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VIJAYAWADA, FRIDAY JANUARY 29, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

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VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

{

VIJAYAWADA

WEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated January 28 , 2021 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Paush & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Pratipada: 11:41 pm

Nakshatram: Ashlesha: 03:21 am (Next Day)

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 11:05 am – 12:29 pm

Yamagandam: 03:17 pm – 04:42 pm

Varjyam: 04:22 pm – 05:56 pm

Gulika: 08:16 am - 09:40 am

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 01:47 am – 03:21 am

Abhijit Muhurtham: 12:06 pm – 12:51 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: SunnyTemp: 32/20Humidity: 63%Sunrise: 06:48 amSunset: 06:09 pm

Budget session to be

stormy

5

TDP to exposeJagan’s ‘failures’ in

Parliament

2

Markets recoil for5th day; Sensex

slumps 536 points

8

PNS n HYDERABAD

Scientists at the CSIR-Centrefor Cellular and MolecularBiology here have foundprominently a different vari-ant of SARS-CoV-2 in south-ern parts of India, a top offi-cial of the institute said onThursday.

Rakesh Mishra, director ofCCMB, said the different vari-ant (N440K) appears to bemilder than the existing oneand the institute is stepping up

research on it to ascertain itsprevalence in the country.

The findings came amid theconcerns of a mutated variantof SARS-CoV-2 found in theUK recently.

"It is not a new variant thatwe found. It is N440 K. It is adifferent variant. This is therefor some time. This N440Kwas a very small number inSeptember and October lastyear. Now it looks like it is get-ting a much bigger propor-tion. No symptoms issues

with N440K," Mishra toldPTI.

"Either this (the differentvariant) has become normalor the earlier one becameweaker. But certainly symp-tom wise if it is not equal, it(the different one) ismilder..We don’t have enoughdata as of now. We are accel-erating... I think in comingdays we will do large-scalesequencing," he explained.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The stage is set for districtcollectors to issue notifica-tions for the first phase ofpanchayat polls slated to beheld on February 9.

Once the local notifica-tions are released, candidatescan start filing their nomina-tions.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national president andformer chief minister NChandrababu Naidu onThursday slammed Ministers,YSRCP MLAs and rulingparty leaders for resorting to'intimidation and physical

attacks' in order to force resi-dents of gram panchayats toaccept unanimous elections inthe State.

Naidu said that the rulingparty leaders had a hiddenagenda behind their so-calledcall for 'unanimous elections'.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A delegation of BJP and JanaSena leaders on Thursdaymet Governor BiswabhusanHarichandan and sought hisintervention in holding grampanchayat polls in a free andfair manner. They alleged thatthe YSRCP was trying to useintimidation and force in thegarb of unanimous polls.

Jana Sena Political AffairsCommittee leader, NadendlaManohar said that the govern-ment had been trying to forceunanimous polls which wasevident in MPTCs and ZPTCselections in March last year.

Manohar said the delega-tion urged the Governor toissue a direction to the StateElection Commissioner (SEC)

to allow filing nominationsonline.

He said that the rulingparty has been creating suchan environment in villagesthat candidates are feelingintimidated to come out inopen and file nominations.

Manohar further said thatwhile unanimous polls have

been in vogue since sometime, this time the rulingparty was using intimidationand coercion to get the resultsin its favour.

BJP state unit chief SomuVeerraju urged the Governorto ensure that panchayat pollsare held in a fair and transpar-ent manner.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt has quashed the ordersissued by the State governmentremoving Vizianagaram royalscion and Telugu Desam Partysenior leader Ashok GajapathiRaju from the chairmanship ofRamatheertam temple andthree other shrines.

Coincidentally, new idolswere installed atRamatheertham on Thursday.

Addressing the media afterthe court orders, AshokGajapathi Raju said that he wasglad that he had once againbeen given the opportunity toserve Lord Rama.

He tweeted: "The orderremoving me as the HereditaryTrustee/Chairman ofRamatheerdhalu has been set

aside by the Honourable HighCourt today. I saw in the newsthat it is the Prathista atRamatheerdhalu today. LordRama blessed me on this aus-picious day to continue in hisservice."

After the Ramatheerthamdesecration incident, the APGovernment removed AshokGajapathi Raju from theKondanda Rama temple, thePydithalli Ammavari temple inVizianagaram and Mandapallitemple in East Godavari. Later,Ashok Gajapathi Raju hadapproached the state HighCourt challenging the govern-ment action.

The new idols of Lord Rama,Lakshman and Sita that wereinstalled in a makeshift temple atRamatheertham on Thursday. Report on Page 2 G

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy onThursday directed officials tofinalise tenders for develop-ment works in existing med-ical colleges and constructionof new medical colleges byApril 15.

The Chief Minister chaireda review meeting on Nadu-Nedu (Health) and worksrelated to YSR Village Clinics,YSR Urban Clinics, PHCs andArea Hospitals during whichhe was told that developmentworks in existing medical col-leges and construction of newmedical colleges is being takenup with an estimated budget ofRs 16,270 crore.

The Chief Minister toldofficials that land acquisition

for construction of hospitalsshould be completed andworks should begin soon. Hetold the officials to focus onthe maintenance and hygieneof buildings being construct-ed.

Stating that hospitals shouldnot be neglected after comple-tion of construction, Jagandirected the officials to preparean action plan to take mea-sures for it with fixed time-lines. He instructed officials totake administrative clearancesand recruit required staff forthe hospitals.

The officials said workswere being carried out with adeadline to complete con-struction of 10,011 YSR Villagehealth clinics by April.

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

In all, 16 opposition parties, ledby the Congress, have decidedto stay away from Parliamentwhen President Ram NathKovind addresses a joint sittingof the two houses on Friday. Itis a constitutional require-ment for the President toaddress both houses ofParliament. In the address,the President usually outlinesthe government's agenda,achievements and plan for thecoming year.

The opposition parties areskipping the joint sitting of the

budget session as a mark ofsupport to the farmers protest-ing against the controversialfarm laws enacted by theCentre. However, the rulingparties in Telugu States, name-ly TRS in Telangana andYSRCP in Andhra Pradesh, donot figure in the list of 16 dis-senting parties, fuelling criti-cism that both are covertlysupporting the BJP govern-ment at the Centre as well asthe controversial farm laws.

TRS supremo and TelanganaChief Minister K.Chandrashekar Rao, duringthe GHMC polls held inDecember 2020, had launched

a frontal attack on the BJP. Hehad announced the formationof an anti-BJP front at theCentre, which turned out to beyet another knee-jerk reaction.The TRS government had alsoenforced December 8th‘Bharat Bandh’ in Telangana,which was called by the farm-ers protesting in Delhi againstthe Centre's farm laws.

TRS ministers, MLAs andother party leaders, includingIT minister KT Rama Rao,MLC K Kavitha blocked theroads in support of the protest-ing farmers.

PNS n ELURU

A Rs 1 crore loan scam hassurfaced in the Eluru branchof the Syndicate Bank here.

According to a police com-plaint, officials of the bankhave advanced loan to a per-son in the name of a deceasedfarmer, much to the shock ofhis family members.

According to the complaintlodged with the police, afarmer belonging to Tundurruvillage of Bhimavaram mandalof the West Godavari districtpassed away in 2012.

However, the bank officialsadvanced loan in 2015 in the

name of the farmer to anunidentified person, keepingthe agricultural land of thedeceased as security.

The fraud came to lightwhen family members of thedeceased farmer applied for aloan.

When the bank officialstold them that Rs 1 crore loanwas sanctioned against theland of the deceased, his fam-ily members were shell-shocked.

Unable to obtain properreplies from the bank officials,the aghast family membershave lodged a complaint withthe police.

Naidu releases manifesto; seesplot behind unanimous polls call

TRS, YSRCP not among partiesto boycott Prez address to Parl

SEC censuring IAS officersillegal, AP writes to CentreSNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADAAfter sending back the censurenotices issued by State ElectionCommissioner (SEC)Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumaragainst senior officials of thepanchayat raj department —Gopala Krishna Dwivedi andM Girija Shankar — the stategovernment on Thursdaybrought the issue to the noticeof the Union government.

The State government wasresponding to Ramesh Kumar

earlier writing to theDepartment of Personnel andTraining (DoPT) on the cen-sure notices, seeking compulso-ry retirement of the two seniorofficers, details of whichemerged late on Thursday.

Chief Secretary AdityanathDas wrote a strongly wordedletter to the Secretary, DoPT,pointing out that the SEC’scensure notices were ‘illegal’and his letter to the Centre wasderogatory.

Rs 1cr loan scam inSyndicate Bank, Eluru

Order removing Ashok from temple posts quashed

CCMB scientists find Covidvirus variant in AP, Telangana

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy is greeted by a girl who successfullyunderwent cochlear surgery, at his camp office here on Thursday.

Medical collegetenders to befinalised by April 15

SEC in Seemaas first phasenominationsbegin today

BJP, Jana Sena meet Guv,request fair play in local polls

Biden revokesTrump rule, H-1B holders’spouses happyPNS n WASHINGTON

A week after his inaugura-tion, US President Joe Bidenhas withdrawn a Trump-erarule rescinding work autho-risation for H4 visa holders,who are spouses of thosepossessing H-1B work visas,with majority being highly-skilled Indian women.

An H-4 visa is issued by theUS Citizenship andImmigration Services(USCIS) to immediate fam-ily members (spouse andchildren under 21 years ofage) of the H-1B visa hold-ers, most of whom are IndianIT professionals.

