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Village Secretariats will take governanceto people's doorstep: CM JaganPNS n KAKINADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has called upon thenewly-joined employees of theVillage Secretariats to shoulderthe responsibility of taking gov-ernance to the doorstep of thepeople.

After unveiling the pylon tomark the launch of VillageSecretariats at Karapa in EastGodavari district onWednesday, he congratulatedthe newly-joined employeesand asked them to work forthe welfare of the people with-out showing discriminationand giving no room for cor-ruption.

The Chief Minister said theVillage Secretariat system, coin-ciding with the birth anniver-sary of Mahatma Gandhi, hasmore relevance as the empow-erment of villages was thedream of Gandhiji who saidthat the country will perish ifvillages perish.

He said, "We are here tostrengthen the village ecosystemthrough our welfare schemes ofNavaratnas as I had seen theplight of people during the3,648-km padayatra where Iwas told about the rampant cor-ruption and discrimination at

all levels and how difficult it wasto get a ration card, pension orany of the welfare utilities."

The Village and WardSecretariat system has employed

over 4.5 lakh people and per-haps it is for the first time in thecountry's history for any gov-ernment to provide employ-ment on such a scale within

four months of coming topower, he said. The Secretariatswill provide 500 kinds of ser-vices covered through about 35departments and will work as aliaison between the govern-ment and the people and sucha thing has never happenedbefore, Jaganmohan Reddy said.

He further stated that theVillage Secretariats will alsoshowcase the government pro-grammes like the pictorial rep-resentation of governmentschools and hospitals under thecaption 'Then and Now' toshow how reforms havechanged their functioning.There are 44,000 schools in theState and in three years we willimprove their quality, amenitiesand infrastructure by workingon 15,000 schools per year.Same is the case with govern-ment hospitals".

The Chief Minister said thata woman constable will berecruited at Village Secretariatlevel to alert the authorities onbelt shops.

Deputy Chief Minister PilliSubhash Chandra Bose,Panchayat Raj MinisterPeddireddy RamachandraReddy, Viswaroop, K KannaBabu, MP Vanga Geetha andothers participated.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy interacting with a woman after unveiling thepylon to mark the launch of Village Secretarirat at Karapa in East Godavari districton Wednesday

The Chief Minister said the commencement VillageSecretariat system, coinciding with the birthanniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, has morerelevance as the empowerment of villages was thedream of Gandhiji who said that the country willperish if villages collapse

Setback for Navayuga,HC nod for retenderingPNS n VIJAYAWADA

AP High Court has made itclear that it cannot interfere inthe cancellation of the agree-ment signed by the State gov-ernment and NavayugaEngineering Company (NEC)for the construction of theBandar port. After hearing thearguments of the governmentand Navayuga on Wednesday,the High Court ruled out theoption of instructing the gov-ernment to stop the retender-ing process.

With this, the governmentcan proceed with the freshnotification for tenders forthe construction of the project.However, the court asked the

government to file an affidavitwith full details on the issue.After studying the govern-ment's affidavit, the court willdeliver the final order.

It may be recalled thatNavayuga has approached theHigh Court seeking cancella-tion of the GO No. 66 throughwhich their agreement withthe Government of AndhraPradesh for the constructionof Bandar port was cancelled.

Navayuga has argued in thecourt that the governmenthad failed in handing overtotal land required for the con-struction of Bandar port. Eventhe extent of land handedover to the company till datewas involved in legal disputes.

10 prisonerswalk tofreedomVIJAYAWADA: Ten prisonerswere released in the State onthe occasion of the 150thbirth anniversary of MahatmaGandhi. On Wednesday,Home Secretary KRM KishoreKumar issued orders relieving10 prisoners from differentjails in the State. Four prison-ers from RajamahendravaramCentral Prison, two fromVisakha Central Jail, one eachfrom Vijayawada, Anantapur,Kadapa and Nellore prisonswalked to freedom.

It was mentioned in theHome Secretary's order thatthe prisoners were beingreleased after taking their good behaviour intoconsideration.

Navaratnas home deliveryfrom Jan 1: BotsaPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The State government is takingmeasures to deliver servicesunder Navaratna scheme tohomes from January 1. Thenewly appointed Village andWard Secretaries andVolunteers would render theservices, said Minister forMunicipal Administration andUrban Development BotsaSatyanarayana, who inaugurat-ed the Secretariat atMarikivalasa on the outskirtsof the city on Wednesday.

Later, addressing a publicmeeting at the PolytechnicCollege grounds, the ministersaid it was great honour forChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy, who launched the`Grama Swarajyam' on theoccasion of Gandhi Jayanti.The Chief Minister woulddeliver what all he hadpromised during his padayatra.

He said creation of fourlakh jobs in a short span offour months rule by a new gov-ernment was a record in thecountry. The minister exudedconfidence that the young per-

sons, who were given jobs asSecretaries and Volunteers,would render services in atransparent manner and with-out corruption. The ministerlater interacted with the newlyappointed Secretaries on thedais and elicited their opinionon the new scheme of job.

Minister for Tourism MSrinivasa Rao said the newlyappointed persons should earngood fame to the governmentby delivering effective ser-vices. Local MP MVVSatyanarayana, Chairman ofVMRDA DronamrajuSrinivasa Rao, Secretary ofMunicipal Administration J

Syamala Rao, GVMC commis-sioner Dr G Srijana and otherofficials were present on theoccasion.

The ministers and electedrepresentatives inspected thecabins and systems at theSecretariat soon after the inau-guration.

l The Minister forMunicipalAdministration saidcreation of four lakhjobs in a short span offour months rule by anew government was arecord in the country

l Botsa exudedconfidence that theyoung persons, whowere given jobs asSecretaries andVolunteers, wouldrender services in atransparent manner andwithout corruption

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

CPI Maoists Andhra-OdishaBorder Special ZonalCommittee (AOBSZC) secre-tary Ganesh gave a call forbandh in AOB on September3 in protest against the illegalarrests, fake encounters andattacks on villages by securi-ty forces under name of oper-ation Samadhan.

The banned outfit releaseda press note in the name of itsAOBSZC secretary Ganesh inwhich the Maoist leadersalleged that severe repressionon the tribals has been on therise after formation of theYSRCP government inAndhra Pradesh.

Security forces in largenumbers have been deployedin the agency areas. Healleged that three Maoistswere killed in Madigamallunear Gummurevula onSeptember 22 after theyorganised a meeting withtribals at Annavaram forestarea. He accused that twoMaoists were captured afterthey received injuries. Bothwere tortured by the securi-ty forces before they werekilled on September 23 andthe police termed it anotherencounter. Ganesh warnedthe ruling party leaderswould be responsible forthese killings. He urged thepeople to observe bandh onThursday.

Maoistscall for bandh todayProtest fakeencounters

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor Biswa BhusanHarichandan said that Gandhihad demonstrated to the worldthat freedom can be achievedthrough non-violence and hiswords of wisdom are significantin all aspects of human life.Speaking at a programme tomark the 150th birth anniver-sary celebrations of MahatmaGandhi organised jointly by theAP School EducationDepartment and AP GandhiSmaraka Nidhi at SiddharthaAcademy in the city onWednesday, Harichandanreminded the students of thewords of Mahatma Gandhi,who said students are the hopeof the future and Gandhi'steachings transcend all gener-ations and they are more rele-vant today than ever before.

Honouring the freedomfighters TC Rajan, a 102-year-old freedom fighter, who cameall the way from Palamaneru inChittoor district, Ravuri ArjunaRao and Manorama fromKrishna district and PavuluriSivaramakrishnaiah fromGuntur district, the Governor

said that by honouring thefreedom fighters, he himselffeels honoured.

Earlier, the Governor inaugu-rated a photo-exhibition depict-ing the life and times ofMahatma Gandhi, organised atthe venue by AP GandhiSmaraka Nidhi.

Gandhi is more relevanttoday: Governor

PNS n NEW DELHI

In the railway station cleanli-ness survey rankings unveiledby Union Railway MinisterPiyush Goyal here onWednesday, VijayawadaRailway Station occupies theseventh position, whileHyderabad and Secunderabadstations rank 17 and 42 respec-tively. The ranks of various rail-way stations in Telugu statesare: Samalkot-45, Tirupati-70,Nellore-81, Visakha-84, Palasa-92, Warangal-51,Ramagundam-52, Kazipet-67,Kachiguda-69 andKhammam-80. Of the 720railway stations covered bythe survey; Jayapura, Jodhpurand Durgapur occupied thefirst three positions. Of the 109suburban railway stations;Andheri, Virar and Naigoanoccupied the first three posi-tions. A third party survey hadbeen in vogue in 407 main rail-way stations since 2016. Thistime, the survey was conduct-ed in 720 railway stations andsuburban stations.

Vja rly stationgets 7th rank in cleanlinesssurvey

BANDAR PORT

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The liquor sales came downby 50 per cent on the day oneon Tuesday when the govern-ment opened its liquor outletsin different parts of the cityand rural areas. Under theprevious licensing system, theaverage daily sales was aroundRs 4 crore per day and sellingmore during Dasara vaca-tion. But, the sales came downto Rs 1.98 crore on Tuesday,according to sources in theprohibition and excise depart-ment. However, the bars,which were open till 11 pmmade good sales. Several rea-

sons were attributed for thedrop in the sales. The mainreason was cutting down the

number of shops to 298 from403 and early closure of shopsat 8 pm.

Peda Waltair Junction hastwo shops and a bar and ofthem the highest selling shopwas closed. The governmentowned shop had no signboard and closed at 8 pm.There was mad rush at the barand people jostled to get theirbottles. Tipplers said theywere at loss as the new shopscould not be located easily."There are no sign boards andby the time I found one atAkkayyapalem, it was wellpast 8 pm and closed. I had torush to a bar to have my reg-ular drink,'' said a chronicalcoholic.

The social drinkers are

finding it difficult to consumealcohol. The beers are notchilled so drinking beer isruled out for many, speciallythe younger generation.

Meanwhile, the police areexpecting trouble since theexercise department banneddrinking in the permit rooms.They are seen at the street cor-ners at the beach, or in theparks. People might enter intoquarrels when residents objectto drinking in the park.

"The beach will be filledwith alcoholics and there willbe litter of empty bottles in theensuing days,'' said a policeofficer.

Liquor sales down by 50% in Visakhapatnam

Honouring the freedomfighters TC Rajan, a 102-year-old freedom fighter, RavuriArjuna Rao, Manorama andPavuluri Sivaramakrishnaiah,the Governor said that byhonouring the freedomfighters, he feel honoured

Two men wearing masks who robbed Lalithaa Jewellery in Trichy district of TamilNadu seen in CCTV footage

PNS n TRICHY

Two masked robbers havemade away with jewels worthseveral crores at a branch of thepopular Lalithaa Jewellery inTamil Nadu's Trichy district.When employees entered thestore on Wednesday just before9 am, it was discovered that anentire section of jewellery man-nequins had their valuablesmissing with the protectivecovering undone. These con-

sisted of gold and diamondnecklaces. Even as a policeinvestigation is underway, thelatest estimates suggest thatthese jewels weighing approx-imately 100 kg could be worthmany crores.

CCTV footage captured atthe store shows two men - onewearing a dog mask and anoth-er a cat mask - entering theground floor of the store withduffel bags in hand. The storeis located near the busy

Chathram bus stand area of thecity. However, the store bordersan empty plot of land through

which the thieves are suspect-ed to have drilled a hole for pas-sage. The hole remained par-tially hidden from view thanksto the compound wall.

The incident is said to havetaken place between 2 am and4: 30 am in the wee hours ofWednesday. The robbery, whichappears to have been meticu-lously planned, also saw theburglars wear gloves in ordernot to leave their fingerprints atthe crime scene.

The hole made by robbers

Nizam's funds belongto India, rules UK court PNS n LONDON

In a major setback forPakistan, the UK High Courton Wednesday ruled in favourof India in a decades-old legaldispute with Islamabad overfunds belonging to the Nizamof Hyderabad at the time ofPartition in 1947 and deposit-ed in a London bank account.

The Nizam's descendants,Prince Mukarram Jah the tit-ular eighth Nizam ofHyderabad and his youngerbrother Muffakham Jah, had

joined hands with the Indiangovernment in the legal battleagainst the Pakistan govern-ment over around 35 millionpounds lying with NatWestBank plc here.

In his judgment handeddown at the Royal Courts ofJustice in London, JusticeMarcus Smith ruled that the"Nizam VII was beneficiallyentitled to the Fund and thoseclaiming in right of Nizam VIIthe Princes and India are enti-tled to have the sum paid outto their order".

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

AP Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy will meetPrime Minister NarendraModi in New Delhi onOctober 5. The CM is expect-ed to take up pending bifurca-tion-related issues concerningAP with the PM.

Interestingly, Jagan is meet-ing a day after his Telanganacounterpart K ChandrasekharRao is meeting Modi onOctober 4. Jagan is expected tourge Modi again on grantingspecial category status to AP,as promised by the Centre atthe time of bifurcation of uni-fied Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

Besides, Jagan is likely toseek special financial assis-tance to AP to bridge revenue-deficit and enhance share toAP in central grants. He is alsolikely to seek Centre's help inearly completion of Polavaramirrigation project acrossGodavari river and funds forconstruction of capital city.

Jagan to meetModi on Oct 5

DD officialsuspended fornot telecastingPM speechCHENNAI: Indian publicbroadcaster Prasar Bharati hassuspended R. Vasumathi,Assistant Director(Programme) of Doordarshanallegedly for not allowing livetelecast of PM Narendra Modi'sspeech at the Singapore-IndiaHackathon 2019 on DDPodhigai on September 30.

The Singapore-IndiaHackathon 2019 prize distrib-ution function was held atIITM here on Monday. Thebroadcaster is contemplatingdisciplinary proceedingsagainst Vasumathi of the Tamilchannel. While the order datedOctober 1 issued by CEO SashiShekhar Vempati does notstate the reason for Vasumathi'ssuspension, it is learnt that thedisciplinary action is beingtaken against her for not givinginstructions for live telecast ofModi's speech at the Singapore-India Hackathon event on DDPodhigai.

PM proposes‘EinsteinChallenge'NEW DELHI: In a tribute toMahatma Gandhi on his 150thbirth anniversary, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi haspenned an op-ed piece in TheNew York Times, callingGandhi as the "best teacher"and proposed an "EinsteinChallenge".

Enumerating his govern-ment's work in the field of san-itation, eliminating povertyand renewable energy, Modiinvited thinkers, entrepreneursand tech leaders to be at theforefront of spreadingGandhi's ideas through inno-vation, as part of the "EinsteinChallenge". We know AlbertEinstein's famous words onGandhi: "Generations to comewill scarce believe that such aone as this ever in flesh andblood walked upon this earth."

The banned outfitreleased a press note inthe name of its AOBSZCsecretary Ganesh

l Bars make a killing

Men wearing masks rob Lalithaa Jewellery

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated October 02, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANACTODAY

Month & Paksham:Ashwini& Sukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Panchami : 10:11 am

Nakshatram: Anuradha : 12:10 pm

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 01:33 pm – 03:02 pm

Yamagandam: 06:10 am – 07:38 am

Varjyam: 05:49 pm - 07:38 pm

Gulika: 09:07 am - 10:36 pm

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 03:28 am - 05:05 am

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:41 am - 12:28 pm

VIJAYAWADAWEATHERForecast: Isolated ThunderstormsTemp: 32/25Humidity: 83%Sunrise: 06.06Sunset: 06.04

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2019

CAPSULE

Six SIs placed under VRVIJAYAWADA: Kurnool DistrictSuperintendent of PoliceFakeerappa placed six sub-inspectors of police underVacancy Reserve on Wednesday.According to reports, the SIs,who were attached to variouspolice stations in Kurnooldistrict, went to watch thebenefit show of Chiranjeevi-starrer 'Sye Raa NarasimhaReddy' without informing thehigher authorities onWednesday. The SP was tookthe action against the SIs for notfollowing the rules. The SI whofaced the ire of the SP wereidentified as Srikanth Reddy,Jagadishwar Reddy, Hariprasad,Venkata Subbaiah, PriyatamReddy and Ashok.

Utkal Samaj holdsblood donation campVISAKHAPATNAM: A blooddonation camp was organized inits premises at Dasapalla Hills byUtkal Sanskrutika Samaj apremier socio culturalorganization to mark the 150thbirth anniversary of the father ofthe nation Mahatma Gandhi incollaboration with Life ShareBlood Bank Visakhapatnam.President of the Samaj J KNayak exhorted the membersand volunteers to donate blood.Secretary Bimal Mahantacoordinated the event. Fifty twounits of blood were collected.Among others Bijay Mohaptraand Biraj Dash donated.

Blood donation camporganised at INS DegaVISAKHAPATNAM: A Blooddonation camp was organised atINS Dega as part of the Navy DayCelebrations at Visakhapatnam.Surg Cmde Shankar Narayan,Commanding Officer INHSKalyani inaugurated the campwhich had an overwhelmingvolunteer response from navalpersonnel. 83 units of blood werecollected during the event. Thedonated blood was handed overto NTR Trust Blood Bank,Visakhapatnam which wasassociated with the conduct ofthe camp.Speaking on theoccasion, Cmde Shankar Narayanstressed the need to buildawareness about voluntary blooddonation and highlighted thateach unit of blood can beseparated into its componentsthereby multiplying the numberof lives saved.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy greeting the son of former minister Killi Kruparani at the reception in Visakhapatnamon Wednesday

CM GGREETS NNEWLYWEDS

region 02

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

"In the 21st century, the prin-ciples of Mahatma Gandhiremain as essential as theywere in his time and offer solu-tions to several problems theworld faces particularly in aworld where terrorism, radical-isation, extremism and mind-less hate are dividing nations,"said noted Gandhian Scholarand GITAM Deemed to beUniversity Chancellor Prof KRamakrishna Rao here onWednesday.

He participated in MahatmaGandhi 150 birth anniversarycelebrations organised byGITAM School of GandhianStudies at GandhinagarCampus at GITAM.

While addressing the gath-ering Prof Ramakrishna Raoobserved that the principle of‘ahimsa’ is very relevant intoday's world, which is expe-riencing violence in the formof terrorism and other con-flicts. He said that ‘ahimsa’constitutes the core value ofIndian civilization and it hasplayed a vital role in the evo-lution of Indian culture andphilosophy. It directs peo-ple 's behaviour towardspeaceful conflict resolution,he added. Prof Rao pointedthat Gandhian perspective ofnon-violent human transfor-mation has been slowly, but

steadily gaining attention inmany parts of the world.

GITAM President MSribhrath said MahatmaGandhi remains a shiningbeacon of hope for millions ofpeople across the world whoseeks a life of equality, digni-ty, inclusion and empower-ment. He mentioned thatGandhi strived to lead thecountry not just for politicalindependence, but to a betterIndia and a society free of

caste, religious, economic andeven gender prejudices. Heobserved that the violentbehaviour in social media isleading to emotional issues,which are considered as moredangerous than a physicalwar. He exhorted the harmsposed by unmonitored newmedium of communicationwhich exposes the people toa gradual breakdown of socialdestruction of our tradition-al value systems.

GITAM Vice-ChancellorProf K Sivaramakrishna saidthat Gandhi believed thatadherence to his thoughtsand execution of his propos-als would create a new soci-ety free from the life-destroy-ing ugliness of violence,exploitation, poverty, unem-ployment, and ecologicalimbalance. Gandhi was a rolemodel, who fought simultane-ously on social, moral, polit-ical, cultural, economic and

ecological fronts, he added.Gandhi Smriti Former

Director Dr Savitha Singhsaid Gandhiji's principles ofliberty, dignity and equalitywere not limited by spaceand times. They have univer-sal applicability and timelessvalue. She said that Gandhiconsidered non-violence to bea philosophy, a principle andan experience based on whichit is possible to build a bettersociety.

Gandhi remains a beacon of hope for millions

(Left) Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, divisional railway manager, paying floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the railway station in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday (right) GVMC Commissioner Dr G Srijana and officials pay floral tributes to Gandhi

CRPF recountsMahatma Gandhi'ssacrificePNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The 234 battalion of CentralReserve Police Force(CRPF) celebrated the150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi here onWednesday counting thesacrifice, dedication andpatriotism of the Father ofthe Nation. The CRPF per-sonnel carried out a clean-liness drive for a fortnightwith a great enthusiasm.

CRPF (234 battalion)commandant RSBalapurkar spoke about theimportance of cleanlinesson the Gandhi Jayanti. SRMeena, DeputyCommandant, Dr SaiSindu, medical officer, sub-ordinate officers and 150jawans participated.

Single-use plastic wasbanned in the camppremises. Moreover, varioustobacco products were alsoprohibited.

Jawans took a pledge tofollow the instructionsgiven as part of the fort-night cleanliness pro-gramme.

Magazine dedicated to Gandhi releasedPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Gandhi Centre and Ba-BapuSeva Sangham jointly organisedsesquicentennial (150) birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi and Golden JubileeCelebration of Ba-Bapu SevaSangham at Ba-Bapu Bhavan,Dwarakanagar on Wednedsay.

