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MONEY 8FINMIN SEEKS DETAILS OF LAND PARCEL FROM CPSEs

OPINION 6IS DEMOCRACYIN DISTRESS?

SPORTS 12THE BALL IS PINK

HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

}RAMYA REPLACESMANDIRA INROMANTIC

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RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

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TODAY

Hyd Policedetains MBSJeweller MDPNS n HYDERABAD

The Sultan Bazar policenabbed the ManagingDirector of MBS JewellersSukesh Gupta on Tuesday,following an arrest warrantissued against him by theKolkata court.

According to sources,Gupta has availed loan froma bank in Kolkata for croresof rupees. The cheques heissued to the said bankbounced and he was firstbooked for cheque bouncefraud and issued noticesaccordingly to clear his dues.

"The Kolkata court hasissued notices for his arrestand as his shop is in Abidsarea under our police station,we detained him and will besending over to Kolkata onWednesday morning," offi-cials from Sultan Bazar policestation said.

Earlier, the Central Bureauof Investigation (CBI) alsoreportedly issued a notice toSukesh Gupta for allegedlyfailing to appear before offi-cials in the MMTC fraudcase.

Continued on Page 3

5 killed, onehurt in J&Kterror attackPNS n NEW DELHI

Five migrant labourers fromWest Bengal were killed andanother injured in a terror-ist attack in Kulgam districtof Kashmir on Tuesdayevening, police said.According to reports, thelabourer sustained bulletinjuries in the leg.

The injured has beenidentified as Zahuruddin, adaily wager from WestBengal. He was in his rent-ed residence in Katrasoovil lage when he wasattacked. He has beenadmitted to a hospital andstated to be out of danger,they said.

The attack happened on aday a delegation of parlia-mentarians from theEuropean Union is visitingKashmir to talk to locals andask them about their expe-rience after the abrogation ofJammu and Kashmir's spe-cial status under Article 370on August 5.

Earlier in the day, sus-pected terrorists opened fireon CRPF personneldeployed at a school wherea Class 10 examination wasunderway at Drabgam inPulwama district of Jammuand Kashmir on Tuesday.

Rs 100 cr for H’nagar? Whynot Rs 47 cr for RTC staff?Court says officials acting ‘over-smart' in preparing reports on RTC strike

CJI Gogoi to deliver key verdicts over 8 daysPNS n NEW DELHI

Chief Justice of India RanjanGogoi, who retires onNovember 17, is expected todeliver verdicts in several keymatters, including the RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidtitle dispute and petitions seek-ing review of the Rafale judge-ment, in the next eight work-ing days of the Supreme Court.

Besides, the apex courtbench headed by Justice Gogoiwill pronounce its verdict on aplea seeking criminal con-tempt proceedings againstCongress leader Rahul Gandhifor wrongly attributing to theapex court his "chowkidar chorhai" remark against Prime

Minister Narendra Modi.A five-judge constitution

bench headed by Justice Gogoiwill also pronounce its judge-ment on the pleas seekingreview of the top court's judge-ment allowing women of allages to enter the Sabarimalatemple in Kerala.

Another five-judge consti-tution bench, headed by theCJI, had reserved its verdict in

the politically sensitive RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidtitle dispute after a marathonhearing of 40 days.

At present, the apex court ison Diwali break and will re-open on November 4.

Thereafter, the court wouldobserve holidays on November11 and 12, leaving only eightworking days before JusticeGogoi demits office as the CJIon November 17.

On April 4, a five-judgeConstitution bench headed byJustice Gogoi had reserved its

verdict on three appeals filed in2010 by the Secretary Generalof the Supreme Court and itsCentral Public Informationofficer against the Delhi HighCourt order that the CJI'soffice falls under the ambit ofthe Right to Information Act.

In the land dispute case ofAyodhya, the top court hadreserved its judgement onOctober 16. Fourteen appealshave been filed in the apex courtagainst the 2010 AllahabadHigh Court judgment, deliveredin four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be parti-tioned equally among threeparties -- the Sunni Waqf Board,the Nirmohi Akhara and RamLalla.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Taking a serious note of thereport submitted by the stategovernment on the amountsowed by the government toTSRTC, a division bench of theTelangana High court onTuesday directed the corpora-tion MD to appear before itwith complete facts and figuresrelating to their claims. Thebench also impleaded theCentral government in thecase to respond on issues pend-ing before it to resolve theassets and liabilities of theerstwhile corporation betweenAndhra Pradesh andTelangana states as per the

Andhra PradeshReorganisation Act-2014.

The division bench madethese remarks while hearing abatch of Public InterestLitigation (PIL) petitions filedagainst the ongoing indefinitestrike of TSRTC employees.The court made some inter-

esting remarks during thearguments of the case.

Referring to its earlier(Monday's) directive to spellout the stand of the state gov-ernment to pay Rs.47 crore tothe corporation to fulfill some

of the demands of the employ-ees, the court wondered:"When the state governmentcould promise to allocate Rs100 crore budget for anAssembly constituency likeHuzurnagar (following therecent by-election), why can'tit release Rs 47 crore to meetfour demands of the strikingemployees? The case was post-ed to November 1 for furtherhearing.

Presenting its case, the stategovernment told the court thatit had so far given Rs.622crore more than what isallegedly owed to the corpora-tion.

Continued on Page 3

IIT-Hyd studentleaps to death fromhostel building PNS n HYDERABAD

A "depressed" 20-year-old BTech student of the IndianInstitute of Technology-Hyderabad allegedly leaped todeath from the hostel buildingon the campus here onTuesday.

Pichikala Siddarth, a thirdyear Computer Science andEngineering student, jumpedoff from the third floor of thehostel building around 3.25am, police said.

This is the third suicide bya student of the prestigiousinstitution this year, policesaid.

Security staff and some stu-dents who had noticed himlying unconscious initiallyrushed him to a private hos-pital. Later, he was shifted toa corporate hospital, where hedied without responding totreatment, Sangareddy dis-trict Deputy Superintendentof Police P Sridhar Reddy said.

According to police,Siddartha was depressed and,before committing theextreme act, had sent mails tosome of his friends, saying he

did not find life interestingand that his death would notmake big difference to theworld.

Continued on Page 3

‘Hindutva’ likely to takecentre-stage in civic pollsL VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Telangana Rashtra Samiti chiefand Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao's suddentalk about 'Hindutva' and'Hinduism' has created ripplesin political circles, consideringit comes just days before theissue of notification for munic-ipal elections in Telangana.

Raising everybody's eye-brows, KCR mentioned'Hindutva' issue while speakingat the Tridandi Chinna JeeyarSwamy ashram on the outskirtsof the city on Monday. KCRparticipated in the birthday cel-ebrations of Swamiji.

Since urban voters count inmunicipal polls, there is a gen-eral feeling that BJP and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi enjoyconsiderable support amongthe urban electorate.

The TRS leadership too is,therefore, viewing BJP as itsmain rival at least in themunicipal polls. TheCongress, which has been thetraditional rival of TRS in allthe elections since the forma-

tion of Telangana State in2014, no longer commandsthat position.

Although TRS won therecent Huzurnagar Assemblybypolls with a landslide major-ity; wresting the seat fromTPCC chief N Uttam KumarReddy's bastion with BJP fail-ing to retain even deposit, thepink party does not want totake BJP lightly in the munic-ipal polls in which urban vot-

ers call the shots.The TRS is yet to recover

from the shock it faced at thehands of BJP in the Lok Sabhapolls held in March.

The BJP won four LS seatsand, in the process, delivereda huge blow to KCR by defeat-ing his daughter K Kavitha inNizamabad and his close aideB Vinod Kumar inKarimnagar.

Continued on Page 3

PNS n MUMBAI

The ongoing power tusslebetween the Bharatiya JanataParty and the Shiv Sena inMaharashtra intensified onTuesday after Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis denied thatthe Uddhav Thackeray's partywas assured the CM post fortwo-and-a-half years. Hoursafter Fadnavis's comment, anangry Thackeray cancelled hisparty's scheduled meeting withthe BJP, in a move that couldfurther worsen the alreadystrained relationship betweenthe two parties.

The meeting was scheduledto be held in Mumbai at 4 pmon Tuesday, and was to be

attended by Union ministerPrakash Javadekar and seniorShiv Sena leaders.

Earlier, Fadnavis said therewas no formula to split the CMpost between the two partiesfor terms of two-and-a-half

years each. However,Thackeray has been insistingthat the 50:50 formula on shar-ing of power was "agreed upon"between himself, BJP chiefAmit Shah and Fadnavis aheadof the Lok Sabha polls this year.

Many Shiv Sena leaders havesuggested that the BJP sharethe post of chief minister withtheir party on a rotationalbasis, a demand unlikely to beconceded by the national party.

Earlier in the day, the ShivSena came up with an oldvideo of the CM in which hepurportedly talked about equalsharing of posts and responsi-bilities in the state government.The clip with a caption "JaraYaad karo Jabani" (Rememberthe assurance) was put out byHarshal Pradhan, a close aideof Uddhav Thackeray.

Continued on Page 3

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Jawaharnagar police onTuesday booked a case againsta trainee IPS officer on chargesof harassing his wife.

Police sources said the IPSofficer, K.VenkataMaheshwara Reddy, andB.Bhavana had a love marriagein 2018, against the wishes oftheir families. They grewintimate while studying inOsmania University.

The couple lived togetherfor some days. According toBhavana, Reddy, who wasselected for the Indian PoliceService, started harassing herfor dowry. She noticed thechange in his behaviour afterhe passed the civil services, shealleged.

Based on her complaint, acase was booked.

Venting out her emotionson a social blogging siteTwitter, Bhavana Birudala, aresident of ECIL, detailed theinjustice done to her over theyears from the genesis of theirrelationship. Police said FIRhas been registered. Earlier,the couple was called for rec-onciliation as it was a matri-monial dispute.

She alleged that her hus-band, Kokkanti VenkataMaheshwara Reddy, an IPSprobationer currently under-going foundation course train-ing at LBSNAA, cheated herfor another woman, as he isbeing offered huge dowryfrom the marriage proposal.KV Maheswara Reddy secured126 rank in UPSC examina-tion.

Bhavana, now a govern-ment employee, met VenkataMaheswara way back in 2009while they were pursuing engi-neering in OsmaniaUniversity- Hyderabad. Sincethen they have been a couple.

She shared, "Venkata and Iwere in a relationship for nineyears before we tied the knoton February 9, 2018.

Continued on Page 3

Pichikala Siddarth

n TRS sees BJP as mainrival, wary of supportfor Modi among urbanelectorate

n KCR rakes up"Hindutva" issue atJeeyar Swamy ashramahead of polls

n BJP picks up thegauntlet, to projectTRS-MIM friendship

Woman FBOassaulted inMancherialPNS n MANCHERIAL

A woman Forest Beat Officer(FBO) sustained minorinjuries when she was alleged-ly assaulted on Tuesday by afarmer and his family mem-bers for retrieving a piece ofland which they had occupiedin Chinna Lamabadi thandaunder the Kothapalli village inKannepalli mandal.

Kushnepalli Forest RangeOfficer (FRO) Govind ChandSardar said the FBO, DSwapna, suffered minorinjuries on her hand when thefarmer, identified as BaluNaik, his wife and two sonsattacked her after the forestofficer and three othersattempted to stop him fromventuring into the forest landsituated in compartmentnumber 386 and 387 underthe limits of the hamlet. Naikfled the spot when theremaining six officials thwart-ed his act, he added.

Naik and his family initiallythrew chilli powder on thefour foresters and then caughtSwapna by her hand.

Continued on Page 3

Shiv Sena cancels meeting with BJPFadnavis' denial of power-sharing formula irks Sena

Ranjan Gogoi

In the land disputecase of Ayodhya, thetop court had reservedits judgement onOctober 16

Justice SA Bobdeto be next CJI PNS n NEW DELHI

Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde,who was on Tuesday appoint-ed as the 47th Chief Justice ofIndia, has heard several keycases and is currently part ofa 5-judge Constitution benchwhich will soon deliver itsjudgement in the politicallysensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case.