End protest,vacate roads,UP tells farmersPNS n NEW DELHI

Farmers protesting at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghazipurhave been asked to end theirprotest and vacate the roads. TheGhaziabad administration, whichgave the order, plans to clear theroad by tonight, sources said.The Ghazipur border had beensealed since the protest by farm-ers demanding the repeal of thestarted on November 26. OnTuesday, the farmers had brokenbarricades and taken out theirtractor rally. Chaos was unleashedacross the city as the farmers devi-ated from the designated route.Violence broke out in parts of thecity as the police tried to stop them.

A group still made its way tothe Red Fort, in what they saidwas a message to the Centralgovernment.

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ANGIOPLASTY PERFORMED ONSOURAV GANGULY

INDIAN-ORIGIN PEDIATRICIAN TAKESHOSTAGES IN US; SHOOTS DOCTOR, SELF

LOOKOUT NOTICE AGAINST FARMERLEADERS, ACTOR DEEP SIDHU IN FIR

AMAZON INVESTIGATED BY ENFORCEMENTDIRECTORATE FOR ALLEGED FDI VIOLATION

Doctors on Thursday performed anangioplasty on BCCI President SouravGanguly, said an official of a private

hospital where he is admitted. Two stentsare likely to be implanted to clear blocksin a coronary artery of the 48-year-oldformer Indian cricket captain, he said. Thedecision to conduct an angioplasty wastaken after noted cardiologist Devi Shettywent through reports of tests conductedon Ganguly and consulted doctors treatinghim at the hospital. "After diagnosing hiscondition, we have decided to carry out angioplasty," a seniordoctor said.

A43-year-old Indian-originpediatrician diagnosed with terminalcancer shot dead a lady doctor and

then killed himself after taking hostagesat a medical office in Austin, capital ofthe US state of Texas. The armed manwas identified as Dr Bharat Narumanchi,who was recently diagnosed withterminal cancer, police said. Policereceived a call on Tuesday saying a manwalked into the offices of Children'sMedical Group (CMG) with a gun andwas holding hostages inside the building, the CNN reported,citing Austin Police Department press release.

Delhi Police's probe into the unprecedentedviolence during a tractor rally by farmerson Republic day is now focused on

finding those involved in planting a Sikhreligious flag at the Mughal-era Red Fort.Tuesday's tractor rally went rogue as protestersforced their way inside the fort complex placeda flag. Several teams of Delhi Police's specialcell or anti-terror unit are scanning throughfootage of violence at the iconic fort complexto identify those who hoisted the flag there.Deep Sidhu, whom farmers have accused ofbeing responsible for the violence during the Republic Day tractor rally,has been named in a case filed by the Delhi Police, sources said.

The Enforcement Directorate isinvestigating retail giant Amazon foralleged violations of the foreign

exchange law in its deal with Future Retail.The agency has filed a case after the DelhiHigh Court made observations about thedeal while hearing Amazon's challenge to theacquisition of the Kishore Biyani-led FutureRetail by the Reliance Group. The HC hadobserved last month that Amazon had,through three agreements, indirectly gainedcontrol over Big Bazaar owner Future Retailwithout the approval of the government, which appeared to be aviolation of the Foreign Direct Investment Rules under the FEMA.

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.

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | JANUARY 29, 2021

EGG RATES

` 49, 800 (10 gm)

` 100

GOLD

` 66, 000 (1kg)` 4800

VIJAYAWADA 416

HYDERABAD 393

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RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44.. 1166

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`̀//110000

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Dressed/With Skin `141

Without Skin `160

Broiler at Farm `97

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TTD Executive Officer (EO),Dr KS Jawahar Reddy onThursday advised Vedic pun-dits and scholars to focus onpopularising the epics amongchildren.

After releasing three MahaPurana Books includingVishnu, Matsya and BrahmaMaha Puranas, brought out byPurana Itihasa Project of TTDat AnnamacharyaKalamandiram in Tirupati onThursday evening, Dr JawaharReddy felt the need for thegreat literature given by forefa-thers reach the next generation.

He asked the literary stal-warts to also work on the epicskeeping in view the children.

The EO observed that thePurana Itihasa Project has animportant role to play in the

promotion of Hindu SanatanaDharma by bringing greatscriptures to common publicthrough translation.

He also complimented JEOSada Bhargavi for taking spe-

cial interest in bringing out thebooks in stipulated time.

Later, the scholars whotranslated Matsya MahaPuranam, Dr SamudralaLakdhmaiah, Vishnu Maha

Puranam, Dr KSatyanarayana, Brahma MahaPuranam first part by Dr ANagabhushanam who passedaway recently, and the secondpart by Dr BLakshmanacharyulu, sharedtheir experience and compli-mented TTD mandarins forbringing the ancient texts tothe public.

Earlier, project in-chargeand Annamacharya ProjectDirector DakshinamurthySharma spoke on PuranaIthihasa Project activities.

He said a total of 3.8 lakhshlokas are available in thescriptures and so far, the pro-ject has completed 3.55 lakhshlokas. The remaining willalso be completed with thesame enthusiasm and sup-port offered by TTD authori-ties, he said.

JEO inspectstranslationworksVijayawada: TTD JointExecutive Officer (Health andEducation) Sada Bhargavi onThursday inspected theongoing translation works onAstadasha Puranams and toldofficials to speed up the works.The JEO instructed officials ofPurana Itihasa project to speedup completion of printing andpublication of the Vishnu MahaPuranam, Brahma Puranamand Hari Puranam beforeRathasapthami festival.As part of the exercise, the JEOreviewed the progress of theongoing translation work ofAgni Puranam.

AP fought pandemic despair with more jobsSNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh saw 32 percentand 7.7 percent increase in theemployment provided in 2020-21 under MNREGA (TheMahatma Gandhi NationalRural Employment GuaranteeAct-2005) compared to the com-pared to the last two years i.e2019-20 and 2018-19 respective-ly, making it the most numberof works in the last three years.

The jump in employment inrural tracts under MGNREGAis significant since the entireworld was bearing the impact ofCovid induced precarious situ-ation.

An analysis on the imple-mentation of MNREGA inAndhra Pradesh between Apriland December 2020 done byDelhi based LibTech India thatworks in social sector domain,shows that in AP, 6,28,349new workers were added to theworkforce of MGNREGA,through 3,85,833 job cards in2020. This is almost 6 percentof all the job cards issuedunder MGNREGA since its

inception in the state.LibTech is a team of engi-

neers, social workers and socialscientists who are interested inimproving public service deliv-ery in India. The team has beenworking in Telangana andAndhra Pradesh for the last 8years.

Similar growth patterns wereseen in the majority of the dis-tricts in the state. Vizianagaramdistrict generated the mostemployment, while SPS Nelloredistrict generated the leastwith 245.26 and 90.55 lakhworkdays respectively.Employment provided in 2020-21 was the highest amongemployment provided in thelast three years, except for thedistricts of Kadapa, Kurnool,Prakasam and Nellore.

Even though there was a risein the employment provided in2020-21 compared to the lasttwo years, only 8.62 percent ofthe households were provided100 days of work.

In other words, of the46,71,690 households, whowere provided wage employ-ment by the state in 202-21

only 4,02,733 households wereprovided 100 days of work,which is only 8.62 percent ofthe households.

On an average, each house-hold registered for MGNRE-GA received a little more than47 days of work, whereas theAct guarantees 100 days ofwork per household. MGNRE-GA workers in Vizianagaramdistrict received more than 60days of work, whereas workersin Kurnool got around 35 daysof work.

LibTech's report was pre-pared using the data availableon public domain. The periodof study for all the analysis wasfrom April to December ineach year for the EmploymentProvided and Job Cards issued.

"We hope that the insightsfrom this report will add valuetowards improving the imple-mentation of MGNREGA inAndhra Pradesh, throughimplementation agencies,members of Civil SocietyGroups, and concerned citi-zens," LibTech India repre-sentative Chakradhar Budhatold The Pioneer.

Women workdays drop in APduring lockdown

Vijayawada: While there hasbeen growth in the overallemployment under MNREGA,women employment haddropped especially during theCovid induced period of Apriland December 2020.Traditionally women Person Dayshave been more than manPerson Days in the state, thesame can be seen in the lastthree years as well. However, theshare of women Person Dayshave seen a drop of 3.72 percentfrom the 2019-20 to 2020-21,that obviously reflects anincrease in men Person Days forthe same period.Had women worker participationbeen the same as the previousyear, they would have receivedan additional Rs 199.39 crore inwages for the 3.15 crore PersonDays. However, the gap betweenthe percentage of men andpercentage of women PersonDays has decreased over the last

three years.While the country has Rs.209.72 crore in RejectedPayments, workers from AndhraPradesh alone are to receive 2.46percent of this amount. That ispayments worth more than Rs5.16 crore related to 40,000 oftransactions are stuck at thebank level.The MGNREG Act mandates thatthe workers employed under itshould get paid within the 15days of their work. However, inreality it doesn't happen due tovarious problems. "Even after thepayments are processed by thecentral government a sizeableportion of the payments getstuck at the bank level, owing tothe problems related to Aadhaarlinking to the Job Card and/orbank account related issues.Rejected payments are those thatare initiated from the centre, butare rejected due to technicalerrors; like a bounced check.

New Rama idol installed atRamathheertham templePNS n VIJAYAWADA

After desecration of the LordRam idol at Ramatheerthamtriggered a massive politicaluproar in Andhra Pradesh,new idols of Lord Rama,Lakshman and Seetha were onThursday installed in amakeshift temple. The instal-lation was done amidst chant-ing of Vedic hymns and follow-ing the rituals.

Ramateertham is located inNellimarla in Vizianagaramdistrict.

The idol of Lord Rama at SriKodandarama temple atopBodikonda was desecrated inthe last week of December. The

incident drew the attention ofthe entire nation withOpposition parties demandingsevere action against the cul-prits.

The government had thenasked Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanams to make idolsand send them within amonth.