Dr ShireenRehman,President of ChaitanyaSravanthi and Dr SA Rehman,former MLA and president ofTDP urban unit were the chiefguests. A Hemalatha, presidentof Pragathi Charitable Trust wasthe guest of honor, Professor KVRamana, former vice-chancel-lor, Andhra University and hon-orary president, Gandhi Centrepresided over the function.

Former Vice-Chancellor ofAcharya NagarujnunaUniversity and president ofGandhi Centre Prof VBalamohandas presented wel-come address on behalf ofGandhi Centre, P Antarvedi,retired principal and president,Ba-Bapu Seva Sangham wel-comed the gathering. Dr BS

Sastry also spoke. Hemalathainaugurated block printing unitat Ba-Bapu Bhavan.

Dr ShireenRehman men-tioned that government takingover retail liquor was a good ini-tiative and hoped it would bringpositive change in the society.

Dr Rehman shared his expe-rience over construction ofBhimili road and mentioned asmall initiative would be a bigsuccess in future. He appreciat-ed Dr Shireen Rahman's servicefor society who motivatedeverybody to make Vizag abetter place.

Grandhalaya Sarvaswam -amonthly magazine of Octoberissue dedicated to Gandhi whichwas released by ChintakindiVenkata Gandhi, a retired geo-physicist and who was born onOctober 2, 1956 .

The other participants wereY Ramani, Y Appala Reddy, ChLavanya Ratna, B SrinivasReddy Gandhi of Sevadal.

Prizes and Certificates werepresented to the winners whoparticipated in panel discussionon the theme `peacekeeping.'

BHARAT SHARMAn VISAKHAPATNAM

Batting all-rounder SenuranMuthusamy on Wednesdayrealised his dream of playinginternational cricket for SouthAfrica and he could not behappier that his debut is againstthe country of his origin: India.

Though his family moved toSouth Africa from Tamil Nadugenerations ago, the 25-year-old from Durban is no strangerto India, having toured herewith South Africa A last year.

He has been born andbrought up in South Africa, butsays they are like "any otherSouth Indian family" backhome. "Our roots are fromChennai. I have still got fami-ly in Nagapattinam (about 300km from Chennai). Many gen-erations have passed through,but the Indian connect is verymuch there and our culture isvery much Indian," Muthusamysaid ahead of the first Test.

"My parents were ecstaticwhen they found out about myselection (for South Africa) andmy debut tour against Indiamakes it even more special."

Talking about his Indianlineage, Muthusamy said: "I doyoga back home in Durbanwhich has the largest Indian

population in South Africa. Wevisit temples regularly andsome of my family even speaksTamil. Unfortunately I don'tbut I am slowly starting to learnthe language."

With Keshav Maharaj,another South Africa cricketerof Indian origin, and DanePiedt certain to feature in theeleven as the specialist spin-ners, left-arm spinnerMuthusamy was not sure about

his selection. However, the dryconditions here forced SouthAfrica to rethink their plansand they included Muthusamyas the third specialist spinner,who considers himself more ofa batsman.

He has scored 3403 runs infirst-class cricket, averaging32.72 besides 129 wickets to hisname at 28.65.

Tour of India with the A sideand stint at an academy in

Bangalore has prepared him forthe grind in sub-continentalconditions.

"You really got to deal withthe heat. There is more pres-sure on the spinners here towin the game and it is aboutbeing consistent. It is the otherway around back home. Wecome into play only in thefourth innings," he said.

"I have learnt a lot with thebat as well. Adjusting to the

wickets in India where thebounce is a bit lower. You gotto deal with reverse swing a lotmore. I am sure I can learn lotsmore during my time here,"added Muthusamy, whobelieves his biggest strength ishis wicket-taking ability.

One would expect that hewould name a South African oran Indian cricketer as his rolemodel but Muthusamy hasmost respect reserved for thetwo famed Sri Lankans -- left-arm spinner Rangana Herathand the great KumarSangakkara.

"I have really admiredHerath and Sangakkara grow-ing up. Sangakkara for just theway he went about his batting,his cricket, his life off the field.He is someone I have alwayslooked up to.

"I look up to others too likeShakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali,Bishan Bedi but those two Ihave enjoyed watching themost," he said.

The ability to take wicketsand control run-rate at thesame time has been the reasonfor his success in domesticcricket and he wants to emu-late that for South Africa.

"Another thing I would liketo do is play more T20 crick-et," he added.

Spectators waving the national flag during the India- South Africa cricket first Test at the Dr YSR-ADCA Cricket Stadium inVisakhapatnam on Wednesday (right) Captain Virat Kohli and others watching the match -PPhotos: Tirupathirao

Indian-origin South African cricketermakes his dream Test debut

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

To ensure availability of afford-able houses for the denizens, theVisakhapatnam MetropolitanRegion Development Authority(VMRDA) is looking out forsuitable land pockets, bit awayfrom the city, for housing pro-jects or layouts.

With the change of power inthe state government, theVMRDA renewed its focus onaffordable housing projects. TheVMRDA last developed a hous-ing project, namely Haritha,about a decade ago. After that, theVMRDA's projects were mostlylimited to layouts and mixed-usedevelopment projects.

The litigation-free nature ofthe VMRDA housing/layoutprojects make them hotcakesamong the prospective buyers.

The VMRDA has nearly 26acres prime land pocket inYendada near Madhurawadaand it issued an expression of

interest in 2018 to develop a high-end township. However, now theVMRDA wants to develop ahousing project/layouts some-what away from the city to makethem affordable to the public.

This is due to the sharpincrease in the land prices in thecity limits in the last one decade.The VMRDA may zero in onland pockets on the north-eastside of the city in the first phase,considering the growth potentialand projected growth trajectory.

According to VMRDAMetropolitan Commissioner PKoteswara Rao, the VMRDA''sprimary responsibilities includepreparation of a master plan,outlining a strategy frameworkfor the future, including hous-ing strategies, creation of pub-lic infrastructure and serviceplans, among others. "The devel-opment of social infrastructureand others would follow the firstphase of development," saidKoteswara Rao.

‘It's ‘reverse'developmentin State’PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The YSRCP government is areverse development govern-ment, TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu tweetedon Wednesday.

He said power cuts werebeing imposed only due to theinefficiency of the YSJaganmohan Reddy's govern-ment. The situation has arisendue to cancellation of PPAs dueto lack of experience, he added.

He said that thermal poweris not a viable option. It is notenvironment-friendly either.Solar and wind energies havecome only as alternatives tothermal power. But, YSJaganmohan Reddy has notcared for all these facts, he men-tioned in the tweet.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Special court for trial of offencesunder prevention of sexualharassment of children(POSCO) court was onWednesday inaugurated by theprincipal district judge BSBhanumathi at the VMRDAcomplex here.

AV Parthasarathy , metro-politan sessions judge has beengiven full additional charge ofthe special court. The specialcourt dealing exclusively withPOSCO cases was set up onthe directions of SupremeCourt and the Vizag courtwas inaugurated as part of1070 courts throughout thecountry. As on day around 310cases are pending in two dis-trict courts in the city.President of VisakhapatnamBar Association GM Reddy,special public prosecutorPOSCO cases M Venugopal,president of Forum of LegalProfessionals KuppiliMuralidhar and large numberof police officers were presentat the court.

Meanwhile, joint collector-2MV Suryakala exhorted theprisoners of the central prison tolead a normal life with honestyafter their release from prison.She was speaking at meetingorganised at Central Jail onWednesday on the occasion ofprisoners welfare day to mark

Gandhi jayanti .Secretary of District Legal

Services Authority S DamodarRao spoke on the schemes for

welfare of the prisoners. Oneprisoner Ramu was released ongood conduct by the govern-ment , he said. Prison adalat washeld by members of DLSA com-prising chief metropolitan mag-istrate P Bhaskar Rao and mem-bers T Nagabhushanam and SHemalatha. Six prisoners werereleased on the occasion duringthe adalat. Superintendt of cen-tral prison N Rahul spoke on theoccasion.

VMRDA to now focus onaffordable housing projects

An eventful cleanliness fortnight marks Oct 2nd

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

To commemorate the 150th birthanniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,the Father of the Nation, WaltairRailway Division observed'Swachhta Hi Seva Pakhwada'across its entire network fromSeptember 11 to October 2. On

the concluding day, a mural artexhibition, which was organisedin front of the Vizag city railwaystation depicting life events of theMahamta Gandhi, was praise-worthy. A selfie point zone in thebackdrop of Dolphin Nose on theBeach Road was also inaugurat-ed at Gate-2. DRM Chetan Kumar

displayed the prestigious shieldand Certificate-National Tourismaward for best tourist-friendlyrailway station in Indian Railwaysto Visakhapatnam railway station.

During the Swachchta Hi SevaPakhwada, tree plantation alongrailway track, in railway colonies,station premises was organised.

Concentrating on the segregationof plastic waste, station premises,colonies, railway establishmentslike Diesel Loco Shed, ElectricLoco Shed, Coaching Complex,Offices, Sub divisional units etcwere cleaned up and awarenessprogrammes were held. To makeSwachta Hi Seva initiative, a

grand success, intensive awarenesscampaign were organised usingsocial media, Nukkad Natak,audio/video clips to motivate andinvolve passengers, students, fam-ilies, pensioners, SHGs and otherstake holders to also participate inthe various activities of the"Swachhta-Hi-Sewa Pakhwada".

POSCO special court opens in city

Lawyers hail governmentfor new courtsPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Visakhapatnam city advocateshailed the decision of the stategovernment to set up eight spe-cial courts in various districts ofAndhra Pradesh includingVisakhapatnam, East and WestGodavari for providing a speedytrial for offences under POCSOAct (Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences Act 2012).

As per the GovernmentOrder MS No 121, inchargearrangements for district andsessions judges has been madeby the AP High Court for theeight newly sanctioned specialcourts in the cadre of districtjudge in the districts of

Chittoor, East Godavari,Guntur, Krishna, SPS Nellore,Prakasam, Visakhapatnam andWest Godavari for the speedytrial of offences under thePOCSO Act 2012. AdvocateAbdul Raqueeb, a child rightsactivist from the city and for-mer member of Juvenile JusticeBoard, AP, said, this was a wel-come move by the SupremeCourt of India which wasimplemented by the govern-ment by starting these specialfast-track courts where thenumber of pending cases aremore than 100. It will ensurespeedy justice for the child vic-tims under Pocso Act, headded.

Printed and Published by B Krishna Prasad on Behalf of CMYK Printech Limited. Printed at Jagati Publications Limited, Sakshi Press, Door No. 5-625, Vadlamudi Road, Atmakuru Village, Mangalagiri Mandal, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh.Published at Door No. 40-4-11, Flat No.501, Sujatha Citadel, Jasti Venkataratnam Street, Behind DV Manor Hotel, Vijayawada, Krishna District, AP. Resident Editor B Krishna Prasad RNI title Code no. APENG03628. Phone No. 0866-2479001.

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VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2019 vijayawada 03

CAPSULE

Rs 30 cr to promoteVedic studies TIRUMALA: The TTD hasallocated Rs 30 crore towardspromotion of Vedic studies asa part of its basic slogan ofthe protection and propagationof Hindu Sanatana Dharma,said Project Officer of SriVenkateswara Higher VedicStudies Dr A VibhishanaSharma. Addressing a pressconference at the MediaCentre in Tirumala onWednesday, Sharma said theTTD has been paying aremuneration of Rs 19,000and Rs 18,000 respectively forthe welfare of Ghanapathis,Kramapathis, who are presentin the country. Apart fromthese schemes,Kuamaradhyapaka scheme,Veda Vidwat Sadassu, VedaPathashala are also underVedic studies promotionalactivities by TTD, he added.Under Agama programme alsothey are providing renownedVedic scholars Rs 3,200 permonth. These scholars willrender Vedaparayanam onevery pournami in the templesof their respective places, hemaintained.

BNI opens shop in cityVIJAYAWADA: The RegionalOffice of the Business NetworkInternational (BNI) wasinaugurated in the city onWednesday. Speaking on theoccasion, BNI ExecutiveDirector JH Desai said BNI willprovide advice and suggestionsto businessmen in the city.They are huge businessopportunities in the city andBNI regional office would besupportive in addressingissues related to growth ofbusinesses. They said a fitnesscentre was also established toenable good health of the BNImembers which gives tips ondiet and good health. He saidthat BNI Global was spread in74 countries and has about2.65 lakh members. Under itsVijayawada office, BNI has ninechapters with 350 members,he added.

It wouldindeed be a

moment to rejoicefor the Congress,

which is onits last legs

in Telangana, if,against odds, it man-

ages to retain the HuzurnagarAssembly seat, where by-elec-tion would be held on October21. A victory for the Congressin Huzurnagar now would bemore than a face-saving devel-opment, given the tumultuousperiod the grand old party isgoing through. It may not beresurrection of the party perse; yet, it would open a win-dow of hope for the partywhich prides on having beenin a crucial position to grantstatehood for Telangana.

Like in many places acrossthe country, Congress is facingdecimation in Telangana, fol-

lowing knock-out punches itreceived from the rulingTelangana Rashtra Samithi.The Congress suffered two bigblows in the 2014 and 2019elections. Most of its key lead-ers, including MLAs, haveshifted their loyalties to TRS.Despite getting a breatherfrom the three victories theparty registered in the LokSabha elections this year, theCongress is uneasy inHuzurnagar in erstwhileNalgonda district, though it

has been a bastion of theparty for two decades.

The Congress' winningspree in this district began inthe 1999 Assembly electionswhen the party bagged 9 seatsout of 12. Interestingly, thepresent stalwarts of districtpolitics N. Uttam KumarReddy and KomatireddyVenkata Reddy were electedfor the first time in that elec-tion. Both of them grew asleaders under the wings of DrYS Rajasekhara Reddy.

The by-election was neces-sitated by the resignation ofUttam Kumar Reddy, follow-ing his election to the LokSabha. His wife, Padmavathi,is now being fielded as theCongress nominee fromHuzurnagar. That is why thisby-election has become crucial

for the Congress as it is relat-ed to the prestige of bothCongress and TPCC presidentUttamkumar Reddy.

The Congress does not havea smooth road ahead as TRShas excelled in election man-agement going by its trackrecord. Right from the forma-tion of the new state, TRS hasbeen pursuing its goal of dec-imating Congress and TeluguDesam Party in Telangana.Having been humiliated polit-ically at the hands of YSRajasekhara Reddy (Congress)and N.ChandrababuNaidu(TDP), TRS president KChandrasekhar Rao hadvowed to dismantle the polit-ical edifices of Congress andTDP in Telangana. He suc-ceeded in his efforts to largeextent and wreaked politicalvengeance.

TRS seems to be readying

itself to finish the parties' ves-tigial parts by means of a stel-lar outcome in its favour in theHuzurnagar bypolls.

What issues may come inhandy for major parties inHuzurnagar by-election?What is the possible plan ofCongress to get an edge inthe bypolls in the absence ofa 'united opposition'? Is thedivided opposition a trumpcard for ruling TRS? Howcan the ruling party con-vince the electorate in theface of its alleged failure tokeep electoral promises?There can be no concreteanswers to these questions asthe main players inHuzurnagar themselves donot have any clarity on var-ious issues.

The TRS is hoping that adivided opposition will pavethe way for its victory. The

Congress High Command isclosely watching the situa-tion as the outcome of thebypolls may alter the party'scourse!

TRS leadership is ready totake any kind of extreme stepto ensure vic tor y atHuzurnagar as the outcomehere could affect the entiregovernment and its progress.Telugu Desam Party is alsocontesting the bypolls. Thistoken presence of TDPwould suggest that the partydoes exist at some places inTelangana.

The present scenario inbypolls can be compared tothat of the PathapatnamAssembly seat of Srikakulamdistrict of erstwhile AP twodecades ago during the regimeof Chandrababu. The thenMLA of TDP KalamataMohan Rao was disqualified

by the Election Commissionfor campaigning in the nameof religion in those days.Lakshmi Parvathi, widow ofNTR, contested in that bypolls.TDP headed by Chandrababumade great efforts to defeather, but in vain.

Congress strongly believesthat a similar situation mayemerge in Huzurnagar, fol-lowing TRS' determinationto crush every opponentpolitically. The Left parties,with considerable vote bankin Nalgonda district, wouldbe a deciding factor in thebypolls. Janasena too couldplay a significant role.

All eyes are on former IAFpilot and TPCC presidentUttam Kumar Reddy; for, theywant to know whether hewould land safely on his hometurf or crash-land, allowingTRS's spirit to soar high!

M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist

PINPOINT

Like in many places across the country,Congress is facing decimation inTelangana, following knock-outpunches it received from the rulingTelangana Rashtra Samithi. TheCongress suffered two big blows in the2014 and 2019 elections

WILL HUZURNAGAR RESURRECT CONGRESS?

SEELAM AROZI n VIJAYAWADA

World's leading agriculturecompany Syngenta has set upthe Centre of Excellence fornew products testing, productsprofiling and new products'development at Bhimadolenear Eluru in West Godavaridistrict.

Located on a sprawling 38-acre site, the facility houses aSyngenta Training Academy,Seed Care Institute andSyngenta Foundation India cen-tres. Eight scientists of the com-pany will conduct studies inseed care, product developmentand testing in association withexperts at the local horticultureand agriculture universities inthe vicinity of the facility.

Erick Fyrwald, CEO ofSyngenta, said the centre wasset up near Eluru as it lies inthe heart of rice-growingregion perennially fed by thesystem of three rivers.

The Centre of Excellence isthe first-of-its-kind in India

and serve the needs of farmersin South Indian states ofAndhra Pradesh, Telangana,Karnataka, Kerala and TamilNadu. Three more such centresof excellence learning will beset up to help farmers in north-ern, western and eastern partsof India. Frywald saidSyngenta's products will helpfarmers get 40% more yieldsthan they achieve in naturalfarming method.

He said the company is pri-marily focusing on crops such

as rice, sugar cane, cotton andchilli. Asked to comment onhow Syngenta's productswould serve the cause of eco-logical balance, he said thecompany would take everycare to ensure that bio-diver-sity is maintained.

"We are a business that helpshumanity face its toughestchallenge - how to feed a ris-ing population and sustain-ably," said Fyrwald, while high-lighting Syngenta's contribu-tions in helping to reduce the

amount of pesticides used perunit of food by more than 90%.

Frywald said Syngenta hasestablished a large network ofcrop protection and seeds fieldresearch stations, sophisticat-ed R&D facilities and labora-tories and seeds productionsites across India.

Syngenta's R&D centre comes up near EluruThe Centre ofExcellence willserve the needs offarmers in AndhraPradesh, Telangana,Karnataka, Keralaand Tamil Nadu.Three more suchcentres ofexcellence learningwill be set up tohelp farmers innorthern, westernand eastern partsof India

SURYA DESARAJUn AMARAVATI

Mahatma Gandhi's imprintsacross Andhra Pradesh aremany - his numerous visits tothe State left an indelible markand inspired a generation toplunge into the Indian freedomstruggle and fight the Britishduring the 1920s and 1930s.

Gandhi vigorously touredcoastal Andhra andRayalaseema regions manytimes over the years as part ofhis varied agitations against theBritish, be it the Non-Cooperation Movement, theCivil Disobedience Movementor the Khaddar (khadi) Yatra.

Vijayawada, the bustlingcommercial city on the banksof River Krishna, though, helda special place for Gandhi. "Itwas at the Congress WorkingCommittee meeting inVijayawada in 1921 thatGandhi's leadership (of thefreedom movement) wasaccepted," former Chairman ofAndhra Pradesh OfficialLanguage CommissionMandali Buddha Prasadrecalled.

At that session, freedomfighter Pingali Venkaiahdesigned and handed over thetricolour to Mahatma Gandhi,which later became the nation-al flag.

Gandhi visited Vijayawadacity several times between 1919

and 1946. On his first visit onMarch 31, 1919, he addresseda public meeting on Satyagrahaat the historic RammohanLibrary and transformed free-dom fighters like AyyadevaraKaleswara Rao and MutnuriKrishna Rao into Gandhians.

He later visited Vijayawada,then known as Bezawada, in1920, 1921, 1929, 1933, 1937and 1946. The place where theCongress Committee meet washeld in 1921 was later namedas Gandhinagar in the heart ofVijayawada.

In commemoration of hismultiple visits to Vijayawada,

the hill in the One Town areahas been named after him anda Gandhi sthupa was erected.The hill is now a famous touristattraction in the city and alsohouses a planetarium, the firstin this region.

"No other leader toured ourregion (Krishna district) asvigorously and extensively asthe Mahatma. He visited vil-lages deep in the Diviseemaregion, which had no roadsworth the name. He came inboat and waded throughshrubby paths and spread thesignificance of khadi as therewere many weavers' families in

the region," Mandali BuddhaPrasad said.

