBank of India (RBI).

After gyrating 770 pointsduring the day, the 30-shareSensex ended 433.56 points, or1.14 per cent, lower at37,673.31. It hit an intra-daylow of 37,633.36 and a high of38,403.54.

The broader NSE Nifty

plunged 139.25 points, or 1.23per cent, to close at 11,174.75.

Top laggards in the Sensexpack included Kotak Bank,ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, TataMotors, L&T, SBI, Tata Steeland Axis Bank, falling up to3.46 per cent.

On the other hand, TCS,

Infosys, ONGC, TechMahindra, IndusInd Bank andNTPC rose up to 1.03 per cent.

Rate-sensitive bankingstocks faced the heat, with theBSE bankex, finance, auto andrealty indices tanking up to2.45 per cent.

The Reserve Bank on Friday

sharply cut its economicgrowth projection for this fis-cal to 6.1 per cent from 6.9per cent earlier.

The central bank'sestimates come inthe wake of GDPgrowth sliding to asix-year low of 5per cent in the Junequarter, on a massiveslowdown in con-sumption and privatesector investments.

Further, the RBI's MonetaryPolicy Committee cut itsbenchmark lending rate by

0.25 per cent to revive growththat has hit a six-year low of

5 per cent, and affirmedcommitment to remain

accommodative toaddress growthconcerns 'as longas necessary'.

According toGaurav Dua, Sr

VP, Head – CapitalMarket Strategy &

I n v e s t m e n t s ,Sharekhan by BNP Paribas,despite the rate cut and thedovish commentary, the equi-ty market has reacted nega-

tively, especially banks."That is because of the

RBI's focus on the quicktransmission of lower interestrates would put pressure onmargins of banks," he point-ed out.

Also, the economic growthoutlook remains concerningdespite the 135 bps policy ratecuts in 2019 and there is lim-ited elbow room with RBI nowto further take monetaryactions to support the econo-my, he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, HangSeng and Kospi settled on anegative note, while Nikkeiclosed in the green. Chinesemarkets are closed for a holi-day. Equities in Europe weretrading lower in early sessions.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupeedepreciated 9 paise to 70.97against the US dollar intra-day.

Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark,advanced 0.78 per cent to USD58.16 per barrel.

PNS n MUMBAI

Home, auto and other loansare set to become cheaperafter the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Friday cut interestrates for a record fifth straighttime to almost a decade low asit moved aggressively to reviveeconomic growth languish-ing at six-year lows.

With all six members of theMonetary Policy Committee(MPC) voting in favour of arate cut and for retaining theaccommodative stance, thebenchmark repurchase ratewas cut by 25 basis points to5.15 per cent. The previouslowest repo rate of 5 per centwas recorded in March 2010.

Following the rate cut, thereverse repo rate was reducedto 4.9 per cent.

The RBI revised down-wards its estimate for GDPgrowth in the current fiscal to6.1 per cent from 6.9 per centit had previously estimatedafter lower-than-expected 5per cent growth rate in April-June and no substantial uptickin the following quarter.

The repo rate cut is aimedat pushing consumption upduring the ongoing festivalseason by reducing borrowingcosts for home and auto loans,which are now directly linkedto this benchmark.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas said as long as the growthmomentum remains as it isnow and growth revives, theMPC will continue with anaccommodative stance whileensuring inflation remainswithin the target. "RBI willcontinue accommodativestance as long as it is necessaryand growth revives," he said.

In the four previous ratecuts since February, the RBIhad cut interest rates by 110basis points whose transmis-sion to borrowers in form oflower lending rate has"remained staggered and

incomplete", the central banksaid in a statement.

As against the cumulativepolicy repo rate reduction of110 bps during February-August 2019, the weightedaverage lending rate (WALR)on fresh rupee loans of com-mercial banks declined by 29bps. However, the WALR onoutstanding rupee loansincreased by 7 bps during thesame period.

Central banks around theworld are loosening monetarypolicy to offset a global slow-down, worsened by US-China

trade tensions.The rate cut by the RBI fol-

lows a series of fiscal stepstaken by the government overthe last six weeks to spurgrowth, including steepestever cut in tax paid by com-panies, cost the exchequerRs 1.45 lakh crore.

Asked if the corporate ratecut would impact fiscal deficittarget of 3.3 per cent of theGDP, Das said the govern-ment has stated that it willmaintain fiscal deficit targetand "we have no reason todoubt that".

The previouslowest repo rateof 5 per cent wasrecorded inMarch 2010

PTI n NEW DELHI

The reduction in key policyrate by the RBI is expected torevive investment and encour-age consumption, therebykick-starting the sluggisheconomy, India Inc said onFriday.

Industry's reaction came asthe central bank slashed itsbenchmark lending rate by0.25 percentage points to 5.15per cent.

The industry emphasisedthat it was now critical forbanks to facilitate a fastertransmission of rate cuts toensure that the measures reapresults.

CII Director GeneralChandrajit Banerjee said thecumulative 135 basis pointsrate cuts this year along witha slew of measures announcedby the government to providegrowth stimulus to a variety ofsectors is expected to liftgrowth from its current stuporand unleash animal spirits.

PHD Chamber ofCommerce and IndustryPresident D K Aggarwal said

Friday's repo rate cut will helpinduce demand and refueleconomic growth in comingquarters.

"This further reduction ofrepo rate will not only bringdown the lending rates butalso incentivise investmentand boost consumption," saidSurendra Hiranandani, CMD,House of Hiranandani.

The RBI's latest move totrim repo rate comes at atime when the economicgrowth has hit a six-year lowof 5 per cent. This is the fifthstraight rate cut by the centralbank in as many policyreviews in 2019, and takes thetotal quantum of reductions to1.35 per cent.