The government also sanc-tioned Rs 3 crore for the devel-opment of the temple.

As per the instructions, theidols of Sita Rama Lakshmanawere brought toRamateertham on January 25and pujas were performed forthree days.

On Thursday, the idols were

installed in Baalaalayam(makeshift temple) and priestsperformed all rituals and pujas.

Joint commissioner ofendowment D Bhramarambasaid that the pujas would becontinued in Baalalayam tillthe completion of constructionand renovation of the templeatop Bodikonda Hill.

Professor ASrinivasacharyulu ofVenkateswara VedicUniversity, executive officerof Ramateertha temple ChRanga Rao and others partic-ipated in the programme.

A large number of devoteeswere also present and took partin the pujas.

SEC censuring IAS officers...Continued from Page 1

“SEC has written a veryderogatory letter against thetwo officers to the Secretary,DoPT, asking for their compul-sory retirement.This step of SEC also doesn’t

fall under his competence andsuffers from jurisdictionalerror. According to extant guide-lines on the ElectionCommission is empowered tosuspend any officer / policepersonnel working under theCentral Government or PublicSector Undertaking or anautonomous body fully or par-tially funded by theGovernment, for insubordina-tion or dereliction of dutybesides making recommen-dations to the CompetentAuthority for taking discipli-nary action, while engaged inthe preparation of electoralrolls or election duty,”Adityanath Das wrote.

He said that the disciplinary

proceedings against the AllIndia Service Officers have tobe dealt with under AIS(D&A) Rules, 1969.

Censure is a penalty classi-fied under minor penaltiesand the State Government isthe competent authority toimpose the said penalty on aMember of Service servingwith the affairs of the State andit has to be imposed by follow-ing the procedure laid downunder rule 10 of the said rules,the Chief Secretary wrote in hisletter.

“The proceedings issuedby the State Elect ionCommissioner administer-ing censure against two IASofficers and to direct that thesame will form part of theirservice record is withoutcompetency and jurisdictionand nothing but transgress-ing into the powers vestedwith the State Government.

Any instrument issuedwithout competency is illegaland bad in law,” Adityanath

Das said in the letter, a copyof which has been accessedby The Pioneer.

Accordingly, StateGovernment issued ordersrejecting the censure pro-ceedings of the SEC, he said.

The SEC’s communica-tions to the Secretary, DoPT,suffers from infirmities indecision-making process andinfraction of law. Further,there has not been an iota ofdoubt regarding the conductof officers during their pastservice, the Chief Secretaryadded.

“I, therefore, request torefuse to take cognisance ofthe proceedings issued bySEC against the Member ofServices and also to enlight-en the State Elect ionCommissioner, AP andadvise the SEC not to exer-cise the power which is notis his domain and adhere tothe guidelines in the matter,”he further said.

SEC in Seemaas first phasenominationsContinued from Page 1

The filing of nominationpapers will begin on January29 and end on January 31.

It may be mentioned herethat as the Government andState Election Commissioner(SEC) Nimmagadda RameshKumar are at loggerheads, inthe last instance, district col-lectors didn't issue notifica-tions even after the SECissued notification for thefirst phase.

After a direction from theSupreme Court and govern-ment conceding, the SECrescheduled the polls. As perthe new schedule, the firstphase will be held onFebruary 9.

On Thursday too, the SECheld a videoconference withsenior officials to discuss thepoll preparedness. RameshKumar is scheduled to visitRayalaseema region onFriday and Saturday to per-sonally take stock of the sit-uation and the poll prepared-ness. He will visit Anantapur,Kurnool and Kadapa duringhis two-day visit to theRayalaseema region.

CCMB scientists find Covid virusvariant in AP...Continued from Page 1

He said the variant is seenin Telangana and AndhraPradesh and other southernstates and scientists haveno sufficient data to prove

its existence in other parts ofthe country.

Mishra said the CCMBdid not see any increasednumber of cases or symp-toms with this variant of thevirus.

Populist schemes taking a heavy toll on TS govt financesI

t certainly feels good forany party to make a slewof promises for the 'wel-

fare' of various sections ofpeople in a fiercely competi-tive spirit before the elections,whether it is via manifesto orduring poll campaigns. But,when a party wins the elec-tions on the strength of thosepromises and is expected todeliver on promises notbacked by sound economics,the government starts feelingthe pinch.

Populist schemes cost abomb and negatively impactthe state economy. InTelangana, the current welfareburden on the state exche-quer, with the economy

bruised by corona-aggravatedslowdown, is pushing the fis-cal position from bad toworse. The TRS govern-ment's moves to implementthe promises it made in its2018 Assembly poll mani-festo, along with ongoingschemes, is adding to the

weight of mounting expendi-ture that is dangerously out ofsync with the revenue posi-tion.

Data obtained from theFinance Department suggeststhat the state government isalready spending more thanhalf its revenue earnings on

populist schemes, though theruling TRS party leaders term

them as 'welfare schemes' forobvious reasons. They trashdetractors' arguments thatthese populist schemes weredevised to develop 'solid votebank' for the ruling partyamong various sections ofsociety.

An analysis of the datareveals that the state govern-ment is spending 52 per centof its total revenue earningson populist schemes alone.The expenditure on populistschemes has increased man-ifold since 2014, when TRSgovernment took over in thenewly formed state ofTelangana.

In the first year of comingto power in 2014-15, the TRS

government spent Rs 15,750crore on various populistschemes, amounting to 31.08per cent spending out of Rs50,673 crore revenue earn-ings. The expenditure on pop-ulist schemes has beenincreasing with each passingyear. It spent Rs 23,172 croreout of Rs 75,896 crore revenueearnings (30.53 per cent) in2015-16; Rs 26,673 crore outof Rs 81,432 crore revenueearnings (32.76 per cent) in2016-17; Rs 29,406 out of Rs85,365 crore (34.45 per cent)in 2017-18; Rs 42,156 croreout of Rs 1,19,027 crore rev-enue earnings (35.42 per cent)in 2018-19, and Rs 58,198crore out of Rs 1,11,056 crore

revenue earnings (52.40 percent) in 2019-20 on welfareschemes.

The major expenditure wasincurred on free power sup-ply to the agriculture sector,Rs 1/ kg ration rice scheme,scholarships, fee reimburse-ment for students, KalyanaLaxmi/ Shaadi Mubarak,Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima,Aasara pension, and lowinterest loans.

The outgo on account offree power to agriculture sec-tor and free domestic powerto various sections like SCs,STs etc. increased from Rs2,400 crore in 2014-15 to Rs8,000 crore in 2019-20. Therice subsidy component

increased from Rs 690 crorein 2014-15 to Rs 2,207 crorein 2019-20. Rythu Bandhu iscosting Rs 12,000 crore peryear. The expenditure onaccount of Aasara pensionsincreased from Rs 1,834 crorein 2014-15 to Rs 9,402 crorein 2019-20.

The TRS government isyet to implement its major2018 poll promises of givingRs 3,016 per month as unem-ployment allowance and croploan waiver scheme of up toRs 1 lakh. If these schemes tooare implemented, the totaloutgo on populist schemes isexpected to increase to 60 percent of the total revenue earn-ings.

Outgo on welfare schemes currentlyaccounts for 52% of state's revenueearnings, may go up to 60% soon.Free agri power, ration rice, Aasarapensions, fee reimbursement andscholarships take a lion's share ofthe total revenue expenditure

VENKAT RAM REDDYLAKKADI

Senior journalist

Focus on popularising epics amongchildren, TTD EO tells scholars

Naidu releases manifesto; seesplot behind unanimous polls callContinued from Page 1

"The TDP is calling to the rul-ing party to leave the choice ofelecting the sarpanches to theresidents of the gram panchay-ats so that efficient leaderswould be elected who in turnwould bring real developmentin their villages.

The Panchayat Raj Ministershould be sacked for hisunconstitutional remarksagainst the election processand the State ElectionCommission," the former chiefminister said.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, the TDP supremosaid that Ministers and YSRCPleaders were behaving likerowdies and hooligans only toget their party activists elect-ed in the panchayat polls in the

name of 'unanimous elec-tions'. "The general publicshould strongly oppose thisconsidering the threat to theconcept of local self-govern-ment," he said.

"The YSRCP committedmurder of democracy in theMPTC, ZPTC elections. Only270 of the 1,092 MPTCs wereunanimous in 2014, whichwas just 2.67 per cent. But in2020 March, over 2,248 of the9,696 MPTCs were unani-mous which was an unbeliev-able 23 per cent. Also, only oneZPTC out of the 652 seats wasunanimous in 2014 whichwas just 1.15 percent.

In 2020 however, over 125out of 652 ZPTCs were unan-imous which was a whopping19 percent," Naidu pointedout.

Biden revokesTrump rule...Continued from Page 1

.The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows UScompanies to employ foreignworkers in specialty occupa-tions that require theoreticalor technical expertise. Thetechnology companiesdepend on it to hire tens ofthousands of employees eachyear from countries like Indiaand China.

The H4 visa is normallyissued to those who havealready started the process ofseeking employment-basedlawful permanent residentstatus in the US.

The Office of Managementand Budget (OMB) and Officeof Information andRegulatory Affairs (OIRA)on Monday said the proposedrule titled, "Removing H-4Dependent Spouses from theClass of Aliens Eligible forEmployment Authorisation,"was being withdrawn.

Spouses of Indian profes-sionals on H-1B visas, most-ly women, are the biggestbeneficiary of the Obama-erarule that gave employmentauthorisation cards.

Soon after coming topower, the Trump administra-tion in 2017 announced thatit would rescind that rule.

Medical college...Continued from Page 1

They said that construction of151 new PHCs and restorationof 982 existing PHCs will becompleted by October andthe works of Nadu-Nedu inarea hospitals will be complet-ed by December.