The Mandali family hadclose affinity with Gandhi,who visited it in Avanigadda. Inmemory of the Mahatma, for-mer minister Mandali VenkataKrishna Rao established theGandhi Kshetram inAvanigadda to propagate theGandhian philosophy andideals.

The National College inMachilipatnam - then known asMasulipatnam - played host toGandhi on two occasions. Hismemorial on the college campushas an inscription of Gandhi's

observations as a visitor."I have passed two quiet

and what shall always remainwith me sacred days on thesacred grounds on this greateducational institution. As anIndian, I feel proud of it," theMahatma wrote about the firstNational College in the coun-try, after his two-day stay inApril 1921.

"It always makes us proudthat the Mahatma visited ourinstitution. It's a glorious col-lege though over the years itlost its sheen with the advent of

corporate colleges," NationalCollege alumnus JandhyalaUmanadh remarked.

Umanadh's parents workedas lecturers in the college andhis family has deep attachmentwith it.

Another landmark institu-tion in this part of AndhraPradesh to have Gandhi'simprint is the "SaaraswataNiketanam", a library atVetapalem in Prakasam dis-trict, which completed its cen-tenary last year.

Started on Vijaya Dasamiday in October 1918 by enthu-siastic youth under the bannerHindu Yuvajana Sangham, thelibrary could not run for longand faced closure.

But, a philanthropist and lit-erature-lover Utukuru VenkataSubbraya Shesthi took it uponhim and not only donatedmoney and books but alsocontributed to its expansion.

It was during his tour of theregion in April 1929 thatGandhi laid the foundation-stone for the construction of anew building for the library.

Interestingly, Gandhi's walk-ing stick broke during the cer-emony and he handed it overto organisers.

The broken stick nowstands preserved as a relic inthe library. Visitors to thelibrary say they get a "feel" ofthe Mahatma by touching thisstick.

Gandhi’s tours in State left an indelible markl Vijayawada, the bustling

commercial city on thebanks of River Krishna,though, held a special placefor Gandhi. "It was at theCongress WorkingCommittee meeting inVijayawada in 1921 thatGandhi's leadership (of thefreedom movement) wasaccepted," formerChairman of AndhraPradesh Official LanguageCommission MandaliBuddha Prasad recalled

l At that session, freedomfighter Pingali Venkaiahdesigned and handed overthe tricolour to MahatmaGandhi, which later becamethe national flag

Mobile clinicsfor pilgrims: CMOPNS n TIRUMALA

Chief Medical Officer of TTDDr S Nageswara Rao said thedepartment has set up mobileclinics to offer services toneedy pilgrims duringBrahmotsavams.

Briefing the media hereon Wednesday, the CMOsaid six dispensaries and sixFirst Aid centers have beenoffering round- the-clockservices in Tirumala apartfrom one Apollo CardiacCentre. "For thisBrahmotsavams, we havedeployed 40 doctors and 90paramedical staff and alsoset up Emergency Cells atBIRRD, SV Medical Collegeand SVIMS. While forGaruda Seva, we have set upMobile Clinics in four cor-ners of the mada streets tocater to the needs of the pil-grims", he added.

Furthermore, he said,among the doctors, who aredeployed for Brahmotsavams,Ortho and Heart Specialistshave also been called for and13 ambulances will be plying24X7 to offer services to pil-grims. The head of medicalwing said Aswini Hospital,which is under renovation,will get ready by the month-end and they will be able toprovide advanced medica-tion to the pilgrims as well tothe locals, he said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for EndowmentsVellampalli Srinivas said thatChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy has created more thanone lakh jobs within fourmonths.

He inaugurated the WardSecretariats at Baptistpalem,Durgapuram and ThotavariStreet in the city on Wednesday.

In a veiled reference to TDPchief N Chandrababu Naidu,he said people, who claim tohave 40 years of political expe-rience could not do what ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy had done in fourmonths.

The earlier governments andleaders had tried to shy awayfrom the welfare of people, he

said and added, "We have takenadministration to the doorstepof the people. We are with thepeople. We are working for thepeople. Leaders like NChandrababu Naidu, who didnot care for people, had van-ished during the elections."

The Minister ruled out cor-ruption in the recruitment ofVillage Secretariat employees.

MLA Malladi Vishnu saidthat Navaratnalu, which are thekey for the welfare of the peo-ple, will be implemented per-fectly through the Village/WardSecretariats. To avoid corrup-tion and to implement welfareschemes in a transparent man-ner, the Chief Minister hasbrought in Volunteers andVillage/Ward Secretariat sys-tems, he added.

Vellampalli opens 3 Ward Secretariats

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Anti-plastic awareness rally takenout on the occasion of the 150thbirth anniversary of MahatmaGandhi on Wednesday evokedan overwhelming response in thecity. The participants picked

plastic covers all along the courseof the rally from TummallapalliKalakhetram to the IndiraGandhi Municipal Corporation(IGMC) Stadium.

The rally was taken out as apart of the 'quit-plastic'.District Collector MD Imtiyaz

Ahmed and Commissioner ofVMC V Prasanna Venkateshled the rally. Students, seniorcitizens and members of differ-ent NGOs participated in therally in a big way.

Chief Secretary LVSubramanyam administered the

pledge to the participants.Mahatma Gandhi had calledfor the protection of environ-ment even in those days. Heappealed to the people to avoidsingle-use plastic covers and fol-low Mahatma Gandhi in protect-ing the environment.

RTC MD givesaway jute bagsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The citizens should take apledge against the use of plas-tic to pay a real tribute toMahatma Gandhi, APSRTCMD Krishna Babu has said.

Krishna Babu distributedgunny and jute bags to the peo-ple at a Rythu Bazaar in the cityas a part of the anti-plastic cam-paign on Wednesday on theoccasion of the 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi.

He said the approach ofMahatma Gandhi towardsclean environment had reflect-ed in the Swachh Bharat, a con-cept introduced by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.Swachh Abhiyan is meant foravoiding use of plastic and toprotect the environment fromthe dangers of plastic, he said.

PNS n TIRUAPATI

Krishnadevaraya Educationaland Cultural Association(KECA), a non-profit charitableassociation, assisting deservingmeritorious students, hostedthe Golden Jubilee celebrationsat Amara Raja Auditorium hereon Wednesday.

Chief guest GrandhiMallikarjuna Rao, founderChairman of GMR Group,graced the occasion. GMuniratnam, General Secretary,Rashtriya Seva Samithi, JayadevGalla, MP, Guntur, and BiyyapuMadhusudhan Reddy, MLA,Srikalahasti and others werepresent.

The day-long celebrationsincluded souvenir release, felic-itation of founders and executivecommittee, messages from theguests, cultural programmesand inspirational messages forstudents and distribution ofscholarships to meritorious stu-

dents. KrishnadevarayaEducational and CulturalAssociation over the years havehelped several meritorious stu-dents from rural background forquality education. Many stu-dents benefitted from scholar-ships and are leading comfort-able lives in the country andabroad.

Speaking on the occasion, DrRamachandra N Galla, trustee,Rajanna Trust, Principal Donorand President KECA, said,"Since1969, KECA has beencoming up with innovative waysto ensure that education reach-es meritorious students fromrural backgrounds and alsomake them industry-ready pro-fessionals via myriad skill devel-opment programmes. As we cel-ebrate the completion of 50years of the trust, I am happy tohighlight the success of ourvarious support programmes,devised to benefit needy stu-dents.”

KECA helping meritoriousyouth from rural areas

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh Employees JACChairman B Venkateswarlu con-gratulated Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy for creatingthe Ward and Village Secretariatsjobs to address the basic needsof the people in the State.

Addressing the media here onWednesday at a programmeorganised at Revenue Bhavan,Venkateswarulu praised theChief Minister for providingemployment to lakhs of unem-ployed youths in the State tomark the 150th birth anniversaryof Mahatma Gandhi.

He congratulated the newly-joined Ward and VillageSecretariat employees and saidthat Grama Swaraj was thedream of Gandhiji, which cametrue on his 150th anniversaryunder the able governance ofthe Chief Minister. He said thatwith decentralisation, the new

employment force wouldaddress the issues more quick-ly with transparency. He saidthat the officials should guidethe Ward and VillageSecretariats employees toenable them to do their jobproperly without any difficul-ties.

Amaravati Employees JACChairman P Hanumantha Rao,treasurer VV Muralikrishna,secretary B Krishna Kumar andvice-chairman B Keshava Naiduwere among those present.

Employees’ JAChails CM over jobs

Andhra Pradesh Employees JACmembers addressing the media inVijayawada on Wednesday

Overwhelming response to anti-plastic rally

Anti-plastic awareness rally being taken out to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in Vijayawada on Wednesday. Chief Secretary LV Subramanyam,along with, VMC Commissioner Prasanna Venkatesh and Krishna District Collector administering the pledge to the participants

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2019 telangana 04

TRS NRI UK president Anil Kurmachalam and his team accorded a warmwelcome to Telangana Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and his wife,who are in London as a part of their official visit. Vice- president Naveen Reddy,Pocharam Surender Reddy, Satya, Ravi Retineni, Venkata Narender, RC Rao andothers participated in the programme

WARM WWELCOME FFOR PPOCHARAM IIN UUK

CAPSULE

Villager fined forremoving saplingsMEDAK: Chilukoti Raji Reddy, avillager of Appanapalli grampanchayat in Dubbaka mandal ofSiddipet district, was fined Rs19,000 by the village secretary forremoving saplings. The villagesecretary, Vishnuvardhan, issuedthe notice to Raji Reddy anddirected him to pay within 30days, as provided for in the 30-day comprehensive plan for ruraldevelopment. Reddy was chargedwith the offence of removing 40saplings planted in connectionwith the plantation drive. Theaccused paid the fine topanchayat on Tuesday.

Panchayat Raj AEcommits suicide JAGITYAL: Panchayat Rajdepartment assistant engineercommitted suicide atVenkatraopeta in Medipallimandal of the district on Tuesday.She was identified as assistantengineer Sandhya. Reasons fortaking the extreme step could notbe ascertained. On a tip-off,police rushed to the spot and gotan inquest done. The body wasshifted to the governmenthospital for post-mortem. Thecase is under investigation.

Officials told to strive for villages'developmentKARIMNAGAR: Medical andHealth Minister Eetela Rajenderon Tuesday exhorted the mandalofficials of Huzurabad to take upthe cleanliness drive under thirtydays plan with concertedapproach. The ministerparticipated in the MandalParishad general body meetingof Huzurabad on Tuesday.Speaking on the occasion, theminister said cleanliness invillages would curb viral feversand seasonal diseases. Theminister asserted that theHuzurabad hospital would bedeveloped on par with the MGMHospital of Warangal. He calledupon the village representativesto shun politics and strive forthe development of the villages.

Errabelli imposesfine on shopkeeper KHAMMAM: Minister forPanchayat Raj Errabelli DayakarRao imposed a fine of Rs 5,000on a shopkeeper for throwinggarbage on the road. ErrabelliDayakar Rao, along with MinisterPuvvada Ajay Kumar and MPNama Nageshwar Rao, werepassing through Gubbagurthyvillage of on their way to Enkooras a part of the Khammamdistrict tour. The minister stoppedthe car when he noticed garbagelying on the road in front of ashop in Gubbagurthy village.Errabelli asked shop owner whythe garbage was laid on the wayand imposed a fine of Rs 5,000.He warned the shopkeeper thatsevere action would be taken ifthe cleanliness is not maintained.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The NITI Aayog has rankedTelangana State 18 in terms ofprimary education andobserved that the State is lag-ging behind in the quality ofprimary education.

Telangana ranks 18th in therankings announced by NitiAayog for States based on vari-ous criteria. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman of Niti Aayog,Amitabh Kant, CEO, andReinare, Secretary of SchoolEducation, released the list onMonday.

Telangana State ranks thirdfrom below. It scored 49.78 inLearning Outcomes, 60.98 inAccess Outcome and 20.49 forInfrastructure and 29.96 forEquity Outcome.

Kerala is in the forefront of thelist of significant States, whileUttar Pradesh ranks last. Theneighbouring state of Andhra

Pradesh was ranked fourth. TheTelangana government andauthorities have to wake up andtake measures to develop prima-ry education in the State.

The State ranked numberthree in single-teacher schoolscategory and figured at the bot-

tom of the list in outcomes per-formance and also at the bot-tom in imparting training toteachers. It showed three percent improvement in providingamenities and lagged behind incomputer education.

It figured at the 19th position

in catering to education needsof out-of-school children. Italso failed in teacher recruit-ment. While the number of stu-dents attending primary schoolsshowed a declination, thosejoining high schools from upperprimary schools increased.

Primary edu: NITI Aayoggives 18th rank to TS

n Kerala is in theforefront of the list tes,while Uttar Pradeshranks last

n The neighbouring StateAndhra Pradesh wasranked fourth

n The Telanganagovernment andauthorities shouldwake up from slumberand take measures todevelop primaryeducation in the State

Cong thanks TJS for supportingits nominee in Huzurnagar bypollPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Pradesh CongressCommittee (TPCC) treasurerGudur Narayana Reddythanked the Telangana JanaSamithi (TJS) for extending itssupport to the Congress in theHuzurnagar by-elections.

Gudur Narayana Reddy,along with other Congressleaders, conducted negotia-tions with TJS President ProfM Kodandaram with the lat-ter agreeing to support theCongress' candidatePadmavathi Reddy in thebypoll, which is slated forOctober 21.

Later, speaking to mediapersons on Tuesday, GudurNarayana Reddy said that theTelangana State has been fac-ing severe agriculture, finan-cial and health crisis. In thissituation, by-elections forHuzurnagar seat could makea huge impact not only on thepresent government, but alsoon the overall political sce-nario.

While the TRS Governmentwas trying to downplay thecrisis, people of Huzurnagarcould send a strong message toChief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao withtheir votes in favour ofCongress party. Therefore, thesupport of TJS to Congressparty at this juncture was cru-cial for the entire TelanganaState as it strengthens thevoice of opposition, he said.

Gudur Narayana Reddy saidthat the Congress was strongin Huzurnagar and with TJSjoining hands its victory isimminent. He said althoughHuzurnagar by-elections werebeing fought in a constituen-cy, but it would change theentire political course inTelangana.

"KCR has tried to ransackdemocratic structure byengineering defections inOpposit ion par t ies .However, the victory ofCongress in Huzurnagarwould revive the democracyand re-establish the impor-tance of opposit ion inTelangana.

"I 'm thankful to ProfKodandaram and his team ofoffice bearers for turningthe by-elections into a fightbetween people of Telanganawith an arrogant, negligent

and dictatorial government,"he said.

He hoped that the TJS sup-port to the Congress would act

as an impetus in the process ofrevival, survival and strength-ening of democracy inTelangana State.

Padmavathi Reddy, Cong nominee M Kodandaram, TJS President

TJS pledges itssupport to CongressPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS)President Prof Kodandaramon Wednesday pledged theTJS support to Congress inthe Huzurnagar bypoll.

Addressing the media atthe TJS office here onWednesday, he said that theparty would expose the anti-people's policies of the gov-ernment, charging the gov-ernment with looting thenatural resources to meet thevested interests of some.

He vented his ire at the

government t for illegallyarresting the sarpanches. Hecharged that the Cabinethas embarked on a single-point agenda: work for TRSsuccess in Huzurnagar.

The CPI extending itssupport to the TRS is a his-toric blunder, he felt.Congress leader GudurNarayana Reddy offeredsweet to Prof Kodandaramfor extending the TJS sup-port to the Congress. Theby-election to Huzurnagarconstituency is slated forOct 21.

n Gudur Narayana Reddy, alongwith other Congress leaders,conducted negotiations withTJS President Prof MKodandaram with the latteragreeing to support theCongress' candidatePadmavathi Reddy in thebypoll, which is slated forOctober 21

n Gudur Narayana Reddy saidthat the Telangana State hasbeen facing severe agriculture,financial and health crisis. Inthis situation, by-elections forHuzurnagar seat could make ahuge impact not only on thepresent government, but alsoon the overall political scenario

n While the TRSGovernment wastrying to downplay thecrisis, people ofHuzurnagar couldsend a strongmessage to ChiefMinister KChandrashekhar Raowith their votes infavour of Congressparty

n Therefore, the supportof TJS to Congress atthis juncture wascrucial for the entireTelangana State as itstrengthens the voiceof opposition, he said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

At the request of Women andChild Welfare MinisterSatyavati Rathode, ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao on Wednesday released Rs83 crore towards payment ofwages to Anganwadi teachersand helpers before Dasara fes-tival. The finance departmentissued a GO for the purpose.

Generally, wages are paid toAnganwadi staff towards theend of the month.

On Tuesday, leaders ofAnganwadi teachers and Ayahscalled on Satyavati Rathodeand urged her to request theCM to get the salaries releasedin advance to enable them tocelebrate Dasara. The ministertook the Anganwadi employ-ees' problems to the notice ofthe CM, who agreed.

Satyavati Rathode recalledhow the CM has beenresponding positively toresolve the problems ofAnganwadi workers. Shepointed out that the TRS gov-ernment hiked the wages ofAnganwadi workers twice,which is unprecedented inthe country.

In an indirect reference toerstwhile TDP regime headedby Chandrababu Naidu, shepointed out how that regimegot Anganwadi workers, whohad staged a massive protest,trampled upon by mountedpolice. In sharp contrast, she

said that the TRS governmentwill hold the Anganwadi work-ers close to its chest. Within 24hours of placing the request,the government acted withalacrity and released salaries,she said calling the TRS gov-ernment as prof-women gov-ernment. The incident timeand again proved that it givestop most priority to protectinterests of women.

On Huzurnagar by-election,Satyavati Rathode said thatthe women are strongly withthe TRS and predicted TRSnominee SanampudiSaidireddy winning the seatwith a thumping majority.

Further, she said that thepeople were in no mood tobelieve what the oppositionsays.

Several welfare schems forwomen and child welfaresince a woman's conception

to her girl child's marriageare being implemented bythe TRS government, whichis unique to Telangana, shepointed out.

Further, she elaborated thathouse-site pattas are beinggiven in the name of womenand noted that her governmentenacted many laws forwomen's protection and imple-menting them.

She said that she was at aloss of comprehension on whatright the Congress has to seekvotes.

Anganwadi teachers andAyahs association leadersBhikshapamma thankedSatyavati Rathode for hon-ouring the association requestimmediately. She said that theanganwadi workers and teach-ers will live up to the expecta-tions of the CM in implement-ing the welfare schemes.

Rs 83 cr released towardsAnganwadi staff wages

Salaries paid cahead of Dasara celebrations

PNS n NALGONDA

The Communist partycadre in Suryapet districtexpressed disappointmentover the CPI leadershipmeeting the TRS high com-mand. The Huzurnagar cadrefelt it was a 'strategic lapse bythe party leadership' in tak-ing the decision to join handswith the TRS.

Activists of CPI as well asCPM in the Huzurnagar seg-ment had been resenting anysuch move by their leaders forthe past few days, although the

CPI had not spelled out clearlyits stand on supporting theTRS nominee in the bypoll.

Venkat Ramaiah, a seniorCommunist leader inHuzurnagar segment, said

the CPI's "meek surrender" inthe crucial by-election hadprojected the party in a badlight, adding that the decisionwould cost the Communistparty dearly in the region.

The general sentimentamong Left party workers inSuryapet district was thattheir party must remainfocused on opposition unityon public issues. The rejec-t ion of CPM candidateShekhar Rao's nominationwas also viewed as setbackfor the Communists inHuzurnagar.

CPI tie-up with TRS upsets Left cadre

PV KONDAL RAOn WARANGAL

Communist parties in northand south Telangana districtshave been facing an acuteresource and manpower crunchfor the past few years, which isbeginning to affect the moraleof the remaining cadres even intheir previous strongholds suchas Khammam and Nalgonda.

Though the two Communistparties, CPI and CPM, havecontested the elections as twodifferent political fronts, theirpresence has reduced to negli-gible in the villages. Cadreand trade union activists of theparties could not get motiva-tion and funding from theirparty leadership in the districtsfor some years now. Full-timerson whom the party relied tilldate are unable to garner thesupport of the public on theissues confronted by them

from time to time.The weakening of commu-

nist influence is not restrictedto politics in Telangana statethough, their presence hasreduced in trade union pock-ets such as Singareni CollieriesCompany Limited inTelangana and the industrialareas of Hyderabad and its sub-urbs in the recent years.

The main groups of commu-nists parted ways andembraced two different linesduring the statehood struggleof Telangana. At that time, theCPI supported the separateTelangana state struggle tobecome a part of Telanganastate political JAC. On theother hand, the CPM favoureda Unified Andhra Pradesh stateand it supported theSamaikyandhra movement.Since the Telangana statehoodmovement was a stronger enti-ty, the JACs and political par-

ties supporting that strugglecould mobilise resources fortheir struggles and at that cru-cial point only their fundsmobilisation process suffered aserious setback.