Das says notaware of govtdemand forinterim dividendPTI n MUMBAI

Governor Shaktikanta Das onFriday scotched mediareports that the governmentmight seek an interim divi-dend of Rs 30,000 crore fromthe central bank to meet itsrevenue shortfall after themassive tax cuts.

As per media reports, thegovernment might seek aninterim dividend of about Rs30,000 crore from the RBItowards the end of the finan-cial year so that it couldmeet the fiscal deficit targetof 3.3 percent.

"I have also seen it in themedia. That apart I am notaware of any such demandfrom the government forpayment of interim divi-dend," Das told reportersafter the announcement offourth bi-monthly monetarypolicy.

During 2017-18, the gov-ernment received Rs 10,000crore as interim dividendfrom the central bank.

Further, the RBI's Monetary PolicyCommittee cut its benchmark lendingrate by 0.25 per cent to revive growththat has hit a six-year low of 5 per cent,and affirmed commitment to remainaccommodative to address growthconcerns 'as long as necessary'

Gold rallies Rs 210on weak rupeePTI n NEW DELHI

Gold prices went higher by Rs210 to Rs 39,075 per 10 gramin the national capital onFriday supported by a weakerrupee and strong inter-national trends,according to HDFCSecurities.

Silver, however,fell Rs 110 to Rs46,490 per kilo-gram here fromThursday's closingprice of Rs 46,600 perkilogram.

"Spot gold prices for 24Karat in Delhi rose by Rs 210supported by weaker rupeeand strong internationalprices. Spot rupee was tradingaround 10 paise weakeragainst the dollar after theReserve Bank of India cut

policy rate by 25 bps," saidTapan Patel, senior analyst(commodities), HDFCSecurities.

Gold prices on Thursdayclosed at Rs 38,865 per 10

gram here.In the internationalmarket, gold tradedhigher at USD 1,508per ounce in NewYork and silver atUSD 17.58 an ounce.

"The internationalgold prices traded

strong on economicrecovery concerns after USnon-manufacturing PMI datacame weaker than expected.Gold prices are trading high-er on safe haven buying onworries over trade talks, weakeconomic data and possibletit-for-tat situation in US-EUtrade issues," he added.

Loans to become cheaper India Inc welcomesapex bank’s move

SaturdayOctober 5, 2019

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THE USE OFCLAY UTENSILS ISCATCHING UP ANDTRADITIONALUTENSILS AREBEING SLOWLYREPLACED WITHMOREECO-FRIENDLYPRODUCTS

According to experts manyeateries and food chains inIndia have shifted to eco-friendly products. Utensils,residential and commercialkitchen products andbanquets all aregoing green andnatural

ith plastics get-ting the boot,dining acces-sories madeout of paper,bamboo, cop-

per, stainless straws andother eco-friendly materialsare slowly emerging from theshadows. According toexperts many eateries andfood chains in India haveshifted to paper straws.Similarly, utensils, residentialand commercial kitchenproducts, and banquets all aregoing green and natural. Theuse of clay utensils is catchingup and traditional utensils arebeing slowly replaced withmore eco-friendly products.

Among some of the initia-tives regarding green diningheld in Telangana was a mediadialogue on “HypertensionManagement and Eliminationof Trans Fatty Acids inTelangana” at Hotel HyattPlace in Banjara Hills. AparnaCyber Life in Nallgandla inthe city came up with an ideaof “Bring Your Own Plate”where the apartment residentscelebrated Ganesh Chaturthiby ensuring a zero-waste poli-cy.

Among individuals, anentrepreneur, Sahlu Walia,came up with this uniqueplan to reuse dried flowers.“I use the same natural,dried flowers in bouquets forbirthdays, so that the bou-quet stays for a year or moreand the recipient remembersthe sender for a long time.Unlike fresh flowers in thebouquets, these dried flowershave a longer shelf life.Everyone is doing businesswith fresh flowers but I dowith dried and natural flow-ers and fruits,” she said.

On similar lines, DEAL-Destination for EssentialAlternative — a Hyderabad-based startup — has come outwith recycled Agarbathis(incense sticks) made out ofused flowers from temples.

AROUND 500MUSIC LOVERSWERE TREATED TO ENCHANTINGMELODIES INCARNATIC MUSIC

W

avaratri celebrations areincomplete without thepublic renditions of classi-cal music. Families cometogether to partake in thefestive spirit by attending

concerts by famous musiciansand vocalists. One such event, Uttar Dakshin a famousseries of classical music anddance performances byrenowned exponents — washeld to a large audiencerecently at Bharathiya Vidya

Bhavan, Basheerbagh. One of the highlights was a

beautiful composition invok-ing Shakthi performed by wifeand husband Dr Jayanthi andKumaresh. Dr Jayanthi is a

sixth-generation musician whobegan playing the veena at the age ofthree and is one of the youngest veena

artistes to receive the A-TOP grading,the highest from All India Radio. R. Kumaresh has been on the classicalconcert scene for 40 plus years and isinternationally renowned both as asoloist and for his duets with his broth-er, Ganesh Rajagopalan.

The audience, on that mesmerisingevening, was treated to a non-stophour-and-half jugalbandi ofSaraswativeena and violin by the duo,accompanied with R.Sankaranarayanan on the mridangamand Trichy Krishnaswamy on theghatam. This was followed by avocalrecital by Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar inHindustani style. Around 500 musiclovers were treated to enchantingmelodies in Carnatic music. JayeshRanjan, Principal Secretary, former ISBDean Ajit Ragnekar, Mohan Hemmadi,Founder of Surmandal and othersattended the concert.

eing a leading band inthe country is not aneasy task. One shouldbe innovative andready to experiment.Else they will get rout-

ed by newcomers. Speaking abouttheir journey, Praveen of Agamsays, “All of us have been friendssince college or became friends atwork. We are all engineers as isthe norm in the south. Beingsouth Indians, one can almostnever escape music classes and

thus, at different points,we learnt music. Theband formed prettymuch organically andfew joined later. Wehad no inkling that we

would go on to domultiple albums or tourthe world!”