Hailing from a family oflawyers from Maharashtra, hewas part of a nine-judge Benchof the Supreme Court which inAugust 2017 declared the rightto privacy as a fundamentalright of an individual.

Justice Bobde, the second

senior-most judge in the apexcourt, will succeed incum-bent Ranjan Gogoi who willdemit office on November 17.The 63-year-old judge willhave a tenure of over 17months as the CJI and is dueto retire on April 23, 2021.

Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde

The couple livedtogether for somedays. According toBhavana, Reddy, whowas selected for theIndian Police Service,started harassing herfor dowry

According to police,Siddartha wasdepressed and hadsent mails to some ofhis friends, saying hedid not find lifeinteresting and thathis death would notmake big differenceto the world

The division benchmade these remarkswhile hearing a batchof Public InterestLitigation (PIL)petitions filed againstthe ongoing indefinitestrike of TSRTCemployees

NawazuddinreceivesGolden DragonMUMBAI: ActorNawazuddin Siddiqui hasbeen honoured with the pres-tigious Golden DragonAward at the CardiffInternational Film Festivalfor excellence in cinema inthe global arena.

The "Gangs of Wasseypur"actor was presented theaward by counsel general ofWales, UK, Mick Antoniw, onSunday at an event in Cardiff.

Hollywood legend JudiDench was also honouredwith the LifetimeAchievement award at theceremony.

State eduboards to beregulatedNEW DELHI: The govern-ment's draft NationalEducation Policy (NEP) hasproposed a central regulatorfor all school boards, mean-ing the state education boardswill be regulated by a nation-al body headed by the Unionhuman resources develop-ment minister. So far, theCentre has had no supervi-sion over any board except theCentral Board of SecondaryEducation as state boards areautonomous and regulatedby state governments.

"A regulatory body willbe formed at the nationallevel, under Minister ofEducation, for all recognisedschool boards of India, forregulating assessment andevaluation norms and stan-dards.

Nawaz Shariffighting forlife: DoctorLAHORE: Nawaz Sharif is"fighting for life" after a dras-tic drop in his blood plateletcount, a media report quot-ed his personal doctor as say-ing on Tuesday, days afterPakistan's former prime min-ster was rushed from prisonto a hospital.

Sharif, 69, was admitted tothe Services Hospital onMonday night from the anti-graft body's custody after hisplatelets dropped to a criticallow level of 2,000.

Sharif 's personal physi-cian Dr Adnan Khan said ina series of tweets that "FormerPM #NawazSharif, criticallyunwell, is fighting the battlefor his health & life.

IPS trainee officer bookedfor harassing wife

HC POSER TO TS GOVT

AYODHYA TO RAFALE

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The sud-d e nupsurge

in neo rich ele-m e n t samong the

ruling YSR CongressParty members in

Andhra Pradesh could blightthe political prospects of itsMLAs. This is because manyamong the rank and file of theruling party are believed to beinvolved in the indiscriminateand illegal mining of sand atcountless reaches of rivers andrivulets all over the state.

These neo rich sections havecropped up mainly due to theunauthorized mining of sand,particularly in the absence ofa specific sand policy. Workers,particularly in the unorga-nized sector, have been left totheir own devices. The suddenmass unemployment of con-

struction workers has pushedthem to starvation. There arenearly 30 lakh constructionworkers in field who wouldhardly get two square meals aday with their daily wages.There has been no work forthem for the past 100 days, fol-lowing severe shortage of sandrequired for construction activ-ities.

Daily wage earners havebeen driven to starvation andthey are facing the worst eversituation in their lives. Manyof these labourers have resort-ed to hand loans at high inter-est rates. Two such workers arebelieved to have ended theirlives due to the devastatingimpact of unemployment.

Almost one crore plus peo-ple have been affected due tonon- availability of sand forbuilding activities, on whichmore than 30 lakh daily wage

earners depend for their liveli-hood. All this is attributed tothe absence of an official sandpolicy.

Despite having inherited afinancial mess, the state gov-ernment has managed toimplement various welfareschemes in the name of 'NavaRatnaalu' (nine gems thatformed part of the electionmanifesto of ruling YSRC). It

could not effectively do thedamage control exercise due toinfamous episodes of illegalsand mining, probably at thebehest of the cadre.

Isn't such a situation detri-mental to the political interestsof the party in future? What ishappening at the ground levelwith regard to illegal mining ofsand is obvious: the involve-ment of YSRCP's cadre?

Of course, the very sameyouth contributed their mightfor the party's success in therecent Assembly polls and thegeneral election. The 'now ornever' atmosphere prevailingthen forced the entire rank andfile of YSRC to concentratetheir efforts to the ensure

party's win. They succeededunder the local leadership i.e.those persons who contestedon party tickets. These partyworkers are engaged in illegalmining of sand with a view toliterally mint money.

The long-overdue sand pol-icy was supposed to beannounced by the governmentso as to bring down sandprices from exorbitant to nor-mal rates! Things have notpanned out on expected lines.

While the state governmenthas been dilly-dallying in final-izing the sand policy, the rankand file are 'utilising' the cali-brated stalemate to benefitthemselves. As per rough esti-mates, many party workershaving strong links with MLAsare believed to have amassedlakhs of rupees through illegalmining of sand at unauthorisedreaches. This is happening amid

'stoic silence' of the governmentmachinery, whose primeresponsibility is to protectnational wealth, probably atthe behest of persons in power.

It is strange to see that thosewho had vehemently criticisedtheir political opponents forillegal sand mining during theearlier regime and accusedthem of amassing money arenow resorting to the same tac-tics for easy money. How dopeople look at this? Can anydifference be drawn betweenthese two parties in people'sview?

The view in various circlesis people have a clear idea ofthe list of beneficiaries (neorich persons) involved in ille-gal mining of sand and theirproximity with MLAs. Theseare the people who untilrecently used to wanderthrough the streets without any

proper work to do and a cer-tain goal to achieve.

The change in political equa-tion has made them neo richin society by way of illegal min-ing. Their current style ofworking as 'party functionar-ies' is unacceptable to people.

People won't accept any-body's sudden wealth if it hasbeen acquired without visiblehard work, skill, or ingenuity.These 'rich by night' operatorsmay cause aversion towardsMLAs with whom they are inclose contact. If the MLAsconcerned take those personsalong with them, their reputa-tion would be tarnished. If theyavoid such cadre, they mightturn against the legislators.

It remains to be seen in thedays to come how the MLAswould tackle such an embar-rassing situation in the interestsof their own political future.

M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist

The sudden mass unemployment ofconstruction workers has pushed them tostarvation. There are nearly 30 lakhconstruction workers in field who wouldhardly get two square meals a day withtheir daily wages. There has been no workfor them for the past 100 days, followingsevere shortage of sand required forconstruction activities

PINPOINT

Will the neo rich among cadre prove to be nemesis of YSRCP?

PNS n HYDERABAD

Drug major GSK and theInternational AIDS VaccineInitiative (IAVI) on Tuesdaysaid the former's vaccine candi-date significantly reduced inci-dence of pulmonary tuberculo-sis disease (TB) in HIV-negativeadults with latent TB infection.

These Phase IIb resultsdemonstrate an overall vaccineefficacy of 50 per cent duringthe three years after vaccination.The candidate vaccine of GSKhas an acceptable safety andreactogenicity profile, a pressrelease said in Hyderabad.

The final results are consis-tent with the primary analysisdone after two years of follow-up and published in NewEngland Journal of Medicine inSeptember 2018, it said.

The study was conducted by

GSK with the partnership ofIAVI.

Welcoming the Phase IIbTrial results of the tuberculosis(TB) vaccine candidate of GSK(GSK/IAVI M72), Paula IFujiwara, Scientific Director ofthe International Union AgainstTuberculosis and Lung Disease(The Union), in Hyderabad onTuesday said, "We are one more

cautious but exciting step clos-er to a vaccine for tuberculosis(TB)."

'The Union' is convenor ofthe 50th Union WorldConference on Lung Healthbeing held in Hyderabad.

A vaccine is the ultimateprevention tool and the latestannouncement is welcomenews, but as researchers discuss

how to move the trial into itsfinal phase, we simultaneouslyneed to be doing all we can toprevent tuberculosis with med-ications that we already have atour disposal, the release quot-ed Fujiwara as saying.

India has the highest TBburden in the world accountingfor just over one in four ofall estimated globalcases.

The union govern-ment has made thefight against TB acentral priority andboldly pledged to endTB by 2025, five yearsbefore the globally agreed tar-get, it said.

Thomas Breuer, ChiefMedical Officer of GSKVaccines, said these resultsdemonstrated that for thefirst time in almost a centu-

ry, the global communitypotentially has a new tool tohelp provide protectionagainst TB.

"I want to thank our scientistsfor their dedicated effort andscientific innovation in develop-ing this impactful vaccine can-didate in partnership with IAVI

and other key organisa-tions, he said.

Meanwhile, anotherrelease said VicePresident MVenkaiah Naidu willbe the Chief Guest of

the 50th Union WorldConference on Lung

Health at the opening ceremo-ny on October 30.

Film and television actressClaire Forlani has accepted arole as ambassador for TheUnion and will also speak at theceremony.

TB vaccine Phase II-b trial results encouraging: GSK

Missing girlstudentstracedPNS n KALWAKURTHY

Girl students of a localgurukul, who went missing onSaturday, were found atAmrabad in Mahabubnagaron Monday night. The fourstudents Rajeshwari, Pavani,Sujatha, Nageswari who arestudying in Class IX in thegurukul in Kalwakurthy, hadleft their school along withtheir belongings on October26 night. The same night, thegirls were seen at Kalwakurthybus stand, the CCTV camerasat bus station captured them.On receiving the complaint,the police registered a case andinitiated a search for the girlson Monday.

Man washedaway in NSP canalPNS n NALGONDA

One person was washed awayin the Left Canal of NagarjunaSagar Project at Vemulapallyin the district on Tuesdaymorning. The victim wasidentified as ShakinalaAnjaiah, a native ofShettipalem village.

The victim accidentallyslipped into the water whilebathing in the canal.Vemulapally police reachedthe spot and have taken upsearch for the body.

TS to set up ‘Neera'stalls across statel Licence for production of drink, which has medicinal value,will only be given to toddy tappers from Goud communityPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana government willsoon open 'Neera' stalls acrossthe state, starting withHyderabad. Ministers KTRama Rao, T Harish Rao andV Srinivas Goud unveiled anew policy on the sale of Neeraon Monday.

Neera is a drink extractedfrom toddy palm, which turnsinto toddy on fermentation.

The Neera stalls will be setup first in Hyderabad, along theOuter Ring Road, while thefirst stall is expected to beopened near Tank Bund. Theproduction and sale of Neerawill then be extended to all dis-tricts of Telangana in a phasedmanner. The idea of sellingother food items fromTelangana at the stalls was alsofloated.

The licence for productionand sale of Neera will only begiven to members of the Goudcommunity. Excise MinisterSrinivas Goud said that the ini-tiative will provide livelihood tomembers of toddy tapper com-munities.

Talking about the advantagesof the initiative, Srinivas Goudsaid that apart from providinglivelihood, the medicinal valueof the drink will also benefitpeople. The minister saidNeera is proven to help reducediabetes. "Neera has been pro-duced in Telangana for hun-dreds of years. Chemical labreports have shown that it hasmedicinal properties," saidGoud.

He said that the production,supply and sale of the drink arehigh in countries likeCambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia

and Sri Lanka, with the US alsorecently starting the practice.

Thanking Chief MinisterKCR for fulfilling his electionpromise, Goud also said thatunder KCR's leadership, caste-based occupations will berestored to their 'former glory'.Besides, welfare programmeswill be implemented for allcaste-based occupations, as "80percent of the population isdependent on these profes-sions." It was also announcedthat self-respect 'bhavans' willbe constructed in Hyderabadfor all castes.