At the same time, the full-time party members of CPIand CPM, who used to moti-vate and guide their cadre,were reduced in number in cer-tain pockets where the partylost its crucial influence, which

led to further erosion of moraleto motivate the support base toundertaking people's strug-gles.

The resource base at thiscrucial juncture was capturedby the statehood struggle ofTelangana which divertedattention from all other popu-lar movements for at least fiveyears till 2014. In the subse-quent years, the communistsmaintained a wait-and-watch

stance in the new state ofTelangana while reacting to theissues confronted by the state.

Later when Telangana move-ment torch-bearers becameleaders in all aspects, includingpolitical leadership, the publictoo were diverted to that groupwhile the communistsremained mute spectators onmany occasions in the subse-quent period.

Ever since, their presenceand participation in publicaffairs has reduced further.The now-weakened commu-nists could no longer attract theworking class in rural parts and

the party bases suffered furtherdents.

Currently, the two commu-nist parties find themselves asa mere reflection of their for-mer image in bastions likeKhammam and Nalgonda.They were compelled to playsecond fiddle to the main par-ties in the successive elections.Even in trade union elections,their presence is unlikely todraw much support in the faceof competition from TRS andthe national ruling party BJP,which have started focusing onentities like RTC and regionslike the Singareni belt.

Although leaders of the twomain communist parties differwith this view, the mandallevel activists and full-timers ofone time strongly suggest thechips are down and their partyhigh command need to dointrospection in order to regainlost ground.

CHIPS ARE DOWN FOR COMMUNIST PARTIESn Resource crunch erodes

influence

n Mandal-level cadre saythe slide is severe,leaders of CPI, CPM feelthings are not so dire

V-P calls for translation of greatliterature into many languagesPNS n HYDERABAD

Vice-President M VenkaiahNaidu has called for translation ofgreat literary works from differ-ent languages into as many lan-guages as possible, Indian as wellas foreign. He said that in a coun-try such as ours, translationswould also play an important rolein promoting national integration.

Addressing a gathering afterreleasing the English translationof epic Telugu novel'Veyipadagalu' written by 'KaviSaamraat' ViswanadhaSatyanarayana in Hyderabad onWednesday, he said such stepswould enable readers across theglobe to not only enjoy good cre-ative literature, but also exposethem to different cultures andways of life.

The Vice-President said thatthere was an urgent need to digi-tise and preserve works in differ-ent literary forms in Indian lan-guages and promote their trans-lations. He said translation of such

works would enable the readersto know about the traditions, cul-ture, customs, values, and ideasof the author and his immediateworld. The Vice-President alsowanted universities and collegesto set up separate departments topromote translations. He alsourged all states to make mothertongue mandatory up to prima-ry education.

Talking about the genius ofViswanadha Satyanarayana,Naidu said that the legendarywriter had articulated issuessuch as education, family, soci-

ety, economy, politics, culture,poverty and such other pressingproblems in his writings withremarkable foresight. Naidu saidthat the writer saw a crucial dif-ference between reading and

education, adding that educationmust empower individuals andinstill good conduct, disciplineand calibre in students.

Saying that good books suchas Veyipadagalu transpose thereader into a new world andenrich his or her understandingof the many facets of life as nar-rated by the author, Naidu saidthat the great works have thepower to leave an everlastingimpression on the minds of thereaders. The critically acclaimednovel was earlier translated intoHindi by former PM PVNarsaimha Rao as 'Sahasra Phan'.

The Vice-President also pre-sented Viswanadha SahityaAward to Dr C Mrunalini forLiterary Criticism and VelchalaKeshava Rao Award to DrVaidehi Sashidhar for BilingualPoetry. The chairman ofViswanadha Sahitya Peetam DrVelchala Kondal Rao, chairmanof Shanta Biotechnics Dr KIVaraprasada Reddy and otherswere present on the occasion.

TelanganaJagruthi laudedfor popularisingBathukamma festPNS n HYDERABAD

Minister KTR stated thatTelangana Jagruthi played a keyrole in taking the Bathukammafestival to an international level.He appreciated TelanganaJagruthi founder and presidentKalvakuntla Kavitha for herefforts in bringing worldwidefame for Telangana's state fes-tival Bathukamma.

Minister KTR mentionedthat when the earlier govern-ment had imposed a ban oncelebrating Bathukamma atTank Bund, it was TelanganaJagruthi which appealed to theHigh Court and brought ordersto celebrate Bathukamma. Healso stated that TelanganaJagruthi played a significantrole during the Telanganamovement.

KTR said that the state gov-ernment is distributingBathukamma sarees to womenin Telangana and the pro-gramme is aimed at increasingthe income of weavers.

n Calls for steps todigitise and preserveworks in differentliterary forms in Indianlanguages

n All states should makemother tonguemandatory up toprimary education

n Releases Englishtranslation of epicTelugu novel'Veyipadagalu'

n Also presentsViswanadha SahityaAward & VelchalaKeshava Rao Award

n Venkat Ramaiah, asenior Communistleader in Huzurnagarsegment, said the CPI's"meek surrender" in thecrucial by-election hadprojected the party in abad light, adding thatthe decision would costthe Communist partydearly in the region

n The general sentimentamong Left party workers inSuryapet district was thattheir party must remainfocused on opposition unityon public issues

n The rejection of CPMcandidate Shekhar Rao'snomination was also viewedas setback for theCommunists in Huzurnagar

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2019 nation 05

SHORT READS

Cattle smuggler heldafter exchange of firein UP's MathuraMATHURA: A cattle smugglerwas held after an exchange offire here, an official said onWednesday. The incident tookplace on Tuesday night, theofficer added. "A countrymadepistol, three live cartridges and amotorbike were recovered fromhim," SP (Rural) Aditya KumarShukla said. He said on a tip-offfrom a reliable source, inter-statecattle smuggler Robin, a residentof Palwal district in Haryana,was nabbed. He was admitted toa hospital after suffered a bulletinjury on the leg. He was tryingto escape with his associate afterbeing chased by police followingthe exchange of fire, Shukla said,adding that his associate Mohd.Tarif managed to flee under thecover of darkness. Tarif is aresident of Mahamadka village inHathin of Palwal. Wanted in 14cases, Robin carried a reward ofRs 25,000, the SP said.

NEW DELHI: The Congressneeds to take the "Gandhianapproach" of public service andget 5,000 workers in everydistrict dedicated to the causeof helping people to get itsmojo back, technocrat-turned-politician Sam Pitroda said onWednesday. He said allCongress leaders must spendsix months studying the fatherof the nation on his 150th birthanniversary to be ideologicallyequipped. Pitroda, a long-timeadviser of the Gandhi familyand head of the IndianOverseas Congress, said thecountry is facing a "majorconflict" for the idea of India.The Congress needs to keeptalking about this ideologicalbattle and take its message tothe people, the 77-year-old saidover phone from Chicago. "Weare perhaps not doing enoughof that. We need to educate ouryoung. Need to learn Gandhi.Understand the real history ofIndia and not through soundbites and WhatsApp," he said,adding that all young leaderscoming into the Congress needto read about the father of thenation. He said the challengefor the party is to rebuild itscadre and have about 5,000Congress workers in everydistrict. "Everybody wants towork in Delhi, nobody wants towork in the districts, everybodywants a ticket.

Those who don't understand Gandhi talk about NRC: CongPNS n KOLKATA

West Bengal Congress presi-dent Somen Mitra lashed out atthe BJP-led government at theCentre on Wednesday, sayingthose who do not understandthe principles of MahatmaGandhi talk about NRC anddriving out the Muslims fromthe country.

The BJP was quick to retort,saying the Father of the Nationis not the personal property ofthe Congress.

Mitra, who participated in amarch from the SubodhMullick Square to the Gandhistatue at Mayo Road to markthe 150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi, said boththe TMC government at thestate and the BJP-led govern-

ment at the Centre do notunderstand the principles ofMahatma Gandhi.

"Hence, they should stoppretending to respect Gandhiji

and his struggle. Only those(political parties) who do notunderstand Gandhiji talk aboutabout the National Register ofCitizens (NRC), driving out

Muslims and communal dividein the country," Mitra toldreporters.

The West Bengal Congresspresident said, MahatmaGandhi had fought for com-munal harmony throughouthis life but those in power at theCentre and the state are deter-mined to destroy that harmo-ny to serve their political pur-

poses. Reacting to Mitra's state-ment, BJP national secretaryRahul Sinha said, "MahatmaGandhi is the Father of theNation. The Congress shouldstop behaving as if Gandhiji isthe personal property of theparty and the Nehru-Gandhifamily."

Sinha said that sinceIndependence, the Congress

had tried to create the impres-sion as if Gandhiji and theparty were synonymous, butthat is not true.

"We don't need to takelessons on Gandhiji from theCongress," he asserted.

Marches and commemora-tive events marked the 150thbirth anniversary of MahatmaGandhi across the state onWednesday.

Chief Minister MamataBanerjee had earlier in the daysaid, the renovated GandhiBhavan in Beleghata area inthe eastern part of the city,where Mahatma Gandhi hadstayed for over three weeksduring Independence to calmdown rioters, would be inau-gurated as a museum on theoccasion.

Somen Mitra

PNS n LUCKNOW

Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav lashed out atthe BJP on Wednesday say-ing those who neverwalked onM a h a t m aGandhi's path oftruth, non-vio-lence and socialharmony arenow celebratinghis 150th birthanniversary.

Participating in hisparty's programme atGPO park on the occasion ofGandhi Jayanti, he said this isonly a part of the saffronparty's politics to hiding theirwrong deeds.

"The BJP and its people are

miles away from the principlesof Mahatma Gandhi.... Theynever walked on the path oftruth shown by Father of the

Nation. They want to adoptLohia, Bhimrao

Ambedkar andS w a m iVivekananda.The partywhose peoplebelieve in vio-lence are today

c e l e b r a t i n gGandhi's birth

anniversary," Yadavsaid. SP chief spokesper-

son Rajendra Chowdhurysaid, "Gandhi believed in theideology of truth, non-vio-lence and social harmony inthe country, and honour forlabour."

Cong needs Gandhianapproach to get mojoback: Pitroda

PNS n NEW DELHI

India has no extraterritorialambitions and does not wantto "transplant" its ideology onothers, Army Chief Gen BipinRawat has said, asserting thatthe country will fulfil itsregional and global securityobligations as a responsibleemerging power.

In an address to strategicaffairs experts and defencepersonnel in Maldivian capi-tal Male, Rawat also saidinstability in energy-rich WestAsia has the potential to sig-nificantly increase global ten-sions and trigger unrest andthat the tension between theUS and Iran was "worrisome".

Without naming Pakistan,the Army Chief said Indianarmed forces are countering aproxy war in Jammu and

Kashmir on a daily basis andthat India reserves the right toacquire military capabilities tocounter any security threatsemanating from its neigh-bourhood. The Army Chief,who is on a five-day visit toMaldives, held extensive talkswith the country's top defencebrass to expand bilateral mil-itar y cooperation. OnWednesday, Gen Rawat calledon Maldivian PresidentIbrahim Mohamed Solih."Our strategic culture flowsfrom two cardinals — wehave no extraterritorial ambi-tions and no desire to trans-plant our ideology on others,"the Army Chief said.

At the same time, he saidIndia continues to retain itscommitment to strategic inde-pendence and autonomy indecision making as well as

acquiring military capabilitiesto counter the security threatsand challenges emanating inits neighbourhood. "We seekto fulfil our regional and glob-al security obligations, as aresponsible emerging power,"he said. Gen Rawat identified"unending threat of terrorism"as the principal challenge fac-

ing the entire world while call-ing proliferation of weapons ofmass destruction and increas-ing assertion of power overinternational norms as otherkey challenges.

"Instability in West Asiawhich affects energy securityof majority of the nations inthe world is another major

factor. It has the potential toadd significantly to globaltensions and create unrest,"the Army Chief said. GenRawat observed that the glob-al security environment isincreasingly becoming com-plex and uncertain, and thatmany nations are increasing-ly resorting to nationalism.

"I am certain that if we workwith friends, we can mitigatethe hazards to regional peace,"he said. "Even in this uncer-tain security environment,economic interdependence,quest for common resourcesand depth of global engage-ments drive strategic rela-tionships. As protectionismrises, complex global interde-pendencies are likely to

remain," he said.Talking about challenges in

the maritime domain, he saidany disruption of trade routesin the Indian Ocean Regionwill be a major security chal-lenge for both India andMaldives.

"The Indian Ocean Regionis the lifeline to both ournations," he said. Gen Rawatsaid India's strategic vision hasbeen in harmony with its tra-ditional character as a peace-ful and responsible nation."Our vision of being a sover-eign, socialist, secular anddemocratic republic isenshrined in the preamble ofour Constitution. We havealways played a constructiverole in international relations.

"India's national securityaim is to ensure a conduciveinternal and external environ-ment for unhindered eco-nomic progress and socio-

political development so thatwe can secure all our citizensand assume our rightful placein the emerging world order,"he said.

The West Bengal Congress president said,Mahatma Gandhi had fought forcommunal harmony throughout his lifebut those in power at the Centre and thestate are determined to destroy thatharmony to serve their political purposes

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath blamed theopposition parties that ruledthe state from 1977 to 2017 onWednesday for their "zerocontribution" in checkingencephalitis, which took thelives of over 50 thousand chil-dren in this 40-year period.

"The encephalitis patientswere first seen (in UttarPradesh) in 1977. No initiativewas taken by any governmentto check its spread to 38 dis-tricts of eastern UP, includingVIP constituency Raebareli.Between 1977 and 2017,50,000 children aged betweenone and 15 years died due toit and the opposition, whichruled the state then, had zerocontribution to check it," thechief minister said in hisaddress in the state Assembly.

Among those died, 70 to 90per cent were Dalits orbelonged to minority commu-nities, he said, adding that heraked up the issue when hefirst became an MP in 1998.

Citing figures, the chiefminister said while in 2016,there were 2,900 cases ofAcute Encephalitis Syndrome(AES) accounting for 491

deaths, there were 3,911 AEScases and 641 deaths in 2017.

Till August 30 in 2019, 938AES cases were detected and35 deaths reported due to it,

he said, adding that his gov-ernment was trying to controlthe spread of the diseasethrough team work and focuson cleanliness.

Claiming that unlike insome neighbouring states,there was no spread of anyvector-borne disease in UttarPradesh, Adityanath said,"There is no spread of dengue,malaria, filariasis, encephali-tis, chikungunya. This is dueto our focus on the SwacchBharat campaign, on whichthe state has got an award forits attempts." He said on the150th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi, BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) MLAs par-ticipated in an anti-plasticcampaign in different wards ofthe state capital here.

"I urge the MLAs to launcha similar campaign in theirrespective constituencies alsoand ensure the success of theSwachh Bharat campaign.Those MLAs, whose con-stituencies turn out to be thebest, can be awarded also," thechief minister said.

Yogi blames oppn parties for ‘zerocontribution' to check encephalitis

MAHA POLLS

BJP nominee Lodha declaresassets worth Rs 441 crorePNS n MUMBAI

Mumbai BJP president MangalPrabhat Lodha, who is contest-ing the upcoming MaharashtraAssembly elections fromMalabar Hill seat here, hasdeclared assets worth over Rs441 crore in his poll affidavit.

The 63-year-old MLA, whois seeking a sixth consecutiveterm from the posh MalabarHill Assembly seat in southMumbai, filed his nomina-tion papers here on Tuesday.

As per the affidavit submit-ted by Lodha along with thenomination form, he and hiswife have movable assets worthover Rs 252 crore and immov-able assets of about Rs 189crore. The MLA also owns aJaguar costing Rs 14 lakh andhis other investments are inbonds and shares.

He also has liabilities worthabout Rs 283 crore.

Lodha, whose family is intoreal estate business, has fiveresidential flats in southMumbai and a plot inRajasthan.

Both Lodha and his wifealso own a house in theMalabar Hill area.

Besides, his wife also ownsanother flat and a commercialproperty in south Mumbai.

As per the affidavit, Lodhahas five pending criminal casesagainst him.

The Maharashtra Assemblyelections will be held onOctober 21 and counting ofvotes will take place onOctober 24.

Police seekpermission toattach MLA’spropertyPNS n MUZAFFARNAGAR

Police have sought permis-sion from a court in UttarPradesh's Shamli district toinitiate property attachmentproceedings against abscond-ing SP MLA Nahid Hasan,who was booked for misbe-having with an officer anddriving a vehicle withoutvalid documents, officialssaid on Wednesday.

The court has fixedOctober 5 as the date forhearing on the police's appli-cation, they said.

According toSuperintendent of Police AjayKumar, the Kairana MLAwas facing a non-bailablewarrant and had not yet sur-rendered in the court.

On September 9, the offi-cer had stopped Hasan's SUVfor checking but he alleged-ly misbehaved with him.

Later, it was found that theMLA's vehicle was not regis-tered, Kumar said.

MUMBAI: Former Maharashtrachief minister Narayan Rane onWednesday said his son NiteshRane will contest the upcomingstate Assembly polls fromKankavli seat on BJP'sticket. He claimed hisson's name willfigure in thesecond list of theBJP. Nitesh Ranewon the 2014Assembly pollsfrom Kankavli seatin Sindhudurgdistrict on Congress'ticket by defeating the then BJPMLA Pramod Jathar.The ruling BJP on Tuesdaydeclared its first list of 125candidates for the October 21state polls, including names ofChief Minister DevendraFadnavis and state unit

president Chandrakant Patil, buthigh-profile figures EknathKhadse and Vindo Tawdemissing from it. "Nitesh's namewill figure in the second list andhe will contest from Kankavli,"

Narayan Rane said. Onspeculations of

merging hisMaharashtraSwabhiman Partywith the BJP, he said,"It is likely to happen

in a week's time." Theformer state chief

minister was earlier in theShiv Sena, which he quit in2005 and joined the Congress.He remained with the Congresstill 2017 following which heformed his own political outfitand became an ally of the rulingBJP. He is currently the RSmember on BJP's ticket.

Nitesh will contest Maha pollson BJP ticket: Narayan Rane

Khattar takes part in Swachhtacampaign in GurugramPNS n GURGAON

Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar onWednesday took part in a'Swachhta' campaign here andasked people to take a pledgeto keep the country clean.

Paying tributes to MahatmaGandhi on his 150th birthanniversary, Khattar said, "Hetaught us the best way toknow oneself is to immerseoneself in the service of oth-ers".

"Let us pledge to follow hisfootsteps on the path to avibrant India...To realise the

dreams of the Mahatma, wewill have to take a pledge tokeep our surroundings andour country clean in the samemanner we like to keep our

homes clean," he said. He saidit was Mahatma Gandhi'sdream to see countrymenjoin hands to keep surround-ings and the country clean.On the occasion, Khattar alsopicked up a broom to pro-mote the cause of cleanliness.He was accompanied amongothers by his Minister RaoNarbir Singh, sitting MLAfrom Badshahpur, who hasbeen denied ticket for theOctober 21 assembly pollsfrom the seat. Khattar alsopaid tributes to former PrimeMinister Lal Bahadur Shastrion his birth anniversary.

Lodha,whose familyis into realestatebusiness,has fiveresidentialflats in southMumbai anda plot inRajasthan

‘BJP miles away fromGandhi's principles yetcelebrating his birth anniv’

Khattar said it wasMahatma Gandhi'sdream to seecountrymen joinhands to keepsurroundings andthe country clean

PNS n VADODARA,

A nine-feet-long pythonstrayed into the backyard of ahouse in Gujarat's Vadodaradistrict where it gobbled up achubby cat, but later coughedit out. The reptile was rescuedby a forest guard with the helpa local NGO.

The python ventured intothe backyard of a house locat-ed in Vejalpur village onTuesday. It chanced upon a catthere and tried to swallow it,forest guard Vijay Parmar said.

Some locals spotted thehuge snake and alerted the for-est department followingwhich Parmar and a volunteerfrom local NGO Wildlife

Rescue Trust rushed to thespot.

"The python, which washiding behind a heap of wood,tried to swallow the cat, butthen found it too big and spatit out," Parmar said.

After hectic efforts for aboutan hour, the reptile was res-cued and later released into aforest, he added.

9-ft-long python gobbles upcat in Guj village, rescued

3 killed in wallcollapse due toheavy rainsPNS n AMETHI

A 25-year-old woman andher two minor sons died aftera portion of a wall at their res-idence in Mohanganj area col-lapsed on Wednesday follow-ing heavy rains, police said.

Madhuri, her two sonsAryan (6) and Arush (4), andone other were injured in theincident, Tiloi SDM SunilTrivedi said. All the injuredpersons were rushed to a com-munity health centre, whereMadhuri and her two sonswere declared brought dead bydoctors, he added.