Speaking a bit onthe audiences under-

standing ofCarnatic music

and whether ithas changedwith manystyles beingintroduced,he said, “The

beauty of Carnatic music is that ithas stood the test of time and willcontinue to remain long after weare gone. We as musicians attemptto do our best to interpret andarrange a song, while the audiencecontinue to evolve as well andthere we find common groundwhere we appreciate each other!”

When asked how do you keepthe genre fresh or involve fusioninto music?, he says, “As the pio-neers of Carnatic ProgressiveRock, we constantly look forinspiration from all sources, fromDream theater to Plini to Ilayaraja.The nature of the genre itself is soaccommodating that we are ableto introduce vastly differentsoundscapes. For instance Koothover Coffee is a classic Koothustyle music vs The CelestialNymph which is dark and heavymetal.”

Speaking on the crowd inHyderabad, compared to the onesacross the country, he says,“Hyderabad is a sheer joy to playin as the crowd is extremelyknowledgeable. We do not typical-ly compare our audiences as eachcity is special to play in its own.”

But Carnatic music must be dif-

ficult to digest for those in thewest right? He says, “Carnaticmusic has spread its roots abroadthanks to the huge Indian diaspo-ra. We see a lot of collaborationsbetween western and Carnaticmusicians happening there as wellwhich helps propagate the artform.”

Sharing a bit on theirHyderabadi connection, he says,“Though we aren’t locals, we makeit a point to check out some of thelive music scene while we are here.Jammers and other bands areholding the fort pretty well!”

Asked about tips he would liketo give to today’s generation hesaid, “If you plan on going fulltime, then make sure you do notgive up. There will be ample rejec-tions and failures before peopleactually take notice of you.”

Sharing a bit of their futureplans and projects, he says, “Weare working on some collabo-rations and a lot of it is stillunder wraps. Do follow us oninstagram at agamthebandfor more details.” The bandwill be performing onSunday at Kismat, thePark at an event put

together by Eleven Point Two. The current lineup consists of

Harish Sivaramakrishnan, |SwamySeetharaman, T Praveen Kumar, Aditya Kasyap,Sivakumar Nagarajan,Jagadish Natarajan andYadhunandan.

BAN ONPLASTIChelps budding entrepreneurs

A TIMELESS MUSICALJUGALBANDI

A musical couple welcomes Navaratri celebrations with their vocal performances set in tune

with Saraswati Veena and violin

N

AGAM: BREAKINGBARRIERS IN FUSION

People forming bands in India is at a relativelynascent stage when compared to the West.However, there are a few bands which havebroken this mould and flourished in thecompetitive Indian music scene. Agam is onesuch band which has become quite popular inthe country, despite the members not giving uptheir day jobs as techies. Praveen Kumar, leadguitarist of the band speaks to ARUN DANIELYELLAMATY about their journey,

plans and much moreB

AS THE PIONEERS OF CARNATIC PROGRESSIVEROCK, WE CONSTANTLY LOOK FOR INSPIRATIONFROM ALL SOURCES, FROM DREAM THEATER TOPLINI TO ILAYARAJA

Pt Ulhas Kashalkar, vocalistR. Kumaresh and Dr Jayanthi

ollywood superstar ShahRukh Khan, who was lastseen on the big screen inZero, has said that he willannounce his next film in

a month or two. Headded that he is working on two to

three scripts right now. The superstarrevealed this fact while interactingwith the media at an event. There

were recent media reports suggestingthat Shah Rukh will be seen in Yash

Raj Films’ Dhoom 4. Another wave ofrumour said he set to do a Hindi

remake of Quentin Tarantino’s KillBill, yet other unconfirmed reportssuggested he is all set to make Don

3. Others have been saying he isplanning a project with Ali Abbas

Zafar’s or Rajkumar Hirani.“I am thinking and taking some

time. I am working on two or threescripts and Inshallah, as soon as they are

ready, I am ready. Because most of thepeople with whom I am working are busy

so, Inshallah, I will announce it myself. Ifeel till the time rumours are floating

around, it's good because some of themhave given me ideas.”

10

eems like singerCamila Cabello ishead over heels inlove with fellowsinger ShawnMendes.

Cabello, who was tight-lipped about her relationshipwith Mendes a few monthsback, is not holding back any-more. The Havana singer publi-cally expressed her love forMendes and said that they are

“pretty happy” together,reported US Weekly.

The 22-year-oldsinger recentlyappeared on TheUK’s CapitalBreakfast radioshow, where shemade a publicdeclaration oflove.

“We’re prettyhappy,” she saidwhen the hostsasked her aboutdating him. “Ireally, really lovehim a lot,” shesaid of Mendes.

She also

explained how their relation-ship first formed.

“There was a period wherewe didn’t hang out as much justbecause we were both busy, andthis song was really fun becausewe got to just hang out againlike we did on the song we didbefore, I Know What You DidLast Summer,” she said.

“Which was when we gotreally close. We were like ‘ohyay, we get to be pals and justhang out’,” Cabello added.

And what started out assomething secretive becamepretty impossible to hide astime passed by. During the2019 MTV Video MusicAwards on August 26, Mendesand Cabello performed their hitsong Senorita and fans wentcrazy over their undeniablechemistry. The two nearlykissed several times during theromantic performance and evenheld hands as they walked offstage.

Before the awards show aired,an insider told US Weekly thatthe two were “really nervousabout nailing their perfor-mance”.

The duo had beenrehearsing a lot, thesource added since itwas “the officialdebuting of them as acouple” and theywanted it “to be amaz-ing and perfect”.

The pair first sparkedromance rumours inJune with the release ofthe music video oftheir song Senorita.