Ministers KT Rama Rao, T Harish Rao and V Srinivas Goud being greeted afterthey unveiled a new policy on sale of Neera

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

BC Welfare and CivilSupplies Minister GangulaKamalakar on Tuesday exud-ed confidence that theHuzurnagar by-poll resultswould be repeated in themunicipal elections acrossthe State.

"Not only the municipalelections, the TRS will sweepall elections in the future," theMinister said, addressing themedia here.

The opposition parties, hesaid, were unable to take thefaith reposed by the public onthe TRS government, andwere hence making baselessand false allegations againstthe ruling party. "People have

once against expressed theirtrust on the government byensuring the victory of theTRS candidate with a thump-ing majority in the recentHuzurnagar by-poll. Theparty will capture a majorityof the municipalities in thestate," he said.

Nurse dies inroad accident

8 injured asAPSRTC busturns turtlePNS n NALGONDA

Passengers travelling by anAPSRTC bus had a narrowescape on Tuesday when thevehicle went off the road intoa roadside agriculture field, hitan electricity pole and turnedturtle at Shettipalem ofVemulapally mandal in the dis-trict. Eight passengers receivedminor injuries in the accident.The bus was bound forPiduguralla from Hyderabad.The passengers had a narrowescape since power supplysnapped after the bus hit theelectricity pole.

PNS n HNIZAMABAD

An auxiliary nurse and mid-wife (ANM) attached to theNallavelli Primary HealthCentre died when a carrammed into her two-wheel-er at Wesley Nagar Tanda inthe district on Tuesday.

Biyya Ganga Jamuna, anative of Mentrajpally villageof Dichpally mandal, was onher way to work when thespeeding vehicle hit her two-wheeler, resulting in seriousinjuries. She died on the spot.She is survived by an eight-year-old daughter. Following acomplaint lodged by her fatherBiyya Gangadhar, police reg-istered a case and have begunan enquiry.

PNS n BHONGIR

Minister for Excise V SrinivasGoud on Tuesday said that allsections of society in the statewere leading a happy life as thewelfare schemes of the stategovernment were reaching allneedy persons. Srinivas Goudwas speaking after visiting theSri Lakshminarsimha Swamytemple on Yadadri hill shrinewhere he participated in specialpooja programme. The templepriests welcomed the Ministerwith Purna Kumbham on hisarrival at the temple.

Later, speaking to the media,Goud said the state govern-ment had taken up develop-ment of Yadadri SriLakshminarsimha Swamy tem-ple as a prestigious project.Yadadri would emerge as oneof the top Hindu pilgrimagecentres in the country becauseof the initiatives taken up byChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, he said.

Pointing out that the stategovernment had taken up ini-tiatives for the welfare of all sec-tions of society, he said the wel-fare schemes had resulted inuplift of the downtrodden sec-tions in the State.

Coming down heavily on theopposition parties, he said they

indulged in mudslingingagainst the TRS governmentonly for their own politicalgains. "The people ofHuzurnagar taught them a les-son in the recent by-electionfrom the constituency," headded. Rajya Sabha memberBadugula Lingaiah Yadav, AlairMLA Gongidi Sunitha andtemple Executive Officer NGeetha were also present.

All sections of societyhappy under TRS rule:Srinivas Goud

The State Govt hadtaken up developmentof Yadadri Sri

LakshminarsimhaSwamy temple as a prestigiousproject. Yadadri would emerge asone of the top Hindu pilgrimagecentres in the country because ofthe initiatives taken up by CM K Chandrasekhar Rao— V SRINIVAS GOUD, Minister for Excise

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana and districts ofRayalseema will receive moder-ate to heavy rainfall in the next48 hours. The IndianMeteorological Department, inits fresh forecast, issued an'orange alert' for the two Teluguspeaking states, barring dis-tricts in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Entire Telangana andRayalseema will receive heavyrainfall accompanied by a thun-derstorm on October 30 and 31.The rain is a result of a conflu-ence zone formed aboveTelangana. Chief meteorologistwith Skymet, Mahesh Palawatsaid, "The humid winds fromBay of Bengal and the drywinds originating from thenorth-eastern part of India haveconfluence forming rain cloudsover Telangana and part of

Vidharbha. This will subse-quently lead to moderate rains."

Also, there is a well-markedlow pressure over the Sri Lankacoast, the state of Kerala andTamil Nadu are likely to receiveheavy rainfall. The low markedpressure will subsequently turninto a depression which will

move to Lakshadweep andOman, he said. On reports ofCyclone Kyaar affecting south-ern states, officials said thatthere is no direct effect on TSand AP. "The cyclone is movingaway from the Indian coast,"added an official. Telangana hasreceived 69 per cent excess

rainfall in October. For this timeof the year, the average rainfallis 90.5 mm but the statereceived 152.5 mm.

The districts in coastal APreceived excess rainfall of 28 percent, while Rayalseema which isconsidered as a dry bed, gotexcess of rainfall of 22 per cent.

TS, Rayalseema to get rains over next 2 daysH'nagar result will repeatin civic polls: Gangula Entire Telangana

and Rayalseemawill receive heavy rainfallaccompanied by athunderstorm onOctober 30 and 31.The rain is a resultof a confluencezone formed aboveTelangana

VRA killed in lightningstrike in KamareddyPNS n KAMAREDDY

A Village Revenue Assistantdied when he was struck bylightning at Bollaram village ofKamareddy district on Mondaynight.

Anjaiah (45) was working asVRA of Bollaram village ofNagireddypet mandal. He was

asleep in a hut in his paddy fieldwhen lightning struck the hut.Anjaiah died on the spot.

Nagireddypet police regis-tered a case following a com-plaint lodged by his familymembers and have taken upinvestigation. His body wassent to Yellareddy GovernmentHospital for postmortem.

Paddy crop damaged asflood water enters fieldsl Water flows over sluice gates atKalyani project after heavy rainsPNS n KAMAREDDY

Paddy crops were submerged inhundreds of acres in Yellareddyand surrounding mandals ofKamareddy district on Tuesdaywhen flood water from theKalyani irrigation projectflowed over the sluice gatessince the authorities did notopen the flood gates on time.

With Yellareddy mandalrecording close to 7 cm ofrainfall on Monday night,Kalyani stream was gushingwith flood waters that over-flowed from the road bridgebetween Thimmareddy andYellareddy. People could noteven cross the road because ofthe overflowing water.

With inflows into Kalyaniproject touching 5,000 cusecs,

project AE Shiva Kumar and histeam tried to lift the projectgates, but failed in their efforts.Subsequently, the water beganflowing over the project floodgates and the backwatersentered the fields in nearbyYellareddy and surroundingvillages.

Nizamsagar Deputy EEDattadri rushed to the spot andassisted in lifting all the sevengates of Kalyani project torelease 4,000 cusecs of floodwater into river Manjira andanother 500 cusecs intoNizamsagar project maincanal.

Srinivas, a farmer fromYellareddy, said the mandalwitnessed heavy rains onMonday leading to heavyinflows into Kalyani project.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 30, 2019 hyderabad 03

City police commissioner Anjani Kumar is dwarfed by the prize winning buffalo'Sartaaj' from Haryana, which is participating in the ‘Sadar’ festival in the city.Sartaaj stands 7 feet tall and weighs 1,600 kg.

RIMEORNERC

Touts arrested, ticketsworth Rs 14 L seized

Woman hangs self after husband’sharassment

HYDERABAD: To curb themenace of black-marketing ofpassenger reservation ticketsand to facilitate hassle freejourney to bonafide passengersduring festival season, specialdrives were conducted against e-ticketing touting by SouthCentral Railway. GM Eswara Rao,IG of RPF said simultaneousraids were conducted atWarangal, Yadgir, Raichur,Bapatla, Twin Cities, in AP,Telangana and Karnataka statesfalling in South Central Railwayjurisdiction." Some 25 touts werebooked under section 143 of theRailway Act in the raids and 206live tickets and 840 post-journeye-tickets worth Rs 14, 50,880were seized. The personal userIDs used by touts are being sentto IRCTC for deactivationimmediately. RPF administrationof South Central Railway iscommitted to take stringentaction against touting activitiesand passengers are beingcautioned not to purchaserailway reservation tickets fromunauthorized travel agents.

HYDERABAD: A newly-wedwoman committed suicide atBapunagar on Monday nightallegedly that due to harassmentfrom her husband and in-laws.The deceased, Mobeen KhaledaBegum, had got married a monthago. According to the police, shecame to her parents’ house andcommitted suicide by hangingherself to a ceiling fan. The police,who were informed, shifted thebody for postmortem. Thevictim’s parents alleged thatMobeen took an extreme step dueto the harassment of her husbandand in-laws. The Amberpet policeregistered a case under section174 of the IPC police and areinvestigating.

Gangsters detainedunder PD ActHYDERABAD: Six members ofImran gang, who had allegedlyattacked several people anddamaged properties in NawabSahab Kunta and Kalapather inMay, were detained under the PDAct by the city police. The gangmembers were identified asMohd Ibrahim (involved in 12cases), Mohammed Majeeduddinalias Shimlan (involved in 14cases), Mohd Khader (10 cases),Imran Ahmed (9 cases), GhulamMustafa (8 cases) and MohdYounus Hussain (8 cases) haddamaged public property andattacked passersby on May 1.The gang resorted to violenceafter police arrested one of theirassociates for his allegedinvolvement in a case of arson inApril. Following the incident, thepolice had booked six cases andarrested the gang members forattempt to murder, arson andrioting.Hyderabad City PoliceCommissioner Anjani Kumarinvoked PD Act against six of thegang members. The orders wereserved on them while they werelodged at the Central Prison inChanchalguda.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A wish of becoming PoliceCommissioner for a day cametrue for a teenager battling withcancer on Tuesday. A Ramya, 17,a second-year Intermediate stu-dent from Alwal, became thepolice commissioner ofRachakonda for a day through'Make a Wish' foundation.

Ramya was given the guard ofhonor by Mahesh Bhagwat,Rachakonda Commissioner ofPolice. Ramya, daughter ofNarsimha and Padma, studies in

Sri Chaitanya College Suchitrain Medchal district.

"She is bright, active, confi-dent, and fighting blood cancer(leukemia) bravely. Dr Kiran ofoncology department in NIMSis treating her," said MaheshBhagwat. Taking charge as theCommissioner, Ramya said shewould like to solve law and orderproblems in the city, createfriendly police atmosphere inRachakonda and that bringgood name to theCommissionerate.

Addressing the media, she

said she was feeling ecstaticabout being police commis-sioner and that she wanted toincrease the number of SHETeams and patrolling parties.

Mahesh Bhagwat IPS, andSudheer Babu IPS, AddlCommissioner of PoliceRachakonda wished Ramya aspeedy recovery and gave hersome financial assistance foremergencies. This is secondinstance of CP Rachakonda ful-filling the wish of a child. In2017, a boy Ehsan was madeCommissioner for a day.

Teen battling cancer becomes Rachakonda CP for day

Inter student Ramya occupies the Commissioner's chair at the Rachakonda policecommissionerate on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

The principal of SriChaitanya IIT Academy inKukatpally was booked bypolice for punching a stu-dent.

According to the police,the parents of the 16-year-oldboy lodged a complaint withthe police who registered acase against the principal.The boy, an MPC student,was allegedly punched inthe stomach multiple timeson Friday afternoon whenthe boy was standing in thecorridor with his classmates.

The boy's parents told thepolice that their son is beingtargeted by the principal forthe last two months after hereportedly had a tiff with theprincipal.

Police registered a caseunder sections 323(Punishment for voluntarilycausing hurt), 504(Intentional insult with intentto provoke breach of thepeace) of IPC and section 82of the Juvenile Justice actagainst Haribabu, the prin-cipal of the college. Police areverifying CCTV footage inthe incident.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Commissioner's TaskForce, North Zone teamnabbed two youngsters whohad snatched a cell phonefrom a person and sped awayon their two-wheeler onMonday. The arrested personshave been identified as 19-year-old Erjala Dinaker and20-year-old ManamgariNagaraju. While Dinaker is acourier driver, Nagaraju is acar mechanic, said the police.