Between 1977 and 2017, 50,000 children agedbetween one and 15 years died due to it and theopposition, which ruled the state then, had zero

contribution to check it— YOGI ADITYANATH, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister

INDIA HAS NO EXTRATERRITORIAL AMBITION, SAYS GEN RAWAT Gen Rawat identified ‘unending threatof terrorism’ as the principal challengefacing the entire world while callingproliferation of weapons of massdestruction and increasing assertionof power over international norms asother key challenges

‘WILL FULFIL REGIONAL AND GLOBAL SECURITY OBLIGATIONS’

The Chinese have either deployed“intimidation” or their famedcheque book diplomacy to “win”over other nations towards theirown purposes. Both as an undis-

puted military and an economic powerhouse,the options for Beijing vary from flexing itsmilitary muscle (as done in the South ChinaSeas) or by ensnaring nations into econom-ic bondage by pouring billions of dollars. Takethe example of the China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC), where a nation-sustaininginvestment of up to $60 billion has been madeto Pakistan, whose economy is cash-starvedtoday. Often, there is a hybrid model inbetween that entails the overlapping of thecommercial-military footprint through strate-gic investments by China.

The attempt to stitch together Chinesepresence along the crucial sea routes, pursuantto the “String of Pearls” policy, is an ostensi-bly commercial initiative, one that will sub-sequently evolve into the invariable presenceof Chinese military’s boots on civilian portssuch as Djibouti. Wherever physical distancestill challenges the Chinese “supply chain abil-ities” to maintain a viable military presence,it can dominate the narrative by out-fundingother donor nations or organisations andchampion these distant lands, such as in theAfrican hinterland or Latin America.

By punting in these distant lands, notonly does Beijing sustain captive sources forraw materials and a ready market for itsChinese end-products but also guaranteesinvaluable political and diplomatic influence.The importance of having such beholdennations can be gauged from the fact that inthe high tables of international diplomacy,like the United Nations, each country’s votecounts as “one.” This theoretically makes thevote of a country like Nauru, that has a pop-ulation of less than 15,000 people, matteras much as that of China with a populationof 1.5 billion.

One global theatre that was spared theChinese radar of urgency was the islandregion of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesiain the Pacific Ocean. The sheer distance, frag-mentation and “non-threatening” idyll ofthese small island nations ensured an isolat-ed tropical paradise that was bereft of anymajor geo-political or geo-strategic postur-ing till now. In an increasingly interdependentand interconnected global waterway of the21st century, three factors have driven a sud-den interest in this region of less than 2.5 mil-lion inhabitants.

First, the growing domestic aspirationswithin these nations. Second, the strategicrelevance of individual nation “vote” in mul-tilateral fora. And third, with increasingreach of the Chinese military-economicmight, these nations offer a breakoutopportunity from the supposed “encir-clement” of China, pitchforking theseisland nations into the competitive calcu-lus of Chinese hegemonic instincts. Eventhese nations are creatively leveraging their

geographical position to“counter-balance” the predom-inant and historical Australiantilt and influence in this regionto extract the maximum atten-tion and benefit of competitivebidding among regional powers.

However, among the fore-most considerations for Chinesediplomacy is also the need to iso-late and “compress” Taiwan inter-nationally by “winning over”those nations that still recogniseits official status. This ongoingChinese concern and project toget nations to switch sides on theTaiwan issue has accelerated inrecent times. A record sevencountries switched sides since2016.

These Pacific island nationshave historically held a pro-Taiwan position and they hadmade a sizeable part of the 25-odd countries that recognised ittill recently. Today the number todo so is a mere 15 countries. Thelatest ones to fall prey to theChinese “buyout” were theSolomon Islands and Kiribati,who were openly assured of“unprecedented developmentopportunities” in order to greasethe deal. The then Prime Ministerof Solomon Islands was candidenough to admit that Taiwan was“completely useless to us”, bothpolitically and economically.

As part of the “switchover”conditions, Kiribati had to severties with Taiwan and re-establishdiplomatic relations with China.

Meanwhile, credible rumoursabound in Kiribati about theChinese largesse in the pipeline,which includes very soft loansand a Boeing 737 to boot. TheTaiwanese are left high and dry,fuming at the obvious play of theChinese cheque-book diploma-cy that brooks no moral, histor-ical or positional consideration.

Traditional dominance offormer colonial powers, likeAustralia, the US, France, NewZealand and Japan in the region,is increasingly diminished as theChinese go about hunting onenation after the other. Beijing’sflush treasury comes handy asdoes the dispatch of an occasion-al bomber flying overhead thesehapless countries.

The Chinese footprint is vis-ible in the under-developed oil-fields of Sudan and as investmentin freight train infrastructure inBolivia. Now the Pacific Islandcountries are its new domain ofattention. All eyes are now in theneighbouring rim of the remain-ing Taiwanese allies in Palau,Tuvalu, Nauru and MarshallIslands to see if they, too, wouldbe enticed or coerced into aban-doning Taipei and joining theChinese “bloc.”

That the Chinese “generos-ity” never comes without stringsattached is something that thesenation states will invariably dis-cover. The Sri Lankan experiencewith Chinese investments todevelop the Hambantota Port

ultimately led to the surrender ofthe same to Chinese authoritiesfor a lease of 99 years. TheChinese bankrolling was also ableto overturn the Filipino bitternessthat had earlier led Manila tolodge a case against China in theInternational Court of Justice andwin the same. Almost immedi-ately, the PhilippinesGovernment incredulouslyembraced the Chinese hand andreneged on its historical relation-ship with the US.

Expectedly, large sums ofChinese investments wereassured and all portents of tradi-tional animosity buried. In reces-sionary times like now, wherecash is the king, the ability ofChina to impress the benefits ofjoining its “bloc” via gargantuancarrots like the “Belt and RoadInitiative” are immense. Thisallows it the freedom to indulgein profligate chequebook diplo-macy that wins it an ever-increas-ing kitty of vassal nations to doits bidding.

Counter-moves like theQuadrilateral meet (QUAD),enjoining the China-warynations like Japan, Australia,India and the US, have yet to gobeyond the conceptual frame-work and discussions as thetransactional dragon ensnares all,anyhow and anywhere.

(The writer, a military veter-an, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands andPuducherry)

With mounting political and societalpressure and given the vulnerabilityof Dalits across the country, the

Supreme Court has recalled its earlier orderdiluting provisions of arrest under theScheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The ver-dict last year had done away with the clauseof immediate arrest of the accused withoutproper investigation and provisioned for bail,both of which were found to be easy to playaround with and intimidate the victims of hate

crimes. Dalit anger has been simmering since and the atrocities against themhave spiralled out of control, an abuse being committed against a ScheduledCaste (SC) member every 15 minutes by some estimates. Last year, the apexcourt had sought to clarify the application process of the law so that it was notsubject to misuse by either the offender or the complainant and was not seenas an automatic and instant disbursal of justice. So it made a judgement call byinsisting that “immediate arrest” be replaced by “arrest only after preliminaryenquiry,” thereby eliminating the “heat of the moment” factor and fixing the cul-pability of the real offender indulging in atrocities against Dalits. But in keepingto legal niceties, it ignored the perception that was created, that the provisionsempowered the accused and weakened the complainant. There were fears thatthe latter would not report atrocities or wrong-doing if the provision of unquali-fied, non-bailable arrest was done away with, encouraging coercive hit-backsduring inquiry. As it is, Dalits find it very difficult to register a simple FIR and withsome time lag implied in last year’s verdict, the probe itself was feared to becompromised badly. As of now, conviction rates in crimes against Dalits andtribals add up to 23.8 per cent and 16.4 per cent compared to the 40.2 per centin general criminal cases. Besides, the court, as it rightly admitted this week,had, under the veneer of fair play, assumed that SC/ST community memberscould cook up false cases, that they could be “a liar or crook.” The judge regret-ted that the umbrella assumption was against “basic human dignity” and couldbear heavy on an exploited people, who are already at the receiving end of uppercaste authoritarianism. To that extent, the court did well to take a holistic viewof sensitivities, one that had been subverted by looking into technicalities.

For the ruling BJP, this comes as a big relief, considering Dalits have beenagitated over the death of Rohith Vemula, the beating of Dalit youths at Una inGujarat, the demolition of the press of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the riots in BhimaKoregaon. In fact, in Maharashtra, Ambedkar’s grandson Prakash Ambedkar hasbeen leading a convincing charge against the current regime and is spearhead-ing a renewed movement for legitimacy. With Assembly elections due in the State,the new verdict could not have come at a better time for the BJP. Consideringthat nearly a fourth of Dalit voters voted for the BJP back in 2014, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi believes in consolidating that vote pie and turn it into an assetbase with his welfarist schemes. But after Vemula’s suicide and the attacks inMaharashtra, it is the new-age Dalit voter who is questioning his/her choice andis at the forefront of new assertive agitations. But a movement is still scatteredand not coalesced enough and BJP would like to stem that hereon.

There is little doubt that India is in the mid-dle of an industrial slump with statisticsshowing that both growth and jobs are

declining. The fact that the Government hadto reverse its decision to ban single-use plas-tics because it did not want to cause moreindustrial disruption is founded on pragmatism.However, this should not stop it or the soci-ety’s efforts to use less plastic. In fact, a grad-ual phasing out of its production, re-introduc-tion of alternatives and a sectoral approachcould be the executive’s view, considering its

widespread use in pharmaceuticals and hospitals for example, but we shouldall work towards eliminating single-use plastics from our lives. We do not havethe luxury to look at excuses provided by a Government decision. It is impossi-ble to imagine modern society without plastics. Indeed, from toys to cars andeven the carbon-fibre reinforcement that forms the fuselage of modern aircraft,plastics are everywhere. Everywhere means everywhere, as trash piles have beenfound at the bottom of the deepest trenches of the Pacific Ocean and the highsof Himalayan peaks. And single-use plastics like glasses, straws, plates, bot-tles, cutlery and bags are entirely within the domain of individual behaviour andlifestyle change. Unfortunately, while India generates about 9.4 million tonnes ofplastic waste a year, it recycles only about 60 per cent of it. Studies by The EnergyResources Institute (TERI) on landfills found that 10.96 per cent of the wastewas only plastic and of these, the non-recyclable kind accounted for 9.6 per cent.

We should all start adapting and be mindful about daily life, use bags madeout of jute or even reuse our plastic bags more than once. If we can avoid usinga straw or buying a plastic bottle of water, we would have done our best to clearthe heap. Paper cups and metal cutlery will help as well. One shouldn’t blamethe industry for not providing options because until we ask for alternative prod-ucts and create a demand swell, we will not get them. That said, we should alsoknow if the replacement products turn out to be as damaging or possibly worsethan the plastics they replaced. What we think are “woven paper” bags are actu-ally made from long plastic polymers, wood fibre products, which mostly haveplastic elements in them as well. And because both are not pure plastics, theyactually do not bio-degrade like some modern variants. So our attempts to bealtruistic to the environment should not end up damaging it instead. It is alsoimportant that the plastics industry continues its work towards developing lessenvironmentally damaging products. On this front, the industry has been veryproactive and is moving fast. Laws, too, have been framed. The Plastic WasteManagement Rules, 2018, call for producing industries to collect a fixed per-centage every year. The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, make it crys-tal clear that it is the duty of all — producers, importers and brand owners —to adopt a give-and-take policy where it is their responsibility to ensure that theycollect back as much of the filth as they introduce into the environment. The sameAct also bans plastic bags that are less than 50 microns in thickness. The cruxof the matter is that all such laws have been ineffective due to the sheer lack ofenforcement. So the big change has to come from us as enforcers if we wantto ensure that we leave the next generation a viable ecosystem. To channel GretaThunberg, “How dare we not change?” We can’t imagine a life without plasticand it is unlikely that it will disappear from our lives. But we must reduce ourdependence on it whether the Government orders it or not.

Plastic problems

What is the law?

Sir — It was shocking to learnabout the two Dalit children, whohad to relieve themselves on aroad in Madhya Pradesh becausethey had no toilet at home andwere beaten to death by twoupper caste men. This happenedat a time when the Centre waspreparing to declare India open-defecation free.

It is a fact that the two chil-dren belonged to a poor family,who could not afford getting a toi-let constructed inside their house.The panchayat had apparentlysanctioned a house with a toiletfor the family but the sarpanch,a relative of the accused, had scut-tled the proposal. Then who isreally at fault here? The authori-ties or the children? Is it not theresponsibility of the authorities toensure that the poor have accessto basic facilities?

This incident has also tar-nished India’s reputation. Further,one of the accused reportedlydeclared that he had killed thechildren as in his dreams, god hadcommanded him to kill“demons,” justifying monstrosityin the garb of faith. Urgent stepsmust be taken to educate people

who are falling prey to blind faith.Open defecation is an old habit,especially among those living inrural areas. I recently discoveredthat in Tamil Nadu, even well-offfamilies in villages consider itunhygienic to have a toilet with-in the premises of the house andprefer open grounds for defeca-tion. Clearly, a lot more needs tobe done to explain to the people

the need to change this practice.TK Nandanan

Chennai

Prepare for the worst

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Tame the flood fury” (September1). The wrath of mother nature issuch that nobody, the rich or the

poor, is spared from the horrorsof climate change. That BiharDeputy Chief Minister SushilKumar Modi and his family werestranded and had to be rescued inlifeboats depict just that.

The extended monsoon thisyear has left behind a trail ofdestruction with 1,685 deathsbeing reported by 14 States tillSeptember 30 and hundreds

still missing. Although there is no available

data on the extent of economicdamages, such episodes pose aheavy economic burden for thecountry. Urban planning is in amess, infrastructure is in sham-bles and above all, there is nodearth of governance. If indeed wehave to minimise our losses, wemust start preparing for suchweather events that bring onlydestruction.

AnandVia email

Celebrating Gandhi

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Whither Gandhi? (September2). It is indeed ironical that we arecelebrating Gandhi even as weare busy destroying everything hebelieved in and stood for. It istime for us to reflect on why ourcountry has changed so drastically since Independence.Only by ensuring that Gandhi’sideals come true can we truly cel-ebrate him.

Manisha Via email

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

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

op nionVIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2019

06

Cheque book diplomacy

BHOPINDER SINGH

China’s ability to impress upon nations the benefits of joining its bloc is notunknown. Counter-moves like the Quad need to be strengthened

Those doing politics offalsehood will not understand MahatmaGandhi’s philosophy ofnon-violence.

Congress interim chief—Sonia Gandhi

You can’t be a hero all yourlife. Everyone has to gothrough this transition phasewhere you have to do character roles.

Actor—Sanjay Kapoor

The new era calls for both Indiaand the US to press the refreshbutton of their relationship asthe really important relationshipsare the less transactional ones.

Foreign Minister—S Jaishankar

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O TT H E E D I T O R

Wake up to the disaster before it’s too late

This refers to the editorial, “Tame the flood fury”(September 1). By now it is pretty clear that floodshave become a recurring phenomenon. The present

deluge in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is among the worstin 25 years. Despite rescue efforts, floods have killed140 people. Disasters are caused due to natural factorsthat are beyond our control but human activities can cer-tainly rein in the impact with adoption of better man-agement practices. Interestingly, the current floods wereattributed to the planets by a political leader, remindingus of the old ways of looking at natural calamities aspunishment by God and negating both science andhuman intervention and greed.

Stark images of cities under knee-deep waters warnus of the scale of the disaster. Water stagnating with-out receding and inundated homes are examples of thecollapse of drainage systems. The blockage of naturaldrainage channels, caused by accumulation of construc-tion cement and other impermeable materials, soil andsand, is silting up river delta and catchment areas.

Denuded forests and rampant mining and quarrying meanthe top soil is losing holding capacity. In the past, weused to receive “light to moderate” rains for a numberof days. Nowadays, we get “heavy to very heavy, evenextremely heavy” rainfall for fewer days. We cannot affordto be fatalistic or complacent that this, too, shall pass.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

HOWEVER, AMONGTHE FOREMOST

CONSIDERATIONSFOR CHINESE

DIPLOMACY IS THENEED TO ISOLATEAND ‘COMPRESS’

TAIWANINTERNATIONALLY

BY ‘WINNING OVER’THOSE NATIONS

THAT STILLRECOGNISE ITS

OFFICIAL STATUS. ARECORD SEVEN

COUNTRIESSWITCHED SIDES

SINCE 2016

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

SC recall

The BJP and its people are milesaway from the principles of theMahatma…The party, whosepeople believe in violence, arecelebrating his birth anniversary.

Samajwadi Party chief—Akhilesh Yadav

The Government's U-turn on the ban of single-use plasticsmay be temporary but we should all ease up on its use

By rescinding the provision that diluted clauses of theSC/ST Act, the top court has prioritised societal sensitivities

The storm ahead

THE BIHAR GOVERNMENT ISSUED AN ALERT ASKINGTHE PEOPLE TO BE ON GUARD. BUT WAS IT ON

GUARD ITSELF? WE OWE THE PEOPLE AN APOLOGY.—UNION MINISTER

GIRIRAJ SINGH

IS WATER IN SOME PARTS OF PATNA THE ONLYPROBLEM WE HAVE? WHAT HAPPENED IN AMERICA?NO ONE IN THE GOVERNMENT IS SITTING IDLE. —BIHAR CHIEF MINISTERNITISH KUMAR

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Hai maujazan ek kulzum-e-khoon, kaash yahi ho.Aata hai abhi dekhiye, kya kya merey aage.(A turbulent sea of blood is before me. But seewhat is coming ahead.)

—Mirza Ghalib

Iam in my sunset years (I just crossed 73) andmy remaining time will be spent on educat-ing my fellow Indians (including non-resi-

dent Indians in America — where I am livingat present — who though very good in theirtechnical jobs, are gullible in other respects).

The crux of what I teach is this: There arereally two worlds. One is that of the developed,highly industrialised countries like the US,Europe, Japan, Australia and China and secondis that of the under-developed countries, includ-ing India (which is perhaps the most developedof the underdeveloped nations).

Our national aim must be to transform Indiafrom the second world to the first. In otherwords, from being an under-developed country,we must make it a developed, highly industri-alised one. This is necessary if we wish to abol-ish poverty, unemployment, malnourishment,lack of healthcare and good education and so on.Because only a high-level and widespreadindustry can generate the wealth needed to pro-vide for the welfare of our people and create mil-lions of jobs to wipe out unemployment.

But how is this to be done ? We no doubthad a limited degree of industrialisation after1947 but then the process stalled. And of late oureconomy has tanked; the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) has declined to five per cent,there have been massive retrenchments in theauto, Information Technology (IT) and otherindustries while real estate and power sectors arein the dumps. In fact, it is to divert attention fromthis economic crisis that the Government hasresorted to gimmicks like cow protection,building the Ram temple, Yoga Day, SwachhBharat Abhiyan, abolition of Article 370, HowdyModi in Houston and so on. But economic slow-downs cannot be wished away by such gimmicksand stunts.

One can win elections on the plank ofHindutva (as happened in the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections) but one can’t live off it. One has to eatfood and to get food, one must have a job. Butjobs are getting less (as the National SampleSurvey, a Government of India organisation,admitted recently). Twelve million Indian youthare entering the job market every year but oppor-tunities are drying up (due to manufacturingdecline). Consequently many Indian youths willend up as criminals, beggars, hawkers or will endtheir lives. I submit that the Indian people mustnow make a choice: Either keep living in theirmiserable conditions characterised by poverty,unemployment, malnourishment (the highest inthe world, with every second Indian child mal-nourished, as stated by the Global Hunger Index,UNICEF), farmers’ distress and the consequentunabated suicides, poor healthcare and educa-tion for the masses, discrimination againstminorities, Dalits and so on. Or else, sacrificeabout 10 per cent of the 1,350 million popula-tion in a gigantic, historical people’s revolutionwhich alone can destroy backwardness, the feu-

dal casteist and communal mindsetsand practices among our people. Thishydra-headed monster was obstruct-ing any progress and keeping uschained to poverty and other socialevils.

Many would say I am presenting ahorrible choice between the devil andthe deep sea and a cruel prognostica-tion and augury. Do we really want our135 million men, women and childrento rise up and set off a revolution? I amnot a bloodthirsty person and I wishthis great historical transformationcould take place peacefully. But unfortunately that is not how historyoperates.

Consider the experiences so far.The transformation of feudal Europeof the 16th century to a modernEurope of the 19th century was notaccomplished peacefully. It witnessedwars, revolutions, chaos, massacres,social churning, intellectual fermentand so on. It was only after goingthrough that fire that modern societyemerged in Europe.

Similarly, after the ChineseRevolution was completed in 1949, theChinese authorities made an investiga-tion about how many people werekilled in this churning (which lasted fora quarter of a century, from 1924 to1949). It was found that about 10 percent of the then 550 million Chinesepeople, which is about 50 million, werekilled. Similarly, about four of the then40 million Vietnamese people werekilled in the liberation war in Vietnam,which lasted from 1945 to 1975. So it

can be assumed that about 10 per centof the people are killed in a revolution.For, after all, what is a historical rev-olution? It is a period when the oldsociety and its values are being uproot-ed and torn apart but new values havenot yet replaced them. Everything is inferment, in chaos.