Shortly after, asource told US Weekly,“Shawn and Camilastarted off as justfriends, which theyhave been for years,but the more timethey spent together,the more they start-ed having feelingsfor each other.”

“It quickly turnedinto a fun, light-hearted summerfling-type situa-tion,” the insideradded, “but nowit’s developing intosomething moreserious.”

S

CAMILAEXPRESSES HERLOVE FOR SHAWNMENDES

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Vijayawada Saturday October 5, 2019celeb talks

ollowing their Valentine’sDay engagement, singer KatyPerry and actor OrlandoBloom are tying the knotsoon.

Sources tell US Weeklythat the 34-year-old Firework hitmakerand 42-year-old Pirates of the Caribbeanstar are planning a December wedding.

No specifics about the wedding weregiven, including a specific date andwhere the wedding may take place.

Perry is a native of Santa Barbara,California while Bloom is a U.K. nativewho currently lives in Los Angeles withPerry.

Perry and Bloom first started datingin early 2016, shortly after the GoldenGlobe Awards that year, though theyannounced in February 2017that they had split.

KATY PERRY,ORLANDO‘PLAN DEC.WEDDING'

“BUSY WITH REALISTICFILMS, HAVEN'T DONE‘GLAM' IN MONTHS”

ctress Parineeti Choprasays she has not done“glam” for months as she isbusy with two realisticfilms — The Girl On TheTrain Hindi remake and a

biopic on ace badminton star SainaNehwal.

Parineeti took to Instagram toshare her glamorous avatar. In theimage, she is seen wearing a sizzlingred ensemble. She completed her lookwith classic red lips and dewy make-up.

“Busy with Saina Nehwal prepright now and just came from TheGirl On The Train. Both realisticfilms. Haven’t done ‘glam’ in months!This picture is more for me and lessfor Instagram,” Parineeti captionedthe image.

The 30-year-old actress has justwrapped up shooting for Hindiremake of the Hollywood movie TheGirl On The Train, based on the 2015bestseller by Paula Hawkins, the filmnarrates the story of a divorceewoman who gets entangled in a miss-ing person’s investigation that throwsher life to the brink.

The psychological thriller is pro-duced by Reliance Entertainment.The yet untitled movie is directed byRibhu Dasgupta, who has previouslyhelmed TE3N starring MegastarAmitabh Bachchan.

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ANGELINA WALKSJAPAN RED CARPETWITH CHILDRENMADDOX ANDZAHARA

ngelina Jolie,who is currentlyoccupied withher forthcomingfilm MaleficentMaking his first

appearance since he begancollege, Maddox came allthe way to support hismother, reported E! News.

The Taking Lives actorwas also joined by daughterZahara Jolie-Pitt.

The 44-year-old starlooked splendid donning asilver tasseled dress andsleek black shoes. On the

other hand, her childrenwent for all-black ensem-bles.

Maddox has alreadymade his debut in the enter-tainment industry as anexecutive producer withFirst they killed My Fatheralong with his mother in2017.

The actor has been fortu-nate to be spending quite alot of time with her familyrecently as she also walkedthe carpet for the LosAngeles premiere of Evilwith the rest of her kids.

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SRK: I AM WORKING ON

SCRIPTS, WILLANNOUNCE

MY NEXT FILM SOON

t hasn’t been a smooth ride forNawin Vijaya Krishna, grand-son of legendary actress-film-maker Vijaya Nirmala, after hedecided to make the switch toacting from a successful stint as

an editor. His first film Ainaa IsthamNuvvu ran into production hassles afterbeing wrapped up, failing to find a releaseyet, while his subsequent film NandiniNursing Home’s decent show helped himbag another film Vittalacharya, whichwent to floors last year. A socio-fantasydrama, Vittalacharya was put off five daysafter it began. The makers realised thatthe plot has similarities with Samantha-starrer Oh Baby! Nawin wanted to followit up with a horror thriller but his dadNaresh felt it was not a right move on thecareer front and advised him to play itsafe. Resultantly, he picked OoranthaAnukuntunnaru, a family drama set in thelush greens of Godavari belt. “The film isset in a fictional village Ramapuramwhere the entire village has to vote to for acouple to marry. If one family votesagainst, the marriage will cease. It’s thestory of Gauri and Mahesh who have lovestories of their own in their respectivework places in Chennai and Hyderabad.After they return to their village, they geta shock of their life when the villagersdecide their wedding. There are no vil-lains as such in the story. The conflict is

the situations they are in,” Nawininforms.

Directed by Balaji S, OoranthaAnukuntunnaru as well-faced itsshare of problems on the produc-tion front. “I’m glad that it’s finallyreleasing. The issues that my filmsencountered make for a crackingscript. I’ve put on weight because ofthe stress,” he states, with a widegrin, admitting that he couldn’t sur-vive as an actor for some monthsafter he made the transition. “Thereare fixed notions that a hero has tospeak this way, dress that way andhas to exhibit swag. I couldn’t adjustto it. I believe a hero leads a solitarylife. I realised its better for me to bethe way what I’m in real life and I’mdoing that now.”

He laments the fact that goodscripts are rare to come by in theindustry. “I picked 20 stories thatwill go with me out of 700 thatI’ve been narrated. Finding goodscripts is not easy. I’m waitingfor a good production houses totake my next set of films tofloors,” he points out.

Although he is completelyfocused to obtain the tag of adecent actor right now, hedoesn’t rule out the possibilityof sitting in the director’schair one day. “I’ve got intoediting to become an assis-tant director and later turn adirector. I wanted to applyfor a course in the UK andsomehow land a chance toeither work as an editor oran assistant director for myfavourite filmmaker GuyRitchie. It was my dream.Nonetheless, fate had otherplans for me,” he signs off.

een in films likeNenu, NuvvostananteNenoddantana andKhaleja among astring of other films,

actress Archana Veda gotengaged to Jagadeesh, who is thevice-president of a leading health-

care company in Hyderabad onThursday. The ceremony took placeat Radison Blu Plaza, Banjara Hills.It was a low-key affair with onlyfamilies and the friends of the cou-ple in attendance. The wedding isscheduled for later this year. ActorsSumanth, Navdeep, Siva Balaji, andMadhumita were some of the

noted faces from the industry whoattended the engagement ceremony.

