VIJAYAWADA, MONDAY APRIL 12, 2021; PAGES 12 `3www.dailypioneer.com

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Chief Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

02MONDAY | APRIL 12, 2021

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any

damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before

responding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

Monday MirchiIt's OK to be abroad for 17yrs. Security of a govt job!

The Education Department in TelanganaState does not bother Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao as long as its own purpos-es are served. It won't flinch from making anillegal reinstatement. As per rules, if anyemployee is removed from services only theChief Minister has the power to reinstate himor her. In 1998 one junior lecturer, who hadbeen selected through then AP Public ServiceCommission, was posted in a college inKarimnagar. But from 2003 she stoppedattending duty. Under rules, if any governmentemployee does not attend duty for more thanone year without permission from properauthorities, the employee would be deemed tohave resigned from his or her post. In suchcases, only the Chief Minister has the powerto reinstate them. However, in the case of thejunior lecturer, after about 17 years, havingstayed in foreign countries, she came back andapproached the Education Department offi-cials. The officials went beyond their call ofduty to be generous to the junior lecturer.Without even sounding the Chief Minister,they chose to reinstate her. In 2011 theEducation Department had removed morethan 50 lecturers for not attending dutywithout taking permission. The junior lectur-er's name figured in that list. Still, since thebabus in question had big hearts, they rein-stated her, setting aside all rules.Laying sound foundation forbuilding AP

A surprising development in AP's powercircles is the elevation of 1987 batch IAS offi-cer Neerabh Kumar Prasad. Neerabh, seniormost bureaucrat serving as ChiefCommissioner of Land Administration(CCLA -- the most coveted post after ChiefSecretary) in the state, has been given fulladditional charge of the post of MissionDirector, Mission Build Andhra Pradesh. Allthese days, 2006 batch IAS officer PravinKumar has been holding the post. MissionBuild AP was in the news recently due to thelegal tangles it got into, following the decisionto auction most valuable government prop-erties across the state to fund the government'sflagship welfare programmes. Now, the landexpert has to start building.

Lobbying begins amid talk ofbabudom shake-up

Amid the talk of an impending adminis-trative shake-up in Andhra Pradesh, some IASofficers have begun lobbying for securingplum posts. The grapevine has it that ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddy has decidedto transfer at least six district collectors, apartfrom heads of some departments in theSecretariat. He is expected to recast the teamupon completion of the ongoing process forZPTC and MPTC elections. Anxious babusare already after Ministers, IAS officers and

other leaders known to be close to the ChiefMinister. A senior IAS officer conceded thatalmost all IAS and IPS officers want 'good'position in an 'important' department.Whether the CM can accommodate all babusby giving them this rare combination is a mil-lion-dollar question.

‘Financial crunch' is forpublic consumption

Almost every government department inTS cites its own financial crunch when itcomes to scaling up what it delivers to thepublic. What if it splurges on gadgets, furni-ture etc. for its officials, with least regard forausterity measures, whether mandated or vol-untary? We know about babus going for freshfurniture every time there are transferred evenif their new office has brand new items of fur-niture and furnishings. In Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation too, it is customaryfor the corporation to give mobile phones andother gadgets to its commissioners and otherofficers. The tech-savvy ones among theseofficials would settle for nothing short of lat-est iPhone, iPads, Apple MacBook Pro,Samsung Galaxy Notes et al. It doesn't mat-ter (for them) if the gadgets are priced in therange of Rs.50,000 to Rs.90,000. The 'smarter'ones among these officials have managed toget more than one gadget. Barring presentCommissioner Lokesh Kumar and formerGHMC Commissioner Janardhan Reddy,most of the other 30-odd IAS/ IPS officerswho had served as GHMC Commissioners orZonal Commissioners, including DanaKishore, Harichandana, Heads of Planning,Engineering, Vigilance wings, apparently didnot bother to surrender the gadgets given tothem when they moved out on other assign-ments. The GHMC cannot help purchasinggadgets afresh for the new incumbents. Allthis happens when GHMC complains ad nau-seum about its coffers being empty (with audi-tors looking the other way).

Power-hungry babu to keeptabs on performance

One babu's insatiable hunger for powerseems to have triggered a new amendmentto the AIS service rules pertaining to annu-al Performance Appraisal Reports. A sectionof the bureaucrats in AP strongly believe thatit is the brainchild of this bureaucrat whoalready wields immense power in the CMO.This babu, they bemoan, wants to keep theentire administration under his thumb, vir-tually bypassing the Chief Secretary's office.Their point that a busy chief minister willanyhow fall back on select officials in CMOfor a gist of the PARs sounds plausible. Theupshot is that the CMO babu in questionwants a button on everything and everyone,regardless of the negative impact it wouldhave on the image of Jagan, who is otherwiseknown as a 'friendly' CM.

—Yours truly

Considering the prevail-ing geo-political uncer-tainty, coupled with

rapidly spreading secondstrain of corona virus pan-demic, the movements of theprecious metals globally dur-ing the week ended Saturday,has been on the expectedlines. Undoubtedly, the sharemarket is the most vulnerableplace where impact of everyevent, positive or negative, isfelt almost instantaneously.

Consequently, New Yorkgold closed at US $ 1,744.50(per ounce) while silver fol-lowed suit and closed at $25.25 (per ounce). Platinumand palladium closed at $1,195 (per ounce) and $ 2,550(per ounce) respectively.

Other economic parame-

ters remained moderate.Brent closed at US $ 62.95(per barrel) while CrudeMCX oil was quoted atRs.4,432 (per barrel).While Gold MCXstood at Rs.46,610(per 10 gms), MCXSilver closed atRs.66,916 (perkg) andC o p p e rM C Xclosed at Rs.689.90 (per kg).Sensex and Nifty 50 closed at49,591.32 and 14,834.85points.

Leading foreign curren-cies' exchange rates, on theclosing day were: US $:Rs.74.73, British Pound:Rs.102.44, Euro: Rs.88.93,Singapore $: Rs.55.69, Swiss

Franc: Rs.80.84, Australian $:Rs.56.97, Saudi Riyal:Rs.19.93, New Zealand

Dollar: Rs.52.55, KuwaitiDinar: Rs.247.59, Omani

Rial: Rs.194.16, UAEDirham: Rs.20.35,

Japanese Yen:Rs.0.68 and Hong

Kong Dollar :Rs.9.61.

In localmarkets, due

to the traditional marriageseason demand standard gold(24 carats) appreciated con-secutively for the second weekby Rs.770 and closed atRs.47,350 (per 10 gms).Ornamental gold too, fol-lowed the suit and was quot-ed in the range of Rs.43,300- 43,400 on the closing day.

Silver (0.999) also appreciat-ed by Rs.1,900 and closed atRs.71,600 (per kg).

COMMODITIESThe sentiment in the prin-

cipal wholesale commoditymarkets in the twin citiesremained moderate. RythuBazars and the various com-modity markets located inBegum Bazar, Kishangunj,Mukthyargunj, RisalaAbdullah, Mir AlamMandi,Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally,Bowenpally and GeneralBazar recorded moderatetrading.

During the week, commonpulses such as tuar dal,masoor dal, moong dal andurad dal and commoditieslike chillies and garlic record-ed a marginal decline or

remained unchanged at theirrespective last week's closinglevels, while staple food grainsand common edible oils,turmeric, garlic and gingerrecorded a small appreciation.

Common vegetables suchas cabbage, caulif lower,ribbed gourd, snake gourd,lady's finger, cucumber, pota-toes, onions, tomatoes,French and leafy vegetablesremained unchanged at theirrespective levels in the lastweek.

The NECC wholesale priceof egg in Hyderabad appre-ciated by Rs.58 and closed atRs.409 (per 100). The high-est price of Rs.475 wasrecorded at Kolkata, whileLudhiana recorded the low-est of Rs.392.

WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW

Share markets become highly vulnerable

HC UPADHYAY

Much to the relief of all nation-alist forces within the country,the Supreme Court once againupheld that illegal migrantsfrom Myanmar were neithercitizens of India nor therefugees; and therefore, can bedeported back to Myanmaralbeit after following the dueprocess of law. The much-awaited judgment onRohingyas' deportation wasdelivered by on April 8 by athree-Judge bench comprisingChief Justice of India S.ABobde, Justice A.S Bopannaand Justice V.Ramasubramanian in a casetitled, Mohammad Salimullahand another Vs. Union of Indiaand Others.

The case filed after sup-pressing the factum of dis-missal of a case filed earlier inI.A No. 142725 of 2018 for sim-ilar relief in respect of illegalmigrants detained in Assam,had caught nation-wide atten-

tion because its outcome wasbound to affect the interests ofevery Indian citizen.

The high-profile casewas dismissed by the apexcourt with the followingobservations:

"It is also true that therights guaranteedunder Articles 14and 21 are availableto all persons whomay or may not becitizens. But theright not to bedeported, is ancillaryor concomitant tothe right to reside in any partof the territory of India guar-anteed under Article 19(1)(e)."

The Court also noted thatIndia was not a party to theRefugee Convention.

The Judgment has reinforcedthe government's stand thatIndia cannot be allowed tobecome the capital of illegalmigrants from all over theworld. According to theinformed sources, there are

more than five crore or about4 per cent of India's population

as illegal migrants. Overthe past several years, suchillegal migrants have beenpouring into the country,

mostly from the bor-ders ofBangladesh,Myanmar and

Pakistan. Some anti-national and fanatical

elements extend neces-sary support to such ille-gal migrants by providingshelter, food, clothing ,employment and Indian

citizenship by creating fakeIDs. Obviously, these 'Astin kesaap' within our countryindulge in harbouring of illegalmigrants not just for the sakeof money, but to build up theirpolitical vote banks.

Now that the legal hurdlesare all over, it is high time thegovernment deported not onlyRohingyas but other illegalimmigrants also lock, stockand barrel without losing a sin-

gle moment. But before doingso, the government would dowell to put behind the bars allthe friends, well-wishers andpolitical personalities, irrespec-tive of their stature who, areresponsible for the infiltrationand settlement of such illegalmigrants. Though this is amajor task, it can be fulfilledwith the political will of theelected nationalist representa-tives, government machinery,and above all, goodwill of peo-ple.

In fact, the time has comenow to call a spade a spade.With the Supreme Court'sgreen light, the nation-widecrack down on illegal migrantsand their ' Mai-Baap' within thecountry, including jihadi andextremist groups and support-ing political parties should bedealt with an iron hand. If thisis not done now, the problemwill aggravate beyond manage-able limits in near future.Thereafter, whatever happens,only the government of present

dispensation will be heldresponsible. Arnab gets relief on technical grounds Republic TV's Editor-in-ChiefArnab Goswami, his wifeSamyabrata Ray Goswami andM/s. ARG Outlier MediaPvt.Ltd, got reprieve from aSessions Court when a com-plaint filed by the DeputyCommissioner of Police ofMumbai, Abhishek Trimukh,against them was dismissed asnot maintainable on technicalgrounds.

The said complaint was filedby the DCP in his personalname under Section 199 (2) ofthe CrPC against some state-ments made by Arnab withregard to the role of the saidDCP in course of investigationinto the death of the actorSushant Singh Rajput.

Explaining the technical flawin the complaint, the JudgeUday M. Padwad said: " Section199(2) of the Cr.P.C requiresthat the complaint has to be in

writing and has to be made bythe public prosecutor. This, inother words, means that noother person against whomthe offence is alleged to havebeen committed, can makesuch a complaint. "Adverting tothe status of the aggrievedparty, the Court said that he willbe only a witness in the case.

The Court observed that inthe instant case, the complaintwas not made by the publicprosecutor but was made by theDCP while the public prosecu-tor had just put his signature asis the practice while preferringan appeal or revision. Unfit as Minister:Karnataka on Lok AyuktaA bench of Karnataka LokAyukta, Justice Cyriac Joseph (former Supreme Court judge)and Harun-al-Rashid (formerHigh Court judge) has heldthat K.T Jaleel, Minister forHigher Education andMinority Welfare, is guilty ofnepotism, abuse of power, andfavouritism and that he has vio-

lated the oath of office. Jaleel, took a decision as theMinister to change the qualifi-cations for the post of GeneralManager in the Kerala StateMinorities DevelopmentFinance Corporation byadding, "B.Tech with PGDBA"as a necessary qualification tomake his cousin KT Adeeb eli-gible for the post. The declaration made underSection 12(3) of the Kerala LokAyukta Act now has to beaccepted by the Chief Ministerunder Section 14 of the saidAct. On acceptance by theChief Minister, the Minister hasto resign from the office as perSection 14(2)(i) of the Act. Bombay HC decries VIPculture The Bombay High Court camedown heavily on some politicalleaders in Maharashtra whowere getting vaccinated againstCovid-19 virus at homes."When even the President andthe Prime Minister of the coun-try were going to the designat-

ed centres for vaccination, howsome political leaders could getvaccinated at their homes",asked the Court, and addedthat it sends out a wrong mes-sage. These observations came fromthe bench in the course of hear-ing of a PIL plea filed by advo-cates Dhruti Kapadia andKunal Tiwari seeking a direc-tion to the Centre and theMaharashtra government toprovide door-to-door vacci-nation facility for senior citi-zens above the age of 75 , bed-ridden persons and specially-abled persons. 16 States defer NationalLok Adalats Due to the sudden rise in thenumber of Covid-19 cases in thecountry, 16 State Legal ServicesAuthorities have decided topostpone the scheduledNational Lok Adalats to futuredates. Accordingly, in Andhra Pradeshthe National Lok Adalat will beorganized on May 8, it is learnt.

LEGAL ROUNDUP

Go Rohingyas, Go: SC flags green light for deportation!

YSRCP complaints ECagainst TDP pamphletsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSRCP had objected to thepamphlets being used by TDPin the wake of Tirupati by-polland lodged a complaint with theElection Commission. YSRCPrepresentatives urged the chiefelectoral officer (CEO) to initi-ate action against TDP, de-recognise the party and its con-testing candidate for distribut-ing pamphlets against YSRCPwith false allegations, that theYSRCP mortgaged the SpecialStatus of AP for relief from per-sonal cases to gain politicaladvantages.

"In fact such false propagan-da is nothing but in violation ofmodel code of conduct andattributing aspersions to thestate and central governmentsand judiciary. It is a known factthat the TDP and the then rul-ing Congress party filed falsecases against YSRCP president

and the same are pending beforecourts. Once the matter is seizedby the courts and the same issubjudice. It is the prerogativeof the judiciary to adjudicate thematters pending before thecourt.

But, the parties / personsshould maintain restraintrespecting the outcome of thecourt's verdict. But, TDP witha view to gain undue politicaladvantage in the bye-electionsis distributing pamphlets bymaking false allegations with-out any basis against central,state governments and judicia-ry," said YSRCP state generalsecretary, Lella Appireddy inthe complaint.

He added that the conduct ofthe TDP was nothing but con-tempt of the court and in utterviolation of model code ofconduct prescribed by theElection Commission of Indiaand rules framed under

Representation of PeoplesAct,1951.

"In fact, YSRCP is still com-mitted to its promise and striv-ing hard to get Special CategoryStatus to the state by all means.YSRCP and state governmentis repeatedly requesting anddemanding for grant of SpecialCategory Status, assured inthe Floor of House at the timeof bifurcation. Our chief min-ister is tirelessly pursuing thematter with the central govern-ment for grant of SpecialCategory Status," he added.

Now, TDP is distributingpamphlets with false propa-ganda, as if YSRCP mort-gaged Special Status issuefor the sake of pending cases,which act is highly objection-able, derogatory and thesame attracts penal actionunder the provisions ofRepresentation of PeoplesAct,1951, Reddy said.

PM says ‘Tika Utsav'...Continued from Page 3

"This festival is, in a way, thebeginning of another majorwar against corona. We have tolay special emphasis on person-al hygiene as well as socialhygiene," he said.

Five states -- Maharashtra,Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, UttarPradesh and Kerala -- cumula-tively account for 70.82 percentof India's active COVID-19cases, while Maharashtra aloneaccounts for 48.57 percent, theUnion Health Ministry said.

Besides these states, Delhi,Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh,Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan,Punjab, Telangana,Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradeshand West Bengal are displayingan upward graph in daily newcases.

Most of these states havereimposed restrictions, includ-ing the closure of schools,night curfew, weekend andlocal shutdowns, while rulingout a total lockdown, but as thelatest wave of patients contin-

ues to flood hospitals, there aresome signs of a rethink.

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray and hisDelhi counterpart ArvindKejriwal have said that a lock-down will be the only option ifthe infections don't abate andthe health system shows signsof collapsing.

Kejriwal on Sunday said theCOVID-19 situation in thenational capital is "very seri-ous".The city recorded 10,774fresh COVID-19 cases onSunday, the highest single-dayspike so far, with 48 morefatalities.

"The fourth wave is moredangerous than the previouswave, he told a press confer-ence, and urged the people notto step out unless there isurgent work.

The chief minister said thathis government does not wantto impose lockdown in Delhibut such a situation may ariseif there is a rush to the hospi-tals and beds are unavailable forserious patients.

Shadow over...Continued from Page 3

It can be noted that ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy after attending a videoconference with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onCovid Tika Utsav asked theofficials to conduct the pro-gramme successfully in theState from April 11 to 14. Hewanted the officials to vacci-nate six lakh people a dayduring those four days andcome up with a plan for thesuccess of Tika Utsav cover-ing a total of 24 lakh people.

The CM also pointed outthat there were nearly onecrore people aged 45 and abovewaiting for vaccination in theState and said steps should betaken to complete the vaccina-tion drive in one month.

On the other hand thestate reported 3,495 freshCovid-19 positive casesbesides nine deaths. In all1,198 people made completerecovery from the virus.31,719 samples were testedduring the last 24 hours.

Naidu dared to...Continued from Page 3

BJP with its brute majority inparliament has been ignoringAndhra Pradesh, yet YSRCPMPs have raised about specialstatus various times, he added.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy hadimplemented over 90 percentof the promises made in themanifesto and had redefinedwelfare by doing more thanwhat was promised, he said.Prioritizing farmer welfare,the state government had setup Rythu Bharosa Kendras,assisted farmers through YSRSunna Vaddi Panta Runalu,

and provided MSP for theircrops, Reddy said.

"The government estab-lished a village volunteer sys-tem delivering the welfareschemes directly to the bene-ficiaries irrespective of theircaste, creed, religion, or polit-ical affiliations. Apart fromwelfare schemes, the ChiefMinister had also taken upmany developmental workslike revamping governmentschools with world-class infra-structure under the Nadu-Nedu initiative, rolled out1088 new ambulances, andwas also setting up 16 newmedical colleges," he said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The state government hasasked power utilities to laymore focus on strengtheningthe safe, reliable and cheapelectricity supply to con-sumers in future as well andbecoming most consumer-centric utilities in the country.

According to officials, thestate government told the powerutilities that there was a signif-icant change in consumerexpectations who were expect-ing more cost-efficient, reliableand resilient services frompower utilities as well as provid-ing quality power supply. Thegovernment had already madelot of efforts on strengthening24x7 power supply to domestic,

commercial and industrial con-sumers and wanted to trans-form the entire sector as per theaspiration of consumers to ful-fill future needs, they said.