The police received a com-plaint from a 42-year-oldman who said that onOctober 12 while he waswaiting for a cab atTrimulgherry, two unidenti-fied bike borne persons cameand stole his cell phone fromhis hands and fled the scene.Based on his complaint, theTrimulgherry police regis-tered a case.

According to the police,Dinaker and Nagaraju are

friends residing in JawaharNagar and consume liquorand toddy regularly. As theirincome wasn't sufficient fortheir expenses, they decidedto steal phones and sell themto earn easy money. As pertheir plan, on the night of12th October, the duo in thenight hours on 12-10-2019the accused persons met atopen ground near BalajiNagar, consumed Beer and

decided to snatching cellphone from the road passersand sharing the amount.

The duo the consumedalcohol and stole the mobileof the complainant, who waschecking the status of theOLA Cab on his mobilephone at Tirumalgher y.Nagaraju was riding the bikewhile Dinaker sat on the pil-lion, stole the cell phone andsped away.

Off icials of theTrimulgherry Police verifiedfootages from CCTV camerasand were able to identify theaccused. The two werenabbed while they were try-ing to sell the stolen cellphone. The police seized thecell phone and the bike thatwas used in the crime fromtheir possession.

The accused persons alongwith seized material werehanded over to SHO,Trimulgherry PS for furtherinvestigation.

Dinaker and Nagaraju in police custody

Youths accused of snatchingcell phone arrested

PNS n HYDERABAD

The GHMC raided Chennaishopping mall and Ratnadeepsupermarket in Mehdipatnamon Tuesday over issues relat-ed to trade licenses and single-use plastic.

GHMC officials carried outraids on several shops andbusinesses at MehdipatnamCircle as part of the driveagainst single-use plastic.More Supermarket at theNMDC near Vijaynagarcolony was fined Rs 25,000 fornot providing parking space.Officials also sealed Ratnadeepfor using plastic bags.

Chennai Silks ShoppingMall in Mehdipatnam wasraided for operating without atrade license, RS Brothers

store in area was fined forusing single-use plastic.

The inspections were con-ducted by Khairatabad zonalcommissioner Musharraf Ali.Medipatnam deputy commis-sioner Inkeshaf Ali and med-ical officer Bajaj Qasim saidThe GHMC would continueits special drives over thecoming days too.

Principalbooked forpunchingstudent

TALL, DDARK && MMASSIVE

Trial of Hajipur serialrapist-killer beginsl Notorious criminal had kidnapped, raped andmurdered three girls in Hajipur villagePNS n HYDERABAD

The trial of Marri SrinivasReddy, who kidnapped, rapedand murdered three girls inHajipur village, started at a dis-trict court in Nalgonda onMonday. The trial for Hajipurserial rape case will first addressthe case of 12-year-old, the firstvictim who went missing since2015.

The accused, an alleged ser-ial rapist and killer, targetedlonely girls and under the pre-text of offering them a lifthome, would abduct and rapethem. In April 2015, theaccused provided a lift to the12-year-old, who was returningfrom school, sexually assault-ed and killed her.

In March 2019, he similarlyraped and killed a 17-year-oldgirl who was returning fromcollege. Days later on April 22,Srinivas Reddy targeted a ClassX student who was returningfrom her school and tried toforce himself on the girl. When

the girl resisted, he threw herdown a 50-feet dry well. Helater got down the well andraped the dead girl. Theaccused, who was inebriated,

left the girl's school bag next tothe well. The girl's bag wasfound near the well the nextday. This led the investigationteam to her body. Further, theteam identified Srinivas Reddyas the owner of the land anddetained him. On enquiry, theaccused also admitted to rap-ing and burying the other twovictims in the same well.

Fingerprints and DNAfrom bloodstains from thevictims' dress, and theaccused's mobile signal fromthe crime scene helped theinvestigation officials to crackthe case and link SrinivasReddy to the crimes.

In March 2019, he raped and killed a17-year-old girl who was returningfrom college. Days later on April 22,Srinivas Reddy targeted a Class Xstudent who was returning fromschool and tried to force himself on her

Malls, stores raided overplastic use, trade licenses

PNS n HYDERABAD

One of the biggest issues forpeople living in the by-lanesof Hyderabad is the over-flowing trash bins whicharen't cleaned up on a regularbasis. Another place wheregarbage collects is around busstops, which again remain lit-tered and make it difficult forcommuters to stand therewaiting for a bus.

One of the biggest and dirt-iest bus stops is the one atBanjara Hills oppositeVirinchi Hospital. The lakenext to the bus stop is full ofplastic covers and other trash,and doesn't get cleaned upeven after a number of com-plaints. During SwachhSurvekshan, the GHMC cov-ered the entire lake with hugehoardings to not let the judgesnotice the filth in the water.

Apart from this, many by-lanes are not cleaned up forweeks and trash cans lie fulllike at those near City College,Dilsukh Nagar,Gudimalkapur, Old City andother areas. Among the many

waiting at the bus stop atBanjara Hills was Shoba Rani,who said, "This is my everyday stop and I have to covermy face and stand here till Iget into a bus. We have com-plained about this on theGHMC app and even calledthe helpline numbers, butnothing changes. In fact moreand more people trash getsdumped here." Rahul Kumar,a student added, "Due to this,people fall sick and loseattending college or work."

A resident of

Gudimalkapur, Sai Kumar,said, "There are two big binsnear my house and everytime they are filled up and noone clears it for a weak, peo-ple start throwing the trashnext to the bin. We need reg-ular cleaning of the publictrash bins."

When contacted, a GHMCofficial said, "We have givenan order to clean the trashbins regularly and see to it thatit is done. We will look intothe issues and see what bestcan be done."

Overflowing trash binsremain an eyesore

Continued on Page 1Keeping this in mind, the

TRS' boss doesn't want to giveany scope for complacency andwants to check the growth ofBJP in Telangana.

TRS feels BJP has the poten-tial to grow into a big force bythe next Assembly elections in2023, if it is allowed to win agood number of seats in themunicipal elections.

Since BJP's poll plank hasmostly been "Hindutva", KCRwants to counter it with his ownHindutva card. Therefore, hiscomments in Swamiji's ashramare being viewed as part of thisnew strategy. That KCR hadcivic polls in mind was evidentfrom his forceful comments onthe importance of Hindu cul-ture and traditions.

In a bid to counter the cam-paign of the BJP and the SanghParivar against TRS joininghands with MIM, KCR saidthere would be no threat toHinduism and Hindutva inTelangana as long as he was in

power. "If at all Hinduism facesany danger anytime, seers likeChinna Jeeyar Swamy are thereto safeguard the traditions andcustoms of Hindus and spreadHindutva across the country.Haindava Dharma will remainsafe and secure under suchpowerful seers," he said.

Chinna Jeeyar Swamy toopraised KCR, terming him as an'ardent Hindu'. The Jeeyarwent on to add that, unlikeother politicians who wereafraid of talking about God andreligion in public, KCR hadnever concealed his faith andnever put up a pseudo secularimage. "He belongs to a rare

breed of politicians who havestaunch faith in Dharma andReligion. He has set an exam-ple by performing manyyagams. He has also been focus-ing attention on development oftemples in the state," JeeyarSwamy said.

With Jeeyar Swamy endors-ing his credentials, KCR tried tosend out a strong messageamong the Hindus that he hadthe backing of peethadhipathisand spiritual leaders. KCRwants to prove ahead of themunicipal polls that he is astronger Hindu than the BJPleaders who claim to be thechampions of Hindutva.

‘Hindutva’ likely to takecentre-stage in municipal polls

Since BJP's poll plank has mostlybeen "Hindutva", KCR wants tocounter it with his own Hindutva card.Therefore, his comments in Swamiji'sashram are being viewed as part ofthis new strategy

Continued on Page 1

"Life rather seems depress-ing I have no clue how myfuture is going to be. I havebeen feeling this for the pasttwo months. Also the coursesare going bad for me. I couldnot concentrate well..., he pur-portedly wrote in the mail tohis friends.

The institute, located inSangareddy district, about 50

km from here, condoled thedeath of Siddarth.

"IIT Hyderabad faculty, staffand students extend their deep-est condolences to the family,friends and other near anddear ones of the deceased stu-dent. This is indeed anirreparable loss to the instituteand the family. May his soulrest in peace," it said in arelease.

Siddarth, hailing from the

city, is the third student of IIT-Hyderabad to take his life thisyear.

Earlier in July, Mark AndrewCharles, a native of Varanasidistrict in Uttar Pradesh and afinal year Master's student,committed suicide by hanging.

On January 31, M. Anirudh,a third year Mechanical andAerospace Engineering stu-dent, ended his life by jumpingoff the hostel building.

IIT-Hyd student leaps to death from hostel building

Continued on Page 1

According to the CBI offi-cials, the case is related to Rs194 crore losses caused tothe Minerals and MetalsTrading Corporation(MMTC)t h r o u g ha l l e g e dfraudulentt r a n s a c -tions anddeceitful conduct.

Earlier in 2013, Guptaand a senior official ofMMTC, K Ravi Prasad werearrested for alleged irregu-larities in gold imports anddefault in payment, worthover Rs 200 crore, the seniorCBI official said. However,Gupta was reportedly notappearing before the inves-tigating officers, citing thathe was attending meetingsin Dubai.

They were arrested afterirregularities in gold importsduring 2010-11 were detect-ed, besides an alleged pay-ment default by SukeshGupta to the state-ownedMMTC.

Hyd Policedetains MBSJewellers MD

Continued on Page 1

When we first met at theUniversity, it started … whenhe wanted to be friends withme, gradually he liked me.Later, he said he loved me andpromised to marry me," recallsBhavana, while sharing herordeal.

"He even said that he can'tlive without me, but now he sayshe got another match and theyare offering him huge dowry.Before he cleared UPSC, heconvinced me by saying that he

wanted to get a good job beforemarrying me and needs mysupport financially. I did every-thing possible to support him,but now suddenly he changedafter clearing UPSC".

28-year-old VenkataMaheshwara Reddy, who hailsfrom Kadapa district in AndhraPradesh, cleared UPSC examsin the year 2019. He secured126 All India Rank (AIR). Heis the youngest child of his par-ents who are into farming. Heis holds a degree from IITMumbai.

Bhavana explained the cycleof events after he cleared hisUPSC. "In July, he told me thaton becoming an IPS proba-tioner, he received marriageproposals offering him hugedowry and now he wants toremarry and is insisting that wedivorce. I was really shocked tohear this from him. I sacrificeda lot to support him for his stud-ies until he became crackedUPSC . Now he wants to leaveand marry another woman formoney. This is best example ofhow money and power change

people. I demand justice nowand want my family's safety atevery cost as he is more pow-erful now".

The woman is seeking secu-rity from the police as she fearsthat her husband Venkata mightpull few strings to shut herdown. The IPS cheats wife casewill have to be now investigat-ed says police.

"He threatened me stating, hemet all the top police officialsof Hyderabad. And that nobodywould help me. He also sentgoons to my home,” she added.

IPS trainee booked for harassing wife

Shiva Senacancels meetwith BJP

Continued on Page 1

There were reports thatAmit Shah might visitMumbai and hold talks withThackeray to settle the berthpangs in government forma-tion. However, Fadnavisannounced that Shah wouldnot be attending the BJP leg-islature party meeting onWednesday.

The power tussle betweenthe saffron allies began soonafter the results of the assem-bly elections were out onOctober 24, with the BJP fail-ing to reach the halfwaymark on its own and the Senademanding for an equaldivision of power.

Rs 100 cr forH’nagar? Why not Rs47 cr for RTC staff?

Continued on Page 1

It also told the court thatthe arrears pertaining toreimbursement of variouskinds of subsidies were pend-ing with the central govern-ment as per theReorganisation Act andadded that the amount wouldhave to be borne by theAndhra Pradesh andTelangana states in the ratioof 58:42. It also made it clearthat it would not pay the stat-ed ?47 crore, prompting thecourt to remark that thestate government was behav-ing in an "over smart" manner.