Debuting with a praiseworthyperformance in Nenu (2004), Vedafailed to bag leading lady roles soonafter, with makers often limiting herexploits to supporting roles. Whileshe did find luck with some filmslike Konchem Touch Lo UnteChepta, Attili Sattibabu LKG,Samanyudu, Parama Veera Chakrawhere she was the lead face, thepoor performance of this filmsmeant she failed to find her footing.Her last outing was Saptagiri-starrerVajrakavachadara Govinda whereshe played a part with grey shades.

Vijayawada Saturday October 5, 2019

11

tollywood

The filmwill be a

massentertainer

with a touchof reality.

Detailsabout who

will producethe projecthave been

kept underwraps for

time being

fter the moder-ate success ofRakshasudu,BellamkondaSreenivas hasbeen extremely

careful on what to signnext. Although he held dis-cussions with VamsiKrishna, Trinadh RaoNakkina and Sreenu Vaitla,there has been little development onwhether the talks withthese filmmakers havegone forward. Now, the lat-est is that he has evincedinterest to headlinedirector SantoshSrinivas’ script. Itis understoodthat the film willbe a mass enter-tainer with atouch of reality.Details aboutwho will pro-duce the projectare kept under

wraps for time being. Sanotsh, once a promi-

nent cinematographer, hasbeen waiting to stage acomeback after his lastHyper (2016) failed to lightup the box-office. He wasinitially commissioned byMythri Movie Makers towork on Tamil star Vijay'sTheri remake for PawanKalyan. He did that, butthe film couldn’t move tosets due to Pawan’s full-fledged entry into politics.

The samescript

was

tai-loredtosuitRaviTeja’sbody lan-guage andthe film wentto sets for aweek, before theactor developedcold feet and decidedit shelve it altogether.

Interestingly, it wasBellamonda Sreenivas'father Suresh, who pro-duced Santosh's maidenfilm Kandireega, whichwas a box-office hit. Theproducer and the directorwere supposed to work onfor another project but dueto serious differencesbetween Suresh and Ram,who was attached to star inthe film, over financialmatters, the film couldn'tbe a reality.

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SANTOSH SRINIVAS TO DIRECT BELLAMKONDA

eetha Arts chief Allu Aravind and his starson Allu Arjun on Thursday eveningthrew a party at their residence inHyderabad to celebrate the massive suc-cess of Megastar Chiranjeevi-starrer SyeRaa Narasimha Reddy. With the film

opening off to a flier, clocking in impressive numberson day two as well, the producer-actor duo decided tomark the occasion by personally inviting the likes ofGhanta Sreenivas Rao, KS Ramarao, Gemini Kiran,Srikanth, Trivikram Sreenivas, Dil Raju, Sukumar,Vamshi Paidipally, Harish Shankar, Navdeep, VarunTej, Sai Dharam Tej, Vasu Varma, Meher Ramesh andVikram (of UV Creations) among others and hostingthem a dinner. The cast and crew of Sye Raa led byChiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Surender Reddy were thefirst to arrive. Allu brothers Bobby, Sirish and GA2Pictures chief Bunny Vaas played the perfect hosts.

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ARCHANA VEDAgets engaged

The actress will tie the knot later this year

alayalam heavy-weight

Mammootty’speriod action epic,

Mamangam willbe opening in

Telugu as well on November21. Touted to be the biggest

budgeted Malayalam film tilldate, the film, set against the

backdrop of 1695, is based ona religious festival of Kerala,

which was held once in 12years at Thirunavaya across

the banks of Bharathapuzha.Warriors from different parts

of the country would arrivethere and battle against each

other to prove their suprema-cy. Part of the film, it will

showcase and highlight thestory of one unknown hero(played by Mammootty) inan extraordinary narrative,the makers say. In the cos-tume drama, the megastar,

who plays a chaver warrior,will appear in three get-upsthrough two different time

periods. The actor, who had aTelugu release Yatra last year,

says, “Indian culture isunique. Languages shouldn’t

divide us from knowingneighbouring states’ history.

Kerala’s history is a part ofIndian history as well. Using

film as a medium, we are try-ing to tell a great story for all

the languages.” Directed byM Padmakumar and pro-

duced by Venu Kunnappilly,the film’s rest of the cast

comprises Siddique, PrachiTehlan, Unni Mukundan,

Master Achuthan, AnuSithara, Kaniha, Tarun Arora,Sudev Nair, Manikandan, and

Iniya. Kamala Kannan(Baahubali 2, Saaho and Sye

Raa Narasimha Reddy) is theVFX supervisor.

MAMMOOTTY'Smagnum opus in Telugu

My dream is to assist GuyRitchie: Nawin Vijaya KrishnaM

I

The actor shares insightsabout his upcoming

movie OoranthaAnukuntunnaru with

NAGARAJ GOUD

ALLU FAMILY throws Sye Raa success party

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sport 12VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 5, 2019

TOOR, JINSON OUT OF WORLD C'SHIPSDoha: India's Asian Games Gold medallist duo ofshot putter Tejinder Pal Singh Toor and 1500mrunner Jinson Johnson crashed out of the WorldAthletics C'ships after failing to qualify for thefinals of their respective events. The 24-year-oldToor produced a season's best effort of 20.43m tofinish eighth in the Group B qualification roundand 18th overall out of 34 competitors whileJinson ran a below par 3 minutes 39.86 secondsto end 10th in his first round heats on Thursday.He finished 34th overall out of 43 runners.