As part of this, the govern-ment has laid focus on creatinga healthy, efficient and con-sumer-centric power sector inthe State. As a developing State,Andhra Pradesh would witnessa rapid growth in industrial andagriculture sectors. In view ofthis, power utilities needs toaddress the future challengesfor which the utilities shallmove deeper into consumerengagement for new businessdevelopment. "Providing thebest quality service to con-sumers is the prime objective ofgovernment.

AP Govt to focus oncost-efficient power

Covid scare looms large over Tpt...Continued from Page 3

YSRCP leaders are also deeplyinvolved in mass contact pro-grammes. Pawan Kalyan per-sonally took part in a rally inTirupati and also addressed ahuge public meeting flankedwith several key BJP leaders ofAndhra Pradesh. Both TDPchief N Chandrababu Naiduand his son Nara Lokesh havebeen taking part in many roadshows pulling in good crowds.

Pawan Kalyan is supposedto participate in the poll cam-paign, along with BJP NationalPresident JP Nadda, scheduled

on April 14. Now, it should beseen whether Pawan Kalyanbreaks the quarantine andjoins Nadda or he stays away.And also if Nadda visitsTirupati or skips.

It's noteworthy, as per thelatest data, Chittoor districtunder which Tirupati LokSabha falls has been witness-ing the highest spike of Covidcases over the last few days,among the other districts inthe state. On Saturday of thetotal 31,929 samples testedChittoor alone had 740 cases,highest among all the dis-tricts in the state.

Devineni Uma...Continued from Page 3

The chief minister was dis-cussing about the lack ofspecial is ts in SVIMSHospital of Tirupati, asthose were not willing tomove away from Hyderabadand expressed his desire tochange the situation.

The original video wasedited to give the oppositemeaning and audio wasselectively and mischie-vously edited to give animpression that chief min-ister had belittled the townof Tirupati. Apart from thisthe audio from the originalvideo was of 2014 speechon the occasion of mani-festo release, the complaintsaid.

Punters are...Continued from Page 3

The betting organisationsoperate from star hotels,apartments, gated communi-ties and from individual res-idences. They take all "precau-tions" to avoid problems fromthe police and other depart-ments over their activity.

One person with deepknowledge of the goings-onsaid: "The betting organisersoperate their activities fromunknown places, for examplethe betting activities inHyderabad operate fromGoa. He said some sites oper-ate from Dubai. The bettingrates are decided at Mumbaiand according to that theagents in other cities collectamounts.

Electronic device...Continued from Page 3

The gadget can reduce 99 percent of the novel coronavirusin just 15 minutes, accordingto the test held with supportfrom the ICMR (IndianCouncil of MedicalResearch).

Allabout Innovationsfounder Shyam KrishnanKurup said the appliancewhen switched on wouldprovide 360-degree protec-tion and 24x7 shield by ster-ilising the air.

This will also prevent in-house transmission of virus-es inside any space. The neg-ative ions also have proven toenhance health and vitality,he said.

Negative ion thrusters arestandard devices used indeveloped countries likeGermany and Japan, Kurupsaid.

VIJAYAWADA, MONDAY APRIL 12 , 2021; PAGES 12 `3

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 3 ISSUE 148*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

MONEY 8FRANKLIN UNITHOLDERS TO GET RS 2,962 CR IN SECOND TRANCHE

ANALYSIS 7THE BIG TENT OF THE

PPP DECODED

SPORTS 11RANA,TRIPATHI POWER

KKR TO 187

}PAWAN KALYAN

ISOLATES SELF ASPERSONAL STAFF

TEST POSITIVEFOR COVID

Page 12{

4

Time has come todefeat YSRCP inTirupati by-poll

5

‘India to manufac-ture containers, eyes

Rs 1,000 croreinvestment’

8

MadasuGangadharam quits

Jana Sena Party

2

VVIIJJAAYYAAWWAADDAAWWEEAATTHHEERR

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated april 11, 2021 5:00 PM

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Mostly SunnyTTeemmpp:: 37/24HHuummiiddiittyy:: 53%SSuunnrriissee:: 06:02 amSSuunnsseett:: 06:31 pm

AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Phalguna & Krishna Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Amavasya: 07:59 am

Nakshatram: Revati: 11:29 am

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 07:38 am – 09:11 am

Yamagandam: 10:44 am – 12:16 pm

Varjyam: NIL

Gulika: 01:49 pm - 03:22 pm

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 08:50 am – 10:36 am

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:52 am – 12:41 pm

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Asserting that the 22-month gov-ernance of Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy was the trumpcard of YSRCP for Tirupati by-poll,the party had picked the TDPgauntlet to treat the election as areferendum.

Speaking to media here onSunday, Minister for Panchayat RajPeddireddy Ramachandra Reddyaccepted the challenge ofChandrababu Naidu's referendummotif saying that YSRCP MPswould resign in case the party lostin Tirupati and asked Naiduwhether his party MPs would quitotherwise.

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy cancelled his April 14Tirupati by-poll campaign, in wakeof the spike in Covid-19 cases andinstead the Chief Minister hassent letters to every household

explaining the development andwelfare programmes initiated by hisgovernment in the past 22 months.He urged the voters to cast theirvaluable vote for YSRCP andstrengthen the government.

The Minister further slammedopposition TDP, BJP and PawanKalyan for their false propagandaand termed Pawan Kalyan as apolitical paid artiste. He asked theBJP leaders why would peoplevote for their party, whether for fail-

ing to fulfill bifurcation promises,or betraying the state on special sta-tus and dared them to speak onthose issues and tell people whatthey had done to the state. BJPleaders have degraded more thanChandrababu Naidu and areresorting to character assassinationof the YSRCP candidate, he saidand added that the three partieshad struck a secret pact to faceYSRCP.

Recalling Pawan Kalyan's criti-cism of BJP leaders during 2019polls, the Minister said that every-one had witnessed his dual stand,who earlier made harsh commentson BJP and teamed with them post-elections.

Neither Chandrababu Naidunor Pawan Kalyan had ever spokenon increasing prices of daily com-modities or questioned BJP on theinflation that the state is facing.

PNS n KOCHI

An incubator under Kerala StartupMission (KSUM) has developed apioneering electronic device thatcould contain airborne novel coro-navirus.

The new device of AllaboutInnovations Pvt Ltd -- 'WolfAirmask -- performs real-timesterilisation rupturing the SARS-CoV-2, a press statement from theKSUM said here on Sunday.

The device has proven its effi-ciency at tests conducted by RajivGandhi Centre for Biotechnology(RGCB), an autonomous instituteof the Department ofBiotechnology.

RGCB, Trivandrum, is anICMR-recognised testing lab."The Wolf Airmask is the first ofits kind in the country for RGCBto give such an attestation," thestatement said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

CID had registered a case againstformer minister and TDP seniorleader Devineni UmamaheswarRao for allegedly forging an elec-tronic document, which he dis-played in a press meet on April 7in Tirupati in which he showed avideo which shows Chief MinisterYS Jaganmohana Reddy, as sayingthat who would like to come toTirupati?

Devineni Uma in his press meetalleged that chief minister hadbelittled the town of Tirupati, byquoting the video which he dis-played on his mobile.

Acting on a complaint from oneNarayana Reddy, an advocate fromKurnool, who complained thatthe video which shown Jagan in

bad light was a forged and mor-phed video, the police had takenaction.

He said in the complaint that thecontext and time of the video wasdifferent, in which JaganmohanReddy was portraying the difficul-ties involved in attracting talent tocities like Tirupati from comfort-able cities like Hyderabad.

SNCN ACHARYULUn HYDERABAD

When IPL season begins, can pun-ters be far behind. After elections,perhaps cricket is the most fertilearea for betting and naturally pun-ters are now busy as IPL matcheshave started. The only difference if any this timeis that punters are betting onlineand offline. Initially betting wasmore popular in the coastal districtsof Andhra Pradesh than inTelangana. Over the years, the bet-ting habit has pervaded Telanganaareas also. There are online sitesspecializing in 'guiding' punters forbetting in the IPL matches. Before the start of the match everyday, these websites sites put outreviews of the performance of eachteam, apart from giving dope onevery player's form. Besides, someof these sites are conducting bet-ting. They are dealing with bets on

Man of the Match, Man of theSeries, apart from ball-to-ball bets.They also offer bets on runs scoredper over. For example, while thematch is in progress, they askabout each ball: will the batsman hitfour or six. Besides, there are indi-vidual bets, mostly between twopersons. Individual bets are more prominentin East Godavari and West

Godavari. In these two districts, onevery issue individual bets havebecome the order of the day.Betting organisers earn money bycollecting some commission frompunters. In the bettings on IPLmatches, lakhs of rupees are chang-ing hands. The India vs Pakistanmatches attract record level bettingamounts. Bettings in cricket are not confined

to only one section; politicians,businessmen, students and othersare also involved in it. Mumbai isthe main headquarters for bettingorganizers, be it for politics orcricket. Betting organisers appointtheir agents in important cities likeHyderabad, Vijayawada,Visakhapatnam and Delhi, amongothers. They are in regular touchwith the punters.Punters are busy mining websitesfor material to place reviews ofteams' performances every day.Some of these websites are givingranks to teams, depending on theirpast performance. One website, while giving tips tofresh punters on how to bet for IPLmatches, says:" If you don't knowhow to bet on IPL, we have youcovered. We have done a full-fledged comparison of the best IPLto help you decide where to placeyour best cricket bets".

PNS n NEW DELHI

The active COVID-19 cases inIndia breached the 11 lakh-markfor the first time after a record highof 1.52 lakh new infections whilea massive vaccination push, dubbedby Prime Minister Narendra Modias the beginning of another majorwar against coronavirus, waslaunched on Sunday in a bid toabate the surge.

The active caseload till now wasat its lowest at 1,35,926 on February12 and at its highest at 10,17,754 onSeptember 18, 2020.

Amid an unprecedented burdenon health infrastructure in 15states and Delhi, which are witness-ing an upward trajectory, authori-ties have started reserving moreCOVID hospitals and taking stepsto address any shortage of medicalsupplies, besides enhancing curbson the movement of people.

The Centre announced a ban onexport of Remdesivir, used in coro-navirus treatment and its ActivePharmaceutical Ingredients, andasked all domestic manufacturersto display on their website details

of their stockists and distributors.There were some reports of

shortage of drugs from a few states.India's COVID-19 tally of cases

climbed to 1,33,58,805, and thedeath toll increased to 1,69,275 with839 daily new fatalities, the high-est since October 18, 2020, the dataupdated by Health Ministry onSunday morning showed.

While the cumulative number ofCOVID-19 vaccine doses admin-istered in the country has crossed10 crore after 85 days, the 'TikaUtsav' or a special 'vaccinationfestival' was started till April 14.

"Anyone eligible for the vaccine

should get the jab, and for this thesociety and administration have tomake full efforts," Prime MinisterModi said pitching for "zero vaccine

waste" and urging the people to fol-low COVID-appropriate behav-iour.

PM says ‘Tika Utsav'another major war

Shadow over ‘Tika Utsav’ as vaxstocks dry up in Andhra PradeshPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Acute shortage of Covid vaccineprevailed in the state creatingproblems for the nationwide vac-cination programme, ‘Tika Utsav’,launched by the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. ‘Tika Utsav’ istargeted to vaccinate 24 lakh peo-ple in the state between Sundayand Wednesday. Despite Sundaybeing a holiday, the health depart-ment took all measures to kickstart the Tika Utsav programmeacross the state.

According to reliable sources,Covid vaccine stocks were total-ly exhausted in almost all the dis-tricts across the state and all thedepartment officials were eager-

ly waiting for the vaccine stocksfrom the Union government. Afew district heads informed thatthey didn’t have a single vaccinevial for Monday to take forwardthe Tika Utsav programme.

Dr L Devi, Joint Director,Covid, said that an indent wasplaced to the central governmentfor vaccine doses for the TikaUtsav and the vaccination pro-gramme.

She said that ten lakh vaccinedoses have been dispatched by theUnion government to AndhraPradesh as of now. The vaccinedoses were yet to be received bythem.

Naidu dared to get his MPs toresign if TDP loses in Tirupati

Covid scare looms largeover Tpt by-poll campaignSNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

Covid’s second wave, which hademerged as more lethal and con-tagious than the first one, hadbrought to the fore the ongoinghigh decibel campaign by thepolitical parties for the upcomingby-poll to the Tirupati Lok Sabha.

Due to daily spike in Covidcases, Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy had cancelledhis Tirupati campaign and JanaSena Chief Pawan Kalyan, who vis-ited Tirupati last week and alsolater attended a high profile filmevent in Hyderabad, had wentinto self quarantine after his per-sonal staff who move closely withhim on daily basis tested positiveto Covid.

It is not immediately knownwhether Pawan Kalyan had alsotested Covid positive but an offi-cial note from his party office said

he was going into quarantine as aprecautionary measure. There weresome unconfirmed reports thatsome of the key members of TDP,who campaigned with party supre-mo N Chandrababu Naidu in thelast few days in Tirupati had alsotested positive to Covid.

The campaign for Tirupati by-poll had only reached a crescendoover the last one week, as only afew days were left for the pollingslated to take place on comingSaturday and the campaign by allthe political parties should end byThursday as per the norms of theElection Commission (EC).

Due to the high stakes involvedin the Tirupati by-poll battle, all thepolitical parties, especially oppo-sition BJP and TDP have beenholding road shows, public meet-ings and other mass contact pro-grammes as a show of strength.

Electronic device tocurb airborne spreadof virus developed

Devineni Uma bookedfor forging poll papers

Aop

TAMIL NADU CONGRESS CANDIDATEMADHAVA RAO DIES OF COVID

ACongress candidate from Tamil Nadu has diedof COVID-19, a few days after he contestedfrom the Srivilliputhur constituency in the

state assembly elections. Congress candidatePSW Madhava Rao died of complications at ahospital today after being infected withcoronavirus last month. As he died afterelections, there won't be any re-polling. If hewins from his constituency in Virudhunagardistrict, a by-election will be held. All India CongressCommittee (AICC) secretary in-charge of Tamil Naduand Puducherry on Twitter said: "Deeply pained to learn about the saddemise of INCTamilNadu Leader and Srivilliputhur Assembly Congresscandidate Shri MadhavaRao, due to Covid complications."

FOURTH COVID WAVE IN DELHI ‘MUCHMORE DANGEROUS,’ SAYS KEJRIWAL

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal todayrequested the centre to remove agerestrictions on COVID-19

vaccination, even as his governmentflagged vaccine shortage and said thatstocks for just seven to 10 days are left.He said that the surge in COVID-19 casesthis time is "worse" than what Delhi sawduring the third peak. This is the fourthwave in Delhi which is "much moredangerous", he added. The chief minister alsosaid that a full lockdown is not the solution to tackle thepandemic, a day after announcing several new restrictionsamid an alarming rise in coronavirus cases in Delhi.

‘CANCEL CLASS 10, 12 BOARD EXAMS’:PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA TO CENTRE

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hasurged Education Minister RameshPokhriyal to re-think holding board

exams for Class 10 and 12 CBSE schoolstudents as the number of daily new Covidcases in the country - over 1.5 lakh werereported this morning - continues to climb.Ms Gandhi Vadra, who is self-isolating at herDelhi home after her husband, Robert Vadra,tested positive for coronavirus, wrote to MrPokhriyal to underline the "fears and apprehensions...of lakhs of children and parents from all over India", and pointed outthe contradiction in warning adults against congregating in largenumbers while children would have to do the same.

UAE SELECTS FIRST ARAB WOMANFOR SPACE PROGRAMME

The United Arab Emirates has selectedthe first Arab woman to train as anastronaut, as the Gulf country

rapidly expands into the space sec-tor to diversify its economy. Emiratinational Nora al-Matrooshi, a 27-year-old mechanical engineeringgraduate currently working at AbuDhabi's National PetroleumConstruction Company, will join NASA's2021 Astronaut Candidate Class in theUnited States.The UAE is using its space programme todevelop its scientific and technological capabilities andreduce its reliance on oil.

PEDDIREDDY PICKS UP THE GAUNTLET

22

2

2

2

Justice Ramanaworships at TirumalaChief Justice of India- designateJustice NV Ramana on Sundayoffered prayers at the ancient hillshrine of Lord Venkateswara atnearby Tirumala, a temple officialsaid. The senior-most judge of

Supreme Court, Justice Ramanawho was recently appointed as the48th CJI with effect from April 24,after a night halt on the hills vis-ited the shrine Sunday morningand paid obeisance to the presid-ing deity of Lord Venkateswara, thetemple official told.

He spent about an hour in thetemple, the official added.An ardent devotee of Lord

Venkateswara, Justice Ramanaborn in an agriculture family inKrishna district of Andhra Pradesharrived here on Saturday withwife Sivamala.After worship, he was honoured

by presenting with a sacred silkcloth, a portrait of LordVenkateswara and prasadam byTTD Board Chairman YV SubbaReddy and Executive Officer KSJawahar Reddy

TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy presenting a picture of Lord Sri Venkateswara and GoddessPadmavathy to Supreme Court judge Justice NV Ramana and his wife after they werehonoured with Vedaseervachanam by a team of Vedic scholars inside RanganayakulaMandapam in Tirumala on Sunday.

2

Punters are busy as IPL season starts

04MONDAY | APRIL 12, 2021

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh GovernorBiswa Bhusan Harichandanand Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy paid richtributes to Mahatma JyotibaPhule on the occasion of his195th birth anniversary onSunday.

The Governor offered floraltributes to the portrait ofMahatma Jyotiba Phule at aprogramme held in DurbarHall at Raj Bhavan.

Speaking on the occasion, hesaid that Jyotiba Phule was agreat social reformer whofought against casteism anduntouchability in the countryduring 19th century. He alsofought for the rights of peasantsand downtrodden people of thesociety.

He said that MahatmaJyotiba Phule was also a pio-neer of women's educationand was the first to establish anorphanage for under-privi-leged children. He fought forthe emancipation of peoplewho were subjected to socialdeprivation in those days.

The Governor said JyotibaPhule stood as an inspiration toleaders like Mahatma Gandhiand Dr BR Ambedkar in thelater years.

Speaking on the occasion,the Governor appealed to thepeople of Andhra Pradesh tobe very cautious over Covid-19pandemic which posed a chal-lenge not just to the countrybut entire humanity.

The Governor said that peo-ple should follow all the guide-

lines that have been issued andrestrictions prescribed by theconcerned authorities andobserve necessary precautionsas advised by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to curb spreadof the virus, in the interest ofourselves and our children.

The Governor called uponpeople to follow social distance,wear mask and follow all pre-cautions and extend coopera-tion to the authorities in main-taining the restrictions.

He appealed to all eligiblepersons to get vaccinated as itwill not only help people savethemselves but also others inthe society.