Woman FBOassaulted inMancherial

Continued on Page 1

She suffered injurieswhen the bangles she waswearing broke in the tus-sle. She was rushed to ahospital in Bellampalli.Her condition was statedto be stable. He addedthat 10 forest officialswere present at the time ofthe incident.

According to the FRO,the foresters cautionedNaik not to encroach onforest land since they hadplanted cotton crop inthe same land last year.Still, he tilled it and sowedsesame seeds and planted50 mango saplings in fiveacres of land this time,Sardar said, adding that acomplaint had beenlodged with the policeagainst the farmer andhis family members.

It is learnt that Srinivas,the son of Naik, hasalready been arrested.Efforts are on to arrest thethree others.

Accused Marri Srinivas Reddy

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 30, 2019 hyderabad 04

CAPSULE

K VENKATESHWARLUn HYDERABAD

TPCC chief N Uttam KumarReddy on Tuesday said hewould not blame anyone forthe party's defeat inHuzurnagar by-election, mak-ing it clear that he will own thesole responsibility of the defeatof party candidate NPadmavathi Reddy inHuzurnagar by-election. UttamKumar explained the reasonsfor the defeat of party candi-date to the Telangana CongressCore Committee meeting heldat Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday.He said that the Congressparty received about 70,000votes even though the rulingparty network worked strong-ly in the by-election, sourcessaid.

The Party Core Committeemeeting discussed theHuzurnagar by-election deba-cle and the Pragati Bhavansiege programme of the partyin support of the striking RTCemployees. Party senior leaderV Hanumantha Rao expressedanger over party leaders par-ticipating in the Pragati Bhavanseige, it is learnt.

VH opined that the partyhad is being seen as having lostits discipline by conducting thePragati Bhavan siege unilater-ally without consulting anysenior leaders of the party.According to sources, VH alsodemanded the CoreCommittee to initiate actionagainst the persons who vio-

lated party discipline in thisregard.

It is learnt that VH suggest-ed the Core Committee to ini-tiate steps to strengthen theparty. Indirectly targetingTPCC working president andMalkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy with regard to thePragati Bhavan episode, VHquestioned the CoreCommittee meeting on party

condition and discipline.Sources said that VH asked theparty leadership to act againstleaders who are encouragingtheir supporters to insult theparty senior leaders on socialmedia. VH pulled up AICC in-charge RC Khuntia over theparty's stagnant growth insteadof simply coming on nominalvisits while the party continuesto be in trouble currently.

After Core Committeemeeting, the party organised anextended executive committeemeeting. Speaking on the occa-sion, TPCC Chief N UttamKumar Reddy alleged that thenation's economy was in dan-ger owing to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's lack of under-standing of the complex issuesinvolved. He said that thematerial, which was being pre-pared by the party leadersDasoju Sravan, K Hari Prasadand Amer Javed, would besent to TPCC members andDCC chiefs. Uttam Kumarsaid the party would conductpress meets on November 6 onthe economic condition of thestate and central governments.

The TPCC chief said that the

Congress would conduct dhar-nas in front of Collectoratesacross the state to protest thestate and central governments'mismanagement of the econo-my. The party would also orga-nize a Padayatra on November15 from Gandhi Bhavan toHyderabad collectorate on theissue, he said, adding thatparty leaders would participatein RTC JAC's Sakala JanulaSamarabheri public meeting tobe held at Saroor NagarGrounds on October 30.

Requesting the state gov-ernment to allocate land forthe Congress party office inHyderabad, Uttam said thatthe government must allocateland for the Congress partyoffices in district headquartersin the state too, similar to TRSparty offices set up in thestate.

AICC general secretary in-charge RC Khuntia, AICCsecretaries -- Bose Raju,Srinivasa Krishnan, SaleemAhmed, AICC off icialspokespersons Prof GouravVallabh and Dasoju Sravan -and senior party leaders KJana Reddy, V HanumanthaRao, Ponnala Laxmaiah, GChinna Reddy, Shabbir Ali,Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, DSridhar Babu, Seethakka,Podem Veeraiah, TPCC work-ing presidents - A RevanthReddy, Jetti Kusuma Kumar,Ponnam Prabhakar, formerMLAs, MLCs, DCC presi-dents, PCC secretaries attend-ed the meeting.

VH slams Pragati Bhavan siege,says party losing discipline Uttam Kumar owns responsibility for Huzurnagar defeat at Congress' core panel meet

Senior Congress leaders at Gandhi Bhavan on Tuesday

Indirectly targeting TPCC workingpresident and Malkajgiri MP A RevanthReddy with regard to the Pragati Bhavanepisode, VH questioned the CoreCommittee meeting on the state party’sdismal condition and discipline

KTR to kick off devptworks in HuzurnagarWill visit H’nagar on Nov 1 toshow gratitude for backing TRSPNS n HYDERABAD

Municipal AdministrationMinister and TRS workingpresident KT Rama Rao willvisit Huzurnagar onNovember 1 and will lay foun-dation stones for several devel-opment works in the con-stituency, apparently in a showof gratitude.

Chief Minister KCR hasalready visited Huzurnagar tothank the people for aresounding victory and madeseveral promises for the con-stituency. Now KTR will fol-low it up by flagging off devel-opment works in the con-stituency. Power Minister GJagadish Reddy and newlyelected MLA Saidi Reddy havealready jumped into the job ofplanning for KTR'sHuzurnagar visit. Both theleaders held a meeting withofficials to discuss on the newworks to be initiated by KTR.

"Huzurnagar people havegiven a thumping victory toTRS at a very crucial time andreposed faith in CM KCR.Even the CM has thanked peo-ple and announced that hewill develop Huzurnagar con-stituency in all aspects. KCR hasnever gone back on his wordsand he has directed us toimmediately start the requireddevelopment works. We haveprepared a route map for thecomprehensive developmentof Huzurnagar. We have decid-ed to initially work on roadsand drainage system. MunicipalAdministration Minister KT

Rama Rao will lay foundationfor new roads and drains worksduring his visit," said PowerMinister G Jagadish Reddy.

"Huzurnagar has beenseverely neglected over thepast few years and lacks evenbasic facilities. Therefore ourimmediate focus is on to cre-ate basic infrastructure facili-ties. We have charted out aroute map and will take updevelopment works on a pri-ority basis. Roads, drains, cen-tral lighting system and otherworks will be taken up imme-diately,” said Huzurnagar MLASaidi Reddy.

CPI complains to DGP over ‘police excesses’ PNS n HYDERABAD

CPI leaders Dr K Narayanaand Chada Venkat Reddyslammed the police for foilinged-MLA KunamneniSambasiva Rao's indefinitehunger strike and claimed thatthe police disrupted the hungerstrike by entering intoMaqdhoom Bhavan onOctober 27 night. They saidthe police behaved rudely withtheir leaders.

The CPI took out a rally'Chalo DGP Office' fromMaqdhoom Bhavan to DGPoffice wearing black clothes onTuesday. At the DGP office,Narayana and Chada met stateDGP M Mahender Reddy andlodged a complaint on theissue. Later, Narayana andChada said they told the DGPthat the behavior of the policeneeds to change.

The CPI leaders said that thepolice action was high-hand-ed and their behavior towardsformer MLA Kunamneni wasimproper. They said that theyhope that DGP would takeaction against the "atrociousbehavior" of the personneltowards Kunamneni or elsethey would take up an agitationagainst the police.

On the other hand, thepolice made adequate arrange-ments by deploying a strongforce at DGP office.Incidentally, a short-circuitoccurred at the DGP's officewhen Narayana and Chadawere meeting the police in hischamber.

On fourth day ofKunamneni's hunger strike,CPM state secretaryThammineni Veerabhadram,CPI leaders Dr K Narayana,Chada Venkat Reddy, Teachers

Constituency MLC A NarsiReddy, CPI BhadradriKothagudem district secretarySaber Pasha, AISF state presi-dent and secretary N AshokStallion, Shivaramakrishna andseveral others called onKunamneni in NIMS.

In the evening the NIMSreleased a health bulletin inregard to Kunamneni's healthcondition stating that theyadmitted Kunamneni underemergency department as heneeds medication.

CPI members raise slogans during a ‘Chalo DGP Office' rally they took out in thecity on Tuesday

Security up at DGPoffice after CPIprotest callHYDERABAD: The city policebeefed up security around theoffice of Director General ofPolice following a call given bythe Communist Party of Indiato lay siege to the building.

The Communist Party ofIndia and its affiliates areprotesting against the"storming" of policemen intoMakhdoom Bhavan, the CPIoffice at Musheerabad onSunday night. K SambasivaRao, CPI leader, who was onhunger strike in support ofthe TSRTC employees, wastaken into custody andshifted to a hospital by thepolice. The CPI leaderscondemned entering of thepolice into its stateheadquarters.Following theprotest, the police beefed upsecurity at CPI office atMusheerabad and DGP officeat Lakdi-ka-Pul. Policemenwere also posted in largenumbers at the police controlroom and the Secretariat toprevent the CPI activists fromreaching the DGP office.

Modi making nation ‘dumpyard' for Chinese goods: AICC PNS n HYDERABAD

AICC official spokespersonProf Gourav Vallabh onTuesday alleged that thenation has been transforminginto a 'dump yard' of Chinesegoods due to the agreementswith that nation.

He alleged that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hasdestroyed the Indian econo-my with his bad decisions,adding that the PM has takenthe nation from the much-touted 'make in India' to 'salein India'. People are facingtrouble due to lack of funds,

he claimed that Modi will"shake the Indian economyfor third time" in the forth-coming month of November.

AICC spokespersonclaimed the BJP leaders gavea call on Diwali not to buyChinese goods, but on theother days the governmentitself imports Chinese goodswithout tax. It was very wrongon the part of the central gov-ernment to increase tax onessential goods of daily useand decreasing tax on luxurygoods, Vallabh alleged.

Addressing the media atGandhi Bhavan along with

another AICC off icialspokesperson Dasoju Sravanand AICC member SASampath Kumar on Tuesday,Vallabh said that the nationwas already in down on tradeissues and would face furtherproblems with business withChina.

Reminding the audience ofthe PM's assurance that farm-ers would not have to "shedtears" from 2022 onwards,Vallabh demanded to knowhow the PM would be helpthe farmers when China isselling its goods in Indiaindiscriminately.

AICC spokesperson Gourav Vallabh addresses the media on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

After Union ministry ofhealth and family welfarefound that more than 70 lakhpeople die of burn relatedinjuries every year, which ismore than the deaths causedby communicable disease likemalaria and tubercu-losis, the central gov-ernment decided toprovide financial assis-tance to the state gov-ernments under theNational HealthMission scheme toestablish special burnwards in all the districtheadquarter hospitalsacross the country.

As part of this pro-gramme, the state gov-ernment of Telanganahas also decided tosend the proposals for thesame to the central govern-ment and is expected to seekfinancial assistance.

In fact, the central govern-ment had already released Rs6.57 crore to Andhra Pradeshgovernment for establishing aburns and cosmetic surgery

ward in Guntur governmentgeneral hospital.

On similar l ines, theTelangana state government isalso seeking central govern-ment assistance to constructburns ward in every districtheadquarters governmenthospitals.

At present, except Osmaniaand Gandhi General hospitalsin Hyderabad, there are nofull-fledged specialised wardsin Telangana. However, thesewards too suffer shortage oftrained and well experiencedhealthcare staff. These wardshave only one or two plastic

surgeons, while in many casesthe general surgeons are car-rying out treatment for thepatients suffering with burns.

As part of the establish-ment of the burns ward in thegovernment hospitals, thehealth department is expect-ed to construct a special oper-

ation theatre, eachward will have 4 bedsin ICU, and 8 beds inGeneral ward and willalso have a special skinstorage unit.

According to statis-tics from the statehealthcare depart-ment, it is estimatedthat every year inTelangana more than70,000 people are suf-fering from burn relat-ed injuries. Every daythe major government

hospitals like Osmania andGandhi receive about 15-20burn related cases fromacross various districts. Ofthem 5-8 people die whileremaining people either getfully cured or become hand-icapped due to burn relatedinjuries.