Can this be a peaceful affair? Notat all. The reactionary elements in theold order will fiercely oppose anychange, as happened in France in theperiod prior to the 1789 Revolutionand even during the one in Vendee in1793. And many of the ordinary peo-ple in society, being conservative bynature, will oppose any fundamentalchange. In India, most people still havecasteist and communal mindsets, andto replace that by modern minds is 10times more difficult than changing thephysical environment.

In India, all our State institutionshave collapsed and become hollow andempty shells. We adopted the parlia-mentary system of democracy butthis has degenerated into caste andcommunal vote banks, as everyoneknows. Casteism and communalismare feudal forces, which must bedestroyed if India is to progress butparliamentary democracy furtherentrenches them. So we have to replaceparliamentary democracy by anothersystem which enables us to rapidlyprogress.

Today, India has two of the threepre-requisites to becoming a modernindustrial giant, like China, namely ahuge pool of technical talent (our IT

engineers are manning Silicon Valley,and many Indians are professors inScience, Maths and EngineeringDepartments in AmericanUniversities), and immense naturalresources. What it lacks is the third pre-requisite — a modern, patriotic polit-ical leadership. Without this, ourtransformation from the second to thefirst world is impossible.

Unfortunately, the political leadersin India today rely either on caste orreligion for winning elections. Takingadvantage of the fact that our societyis still semi-feudal, with rampantcasteism and communalism, theypolarise society further and spreadcaste and religious hatred to get votes.Being mostly corrupt, they have noidea of how to solve our massive eco-nomic problems but are experts inmanipulating caste and communalvotebanks. Obviously such people areunfit to transform India into a mod-ern, highly industrialised country.

It is only modernist, selfless andpatriotic leaders who can solve India’smassive socio-economic problems.Who these movers will be, when willthe revolution which they will leadoccur, what form it will take is impos-sible to predict. But about one thingthere can be no doubt: The next twodecades in our country will be very tur-bulent and bloody. As the great Urdupoet Mirza Ghalib said, “Aata hai abhidekhiye kya kya mere aage. (I wonderwhat lies ahead of me.)”

(The writer is a former judge of theSupreme Court of India)

The worst drag in life is poverty, so Indians must now choose whether they wish tocontinue living in poverty or sacrifice 135 million people for a gigantic revolution

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

Relevance of the Mahatma

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

Reversing the civilisational slide will require ashift towards a need-based economy, whose

cornerstones are just morality and justice

MARKANDEY KATJU

UNFORTUNATELY,THE POLITICAL

LEADERS IN INDIATODAY RELY

EITHER ON CASTEOR RELIGION FOR

WINNINGELECTIONS.

TAKINGADVANTAGE OFTHE FACT THAT

OUR SOCIETY ISSTILL

SEMI-FEUDAL,WITH RAMPANTCASTEISM AND

COMMUNALISM,THEY POLARISE

SOCIETYFURTHER AND

SPREAD CASTEAND RELIGIOUSHATRED TO GET

VOTES. BEINGMOSTLY

CORRUPT, THEYHAVE NO IDEA OF

HOW TO SOLVEOUR MASSIVE

ECONOMICPROBLEMS BUTARE EXPERTS INMANIPULATING

CASTE ANDCOMMUNALVOTEBANKS

Mahatma Gandhi’s message and the way of living havea special relevance in the world today given the direc-tion in which the dominant global civilisation is unfold-

ing and the impact of its economic infrastructure on values.The contemporary dominant global civilisation increasing-

ly owes its character, direction and thrust to market capital-ism. As its name suggests, this latest phase in the evolutionof capitalism derives its surplus for survival and growth fromthe market through sales. The latter is a result of demand, whichsince the days of primeval societies, has been the result of exis-tential human activity and the desire to possess. The processwas very simple to begin with. The issue was survival, whichrequired, in its most basic form, security (the need to live), food,shelter and clothing. Thus, the perception of the need for bet-ter weapons for hunting and warding off attacks by wild ani-mals and other human groups might have led to devising ofsharper stone spearheads.

Satisfaction over their use would have led todemands for more of these, and per-haps, also for even better weapons,leading to their invention and pro-

duction. The search for such and otheritems led to the emergence of technolo-

gies. Jacques Ellul, who uses the words “tech-nique” and “technology” almost synonymously, writes in hisclassic, Technological Society, that the latter “is nothing morethan means and the ensemble of mean.” The technical oper-ation, he adds, “includes every operation carried out in accor-dance with a certain method in order to attain a particular end.It can be as rudimentary as splintering a flint or as complicat-ed as programming an electronic brain. In every case it is themethod which characterises the operation.”

The application of technology on the available resourcesled to the invention and manufacture of products and the emer-gence of services that were felt to be necessary. This, shornof trappings, was the basic process. The growing diversity, com-plexity and sophistication of economic, societal and politicalactivity through centuries and the concomitant evolution of insti-tutions, weltanschauungs and practices through millennia, hasled to the evolution of the primeval barter economy to the pre-sent information technology and financial capital-based mar-ket economy, which as we have seen, derives the surplus forits survival and growth from sales in the market. Market cap-italism does not just respond to demands; it creates thesethrough seductive marketing and sales strategies whose cut-ting edge is advertising, which has emerged as a major high-profile industry.

Advertising seeks to boost sales through multiple strate-gies that, in bare essentials, is tantamount to projecting the pos-session of certain goods and the enjoyment of certain servicesas an end in themselves and the measure of a person’s worth.For example, X is an outstanding person because he/she wearsa certain brand of clothing and a certain make of watch, ownsa certain make of car and, if a woman, wears a certain brandof make-up. People consume not only because they want todo so but to show others that they can afford to do so or aresuperior people who can do so.

The result is competitive and not just conspicuous con-sumption, causing the alienation of those who cannot indulgein it and social tension and violence. The other result is aggra-vation of climate change as the increasing levels of greenhousegas emissions are a result of economic activity to cater to spi-ralling consumer demands. As is increasingly clear, the twoprocesses taken together can mean the extinction of humankind.

Mahatma Gandhi stood for a need-based economy whosecornerstone was morality and justice. The first part of it is encap-sulated in his famous, of-quoted statement, “The world hasenough for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed.” Theubiquitous conspicuous consumption of our time was absentin his, but the statement underlined his strong disapproval ofunnecessary, self-indulgent consumption and was in keepingwith his belief that an economy should be guided by principlesof universal morality. He wrote in The Veins of Wealth (SelectedWorks Vol III), “The real value of acquired wealth depends onthe moral sign attached to it, just, as sternly as that of a math-ematical quantity depends on the algebraical sign attached toit. Any given accumulation of commercial wealth, may be indica-tive, on the one hand, of faithful industries, progressive ener-gies and productive ingenuities; or on the other hand, it maybe indicative of mortal luxury, merciless tyranny, ruinous chi-canery.”

Inequality, to him, was not condemnable per se. He wrotein The Veins of Wealth, “Inequalities of wealth, unjustly estab-lished, have assuredly injured the nation in which they exist dur-ing their establishment; and unjustly directed, injure it yet moreduring their existence. But inequalities of wealth, justly estab-lished, benefit the nation in the course of their establishment;and nobly used, aid it yet more by their existence.”

Mahatma Gandhi was against competition, which led toexploitation and low wages and for cooperation. The objectiveof acquiring wealth was not consumption and self-indulgence.According to him, “The final consummation of all wealth is inthe producing as many as possible full-breathed, bright-eyedand happy-hearted human beings.” (Veins of Wealth).

Here the view of the aim of economic growth is very dif-ferent from what is prevalent. It, however, does provide a counterto the frenetic celebration of consumption latent with disastrousconsequences.

(The writer is Consultant Editor, The Pioneer, and an author)

Indo-Bangladesh relations will geta boost with the visit of our neigh-bouring country’s Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina to India, beginningtoday. This will be the first visit byHasina after the National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) formed theGovernment for the second consec-utive time at the Centre. The visitcomes at a time when the relationsbetween the two neighbours are a bitstrained over the National Register ofCitizens (NRC) in Assam andBangladesh nurturing defence tieswith China. There are concerns thatsuch issues will affect the relationshipbetween the two nations who havehistoric linkages.

Hasina’s visit provides both NewDelhi and Dhaka the opportunity to

dispel any prevailing doubts about thefuture of the relationship and highlightthe importance India gives to itsfriendship with Bangladesh. Indo-Bangladesh relations made significantprogress under Hasina’s decade-longrule that began with her second termas Prime Minister in 2009. At present,except for some minor irritants, thealliance between New Delhi andDhaka is said to be at an all-time highand India considers Bangladesh atrusted friend and partner in theneighbourhood.

After the Uri attacks, ourGovernment used all possible avenuesto try and isolate Pakistan diplomat-ically. As part of that strategy, itrefused to attend the 2016 SAARCsummit in Islamabad and was sup-ported by Bangladesh. Dhaka wasalso the first nation to back NewDelhi’s entry as an observer in theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperationin 2018, a club open only to Muslim-majority countries.

Recently, after the promulgationof Article 370 and the anti-India pro-paganda by Pakistan and radicalgroups, Bangladesh echoed our stance

that Kashmir was our internal matter.Again, on the NRC, an initiative pri-marily undertaken to identify infiltra-tors from Bangladesh into Assam, theHasina government refrained fromindulging in any negative commentsin public.

India and Bangladesh share adeep sense of bonhomie, especiallyat the Governmental level.Nevertheless, rising scepticismamong the people, particularly inBangladesh, cannot be overlooked.It is an area that demands in-depthintrospection as the importance ofpublic opinion in influencingGovernment policies is established.

In Bangladesh, reasons for appre-hensions among the masses includethe pendency of the Teesta Riverwater-sharing agreement since 2011.India refrained from signing it duringformer Prime Minister ManmohanSingh’s visit after West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee objected tothe draft agreed upon by the twocountries. The delay in the signing ofthe agreement substantially hurtIndia’s credibility in the eyes of com-mon Bangladeshis.

Again, India’s initial reluctance intaking a firm stance on Rohingyarefugees, a vital issue for Bangladeshinundated by the influx of refugees,further dented public perception.India being a regional power, expec-tations from it are always high and anyfall from them leads to resentmentamong the people. The most promi-nent and recent case is India’s disjoint-ed response on the NRC, where oneof the arms of the Governmentassured that none would be deport-ed to Bangladesh while anotherrepeatedly expressed its resolve todeport Bangladeshis and referred tomigrants as a security threat. Besides,the venom spewed againstBangladeshis by some political lead-ers close to the ruling dispensation,who equated them to “termites”, hasadded to the people’s apprehensions.

Similarly, people in India havebeen watching Bangladesh’s growingties with China closely, especially indefence cooperation. In particular,Bangladesh’s recent contract toChina for construction of a subma-rine dockyard has raised eyebrows inIndia because the feeling on the

ground is that such contracts alwayshave some strategic consideration.This unease is despite the fact thatduring her July visit to China, SheikhHasina categorically mentioned thather nation’s relationship with Beijingis economic and with New Delhi, itis organic and cannot be measuredby any monetary benefits.

In the backdrop of these nigglingissues, Hasina’s visit signifies the spe-cial relationship the two countriesshare. During her stay, she will bediscussing a wide range of issues ofbilateral, regional and internationalimportance with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

A deepening economic cooper-ation is also an important aspect asHasina will be accompanied by alarge delegation of businessmen. Inaddition, she will participate in theIndia Economic Summit, organisedby the World Economic Forum. Soone hopes that the two neighbourswill put a salve on any wounds beforethey fester.

(The writer is a Senior Fellow at theObserver Research Foundation andviews expressed are personal)

Time to put salve on woundsBangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India comes at a time when the

relations between the two neighbours are a bit strained

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

JOYEETA BHATTACHARJEE

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

NoBroker.comraises $ 50 mn forbusiness expansionNEW DELHI: Realty platformNoBroker.com has raised USD50 million from investors,including Tiger GlobalManagement, for businessexpansion. The company saidin a statement that it has raisedUSD 50 million in Series DFunding. "This brings the totalfunding raised by NoBroker toUSD 121 million," it added. Theround was led by Tiger GlobalManagement and includedparticipation from existinginvestor General Atlantic.NoBroker.com is a tech-basedbrokerage-free real estateplatform that makestransactions seamless andefficient. NoBroker currentlyoperates across six cities:Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune,Chennai, Hyderabad andGurgaon. More than 30 lakhproperties are alreadyregistered on NoBroker andmore than 70 lakh individualshave used its services."This current funding will helpus provide the NoBroker serviceto more customers across thecountry and also accelerate ourdeal closure growth," said AmitKumar, CEO and Co-Founder ofNoBroker.com.

Bank of Barodasigns MoU withIndian Army NEW DELHI: Bank of Baroda(BoB) has signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withIndian Army under which thebank would offer customisedservices along with a host offacilities to account holders.The MoU includes handsomefree personal accidentinsurance cover, free airaccident insurance cover of Rs15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and anoverdraft facility up to threetimes of monthly net salary,the public sector bank said ina statement. The features arealso applicable for pensionersof Indian Army up to the ageof 70 years, it said. Thesecond largest public sectorbank with more than 9,500branches will providecustomised bankingexperience for serving andretired personnel of IndianArmy, it added. The agreementwas signed by Lt Gen HarshaGupta of Indian Army and BoBExecutive Director VikramdityaSingh Khichi, it said.

‘Indian banks fail on climate, human rights policies'PNS n NEW DELHI

Most Indian banks fail on poli-cies of environment andhuman rights and this inactionleaves the Indian banking sec-tor vulnerable to investmentrisks arising due to climateemergencies, according to thefirst edition of Fair FinanceGuide India scorecard.

The scorecard, that analysedenvironmental, social and gov-ernance (ESG) policies, dis-closures and commitments ofvarious banks in India, notedthat Indian banks have policieson financial inclusion and cor-ruption, but are found wanti-ng on social, environmentaland human rights issues intheir investment policies.

Fair Finance Guide India is

a group of civil society organ-isations to create an ecosystemamongst financial sector actorsto recognise the ESG risks intheir investments.

The scorecard is an assess-ment of policy disclosures of asample of eight Indian banks

(public and private) -- StateBank of India, Federal Bank,Punjab National Bank, Bank ofIndia, Indian Overseas Bank,IDFC Bank, HDFC Bank andYes Bank.

The assessment covers tenthemes across ESG domain --

Nature and Climate Change,Labour Rights, Human Rights,Gender Equality, FinancialInclusion and Arms,Transparency andAccountability, Corruption andTax.

As per the Fair FinanceGuide India scorecard, threeout of eight Indian banks havescored high on parameters offinancial inclusion and cor-ruption.

However, seven out of eightbanks scored zero on thethemes of climate change andenvironment. The banks alsoscored poorly on the themes oflabour rights and humanrights.

"Indian banks demonstratetheir leadership on issues offinancial inclusion and tacklingcorruption. However, theirinaction to deal with climateemergency and human rights

issues is very worrying," saidNamit Agarwal, private sectorengagement lead at OxfamIndia.

Agarwal further noted that"this inaction leaves the Indianbanking sector vulnerable toinvestment risks arising due tothe climate emergency. Thesector is also likely to be direct-ly or indirectly linked tohuman rights violations causedby the companies they finance".

As per the report, banks canhave a positive impact on theenvironment and reduce risksof climate change by screen-ing for companies that arecommitted to protecting bio-diversity, reducing theirgreenhouse gas emissions andsupporting a low carbon econ-omy.

Fair Finance Guide India is a group ofcivil society organisations to createan ecosystem amongst financialsector actors to recognise the ESGrisks in their investments

‘Student housing, retirementhomes, new realty drivers’PTI n NEW DELHI

Confident about real estatesector doing well as long asthere are "right developers,right pricing and right unitsize", eminent banker DeepakParekh has said a number ofnew growth drivers are alsoemerging in form of studenthousing, retirement homesand co-living projects.

He also said foreigninvestors have also been invest-ing in a big way in good com-mercial projects, while ware-housing is another segmentwhere they are showing keeninterest.

"Student housing is a verybig growth area and it hastaken off well. Many universi-ties, colleges and educationalinstitutions are now in fact sell-ing their own housing to raisemoney to build more classes,facilities etc," Parekh told PTIin an interview.

"The other growth area rightnow is co-living. People, includ-ing foreign investors, have alsostarted talking about rentalhousing. And many are alsobuilding projects for senior cit-izens, including some beingbuilt by people themselves. Weare funding some of them actu-ally," the chairman of the coun-try's biggest housing financecompany HDFC Ltd said.

Retirement homes are likehostels with all kinds of facil-ities available for senior citi-zens, including medical facil-

ities, and places like Delhi-NCR, Bangalore and Mumbai-Pune region have started see-ing such projects.

According to a recent studyconducted by News Corp andSoftbank-backed realty portalPropTiger, the co-living spacehas emerged as a "real estategoldmine" that remains large-ly untapped and has potentialto become USD 93 billionmarket annually on risingdemand from students andprofessionals.

"This is evident from the factthat the supply by organisedplayers in co-living is current-

ly limited to over one lakh beds.Assuming they earn ?1.44 lakh(USD 2,021) per annum perbed, organised players in thissegment are currently USD206 million," the study said.

The report further said thatthe co-living sector has totaluntapped demand of about46.3 million beds, out of which8.9 million is from studenthousing.

Among the existing players inthe segment are RentMyStay,Rentroomi, SimplyGuest andFlathood. Other players such asNestAway, Stanza Living, Zolo,Placio and CoLive have recent-

ly entered this sector and raisedfunds to spread the business.

On the other hand, the co-working space is also seeinghuge growth.

According to property con-sultant Knight Frank, co-work-ing operators have leased 4million sq ft of office spaceacross eight major cities dur-ing the first half of 2019 tomeet rising demand of suchflexible area from corporatesand startups. This marks agrowth of 42 per cent over H1-2018.

Asked whether foreigninvestors, mostly private equi-ty players, are also keen oninvesting in residential pro-jects, Parekh said, "They aregoing big on commercial pro-jects, malls etc. A large num-ber of them are getting intojoint ventures."

"They are also getting intowarehousing, including forfood, data, commodities etc.Warehousing is a big businessnow," he said.

He said some foreign play-ers are also keen on residentialprojects and they would bekeen to buy parts of a projectif they get good discounts andthis can be of significant ben-efit for developers who haveunsold projects.

Earlier in his annual letter toshareholders, Parekh had saidthe housing market in Indiahas been so far been looked atfrom the lens of the country'syoung demographic profile.

Student housing is a very big growth area and it hastaken off well. Many universities, colleges andeducational institutions are now in fact selling their own

housing to raise money to build more classes, facilities etc—DEEPAK PAREKH, eminent banker

RCEP trade ministers to meet in Bangkok PTI n NEW DELHI

Trade ministers of 16 RCEPcountries, including India andJapan, will hold a crucial meet-ing in Bangkok next week totake stock of the negotiationsthat are in the last phase, anofficial said.

Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal willattend the eighth RCEP(Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership)Ministerial Meeting being heldin Bangkok from 10-12October.

The official said that thiswould probably be the lastministerial-level meeting asonly a few issues like rules oforigin are pending for finali-sation.

The RCEP agreement isbeing negotiated among 10ASEAN members (Brunei,Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,Malaysia, Myanmar, thePhilippines, Singapore,Thailand, and Vietnam) andtheir six trade partners --Australia, China, India, Japan,Korea and New Zealand.

According to the official,India is expected to reduce oreliminate duties on about 74-80 per cent of goods import-ed from China under the pro-posed agreement. Bilateraltalks are still going on with theneighbouring country, withwhich India has a trade deficitof over USD 50 billion.

Similarly, India may cut cus-toms duties on 86 per cent ofimports from Australia and

New Zealand, and 90 per centfor products imported fromASEAN, Japan and SouthKorea, with which Indiaalready has a comprehensivefree trade agreement, the offi-cial added.

The cut or elimination ofthese duties could be imple-mented over a period of 5, 10,15, 20 and 25 years.

Negotiations are also onfor an auto-trigger mecha-nism, wherein India wouldhave the option to increasecustoms duties i f therewould be a sudden surge inimports of a particular prod-

uct particularly from Chinato protect the domesticindustry.

India wants to use thismechanism for about 60-65products being imported fromChina. However, China wantsit for around 20 items.

The negotiations for theRCEP deal has reached at afundamental phase as themember countries are target-ing to conclude the talks byNovember.

As many as 28 rounds oftalks have been held at chiefnegotiators level and no morerounds are scheduled now.

The official said that this wouldprobably be the last ministerial-levelmeeting as only a few issues like rulesof origin are pending for finalisation

PMC's suspended MD blames‘superficial auditing' for messPTI n MUMBAI

The suspended managingdirector of Punjab andMaharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank, Joy Thomas, hasblamed the auditors for themess at the bank, accusingthem of only "superficiallyauditing" the books of the nowcrippled lender due to "timeconstraints".