The Governor appealed topeople to spread the message toentire society and help eligiblepersons in getting vaccinatedand motivate people to observeall the guidelines and restric-tions imposed by the authori-ties and help them in the fightagainst Covid-19 pandemic.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy paid floraltributes to Mahatma JyotiraoPhule on his birth anniversaryat camp office here on Sunday.BC welfare ministerChelluboina SrinivasaVenugopala Krishna, MPMithun Reddy, MLA JogiRamesh, MLC Janga KrishnaMurthy, CM events coordina-tor Talasila Raghuram andothers were present on theoccasion.

AP Governor, CM pay tributes to Mahatma Jyotiba Phule

YSRCP leaders paid tributes tosocial reformer Jyotirao Phule onthe occasion of his birthanniversary. Taking part in thecelebrations at Party office hereon Sunday, BC Welfare MinisterChelluboina Venu Gopala Krishnagarlanded the portrait of JyotiraoPhule and said Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy has been

working towards fulfilling thedreams and aspirations ofMahatma Jyotirao Phule. He saidthe Chief Minister has givenrecognition to 139 castes bysetting up 56 corporations andappointing 672 directors for BCs.He said the Chief Minister hadimplemented all the welfareschemes despite Covid pandemic

and all the weaker sections havecome under one roof andsupporting his leadership.He said the Chief Minister hasbecome a role model by workingfor the realising the aspirations ofPhule. Chief Minister has chosenDr Gurumoorthy who comesfrom an ordinary family asYSRCP candidate for Tirupati by-

poll. Speaking on the occasion,MLC Janga Krishna Murthy saidMahatma Jyotirao Phule was aphilosopher and social reformerand worked for the betterment ofdowntrodden and weakersections. Taking his ideologiesforward, the Chief Minister hadbeen working for the welfare ofall sections of the society,

especially SCs, STs, BCs andminorities. MLA Vidadala Rajinisaid Mahatma Jyotirao Phule hadworked hard for theempowerment of women andlikewise the Chief Minister hasbeen implementing manyschemes and programmes forthe welfare of women.

Jagan realising aspirations of Phule, say YSRCP leaders

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

District collector A MD Imtiazsaid that the Covid vaccinewould be administered toabout two lakh people in thedistrict during the four-dayTika Utsav programme.

The collector launched theTika Utsav programme at VMRanga School in the 46thDivision here on Sunday. VMCMayor R Bhagyalakshmi wasalso present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, hesaid that everyone should take

vaccine shot for protectionagainst the deadly Coronavirusas the positive cases were onthe rise across the nation.

Every day about 50,000 peo-ple will be vaccinated duringthe Tika Utsav till April 14, headded.

He said that restrictions andlockdown could contain thespread of the virus only tosome extent and the onus lieson the people to follow Covidguidelines to contain thespread of Covid.

He said that the scientists

have identified the secondwave of Covid virus as 3.1.617and the virus was spreadingvery fast when compared tothe previous one. “Everyoneshould get vaccinated to pro-tect themselves from the dead-ly virus and also follow covidguidelines. The vaccine shot isprovided at all village/wardsecretariats till April 14, saidthe collector.

Corporators Appaji, Rajesh,district programme officer VMaheswara Rao, Dr Hemanthand others were present.

Two lakh to get vaccine duringTika Utsav, says collector

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a bid to contain the spreadof Covid, South CentralRailway-Vijayawada Division,has kick-started India's Specialfour-day vaccination pro-gramme at East Main entranceof Vijayawada Railway stationon Sunday with the aim toinoculate maximum number ofeligible people at workplaces.

Taking cue from PrimeMinister Narendra Modi'sappeal to the Nation, the massvaccination programme, forstaff above 45 years at workplaces, is being conducted byVijayawada Division.

A total of 200 staff got vac-cinated with Covaxin andCovishield vaccines atVijayawada Railway Station.Railway hospital staff madeelaborate arrangements at the

railway station by setting up ahelp desk and registrationcounter.

Medical department willorganise vaccination camp atElectric Loco Shed, Wagon

Work Shop Rayanapadu andDivisional Office, Vijayawada.Employees must carry theirRailway ID card and Aadhaarcard compulsorily for gettingthe vaccine shot.

Speaking on the occasion,Md Naseer Ahmed, in-charge,CMS, Railway Hospital,Vijayawada, thanked the stateadministration for renderingsupport and assistance.

He also said that medicaldepartment is planning toorganise a vaccination camp atimportant depots at acrossVijayawada Division by coor-dinating with state healthdepartment at district head-quarters for supply of vac-cines.

Md. Naseer Ahmed advisedthe staff above 45 years to getvaccinated during the 4-dayTika Utsav.

Vijayawada DivisionalRailway Manager P Srinivascomplimented the efforts of themedical staff for launchingthe vaccination drive for thebenefit of railway staff.

Vijayawada Railway Divisionstarts Tika Utsav, 200 receive jab

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Reddygudem Town S-I DAnand Kumar displayedcourage and humanity in fish-ing out two dead bodies fromNSP canal near Adavikothuruvillage in Reddygudem mandalin Krishna district on Sunday.

According to the sources, afew farm labourers went toVallabhaneni Satyam mangofarm to pluck mangoes. Afterplucking mangoes for sometime, at around 2 pm they ven-tured into NSP canal to takebath. In the process, P Venu(23) and K Vasu (14) drownedin the canal.

After two hours, the bodieswere floating in the canal andnone of the villagers dared tofish the bodies out of the canal.

S-I Anand Kumar aloneentered into the canal andfished out the dead bodies.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Special EnforcementBureau officials seized a lorrytransporting 1,816 non-dutypaid liquor bottles atAnumanchipalli village ofJaggayyapeta mandal inKrishna district on Saturday.

A person was arrested inconnection with the illegaltransportation of liquorworth Rs 2.14 lakh.

According to the SEB S-IMurali Krishna, on a tip off,they carried out checks atAnumanchipalli village andcaught the person who wastransporting the liquor bot-tles in a lorry clandestinelytowards Vuyyuru. On check-ing, the load they found thatthe liquor bottles were cov-ered with cement load.

The police recovered theliquor bottles, seized the lorryand arrested the culprit.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A massive fire broke out ina scrapyard situated here atthe Special Economic Zone(SEZ) in Duvvada onSunday.

Firefighters rushed to thespot and are trying to dousethe huge flames amid the bil-lowing smoke clouds.

Police officials said that themishap originated at PujaScrap industry. The manage-ment of the scrap yard saidthat an electric short circuithad led to the fire whichrapidly spread.

People in the surroundingswere seen running helter-skelter as the massive smokeclouds engulfed the area.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The price of chicken inVijayawada has touched a newhigh of Rs 300 per kg due toshortage of supply on Sunday.The price of chicken is hoveringbetween Rs 280 to 300 at vari-ous places in the city even as themercury levels continue to rise.

As the Covid second wavesweeps the entire nation, thedoctors are suggesting peopleto take healthy and protein-rich food which could haveultimately led to the increaseddemand for chicken, muttonand seafood.

The chicken price unprece-dentedly shot up from Rs 180per kg in the first week ofMarch to Rs 250 per kg by thelast week of March. Now it hasreached Rs 300 per kg.

Interestingly, mutton price isstable at Rs 800 per kg whilethere is no much variation inthe price of fish.

Though Covid positive cases

are increasing, peoplethronged the market places onSunday to purchase theirdesired protein-rich food soldat unhygienic places in the city.

A large number of peoplethronged BSNL centre in thecity and ironically most of thepeople were seen without amask and without followingsocial distancing.

V Abhishek, a chicken shopowner, said that every yearduring the summer, the pricesof chicken will be on the high-er side as there would be a

shortage in chicks.Currently, the shortage of

broiler chicken is very acute.Hence, chicken prices soaredto Rs 300 per kg and the situ-ation may continue till Mayend, he said.

He said that country foulwill be sold at a fancy price asper the customer choice, not byweight. A private employeeSuresh said that all pricesstarting from edible oil, puls-es, rice and every commodityhave been increasing for thepast few months.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh govern-ment has initiated a demandsurvey for middle incomegroups housing scheme nearmunicipal corporations andmunicipalities, which on fruc-tification could give a run forthe money to realtors.

This is the government'sbrainchild: Acquire land about3 km to 5 km away from themunicipalities and municipalcorporations will develop themneatly into plots with facilitiessuch as approach roads, parks,drainage system, street lightsand several other attractiveamenities.

And most important of all,sell these plots without a prof-it motive, contrasting with theprofiteering real estate agents,middlemen and companies.

Looking like the second iter-

ation of a government landscheme, following the free dis-tribution of land to thousandsof poor people, this new initia-tive, believed to be called as'Jaganna smart town' will caterto income groups in the rangeof Rs 3 lakh to Rs 18 lakh perannum.

Only one plot for familyand government employees arealso eligible.

Being promoted through APgovernment's grassroots gover-nance system, ward volunteerand secretariat mechanism, thescheme is proposing to offerhousing sites in three dimen-sions: 150 sq yards, 200 sqyards and 240 sq yards, trans-lating into 3 cents, 4 cents and5 cents of land.

Though the scheme will beopen for everybody, MunicipalAdministration special chiefsecretary Y. Srilakshmi said a

committee will decide as towho will get how much quota.

Srilakshmi said: “Actually itis open for everybody but we

will be giving a percentage tonon-locals (non-municipalityresidents) and the rest to locals.So we haven't discussed that

and put it before a committee.They will come with their rec-ommendations. Most likely wewill give 5 per cent for ex-ser-

vicemen.”She hinted that 85 per cent

of the quota may go to respec-tive municipality locals but iswaiting for the committee'srecommendations based onthe demand, whose survey iscurrently underway, alreadyattracting a few lakhs applica-tions.

Srilakshmi said the govern-ment may not know where thedemand is coming until thesurvey is completed, consider-ing the whole project is ademand driven one.

“Once the demand totallycomes in, we will see whetherit is only from locals or there isa demand from non-locals oris from ex-servicemen. Sobased on that we will work outthe parameteres,” she opineds.

However, an enquiry by avillager with a West Godavaridistrict municipality's town

planning department officialgave the notion that non-localsare not offered this opportuni-ty.

The southern state does havea big population which aspiresfor upward social mobility byrelocating into urban areas forbetter opportunities and jobprospects.

However, the senior IASofficer hinted that the lion'sshare of the plots may go to thelocals by virtue of them beinglocals in municipalities.

She clarified that the schemehas only been launched recent-ly and is currently at thedemand assessment stage butnot in application mode yet.

According to Srilakshmi, thesurvey is underway in all themunicipalities and a place likeChimakurti in Ongole districtattracted as many as 4,000applications already.

Likewise, the government isalso not intending to blanketapply the scheme in all themunicipalities at once as shesaid it could begin with 30-31towns, choosing the beneficia-ry applicants on the basis of alottery system.

“Everything will be on a lot-tery basis. There will be no dis-cretion for anybody and no rec-ommendations to be enter-tained. Now it is early days, wejust launched the scheme. Thescheme is only a demand dri-ven scheme, we are not impos-ing anything,” she said.

AP government's noble ini-tiative is appreciable but in thismodern age it did not give theoption of web application,requiring all the interestedpeople to mandatorily physical-ly go to the ward secretariat orother designated offices toevince interest.

Fire at scrapyardsparks panic in APSEZ

Liquor bottlesworth Rs 2.14lakh seized

Chicken prices touch `300 a kg

Will AP’s land scheme for middle income groups dent realty?

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Jana Sena Party senior leaderand former MLC MadasuGangadharam has resigned tothe party stating that he wasunable to cope with the unsta-ble attitude of party chief KPawan Kalyan.

In a statement on Sunday,Gangadharam stated that hejoined JSP three years ago witha lot of hopes and aspirationsto serve people through theparty in the state. He stated thatin the beginning Pawan Kalyan

gave preference to him in partyaffairs and appointed him as JSpolitical affairs committee con-vener.

Gangadharam said that hewas miffed over not conveningJSPAC meeting to formulatepolitical strategies.

He said that after the humil-iating defeat, he along withother leaders toured NorthAndhra districts and submitteda detailed report about thecauses of defeat but it was putaside.

He said that Pawan Kalyan

did not consider the report buttrusted the words of a leader inthe party which saddened partyleaders and cadre.

Gangadharam said thatPawan’s statements are biasedin support of Telugu Desamand hiding the facts. He statedthat CBI conducting a probeinto YS Vivekananda Reddy'smurder. Hence, there is no roleof the AP government in theCBI probe but Pawan held theState government responsiblewhich is far away from thetruth. He lamented that Pawan

turned into a part-time politi-cian giving priority to films thatare not suitable to do politicsand serve people.

Gangadharam said thatPawan’s attitude of alliancewith political parties for ashort time period is not goodas JSP first allied with TDP,later with Communist partiesand now working with BJPreflecting an unstable attitude.

He said that he cannot con-tinue with unstable attitude ofPawan Kalyan and hence sub-mitted resignation to the party.

Madasu Gangadharam quits Jana Sena Party

S-I fishes outbodies fromcanal, lauded

Madasu Gangadharam

05MONDAY | APRIL 12, 2021

Ministers P AnilKumar Yadav andSidiri Appalaraju

paying tributes toMahatma Jyotirao

Phule by garlandingthe social reformer’s

statue on theoccasion of his

195th birthanniversary at Mini

By-pass road inNellore on Sunday.

TRIBUTES TTO AA SSOCIAL RREFORMER

MARTHI SUBRAHMANYAMn AMARAVATI

The farmers cultivating toma-to crop in about 300 acres inNagaya Thippachiruvoluisland villages in MopideviMandal of Krishna districtwere facing it difficult to get aremunerative price for theirproduce. They alleged that themiddlemen were exploitingthem and they were in extremedistress due to lack of remu-nerative price. They sought thegovernment's intervention toensure a minimum guaranteedprice for tomatoes.

They worried that tomatoeswere perishable goods andhence the brokers were tryingto exploit them offering thelowest prices. The farmers saidthey had spent nearly Rs 40,000

per acre to raise the crop andthey need to pay Rs 30,000towards the lease of the land. Atotal of 70,000 had been invest-ed to cultivate the tomato cropper acre. In the name of grad-ing, the traders were offeringprices ranging from Rs 100 toRs 120 per crate of 30 kg. In a

bid to exert pressure on thefarmers, they stopped buyingafter the crop was harvested.The middlemen wanted topurchase tomatoes withoutadvance payment. As tomatoeswere damaging within 2-3 daysafter the harvest, the farmerscaught between the devil andthe deep sea.

Following the complaints,Nagayalanka Market Yard sec-retary Anand along with offi-cials inspected tomato cropsand reported the constraints ofthe farmers to the notice of thehigher authorities. However,no action has been initiated tohelp the farmers. A 30-kgcrate was sold at just Rs 100.The tomato farmers urged theofficials concerned to takesteps to ensure a better pricefor their produce.

Tomato farmers in dire straits,amid exploitation by middlemen

D H V SAMBASIVARAOn KAKINADA

The Covid precautions werethrown to wind and the peo-ple's representatives were par-ticipating in the public gather-ings without adhering tonorms. The police officialswhose responsibility was toensure the execution of theCovid regulations such aswearing a mask and maintain-ing social distance in publicplaces were not bothered to doit succumbing to political pres-sures in the East Godavaridistrict. In a bid to appease theparty activists, the ruling partyMPs and leaders have beenparticipating in the public pro-grammes without taking min-imum care to prevent thespreading of the corona. Thepolice became mute spectatorsfor the gross violation of Covidregulations.

Moreover, Jatharas werebeing organized for villageGoddesses in most of the vil-lages from April 10. As part ofthis, the Poleramma Jatara washeld in Aminabad village of UKothapalli mandal after mid-night on Saturday. The orga-nizers were juggling time tillthe evening with routine per-formances and have arrangedrecording dances with girlswith DJs throughout the night.People from all the villages andtowns from Tuni toPithapuram were throngingthese areas in large numbers towatch these dance perfor-mances. An estimated 50,000people were attending thesemidnight programmes.

Shockingly, no one wore amask. No physical distancewas maintained. Pushing andcompeting with each other, thepeople were enjoying thesedances ignoring the corona

pandemic. However, the coro-na in the district has been inspike day by day. A total of 111cases were registered onSaturday alone. About 20 activecases have been reported in theareas where these culturalfeasts were organized.Surprisingly, the police person-nel were not even entering thevillages at least to control themob.

Meanwhile, the districtSuperintendent of Police

Naeem Azmi himself hasswung into action, fined hun-dreds of motorists for wander-ing without masks. Only onThe police collected around Rs1.25 lakh towards fines frompeople for not wearing masksin the district as a part of a spe-cial drive conducted onSaturday.

Thousands of people attend-ed the dance programmesorganized in a fishing village,but no police were present

there. It was alleged that thepolice were conducting specialdrives against Covid normsviolators, but ignoring the largepeople gatherings in the vil-lages.

The local women were up inthe arms against these indecentdance programmes and theydemand stern action againstthe organizers. They expressedconcern over the public mov-ing in groups without adheringto Covid norms.

Breaking corona norms atJatharas causes concern

No growth in AP, saysRavelaGADAMSETTY SEKHAR BABU n NELLORE

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leader Ravela Kishore Babuhas strongly criticized thestate government for notimplementing any develop-ment work in the state exceptthe Central-funded schemes.

As part of his election cam-paign, he addressed the mediaat the BJP office in Nellore onSunday. Speaking on the occa-sion, he said there was enoughproof that no developmentwas taking place with theregional parties in the state.After the bifurcation of thestate, the Central governmenthad sanctioned Rs 7,000 croreto Andhra Pradesh when theTDP government was in theruling. The then TDP govern-ment laid the foundations forthe construction of new cap-ital and dropped the propos-al in the middle. YSRCongress Party, which camelater, was not uttering a singleword about the capital city.

The BJP leader said all thedevelopment programmes inthe state were funded by theCentral government. Heappealed to the public to votefor Ratna Prabha, a public ser-vant with administrative effi-ciency, to win the TirupatiParliament by-election withan overwhelming majority.Prime Minister NarendraModi was working for thedevelopment of the state byallocating maximum fundsfor the welfare of all sectionsof the people.

The meeting was attend-ed by Bharatiya Janata Partystate vice-president KakuVijayalakshmi, YuvaMorcha state executivemember Ashok, Rajendra,Mukku Radha KrishnaGoud, Irigodra, office sec-retary Gurram Narasimhaand others.

PNS n NELLORE

If TDP was not in the race ofTirupati Parliament by-poll,the ruling YSRCP would haveallocated the party seat to lateP Balli Durga Rao's familymembers, Nellore TDP presi-dent Abdul Aziz has said.

Addressing the media atthe district Telugu Desamparty office he said that thetime has come to defeat the

YSR Congress candidate inthe Tirupati by-elections.

The YSRCP leaders havebeen trying to win theTirupati by-election withbags of money, he said andappealed to the public tovote for Panabaka Lakshmiin the upcoming TirupatiParliament by-election andelect her with a thumpingmajority.