They said 3.1 crore squarefeet of works are being donefor construction of super-spe-cialty hospitals, new medicalcolleges and restoration ofexisting colleges.

The volume of work beingdone, in terms of square feet,would be equal to four timesthat of Beijing Airport and sixtimes that of Burj Khalifa.

Reviewing the Covid-19 sit-uation, the officials said therecovery rate has climbed upto 99.04 percent and the mor-tality rate is 0.81 percent.They also briefed the ChiefMinister of the progress ofCovid-19 vaccination takingplace in the state.

The Chief Minister soughtdetails of training being givento staff in PHCs and those invillage and urban health clin-

ics. The officials said tests are

being conducted for staff forawareness and knowledge onthe referral system. The ChiefMinister said to create aware-ness among ASHA workers onthe referral system. The ChiefMinister was informed on theworkflow of ANMs andArogya Mitras regarding thereferral system.

He said the staff should havea complete understanding ofempanelled hospitals and theyshould be prepared to giveproper guidance to thepatients.

Jagan said staff should beprovided with complete infor-mation for effective imple-mentation of government pol-icy of providing free treatmentif medical expenditure exceedsRs 1,000.

The Chief Minister direct-ed the officials to ensure feed-back is taken from Arogyasribeneficiaries and the imple-mentation of Arogya Asarachecked. He directed the offi-cials to ensure a mobile phonewith every Arogyamitra.

TRS, YSRCP...Continued from Page 1

Curiously, KCR, post his visitto Delhi, where he met PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andHome Minister Amit Shah,among others, stoppedopposing the Centre's farmlaws and even announcedthat they would be imple-mented in Telangana.

Meanwhile, YSRCP, withthe largest number of parlia-mentarians, has never goneagainst the Modi govern-ment in regard to supportingtheir policies.

Tthe protesting partiessaid: "Indian farmers' havebeen collectively fightingagainst the three farm lawsarbitrarily imposed by theBJP government that threat-ens the future of Indian agri-culture, which sustains over60 per cent of India's popu-lation and the livelihood ofcrores of farmers, sharecrop-pers, and farm labourers.Over 155 farmers have losttheir lives during the protest,yet the government remainsunmoved.”

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | JANUARY 29, 2021

Security helpline 182 merged with Rail Madad helpline 139

Indian Railways have taken a decision to merge Railway securityhelpline number 182 in to Rail Madad single helpline number 139

for convenience of passengers. This integration of both securityhelpline numbers into single helpline number 139 will help thepassengers to make all inquiries and lodging grievances also, SouthCentral Railway (SCR) said on Thursday. Earlier, Indian Railwayshas provided the 182 security helpline toll-free number to providespeedily assistance to passengers in the event of thefts,harassment, pickpocketing or other criminal incidents on trains orrail premises. Now it is merged with Rail Madad helpline number139. Further to make services more efficient, Indian Railways haslaunched the integrated train enquiry system - Rail Madad 139helpline number, web and a mobile app to register complaints andto provide essential information to rail passengers. It communicatesreal-time feedback to passengers on the status of redressal of theircomplaints.

Applications invited for Nari Shakti Puraskar '20

Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has invitedapplications for Nari Shakti Puraskar for the year 2020. The

national award is given annually to individuals, groups, institutions inrecognition of their exceptional work towards the cause of womenempowerment, especially for vulnerable and marginalized women.Nearly 15 Nari Shakti Puraskar will be given away on InternationalWomen's Day on March 8. Details of eligibility criteria and guidelinesare available on www.narishaktipuraskar.wcd.gov.in portal andapplications/ nominations must be submitted online on the portal. Thelast date for submission of applications/ nominations is January 31.The Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal Ministryfor the welfare of women and has been celebrating InternationalWomen's Day every year by felicitating eminent organisations andinstitutions for the distinguished services rendered by them in the fieldof women empowerment with the Nari Shakti Puraskar.

Date extended for uploading certificates for law courses

The last date for uploading scanned copies of original certificatesfor admissions into law courses through TS LAWCET/TS PGLCET2020 second and final phase counselling has been extended up

to January 31. A list of registered candidates will be displayed on thewebsite https://lawcetadm.tsche.ac.in/ on February 1 and web optionswill be available on February 2 and 3. The options can be edited onFebruary 4 up to 5 pm. A list of provisionally selected candidates willbe placed on the website on February 6. Candidates have to report atallotted colleges for verification of original certificates along withtuition fee payment challan between February 8 and 12, TS LAWCET2020, admissions convener, Prof P Ramesh Babu said.

SHORT TAKES

TDP manifesto against Constitution,will create chaos, say YSRCP leaders

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State TransportDepartment on Thursdaylodged a complaint of imper-sonation with theKrishnalanka police. As perdetails available, a person whointroduced himself as a seniorIAS officer working with theAP government had issued a

fake appointment letter forMotor Vehicle Inspector.

The issue came to lightwhen the person who took theappointment letter reachedthe transport commissioneroffice in Vijayawada to joinhis new job. After he reachedthe transport office he realisedhe was taken for a ride.

Mohd Saifuddin, a resident

of Vinchipet, has approachedthe Office of the TransportCommissioner at NTRadministrative block, alongwith appointment order forthe post of MVI said to havebeen issued by SectionOfficer, GeneralAdministration Departmentunder the approval of ChiefSecretary of AP.On seeing the

document, it is very clearthat it was a fake order, as theChief Secretary of AP doesnot give any appointmentorders to any post in theGovernment.

There is no direct recruit-ment for the post of MVI inthe Transport Department.As per the document pro-duced by him, there are a total

10 candidates said to havebeen selected on merit basisfor the post of MVI inTransport department.

Upon being questioned,Saifuddin said that a personby name Surendra Kumar,claiming himself to be an IASofficer issued this order andRs 2 lakh was agreed to bepaid for the post.

Man offered MVI post by fake IAS officer for Rs 2 lakh

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Reinstated in 2013 after beingdismissed from service for 10years on corruption charges in2003, an Assistant ExecutiveEngineer of APEPDCL,Kommadi Division, MNageswara Rao, landed in theACB trap for the second timeon Thursday.

He was arrested and pro-duced before the special courtdealing with SPE and ACBcases, Vizag. During the courseof searches, it was revealed thatNageswara Rao and his fami-ly members (after his reinstate-ment) were in possession oftwo houses, three flats, twovehicles, FDRs worth approx-imately 1.11 crore and otherassets.

Joining duty as a lineman inthe electricity department,Nageswara Rao was promotedas sub-engineer in 1992. He wasdismissed from service for cor-

ruption in 2003 and reinstatedin 2013 as sub-engineer andagain promoted as AssistantExecutive Engineer in 2014.

Officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau,Visakhapatnam, conductedraids at the houses and prop-erties of Nageswara Rao, forallegedly amassing wealth dis-proportionate to his knownsources of income in Vizag.

A team led by Additional SP,ACB, Shakeela Banu and DSPACB (Visakhapatnam Urban)Ranga Raju conducted search-es simultaneously at seven var-ious locations such as

S e e t h a m m a d h a r a ,Seethampeta, Visalakshi Nagar,MVP Colony, Rambilli inVisakhapatnam district sinceThursday morning.

The raids were conductedbased on credible informationand they registered a FIR andstarted conducting searches.

The ACB teams have alsocome to know about thewhereabouts of three banklockers pertaining to the taint-ed officer which are yet to beopened.

It was also known that theACB teams have uneartheddocuments pertaining to landsites and flats which werereportedly amassed illegally.

The officials also conduct-ed raids in Vizianagaram andheld the Bondapalli AE foraccepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh.AE Dasari Murali Mohan Raowas held for taking a bribetowards sanctioning a boreconnection.

APEPDCL engineer landsin ACB net, once again

SUMIT ONKA

n VISAKHAPATNAM

The police officers investigat-ing the sensational twin mur-der case in Madnapalle in Chi-ttoor are yet to find any hint ofthe presence of the fifth personwho would have influenced theparents of the two girls, even asthe accused continue to believethat the victims would comeback to life.

The cops denied reports thatappeared in a section of themedia that an exorcist had per-formed black magic after he wascalled in a day before the incident.

Moreover, as the couple,especially the mother of the

two girls, was not cooperatingwith the police during ques-tioning, a team of psychiatristsrecommended a complete psy-chiatric evaluation.

Radhika, a psychiatrist at thedistrict hospital, after examin-ing the accused, said that themother, Padmaja, was meditat-ing in a trance while worship-ing Lord Shiva in the sub-jailroom. Prison officials placedher in a special barracksbecause she was behavingabnormally.

The father of the victims —Purushottam Naidu — waskept in common barracks withother prisoners. Prison staffsaid they sang hymns while

meditating in a trance on the'Om Nama Shivaya' chant onTuesday night without falling

asleep.Purushottam Naidu had

said that his daughters had

died for the welfare of theworld. He also was notedsaying that despite the pain oflosing his children, he wasoptimistic that they will soonbe happy.

The doctors observed thatthey killed their children asthey were deluded and in atrance. Authorities have beenadvised to look for treatmentfor the disease and send themto a team of psychologists inVizag or Tirupati for an assess-ment.

The so-called exorcist, iden-tified as Subramaniam, is saidto have received Rs 300 fromthe couple for the chanting andblack magic rituals. He, how-

ever, was unaware about whathappened to the girls after heleft. This has raised suspicionabout the murders.

Police are unclear as to howthe couple took to superstitionand occult. "This will not bedecided in a few days. We haveto check if they visited any tem-ple or ashram," said the officer.The police are examiningCCTV footage of the past fewdays in their quest for clues.

The couple's elder daughterAlekhya (27) had completeddiploma in forest studies fromBhopal, while the younger one— Sai Divya (22) studied BBA.