In a five-page letter to theReserve Bank of India (RBI)dated September 21 after aboard member blew the lid onthe fraud at PMC, which isamong the top ten urban coop-erative banks, Thomas hasconfessed to the role of the topmanagement, including a fewboard members, in hiding theactual NPA numbers and alsothe actual exposure to thebankrupt HDIL, which is stat-ed to be around Rs 6,500 crore

or over 73 per cent of its totalloan book of Rs 8,880 crore.

While Thomas has notnamed any auditor in the let-ter to the RBI written two days

before the regulatory clampdown which PTI has reviewed,according to its annual reportfor FY19, the bank had threeauditors -- Lakdawal & Co,Ashok Jayesh & Associatesand DB Ketkar & Co sinceFY11.

Emails from PTI sent to allthese auditors did not elicit anyreplies even after 24 hours.

The shallow auditing of thebooks of PMC by its statutory

auditors was done as the 'bankwas growing', Thomas claimedin the letter.

The letter of Thomas ispart of the first informationreport (FIR) filed by theEconomic Offence Wing ofthe Mumbai Police onMonday. The FIR namesThomas, PMC chairmanWaryam Singh and the pro-moters of the HDIL and relat-ed entities.

ICAI to checkrole of auditorsNEWDELHI: Charteredaccountants' apex bodyICAI has sought informa-tion from the RBI and otherauthorities on the PMCBank crisis to checkwhether any auditor wasinvolved in the allegedfinancial irregularities atthe lender.

Taking note of the "enor-mity of the matter", theICAI on Wednesday said ithas triggered its disciplinarymechanism and has writtento the bank as well as regu-latory agencies concerned.

The Institute ofChartered Accountants ofIndia (ICAI) has written tothe Vigilance Department ofthe RBI and theCommissioner ofMaharashtra Co-operativeSocieties.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The first phase of 'Loan Mela',an outreach programme forproviding credit to retail cus-tomers and MSMEs, will beginfrom Thursday across 250districts across the country tomeet demand during the fes-tival period.

During the four days begin-ning October 3, loans will besanctioned for retail, agricul-ture, vehicle, home, MSME,education and personal cate-gories on the spot.

All banks, including StateBank of India (SBI), PunjabNational Bank (PNB), Bank ofBaroda (BoB), andCorporation Bank have gearedthemselves up to take advan-tage of festival season demand.

SBI is the lead banker in 48districts across the country.Likewise, BoB is the leadbanker in 17 out of 250 dis-tricts in the first phase.

Simultaneously, it is holdingBaroda Kisan Pakhwada dur-ing which most of its branch-es would focus on promotingfarm loans, BoB said in astatement.

During the annual perfor-mance review earlier thismonth, public sector banksdecided to undertake out-reach exercise in identified 400districts. Later, the privatesector too expressed their will-

ingness to join the initiative.This is part of the system-

atic bank reform processwhich envisioned taking banksto doorsteps of customers.

These camps will providea one-stop destination forMSMEs, small retail busi-nesses and end customers toaccess all bank services, espe-cially loans in auto, home,personal and business sec-tion.

While at one level it willhelp businesses to gear upfor the festive season, itwill also provide ready cashin the hands of consumers.

This is part ofthe systematicbank reformprocess whichenvisionedtaking banks todoorsteps ofcustomers

UK retail kingTesco says CEO to stepdown in 2020AFP n LONDON

Britain's biggest retailer Tescosaid Wednesday that CEODave Lewis will step downnext year, and will be replacedby Walgreens Boots Allianceexecutive Ken Murphy.

Lewis, who has overseen aradical overhaul of Tescosince his appointment in2014, added that the group'sturnaround was "complete"and he desired to move ontonew challenges.

"My decision to step downas group CEO is a personalone," he said in a group state-ment issued alongside first-half earnings.

"I believe that the tenure ofthe CEO should be a finiteone and that now is the righttime to pass the baton.

"Our turnaround is com-plete, we have deliveredall the metrics we set forourselves. The leadershipteam is very strong, ourstrategy is clear and it isdelivering."

Former Unilever directorLewis was parachuted intoTesco in July 2014 to helpturn around the group.

More than 10,000 jobshave been cut in a far-rang-ing cost-cutting drive atTesco, since Lewis tookcharge with the brief to save1.5 billion pounds.

He took the reins just asthe group was rocked by cri-sis in October 2014 afteroverstating profits in anaccounting error.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India has the potential to becomeone of the largest electric vehi-cles (EVs) markets in the world,with the government pushing forthe segment in order to curb pol-lution and reduce reliance onimport-dependent fossil fuel,says a report.

However, the uptake of EVshas been slow in the countrydue to the high upfront as wellas lifecycle costs cost but long-term investment in researchand development (R&D) willcreate sustained growth,according to the report by theWord Economic Forum andOla Mobility Institute.

Apart from investment,government backing anddirection will be crucial foraccelerating adoption anddeployment of electric mobil-ity, it added.

The report said there are10 states and union ter-ritories (UTs) that areleading the way inbuilding production,infrastructure and ser-

vices to increase the momen-tum of EV usage in India.

These states and UTs areAndhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi,Karnataka, Kerala,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Telangana, Uttarakhand andUttar Pradesh. "Consideringthe strong governmental pushtowards EVs, India has a hugepotential to become one of thelargest EV markets," thereport noted.

These states andUTs are AndhraPradesh, Bihar,Delhi, Karnataka,Kerala,Maharashtra, TamilNadu, Telangana,Uttarakhand andUttar Pradesh

India can be major electricvehicles markets: Report

Water supply to firms stopped in LaturPTI n LATUR

Water supply to theMaharashtra IndustrialDevelopment Corporation(MIDC) area in Latur districthas been stopped due to insuf-ficient reserves in the Manjaradam and other resources afterpoor rainfall this monsoon, anofficial said on Wednesday.

With companies in Latur'sMIDC already troubled due tothe industrial slowdown, thestoppage of water supply sinceTuesday has come as a doublewhammy for factories, special-ly pulses and cement units, alocal industry body said.

The Manjara dam, consid-

ered as the lifeline of Latur city,currently has 4,000 millionlitres of water against its totalstorage capacity of 2.24 lakhmillion litres. The require-ment of the indus-trial zones inLatur, locatedin the peren-n i a l l ydrought-hitMarathwadaregion, isaround 3 mil-lion litres ofwater per day,an official said.

In view of this watercrisis, the district administra-tion and industry stakehold-

ers held a meeting a monthago, Collector G Shrikant toldPTI.

"The industr ies thendemanded that the decision

to stop water supply bepostponed t i l l

October 1 againstthe earlier plan ofSeptember 1. Butnow, since theManjara dam andother reser veshave ver y low

storage, the watersupply to MIDC has

been stopped sinceTuesday after taking own-

ers of the industries intoconfidence," he said.

‘Infra investmentkey to boost jobs’PTI n NEW DELHI

The government can create alarge number of jobs by mak-ing infrastructureinvestment its prior-ity and roping in pri-vate sector in it, areport has said.

India faces a cru-cial policy challengeof ensuring accessto adequate employ-ment for its 473 million strongworkforce, an IDFC Institutereport on "InfrastructurePriorities for Job Creation in

India" has said. "By prioritising infrastruc-

ture investment, governmentscan provide direct employ-

ment in large num-bers. And they canenable the private sec-tor which is impededby absent or poorinfrastructure," thereport said.

It also said that adynamic private sec-

tor is essential for meetingthis challenge and the statehas an equally critical role toplay.

Banks to holdloan fairs across250 districts

hort videosharing plat-form TikTok’sinitiativeEduTok, is get-ting rave

reviews all over the worldfor enabling users createand share content onthemes like education,motivation, safety, health,wellness and more.EduTok was launched asan effort to empowerTikTok users to createmeaningful and inspiringcontent.

Having received anoverwhelming responsefor EduTok, the campaignhas enabled Indian usersto not only share theirinspiring stories andknowledge, but also builda unique identity forthemselves. EduTok hasempowered Indian usersto reach a global audiencewho have similar interestsand has allowed creatorsto bring a change in thesociety by sharing theirknowledge.

Nitin Saluja, director,public policy, TikTokIndia, said, “The cam-paign has given our usersa diverse set of themesand topics to explore,which has led to a greatappetite of content gener-ation and consumption.We’ve seen a great engage-ment on EduTok on avariety of subjects. Frommotivation, language

lessons to career advice,EduTok has allowed usersto showcase their talent,knowledge and creativityfrom even the mostremote towns in thecountry.”

He informed that theEduTok initiative has over40 billion views since May2019. He shares, “Weallow users to post 15 sec-ond videos and encouragethem to showcase theircreativity in unique ways.This has worked wellamongst our users. Theformat also encouragescreativity and pushes cre-ators to more effectivelyshare their thoughts withthe world.”

He added that EduTokhas been well received byusers and has been trend-ing consistently withviews reaching close tothe 40 billion mark.

Awal Madan, one of thecontributor said, “I createshort lessons on Englishlanguage with explana-tions in Hindi. I covereverything about English,from grammar to vocabu-lary. What’s unique is thatI teach in a funny andinteresting manner,through sketches, mimic-ry, role-plays, etc., insteadof the traditional white-board method. My objec-tive is to help people learnconversational Englishand not just bookishEnglish.”

He adds, “Though peo-ple understand that learn-ing English is a profes-sional requirement forjobs, they tend to give upat times. I try to keepthem motivated. My view-ers include students whowant to understand gram-matical concepts, thosewho are employed andself-employed individualswho want to enhancetheir spoken Englishskills. Even the elderlywho want to chat withtheir grandchildren intheir style watch myvideos sometimes.”

Another EduTok user,Geet, says, “I create moti-vational videos and rela-tionship advice videos.Occasionally, I also post avideo where I am dancingon a trending song. I alsoteach English vocabulary,sentences we use daily,grammar, etc. Isoon plan tocover topicslike motiva-tion, cli-mate

change, clean India,domestic violence andmore.”

Paras Tomar, whomostly covers health andwellness said, “Most of mycontent has informationabout skincare and well-ness. The USP of thesevideos is that I use naturalingredients. The responseis heart-warming as withevery new thing I’ve tried.The incredible part aboutthe people who start fol-lowing you is that theybecome a part of your life.They're so aware whenyou're working out, whenyou're cooking and evenwhen you're unwell.These are people who seeevery facet of you.”

Mahendra Dogneysays, “I create motivation-al content which largelyfocuses on the problemsfaced by youth these days.I create videos in the formof stories and coupletswhich make it engagingfor my audience. The top-ics I cover through myvideos include careerinformation, awareness,education and health. As Ihail from a small town, Iunderstand the miscon-ceptions people haveabout life in a small town.My videos work towardschanging this perceptionand making people realisethat talent sees no bound-

aries.”

I create shortlessons onEnglish languagewith explanationsin Hindi. I covereverything about English,from grammar to vocabulary.What’s unique is that I teach ina funny and interesting manner,through sketches, mimicry,role-plays, etc., instead of thetraditional whiteboard method.

AWAL MADANONE OF THE CONTRIBUTOR

I create motivational contentwhich largely focuses on the

problems faced by youth thesedays. I create videos in

the form of storiesand couplets

which make itengaging for my

audience.MAHENDRA

DOGNEY

The campaignhas given ourusers a diverse

set of themes and topics toexplore, which has led to agreat appetite of contentgeneration andconsumption. We’ve seen agreat engagement on EduTokon a variety of subjects.NITIN SALUJA

More than 200school-goingchildren took

part in a 50-kmcycling event

that was held inthe city to spreadawareness on Fit

India campaign

ver since the firstbiker embraced theopen roads insteadof the noisy metrolife, bikers havealways beencom-

bininga popular pastime witha sense of duty: travellingacross the country and spread-ing awareness about impor-tant social causes. Keeping up

with the tradition, NovotelHyderabad Airport (NHA)hosted the ‘DistinguishedGentleman’s Ride’ (DGR) atthe hotel. The event wasattended by over 300 bikersfrom across the city who cametogether for spreading aware-ness about prostate cancer andsuicide prevention. Around70,000 bikers in 550 cities

globally participate in theDGR each year. TheDistinguished Gentleman’sRide was founded in Sydney,Australia by Mark Hawwa.The first ride in 2012 broughttogether over 2,500 ridersacross 64 cities. PunjabEnfield Group (PEG Mc)Hyderabad is the official hostfor DGR 2017 Hyderabad.

WHEN SOCIAL MEDIABECOMES THE TEACHER

Social media has changedlives for the better.

Barring a few instanceswhere it has been misused,

it has been a boon for peoplefrom all over the world

sharing information abouttopics like motivation,

education, health, safety,wellness and more. EduTok,

a short video sharingplatform, helps people share

their work and spread theirknowledge, finds

V SATEESH REDDY

S

Most of mycontent hasinformation about

skincare and wellness. TheUSP of these videos is that Iuse natural ingredients. Theresponse is heart-warmingas with every new thing I’vetriedPARAS TOMAR

I create motivationalvideos and

relationship advicevideos. Occasionally, I

also post a video where I amdancing on a trending song. I

also teach English vocabulary,sentences we use daily,

grammar, etc.GEET

E

GEAR UP FOR AGOOD CAUSE

Cycling to spread ‘Fit India' campaign

n 150th birthanniversary ofMahatmaGandhi,HyderabadCyclists Group is

organised a 50-km ride withmore than 200 cyclists fromacross the city taking part init to spread about Fit Indiacampaign. The ride wascheered with various slo-gans by promoting variousIndian campaigns like MakeIn India, Digital India andFit India.

Ravinder Nandanoori,founder of HyderabadCycling Group said thatthey started HCG with justtwo members and now thereare more than 600 activemembers. He says, “Wewanted to do something dif-ferent on Gandhi Jayanthi.Hence, I thought why notwe involve school-goingchildren to spread the mes-sage on Fit India campaignstarted by Prime MinisterNarenderModi.”

Ravinder informed that

students of St MartinsSchool of Chintal andBalanagar participated inthe event.

When asked about involv-ing students in 50-km ride,Ravinder says, “For manydays, we have been practis-ing with school children for

Single Line Moving Bycyclesevent. During the practisesessions, we realised thatthese kids could easily com-plete long rides like 50-kmand after speaking to schoolauthorities we conductedthis event.”

Recently, the Hyderabad

Cyclists Group also com-pleted a Guinness WorldRecord fete of ‘the longestsingle line bicycle parade’ byat Outer Ring Road.

He adds, “We are alsofighting against pollution inthe city by conducting vari-ous cycling events. Cycling

helps one to lead a happyand peaceful life,” Ravinderinformed that many stu-dents are very happy forcompleting the race andtold him that the race gavethem the confidence toreach their goals.

— V Sateesh Reddy

O

ThursdayOctober 3, 2019

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dailypioneer

ollywood director Ava DuVernay is set toa direct a futuristic drama set during anAmerican civil war series for the networkHBO. The When They See Us and QueenSugar multihyphenate and Westworldexecutive producer Roberto Patino are

developing a series based on DC Comics title DMZ,a futuristic drama set during an American civil war.The project has a pilot order at the WarnerMediastreaming platform, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Based on the critically hailed Brian Wood-Riccardo Burchielli comic, DMZ is set in a near-future where America is embroiled in a bitter civilwar. The island of Manhattan has become a demili-tarised zone separating the two sides, largelydestroyed and isolated from the rest of the world.

The series will follow a fierce femalemedic who saves lives while desperately

searching for her lost son. As she con-tends with the gangs, militias, dema-

gogues and warlords who now con-trol the lawless island, she becomesthe unlikely source of what every-one there has lost: hope. Filmingon the pilot is slated to begin in

early 2020.The pilot order comes a day

after US President DonaldTrump, facing an impeach-ment inquiry in Congress,

tweeted a quote fromFox News contribu-

tor RobertJeffress refer-

ring to a“Civil War-like fracture”if Trump isremovedfromoffice.

ollywood superstar Matt Damon has revealed that he has lost a chance to makehuge profits by turning down a role in James Cameron’s sci-fi blockbuster, Avatar.

“Cameron offered me Avatar and when he offered it to me, he goes, ‘Now, listen.I don’t need anybody. I don’t need a name for this, a named actor. If you don’t takethis, I’m going to find an unknown actor and give it to him, because the moviedoesn’t really need you. But if you take the part, I’ll give you 40 per cent of...’,”

Damon said, in an interview to a men’s magazine.When the interviewer asked if he was implying whether Cameron had “offered you 10 per

cent of the Avatar profits”, Damon replied: “I told John Krasinski this story when we werewriting Promised Land, and he goes, ‘what?!’ And he stands up and he starts pacing in thekitchen. He goes, ‘OK. OK. OK. OK. OK!’ He goes, ‘If you had done that movie, nothing inyour life would be different; nothing in your life would be different at all — except that, rightnow, we would be having this conversation in space’.”

“So, yeah. I’ve left more money on the table than any actor actually. That sucked and that’s stillbrutal. But my kids are all eating. I’m doing OK,” said Damon, according to a report in a British

news agency.

H H

Vijayawada Thursday October 3, 2019

10

celeb talks

MATT DAMON REVEALS HEHAD TURNED DOWN AVATAR

fourth season of the mas-sively popular Netflixshow is on the way, thestreaming companyannounced Monday. Noword on a release date for

the fourth season of the show, whichlast left the pubescent heroes ofHawkins victorious against theirsupernatural supermonster, theDemogorgon, but without their port-ly leader, Sheriff Jim Hopper (DavidHarbour). A final scene from thethird season hinted that the evilsthey faced in the first three seasonsmight not be limited to quaintHawkins. And a teaser trailer

released by Netflix on Mondayseemed to confirm that hint.

“We’re not in Hawkins anymore,”the trailer read with an ominousscene from the Upside Down.

Still, a statement from the DufferBrothers assured fans that they won’tbe leaving the beloved town entirely:“We can’t wait to tell many more sto-ries together — beginning, of course,with a return trip to Hawkins!”

The show’s third season, whichpremiered at the start of the longfourth of July weekend, broughtNetflix an unprecedented amount ofbinge-watchers. The streaming com-pany tweeted at the end of that week-

end that “40.7 million householdaccounts have been watching theshow since its July 4 global launch —more than any other film or series inits first four days. And 18.2 millionhave already finished the entire sea-son.”

Given that, the upcoming deal isbound to be sizable. Deadline reportsthat the Duffer Brothers could standto nab a multiyear pact similar to theone Netflix signed with Game OfThrones’ David Benioff and DBWeiss. We can only hope that Steve‘The Hair’ Harrington’s godawfulbowl cut will not be making anappearance in the fourth season.

ANETFLIX SHOW STRANGER THINGSTO RETURN WITH SEASON 4

AVA DUVERNAYTO DIRECTAMERICAN CIVILWAR SERIES

ctress Viola Davis is set tobe honoured with a lifetimeachievement award at thisyear’s Rome Film Festivalscheduled to run betweenOctober 17 to October 27.

The Oscar, Emmy and Tony-winningactress will attend the festival to

take her prize besides participat-ing in a ‘Close Encounter’ on-

stage conversation, in whichshe will speak about her

career across film, theatreand TV, reported

Deadline.“Viola

Davis is an extraordinary actress, whohas transformed sincerity and dignityinto sublime thespian art. It is a greathonour for me, and for the Rome FilmFest, to celebrate her formidable talentand deep humanity,” the outlet quotedAntonio Monda, Rome’s artisticdirector.

Rome will award two lifetimeachievement awards this year.Previously, Bill Murray wasannounced as the recipientof the other award andWes Anderson willpresent the awardto Murray.

VIOLA DAVIS TO BE AWARDED

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENTAWARD AT ROME FILM FESTIVAL

A

ctors Micheal

Sheen and Anna

Lundberg have

officially con-

firmed the birth

of their first

child together and the cou-

ple have named their new-

born daughter, Lyra.

The Good Omens star

revealed that the child was

born on September 23.

“Happy to say that at

8:41 am on Monday

September 23rd our beauti-

ful daughter Lyra was born.

Thank you so much to

Louise and all the brilliant

midwives at both the

Singleton and Neath Port

Talbot Hospitals,” Sheen

wrote on Twitter.

“On behalf of Anna and

myself thanks to everyone

for your lovely messages of

congratulations. It’s been a

wonderful, bleary-eyed

week full of love and kind-

ness and extraordinary poo.

#NotReferringToMyself,” he

added.This is a second child for

Sheen, who also shares

daughter Lily (20) with for-

mer partner, actor Kate

Beckinsale.

A

MICHAEL SHEEN REVEALS

NAME OF NEWBORN

DAUGHTER

nown for his hospi-tality in the filmcircles, Jr NTR hastreated KGF 2 starsSanjay Dutt andYash at his resi-

dence in Hyderabad earlierthis week. The shoot of theperiod action-drama has

shifted to Hyderabad from

Bengaluru last month and theactor upon knowing the pres-ence of Sanjay in town,extended an invitation to himalong with Yash. Both werehappy to accept it anddropped by Tarak’s residenceon Monday evening. Theywere treated to a sumptuousdinner over a spread of cock-

tails and the topics all threediscussed varied from currentpolitics to respective filmindustries, a source says.Sanjay, impressed with theway Tarak showered love onhim, told him to make it apoint to visit his residence inMumbai if he lands there forwork or otherwise.

ilmmaker RanaSunil Kumar Singh,who has producedand directedwww.meenabazar.,states the film is a

true documentation of whathe saw in life. “In bazar, every-thing is available. Likewise,our film has all emotions-love,crime, drama-woven into theproceedings. In short it’s amulti-genre film. The ideabehind the title is toattract viewers.Also, it carries alot of significanceattached to thestory,” SunilKumar, who

comes from theatre back-ground, informs.