JAMUNA GIVES INDIA WINNING START Ulan-Ude: Jamuna Boro (54kg) gave a flyingstart to India's campaign in the World Women'sBoxing Championships by advancing to the pre-quarterfinals with a facile win here on Friday. Borodefeated Mongolia's Michidmaa Erdenedalai 5-0,recovering from a slow start for a resoundingvictory. The 22-year-old, employed with AssamRifles, has a tough one next up as she will squareoff against Algeria's fifth-seeded Ouidad Sfouh inthe pre-quarterfinals. Today, former nationalchampion Neeraj (57kg) and Saweety Boora(75kg), a ex-Silver-winner at the event, will be inaction for India.

PAK-SL LAUNCH T20 WC PREPARATIONLahore: World number one Twenty20 teamPakistan take on an inexperienced Sri Lanka in thefirst of a three-match series in Lahore today,starting their preparation for next year's WorldCup in the shortest format. Pakistan will also playthree Twenty20 matches in Australia next monthbefore hosting Bangladesh and later travelling toIreland and England, all ahead of the Twenty20Asia Cup. That gives them ideal preparation forthe Twenty20 World Cup to be held in Australia inOctober and November next year.

WRESTLER RAVI INCLUDED IN TOPSNew Delhi: Young wrestler Ravi Dahiya, whorecently won a World championships Bronzemedal, was on Friday included in the TargetOlympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) while strugglingSakshi Malik was dropped from the program. Thedecision was taken by the Sports Authority ofIndia's (SAI) Mission Olympic Cell. Ravi won aBronze in the men's 57kg freestyle category whichalso ensured an Olympic quota for India in nextyear's Tokyo Games. 2016 Rio Olympics Bronzemedallist Sakshi has been struggling for long andhas been dropped from the scheme. She hadcrashed out in the opening round of the 62kgwomen's category.

NADAL TO MISS SHANGHAI MASTERSShanghai: Rafael Nadal pulled out of next week'sShanghai Masters on Friday saying he had failedto recover from a wrist injury. It is the second yearin a row that the 19-time Grand Slam championwill have failed to appear in Shanghai. “As you allprobably know, I had an inflammation on my leftwrist during the Laver Cup and I haven't had thetime to recover and practise to be ready for thisamazing event,” the 33-year-old said in astatement. “I hope to be back in Shanghai for the2020 tournament.”

SAINI STARS AS DELHI BEAT BARODA Vadodara: Navdeep Saini claimed three wicketsas Delhi defeated Baroda by 10-runs in a rain-curtailed Elite Group B match of the Vijay HazareTrophy here on Friday. The match was delayeddue to wet outfield and it was reduced to a 38-over-a-side affair at the Moti Bagh Stadium here.Put in to bat, Delhi were bundled out for 148 in37.4 overs with Nitish Rana top-scoring with a 42-ball 27. Anuj Rawat and Manan Sharma chippedin with 21 and 18 runs respectively. For Baroda,captain Krunal Pandya starred with the ballreturning with the figures of figures 4/34. Chasinga revised target of 139, Baroda were folded for128 in 33.2 overs, thanks to a disciplined effort bythe Delhi bowlers. Speedster Saini picked up threewickets, while left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya &spinner Pawan Negi took two wickets each.

AGENCIES

SINGLES

PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

Ravichandran Ashwin, play-ing his first Test match

since December last year, sayshe badly missed playing forIndia in the last 10 months, somuch so that the wily off-spinner stopped watching thegame.

The 33-year-old, who hasbeen playing only one formatfor India since July 2017, lastplayed the Adelaide Test fromDecember 6 to 10, the first ofthe four on the tour ofAustralia.

To his disappointment,Ashwin did not feature in theplaying eleven in the followingTest series against the WestIndies in August-Septemberwhen India only played onespinner in Ravindra Jadeja.

“To stay away from crick-et itself was very tough for me.In order to substitute, I playedwhatever games I got. I triedand made opportunity formyself to go and play somecounty cricket (forNottinghamshire). I tried andplayed the TNPL as much as Icould, played some leaguecricket in Chennai,” he said.

“It was very important totick those numbers off becausethat is essentially where I camefrom. Going back and playingthere is probably the best thingthat could have happened,”said Ashwin, who when askedabout time away from nation-al duty.

After claiming his 27thfive-wicket haul in Tests onFriday, Ashwin showed that heremained India’s go to spinnerin home conditions.

Ashwin enjoyed his coun-ty stint in England where heeven dismissed South Africanopener Dean Elgar, who got thebetter of him here on Friday.

The offie said not playingregular cricket for India alsomade him realise how much heloves bowling.

“I am elated to be back.There is nothing like picking upa five-wicket haul for your

country. This place is very spe-cial for me but I enjoyed a five-wicket haul for Nottinghamtoo. One is not too lesser thanthe other,” Ashwin said.

“For me it is about playingthe game and I have realisedthat the joy of the game has tobe back in my heart. I madesure that I enjoy the gamewhere ever I go and play. ThatI thought to an extent was quitevisible when I played yesterday.”

Talking about SouthAfrica’s fightback in the ongo-ing first Test, Ashwin said Elgarand Quinton de Kock deservesall the credit for playing the waythey did.

“It is a proper Test matchpitch. You expect two teams tobat well don’t you? I thoughtthey batted really well.Whenever the ball spun, itspun from far distances notfrom the normal length.

“We might have giventhem few too many runs in themorning session which proba-bly gave them the momentum.You expect a good side to playthe way they did. So credit hasto be given where it needs to begiven,” he said.

“We came back in the backhalf of the day. That is how Testcricket is supposed to be,”Ashwin added.

PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

Opener Dean Elgar said he may have madehis best hundred for South Africa on Friday

in the first Test against India here and credit-ed county cricket, including his battles with RAshwin there, for making him a better batsmanagainst quality spin.

“Any three-figure mark for South Africa isa massive moment for me. It’s always an emo-tional time. A lot of hard graft has happened inthe previous series where you have failed. Youlook back and you realise that it’s very special.Even in the trying conditions that we have, wehave not experienced heat like this back home,”Elgar said at the press conference after the day’splay.

“The wicket obviously wears down quitequickly. I’d like to think it may be my best hun-dred I have had for South Africa, especially play-ing against the prowess of India and to showthem that last time was a little bit easier but thistime it is not going to be a pushover,” said Elgar.

Elgar was among the South African bats-men who had a disastrous tour of India fouryears ago. Even on Friday, South Africa were upagainst the wall at one stage it but Elgar andQuinton de Kock (111 off 163 balls) put theirteam back in the game with memorable knocks.

The southpaw said he learnt a lot from hispast mistakes ahead of his second series in India.

“We knew it was going to be tough. Weknew we were going to be facing qualitybowlers on a wearing pitch. But I always had thehope that if we knuckle down and give ourselvesa chance, the best chance to try and score, giveus a platform to allow us to express ourselves

a little bit, we could always get to the positionwe are.

“A lot of stern messages were given out thismorning in the huddle and it is nice to see thatthe new faces or even the older faces knuck-le down and do their bit for the side. It is toughplaying Test cricket in India. You are alwaysup against it, they are always coming at you.But I felt with previous experiences of play-ing against them that if you apply yourself, yougive yourself the opportunity, you can getthere.”

He said he learnt the importance of hisdefensive game from previous experience ofplaying against the Indians.

“The previous stats and history of playingagainst them proves that if you allow yourselftime, you give yourself a bit of opportunitywith your defensive game, your attacking gamewill come naturally and you will be able to getinto the position that you are now.”

HARSHIT BISHT n GREATER NOIDA

They need just one win out of thefour remaining matches to secure

playoffs spot in the Pro KabaddiLeague season 7 but Nitesh Kumar ledUP Yoddha (58 points in 18 games)want to keep the winning momentumgoing and win all four matches of thehome leg to not just only seal theremaining playoffs spot available butalso keep them on the winning trackbefore the final tussle for the glory.

Going into the home leg whichthey will play at Shaheed Vijay SinghPathik Sports Complex, GreaterNoida from today, last season's stardefender (100 tackle points in season6) and team captain Nitesh Kumarsays that though the team just needone win to pip Jaipur Pink Panthers(57 points in 21 games) to advancefurther in the tournament but that inno way will stop the side to play forwin in the remaining matches andmaintain winning run.

"Going into the home leg weexpect a lot of things to go in ourfavour. We have a chance to seal play-

off spot and what's better than doingit in front of the home fans. We needone win out of four matches toadvance further, so this in some waytakes out a lot of pressure from us andwe can go with a positive mindset.However, let me make it very clearthat even though one win will do thejob for us but we want to win all thefour games in front of our fans andmaintain the winning streak."

Going into the last phase of theleague, UP Yoddha will face table-top-pers Dabang Delhi and defendingchampions Bengaluru Bulls alongwith Telugu Titans and Puneri Paltanand according to the captain the teammanagement has plans to keepNaveen Kumar (Delhi) and Pawan

Sehrawat (Bengaluru) silent duringthe tie which will help them toachieve the goal.

"Delhi and Bengaluru are twosides that heavily depend on theirraiders and if we want to win againstthem then we have to make sure thatwe keep their main raiders Naveenand Pawan out of action for as muchtime as possible."

"We have played them againstbefore and in those games also theywere not able to take many pointsfrom us, so this is going to be a sortof motivation this time even and weare confident that we will keep themunder check this time too," he captainsaid.

The team during the course offour month-long tournament sufferedbecause of injuries to senior playerslike Rishank Devadiga and MonuGoyat but now that when they are fitand back in the side, the captain whoscored record 100 tackle points dur-ing last season says that the return ofsenior pros in the squad will furtherboost their chances to go a stepbeyond this time and win the trophy.

"Rishank and Monu are the twomost experienced players in ourteam and their return from injury isa massive boost for us in this last twoweeks of the tournament. They havea lot of experience and their presenceis going to matter a lot during crunchsituations and I am sure that togeth-er we will achieve better results thistime," the captain concluded.

AFP n VIZAG

Dean Elgar and Quintonde Kock centuries helpedSouth Africa fight back

on Friday to reach 385 for eightin response to India’s mammothfirst-innings 502.

De Kock made 111 and puton a key 164-run stand withElgar, who scored 160, to thwartthe Indian bowling attack on daythree of the first Test inVisakhapatnam.

Off-spinner RavichandranAshwin kept chipping away atthe batsmen however to claimhis 27th five-wicket haul in 66Tests.

At stumps, the Proteas stilltrail by 117 runs as they chaseIndia’s first innings score of 502for seven declared.

Debutant SenuranMuthusamy, on 12, and KeshavMaharaj, on three, were at thecrease after the long day with 98overs bowled to make for losttime because of storms on dayone.

Wicketkeeper-batsman deKock completed his fifth Test

hundred in the final session witha six off Ashwin before eventu-ally being bowled by the off-spinner.

Ashwin struck again withthe wicket of Vernon Philanderfor nought.

The left-handed Elgar, whostarted the day on 27, led therevival after South Africa slippedto 63 for four in the morningsession.

NO FLUKEThe 32-year-old credited

his stint with Surrey in theEnglish county championshipfor his impressive show.

“I have played five monthsof county cricket. That’s anextremely big motivating factorfor my career that alwaysimproves me as a player,” saidElgar.