Sai Divya was also a studentat a music school in Chennai.

Twin murder accused still believe girls will come back to life

TDP to expose Jagan’s‘failures’ in ParliamentPNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP National president andformer chief minister NChandrababu Naidu onThursday chaired the TeluguDesam Parliamentary Party(TDPP) meeting to discuss theissues to be raised in the com-ing budget session of theParliament.

The TDPP that met inAmaravati, resolved to raisein both the Lok Sabha andthe Rajya Sabha the burningissues of Special CategoryStatus for AP, hiccups in thePolavaram project comple-tion, the 'unconstitutional'three-capitals Bills and theunfulfilled promises in theAP Reorganisation Act.

Briefing media personslater, Guntur MP GallaJayadev said that the TDPwould exert pressure on theYSRCP to answer why it hasfailed to convince and getSpecial Category Status fromthe Central Government.There were 22 YSRCP MPsbut they were not at all rais-ing their voice on the Special

Category Status in theParliament, Jayadev said.

Prior to the 2019 election,Jaganmohan Reddy promisedthe voters that his party wouldmake the Central governmentstep down and accord SpecialCategory Status if his party got25 MP seats, the TDP MPreminded.

Jayadev asserted that theYSRCP MPs should also beanswerable on their party'sthree-capitals agenda withoutincluding the same either in its

election manifesto or in thecampaign.

Moreover, the ChiefMinister constructed his housein Tadepalli in Amaravati cap-ital area to misguide the peo-ple that there would be noshifting of the Capital even ifthe YSRCP was elected, buteventually, took a U-turn, theTDP MP said.

MP KanakamedalaRavindra Kumar deplored thatthe Jaganmohan Reddy regimewas diverting all the funds

from the Central Governmentand there was a stronger needthan ever for the Centre tointervene and bring financialdiscipline in the State.

The Chief Minister visitsDelhi many times but he nevertells the people of the Stateabout the outcome of his talkswith the Union Ministers,Ravindra Kumar said.

There was no informationon what benefits are derivedfor AP from the CM's visits toDelhi, he added.

SNV SUDHIR

n VIJAYAWADA

Both Andhra Pradesh andTelangana have improved theirrankings in delivery of justiceto people. More significantly,Telangana jumped to sevenplaces to make it to the topthree of the large and mid-sizedstates in the country.

The second edition of theIndia Justice Report (IJR),India's only ranking of states ondelivery of Justice to people,announced on Thursday,ranked Maharashtra once againat the top of the 18 Large andMid-sized states with popula-tion of over one crore each, fol-lowed by Tamil Nadu (2019:3rd), Telangana (2019: 11th)Punjab (2019: 4th) and Kerala(2019: 2nd).

Andhra Pradesh has beenranked 12, up from the previ-ous year's 13. While Telanganascored 5.64 out of 10 points ofseveral parameters, AndhraPradesh secured 4.81 ranks.

The IJR is an initiative ofTata Trusts in collaborationwith Centre for Social Justice,

Common Cause,Commonwealth HumanRights Initiative, DAKSH,TISS-Prayas, Vidhi Centre forLegal Policy and How IndiaLives. The maiden IJR wasannounced in 2019.

The ranking is based onquantitative measurements ofbudgets, human resources,infrastructure, workload, diver-sity across police, judiciary,prisons and legal aid in 18 largeand medium sized states witha population of over 1 croreand 7 small states.

Through a rigorous 14-month quantitative research,the India Justice Report 2020tracked the progress states havemade in capacitating their jus-tice delivery structures to effec-tively deliver services to all.

IJR had taken account of lat-est statistics and situations asthey existed prior to March2020. IJR was based on the datafrom authoritative governmentsources, on the four pillars ofJustice delivery-Police, Judiciary,Prisons and Legal Aid.

Telangana had improved itsranking under judiciary from

11 to 6 from the last year withmore High Court judges, morewomen subordinate courtjudges and more courtrooms.Telangana had also improvedin its ranking under prisonsfrom 13 to 2 with better bud-get utilisation, more officersand cadre staff, most prisonstaff trained.

"The India Justice Reportassessed all the pillars ofjustice delivery - Police,Judiciary, Prisons and LegalAid - as one system. The jus-tice system in India is over-burdened and stressed mak-ing it difficult for most peo-ple to access justice services.This Report demystifies thesystem as a whole throughstatistics across the four pil-lars. We hope that like thefirst report, this second edi-tion too, fosters a moreinformed discourse and per-haps most important ly,serves as a tool for policy-makers, and other stakehold-ers to identify areas of quickrepair," said Tata TrustsPolicy and Advocacy, Head,Shloka Nath.

Telugu states improve injustice delivery ranking

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Vizag city police have crackedthree property offence cases byarresting the accused andrecovering property.According to the police,Kanmuri Ramana Murty ofBheemili had complained thatRs 20,000 in cash from his wal-let and also his bike had beenstolen on August 27 last year.

In another incident, KMutyala Rao ofTagarapuvalasa reported thatsome unidentified culpritscommitted theft of goldornaments (7 tolas) and Rs1.75 lakh in cash on August28. The police arrestedPonnada Veera Babu (30)and Agnikula Kshatriya ofEast Godavari district forthese thefts. In a theft case inMVP Colony, a car driver,Vari Veedhi of Peda Waltair,had stolen gold chain andcash from the room of awatchman.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

East Coast Railway GeneralManager Vidya Bhushan, alongwith Divisional RailwayManager, Waltair, ChetanKumar Shrivastava, onThursday visitedVisakhapatnam railway stationand inspected various amenitiesand facilities provided.

Vidya Bhushan inaugu-rated a mobile health kioskon the Platform No.1 of theVisakhapatnam Railway sta-tion.

The health kiosk setupunder non-fare revenue initia-tive where any passenger atrailway premises can havehealth check up by paying Rs100 and 30 kinds of tests canbe availed. A mobile healthkiosk — Health on Wheels —is also the part of the new ini-tiative which will be available

on demand at the platform.GM, ECoR inspected the

battery-operated cars that areavailable at the station for theconvenience of the passengerswhich were also provided undernon-fare revenue to carry pas-sengers on nominal fare.

Interacting with the MeriSaheli team, a special task forceof RPF to assist women passen-gers at stations and in trains,GM ECoR lauded the efforts ofthe women RPF team in rescu-ing the children and avertinggirl child trafficking.

Further, Vidya Bhushancommissioned the new 350watt rooftop solar photovolta-ic plant of Visakhapatnam rail-way station constructed onplatform shelters. The solarplant can generate 1,200 unitsper day and will account forsaving of Rs 10 lakh per year forthe Railways.

ECoR chief opensseveral projects inWaltair division

Vizag citypolice cracks 3 theft cases

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSRCP leaders on Thursdaycame down heavily on TDPsupremo N ChandrababuNaidu for releasing his party’smanifesto for gram panchayatelections, going against theconstitutional guidelines andtrying to create a chaoticatmosphere in villages.

Speaking to the media atTirupati, Minister forPanchayat Raj, PeddireddiRamachandra Reddy lashedout at the TDP supremo forreleasing a manifesto for elec-tions that are not being heldunder party symbols.

He demanded to know fromNaidu as to who gave him theright to release the manifestoat a time the election code wasin force. Peddireddy allegedthat Naidu has been conspiringto create havoc in gram pan-chayats at a time the State gov-ernment has been encouragingunanimous elections.

He said that Naidu was aleader who could not get amajority even in his own dis-trict and was criticised fornever working for the people.Peddireddy said that Naidu hasno moral right to speak about

the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy,who worked selflessly for thepeople and even offered healthservices for only Rs 1 atPulivendula.

Peddireddy also allegedthat SEC NimmagaddaRamesh Kumar was arm-twisting bureaucrats and gov-ernment employees by usinghis official position. TheMinister stated that theGovernment is following theverdict given by the SupremeCourt on gram panchayatelections, but the ElectionCommissioner has been act-ing as a ruler misusing hisConstitutional powers.

He also accused RameshKumar of becoming a pawn inthe hands of Naidu, who hasbeen using him to take revengeon government officials.

Peddireddy said that theunanimous election norm hasbeen in place since 2002 andthere was nothing new in thiselection, but surprisingly theSEC has been going against it,commenting that they need tocome under the scanner.

At a separate press confer-ence at Tadepalli, YSRCP MLAAmbati Rambabu said thatNaidu wants to turn non-partyelections into party elections.

He demanded to know what

action Ramesh Kumar wouldtake against Naidu for releas-ing the manifesto for grampanchayat elections.

He said that the SEC hasbeen working in the spirit ofNaidu and not in the spirit ofthe Constitution, and even ifthe TDP supremo aligns withRamesh Kumar, they can't savethe TDP from sinking.

Rambabu said that theunanimous elections haveexisted in the country sincelong, and questioned the SECwhether it was mentioned any-where in the Constitution thatthere should be no unani-mous elections to gram pan-chayats.

“Instead of encouragingpeaceful elections in villages,the SEC and Naidu have beentrying to influence them aspolitical elections,” Rambabusaid. He criticised the SEC forbecoming a puppet in thehands of Naidu and terrorisingthe government officials byusing his powers.

The MLA said that RameshKumar was blaming govern-ment officials for rejecting hisenrolment for casting a votefrom Duggirala, while he wasstill a resident of Hyderabad.

Peddireddy alsoalleged that SECNimmagaddaRamesh Kumarwas arm-twistingbureaucrats andemployees byusing his officialposition.

AP reports 117 Covidcases, no deaths PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh reported 117fresh Covid-19 cases takingthe tally to over 8.87 lakhwhile no deaths reported,in 24hours ending 9 AM onThursday.