The event was attended by

Nellore city constituency in-charge KotamreddySrinivasulu Reddy, districtgeneral secretary ChazerlaVenkateswara Reddy, minor-ity leader Mohsin, ruralMandal presidents PamujulaPradeep, Ja ladankiSudhakar, Sr in ivasuluNaidu, Kalyan, Chenchayya,Shanthi Naidu, Pudi AnandBabu, Nagendra and SukeshReddy.

Time has come to defeatYSRCP in Tirupati by-poll

PNS n BHIMAVARAM

In a bid to mitigate the trafficproblem in Bhimavaram, stepswere taken to build two fly-overs and some approachroads, Bhimavaram MLAGrandhi Srinivas said onSunday.

He addressed the mediahere at the local camp office onSunday. He said that under thepatronage of Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy, the gov-ernment was working towardsurban development and wouldprovide all facilities to thetown in the coming days. Amaster plan was being pre-pared in view of the growingpopulation, educational insti-tutions, hospitals and com-mercial establishments in thetown, he added.

He said the governmenthad prepared new voter lists inRayalam, Chinna Amiram,Thaderu and KovvadaAnnavaram villages near thetown as they were recentlymerged into the town.

Measures were initiated to

prevent drinking water prob-lem especially for the urbanpeople and the reservoirs wereunder construction in thetown and they would beopened within six months.With this, the town would nothave any drinking water prob-lem in the future, the MLAsaid.

He said that in the new mas-ter plan some more parkswere proposed and the exist-ing ones would be renovated.Similarly, steps have beentaken to upgrade the old busstand. The government waslaying CC roads in the remoteareas of the town at a cost ofabout Rs 30 crore, he said.

2 flyovers comingup in Bhimavaram

G GOPIKRISHNAn KADAPA

The SFI leaders on Sundaydemanded action against theDistrict Education Officer (DEO)for not executing his duties prop-erly. They met the SchoolEducation Commissioner andcomplained against the DEO inKadapa on Sunday.

In a written complaint toCommissioner ChinnaVeerabhadrudu, SFI district vice-president Gandhi Sunil Kumaralleged that district educationofficer Sailaja was not paying

attention to various complaintsagainst corporate educationalinstitutions across Kadapa district.He demanded suspension of theDEO for her negligence in dis-charging duties. Besides, theyasked the commissioner to con-duct examinations for DED stu-dents for the year 2018-2020. Theydemanded an inquiry into corrup-tion in the works in Nadu-Nedu.

SFI mandal presidential secre-taries Errampalli Ajay and EdduRahul, mandal vice-presidentsDeva and Rajasekhar, JointSecretary Kishore and otherswere present.

SFI demands ousterof Kadapa DEO

SFI student leaders submitting a memorandum to School EducationCommissioner Chinna Veerabhadrudu in Kadapa on Sunday.

PD Act againstinter-state smugglerof red sandersPNS n KADAPA

The Kadapa police haveinvoked the PreventiveDetention Act against inter-state smuggler of red sandersJangala Shiva Shankar. ShivaShankar ofChintarajupalli vil-lage in Vontimittamandal of KadapaDistrict was involvedin the smuggling ofred sanders since2014.

According to thepolice, the PD Actwas raised againsthim earlier. Afterspending a year in jail, Shankarhas developed links with somesmuggling gangs from TamilNadu and Karnataka and start-ed smuggling red sanders.Since 2014, 81 cases have beenregistered against Jangala ShivaShankar in Kadapa district.

He has links with severalinternational red sanders

smugglers from AndhraPradesh, Karnataka and TamilNadu. He brought labourersfrom Tamil Nadu and startingcutting down red sandal treesin the forest areas of Atluru,Guvala Cheruvu Ghat,

Veeraballi andSundupalli in thedistrict. Later, hetransported the logsto neighbouringKarnataka andTamil Nadu. Heamassed wealth byillegally selling redsanders to interna-tional smugglers.

Based on thedirectives of Kadapa DistrictCollector C Harikiran, theaccused was produced in courton Sunday under the PD Act.The court remanded him tothe Central Jail. District SPKKN Anburajan appreciatedthe efforts of police officers inarresting the inter-state redsanders smuggler.

Man kills wife,surrenders PNS n KADAPA

A man allegedly killed hiswife suspecting her fidelityand surrendered before thepolice. The incident tookplace at Ravindra Nagar inKadapa on Sunday.

According to reports,Dastgiri was married toBeebi Chan and they havethree children. The eldest sondied in a road accidentrecently, while the daughtergot married. The youngestson was staying at a relative'shouse. On Sunday, Dastagiri

attacked his wife with a lethalweapon. She died on theway to the hospital. GausiaBegum, younger sister ofthe Beebi Chan, who resist-ed Dastagiri, was alsoreceived grievous injuries.

Gausia Begum, who wascritically injured, was shift-ed to Tirupati for bettertreatment and her condi-tion was said to be critical.The police registered a caseand are investigating.Dastagiri went to the policestation and surrenderedbefore the police.

PNS n GUNTUR

It was a matter of concern thatviolence against the weaker sec-tions was on the rise in AndhraPradesh, Jai Bheem AccessJustice founder-president JadaShravan Kumar on Sunday said.

He said the condition ofDalits in AP was miserable andthe recent Nandyal incident andattacks on Dalits in EastGodavari and Prakasam dis-tricts were condemnable. He

lamented that the police mech-anism was deeply polluted andthe Dalits in the state wereforced to rely on the judiciary forjustice.

The police refused permission

for a meeting of the Jai BheemAccess Justice Forum in Guntur.The meeting was to be held onApril 14 at the LEM Schoolpremises at the Lodge Center, headded.

Concern over increasing attacks on Dalits in AP

CRIME BEAT

PNS n UNDI/NELLORE

MLA of Undi in WestGodavari district ManthenaRamaraj was tested positiveto Covid -19, according to astatement issued by theMLA's office on Sunday. Hewent for the Tirupati by-election campaign and afterreturning home, he com-plained of some health issues.

When he got tested, he wasdeclared Covid positive.

The MLA was admitted tothe AIG Hospital inHyderabad for better treat-ment. He said his health con-dition was stable and advisedthe activists need not worry.Sources say that one of hisstaff members who accompa-nied him also tested positiveon Corona. Meanwhile, ninestudents of Vepinapi HighSchool in the Nellore districtwere diagnosed with corona.The parents were concernedwhen ten students tested pos-itive to corona in two days.The district education officerdirected the school to closeimmediately after informingthe authorities.

Undi MLARamaraju testscorona positive

Minister ridiculesLokesh overfalse claimsPNS n NELLORE

Since the TDP and BJP havenothing to say to the peopleabout their achievements, inthe ongoing Tirupati by-elec-tions, they were targeting theruling YSR Congress Partycandidate Dr Gurumurthy,Animal Husbandry MinisterSidiri Appalaraju said onSunday. They were makingwild allegations againstYSRCP candidateGurumurthy, he said.

He was speaking at amedia conference organizedat the YSR Congress partyoffice in Nellore on Sundayevening. He ridiculed Lokesh,TDP national general secre-tary for announcing toincrease pensions and pricesof petrol and diesel would bereduced if TDP won theTirupati seat. Refutingcharges against YSRCP can-didate Dr Gurumurthy forbeing a professional physio-therapy doctor, the Ministerlashed out at Lokesh for nothaving respect towards thedoctors' community.

PNS n TIRUPATI

Reacting to the TDP allega-tions on the cancellation of theChief Minister's tour toTirupati, Minister forAgriculture KurasalaKannababu on Sunday clari-fied that the tour was put offonly due to the spike in Covid-19 cases, but not for any otherreason.

Speaking to the media hereon Sunday, the Ministerslammed the TDP and BJPleaders for the malicious cam-paign alleging that the ChiefMinister was afraid to faceTDP in elections and said thatYSRCP would continue thewinning spree as people havefaith in Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy's good

governance. As Chittoor andNellore districts have registereda large number of Covid-19cases, the Chief Minister can-celled his tour, he clarified.

Kannababu said that thepublic has blessed YSRCP inthe recent local body electionsright from Ichapuram toHindupur and stated that TDPand BJP were only competingfor getting second place inTirupati.

The Minister challengedTDP and BJP leaders thatshould speak on promisesmade in the AP Re-organisa-tion Act along with their standon the special status. He saidthat neither TDP nor BJP hasno right to ask for votes with-out speaking either on thespecial status or the Visakha

Steel Plant. Asserting that theprevious TDP government hadtossed the special status forpersonal benefits, he said thatChandrababu Naidu utterlyfailed in resolving the stateissues from the centre.

Further responding to thecomments over YSVivekananda Reddy's murdercase, Kannababu said that CBIwas investigating the case andthere is no role of the State gov-ernment as the issue fallsunder the jurisdiction of theCentral Government. He saidthat TDP leaders were unnec-essarily digging it to create sen-sation and divert people'sattention. Kannababu remind-ed them that the incident tookplace during the TDP govern-ment.

CM’s Tirupati tour put off dueto Covid spike: Kannababu

there arose the question ofwho would be the next man-aging director of the BritishCeylon Corporation, a Britishfirm similar to the one we hadin Kanpur, the British IndiaCorporation, until the early1960s. My father-in-law saidthat one Ramaswamy, a localTamil, was the ablest choicebut was unlikely to get the pro-motion. The prize was likelyto go to DM Pereira as he wasa Sinhala. The existing Boardof directors was largely British,headed by a distinguishedgentleman called Singleton-Salmon. There was no partial-ity in the company but theemerging milieu in Colombowas such. Ramaswamy waslikely to emigrate to Australia.

My father-in-lawexplained that the Sinhalaswere an overwhelming major-ity, an easy-going, fun-lovingBuddhist people. They werejealous of the Tamils whowere serious at work, andmore efficient. There haddeveloped a wedge betweenthe two groups as far back asthen. Their differences werebound to explode sooner orlater. The fact that the peopleof Tamil Nadu have a soft cor-ner in their hearts for their SriLankan brethren is natural but

that makes the Sinhalas sus-pect Indian intentions fromtime to time. When RajivGandhi was India’s PrimeMinister and President JRJayewardene headed Sri Lanka,we sent the IPKF military tohelp the Tamils. Instead ofhelping them, we only killedthem and left the Sinhalasalone. This indicates that ourGovernments have mostly notunderstood Sri Lankan affairs.

Colombo’s rulers smile atNew Delhi and pretend to befriendly although they feelthat the faraway yellow giantis less dangerous than theIndian giant, only 40 km tothe north. They did appreci-ate the IPKF’s help for sometime; thereafter it became adistant memory. Lankaappears to have erred inowing China all the moneyfor upgrading theHambantota port as well as ahighway from Colombo toGalle and further south. If SriLanka cannot repay the loanin time, these may be takenover as Chinese property. YetColombo would rather dealwith Beijing than New Delhi.This mentality is likely to con-tinue indefinitely until Indiatakes a drastic stop to relievethe Sinhalas of their Tamil

suspicions. From the Indianpoint of view, there is the fear,however remote, that one daythe Chinese may convert SriLanka into a yellow colony.

What should New Delhido? Consider whether we canoffer a transfer of willing SriLankan Tamils to theAndaman Islands. They are acommunity of four millionpeople, mainly in the Jaffnaarea in the northeast of SriLanka and some scatteredacross the east of the island.The Andamans occupy about9,000 sq km with only aboutfour lakh people. Not all SriLankan Tamils are likely toaccept the transfer. For thosewilling, Sri Lanka should paya total `2 lakh per headtowards resettlement, conve-nience costs and compensa-tion. This means several billionrupees for Sri Lanka to borrowor somehow fork out, but asmall cost for solving theirgreatest problem. India’sadvantage would be populat-ing the Andaman Islands,which makes Tamils’ survivalsafer, Tamil Nadu happier andthe Indo-Sri Lankan relationspermanently suspicion-free.

(The writer is a well-knowncolumnist and an author. Theviews expressed are personal.)

In a politically sensitive development ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly elections inFebruary 2022, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat-led BJP Government has overturnedhis predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat’s decision enabling the Government to take

over the management of 51 prominent temples and shrines. Trivendra’s argument hadbeen that the new Act would help in the profession-al management of these shrines. The Act paved theway for setting up the Devasthanam Board, which waschaired by the Chief Minister. The Board was meantto control the management of renowned temples suchas Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri; theannual pilgrimage to these temples is popularly calledthe Char Dham Yatra and is a money-spinner not onlyfor the temples but also for allied businesses like thetravel, hotel and tourism industries. In 2019, over threemillion people visited the four shrines, though 2020was a damp squib owing to the COVID outbreak. Mostworryingly for the seers, the Act had the provision tosack a priest found involved in any “wrongdoing”. It

had been a long-pending demand of these teerth purohits (pilgrimage priests) that theGovernment roll back its decision as, they pointed out, they have been managing forgenerations the affairs of these temples, which were set up by their ancestors.

Now, though it can’t be truthfully claimed that everything was hunky-dory at thesereligious establishments when their affairs were being managed by the respective teerthpurohits, there’s also no denying the fact that the State Government’s move must nothave spawned from any idea of piousness or welfare for the pilgrims, who descendon the hill State from across the length and breadth of the country. It is true that theinfrastructure at the halting places leading to these places of worship is in a dilapi-dated condition and excessive commercialisation there has massively added to thenature’s burden, the result of which we all saw in the tragic Kedarnath flash floodsof 2013. However, the Government didn’t stir all along to ameliorate the pathetic con-ditions. We would suggest that rather than taking extreme positions, let the templemanagement remain with the teerth purohits but, at the same time, the Governmentshould keep an eye on them and the way they run the temple affairs and oversee theupkeep, facilities and amenities there.

India seems to be back to square one where fighting the pandemic is concerned,with more than 70 vaccination centres in Mumbai having shut down after runningout of the COVID doses. Other parts of the country, too, like Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi

and Uttar Pradesh, are facing a shortage of the coveted shots. And this shortage isbeing faced despite there being major vaccine hesitancy in the country and the inoc-ulation drive still not open to all. How massive the shortage would become if theGovernment decides to vaccinate all citizens is anybody’s guess. When the pandem-ic began over a year ago, India was faced with the harsh reality of a poor healthcareinfrastructure, shortage of hospital beds, ventilators, healthcare professionals, sani-

tisers, drugs and the know-how regarding the han-dling of the contagion. However, to the Government’sand India Inc’s credit, our “jugaadu” spirit kickedin and we overcame all these shortages by manu-facturing everything in India and even reached a pointwhere we began exporting PPEs, sanitisers and soon. Even where the vaccine was concerned, we sur-prised the world by coming out with two vaccines;in fact, India began gifting or selling vaccines to coun-tries around the world. All this was done parallel toour own ambitious countrywide vaccination drive.As the first wave of the outbreak seemed to sub-side, it gave the Centre’s vaccine diplomacy a shot

in the arm. It looked like we had it all under control, till the second wave hit.Now, it seems that we have not learnt any lessons from the first wave and pre-

pared ourselves better to handle the inevitable second wave, which empirical evi-dence suggests is always worse than the first one. So not only are we again facinga bed and oxygen shortage, we are beginning to fall short of the vaccines as well.A political slugfest has broken out over the issue with Maharashtra alleging that theCentre was “discriminating” against the non-BJP ruled States and the Government,for its part, accusing the States of having a lackadaisical attitude. A hectic debateis also on within the country whether charity should begin at home and the Governmentshould have ensured that all of its citizens were covered first before exporting theshots. After all, even the US, the leader of the free world, has banned all exportsuntil it vaccinates its own citizens. Be that as it may, the fact that we were not pre-pared to handle the inevitable second wave is a collective failure: Of the healthcaresystem, the policy planners, the bureaucracy, the Centre, States and the people asa whole. To make matters worse, some European regulators are talking about a pos-sible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine (available in India under the brand nameCovishield) and some rare occurrences of blood clots. Though the Indian panel on‘adverse event following immunisation’ is studying the safety of Covishield, it willbe some time before it gives its verdict. So, for now, it remains to be seen how ouringenuity gets us out of this jam.

Shot shortage

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/

MONDAY | APRIL 12, 2021

06

DeliveranceUttarakhand has decided to free 51 shrines from the

Govt's control and hand these back to the priests

The issues between Sri Lankan Tamils and the Sinhalas may be

resolved if India concurs to transfer the former to the Andamans

PICTALK

A 3,000-year-old lost city in Luxor, Egypt, which was unearthed recently AP/PTI

IF WE CAN OFFERA TRANSFER OF WILLING

SRI LANKAN TAMILSTO THE ANDAMANS,INDIA'S ADVANTAGE

WOULD BEPOPULATING THE

ANDAMAN ISLANDS,WHICH MAKES

TAMILS' SURVIVALSAFER, TAMIL NADU

HAPPIER AND THEINDO-SRI LANKAN

RELATIONSPERMANENTLY

SUSPICION-FREE

PRAFULL GORADIA

Amid a plethora of issues, from safety to availability,the second wave of pandemic has hit India hard

Of Sri Lanka andthe Andamans

Two communities notbeing able to coexist is aperennial problem inthe Indian subcontinent.

An old saying goes, “Ek myaanmein do talwarein nahi reh sakti”,meaning two swords cannot fitinto one scabbard. The problembegan by being underscored inour own India, which was divid-ed into Pakistan for Muslims andHindustan for the rest. MAJinnah argued that Hindus andMuslims were two separatenations and could not coexist.The first leader to push this two-nation thesis was Sir SyedAhmad Khan of Aligarh fame.

Some UP Muslims believedtheir new country, Pakistan,was a new Medina. Muslims inthe western wing despised east-erner Bengalis as inferior, shortand dark. Their economy wasexploited from day one. Jinnahvisited Dacca early in 1948 andperemptorily told universitystudents that Urdu alone wouldbe Pakistan’s national language.Bengali, which they are proudof, was not in the reckoning.The two wings were daggersdrawn from 1948; the clashcame in 1971, in less than 24years of the new Medina’s birth.In December that year, they sep-arated; Bangladesh was born.

Thus, India was dividedinto three. Now we hear that thepeople of Sindh wish to sepa-rate. This separatist movementis called “Jio Sindh”. They areunable to exist under the yokeof the dominant Punjabis.Baluchistan is another unhap-py province which was partlyBritish India and partly theprincely State of Kalat. It had anEmbassy in Karachi until 1948when Pakistan forcibly took itover. The Pathans of the North-West Frontier Province(NWFP) with their main city,Peshawar, have always wished tounite with all Pathans inAfghanistan, though thisdemand is dormant now.

With Sri Lanka, it is an oldproblem. I visited my in-laws-to-be in Colombo in 1964 as theywanted to introduce me to theirsociety in the city where they hadlived and worked for 32 years. Inthe course of my four-day stay,

SOUNDBITEAMP UP VACCINE PRODUCTIONSir — In a letter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Congress leader RahulGandhi has rightly questioned the Centre’sdecision to export COVID-19 vaccines. Itseems that the export was also an oversight,like many other decisions of the NDAGovernment. It also cannot be denied thatit was an effort to garner publicity at thecost of our own citizens.