“I’d like to think that thisinnings didn’t come by fluke, butcame because I have done the

hard work. I have spent a lot oftime away from home whichyou have got to sacrifice.”

Elgar put on 115 with skip-per Faf du Plessis for the fifthwicket to put pressure on India’sbowlers.

Ashwin, back in the IndianXI after his last outing inAustralia last year, also saidplaying county cricket forNottinghamshire had helpedhim during his time away fromthe Indian team.

“I am elated to be back. It isalways special for India. Thereis nothing like picking up a fivewicket haul for your country,”said Ashwin.

“This place is very specialfor me but I enjoyed a five wick-et haul for Nottingham too. Oneis not too lesser than the other.”

SELFIE WITH KOHLIAshwin’s spin partner

Ravindra Jadeja also made itcount with Elgar’s wicket in thefinal session as he moved to 200Test scalps.

South Africa started the

day on 39-3 but fast bowlerIshant Sharma struck early, tak-ing overnight batsman TembaBavuma low for 18.

Jadeja also posed problemsand nearly got Elgar on 74 butwicketkeeper Wriddhiman Sahaspilled the chance.

Indian opener MayankAgarwal set the tone for thehosts’ dominance of the gamewith his 215 and a 317-run

opening stand with RohitSharma, who hit 176 of India’sgiant score.

An over-enthusiastic fancaused a brief security scarewhen he rushed on the field toget a selfie with the India cap-tain Virat Kohli.

Kohli, who is treated as anational hero, was taken bysurprise by the intrusion inbetween overs when the youth

tried to hug him before takinga picture and touching the starplayer’s feet.

Kohli tried to order theteenager off and vice-captainRahane also intervened but thepersistent fan stayed on thefield for more than two minutes.

Security officers eventuallyoverpowered him as he ran off,while the crowd roared andclapped.

AFP n BEIJING

World number oneAshleigh Barty said

she produced some of herbest tennis this year as shebattled into the China Opensemi-finals on Friday with agutsy victory over PetraKvitova.

The Australian camefrom a set down to win 4-6,6-4, 6-3 and will play KikiBertens of the Netherlandsin the last four in Beijing.

“From my opinion, thatwas one of the highest-quality matches I played allyear,” said the 23-year-old,the reigning French Openchampion.

“Petra always has a wayof bringing out the best inme, she really does.

“From both of us, Ithink the level was incredi-ble.

“Regardless of winningor losing, I think I’d be sit-ting here with the exactsame perspective, kind ofthe same feeling of thematch afterwards.”

This was the sixth meet-ing between Barty and two-time Wimbledon championKvitova, with the formerwinning only one of her pre-vious encounters againstthe Czech.

Barty, who had strap-ping on her left calf, wasunder the cosh in the decid-ing set after seventh-rankedKvitova broke her first ser-vice game.

But Barty grabbed thebreak back and, with theclock ticking past two hourson court, broke Kvitovaagain for a decisive 5-3 lead.

Bertens, eighth in theworld, sealed her spot in thesemi-finals with a two-setvictory over Elina Svitolinaof Ukraine.

HEARTENEDPROGRESS

Andy Murray said thathis comeback from career-saving hip surgery was pro-gressing better than expect-ed despite going down fight-ing in the quarter-finals.

The 32-year-old Britonlost 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) to top seedDominic Thiem in Beijing,but said: “I think this (week)was maybe the best in termsof how I played since Icame back. “It was great forme, I played three matchesin four days, which is quitea lot.

“Actually I felt betterthan I expected today, aswell,” said the former num-ber one, who had a majoroperation in January and

only returned to singles ten-nis in August.

Asked if he was furtherahead than he expected tobe in his comeback, hereplied: “Yeah, maybe.

“I'm getting there, thisweek is better than lastweek, I hope next week isbetter than this week,” thethree-time Grand Slamchampion said.

Dean Elgar & Quinton de Kock run between wickets during third day of 1st Test AP

Dean’sclass

Elgar, de Kock score hundredto lead visitors fight back

India vs SA (Day 4)Live from 9:30am ISTSTAR SPORTS 1 NETWORK

PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

Left-arm spinner RavindraJadeja on Friday became

the second fastest Indian toscalp 200 wickets in Testcricket.

Jadeja achieved the featwhen he dismissed centurionDean Elgar (160) duringSouth Africa’s first innings onthe third day.

Jadeja took 44 Tests toreach the milestone and is

now only behind off-spinnerRavichandran Ashwin, whoneeded 37 matches to enterthe 200-wicket club.

Former India spinnersHarbhajan Singh and AnilKumble needed 46 and 47matches respectively to reachthe milestone.

Jadeja is also the fastestleft-arm bowler to achieve thefeat ahead of Rangana Herath(47 matches) and Australia’sMitchell Johnson (49).

Jadeja 2nd fastest Indian to 200 Test scalps

Osaka wins Next Gen battle

AFP n TOKYO

World number oneNovak Djokovic on

Friday put on a stunningshow of supremacy at theJapan Open with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Lucas Pouilleof France.

The Serb over-whelmed his opponent inthe quarterfinal match,showering Pouille with abarrage of powerful, pre-cision shots to deep, widecorners mixed with deli-cate drop shots.

“I am not a machine.But I did play like one

today,” he said after their50-minute contest.

“This was one of thebest matches I played thisyear. Very, very pleasedwith the way I feel andplayed on the court,” saidDjokovic.

"I am looking forwardto another battle onSaturday, hopefully I willbe able to keep up withthis quality of tennis.”

In the semifinals,Djokovic will face 2017champion David Goffin,who also comfortablydefeated Chung Hyeon 6-2, 6-2.

MACHINE-LIKE TENNIS

UP & runningYoddha’s captain Nitesh saysteam is determined to win all

games of Greater Noida leg

Staying away from cricketwas very tough: Ashwin

County has helped meplay spin better: Elgar