The state also reported 128more recoveries, a Healthdepartment bulletin said.

With 36,189 tests, the totalnumber of tests conductedstood at over 1.30 crore so farin the state.

The total confirmed positiveCovid-19 cases were at

8,87,466 while the recoveriesstood at 8,78,956, it said,adding that the toll remainedat 7,152. The state has 1,358active cases.

In 24 hours, Krishna districtaccounted for the most num-ber of cases with 26 followedby Visakhapatnam and Gunturwith 19 and 17 each respec-tively.

Meanwhile, as many as1,66,356 frontline health work-ers were vaccinated againstCovid-19 till January 27,atweet by the state govern-ment said.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy interacts with the parents of a child among the group of children who successfullyunderwent cochlear surgery, at his camp office here on Thursday.

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | JANUARY 29, 2021 Telangana 04

HC concern overpiling missingkids’ casesHYDERABAD: The High Courton Thursday expressedconcern over the cases ofmissing children and pulled upthe authorities concerned fortheir failure to constitute theChild Welfare Committees. Itgranted two weeks to the Stategovernment for the setting upof the Child WelfareCommittees in 33 districts ofTelangana and to file acompliance report before thecourt. A division bench of theHigh Court comprising ChiefJustice Justice Hima Kohli andJustice B Vijaysen Reddypasséd these orders whiledealing with a batch of PublicInterest Litigations (PIL) filedon the issue by variouspersons, including senioradvocate of High Court RapoluBhaskar. The division bench ofthe High Court also impleadedthe Central government in thecase and asked it to takeconcrete steps on the issue.The court said that moderninformation technology shouldbe used to trace the missinggirls by using 'facial recognitionsoftware'. Responding to thisobservation of the High Court,Advocate General BS Prasadtold the High Court about theuse of 'Darpan' software forfacial recognition by integratingit with all the States in thecountry. The division benchlater adjourned the matter forfurther hearing. In his petition,one of the petitioners in thecase and senior advocateRapolu Bhaskar urged the HighCourt to issue orders to reopenthe missing cases from 2015 to2018, which were closed by thepolice authorities in Telangana.

CAPSULE

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana State occupiedfifth position in the country inthe number of vacanciesremained unfilled in the policedepartment. Out of the totalvacancies in the police depart-ment, constable vacancies con-stitute 81 per cent.

According to the Bureau ofPolice Research andDevelopment, there are anestimated 5.31 lakh vacancies--civil, armed and reservepolice--lying vacant in policedepartments across the coun-try. The Telangana Stateranked number five after Uttar

Pradesh, West Bengal, Biharand Madhya Pradesh. Out ofthe 55,983 constable vacancies,there are only 32,128 consta-bles in the State. Out of the29,492 vacancies in the policedepartment, 23,810 constableposts remained vacant.

The number of head consta-ble posts remained to be filledis 4,286, the second highestafter the constable vacancies.

Out of the 12,405 posts ofhead constable vacancies, only8,119 posts have been filled.

Arrangements are beingmade to fill, over 20,000posts in the police depart-ment very soon.

TS ranks fifth inunfilled vacanciesin police dept

State Posts sanctioned Posts filled vacancies %of vacancies

UP 4,15,315 3,03,450 1,11,865 26.93

West Bengal 1,53,069 97,775 55,294 36.12

Bihar 1,38,961 91,862 47,099 33.89

MP 1,30,894 99,496 31,488 24.03

Telangana 78,369 48,877 29,492 37.63

PNS n HYDERABAD

CLP leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka has dismissed thePRC report as a farce andcalled the report incompre-hensive and illogical. Hedemanded that the govern-ment declare 60 per cent of thebasic pay as the fitnessallowance to the State govern-ment employees.

In a joint statement issuedby him, along with MLA DSridhar Babu and AICC sec-retary Madhu Yashki, here onThursday, he said that thewhole episode is being enact-ed only to ensure that ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao is felicitated.

The fitment allowance rec-ommended by the PRC – 7.5per cent of the basic pay – andother recommendations areimpracticable as the prices ofall essential commodities,including petrol and diesel,have been skyrocketed. In thisbackdrop, announcing 7.5 percent of basic pay as fitmentallowance is ridiculous, heopined.

The first Pay RevisionCommission report left teach-ers and employees, who playeda crucial role in the movementfor Telangana disappointed.The PRC ended up with noth-ing after conducting an elab-orate exercise for 31 months.He expressed doubts whetherthe PRC report was preparedunder the watchful eyes of thegovernment.

Declaring 7.5% as the fit-ment allowance against thewish of the governmentemployees, who seek morefitment allowance is not prop-er, he said pointing out that the

HRA was reduced. He is alsoquick to point out how KCRhad spent hundreds of croresto build his residential quar-ters.

The government contentionthat a large chunk of the bud-getary allocations will sufficeto meet the wages of theemployees, he said.Bureaucrats have been spend-ing crores of public moneywith their frequent helicopterjaunts, he said. Even the offi-cials, who facilitate files in theCMO, have been using heli-copter wasting the taxpayers’money, he said.

He alleged that leaders ofsome employees’ associationshave been using the employ-ees and their problems andneeds to meet their selfishends. Therefore, he calledupon the leaders to stop pol-iticking and work for the wel-fare of the government ser-vants.

PNS n HYDERABAD

BJP State unit president BandiSanjay demanded that ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao gather the opinion of allemployees’ union, pensioners’unions and workers’ unions togather their opinion on the PayRevision Committee reportsubmitted by the Committeechairman CR Biswal.

In a statement here onThursday, he alleged that theChief Minister is trying to getapproval of the unions inclinedtowards the ruling TRS in thename of gathering public opin-ion and anxious to get felicitat-ed by them eliciting afavourable opinion from theseunions.

He described the PayRevision Committee report isdetrimental to the interests ofthe employees. The ChiefMinister, who committed togive only 7.5% of the basic payas fitment allowance, has beentrying to sweep the other prob-lems of the employees underthe carpet.

Acting according to a plan,the Chief Minister has beenduping the employees in thename of the PRC report. TheChief Minister has failed to

implement at least one of theassurances he had given to theemployees in 2014, he allegedpointing out how theEmployees’ Health Scheme hasbeen suspended.

The Chief Ministerannounced financial supportof Rs 1 lakh to the Covid-19affected employees and after-wards he washed off his hands,he lamented. Several employ-ees affected by the pandemichave been caught in a debttrap.

Furthermore, he observedthat no Leave TravelConcession was given to theNGOs. He questioned the gov-

ernment on when is it going totransfer wives to husbands’place and vice versa. If anyonewere to question the dictator-ial style of functioning of thegovernment, such people arebeing threatened with foistingfalse cases, he alleged.

He offered the BJP’s supportto the employees and warnedthe government that the saf-fron party would not tolerateif the employees were to besubjected to inconvenience.

Uttam demands 43%fitment for TS govt staffPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) Presidentand Nalgonda MP Capt NUttam Kumar Reddy con-demned the Pay RevisionCommission (PRC) for recom-mending a fitment of mere7.5% and alleged that thePRC's recommendationsappear to be dictated by ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao. He demanded that theState government provide fit-ment of not less than 43% tothe employees.

Uttam Kumar Reddy, alongwith MLC T Jeevan Reddy,TPCC Working presidentPonnam Prabhakar and otherleaders, was addressing a pressconference at Gandhi Bhavanhere on Thursday.

Uttam Kumar Reddy saidthat the fitment of 7.5% wasunrealistic and, too, below theexpectations of governmentemployees. He announced thatthe Congress would supportthe agitation by the govern-ment seeking at least 43% fit-ment. He said that the govern-ment employees have played amajor role in the TelanganaStatehood agitation. He saidthe employees risked theirjobs and careers by launching'Sakala Janula Samme'. They

expected a better future forthemselves and their childrenafter the formation ofTelangana. However, ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao shattered their dreamsand continuously subjectedthem to injustice. He saidKCR's decisions have beencausing mental agony to thegovernment staff.

The TPCC chief also con-demned the PRC's recommen-dation for reducing the HouseRent Allowance by up to six percent. He said that the PRC hasfailed to consider the inflationfactor while recommendingcuts in HRA. It appears, hesaid, that the PRC has draftedits entire report under the

influence of KCR. He demand-ed that there should not be anycut in the HRA and instead itshould be increased substan-tially.

Uttam Kumar Reddy saidthat the PRC has identifiednearly 1.91 lakh vacancies invarious departments of theState government. He said thatthe Chief Minister has beenmisleading the people ofTelangana by giving contradict-ing and false figures of existingvacancies. He pointed out thatKCR has recently issued astatement announcing that theState government would fill50,000 vacancies in differentdepartments, which is aboutone-fourth of actual vacancies.

n TPCC chief slams PRC for recommending7.5% fitment, cut inHRA

n Uttam exhortsemployees to launch protest againstinjustice, assures full support

n He asks YouthCongress to leadagitation againstunemployment

PNS n SIDDIPET

Minister for Finance T HarishRao said that the green cover inTelangana increased by anunprecedented 3.67 per centduring the past five years onaccount of the State govern-ment’s initiative.

He attributed it to theplanned efforts of the govern-ment to increase the greencover by implementing theHarita Haram programme.

The credit for allocating 10per cent of the local bodies’funds for improving greencover goes to Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao.

He was speaking after inau-gurating the Tejovanam UrbanForest developed on a 500-acresite at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore onthe outskirts of Siddipet.

Urban forests relieve peopleof their stress and find a solu-tion to the problem of pollu-tion, he said. Out of the 109urban forests proposed, 35have become functional, hesaid.

Allotment of 100 acres forOxygen Park, indoor and out-door games, cycling track,walking track, Meditation Parkare some of the features of theUrban Park, he said.