Special burns wards in all TSdistrict hospitals proposedAfter Union health ministry cue, state govt to seekfunds from Centre under National Health Mission

PNS n KOTHAGUDEM

The process of verifying appli-cations submitted for regular-isation of SCCL lands as per theprovisions of GO 76 wouldbegin on November 1,informed MLA VanamaVenkateswar Rao.

Speaking to the press here onTuesday, he said following

Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao'sapproval, the last date has beenextended till December 31.The coal belt area residents whohave not applied for regulari-sation of their lands could sub-mit the applications at local tah-sildar office.

The verification of applica-tions submitted by September

30 would formally be launchedon Nov 1, the MLA said, addingthat residents who encroachedon SCCL lands should makeuse of the opportunity provid-ed by the TRS governmentand regularise their lands.

Venkateswar Rao advisedthe residents not to trust mid-dlemen as the entire process ofregularisation would be trans-

parent and there was no needto pay money to anyone for thepurpose.

If anyone demands money,the residents should callKothagudem Collectorate con-trol room dialing 08744241950.For any queries regarding theregularisation process, the pub-lic should visit tahsildar office,he suggested.

CM KCR hasdirected us toimmediately startthe requireddevelopmentalworks, said PowerMinister GJagadish Reddy

MLA Vanama Venkateswar Rao

Verification of SCCL land papers to begin on November 1

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Final year students and facul-ty of Potti Sriramulu ChaluvadiMallikarjuna Rao College ofEngineering and Technology(PSCMRCET) have taken up acampaign against misuse oftechnology.

In a press release here onTuesday, Y Rajendra Babu,HoD, Electrical and ElectronicsEngineering (EEE)Department, said a team of stu-dents and faculty are visitingvarious colleges to conductawareness programmes onproper use of technology. Thestudents are being discour-aged from using technology forwrong purposes. Excessive use

of computers for playing gamesand their impact on studies arealso being explained to stu-dents.

The team is explaining tostudents how some people aremisusing technology for crim-inal activities. Rajendra Babusaid they are appealing to stu-dents not to take selfies in sucha manner that they would landthem in dangerous situations.He said the law-enforcingagencies should create aware-ness among the youth torefrain themselves from misuseof technology and take strin-gent action if anybody is foundviolating the laws governinguse of technology.

Underscoring the need for

awareness on proper use oftechnology, Rajendra Babusaid essay-writing and quizcompetitions were held on'Importance of technology fora stable society'. Slogan com-

petition was also held on glob-al warming to sensitise theyouth on environmental pro-tection. Later, cash awards andappreciation letters were dis-tributed to the winners.

Drive among students againstmisuse of tech

Vigilance weekobserved at IIM-VPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Vigilance Awareness Week2019 with 'Integrity - A Wayof Life' as the theme wasobserved at IIM-Visakhapatnam. As part of theprogrammes, ExecutiveDirector of HPCL VisakhaRefinery V Ratan Raj gracedthe occasion and enlightenedstudents on Tuesday on theimportance of integrity invarious facets of life.

Speaking on the occasion,he mentioned that integrity isdoing things correctly whennobody is watching you. Healso highlighted the impor-tance of government over-sight bodies that act towardspunishing the corrupt.

GAME DEVELOPEREVENT EYES DEALSWORTH $10 MILLIONHYDERABAD: India GameDeveloper Conference's globalscale investor-publisher connectthat will be held on November22 and 23 has attracted 50active investors and 60 gamingstartups to tap potentialinvestment and publishingopportunities. The conferencehas seen 100 per cent increasein number of global and localinvestors and startups and theorganisers expect investmentopportunities worth more than$10 million in this year edition.The two-day event will be held intwo formats - speed dating rosterwhere early-stage gamingcompanies get a chance to meetinvestors and game publishersand exclusive one-on-onemeetings where traction stageand accelerated companies getdetailed face time with investors,publishers and strategicinternational partners. TheInvestor-Publisher connect 2019edition attracted new investorsand publishers like Kabam,Miniclip, Nukebox Studios,Grampus, Green Gold, RelianceGames, Hypr Games, AccelPartners, eWTP capital and alsomany international delegationsfrom the US, the UK, Korea,Japan, China, and Canada. Therewere 35 investors and publishersand over 200 meetings betweenstudios, investors and publishersduring IGDC 2018, which hadparticipation from Nazara games,Tencent, Sequoia, Outfit7,Kalaari, Accel, Anthill Ventures,SAIF partners, Moonfrog Labs,Reliance Jio, Paytm, HyderabadAngels, among others.

FATAL FALL FORWOMANKADAPA: In a tragic incident, awoman died after accidentallyfalling under a moving train. Theincident happened atRamakkapalli village inPullampeta mandal of Kadapadistrict. The deceased wasidentified as ChintareddyHaimavathi (45), a native ofRamakkapalli. She is survived byson and daughter.

MAN CLIMBS CELLTOWER TO PROTESTIN-LAWS’ ACTIONVIJAYAWADA: A man, identifiedhimself as Chandu, a resident ofTulasi Nagar in Guntur, climbedthe cell phone signal tower inAnnambhotlavari Palem inParchuru mandal and demandedthat the authorities convince theparents of his wife to send herwith him. However, he camedown after consuming pesticideand was shifted to a hospital inChilakaluri Pet for treatment.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 30, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

Kudankulam nukeplant says cyberattack ‘impossible'Kudankulam (TN): TheKudankulam nuclear powerplant (KKNPP) on Tuesdayallayed fears of a cyber attackon its systems and said suchattacks were not possible.KKNPP training superintendentand information officer RRamdoss said the reports inthe social media about cyberattacks were false and clarifiedthat KKNPP and the othernuclear power plants' controlsystems were ‘standalone’ andnot connected to any cybernetworks outside or theinternet. "Any cyber attack onthe nuclear power plant controlsystem is not possible," he saidin a statement here. The unit 1and 2 of the Indo-Russiaprojects were operating at 1000MWe and 600 MWerespectively, without anyoperational or safety concerns.The KKNPP is an Indo-Russianjoint venture and Units I and IIof 1000 MWe capacity eachand they have commencedcommercial operations whileUnits III and IV are underconstruction.

Rajnath speaks toJapanese counterparton bilateral ties

2-yr-old girl drowns inwater tub as parentswatch rescue opsTUTICORIN (TN): A two-year-old girl drowned in a tub ofwater at her house while herparents were watching theoperations to try and rescue thetoddler Sujith Wilson ontelevision, police said here onTuesday. Revathi Sanjana wasplaying in the tub last night asher parents sat glued to the TVat Threspuram village, watchingthe attempts of rescuers to tryand extricate the three-year-oldchild, police said. Theysuddenly realised she was notaround and went looking forher, only to find her motionlessin the bucket. They rushed thechild to the hospital, where shewas declared brought dead,police said. Rescuers pulled outthe decomposed and mangledbody of Sujith early Tuesdayfrom deep inside an unusedborewell, after a futile 80-hourattempt to save the child whohad fallen in while playing nearhis house in a Tamil Naduvillage.

29 held for attack onpolice team in Varanasithat left 3 cops injuredVARANASI: Around 29 peoplehave been arrested forattacking a police team whichraided Harsos village in Jansapolice station of Varanasi onMonday night to nab twowanted criminals, officials saidon Tuesday. A team ofpersonnel from the Jaunpurunit of the Crime Branchreached the village on Mondaynight and arrested two people,Rajan and Rahul, in connectionof a murder and loot case, theysaid. While the team left in acar, a sub-inspector and aconstable, who were on amotorcycle, were stopped andbeaten up by villagers, thepolice said. On receivinginformation, the local policerushed to the spot but werepelted with stones, they said,adding that Inspector ofRohaniya police station,Parshuram Tripathi, and twoconstables were injured.Around 29 villagers werearrested in this connection andnearly 27 more were detainedfor questioning for their allegedrole in the attack, the officialssaid.

NEW DELHI: Defence MinisterRajnath Singh on Tuesday hada telephonic conversation withhis Japanese counterpart TaroKono during which the twoleaders exchanged views onbilateral ties and regionalsecurity situation, the DefenceMinistry said. Singhcongratulated Kono on behalfof India for the enthronementof Emperor Naruhito. He alsoexpressed condolences for theloss of lives and propertycaused due to typhoon Hagibisthat hit Japan earlier thismonth. The defence ministeralso recalled his meetings withJapanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe and the thendefence minister Takeshi lwayaduring his visit to Japan inSeptember 2019. Singh said helooked forward to meeting Taroduring the forthcoming ASEANDefence Ministers' PlusMeeting in Bangkok inNovember.

PNS n NEW DELHI

President Ram Nath Kovindon Tuesday attended to apolicewoman who slipped andapparently twisted her ankleduring an awards functionhere.

The Delhi policewomanwas standing in front of thedais at Vigyan Bhawan duringthe first National CSR Awardsfunction.

She fell and sat on the car-pet when the national anthemwas being played, according toa PTI photographer who waspresent.

Soon after the nationalanthem was over, Kovind wasseen talking to ministersNirmala Sitharaman andAnurag Singh Thakur. Thenthe president along with secu-rity walked down from thedais and had a brief conversa-tion with the policewomanafter Thakur offered her a bot-tle of water.

Sitharaman asked a securi-ty person to assist the police-woman, who was later escort-ed out of the hall.

Generally, the presidentleaves the venue immediatelyafter the national anthem.

There was a loud applause

from the audience whenKovind walked out from thevenue.

Finance and CorporateAffairs Minister Sitharaman,her deputy Thakur andCorporate Affairs SecretaryInjeti Srinivas were amongthose present on the dais.

The Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) awardshave been instituted by theMinistry of Corporate Affairs.It is to recognise corporate ini-tiatives in the area of CSR toachieve inclusive growth andsustainable development.

Based on the submissionsby the companies and reportsof the independent assess-ment by CSR experts, a juryhad recommended 19 winnersand 19 honourable mentionsacross various categories.

PNS n NEW DELHI

CPI leader Binoy Viswamwrote to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Tuesday,requesting that he be allowedto visit Jammu and Kashmirsince a foreign delegation wasgiven a "red carpet'' entry intothe region. A delegation of 23European Union MPs arrivedin Srinagar on Tuesday for afirst-hand assessment of thesituation in Jammu andKashmir following the revoca-tion of the state's special statusunder Article 370.

"It is everybody's question,why the government disallowany responsible Indian citi-zen, including Members ofParliament, to enter the terri-tory of Kashmir. Now, the gov-ernment has spread red carpetfor the European Union MPs.

"In this background, I seekyour permission to visitKashmir and meet with theordinary people," Viswam saidin his letter.

As an Indian citizen, it washis right to visit fellow citizensin Kashmir, he added.

"I earnestly hope that, youwill take necessary steps torealise," the CPI leader wrote.

Viswam's letter comes amiddemands from the Oppositionthat the government explainwhy Indian citizens and polit-ical parties were being deniedentry into J-K while a foreign

delegation's visit was beingfacilitated. The politburo of theCPI(M) said in a statement onTuesday that it was an "affront"of the Indian Parliament and itssovereignty that Indian MPsand political leadership ofnational parties are denied thefreedom of visiting the Valleywhile a "private visit" by foreignParliament members was beingallowed.

"Though it is claimed thatthis is a private visit, the primeminister has met them andthey are also being briefed bythe National Security Advisor.

"There can be no specialprivilege for a group of foreignparliamentarians to visit theValley while it is denied to oth-ers, including our own MPsand national political leader-ship, with most of the knownpolitical leaders of the statecontinuing to remain in cus-tody and detention," the lettersaid. During the two-day visit,the EU MPs are expected to bebriefed by government officialson the prevailing situation inthe Kashmir Valley as well asother parts of Jammu andKashmir, officials said.

‘INSUFFICIENT’ OR ‘WRONG’ SENTENCING

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court hasexpressed displeasure over var-ious cases being filed before itdue to "insufficient or wrongsentencing" by lower courtsdespite it repeatedly cautioningagainst dealing with the aspectof punishment in a "cavaliermanner".