The Government, before launching theworld’s largest vaccination drive shouldhave calculated the domestic demand andsupply. As several States are now allegingshortage of vaccines, it is time for theCentre to completely stop their export.India played the vaccine diplomacy cardthinking that it was close to developingherd immunity. New Delhi wasn’t granti-ng or exporting vaccines to only the poornations but also to the UK, Saudi Arabiaand Canada. Despite India’s stupendousefforts to vaccinate at a large scale, major-ity of the people are outside its purview.This is situation when there exists an agecriteria to get vaccinated. It’s not hard toimagine the situation if this age bar isremoved and everybody is allowed to getvaccinated.

The current situation might lead to anincrease in the prices of vaccines or, if thepharmaceutical companies ramp up pro-duction without increasing the prices, thequality will definitely get compromised.The Centre and State Governments mustgive up politics and find an amicable solu-tion to this problem which will likely aggra-vate in the coming days if viable answersare not explored and worked upon.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

NEED TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY Sir — It should be a cause of worry for NewDelhi that the US Navy recently carried outa Freedom of Navigation Operation(FONOP) in India’s Exclusive EconomicZone (EEZ) without its prior consent tochallenge India’s “excessive” maritimeclaims. According to the statement issuedby the Commander of the US’ Seventh

Fleet, the operation was conducted by guid-ed-missile destroyer USS John Paul Joneson April 7 and is consistent with the inter-national law. The Ministry of ExternalAffairs responded that the Government’sstated position on the UN convention onthe Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is that theConvention does not authorise otherStates to carry out operations in the EEZ.What is shocking is that it came at a timewhen India and the US are trying tostrengthen their ties and working in closecooperation in Quad for a free and openIndo-Pacific. US President Joe Biden’s“tough talk” on China shows thatWashington sees Beijing as its rival.However, the recent US misadventure canharm its good rapport with New Delhi.

TV Jayaprakash | Palakkad

NO REASON TO LOWER GUARD Sir — We are responsible for the rise in

the Coronavirus cases as we have loweredour guard and are not following theguidelines. People must understand thatit is necessary to break the chain of trans-missions to curb the spread of theCoronavirus.

The vaccines are no panacea. Not fol-lowing the appropriate COVID-19 behav-iour is not just laxity but is a criminal actas it is a major reason for the surge. Afterthe vaccination programme kickstarted,people felt they should not wear masks.Many people hang their masks aroundtheir neck, some keep it in their pocket andsome do not use it at all. It is only after suchgross negligence and laxity on the part ofpeople that Coronavirus cases have start-ed increasing.

Jubel D’Cruz | Mumbai

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

It refers to the editorial ‘Tightening thescrews' (April 10). I fully concur with theeditorial view that the Central Bureau of

Investigation (CBI) and the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA) should work in tan-dem to unravel the Anil Deshmukh and SachinVaze maze. If tainted police officials and politi-cians can work hand-in-glove, then why notour sleuths? The revelations made by arrest-ed police officer Vaze are disturbing. It shows

how rotten our whole system is and there isan open loot of public money. It seems thatthings like extortion, killings, transfer of hon-est officials, nepotism or using political influ-ence to get Government contracts havebecome the order of the day in Maharashtra.Not only this, it can also not be denied thatthe links of corrupt police officials like Vazeand politicians like Deshmukh must be withMaoists or terrorists, else from where thegelatin sticks used in Antilia bomb scare casecame?

Both the agencies must also focus theirinvestigation on these lines. Corrupt politicianswhen in power at the State or the Centre givepatronage to criminals and anti-social ele-ments in a quid pro quo so that they may usethem as and when required. Nothing couldbe more shameful for the MaharashtraGovernment than the recent happenings andthe alleged involvement of Deshmukh in gravecorruption. It must be investigated properlyand the accused should not be spared.

Abhishek Singh |Varanasi

Nix the corruption in Maharashtra COVID is surging andit is our responsibilityto push theGovernment to moveaway from PR tacticsand act in the interestof the people.

Congress interim president—Sonia Gandhi

Iran proposes the logical path to full JointComprehensivePlan of Actioncompliance. The

US, which caused this crisis, shouldreturn to full compliance first.

Iranian Foreign Minister

— Mohammad Javad Zarif

My parents organiseda celebration on theeve of my birthday inadvance as asurprise! I'm theluckiest person in theworld to have such parents.

Actor— Swara Bhasker

Lockdown is not anoption. However, wewill be putting somerestrictions in place tocontain the spread ofthe virus.

Delhi CM — Arvind Kejriwal

The Opposition gets nervous aboutAB de Villiers. Wehave depth in battingwhich we want toutilise. AB is probably

the only one in the team who is soversatile.

Cricketer — Virat Kohli

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

The big tent of thePPP decoded

THE CRPF HAS SHOT FOUR PEOPLE IN COOCH BEHAR.

THERE’S A CONSPIRACY UNDER THE HOME

MINISTER’S ORDER AND THIS INCIDENT IS PROOF.

—WEST BENGAL CM

MAMATA BANERJEE

DIDI AND HER GOONS ARE PERTURBED, SEEING THE

PEOPLE’S SUPPORT FOR THE BJP. SHE HAS STOOPED

TO THIS LEVEL AS SHE CAN SEE HERSELF LOSING.

—PRIME MINISTER

NARENDRA MODI

The nutshell identity of the Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP) is still slotted on the left sideof the conventional political divide. But

over the decades and, especially after the end ofthe Cold War in 1991, the nature of this dividehas continued to transform. According toRichard Gunther and Larry Diamond in the 2003issue of the Journal of Political Parties, by the1990s, the mainstream Right and Left of elec-toral politics had become the status quo, whichbegan being challenged by new “anti-status quo”groups. Gunther and Diamond write that theroots of large electoral Right/Centre-Right par-ties can be found in the 19th century, when theyemerged as a reaction to monarchism or partiesentirely driven by the aristocratic elite.

Ironically, this means that what evolved tobecome mainstream Right parties in the 20thcentury were originally on the Left in the 19thcentury because they represented the interestsof the emerging middle classes that advocatedcapitalism, individualism and religious freedomand/or “classical liberalism.”

Once such parties succeeded in becomingpart of the new status quo, they began to be chal-lenged by parties stressing the need to regulatecapitalism through various variations of social-ism. Therefore, the latter came to be understoodas electoral outfits that were on the left of theestablished classical liberal parties, which werenow slotted on the right side of the divide.

In his book ‘Sociologie Politique’, French soci-ologist M Duverger writes that, because of thechallenges posed by socialist parties, someclassical liberal parties appropriated religion toexpand their appeal but remained rooted in thepost-19th century secular political paradigm. TheConservative Party in Britain, the RepublicanParty in the US and the Christian Democraticparties in Europe can be seen as examples of this.The mainstream Left parties were quick to adoptthe same. Eventually, large parties on both sidesof the divide became what are called the “bigtent” or “catch-all” parties.

These parties retain an ideological core,which can be Left or Right, but they positionthemselves toward the Centre of the spectrum,appearing moderate in their policy prefer-ences. “Big tent” parties become platforms forvaried political players as long as they have evena semblance of recognition of the party’s core ide-ological purpose. However, it is pragmatism thatbecomes the overriding nature of “catch-all” par-ties.

The PPP was formed in 1967. It was initial-ly conceived by the Marxist intellectual JA Rahimas a vehicle for the charismatic politician ZABhutto. The 39-year-old Bhutto had been partof the Ayub Khan dictatorship but was oustedfrom the Cabinet in 1966. Bhutto positionedhimself as the man who had “stood up to a dic-tator.” This gained him traction with universi-ty and college students.

According to Rahim’s analysis, the Ayubregime’s economic policies had accelerated theradicalisation of Pakistan’s bourgeoise, widenedthe gap between the rich and the poor, and anorganised socialist party was not only the needof the hour, but would also be able to fill the vac-uum created after Ayub’s inevitable departure.

A reading of the PPP’sFoundation Papers makes it clearthat, right from the onset, itsfounders saw the PPP as a “bigtent” party modelled on estab-lished Social Democratic parties ofEurope. Rahim believed that thecountry’s bourgeoise had beguntheir march towards a revolution-ary phase, just as the Europeanmiddle classes had done in the19th century. Yet, at the time, amajority of Pakistanis lived inrural areas and the process ofindustrialisation, though rapidduring the Ayub era, was still con-centrated in just a few urban cen-tres.

When the party was launched,it exhibited three main groupings:On the Left were Marxist studentleaders, socialist intellectuals, tradeunionists and peasant leaders. Onthe Right were “progressive” land-ed elite and in the Centre werewhat became to be known as“Islamic socialists”, or those whoappropriated Islam as a welfaristand socialist doctrine, as opposedto a theological expression of pol-itics (à la Jamaat-i-Islami).

During the 1970 elections, theparty’s “big tent” tactics were a suc-cess, aiding it to attract the major-ity of middle and lower-middleclass votes, and the votes of smallfarmers and peasants in (West)Pakistan’s two largest provinces,

Punjab and Sindh.In December 1971, the party

suddenly found itself in powerafter the acrimonious departure ofEast Pakistan. The party’s Leftwing was more assertive duringBhutto’s first year in power. But thisassertion was stalled when Bhuttobegan perceiving the party’s radi-cal Left as agents of anarchy witha juvenile understanding ofMarxism.

According to Gunther andDiamond, in an effort to expandtheir electoral appeal to a widevariety of groups, the policy orien-tations of “big tent” parties wereeclectic and shifted with the pub-lic mood. In Pakistan, because ofcertain overarching internationaleconomic shifts, the mood wasclearly shifting to the Right. In thesecond half of Bhutto’s tenure, theregime tried to appropriate thismood and, by the time theGovernment fell in 1977, the partybelieved it had upstaged the far-Right Islamist groups that wereopposing it.

But it seems that the party didnot go far enough and was toppledby an Islamist General. With itsleader hanged in 1979, and itsother major players either in exileor in prison, the reins of the partyfell in the hands of its lower-tierleadership. Bhutto’s daughterBenazir was at the helm, but she

was under arrest. This was alsowhen the party’s leftist militanttendencies, which had been sub-dued by Bhutto, resurfaced. In1986, however, fearing that the USwould stall the party’s return topower for being “too Left-wing”,Benazir began to gradually pushthe party back towards the Centre.

This push continued throughthe 1990s, especially with theappearance of the PakistaniMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)as the “big tent” party of theRight. Under Asif Ali Zardari, thePPP has dug its heels deep in prag-matist centrism. Its electoral appealin Punjab was neutralised by thePML-N and then the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). This hasblocked its path to Islamabad as aruling party.

The PPP continues to enjoypower and electoral traction inSindh. But this traction is largelybased on the fact that the Sindhispeakers perceive the PPP as abridge between them and the eco-nomic and political fruits of fed-eralism. For this, the PPP needs tocontinue having a strong presencein federal institutions.

This is why it was importantfor Zardari to recently bag amajority in the Senate, even if heended up upsetting his allies in theanti-Government PakistanDemocratic Movement.

Pragmatic centrism and the need to remain a bridge between Sindh’s electorate and thepolitical fruits of federalism may help explain why the PPP made a grab for the Senate

RIYA RAHIMAN

IN PAKISTAN,BECAUSE OF

CERTAINOVERARCHING

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC

SHIFTS, THEMOOD WAS

CLEARLY SHIFTING TO THE

RIGHT. IN THESECOND HALF OF

BHUTTO’S TENURE,THE REGIME TRIED

TO APPROPRIATETHIS MOOD AND,BY THE TIME THE

GOVERNMENT FELL IN 1977,

THE PARTYBELIEVED IT HAD

UPSTAGED THEFAR-RIGHTISLAMIST GROUPS

THAT WERE OPPOSING IT

Countries have been grappling with the impact of climate changeand extreme events as they pose various risks to people, infra-structure, economies and future development. A significant pro-

portion of the economic losses due to extreme events is attributedto the loss and damage to infrastructure systems, thereby stressingthe need for integrating disaster and climate resilience for infrastruc-ture development. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, we havewitnessed an unprecedented impact on infrastructure sectors world-wide. Even though it has not led to direct damages to physical infra-structure, it led to interruptions in infrastructure services, with sig-nificant implications on economies. The outbreak is the latest reminderof the need to invest in resilient infrastructure. It exposed systemicrisks across various sectors and underlying drivers such as pover-ty, poor health systems and limited social welfare schemes that per-petuated them. The risks cut across different sectors and stronglybrought out the imperative to understand and address systemic andcascading dangers and fragilities.

As part of global recovery, infrastructure investments are beinglooked at as an indispensable part of stimulus packages aimed atrestarting economic activities. Countries are expected to invest heav-ily in infrastructure sectors as an attempt to mitigate the impacts ofthe economic fallouts as well as create employment and improvecompetitiveness simultaneously. While the health and economic impli-cations take centre stage when planning for COVID-19 recovery, theurgency of the climate emergency cannot be ignored. The pandem-ic has clearly brought out the need to focus on managing systemsrisks for strengthening resilience, a lesson one must heed, to makeheadway against climate change as well. With countries submittingtheir national climate action plans as part of the Paris Agreement,this is a crucial year for climate action as well. It is vital that the post-COVID recovery and climate action plans complement each other.

Studies show that infrastructure construction and operationsaccount for 70 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and theprovision of quality infrastructure underpins the achievement of 92per cent of targets across all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) alsohighlights the role of resilient infrastructure as a cornerstone for sus-tainable development. The four specific targets relate to loss reduc-tion in SFDRR, focus on cutting global disaster mortality, the num-ber of affected people, economic loss and damage to infrastructure.However, the SFDRR target on reducing damage to critical infrastruc-ture is an important prerequisite for achieving the three other targetson loss reduction. In view of this, infrastructure investments and poli-cies to bolster economies should be leveraged as an opportunity todeliver on global commitments such as the Paris Agreement on ClimateChange, SDGs and the SFDRR targets. Though some progress hasbeen made on the SDGs and the SFDRR target, the overall action tomeet them has not advanced at the required pace. The pandemichas further pushed back their progress. The COVID-19 recovery canbe utilised as an opportunity to progress on these global goals andbuild a healthy, inclusive and climate-friendly future. Investing in dis-aster and climate-resilient infrastructure can provide the much-need-ed impetus in meeting global commitments while also making con-tributions to post-COVID recovery.

(The writer is Senior Specialist for Infrastructure Resilience,Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. The views expressedare personal.)

First, the good news. TheUS and Iran had talks inVienna on Tuesday, and

the nuclear deal they and allthe other great powers signedin 2015, is coming back.

It’s not exactly back yet.After then US PresidentDonald Trump unilaterallypulled out of the treaty in2018 and re-imposed harshsanctions on Iran, theIranians retaliated by slowlydeviating from their owncommitments under the dealone baby step at a time. Sonow there has to be an agree-ment on a timetable forunwinding those steps as wellas cancelling the US sanc-tions.

On a better run planet,the US special envoy for Iran,Rob Malloy, would justdeclare that all the US sanc-tions on Iran wrongly put inplace by the discreditedTrump Administration are

cancelled as of today. TheIranian delegation, led byDeputy Foreign MinisterAbbas Araghchi, a veteran ofthe 2015 talks, would replythat Iran will immediatelyreturn to compliance with allthe terms of the treaty andinvite UN inspectors to ver-ify that all its temporary devi-ations from treaty obliga-tions over the past three yearshave been reversed. And wewould all live happily everafter.

However, in the realworld it is not so. The nego-tiators in Vienna are not evenin the same hotel. All thecountries that are still observ-ing the treaty (China, France,Germany, Iran, Russia andthe UK) are in one hotel, andthe American mission is inanother, with messages goingback and forth between thetwo parties. Porcupines matewith less difficulty, but there

has already been someprogress.

“The United States knowsthat, in order to get back intocompliance, it’s going to haveto lift those sanctions that areinconsistent with the dealthat was reached with Iran,”said Rob Malloy. The IranianGovernment’s spokesman AliRabiei replied that he “salut-ed” Malloy’s remarks. “Wefind this position realisticand promising,” he added.

Two working groups havebeen set up that includeAmerican representatives,with the task of choreograph-ing reciprocal moves by theUS and Iran to return to thetreaty and a target of full com-pliance by both sides withintwo months. Just in time forIranian moderates to claimcredit for ending the USsanctions a week or so beforethe June election.

So that’s probably sorted,

but what about all the coun-tries that actually do havenuclear weapons? Iran orig-inally got into trouble becauseit signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in1970 and later tried to getnuclear weapons anyway, butthe countries that alreadyhad nukes when they signedthe NPT have obligations,too. How are they doing?

The NPT states that“nuclear-weapons States agreeto...pursue nuclear disarma-

ment aimed at the ultimateelimination of their nucleararsenals.” But it has been along pursuit and 50 years laternot one of them’ has actual-ly managed to catch the damnthing.

The US has got turnedaround somehow and is pur-suing in the wrong direction.It’s in the midst of a trillion-dollar-plus “upgrade” of itsnuclear forces, including anew generation of land-basedintercontinental ballistic mis-siles (ICBMs) and new sub-marine-launched cruise mis-siles.

According to PresidentVladimir Putin, Russia hasdeveloped nuclear-poweredcruise missiles and torpedoswith unlimited range, ahypersonic vehicle calledAvangard to deliver nuclearweapons at a low level andultra-high speed, and a newultra-heavy ICBM called

‘Sarmat’ that is able to carryeven more and bigger war-heads (10-15) over a longerrange (18,000 km.) Therehave also been reports of anew nuclear-powered dronetorpedo that is capable ofdelivering a 100-megatonwarhead (biggest ever testedwas 50 megatons) over arange of 10,000 km. Then itwould explode off an enemy’scoast to create a tsunamiwave 500 metres tall to inun-date the coastal regions withhighly radioactive water. Butmaybe this one is fiction.

Then there’s Little Britainwith its four submarines thatcarry nuclear-tipped missiles.Prime Minister Boris Johnsonrecently announced that hewas increasing the number ofwarheads they carry from180 to 240, but it doesn’t real-ly make much of a difference.

Traditionally the UK’sstrategy is “no first use”, which

means Britain’s retaliationwould be on cities, not onempty silos. So you’re justbouncing the rubble afterthe first few dozen warheadsexplode. That’s probably whyJohnson broke with traditionand said that Britain mightuse nuclear weapons inresponse to non-nuclearattacks, including even cyberattacks. One way to compen-sate for not really being verydangerous is to sound veryreckless.

Then there’s France(mostly harmless, despitesome 280 nuclear weapons)and China (320 but still talk-ing about expansion). PlusIndia (150), Israel (90), NorthKorea (30-40) and Pakistan(160), all countries that“unsigned” or never signedthe NPT. But at least we’re safefrom Iran’s nuclear weapons,which never existed and stilldon’t.

There are many countries that already had nukes when they signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. They have obligations, too. How are they doing?

MONDAY | APRIL 12, 2021

07

www.dailypioneer.com facebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

FIRSTCOLUMN

BUILD RESILIENTINFRASTRUCTURE

This can give the impetus to meet climate commitmentswhile making contributions to post-COVID recovery

NADEEM PARACHA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The writer is a seniorjournalist and columnist.