The park also has deer, rab-bits, various birds. An openlibrary is going to be set up inthe park soon, he said. Therestoration of forest cover hascommenced from the ChiefMinister’s constituency ofGajwel and is being implement-ed all over the State, he said.

There are plant nurseries in

almost all villages in the State,he said adding that there arenurseries in proportion to the

population in towns.He asked teachers to show

initiative in bringing students

from both private and govern-ment schools to the UrbanPark to sensitise them on envi-ronmental pollution and con-servation of biodiversity.

The Urban Parks are perfectvenues for holding picnics.

Forest DevelopmentCorporation chairman VanteruPratapa Reddy, Siddipet ZillaParishad chairperson RojaSarma, Principal ChiefConservator of Forests Sobhaand others were present at theinaugural ceremony.

Telangana registers recordgreen cover in five years

A pagoda in the parkMinister for Finance T Harish Rao inaugurating Tejovanam Urban Forest on theoutskirts of Siddipet on Thursday

Entrance of Tejovanam Urban Forest is a feast to the eyes of people

n The credit for allocating10 per cent of the local bodies’ funds forimproving green covergoes to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao,said Minister for Finance T Harish Rao

n He asked teachers to showinitiative in bringing studentsfrom both private andgovernment schools to theUrban Park to sensitisethem on environmentalpollution and conservationof biodiversity.

n Bandi Sanjay asks CM to take all unionsinto confidence onPRC report

n The Chief Minister has been duping theemployees in thename of the PRCreport. The ChiefMinister has failed toimplement at least oneof the assurances hehad given to theemployees in 2014, healleged pointing outhow the Employees’Health Scheme hasbeen suspended

BJP vows support to govt employees on PRC

Bhatti calls PRCreport a farce

PNS n VARANASI

MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha,along with her family mem-bers, arrived in Varanasi onTuesday. The former MP,who is on a two-day spiritu-al trip to Varanasi, tweeted apicture of her with her fam-ily to announce the same. Onthe first day of her visit,

MLC, along with her family,visited Assi Ghat and took aboat ride with locals ofVaranasi towardsDashashwamedh Ghat.Kavitha took to Twitter toshare her pictures as sheinteracted with the people ofVaranasi.

In the evening, the MLCparticipated in ‘Ganga aarti’

and performed the ritualsthat follow. Later, the MLCvisited Sankatmochan tem-ple, where she and her fami-ly offered prayers and per-formed the Vastra Arpan rit-ual. This was followed by ameeting with the head priestof Sankatmochan templeMahant Shri VishambharNath Mishra.

PNS n WARANGAL

TDP leader and former coun-cillor of Jangaon municipali-ty Puli Swamy (52) was brutal-ly murdered in broad daylightin the wee hours of Thursday.Two youth of his relatives’family reportedly attacked himwith a sickle and an axe. Thedeceased was a realtor-turned-politician and got a favourablejudgment in a land disputecase on Wednesday. Hence,the rival group framed a sketchto eliminate him, according topolice.

The incident took place atsocial welfare school on theWarangal – Jangaon highway.Police suspected that the landdispute was behind the attack.On receiving information,police rushed to the spot afterconducting panchanama, thebody was shifted to theJangaon government hospitalfor autopsy.

According to West ZoneDCP B Srinivas Reddy, 22-year-old Gaddam Nikhil and19-year-old Praveen Kumarsketched the map to eliminatePuli Swamy and attacked himwith a sickle while he wasreturning from morning walk.Swamy received severe injuryon his neck and chest and fellon road and died on the spot.

The deceased has two acres30 guntas of land in Survey No82/72 on the Yashwanthapurhighway (Hyderabad –Warangal) and it is in civil dis-pute since few years and gotjudgement in his favour twodays ago. His rival GaddamNarsimha Swamy died in therecent past and his grandchil-dren retaliated. Accused wereseveral times threatenedSwamy to kill him about theYashwanthapur land.

DCP Srinivas Reddy statedthat on Thursday the accusedhit Swamy with their vehicleand hit him with a sickle andan axe, soon after the incidenta special party and policeteams arrested the accused.Interrogation is going on anda case has been registered.

TDP leader murdered in broad daylight

Kavitha takes part in Varanai ‘Ganga aarti’

PNS n BIRKUR

Sp eaker Po charamSr inivasa Reddy la idemphasis on safeguardingthe farmers as others wouldget food only if the farmerworks hard in the field.Speaking after laying thefoundation stone for the Rs28.29 crore checkdam to bebuilt on Manjira river nearhere on Thursday, he saidthat out of the 70,797 fam-i l ies that l ive in theBanswada constituency,61,583 are farmers’ fami-lies.

Construction of a roadbridge on the Manjira riverat a cost of Rs 100improved road communi-cation facilities in the areaand the cost of lands in thearea increased. The farmersproduce crops worth Rs2000 crore in two lakhacres in Banswada con-stituency.

Four checkdams on theManjira river have beensanctioned in Banswadaconstituency, he said. Thecheckdams help store theflood water so that thegroundwater table in thenearby areas will increase.

The Kaleswaram projectwill help the Nizamsagarproject to regain the pastglory. Two crops a year areguaranteed in the ayacutlands of the Nizamsagarproject, he said.

D CCB chairmanPocharam Bhaskar Reddy,irrigation department offi-cials and others took partin the ceremony.

Speaker laysstone forcheckdam on Manjira

TS numero uno in girls to boys’ratio, says ministerPNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for Woman and ChildWelfare Satyavati Rathod saidthat the best plans are beingprepared to check nutritionaldeficiency among women andchildren.

Taking part in a meeting onnutritional safety of womenand children in Telangana heldhere on Thursday, she said thatthe ratio of girls to boys inTelangana is the best in thecountry on account of theKCR kit and Arogya Lakshmiprogrammes.

Surveys indicated that thenutritional deficiency has comedown drastically amongexpecting and lactating moth-ers in Telangana because ofArogya Lakshmi implementa-tion.

Besides this, the ratio ofgirls to boys has improved andTelangana ranked number onein the country as the govern-ment dealt with infanticidewith a heavy hand.

There are 1,049 girls forevery 1,000 boys in Telangana,she said. Plans are afoot togive milk to children from the

age of seven months to sixyears to improve their nutri-tional status of them. A pilotproject has been launched inthe Agency areas to giveMahua flower laddus to trib-al children, she said calling theproject a success.

During the COVID-19 peri-od, Anganwadi activists sup-plied rations door to door inTelangana to improve thenutrition of the poor, she said.She congratulated Mini-Anganwadi activistChandrakala for receiving thebest Anganwadi activist award.

The first PRC reportleft teachers andemployees, whoplayed a crucial role in the movement for Telangana,disappointed

PNS n BENGALURU

Minister for Agriculture SNiranjan Reddy has suggestedencouraging farmers ofTelangana to cultivate sandal-wood trees. He hinted at the gov-ernment exploring the possibil-ity of government buying thesandalwood trees from farmersafter growing them for 15 years.

He said that he would take itinto the notice of the ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao,too. Taking part in a workshopheld at the Institute of WoodSciences at Malleswaram here onThursday, he said that manycompanies have been entering

into agreements with farmers tobuy the sandalwood trees fromthem. To divert the attention ofthe farmers from growing tradi-tional crops, sandalwoodappears to be a good promise, heobserved. Pruning of the sandal-wood trees and wood testingwould cause more harm thangood to the sandalwood trees.Several senior scientists suggest-ed allowing them to grow nat-urally.

Telangana Horticulture direc-tor Venkatram Reddy and Vice-Chancellor of Konda LakshmanBapuji University NeerajaPrabhakar and others took partin the workshop.

‘Will encourage TS farmers to grow sandalwood trees’

HC pulls upLabourCommissionerPNS n HYDERABAD

The High Court while statingthat it was satisfied with thefunctioning of the LabourCommissioner of the State,pulled him up with regard tothe constitution of SocialSecurity Board for the welfareof unorganised sector work-ers. It also pulled him up forhis failure to register the unor-ganised sector workers. Adivision bench of the HighCourt comprising ChiefJustice Justice Hima Kohliand Justice B Vijaysen Reddyalso vented its ire at theLabour Commissioner forappointing only two membersas against a total of 32 to theBoard.

It termed his action as grossdereliction of duty andwarned him that he would besummoned if he failed toappoint the members to theBoard for its functioning with-in four weeks of time. Thecourt passed this order whiledealing with a Public InterestLitigation (PIL) filed by thesenior Congress leaderDamodar Rajanarsimha.

MLC K Kavitha offers prayers to Ganga river (right) A guide explains to her aboutthe greatness of the mighty river in Varanasi on Thursday

Puli Swamy

VIJAYAWADA | FRIDAY | JANUARY 29, 2021 nation 05

The number of people who havetested positive for the UK variantof SARS-CoV-2 in the country has

climbed to 165, the Union HealthMinistry said on Thursday. All thesepersons have been kept in singleroom isolation in designated HealthCare facilities by respective stategovernments. Their close contacts have also been put underquarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. "The total number of casesinfected with the new strain of the novel coronavirus first reported inthe UK now stands at 165," the ministry said. Of the total 165 cases,the mutated UK strain was detected in the samples of 42 people atNational Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in New Delhi and 51 inthe Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi, fivein the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bengaluru, 44 in theNational Institute of Virology in Pune, eight in the Centre for Cellularand Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad, 14 at NIMHANS inBengaluru and one in NIBMG, Kalyani (near Kolkata).