The apex court said sentenc-ing should not be taken forgranted as this part of the crim-inal justice system has a deter-minative impact on the society.

The observations were madeby a bench headed by Justice NV Ramana in its verdict on anappeal filed by Madhya Pradesh.The state had challenged aMadhya Pradesh High Courtjudgement which had reducedthe three-year jail term award-ed to four persons by a trialcourt to the period they hadalready served in prison.

"We are of the opinion that a

large number of cases are beingfiled before this court due toinsufficient or wrong sentencingundertaken by the courts below.We have time and again cau-tioned against the cavalier man-ner in which sentencing is dealt

in certain cases," the bench, alsocomprising justices M MShantanagoudar and AjayRastogi, said.

"There is no gainsaying thatthe aspect of sentencing shouldnot be taken for granted, as thispart of criminal justice systemhas determinative impact on thesociety. In light of the same, weare of the opinion that we needto provide further clarity on thesame," it said.

Modifying the high court'sjudgement, the Supreme Courtsentenced three convicts tothree months imprisonment

and also imposed a fine of Rs 1lakh each on them.

The bench sentenced thefourth convict, who is present-ly aged around 80, to twomonths imprisonment andslapped a fine of Rs 65,000 onhim.

According to the complaint,on April 15, 2008, these fourpeople barged into the com-plainant's house with weaponsand attacked him over not keep-ing his cow tied up.

The complainant had allegedthat the accused had threatenedto kill him if he did not tie hiscow.

The trial court had convict-ed the four persons for offencesunder section 326 (voluntarilycausing grievous hurt by dan-gerous weapons or means) readwith section 34 (common inten-tion), 452 (house-trespass afterpreparation for hurt, assault orwrongful restraint) of the IndianPenal Code.

"There is no gainsaying that the aspectof sentencing should not be taken forgranted, as this part of criminal justicesystem has determinative impact onthe society. In light of the same, we areof the opinion that we need to providefurther clarity on the same," it said.

Modi to review progress of 30‘aspirational' districts on Nov 6PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on November 6 willreview the performance of 30of the 117 most underdevel-oped districts in the country onvarious indicators such ashealth, nutrition, educationand agriculture.

These districts were identi-fied by the Niti Aayog andcome under the government's"Transformation ofAspirational DistrictsProgramme"

"This is first time that thefocus would be exclusively on30 aspirational districts," asenior government official said.

Twenty have shown 'bestimprovement' and 10 'lowprogress' on on various devel-

opment indices, according to acommunique to ministries anddepartments concerned.

The communique stated thatthe prime minister has decid-ed to include the aspirationaldistricts programme as one ofthe agenda items in the forth-coming PRAGATI meeting,scheduled to be held on

November 6.PRAGATI is an integrating

and interactive platform toaddress public grievances andreview programmes.

The prime minister willinteract with chief secretariesand secretaries to review theprogress made by these 30most underdeveloped districts

on various indicators like healthand nutrition, education, agri-culture and water resources,financial inclusion and skilldevelopment and basic infra-structure, officials said.

"The identification of 10districts, which have shown rel-atively low progress, their selec-tion has been arrived at on thebasis of slow improvement, aswell as, the district not havingbeen able to secure any rankfor getting an additional allo-cation.

"The purpose of identifyingthese districts is that in themeeting, general discussionson making 'development amass movement' are expectedto be taken up for allAspirational Districts," thecommunique read.

"It is everybody's question, why thegovernment disallow any responsibleIndian citizen, including Members ofParliament, to enter the territory ofKashmir. Now, the government hasspread red carpet for the EuropeanUnion MPs

‘RED CARPET' FOR FOREIGN DELEGATES IN J-K

She fell and sat onthe carpet whenthe nationalanthem was beingplayed, accordingto a PTIphotographer whowas present

PNS n DEHRADUN

Kedarnath and Yamunotritemples in Garhwal Himalayaswere closed for the winterseason amid the chanting ofVedic hymns on the occasionof Bhaiya Dooj on Tuesday.

While the gates ofKedarnath in Rudraprayag dis-trict were closed at 8.30 am,those of Yamunotri inUttarkashi district were closedat 12.25 pm, officials of thetemple committees concernedsaid. A record nearly 10 lakhdevotees paid obeisance atKedarnath this season.

It is the highest ever footfallever recorded by the cen-turies-old shrine which borethe brunt of the tragic 2013deluge, a Badrinath-Kedarnathtemple committee official said.

Around 1200 devoteesattended the closing ceremonyat Kedarnath this morningtaking the total number of peo-ple visiting the Himalayanshrine this season to 997585,a temple committeespokesman said.

An idol of the presidingdeity Lord Shiva was loadedinto a flower bedecked palan-

quin to be carried to theOmkareshwar temple atUkhimath where he will beworshipped during the next sixmonths, he said.

Chants of "Jai Baba Kedar"rent the air as the processionleft for Ukhimath to a tuneplayed by the Jammu andKashmir Light Infantry band.The procession will reachOmkareshwar temple,Ukhimath on October 31 viaRampur and Guptkashi.

Temple committee officials,including its CEO B D Singh,

the chief priest Kedar Ling andRudraprayag Superintendentof Police Ajay Singh wereprominent among those inattendance as the gates of thefamous Himalayan shrine wereclosed.

Later at 12.25 pm,Yamunotri temple was alsoclosed for devotees. The idol ofgoddess Yamuna was taken ina palanquin decorated withflowers after the closure of thetemple gates to Kharsali whereshe will be worshipped duringwinter.

Police step up crackdown onillegal Bangladeshi immigrantsPNS n BENGALURU

Continuing its drive againstillegal Bangladeshi immigrantsstaying in the city, police onTuesday warned of actionagainst building owners rent-ing out their premises andemployers who hire such peo-ple without proper verification.

In case the tenants oremployees were found to beillegal immigrants, stringentaction would be taken againstthe building owners and theiremployers, police said.

"There are Bangladeshis inthe city who don't have anydocuments with them and arestaying in the country illegal-ly.

They can indulge in anti-national activities. Yet these

people were provided shel-ter," Bengaluru PoliceCommissioner Bhaskar Raosaid.

"We will initiate action ofcriminal conspiracy conspira-cy under section 120(B) of theIPC against those who harbour

them," Rao said.He said some BBMP

(Bruhat BengaluruMahanagara Palike) contrac-tors were also under the scan-ner for hiring theseBangladeshi labourers as theycommand very less wages.

Kovind formore socialwelfare steps PNS n NEW DELHI

President Ram Nath Kovindon Tuesday suggested com-panies to look at ways to con-tribute more towards socialwelfare spending for orphansand disabled people.

He also said that innovativesolutions can be foundthrough corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) activitiesfor persisting challenges ofdevelopment.

Speaking at the firstNational CSR Awards cere-mony here, he emphasisedthat respect is received bydonating wealth and not bystoring wealth.

The CSR provisions underthe Companies Act, 2013came into force from April 1,2014.

Under the Act, certainclass of profitable compa-nies are required to shell outat least two per cent of theirthree-year average annualnet profit towards CSR activ-ities in a particular financialyear. Since 2014-15, compa-nies have spent more than Rs10,000 crore every year, thepresident said.

According to him, thereare resources, the will and theframework to spend on socialwelfare activities.

"Whom shall we helpmore...," he asked and sug-gested that ways can belooked at spending more fororphans and Divyaang (dis-able people).

Every orphan could getpersonal care by 2030,Kovind said, adding that hewas giving food for thoughtand action.

From now onwards,National CSR awards wouldbe conferred every year onOctober 2.

Chhath Pujaspecial trainsfrom Puri toPatna, HatiaPNS n BHUBANESWAR

The East Coast Railway(ECoR) is running specialtrains from Puri to Patna andBhagalpur in Bihar and Hatiain Jharkhand ahead ofChhath Puja.

Two special trains will runfrom Puri in Odisha to Hatiaand Bhagalpur onWednesday, ECoR said in astatement.

The Puri-Hatia-Puri spe-cial train will depart Puri at1.30 pm on Wednesday andreach Hatia at 4 am the nextday. In the return direction,the train will leave Hatia at 9am on Thursday and reachPuri at 11 pm the same day,it said.

En route, the train will haltat Bhubaneswar, Cuttack,Dhenkanal, Angul,Sambalpur City, Jharsugudaand Rourkela railway sta-tions.

The Puri-Bhagalpur-Purispecial train will leave Puri at10.30 am on October 30 andNovember 6 and reachBhagalpur at 7 am on the fol-lowing days.

Kedarnath, Yamunotritemples close for winters

Uproar in Kerala House over trans-grid project; UDF alleges corruptionPNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The Congress-led UDF oppo-sition on Tuesday rocked theKerala Assembly during ques-tion hour, alleging corruptionin the ambitious trans-gridproject, being implemented byKerala State Electricity Board.

While UDF membersalleged that the awarding ofcontract of the trans-grid pro-ject was one of the finest exam-ples of 'scientific corruption',power minister M M Manirubbished the charges, sayingthat the project wouldstrengthen the transmissionand distribution system ofelectricity and bring downtransmission losses in the state.

The UDF members trooped

to the well of the House andprotested before the podium ofthe Speaker, PSreeramakrishnan for sometime,alleging that the minister'sreply on the tender proceed-ings and contract amounted to

misleading the House.Opposition leader in the

assembly Ramesh Chennithalasaid the order issued by formerChief Secretary K M Abrahamwhile serving as the addition-al chief secretary (finance) on

tender proceedings had beenviolated in the trans grid pro-ject.

The estimate rate of the Rs10,000 crore worth-project wasmuch higher than the tenderrates, he charged.

"As per the order, if the ten-der amount rises above 10 percent, it should be re-tenderedand if the tender amount fur-ther exceeds by 10 per cent, itshould be re-estimated andthen tendered.

The order was issued toavoid discrepancies and checkcorruption in awarding con-tracts of the significant gov-ernment projects.

But, it was violated in thecase of the trans-grid project,"he alleged.

SC blames lower courts forlarge number of cases before it

Prez attends topolicewoman afteraward function

CPI leader seeks PM’s nod to visit state

In recent months, there has been a spateof demonstrations, often leading to vio-lence in various countries with estab-lished forms of democracy. The earli-est of these was, perhaps, the so-called

“Yellow Vest” protest in France, which beganin October 2018. Initially, the motivation forthe movement symbolised by these “YellowVests” was against the high cost of living andrising fuel prices. These demonstrationsinvolved blocking of roads as an expressionof the lower and middle classes protestingagainst a disproportionate portion ofGovernment tax reforms falling on them.Protests continued unabated every Saturdayfor several months demanding that FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macron and hisGovernment resign.

More recently, there has been a series ofdemonstrations on the streets of Lebanon.Here again, people have gone on a massiverampage involving all sections of society,demanding the resignation of LebanesePrime Minister Saad Hariri and hisGovernment. Again, people in that countryfeel aggrieved because of misgovernanceinvolving high prices of food and other prod-ucts, widespread corruption and a chroniclack of supply of basic services like electrici-ty. At the same time, protests in Iraq againstbroadly similar conditions have led to violenceand several deaths.

Similar protests have recently beenspreading from Argentina to Chile. Ofcourse, Catalonia is a special case of a regiondemanding independence from Spain, wherestreet protests in the city of Barcelona haveparalysed the functioning of that city. Unrestand demonstrations have also taken placerecently in Equador and the latest upsurge ofdemonstrations has been seen in Bolivia,where Bolivian President Evo Morales hasbeen accused of rigging an election, whichdeclared him a winner and qualifies him fora fourth term of office.

There is something common in all theseprotests and demonstrations in countries,which range from established democratic sys-tems to some with less than mature and frag-ile institutions. The anger of the people is areminder from an old movie where peoplescreamed, “I am mad as hell, and I won’t takeit anymore.”