The views expressed are personal.

Courtesy: Dawn

Quaking over Iran’s phantom nuclear weapons

GWYNNE DYER

Gwynne Dyer’s new bookis ‘Growing Pains: TheFuture of Democracy

(and Work)’. The views expressed

are personal.

MONDAY | APRIL 12, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Property consultant Anarockhas clocked an 18 per cent

growth in its revenue at Rs302 crore during the lastfiscal despite the COVID-19pandemic, its chairman AnujPuri said on Sunday. In aninterview with PTI, Puri saidthe company sold 14,700

units worth Rs 16,240 crore on behalf of the developers in the full2020-21 financial year. The numbers are higher than the 2019-20fiscal year, when Anarock sold 12,710 units worth over Rs 11,000crore. Puri pointed out that housing sales in the first four months ofthe 2019-20 were badly impacted due to the nationwide lockdown,which was imposed to control the spread of coronavirus disease.However, he said demand for residential properties improvedsignificantly thereafter. "We have achieved a revenue of Rs 302 croreduring the last fiscal," Puri said.

Anarock's FY'21 revenue up 18 per cent to Rs 302 crore

Sterling Holiday Resortsis looking to take the

total number of rooms inits inventory to 5,000 by2025 as part of robustgrowth plans goingforward, a top companyofficial said. The companycurrently has over 2,400

rooms in over 35 resorts across India, including SterlingNature Trails. "Sterling has aggressive expansion plans andaims to double its inventory from the current 2,400-plus roomsto 5,000 rooms by 2025. "In line with this, over the last oneyear, Sterling has opened resorts in Guruvayur, Thekkady andRishikesh," Sterling Holiday Resorts Chairman and MDRamesh Ramanathan told PTI.For the upcoming resorts,several locations are on active search including Mysore,Udaipur, Jodhpur, Varanasi, Coorg and Kumarakom.

Sterling Resorts to have 5Krooms in its inventory by ’25

Fitday, a nutraceutical start-up, on Sunday said it plans

to set up 50 brick-and-mortarstores across the countrywith an investment of aboutRs 60 crore. The company'sparent firm, Genomelabs,focuses mainly on product

research, formulation, manufacturing and product sales. "Fitdayplans to set up 50 brick-and-mortar stores pan-India by 2023 withan approximate investment of Rs 600 million while simultaneouslyramping up their online presence," according to a statement. Thecompany will fund the expansion through internal accruals. Fitdayfounder Suresh Raju cited reports to state that the food systems inmany countries do not offer adequate nutrient outputs to fulfill healthand nutritional needs. "Nearly half of the world's population is mal-nourished. Apparently, 840 million have insufficient intakes ofprotein/energy, and more than two billion people consume diets that areless diverse than 30 years ago, leading to deficiencies in micronutrients.

Fitday.in, a nutraceuticalstart-up, to open 50 stores

The Department ofTelecommunications (DoT)

is likely to issue guidelines onimplementation of production-linked incentive (PLI) schemesfor manufacturers in the sectorand start inviting applicationsfor the same in about a week,according to government offi-

cials. Telecom gear makers firms such as Ericsson and Nokia arekeen to expand their operations in India, and global companies likeSamsung, Cisco, Ciena and Foxconn have "shown interest" to set upmanufacturing bases in the country for telecom and networkingproducts for domestic and export markets. "Telecom PLI has alreadybeen approved by the government. The DoT is ready with guidelinesto implement it, application format, incentive allocation, etc. It shouldbe published on the DoT website within a week," the official, who didnot wish to be named, said.

DoT likely to issue guidelinesfor telecom PLI within week

PNS n NEW DELHI

The second COVID-19 wavehas postponed corporateIndia's reopening plans fornow, and distributed work-forces or hybrid working willbe the new normal as business-es seek to reduce risk andbenefit from remote working,experts said.

Corporate India's return tooffice plan is likely to be stag-gered as the pandemic willcontinue to provide challenges.In a bid to ensure continuityand productive output, compa-nies will have to provide con-venient locations, latest tech-nology and allow flexibility intandem with evolving circum-stances, they said.

"Our return to office planwill be a phased approach withnot everyone returning at thesame time," said PriyankaAnand, Vice President andHead of HR, South East Asia,Oceania & India, Ericsson.

Anand further noted that "inmy view we will see our officesevolve to a more hybrid modeof working where we will wit-

ness a build-up of an efficienthome-office infrastructure aswell as policies that flexibility& balance to the workforce".

Earlier, offices were all set toreopen but with the resur-gence of COVID-19 casesthose plans are likely to change.

"There is no official commu-nication on this yet but prob-ably work from home willcontinue. The new wave haspostponed corporate India'sreopening plans for now," saidKrishna Prasad, Head HR -APAC region, Skillsoft.

Experts believe a flexi-work-ing model is likely to be the

new norm, which would meanalternate work-from-homedays or shrunken workforcefrom offices for the next 2-3months.

"There was reopening allacross, however, depending onthe nature of the work, compa-nies may have adopted a less-er or more percentage of work-force from office or WFH. Itseems that the hybrid workingarrangements might continueup to June 2021 at least," saidLohit Bhatia, President, IndianStaffing Federation.

Bhatia further said, "Wewould request that among the

working staff, the governmentmay allow everyone above 25years of age to be vaccinatedrather than only those above 45years."

This time around companiesand employers are better pre-pared than 2020, when it wasa sudden event. Companies arenow ready with SOPs, guide-lines, testing protocols, leavesin case of testing positive orsupport towards, medical assis-tance etc, to employees.

"As the second wave is com-ing in, we are also seeingorganisations better preparedto respond to the situation bothfor their customers as well asworkforce, said Nitin Sethi,CEO, India and South Asia -Performance, Rewards &Organization Effectiveness,Aon.

In the new future of work,hybrid is a new reality that isnow strongly embedded andhere to stay, Sethi noted.

"Along with bringing in bet-ter workplace collaborationwhile working remotely, thesafety of the people has becomea priority and every organisa-

tion is willing to stay flexible asthey are regularly tracking theevolving government guide-lines and the vaccine rollout,"said Vishal Agrawal, MD, India& SAARC, Avaya.

According to Avaya's lateststudy on Life and WorkBeyond 2020, 77 per cent of theIndian employees have agreedto Hybrid work model as theyfeel it will be better for theirmental wellbeing and 74 percent of the employees havementioned that they wouldsupport government policies toembrace hybrid working, e.g.working from anywhere, office,home or other location.

"The transition back to officewill be slow and not exactlyhow we left it. The surge incases has made us rethink theback-to-work plans," saidHarsh Lambah, CountryManager India, Vice PresidentSales – South Asia, IWG plc.

A lot of companies areinvesting in COVID-19 safetytraining for employees to bringout the necessary behaviouralchanges related to health andsafety.

Partial lockdown could impactmovement of labour and goodsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Partial lockdown measurescould impact the movement oflabour and goods which wouldaffect industrial productionsignificantly, according to aCEO's survey.

Covid curfew and microcontainment strategies alongwith Covid-appropriate behav-iour are effective to contain thespread of the second wave ofinfections, the survey by indus-try body CII suggested.

A majority of the CEOs par-ticipated in the survey indicat-ed they expect that "partiallockdown measures couldimpact the movement of labouras well as movement of goodswhich would affect industrialproduction significantly," itsaid.

More than half of the CEOspolled have stated that theirproduction could be affected ifthere are restrictions on move-ment of labour during thesepartial lockdowns.

"Similarly, 56 per cent of theCEOs expressed their concernover loss of production of up to50% if there were restrictionson the ecosystem that supportsmovement of goods," it added.

Stringent enforcement mea-sures to promote strict adher-ence to health and safety pro-tocols are essential and anymeasures to restrict social gath-

erings should not be extendedto regular functioning of indus-try and commerce, T VNarendran, President-desig-nate, CII, said.

Further to mitigate the impact

of the restrictions, about 67 percent of those polled expressedtheir desire to work with thegovernment for mass vaccina-tion of eligible workforce whoare 45 years and above.

Industrialists fear anotherexodus of migrant workersCoimbatore: With the secondwave of Covid sweeping acrossvarious parts of Tamil Nadu,some of the industrialists in theState are apprehensive ofmigrant workers leaving for theirhometowns considering thehealth conditions. The industriesrecovered from the jolt of thefirst wave of coronavirus whenover one lakh migrant workersfrom both Coimbatore andTirupur industries rushed backto their home towns in Bihar,Uttar Pradesh and Odisha by

special trains. The 30%increase in the raw materials hasaffected the indu-stries, sourcesfrom different industrialassociations said. A few workersreportedly left for their nativesearly last week as they fearedthe availability of transport liketrains to reach their towns.However, there was no majorexodus from the industries asthe workers working on weeklypayment basis had taken theirwages Saturday last, the sourcessaid.

Pension sector: Govt may hike FDI limit to 74%PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The government may hike for-eign direct investment (FDI)limit in the pension sector to74 per cent and a Bill in thisregard is expected to come inthe next Parliament session,according to sources.

Last month, Parliamentapproved a Bill to increaseFDI limit in the insurance sec-tor from 49 per cent to 74 percent. The Insurance Act, 1938was last amended in 2015which raised FDI limit to 49per cent, resulting in foreigncapital inflow of Rs 26,000crore in the last 5 years.

Amendment to PensionFund Regulatory andDevelopment Authority(PFRDA) Act, 2013 seeking toraise FDI limit in the pensionsector may come in the mon-

soon session or winter sessiondepending on variousapprovals, sources said.

Currently, the FDI in thepension fund is capped at 49per cent.

Besides, sources said, theamendment Bill may containseparation of NPS Trust fromthe PFRDA.

The powers, functions andduties of the NPS Trust, which

are currently laid down underthe PFRDA (National PensionSystem Trust) Regulations2015, may come under a char-itable trust or the CompaniesAct, they said.

The intent behind this is tokeep NPS Trust separate fromthe pension regulator andmanaged competent board of15 members. Out of this, themajority of members are like-ly to be from the governmentas they, including states, are thebiggest contributor to the cor-pus.

The PFRDA was establishedfor promoting and ensuring theorderly growth of the pensionsector with sufficient powersover pension funds, the centralrecordkeeping agency andother intermediaries. It alsosafeguards the interest of mem-bers.

The National PensionSystem (NPS) was introducedby the Government of India toreplace the defined benefitpension system. NPS was mademandatory for all new recruitsto the central government ser-vice from January 1, 2004,(except the armed forces in thefirst stage) and has also beenrolled out for all citizens witheffect from May 1, 2009, onvoluntary basis.

The government had madea conscious move to shift fromthe defined benefit, pay-as-you-go pension scheme todefined contribution pensionscheme, NPS, due to rising andunsustainable pension bill. Thetransition aimed at freeing thelimited resources of the gov-ernment for more productiveand socio-economic sectoraldevelopment.

Franklin unitholders to get Rs 2,962 cr in second tranchePNS n NEW DELHI

SBI Funds Management (SBIMF) will distribute the nexttranche of Rs 2,962 crore tounitholders of FranklinTempleton Mutual Fund's sixshuttered schemes during thecoming week.

SBI MF has already distrib-uted Rs 9,122 crore to investorsas directed by the SupremeCourt earlier.

"SBI MF would be distribut-ing the next tranche of Rs2,962 crore to unitholdersacross all six schemes.

"The payment to allinvestors whose accounts areKYC compliant with all detailsavailable will be made duringthe week of April 12, 2021," aFranklin Templeton MFspokesperson said on Sunday.

The amount to be paid tounitholders will be paid byextinguishing proportionateunits at the net asset valuedated April 9, he added.

The payment will be madeelectronically to all eligibleunitholders by SBI MF, which

has been appointed as the liq-uidator for the schemes underwinding up by the SupremeCourt.

In case the unitholders' bankaccount is not eligible for anelectronic payment, a chequeor demand draft will be issuedand sent to their registeredaddress by SBI MF.

In March, the SupremeCourt accepted the standardoperating procedure (SOP)finalised by SBI MF to mone-tise assets and distribute theproceeds to unitholders of thesix debt schemes of FranklinTempleton Mutual Fund.

Franklin Templeton MFshut its six debt mutual fundschemes in April 2020 citingredemption pressures and lackof liquidity in the bond mar-ket.

The schemes were FranklinIndia Low Duration Fund,Franklin India DynamicAccrual Fund, Franklin IndiaCredit Risk Fund, FranklinIndia Short Term Income Plan,Franklin India Ultra ShortBond Fund, and Franklin IndiaIncome Opportunities Fund.They together had an estimat-ed Rs 25,000 crore as assetsunder management (AUM).

Samsung aims toincrease market sharePNS n NEW DELHI

South Korean consumer elec-tronics major Samsung isbanking on its Indian innova-tion-powered, artificial intel-ligence-enabled washingmachines range to becomethe number one player in thefully automatic segment inIndia this year, according to asenior company official.

The company is looking toincrease its market share in thefully automatic washingmachines segment to 32 percent this year from 24.6 percent at present in the catego-ry, which accounts for about60 per cent of the total estimat-ed 90 lakh units per annumwashing machines market inIndia.

Samsung India had recent-ly launched a new line-up offully automatic front loadwashing machines which are

artificial intelligence (AI)enabled with bi-lingual userinterface in Hindi and English.

"Our ambition is to go fromthe number two position tonumber one position, from a24.6 per cent share to a 32 percent share in fully automatic(segment) within this year2021," Samsung India SeniorVice President, ConsumerElectronics Business, RajuPullan told PTI.

At present, rival LG occu-pies the top slot in the fullyautomatic washing machinessegment.

"With the 32 per cent (mar-ket share) objective we have setfor ourself, we will be theNumber 1 brand," he asserted,adding the company willachieve it though distinctiveproduct and product differen-tiation and reliance on Indianinnovation and the made forIndia range.

Amid Covid,RSH deferscapex plansPNS n NEW DELHI

Personal care products makerRSH Global has deferred itscapex plans until early nextyear due to the COVID-19pandemic and is now plan-ning to set up a new manu-facturing plant in HimachalPradesh in a phase-wise man-ner at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

"Due to COVID-19 situa-tion, we put our capex planon hold for setting up ourthird manufacturing plant...Entire new plant project costis Rs 100 crore... Early nextyear, construction will startfor setting up the plant. Wewill do it in phases. It is ahuge facility," Sunil Agarwal,chairman of RSH Global,told PTI.

At present, RSH Global hastwo manufacturing plants inBaddi in Himachal Pradesh.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Eyeing indigenous productionof containers amid a globalsurge in demand, the Centre islooking to develop Bhavnagarin Gujarat as a container huband has set up pilot projects forits manufacturing, UnionMinister Mansukh Mandaviyasaid.

The initiative aimed atattaining self-reliance in con-tainer production eyes Rs1,000 crore investment fromprivate players and looks tocreate one lakh jobs.

The move assumes signifi-cance amid reports of globalshortages of containers withIndian containerised trade tak-ing a hit owing to the staggered

supply and demand shocksacross geographies as per logis-tic majors.

"India requires about 3.5lakh containers every year....There is no container pro-duction in India and we haveto depend mainly on Chinawhich is a global producer.Now we want to developBhavnagar in Gujarat as a

container hub and we haveselected 10 places there for itsproduction on a pilot basis,"Ports, Shipping and WaterwaysMinister Mansukh Mandaviyatold PTI.

The pilot project has beensuccessful, he said.

Mandaviya said the Ministryof shipping during the last sixmonths has taken several ini-tiatives to encourage contain-er production at Bhavnagarwith the help of re-rolling andfurnace makers who are beingencouraged to diversify in thespace.

"We expect private players toinvest about Rs 1,000 crore inthis space. We also expect cre-ation of one lakh local jobs,"the minister said.

‘India to manufacture containers,eyes Rs 1,000 crore investment’

Power consumptiongrows 47% in AprilPNS n NEW DELHI

Power consumption in thecountry grew nearly 47 percent in the first week of Aprilto 28.34 billion units (BU) overthe corresponding period ayear ago, showing robustrecovery in industrial andcommercial demand of elec-tricity, according to powerministry data. Power con-sumption in the first week ofApril last year was was record-ed at 19.33 BU.

On the other hand, thepeak power demand met,which is the highest supply ina day, during first week thismonth remained well abovethe highest record of 132.20GW in the same period inApril 2020.

During the first week thismonth, peak power demandtouched the highest level of181.05 GW on April 7, 2021,and recorded a growth of 27per cent over 132.20 GWrecorded in the entire monthof April last year.

Power consumption inApril last year had dropped to84.55 BU from 110.11 BU insame month in 2019. Thishappened mainly because offewer economic activities fol-lowing imposition of lock-down by the government.

Similarly, peak powerdemand met also slumped to132.20 GW in April last yearfrom 176.81GW in the samemonth in 2019, showing theimpact of lockdown on eco-nomic activities.

EV policy needsto be rejigged tomake it moreeffective: HeroPNS n NEW DELHI

The country's electric vehicle(EV) policy needs to be"rejigged" and requires"course correction" in orderto make it more effective toachieve envisaged sales tar-gets, according to the coun-try's leading electric two-wheeler maker Hero Electric.

Under the FAME-IIscheme, which was launchedin April 2019, the plan was toput at least 10 lakh high-speed electric two-wheelerson the road by March 2022.

"We are now two years downin the policy and there is onlyone year to go. But if you lookat the number of vehicles whichhave benefitted, it is just around60,000 units. It should have beensix lakh plus by now. So some-thing is not working. So that iswhere the policy now needs tobe kind of rejigged," HeroElectric Managing DirectorNaveen Munjal told PTI.

Under the second phase ofthe Faster Adoption andManufacturing of ElectricVehicles in India (FAME-II)scheme, 10 lakh registered elec-tric two-wheelers with a maxi-mum ex-factory price are eligi-ble to avail incentive of Rs20,000 each.

Currently, only high-speedelectric two-wheelers qualifyfor incentives under the FAME-II scheme.

Second wave puts off reopeningof firms; transition to be slow

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

FUN

9

Monday April 12 2021what’s brewing?

ctor AbhishekBachchan in arecent interviewspoke about thebeginnings of hisromantic relation-

ship with wife Aishwarya Rai.The couple tied the knot in2007, and they have onedaughter, Aaradhya.

While promoting his newfilm The Big Bull, Abhishekwas asked to label his someof his past films as either‘bullish’ or ‘bearish’ careermoves. When he was askedto slot Umrao Jaan, he saidthat it was definitely ‘bullish’,because ‘that’s where it allhappened’.

Asked if ‘mohabbat (love)’happened organically or if hemade it happen, Abhishektold RJ Siddharth Kannan,“We’d been friends for a verylong time. Aishwarya wasone of the first co-stars I’dever worked with. Our firstmovie together was calledDhai Akshar Prem Ke, whichwas technically the secondfilm I started shooting, assoon as I finished Refugee.”

He continued, “So she’dbeen a dear, dear friend, andwe’d worked in so many filmstogether. It was a bit of both.The universe conspired tobring us together.”