INDIA CORNER

165 infected with UK variant ofCOVID-19 in India, says govt

Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh onThursday sought Prime

Minister Narendra Modi'sintervention for the inclusion ofPunjabi in the list of languagesof Jammu and Kashmir. Hecited Punjab's historical linkswith Jammu and Kashmir sinceMaharaja Ranjit Singh's time.In a letter to the prime minister, Amarinder Singh urged him to advisethe Union Ministry of Home Affairs to reconsider and review the officiallist and include Punjabi as one of the official languages of the unionterritory. He voiced resentment of the Punjabi community over theexclusion of their language from the list. Amarinder Singh pointed outthat Jammu and Kashmir was a part of Punjab during the era ofMaharaja Ranjit Singh, the 19th century Sikh ruler, with Punjabi beingone of the vernacular languages of the region. When Jammu andKashmir came into existence as an independent state, Punjabi was awidely spoken language there and is now the mother tongue of allPunjabis in the Jammu region, besides being spoken by the Punjabicommunity living in Kashmir Valley, he wrote.

PM urged to include Punjabi in J&K official languages list

The Left government inKerala onhursdayannounced the

completion of 2.5 lakh newhouses under the "LIFEMission" programme, itsflagship housing project thatenvisages total housing for allhomeless in the southernstate. "LIFE Mission"(Livelihood, Inclusion, Financial Empowerment) envisages not justgiving a roof for those who do not have houses, but also a completerehabilitation packagefor the homeless and landless in the state. Declaring the completionof 2,50,547 houses across the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayansaid it was a matter of pride for his government and their objectivewas to provide ahome for all deserved people.

Kerala govt declares completionof 2.5 lakh new houses for needy

KD Sethi, who was the lastsurviving member of theJammu and Kashmir

Constituent Assembly, passedaway at his residence here onThursday. He was 93. Sethiwas a member of theConstituent Assembly -- abody of representativeselected in 1951 -- whichframed the Constitution of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.The Constituent Assembly was dissolved on January 26, 1957. Bornin Mirpur, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, on January 1, 1928, Sethi wasa popular leader. He had migrated to Jammu in 1946. Seth, whostrongly batted for the resolution of the Kashmir issue, served as thestate general secretary of the Democratic Conference. He representedthe Nowshera Assembly segment of Rajouri district.

Last surviving member of J&KConstituent Assembly KD Sethi dies

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Budget session ofParliament beginning Friday ispoised to be stormy with theOpposition set to attack thegovernment over the threenew farm legislations, amid anongoing agitation by farmers.

The session will begin withthe address of the President tothe joint sitting of the twoHouses on Friday morning fol-lowed by the presentation ofthe Union Budget on February1.

A total of 16 Oppositionparties have announced a boy-cott of the President's addressin solidarity with the farmersprotesting the new farm laws,senior Congress leaderGhulam Nabi Azad said onThursday.

The 16 Opposition partieshave also demanded a probeinto the violence on RepublicDay in Delhi. Opposition par-ties include the Congress, theNCP, Shiv Sena, DMK,Trinamool Congress, CPI,CPI-M and RJD.

With a view to have a paper-less Budget, all the documentsand the Economic Surveywould be made availableonline soon after the authen-ticated copies are laid on theTable of the House, the Lok

Sabha Secretariat has said.Like the last time, in this

session too COVID-19 proto-cols will be in place and RajyaSabha and Lok Sabha willmeet in shifts of five hourseach -- with the upper housemeeting in the morning andthe lower house in the evening.

Due to the pandemic, theWinter session was not held.

The Question Hour alsomakes a comeback in this ses-sion. Due to paucity oftime, there was no QuestionHour in the previous session.The Monsoon session alsosaw the two Houses workingon Saturdays and Sundays.But this time, Parliament willnot sit on weekends.

Private Members' business

which usually takes place onFriday afternoons has alsomade a comeback in theBudget session, according toLok Sabha secretariat. In theprevious session, the PrivateMembers' business was nottaken up. Members introducetheir own bills and resolutionsduring this period which aredebated by the House.

During the session the gov-ernment will also push to con-vert ordinances issued recent-ly into laws. An ordinance hasto be converted into a lawwithin 42 days of the begin-ning of the session, else it laps-es. The ordinances issuedrecently include TheCommission for Air QualityManagement in National

Capital Region and AdjoiningAreas Ordinance 2020, TheArbitration and Conciliation(Amendment) Ordinance,2020 and The Jammu andKashmir Reorganisation(Amendment) Ordinance,2021.

Budget session to be stormyPNS n KOLKATA

Amid a noisy walkout by BJPMLAs, the TMC governmentThursday moved a resolution inthe West Bengal assemblydemanding repeal of the threecontentious farm laws.

Chief Minister MamataBanerjee said the Centre shouldeither withdraw the new laws orstep down. Speaking after the res-olution was moved byParliamentary Affairs MinisterPartha Chatterjee amid vocifer-ous protests by BJP lawmakers,Banerjee demanded that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi con-vene an all-party meeting to dis-cuss the process of withdrawal ofthese laws.

The assembly witnessedunruly scenes in the morningafter Chatterjee moved the res-olution, with BJP MLAs led bytheir legislative party leaderManoj Tigga rushing to the Wellof the House, claiming the TMCgovernment has launched a "mis-information campaign" againstthe laws.

Tigga, along with his partyMLAs, subsequently walked outshouting 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans.

"We oppose the anti-farmerlaws. We demand their immedi-

ate withdrawal. Either the Centreshould withdraw the laws or stepdown," the chief minister said.

Banerjee said the Union gov-

ernment, which has in the past,waived corporate loans, shouldalso extend the samebenefit tofarmers.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A total of 16 Opposition partieshave decided to boycott thepresident's address to the jointsitting of both the Houses ofParliament in solidarity with thefarmers protesting the newfarm laws, senior Congressleader Ghulam Nabi Azad saidon Thursday.

The 16 Opposition parties alsodemand a probe into theCentre's role in violence onRepublic Day in Delhi, said theleader of the Opposition inRajya Sabha while speaking tothe media with Congress' chiefwhip in Lok Sabha, K Suresh,by his side.

Mamata government movesresolution against farm laws

PNS n KOLKATA

Members of the Left parties andthe Congress rushed to the wellof the Assembly on Thursday,protesting certain comments byTMC minister Tapas Roy whenhe was speaking on the "Jai ShriRam" slogan incident at aprogramme to celebrate NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose's birthanniversary at Victoria Memorialhere. Speaker Biman Banerjeeordered that the words used by

Roy against some members ofthe Left and the Congress wouldnot be in the record. ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeedeclined to speak at the officialprogramme to celebrate Bose's125th birth anniversary onJanuary 23 after "Jai Shri Ram"slogans were raised from theaudience in the presence ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi.Roy and the legislators of theLeft and the Congress gotensued in a verbal duel.

Opposition to boycottPresident'saddress

Unruly scenes in Assemblyover minister's remark

PNS n NEW DELHI

How are elephants and cheetahsrelated to operations strategy? Anew book uses these metaphorsinspired by nature as a means toarrive at a better appreciation ofthe system being studied.

"Elephants and Cheetahs: TheBeauty of Operations" is aboutthe beauty inherent in businessmodels seen from an operationsperspective.

Saral Mukherjee, who teach-es at IIM Ahmedabad, says hisbook is not about biology or theanimal kingdom but about oper-ations strategy. "The origin of thisbook can be traced to my ses-sions in the core courses ofOperations Management I and

Operations Management II inthe PGP first-year curriculum,and the difficulties I faced inexplaining the notion of opera-tional trade-offs," he says.

"Students would learn abouthow time-based competitiondiffered from competing oncosts and yet come back and askwhy we can't have both. The

metaphor of the cheetah was avery powerful tool to intuitive-ly explain the differences instrategic choice, and the studentscould immediately grasp that anelephant is not structured to runas a cheetah, and we cannot haveboth cost efficiency and timeresponsiveness beyond a point,"he writes.

Based on a popular elective atIIM Ahmedabad, the book,published by Penguin RandomHouse India, looks for answersin the hard trade-offs inherent inthe design of operating systemsand business models. It encour-ages business leaders to ask twodifferent sets of existential ques-tions: Does the organisationhave a soul, and if so, what are

the strategic choices that enableits synthesis (external orienta-tion)?

Mukherjee says the purposeof writing this book is to reachout to a larger set of students, toenable them to see beauty inoperations. "The word 'beauty' isconspicuous by its absence inoperations texts; my purpose isto make you open your eyes toit."

He says he tried to bring backsystems orientation in teachingoperations. "I tried to bring aes-thetics into a field obsessed withquantification. I tried to appre-ciate operations systems andsee parallels in nature. I tried toconnect them with literature,with music, with arts.

Of elephants, cheetahs and operations strategy!

PNS n NAGPUR

The Nagpur bench of theBombay High Court has ruledthat holding the hands of aminor girl and opening of thezip of pants does not fall underthe purview of 'sexual assault'or 'aggravated sexual assault' ofthe Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act.

The observation was madeby a single bench of JusticePushpa Ganediwala onJanuary 15 while passing anorder on an appeal filed by a50-year-old man challenging asessions court's order convict-ing him for sexually assaultingand molesting a five-year-oldgirl.

The convict, Libnus Kujur,was in October 2020 convict-

ed under sections 354-A (1)(i)(outraging modesty) and 448(house-trespass) of the IPCand sections 8 (sexual assault),10 (aggravated sexual assault)and 12 (sexual harassment) ofthe POCSO Act. He was sen-tenced to five years in jail.

In her judgement, Justice

Ganediwala noted that whilethe prosecution has estab-lished that the accused enteredthe house of the victim with anintention to outrage her mod-esty or sexually harass her, ithas not been able to prove thecharge of 'sexual assault' or'aggravated sexual assault'.

Holding girl's hands no sexualassault under POCSO: HC

PNS n CHANDIGARH

Actor-turned-activist DeepSidhu, who has been accusedby farm bodi