He adds that the Telugu-Kannada bilingual, featuringhimself, Vaibhavi Joshi, SrijitaGhosh, Madhusudhan andRajesh Nataranga, has no storyas such. “The film is the jour-ney of five principal characterand the conflicts theyencounter with each otherresult in the formation of astory in the end. That’s the

USP. All the five charactershave equal importance,”he points out, adding

that it’s definitely not aregular film and theidea behind going in

with new faces is

that they will not carry anyexpectations. “Noted facesmeans the film will carryexpectations, which I didn’twant. If the audience watchesthe film devoid of expecta-tions, they will be awed by it.It’s a director’s film all the way.We’ve conducted a workshopfor the actors for three monthsbefore going to shoot.”

He further informs that thefilm, shot in 75 days, with out-ings in Hyderabad, Bengaluru,Mangalore and Kodachadri,has been cleared with ‘U/A’certificate and they are plan-

ning to arrive laterthis month.

— NG

‘There is no story inwww.meenabazar’

hile the status of hisfilm with debutantdirector Puli Vasu,announced last year,is unclear, KalyaanDhev, Megastar

Chiranjeevi’s son-in-law, hasinitiated talks with other film-makers for his next. To thisend, we’ve exclusively learntthe actor is in advanced talkswith director Sreenivass Reddefor a new film. The director,who is known for his comedyentertainers BommanaBrothers Chandana Sisters,Tata Birla Madhyalo Laila andAdirindayya Chandram, ispresently awaiting the releaseof his comeback film Ragala24 Gantalalo, starring EeshaRebba and Satyadev.

A source close to the devel-opment shares, “Redde has

met Kalyaan with a full-length commercial

drama with dollopsof humour some-time back lastmonth. There’s

also a love story integratedinto the script. The actor tooka strong fancy to the story andhis part. He believes it is theright story for him to attractmasses and find his footholdin the industry. He might,however, seek the inputs of hisuncle before he gives his greensignal. The result of Redde’s

film Ragala 24 Gantalalomight also have a bearing onhis decision.”

Kalyaan Dhev debuted lastyear with Vijetha, directed byRakesh Sashi.

Although the film failed tolight up the box-office, hereceived fairly decent reviewsfor his acting chops.

Vijayawada Thursday October 3, 2019

THEY WERE TREATED TO ASUMPTUOUS DINNER OVER ASPREAD OF COCKTAILS AT TARAK’S RESIDENCE

FK

11

tollywoodKALYAAN DHEVIN TALKS WITH SREENIVASS REDDERedde had met Kalyaan with a full-lengthcommercial drama with dollops of humour sometimelast month, finds NAGARAJ GOUD

W

Success smiles!ith Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy opening to fairly positive reviewsand good word-of-mouth, Megastar Chiranjeevi decided to show-er his love on son Ram Charan who produced the film on a mas-sive scale. The veteran actor also met producers NV Prasad andDVV Danayya at his residence in Hyderabad and received theircongratulations on the film’s earth-shattering opening. The likes

of SS Rajamouli, Harish Shankar and Anil Ravipudi were some of the notedfaces who praised the film on Twitter.

W

n what is a handsomedeal for AKEntertainments chiefAnil Sunkara,Gopichand-starrerChanakya, which is mak-

ing decent buzz, has made close toRs 15 crore from non-theatricalavenues, making it the best deal forthe actor till now. According to a

marketing source close to the unit,the film’s lion share of Rs 9 crore-ofthe ancillary revenue came fromHindi dubbing rights alone. Telugudubbed action films have alwaysfound viewers on prominent generalHindi entertainment channels andthe film's theme-of a RAW agent’scovert operation in Pakistan-meantthat the interest party paid big bucks

to snatch the rights fromSunkara. On the other hand, thedigital rights have been baggedby steaming giant Amazon forRs 2 crore while a leadingTelugu GEC acquired the satel-lite rights for Rs 4 crore, takingthe total tally to Rs 15 crore. Thefilm, directed by Thiru, is sched-uled to release this Saturday.

CHANAKYA makes handsomerevenue from non-theatrical rights

I

warna master, who has choreographed songs for more than850 films, has turned producer and director with Adi OkaIdhi le. A love story laced with family emotions, it featuresnewcomers Savyasachi and Radhika Preeti in the leadroles. Its trailer was unveiled by leading producer Dil Rajuin Hyderabad recently. "The trailer is nice. The film looks

like a cute love story in the backdrop of an apartment," he said, beforeextending his best wishes to the unit. Savyasachi said, "From story ses-sions, workshops to actual shoot, the film's journey has been nothingshort of a dream. I consider myself lucky to have worked with somebig technicians."

Choreographer Swarnaswitches tracks

S

TARAK treats SanjayDutt and Yash

PTI nMARLOW

The Indian women’s hockey teamtasted its first defeat on England

tour when it went down 1-3 againstGreat Britain in the fourth match hereon Wednesday.

Great Britain took an early leadthrough Hannah Martin (5th minute)but India’s Neha Goyal (18th) scoredthe equaliser.

However, a goal before half-timefrom Charlotte Watson (29th), and onein the last quarter through GiselleAnsley (50th) meant that Great Britainsecured their first win of the tour, snap-ping India’s unbeaten run.

World No 9 India had notched upa 2-1 win in the first match, beforedrawing the next two games 1-1 and

0-0 respectively.The hosts dominated possession

in the early stages and won their firstpenalty corner in just the 3rd minute,but India’s goalkeeper Rajani Etimarpuproduced a fine save to deny the hostsearly on.

However, the visitors could notdeny the hosts on the second occasionas they took the lead through a fieldgoal by Hannah in the 5th minute.

India gradually came into thegame, and had a few chances of theirown in the latter stages and with themomentum on their side, the Indianteam combined well at the start of the

second quarter, and pressed for theequaliser, which eventually came in the18th minute as Neha produced a slickfinish to make it 1-1, and put the pres-sure back on the host nation.

It was in the 29th minute at thestroke of half-time that Great Britaincreated a great chance through com-bination play by their forwards, andmanaged to take a 2-1 lead into half-time as Charlotte Watson scored theirsecond.

Neither team could create any realopportunity in the third period, andwere battling it out in midfield. TheIndian team tried to attack theiropponents more in the last quarter, butit was Giselle Ansley, who made it 3-1 in the hosts’ favour via strike frompenalty corner.

AFP n KARACHI

Recharged openerDanushka Gunathilaka

scored a career best centuryto lift Sri Lanka to a challeng-ing 297-9 against Pakistan inthe third and final day-nightinternational against Pakistanin Karachi on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old left-han-der knocked a 134-ball 133with 16 boundaries and a sixfor his second hundred whichlifted Sri Lanka after theywon the toss and batted on aflat National stadium pitch.

Gunathilaka, suspendedtwice for breaches of disci-plines in the last two years,held the innings togetherwith stands of 88 with skip-per Lahiru Thirimanne (36)for the second, 50 for thethird with Angelo Perera (13)and 74 with debutant MinodBhanuka (36) for the fourthin a brilliant display of bat-

ting. He was finally dismissedin the 45th over, bowled bypaceman Mohammad Amirwho was the best Pakistanibowler with 3-50.

It was Amir who gavePakistan an early break-through when he had Avishka

Fernando caught behind forfour by Sarfaraz Ahmed, lead-ing Pakistan for the 50thtime in an ODI.

Gunathilaka def iedPakistan's bowling with gutsand determination, improv-ing his previous ODI best of

116 he made againstZimbabwe at Hambantota in2017.

Thirimanne hit fourboundaries off 54 balls whileBhanuka had two sixes in his39-ball knock.

Allrounder DasunShanaka hit a quick 24-ball 43with five boundaries and twosixes as Sri Lanka added 50 inthe last five overs.

Pakistan, who leads thethree-match series 1-0 onwinning the second match by67 runs, brought Abid Ali andMohammad Nawaz forImam-ul-Haq and ImadWasim.

For Sri Lanka, SadeeraSamarawickrama, IsuruUdana and Oshada Fernandomade way for Bhanuka,Lakshan Sandakan andPerera.

The f irst match wasrained off, also in Karachi, onFriday.

sport 12VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2019

PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

Rohit Sharma’s Test careergot a new lease of life ashe struck an unbeaten

115 in his first innings as anopener to take India to a com-manding 202 for no loss againstSouth Africa before rainwashed out the final session ofthe series-opener, here onWednesday.

There was an 80 percentchance of rain on the openingday but it only arrived duringthe tea break with India com-fortably placed after 59.1 oversof play.

Mayank Agarwal was oncourse for a maiden Test hun-dred, having played extremelywell for his 183-ball 84.

Thunderstorm, followedby a heavy spell of rain, ensuredno play was possible after thetea break.

Before weather playedspoilsport, Rohit stole the showin what could be a careerchanging knock for him.

While South Africanbowlers did trouble the Indianbatsmen on a few occasions inthe first session, they seemedtoothless in the second sessionwhere Rohit and Agarwalscored at a brisk rate.

Rohit, who got to his fiftybefore lunch, shifted gears andwas particularly harsh on thespinners.

He hammered off-spinnerDanie Piedt for successive sixesover deep midwicket to get intothe nineties before completinghis fourth Test ton with a sin-gle off debutant spinner

Senuran Muthusamy.The entire dressing room,

including skipper Virat Kohli,stood up to laud Rohit's feat.His 174-ball unconqueredinnings contained 12 fours andfive sixes.

At the other end, Agarwalwas cruising towards his maid-en Test ton. He too lookedassured at the crease and playedhis shots.

Early into the afternoonsession, he brought up his halfcentury with a spectacular sixover extra cover off KeshavMaharaj.

Clouds gathered over thestadium towards the end of thesession and thunderstormsforced the umpires to take thetea break eight minutes beforescheduled time.

Earlier, Rohit and Agarwalplayed out 30 overs in themorning session after safelynegotiating the South Africanpacers Kagiso Rabada andVernon Philander, taking Indiato 91 for no loss.

India, who had namedtheir playing on the eve of thefirst Test, opted to bat on a drysurface with skipper Kohli call-ing his decision a "no brainer."

Expecting the pitch to turn,South Africa picked three spin-ners in Maharaj, Piedt andMuthusamy, who is more of abatting all-rounder.

All eyes were expectedlyon Rohit whose stop-start Testcareer has taken a new direc-tion with the managementaccommodating him at the topof the order.

He left the first ball he

faced before driving Rabadapast backward point with min-imal feet movement for a four.

His second scoring shotwas also a boundary as hepunched Philander towardsbackward point. The pitchoffered very little to the pacersand spinners in the first twohours of play.

What worked for Rohitwas standing outside the creasewhen Philander was bowlingto negate any little swing thatwas available.

Rabada has the expresspace but he did not test theIndian openers as much asPhilander.

Rohit and Philander’s bat-tle in the first hour was absorb-ing. Philander, who got the bet-ter of Rohit in the warm-upgame, challenged Rohit bymoving the ball both ways inhis opening spell of four overs.

After a few play and miss-es, Rohit chose to walk downthe pitch before South Africaskipper Faf du Plessis askedwicketkeeper Quinton de Kockto stand up to the stumps.

After getting the measureof the surface, Rohit went forhis strokes like he does inwhite-ball cricket.

His first big hit was a typ-ical one as he gently steppedout of the crease to smashMaharaj over long-on. A littlelater, he played a similar shortoff Piedt and this time the ballflew well above the long-onfielder.

Rohit completed his 11thTest half-century towards theend of the session.

PTI n ULAN UDE

Six-time champion M C MaryKom’s seemingly endless reser-

voir of experience makes her astrong medal contender yet againbut the spotlight will also be onsome youngsters when Indiatakes guard at the World Women’sBoxing Championship startinghere today.

Mary Kom was onWednesday seeded third andhanded a bye into the pre-quar-terfinals. She will begin her cam-paign on October 8 against a yetto be decided opponent.

In all, five Indians got first-round byes into different stagesdepending on the size of the draw.No Indian will be in action on theopening day of the mega-event.

The 36-year-old Manipurihas been an ambassador of thesport not just in India but also theworld over. However, there is aminor blemish in her magnificentrecord — the lack of a world titlein the 51kg category.

She would be aiming to set itright in this Russian city. This isnot to say she hasn’t done well inthe hard-fought category— MaryKom has the Olympic Bronzemedal and the Asian GamesGold to her credit in the division.

Former champion and MaryKom’s contemporary L SaritaDevi (60kg) is another one towatch out for after she defeatedlast edition’s Bronze-winner anda much younger Simranjit Kaurin the trials. Sarita, seeded fourth,has also got a bye but into theround of 32.

Outside the ring, the eight-time Asian medallist is in the run-ning to become a member of theInternational BoxingAssociation's (AIBA) first everathletes commission, the voting

for which will take place duringthe mega-event here. She isexpected to make the panel asthere hasn’t been any other nom-ination from the Asian block.

Previous editionks Bronze-medallist Lovlina Borgohain hasmoved up a division to 69kg thistime. She is seeded third andgiven a bye into the pre-quarter-finals.

India Open Gold-medallistsNeeraj (57kg) and Jamuna Boro(54kg) are among the five boxers,who will be making their debutsat the big event and can beexpected to create a flutter. Neeraj,a former national champion, hasgot a bye into the round of 32.

In the 75kg category, formerAsian champion Saweety Boorawill be keenly watched. She wasa Silver-medallist in the 2014 edi-tion of the marquee tourna-ment.

“This squad is a nice mix.Last time we had four medals,let’s see how the debutantsrespond to the challenge thistime. Fingers crossed,” nationalcoach Mohammed Ali Qamarsaid.

“Before coming here, we hada fruitful training stint in Italywhere we got to spar with theChinese, which is not some-thing that happens quite often.They hardly travel elsewhereand they are the biggest force inwomen’s boxing,” he added.

In the 48kg category, whichMary Kom made her own,Strandja Cup Silver-medallistManju Rani will be fighting it outthis time. A debutant at theworld championship, Rani got abye into the pre-quarterfinals.

“She has shown a lot ofpromise and hopefully, it wouldtranslate into a medal here,”Qamar said.

AFP n BEIJING

Exhausted Andy Murray bat-tled into a singles quarter-

final for the first time in a yearon Wednesday — and thenimmediately grabbed a snooze.

The former world numberone outlasted fellow BritonCameron Norrie 7-6 (8/6), 6-7(4/7), 6-1 over nearly three gru-elling hours in hot and hazyBeijing.

The 32-year-old, nowranked a lowly 503, will play topseed Dominic Thiem in the lasteight of the China Open onFriday.

On the mend after a career-saving hip operation in January,Murray looked all in afterwards,and walked gingerly in and outof the post-match press confer-ence.

Blowing out his cheeks sev-eral times, the three-time GrandSlam champion said he hadslept in the 90 minutes betweenhis victory and talking toreporters.

“I’m tired, I just had a sleepbefore coming. I mean, I’m real-

ly tired,” he said.The hard-fought triumph

over 69th-ranked Norrie meanshe reaches the last eight in sin-gles on the ATP Tour for the firsttime since Shenzhen inSeptember last year.

Also into the quarter-finalswas Russian fourth seed KarenKhachanov, a 7-6 (7/0), 7-6

(7/5) winner over France’sJeremy Chardy. He faces theItalian Fabio Fognini.

BARTY ADVANCESIn the women’s draw, world

number one Ashleigh Barty willface Czech seventh seed PetraKvitova in the quarter-finals.

The top-ranked Australian,23, beat home hope Zheng Saisai6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, but wasunhappy to have been forced tothree sets.

“I think I was pretty loose, Iplayed a pretty stupid (second)set,” said Barty.

“I made far too many errors,let her back in the match welland truly.

“I think too many times Igave away cheap service games...when I did have my opportuni-ty, I didn’t take it.

“A bit of a frustrating one.”Teenage US Open champion

Bianca Andreescu reached thelast 16 with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) vic-tory over Belgium’s unseededElise Mertens.

Andreescu meets JenniferBrady of the United States.

AFP n TOKYO

Novak Djokovic stepped up a gear atthe Japan Open on Wednesday,

fending off a tough challenge fromJapanese wild card Go Soeda 6-3, 7-5 toadvance to the quarterfinals.

The world number one said he hadno problems with the injured shoulderwhich forced him out of the US Openas he looked to face French fifth-seedLucas Pouille at the Ariake Colosseum.

Djokovic was cruising to a victoryuntil late in the second set when the 35-year-old Japanese player put up a tena-cious fight as the Serb began missingmany of his first serves, reducing his 5-3 lead to 5-5.

But Djokovic snapped back in formand took the final two games without

giving a single point away, ending thematch in just over 90 minutes.

“Obviously, I was pleased to get thatdone in two (sets),” Djokovic said. “Wemust give credit to Go Soeda, whoplayed a really good match, fought hard,made me work for my win today.

“For my side, I am really pleased.Probably I played even on a higher levelthan the first round. So the game isgoing in the right direction for sure,” hesaid.

“I played now three days in a row,”he said. “Everything is fine.”

Elsewhere, third-seed David Goffincame from behind in a dramatic first-round victory against Pablo CarrenoBusta 1-6, 7-6(8), 6-0.

Djokovic’s next opponent Pouilledefeated Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 6-2.

American Reilly Opelka squeezedpast Gilles Simon 7-6(4), 7-6(2)

Australian qualifier John Millmandefeated Adrian Mannarino of France4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Japanese qualif ier YasutakaUchiyama beat Radu Albot 6-7(2), 6-3,6-4.

Lloyd Harris of South Africa edgedpast Australian eighth-seed Alex deMinaur 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(8).

Debut 2.0Rohit scores hundred on his maiden game as Test opener PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

Emphasising that opening the batting suitshim, Rohit Sharma said he was mentally

prepared to make the switch as he scored anunbeaten 115 in his first Test innings as open-er and with his assuring knock, India seized theinitiative on day one of the series opener againstSouth Africa.

Asked about his mindset in the lead up tothe series, India’s limited overs vice-captain saidhe kept things simple in his head.

“The talk (of him opening in Tests) wasgoing on for a long time. In the West Indies (inAugust), they told me clearly it is going to hap-pen now. I was prepared for the past two years.At some stage, I was aware that I might haveto open so I was ready,” said Rohit after scor-ing his fourth Test ton.

He was part of the squad for West Indiesseries but could not final place in the middleorder.

“Of course, opening the batting is a differ-ent ball game in red ball cricket. Mentally youhave to train your mind more than anythingelse. At the same time, you do need to look intosome technical aspects of batting but more thanthat you have to challenge yourself mentally toplay the new ball and take the game forward.

“Those are the things I kept in mind whenI went out to bat. There was no confusion abouthow I wanted to approach the innings.”

In ODIs too, Rohit used to bat in the mid-dle order but he became a white-ball great onlywith his stupendous success at the top of theorder.

“I think it (opening) just suits my game, justwear the pads and bat. It was a waiting game,when I used to bat at five or six. I won’t say itdidn’t suit my batting. Your mind is fresh, weknow we have to play the new ball. You knowthe bowlers who will bowl the new ball, thesewill be the fielders, so the game plan is easierfor you.

“At number six, the ball is reversing, fieldplacement is different and you need to keep allthose things in mind. That game of wearing thepads and going in to bat suits me more,” saidthe maker of more than 10,000 runs in limit-ed overs cricket.

Opening suitsRohit’s game

Young boxers eyeglory at Worlds

Gunathillaka takes SL to 297-9

AFP n KARACHI

Pakistan Wednesdayrecalled trouble-making

opener Ahmed Shehzadand middle-order batsmanUmar Akmal for the three-match Twenty20 seriesagainst Sri Lanka startingthis weekend.

It will be the first timethe 27-year-old Shehzadwill represent Pakistan sincea four-month ban for afailed dope test last year.

Shehzad played the lastof his 57 Twenty20 interna-tionals in Scotland in Junelast year.

Umar, 29, played the

last of 82 Twenty20 interna-tionals in 2016 against theWest Indies.

The three Twenty20internationals will all beplayed in Lahore onOctober 5, 7 and 9.

Chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq announced thechanges to the squad.

"From the ODI sideagainst Sri Lanka there arethree changes. Shehzad,Umar and Faheem Ashrafhave replaced Abid Ali,Mohammad Rizwan andImam-ul-Haq," saidMisbah.

Sarfaraz Ahmed willlead the Twenty20 squad.

Shehzad, Umar for T20s

Indian Eves suffer 1-3 defeat

Murray reaches Beijing quarters Djoker continues winning run