Abhishek’s new film, TheBig Bull, was released onThursday on Disney+Hotstar. The actor played acharacter inspired by taintedstockbroker Harshad Mehtain the film, which wasreceived poorly by critics.

Aishwarya, in the past, hadspoken about how Abhishekproposed to her. In an inter-view with Filmfare, the actorsaid that the moment was‘surreal’ for her as she was onthe sets of her 2008 film,Jodhaa Akbar. “We’re doingKhawja Mere Khwaja, sittingas a bride, and I am like, ohmy god this is surreal, allhappening on-screen, off-screen, this is bizarre,” shesaid. Aishwarya andAbhishek have workedtogether on numerous films,such as Dhoom 2, Guru and

Raavan.

A

hea Chakrabortyseldom sharespictures of herselfon social mediasince herboyfriend Sushant

Singh Rajput died by sui-cide in June last year. Theactress has gone through anarrest by the NarcoticsControl Bureau (NCB) andjail time. She is currently inthe middle of a legal battlein the SSR death case. Insuch tough times, she seemsto be drawing strength fromRabindranath Tagore’s col-lection of poems, Gitanjali.Rhea shared a picture ofherself reading the Bengalibook and shared a quotefrom it on Instagram.

Rhea is seen wearing ayellow kurti and readingGitanjali while sitting on acouch. She captioned thepicture, “The question andthe cry ‘oh, where?’ meltinto tears of a thousandstreams and deluge theworld with the flood of theassurance, ‘I AM!’ -Rabindranath Tagore,Gitanjali (sic)”" Rhea addedthe hashtag #keepingthefaith

to her post.Rhea Chakraborty will be

next seen in Rumi Jafry’sChehre with AmitabhBachchan and EmraanHashmi. The film is a mys-

tery thriller and was slatedto release in April.However, the release of thefilm has been delayed dueto the novel coronaviruspandemic.

Rhea Chakraborty is ‘keepingthe faith’ in rare Instagram post

R

alking about theCharlie’s Angelsreunion, Barrymore,on her show TheDrew BarrymoreShow" said: “As long

as I love it, I want more fromus we can do anything and

everything together.”To this, Diaz

replied: “I always say‘never say never’

and I feel that insome way there

is never atimewhen weare notgoing tobe

con-

nected and I can't wait for usto come back together andshare that love once more.”

She added: “I can’t wait togrow old with you and expe-rience our life togetherbecause one of the greatestmoments of my life is ourfriendship and when I thinkabout you, I literally start tocry. I think you’re so specialand your birthday every yearis one of my most favouritetimes of the year”

Barrymore credited Diazfor making her a “better per-son”.

“You’ve seen me througheverything both ugly andbeautiful. I can’t wait to growold with you together,” shesaid on the show, which airson Zee Cafe in India.

Cameron Diaz said one ofher greatest moments in lifeis the friendship she shares

with Drew Barrymore.

ABHISHEK BACHCHAN RECALLSFALLING IN LOVE WITH AISHWARYA

T

inger Mika Singhhas ‘proposed’ tosinger BhoomiTrivedi, that too onnational television!

In an upcomingepisode of the music realityshow Indian Pro Music League(IPML), the Punjab Lions trioof Mika Singh, Asees Kaurand Rupali Jagga performSajid-Wajid’s popular titlesong of the film MujhseShaadi Karogi. During the act,Mika left everyone surprisedby walking over to Bhoomiand leading her to the stageeven as he continued singingthe song. At one point heasked Bhoomi: ‘Mujhse shaadikarogi (will you marry me)?”

Following this, host KaranWahi asked Bhoomi and Mikato dance together, and that'swhen Mika went down on hisknees and asked her the ques-tion once again!

“Bhoomi, ab toh bata do,mujhse shaadi karogi? Sab logBhoomi se jude hain, mainesocha main bhi Bhoomi se judjaaoon (Bhoomi tell me now,will you marry me? Everyoneis connected to Bhoomi, Ithought I should, too). Whatdo you guys think aboutBhoomi Singh?” Mika said.

Bhoomi replied: “What doyou think about MikaTrivedi? But to be honest, Ihave come here to find a bridefor you, it would be injustice

to them.”The episode airs on Zee TV

on Saturday evening.Recently on the very same

show, Mika Singh had

declared that he would getmarried only afterBollywood’s “most eligiblebachelor” actor Salman Khanties the knot.

Did Mika Singh propose

to Bhoomi Trivedi on TV?S

We know the British lovedour spices centuries ago,

but today, we have peoplefrom across the globe who

are looking forward tofusing their dishes with

Indian kitchen ingredients.Meet British national

Sarah Todd, a celebratedchef, who talks to The

Pioneer's SHIKHADUGGAL about herobsession with south

Indian curries, her dreamproject, the restaurants she

wishes to start, and more. hen Sarah Todd wasgrowing up, she foundher love for food andfound that food waslove! This Brit is socrazy about south

Indian curry, that it regularly getsvoted within the top five mostpopular meals of hers.

“I admire chefs who can satiatea diner’s appetite whilst alsoinspiring the home cook to feelthat they can make enticingmeals at home on a budget. Noteveryone can afford a Michelinstar meal, so I believe that creat-ing something yourself at home isjust as important. Food is an inte-gral part of everyone’s life. In say-ing this, Gordan Ramsay inspiresme! His success is unparalleled,his passion and love for the hos-pitality industry are undeniable.His broad appeal across all sec-tors of the industry inspires us tobe better cooks. I aspire to reachhis level, however, minus theexpletives,” adds the Australianchef who first appeared on theAustralian food scene in 2014 asone of that season’s most popularMasterChef Australia contestants.

She became curious aboutwhat she calls ‘Indian-flavouredfood with aromatic spices’ and inanticipation of the same, usherson a book called ‘My IndianKitchen’ taking you beyond thewell-known restaurant favouritesof butter chicken, chicken tan-doori, and dal with classicalFrench techniques!

She says, “When I say inspiredwith a touch of Asian, I meanthat Indian touch. So, there are alot of spices and marinades thatwe can make use of usingAustralian techniques such asgrilling and barbecuing as well asclassical French techniques. Thisis a style of cooking that I devel-oped over time. It showcases pro-duce while loading it with theincredible flavours of India. Myspiced lamb rack with a fresh fen-nel salad can be considered mysignature dish as family celebra-

tions in Australia always involvea barbecue so I use this techniquein some of my recipes. Thesmoky goodness of grilled foodover charcoal is familiar to bothAustralia and India but theflavours are all inspired by India.”

With a rustic, simple, andhomestyle bursting with flavours,the model-turned-chef ’s go-to

meal is south Indian curry! Thisrich curry is one of herfavourites, and you will oftensmell the aroma wafting from herkitchen. Its creamy, coconutflavour resonates with everyone’spalate. It goes with almost every-thing from prawns and fish toroast pumpkin. Sarah bringingthe old and the new, the tradi-

tional and the modern learningto live side by side carrying thearoma of her land serving a mixof classic French fare — she epit-omises her belief that eating welland looking your best are possi-ble when you use loads of freshherbs, aromatic spices, and beau-tiful ingredients to create foodthat is healthy, yet bursting withflavour. “I was trained in classicalFrench cuisine which taught methe techniques of cooking but inIndia, I learnt how to add theheart and soul to a dish! I knowthat sounds cliché but cookingfrom the heart really is the key tomaking incredible food. My newbook is inspired by my experi-ences across India which com-pletely changed my perception ofIndian cuisine. The Indian disheswe are familiar with in Australiasuch as ‘butter chicken’ and ‘dalmakhani’ are not designed to beeaten on a regular basis. I wasoverwhelmed by the diverse andwholesome food cooked everyday in Indian homes. The recipesin my cookbook, although notauthentic, are a representation ofhow fresh and light Indian cui-sine can be,” she ushers.

With new arrivals, it’s time towelcome a novel drift across theF&B landscape!

Indian culinary scene isextremely vibrant at present witha lot of innovations and fusions

coming into play. With Indianssettled abroad in various parts ofthe world, Indian cuisine hasreally gone global and is wellaccepted too, but who could havewondered that somebody perma-nently situated abroad will pickup on food trends happening inIndia! Sarah further gives detailsand tells us, “Through inclusionand diversity, the food scene isevolving. We are seeing Indianchefs preparing French food,Australian chefs mastering Indianfood, and everything in between.We are borrowing techniques andflavours. An individual’s cookingstyle is inspired by appreciatingand respecting different culturesand cuisines. Having said that, Ihave started working on the con-cept for my next restaurant andfeel that it would be perfectlyplaced in the thriving, bustlingmetropolis of Delhi! I have nothad a lot of time over the lasttwelve months to take the firststep, but the vision is very clear.So, watch this space! My goalwith this cookbook is to takeIndian cuisine around the world;I’d also like to do the samethrough restaurants.”

This is Indian-French fusioncooking, a highly personalexpression that at first sniffs,seems very exotic and beyond theken of home cooks, but it's thearoma that gets you hooked!

LOVE AFFAIR!THE FRENCH-INDIAN W

he world is chang-ing. And clearly, atthis crucial turn-ing point of ourplanet, three mostimportant things

are: Awakening, understand-ing and changing. Giving us

a deeper understanding ofnature and our place withinit, Sony BCC Earth bringsthe Age of Nature. The showis a fresh look at our relation-ship with nature and how weare beginning to restore thebalance of life on earth.Excerpts:

What does the showAge of Nature try toconvey to the audi-ence?

Well, we wanted people tounderstand a few fundamen-tal things about nature. Oneis that we’re utterly depen-dent on it, whether you livein the countryside of yourfarm or in a city, and youdrink water, breathe air, we’reall as a human species utterlydependent on it. And thatnature is in a bit of trouble atthe moment. I think that’snot new for anybody. Butwe’re almost at a tippingpoint where if we don’t startto pay more attention andlook after nature better, we’regoing to find ourselves livingon a very uncomfortableplanet. The most importantthing is it’s not that difficultto help nature heal itself. Thepower of it is extraordinary.All we need to do is give it alittle bit of space, make sure ithas what it needs and naturewill heal itself quickly.

What are some of theways we can restoreour planet?

I think giving space tonature is the most importantthing we can do. It will bal-ance itself and take care ofitself. Nature changes all thetime and that’s fine. But wejust need to sort of leave it toget on with it. So if you giveit an empty field, it will veryquickly reseed that field withplants and then the pollina-tors will come and the birdswill come in and very quicklythat empty field will be full oflife again. So I think just togive it some space, take awayour chemicals, our intensivefarming practices, unsustain-able building practices, andlet nature do what it wants todo.

How are the conceptsof awakening, under-standing and changingexplained in the show?

For us as filmmakers, weneeded to go back in time toexplain how we’ve got to thepoint where we are today.And it hasn’t taken very longin the great history of theworld where humans haveonly been distressing naturefor relatively a couple of 100years in an intensive way. Soyou can see the journey ofwhat’s happened there, what

we’ve been doing and theeffect. But also what we cansee is that we do already treatnature in some ways, muchbetter than we did 50 yearsago. And that’s because ourunderstanding of nature is somuch better now. And that’swhat you can see in EpisodeTwo. The science that we cando now is incredible. Weunderstand how ocean cur-rents work, how the atmos-phere protects our planet,how biodiversity is, so it’ssort of complicated andinterconnected. We didn’tknow these things 50 yearsago, but we know them now.That means that we canknow better how to look afterthem. Going forward into thefuture with climate change,this is obviously the greatestchallenge that humanity hasever faced. But nature can bea huge part of helping uscope with that because naturesequesters carbon. It’s thecheapest, easiest, most obvi-ous way to help us reducesome of the carbon in theatmosphere, which is some-thing we need to do urgently.

Can you explain theimportance of balanceof nature, and howhumans impact it?

Balance of nature is quitean interesting term. I think

nature is far from balance. Itis wild, dynamic, moving andchanging all the time. It’s nat-ural to have fires and floods.It adapts quickly to all thechanges that happen acrossthe planet. And if you’relooking over a largertimescale and a larger space,then it all balances out. Butwe’re not expecting nature tobe still and to be calm. Whatnature needs to have is theability to make these changesbecause that’s what it’s alwaysdone. And that’s what itneeds more space for. So Ithink, to get us to get the bal-ance with nature right we justneed to give nature morespace.

What are some of theincredible things youlearned about natureduring the making ofthe show?

Well, I learned the term.For me, the biggest revelationwas the term ‘nature’s abilityto store carbon forests’. Itstores that carbon with thestrength of its biodiversity. Soit’s not just planting trees,which as you know, a usefultechnical pump to pump thecarbon down. But the storageneeds to happen in the soil, itneeds to happen under thewater in the oceans. That canonly happen if ecosystems

are healthy and biodiversity— rich and strong. When wedestroy nature, when wetrawl the ocean floor withouthuge fishing trawlers, whenwe burn forests, when weplough, we admit as muchcarbon as burning fossilfuels. That was somethingthat I didn’t know earlier. Theother, probably the mostinteresting shoot I did wasgoing to film the ranches livewith wolves around theYellowstone National Parkover in North America, andhow they’ve learned to copeliving with wolves, howthey’re learning to acceptpredators back into theecosystem and how we couldlearn from their journey andapply it to other places in theworld where wolves are beingtolerated, once again, across

Europe, for example.

What really drove youto this profession —wildlife filmmaking?

Well, I’ve been into naturesince I was a child. I’vealways spent a lot of timeobserving, collecting bugs,bringing them home, muchto my mother’s horror. Itmust be genetic because it’sbeen with me for a very longtime. Also, I really enjoy sto-rytelling — the technicalaspect of filmmaking doesn’tinterest me so much, it’s sim-ply telling of stories. So tobring those two passionstogether, I entered into theworld of wildlife filmmaking.And I feel, one cannot makewildlife or nature-inspiredfilms without realising thatthere’s a bigger story to tell,

and that our nature is in a bitof trouble. We simply need topay more attention to it,especially now.

Any message you havefor the Indian audi-ence?

Yes, I think there’s a lot ofhope out there, and the nar-rative of climate change isfrightening. It’s depressing.But there’s hope in natureand everybody can play theirpart, be it a small windowbox in a city or a back gardenin a rural area or when you’refarming. Nature will be grate-ful for everything, even if youdo your minutest bit. It willsurely repay you one day bymaking a healthy planet forus to live on.

(The show premieres todayat 9 pm on Sony BBC Earth.)

There is hopeFilmmaker

and seriesproducer of

Age ofNature, Verity

White, talksto The

Pioneer abouta fresh look at

ourrelationship

with Nature,our impact on

it, how itworks and

how we canbegin to

restore thebalance of life

on earth.

hether working fromhome or office, toil-ing away for longhours withoutbreaks and physicalactivity can begin to

damage your body, vitality andeven without tell-tale signs.

“It is important to achieve ahelthy work-life balance inorder to live a fulfilled life. Butthere are moments in life whenyou have to finish certain dead-lines and cannot avoid spend-ing a lot of time on your desk,”says Beenu Rajpoot, notedfilmmaker and a Fit IndiaChampion.

The fitness expert lists a fewsuggestions for those busyhours that will not only nour-ish your body and mind, butalso increase overall productiv-ity. Keep the following in mind:¬Between emails, meetingsand calls, try to take a strolleven for a few minutes to resetyour body and brain. A little bitof movement during those longsitting hours will go a long wayto ensure that your body andjoints do not become too stiffby sitting.¬Check your breath duringintervals. Take a few longbreaths engaging your abdomi-nals to ensure that your body isgetting enough oxygen. Learnsome pranayama techniques torecreate yourself quickly so thatyou can maintain a constantenergy level throughout thelong span of desk sitting.¬Remember to do a fewneck and shoulder stretcheswhile on your desk to avoidneck pain or back pain later. Itwill also help in keeping yourposture upright. Add usefulstretches from your yoga classto these intervals.¬Choose the appropriateergonomic chair and table inorder to maintain a good pos-ture while sitting for longhours. Some of the important

factors to be considered are --shape of the chair, height of thechair, height of the table, lum-bar support in the chair, amongothers. Ensure that your chairhas some kind of lumbar sup-port. Lumbar support will pro-tect your lumbar spine frompressures of excessive flexionduring long sitting hours. It isalso important to choose achair where you can adjust theheight of the chair so that youcan adjust its height vis-a-visyour table. It will be good foryour mid-upper back andshoulders. Often people whoignore this advice can develophealth conditions like scoliosisand rounded shoulders.¬Keep drinking water dur-ing a long shift. It's quite com-mon that people under pres-sure keep suppressing theirthirst subconsciously thatmakes them dehydrated.Remember to keep sipping thewater every hour or so to keepyour body rich in fluids thatwill improve the circulationand will keep your blood pres-sure in check, apart from manyother benefits of drinkingwater.¬Ensure that you are gettingsome sun during the day. It willnot only enrich your Vitamin Dlevels but also give a big boostto your immune system.

It is very common amongthe big cities in India that peo-ple don't get enough Vitamin Das they are not exposed to thesunlight often. Lack of expo-sure to the sunlight leads toVitamin D deficiency that isoften linked to other healthissues.¬Give your eyes some restin between after every half anhour or so by doing a simpleyoga technique of palming.Rub your palms together andjust cover your eyes with yourwarm palms. Your eyes will feelenergised immediately.

Working long hours?

Keep your body,

mind active

W

t

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

10

Monday April 12 2021

PTI n MUMBAI

Another battle of big-hitters is on the cardswhen KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings take on the

Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals, two line-ups dotted with expansive stroke-makers and inpursuit of a winning start to their IPL campaignshere on Monday.

Rajasthan will be banking heavilyon their swashbuckling all-rounderBen Stokes. Stokes willbe keen to get someruns under his beltand so will be the likesof Englishman JosButtler and newly-appointed skipperSamson, who is amine-field of tal-ent.

The Royalscould opt to openwith the highly-rated YashasviJaiswal andButtler. WhileSamson, who would be itching toprove a point, and Stokes wouldthen form strong middle-order.

If the four fire on allcylinders, they can pum-mel any attack into sub-mission and Punjabwould be no exceptionon the Wankhede track,which is usually batting-friendly.

Royals also have anseveral other options attheir disposal, includingall-rounders Shivam Dube,Shreyas Gopal, RahulTewatia, Riyan Parag and LiamLivingstone.

Gopal, Tewatia and Parag, allbowl leg-spin, so it would be inter-esting to see whether the Royals optto go in with two leg-spinners.

Tewatia and Dube have the abil-ity to whack the ball outside the park

and look to be certainties in the playing XI.With star pacer Jofra Archer missing due

to injury, the pace attack will have to be ledby Rajasthan's newest recruit — South Africanall-rounder Chris Morris, who will be eagerto justify his huge price tag of Rs 16.25 crore.

RR will have to get their combination rightas only four foreigners can make the playingXI.

So, it will be interesting to see whetherRoyals opt for left-arm pacer MustafizurRahman or go in with either JaydevUnadkat, Kartik Tyagi or Chetan Sakariya.

Unadkat, with his experience, mightget the nod.

On the other hand, Punjab boast ofsome hard-hitters like Rahul (670 runs in

2020 season), Mayank Agarwal (424 runs)and Chris Gayle.

Rahul and Agarwal formed a lethal open-ing combination in 2020 and would continueto open.

They also have the likes of EnglishmanDawid Malan, one of the finest T20 batsmencurrently, hard-hitting Tamil Nadu batsman MShahrukh Khan, and West Indian Nicholos

Pooran.For them too, it would be all about getting

the combination right.Shahrukh could get the nod ahead of oth-

ers like Deepak Hooda and Sarfaraz Khan, andcould play the role of a finisher.

11IT WAS SPECIAL FOR ME CAPTAINING INIPL AND WALKING OUT FOR TOSS WITHMS. I HAVE LEARNT FROM HIM AND HE'S

MY GO-TO MAN— RISHABH PANT

CAPTAIN’S CALLMONDAY | APRIL 12, 2021

VS

Matches 21Rajasthan RRoyals 12Punjab KKings 9

LAST YEAR’S MATCHES

Rajasthan Royals defeated

Punjab Kings by 4 wickets at

Sharjah

Rajasthan Royals beat Punjab

Kings by 7 wicketa at Abu

Dhabi

VENUE: WANKHEDE STADIUM, MUMBAI

Punjab Kings Skipper Lokesh

Rahul who scored 1922 runs at

an average of 54.91 in 42 innings

of as many matches ,needs 78

runs to become only second

batsman after Shaun Marsh

(2477 runs) to score over 2000

runs for Punjab Kings in IPL.

1922

KEY PLAYERS

PLAYER RUNS

1. Shikhar Dhawan (DC) 85

2. Nitish Rana (KKR) 80

3. Prithvi Shaw (DC) 72

PLAYER WKTS

1. Harshal Patel (RCB) 5

2. Avesh Khan (DC) 2

3. Chris Woakes (DC) 2

MOST SIXES

1. Nitish Rana (KKR) 4

2. Suresh Raina (CSK) 4

3. Chris Lynn (MI) 3

SUMMER SLAM

MOTION PICTURE

BEN STOKES

English all-rounder will have an

extra responsibility with the ball

this time in absence of Archer.

CHRIS GAYLE

He will be the X-factor in Kings

line-up. Gayle's power hitting

can take PBKS to big total.

HEAD TO HEAD

TODATODALIVE FROM

7:30PM IST

STAR SSPORTS 11 NNETWORK

David Warner's daughters Indi Rae, Isla Rose and Ivy Mae getready to cheer for Sunrisers Hyderabad @davidwarner31

Big-hitters galoreDHONI FINED FOR SLOW OVER RATEChennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhonihas been fined `12 lakh for maintaining a slow overrate during his side's IPL opener against DC here.“Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni has beenfined after his team maintained a slow over-rateduring their IPL 2021 match against Delhi Capitals atWankhede Stadium, Mumbai on April 10,” the IPLsaid in a media statement.”As it was his team's firstoffence of the season under the IPL's Code ofConduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, MrDhoni was fined ` 12 lakh,” the statement added.

LOSING HAZELEWOOD A BLOW Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Flemingsaid losing Josh Hazelwood was a big blow ahead ofthe new season's start as it left the team without theoverseas pace bowling options with his replacementJason Behrendorff and South African Lungi Ngidi stillnot available for team's next game said. Australiapacer Hazelwood had withdrawn at the last momentto keep himself fit for upcoming internationalassignments. Behrendorff was named hisreplacement last Friday and is yet to arrive, whileNgidi is serving his quarantine after returning midwayfrom South Africa's ODI series against Pakistan.

PTI nMUMBAI

Star pacer Jofra Archer’sabsence because of injury is

a “big blow” to Rajasthan Royalsbut their new Director of CricketKumar Sangakkara is confidentthat the team’s young Indian fastbowlers will rise to the challengein this year's Indian PremierLeague.

Archer, who played with ahand injury during the Indiaseries, is currently recuperatingfrom a surgery and the durationof his availability during the laterpart is still not clear.

“Sanju and I will both agreethat it’s a big blow for us. Jofrais a very vital part of our make-up and not to have him isunfortunately the reality of it. Wehave to work around it and plancontingencies,” Sangakkara toldPTI during a virtual press con-ference on Sunday ahead of theclash against Punjab Kings hereon Monday.

The former Sri Lankan cap-tain is, however, hopeful thatArcher will be available at somepoint and "play his part in theIPL.”

The weak link for Royals,over the years, has been theirIndian pace attack where themost experienced name JaydevUnadkat hasn’t exactly set thestage on fire.

Apart from Unadkat, theyhave his left-arm back-up

Chetan Sakariya and theimmensely talented KartikTyagi.

"Inexperience can probablywork for you and it could meanthat opposition hasn't seen youeither. Fast bowling in IPL is notan easy task and we saw that yes-

terday (Delhi Capitals vsChennai Super Kings) as well,”said Sangakkara, who has playeda number of seasons in the IPL.

"Most of the wickets aregood for batting. So, you have tobe quite skilful. We have KartikTyagi, who did pretty well lastseason in patches and this yearwe have new additions (pacer)Kuldeep Yadav (Jr) and ChetanSakariya,” he stated.

For Sangakkara, it is imper-ative that these youngsters areprepared to understand matchsituations and bowl according-ly.

“It’s about keeping themfocussed on what their job is andget them trained and preparedto execute different deliveries,scenarios and match plans forthe opposition but at the sametime, giving them confidenceabout their own strengths.”

The Royals skipper SanjuSamson has gone slightly off theradar as far as the national teamis concerned after having failedto grab even a single opportuni-ty. However, Sangakkara believesthat both the captain and RahulTewatia, who recently was in

India squad for the T20 seriesagainst England, could benational team regulars if theycan trust their abilities a bitmore.

“Pressure is always there.Whether it is Sanju or Rahul,reality is they will tell you thatexpectations and pressures willalways be there. Everyone hasvarious coping mechanisms todeal with it, focus is to stay in themoment,” he said.

“It is very important to havethose grand ambitions of play-ing regular international crick-et, and both Sanju and Rahul arevery capable of not just beingregulars but great, outstandingperformers at the internationalstage.”

The eloquent former gloves-man wants each of his 11 play-ers to be “problem solvers”, whocan think on their feet and helpthe skipper.

“...That really helps the skip-per Sanju a lot on the field whenpeople are thinking themselvesas to what’s going on (match sit-uation), and it also builds a lotof trust within the unit,” headded.

PTI n MUMBAI

Delhi Capitals experiencedopener Shikhar Dhawan was

mighty impressed with RishabhPant’s leadership qualities, sayingthe youngster led the team in acalm and composed manner in hisfirst match as captain and will onlyget better with time.

Pant was thrust into captaincyafter regular skipper Shreyas Iyersustained a shoulder injury duringthe recent ODI series againstEngland and was ruled out of thetournament.

The 23-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman made a memorable startto his captaincy stint as he led DCto a convincing seven-wicket winover three-time championsChennai Super Kings in theiropening match of the IPL 2021 hereon Saturday.

“He (Rishabh Pant) did quitewell. First of all, glad that he wonthe toss. It was a bit of a sticky wick-et, so it was good for us to bat sec-

ond. He kept his calm and kept onmotivating the boys,” Dhawan saidduring the post-match press con-ference.

“He made good changes aswell. It was his first match (as cap-tain), so I am sure it is only goingto get refined from here. He has just

started and with experience, I amsure, he is only going to get better.

“The best thing about RishabhPant is that he stays calm. His pres-ence of mind is quite there, whichis very very good.”

Asked if he gives his advice toPant as a senior player, Dhawansaid: “...Of course, I give my adviceto him. The youngsters, wheneverthey come to me to ask for battingtips or mindset things, I alwaysshare my knowledge with them.”

Dhawan smashed a 54-ball 85studded with 10 fours and twomaximums and alongwith PrithviShaw (72) shared a 138-run open-ing stand as Delhi chased down189 with eight balls to spare.

Asked about his sweep shotsagainst the pacers, Dhawan said:"I started practising it at the netsand then introduced it in thegame. We have to play accordingto the field set. I knew Chennaikeeps square leg and fine leginside the 30-yard circle and keepcovers behind for me.

RR, Punjab Kings aim forwinning start to IPL campaign

Dhawan impressed by Pant’scalmness on captaincy debut

Missing Jofra is big blow: Sangakkara

Chennai Super Kings' Suresh Raina spends time in kitchen @chennaiIPL

PTI n CHENNAI

Opener Nitish Rana (80)and Rahul Tripathi (53) hitfluent half-centuries to

propel Kolkata Knight Riders toa challenging 187 for six againstSunrisers Hyderabad in theirIndian Premier League match,here on Sunday.

SRH’s Rashid Khan (2/24)was yet again at his best, askingtough questions to the batsmenbut most of his bowling col-leagues proved ineffective on abatting-friendly wicket.

Dinesh Karthik (22 not out off9 balls) provided a late flourish toKKR innings but they could gath-er only 42 runs in the last fiveovers.

Left-handed opener Ranastruck the ball hard and clean toprovide his side a confident startafter they were asked to take firststrike.

His strokes on the off-side —

the drives and cuts - were of high-est quality and a treat to the eye.

Neither Bhuvneshwar Kumarnor T Natarajan could stop Ranafrom hitting boundaries even asSubhman Gill was quiet initially.Sandeep Sharma was hit for threeboundaries in a row by him.

Gill opened up his arms to hita massive straight six off Natarajanto make it even better for KKR.

However, the run-flow wasaffected when ever-reliable Rashidgot the ball in his hands. He also

provided the breakthrough whenhe deceived Gill with a wrong’unto find the stumps.

Rana though kept goingstrong, completing his half-centu-ry with a six off Vijay Shankar aftersurviving an LBW appeal offRashid. He got the decision over-turned, taking the DRS call. Rana’ssix-hitting continued after gettinghis fifty as he punished Natarajanand Sandeep again.

His colleague at the other endRahul Tripathi also stroked con-fidently and fluently. He smasheda massive six off Bhuvneshwar andthen followed it up with a cheekyfour in the third-man region.

He completed his fifty withanother boundary offBhuvneshwar but was dismissedby Natarajan soon after when hetop-edged a ball. Rashid too sentback dangerous Andre Russell (5)back.

Mohammed Nabi (2/32) gotrid of Rana and Eoin Morgan (2)off successive balls in the 18th

Rana,Tripathi power KKR to 187

NITISH RANA LASTSIX INNINGS IN IPLRuns Balls Opposition

team

0 1 RR

81 53 DC

0 1 KXIP

87 61 CSK

0 1 RCB

80 56 SRH

Picture credits: IPLT20.com

Picture credits: IPLT20.com

Picture credits: IPLT20.com

Picture credits: @rajasthanroyals

f the ongoing buzz in themedia and the film indus-try are to be believed,Mass Maharaja Ravi Tejais all set to work withTamil director Sarath

Mandava of Ko 2 fame, for a project.Idiot fame actor Ravi Teja seems tobe on a signing spree. He is current-ly working on Khiladi and he willsoon be shifting his focus onto RT68which will be directed by TrinadhaRao Nakkina of Nenu Local and

Cinema Choopistha Maava fame.The upcoming film is touted to be

an action thriller and is bankrolledby Sudhakar Cherukuri.

Ravi Teja and Sarath Mandava’sfilm is expected to go on the floorsvery soon.

Sarath Mandava, who’d made the2016 film, Ko 2, in Tamil, hadapparently come up with an authen-tic story that demands high octaneaction sequences that suit MassMaharaja Ravi Teja, given the latter’s

apparent love for working inaction movies. Reports have beencoming in that Ravi Teja, who wasvery impressed, has given his greensignal to Sarath.

On the other side, Ravi Teja waslast seen playing the role of a pow-erful police officer in action dramaKrack in which he shared the screenspace with Gabbar Singh and VakeelSaab fame Shruti Haasan.

Currently he is playing a dual rolein Khiladi.

12

Vijayawada Monday April 12 2021 tollywood

he much-awaitedteaser of AdiviSesh-starrer Majorwill be launchedtoday. Bollywood,Tollywood and

Mollywood’s superstars —Salman Khan, Mahesh Babuand Prithviraj Sukumaran —will launch the teaser inHindi, Telugu, andMalayalam respectively.

Major is a biopic based onthe life of Major SandeepUnnikrishnan, who lost hislife in the 26/11 terrorist

attacks in Mumbai. Directedby Sashi Kiran Tikka, thefilm is to release on July 2.The teaser is expected tooffer insight into the differ-ent phases of Major’s life.

Earlier, the teaser of Majorwas supposed to be releasedin Mumbai on March 28.However, due to the rise inthe number of Covid-19cases in the city and thepassing away of directorSashi Kiran Tikka’s fatherSuryanarayana, the teaserlaunch in Mumbai had to be

postponed. “Wanted to do anational event for thisnational film in Mumbai in abig way. Slight change ofplans :) Will keep you updat-ed. Eppudu occhaam anadhikaadhuannaya...Bullet....(well youget the idea) Reporting soon!#MajorTheFilm (sic),” AdiviShesh and team Major issuedthe statement on socialmedia.

Major stars SaieeManjrekar, SobhitaDhulipala, Prakash Raj,

Revathi and Murli Sharma.The film is produced bySony Pictures Films India inassociation with MaheshBabu’s GMB Entertainmentand A+S movies.

Recently, a new poster ofthe film Major was launched.Adivi Sesh introducedSobhita Dhulipala’s characterwith the new poster. AdiviSesh took to his social mediahandles to introduce thecharacter of SobhitaDhulipala in the film -Pramoda. Taking to Twitter,

he wrote, “Introducing anew dimension in the#PeopleOfMajor. TheTerrorists came into thehotel. Then they came forher. She fought back.@sobhitaD IS. PRAMODA(sic).”

Sobhita Dhulipala alsoshared her look from thefilm. She summed up hercharacter with this shortnote, “I am Pramoda in#MajorTheFilm. I think ofher as a lion-hearted lullaby(sic).”

SALMAN, MAHESH, PRITHVIRAJ’S

inger and composer VishalMishra of Kaise Hua and Aaj Bhifame, was a law student when hejust decided to give it all awayand pursue his dreams ofbecoming a singer. He is known

for his work in few Hindi movies such asMunna Michael, Saand Ki Aankh, Pranaam,Qarib Qarib Singlle, Kabir Singh, JabariyaJodi, Notebook, and Race 3 etc. Now VishalMishra is on the board for SS Rajamouli’supcoming much hyped big budget dramaRRR.

The young Bollywood musician, singerand songwriter took to Twitter and shareda picture of himself posing with SSRajamouli and music composer Keeravaniand wrote, “We made magic today at the stu-dio. RRR coming soon.” With the post,Vishal Mishra confirmed that the music ses-sions of RRR are underway and in full swing.

The period drama RRR narrates a ficti-tious tale based on the life of Telugu free-dom fighters, Alluri Seetharama Raju andKomaram Bheem. It has Jr NTR and RamCharan in the lead rolex and it is being pro-duced at an estimated budget of Rs 450 croreby DVV Danayya.

RRR is slated to arrive at the theaters onOctober 13 worldwide.

Vishal Mishra is on board RRR

n the wake of JanaSena chief PawanKalyan’s personalstaff confirmingnews of contractingcoronavirus, the

actor-turned-politician wentinto isolation. Jana Sena partyhas issued a statement sayingthat Pawan went into homeisolation on the advice of doc-tors as some of the personalstaff were diagnosed withCovid.

“Jana Sena president PawanKalyan’s chief executive, securi-ty personnel and most of thepersonal staff have been affect-ed by corona. As a precaution-ary measure he went into thehome quarantine with a doc-tor’s prescription,” the state-ment reads.

It is reported that over thepast week, many in his

entourage, who perform dutiesvery close to him, have beensuffering from Covid. As a pre-cautionary measure, he wentinto home quarantine as partof a Corona dilatation preven-tion. Meanwhile, Pawan Kalyancampaigned for the BJP candi-date in Tirupati last week.Pawan participated in a publicmeeting there. Many peoplefrom BJP and Jana Sena partic-ipated in this meeting. Theyare all concerned ever sincenews of Pawan’s staff contract-ing the virus has come out.

On the other hand, Dil Raju,the producer of the film VakeelSaab, the actor’s recent film,said that Pawan had stronglysuggested that the audiencecoming to watch the actor'sfilm, wear masks, maintainsocial distance and sanitisethemselves.

Pawan Kalyan isolates self aspersonal staff test positive for Covid

T

S

e was born and brought up in Hyderabadand dreamt of seeing himself on the bigscreens some day. He has been around inthe industry for nine years now, but itwas only in 2019 that he became a famil-iar face with his performance as Moeen

in Gully Boy. The spotlight has never left Vijay Varma since

then, and the actor now asserts he wants to have a

long career in Bollywood.The actor of Middle Class

Abbayi fame, ventured intoBollywood in 2012 withChittagong, and his first big breakwas in 2016, where he sharedscreen space with AmitabhBachchan in Pink. He was thenseen in films such as Gully Boy,Yaara and Bamfaad. He was a talk-ing point with his performance in the web-seriesMirzapur 2 as well as his recent released show OKComputer.

Talking about Bollywood being a brutal place thatdefines success through hits and misses, Vijay sayshis fears are different.

“I don’t know. I know that the audience suddenlystarts to lose interest in certain actors and I couldnever figure out what could be the reason, but it isone of the deepest fears — One of the fears I wouldhave is not to be accepted by the audience,” Vijaytold a news agency.

That’s not his only fear, though. “The secondbiggest fear will be to lose your capability as anactor. You’re no longer able to do something sur-prising or invent a character or to do something thatfascinates people. These are the fears every artistelives with, and they therefore try to push themselvesharder and reinvent themselves time and again,” hesaid.

The 37-year-old does not want to stop early. “Iwould want to have a long career. Would want to tella lot many stories through a lot many characters…Best way to go about this is by keeping my head onthe shoulder and feet on the ground and workinghard, smart and taking risks,” he signed off.

he upcoming film ThankYou marks the second col-laboration betweenAkkineni Naga Chaitanyaand Vikram Kumar afterManam. Currently, the

shoot of Thank You is going on inHyderabad at brisk pace.

The latest we hear is that, later inApril, Naga Chaitanya and the team

of Thank You will be flying to Italy tocomplete its last leg of shooting. In thefilm, Chay will be seen as a Mahesh

Babu fan, which also is said to havea sports backdrop, a la his previous

film Majili. Naga Chaitanya-starrer Thank

You has three actresses, whileRaashi Khanna is playing the

female lead, MalavikaNair and AvikaGor have pivotalroles.

Vikram KKumar’s direc-torial ventureThank You isbeing backed byDil Raju and it is

slated to hit the the-aters by the end of this

year. On the otherside, NagaChaitanya will also be seen play-ing the lead role in Love Story,helmed by Sekhar Kammula,that has Sai Pallavi of Fida famepaired opposite him.

BOOST TO MAJOR

THANKYOU

TEAMTO FLY

TOITALY

T

T

I

I

City star Vijay doesnot want to stop

Ravi Teja’s next with Tamil director?