Analysts, intellectuals and particularlypolitical leaders need to reflect on the flawsthat democracy seems to have developed invarious countries of the world. There is anobvious disconnect between some leaders andthe perceptions and aspirations of the peo-ple. The intellectual class has also been at bayin understanding the need of the hour andhow policies and plans could be shaped to sat-isfy emerging expectations.

Sadly, in many nations, a cavernous divideseems to have developed also between thoseparties in power and those that are in theOpposition. The spirit of bipartisanship,which should guide policies and decisions onthe basis of informed debate, appears to have

evaporated. Those in power oftenride roughshod over theOpposition and those in theOpposition only regard it astheir responsibility to opposeeverything that the Governmentproposes or implements. Thisattitude, combined with the factthat elected representatives arelargely out of touch with the peo-ple, leads to widespread frustra-tion and anger, which is perhapsthe reason behind the protestsone sees all around.

Another major factor forthe people of various nations feel-ing disempowered is the influ-ence that vested interests arewielding today in defining poli-cies affecting the public throughGovernment decision-making.The rise of crony capitalism andthe power of lobbies representingsectional interests have in manycases resulted in a distortion ofpublic policies and misallocationof resources meant for the pub-lic good. We have today a glob-al movement led by GretaThunberg for action on climatechange but the fossil fuel lobby,which is adept at character assas-sination of those who advocatechange, are not even sparing thismotivated teenager.

In 2007, this writer had theprivilege of receiving the NobelPeace Prize on behalf of theIntergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) and theclimate deniers and vested inter-ests went into overdrive by simul-taneously attacking the IPCC andthe leadership of the organisation

on the basis of falsehoods, a prac-tice which has been perfectedover time by the tobacco indus-try. These lobbies are not onlypowerful but have large-scaleresources, which are deployedcleverly, often surreptitiously, fordamaging those who advocatechange in the interests of society.

A study carried out by theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF) and published earlier thisyear states that fossil fuel subsi-dies, defined as fuel consumptiontimes the gap between existingand efficient prices, remain stag-geringly high. According to esti-mates by the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF), “Globally,subsidies remained large at $4.7trillion (6.3 per cent of globalGDP) in 2015 and are projectedat $5.2 trillion (6.5 per cent ofGDP) in 2017. The publicationalso states, “Efficient fossil fuelpricing in 2015 would have low-ered global carbon emissions by28 per cent and fossil fuel air pol-lution deaths by 46 per cent andincreased Government revenueby 3.8 per cent of GDP.”

Despite the awareness creat-ed over the years on the majorimpacts of human induced cli-mate change, the fossil fuelsindustry influences decision-making in its favour, completelyignoring the co-benefits ofimproved air quality at the locallevel and increased Governmentrevenues, quite apart from theescalating risks from climatechange.

The result of these distor-

tions and influence exerted byvested interests is also leading toan alarming increase in dispari-ties of income and wealthbetween the privileged few anda large mass of the poor. In sev-eral countries, while sharehold-ers gain from increased profits,disparities have grown andemployment generation doesnot match the growing numberof young job seekers.

The result of the currentmalaise is that leaders, both onthe left and the right extremes ofthe political spectrum, are posi-tioning themselves as alternatives.They could prove dangerousand compound the problem fur-ther. Some influential voices arealso questioning whether capital-ism as a system is at fault.Gandhiji believed that “Capital assuch is not evil; it is its wrong usethat is evil. Capital in some formor the other will always be need-ed.”

Those who preach thevirtues of communism orextreme forms of socialism mustknow that these have been triedin the past and failed abysmally.What is needed is purging the“evil” from the current practiceof capitalism. With the possibil-ity of a global recession loomingahead, today’s protests couldintensify, endangering our insti-tutions and the very system ofdemocracy. Political leaders andGovernments better watch out.

(The writer is former chair-man, Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change, 2002-15)

By its very definition, the term “a perfectstorm” ought to be rare. Yet come win-ter in the northern plains of India, the

capital and its environs have the “perfect storm”of climatic conditions, human activity and thestrange fallout of policy interventions to cre-ate a toxic brew for residents to breathe. Everywinter, without fail for the past decade, dan-gerous breathing conditions have become derigueur for residents not just of the national cap-ital and its satellite cities but for whole swathesof the northern plains. In the process not only

are years being taken off the lives of all Delhi residents but if deaths are inves-tigated properly, one is almost certain to find that there have already been thou-sands, possibly tens of thousands who have died from poor air quality thanksto either Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), lung cancer or asth-ma. Many children, with weaker lungs, have fallen prey to asthma, a conditionwhose incidence is shooting through the roof. And make no mistake, poor airquality impacts the poor and underprivileged much more than the wealthy whowhine about it on social media.

Perhaps we should learn from history. In 1952, during the “Great Smog ofLondon” that gripped the British capital, it was estimated that 12,000 people haddied. It was as a direct result of that horrible winter that a Conservative govern-ment led by Winston Churchill initiated the Clean Air Act. India’s politicians knowwhat the causes are, they know that there is rampant use of dangerous pollut-ing fuels across the country in factories. They know that brick kilns pollute andare too scared to act against farmers who burn their fields year after year. Thishas to end. It is time for the Narendra Modi Government to bring a Clean Air Actduring the Winter Session of Parliament. Every single Indian, particularly everysingle Indian child, needs the promise of clean air. If this is not acted upon, thepolluted air will not only see India’s next generation suffer stunted growth but awidening of the privilege gap between those who can afford tools that give themand their children clean air and water and those who cannot. It is for that rea-son India’s politicians must act, no matter which political party they are from.Replace the chalta hai attitude with some real-time solutions. It is possible.

There is no doubt that the prolongedlockdown of the Kashmir Valley, near-ly 84 days after the abrogation of Article

370, has somewhat diluted the diplomaticgains made in the aftermath of thatannouncement. And while we have empha-sised that move as within our constitution-al and sovereign space, the clampdown andcurfew have left many nations wondering ifwe are on the wrong side of that very spaceon basic human rights. The Government maybe defending its drill on grounds of contin-

ued threats from Pakistan-sponsored militancy — the latest attacks on appletruckers ferrying stocks that are being bought by procurement agencies tosave farmers being just an example. But its continued detention of electedrepresentatives of the people, whom it says had done nothing to control mil-itancy and played the Indo-Pakistan dynamic for their continued relevance,has stifled the only voice of the locals. In fact, allowing people expressionwill only sharpen focus on extremism of the exported kind. The boycott ofblock-level elections by mainstream parties in Kashmir and even civil dis-obedience by locals, who have not resumed normal life even where curbshave been relaxed, have only worsened perceptions. Last week, a USCongressional panel questioned State Department officials on Kashmir withsome lawmakers writing a letter to Indian Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla,claiming that the picture portrayed by India is different from the one beingnarrated to them by their constituents. The European Parliament expressedconcern as well. So the government’s desperation to redesign propagandaover perception has meant that it has let in an “unofficial” EU delegation ofMPs for an ear-to-the-ground survey of Kashmir, where members will inter-act with both the administration and locals.

Since this is the first visit by a foreign delegation ever since Kashmir’schanged status, naturally there are concerns whether in its bid to keep inter-national opinion on its side, the Government is again repeating its oversightof who should be allowed in and who shouldn’t. Rather, is this also a “PR-friendly” mission? Justifiably, a whole spectrum of Opposition leaders, fromthe Congress to the Left and even Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati, rosein solidarity, demanding that the political process be respected first. Theseleaders have said that Opposition MPs be allowed to visit the Valley and thedetained leaders set free. This is indeed unavoidable as without civil and polit-ical engagement, howsoever chaotic, obstructive or negative, the adminis-tration cannot go forward with meaningful governance. Otherwise, the reor-ganisation of Kashmir will only be seen as shadow-boxing of political ego-ism. Even home-grown rights groups and observers have not been allowedinto Kashmir for a fair assessment. If at all the government braved having aninternational delegation move around, it ought to have been an independent,credible and an official body or representative group. Besides, this delega-tion comprises known Right and far-Right MPs, who have already support-ed the Government’s decision. Their past assessments have also been hard-line and anti-immigrant with one of them even supporting the Russian annex-ation of Crimea. Also, the delegation met the Prime Minister and National SecurityAdviser Ajit Doval separately to understand their views, almost stamping itselfwith officialese. The lone member seeking free movement has been dropped.Clearly then, this looks like a stage-managed, damage control fix than a crit-ical assessment. Had it been a legitimate effort, then the social media angstby young Kashmiris would not be the only measure of the ground situation.No wonder even BJP’s Subramanian Swamy called this visit a “perversionof our national policy.” In fact, this pick-and-choose approach amounts tosubversion of democracy. If indeed the Government wants to publicise nor-malcy, then it should first ensure a degree of it at the ground level, then allowin all shades of opinion to visit the new Union Territory. If it is so confidentthat the world at large and citizens at home have made peace with the legal-ity of the change there, then it should take a step forward, no matter whatthe risks, and let the muzzled voices out. It should have the absorptive strengthof criticism, too, if it wants to mainstream the political economy of Kashmir.Or else separatism won’t need to be fanned by Pakistan.

Unwelcome visit

Thoughtful gesture

Sir — This refers to the welcomecourtesy shown by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inremembering former PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi duringhis Mann ki Baat address to thenation on October 27. Herdeath anniversary is on October31 and the PM, despite bitterpolitical rivalry between theruling BJP and the Congress,chose to be a nationalist in thereal sense.

Even the then Oppositionleader Atal Bihari Vajpayeetermed Indira Gandhi as Durgawhen she led the nation to amemorable victory in the 1971India-Pakistan war. TheOpposition should also acknowl-edge the good work done by thepresent Government, especially inthe areas of foreign affairs anddefence. It is time to restore theold tradition of having politicalcordiality rather than bitterness.

Madhu AgrawalNew Delhi

Don’t create Baghdadis

Sir — This refers to the editorial,

“Finally dead” (October 29). Thedeath of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,the elusive founder of the IslamicState (IS), is most welcome. It bog-gles one’s mind as to why the ter-ror mastermind, who once cap-tured vast tracts of land anddeclared a Caliphate therein, wasso stupid as to have a dead-endtunnel in his hideout.

Any terrorist leader with aniota of intelligence would have anescape route ready. Is it that the ISleader did not take precautionsbecause he was so sure that the USwould never be able to track himdown? Osama bin Laden also didnot bargain for a US raid and paidfor his blunder with his life. Or,was al-Baghdadi lured into a trap

by the very forces that helped cre-ate his terror empire?

The successful US-led raid pointsto the need for big powers to joinforces to eliminate the scourge ofmindless terrorism without usingit as an instrument to gain globaldominance.

Meghna ANew South Wales

Lessons for the BJP

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Maharashtra blues” (October29). In euphoria or in pious faith,the BJP was hoping for a greatwin in Haryana and was sanguineabout Maharashtra. And whynot, its funds match the total ofall other seven major parties.

It found great utility in inves-tigating Opposition leaders tosharpen its propaganda for theelection season. For better pollprospects, it embraced without aflinch tainted men from rivals.Hyper-nationalism was appropri-ated without compunction, not somuch for the nation as for theparty. The BJP had blind faith intools that were useful thus far, tillan adrift economy trapped it inlow tide.

The Assembly results are apointer that the BJP can nolonger evade the challenges of asluggish economy. The addedlesson in Maharashtra is thatyou either keep arrogance orallies, not both.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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 nionHYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 30, 2019

06

Is democracy in distress?

RK PACHAURI

With global recession looming large, today’s protests could intensify, endangering ourinstitutions. Leaders must reflect on the flaws that democracy seems to have developed

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

Baghdadi's killing a big blow to IS

This refers to the editorial, “Finally dead” (October 29).US President Donald Trump took a victory lap overthe killing of the militant Islamic State (IS) group

leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The raid was, by USaccounts, a remarkable success of intelligence gather-ing, cooperation with multiple foreign powers in the Syrianwar and ruthless execution by helicopter-borne Americansoldiers. Surely the Baghdadi victory wasn’t just the“biggest.” After all it had to be bigger than the killing ina similarly daring raid in 2011 of Al-Qaeda founder and9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. Perhaps that’sbecause bin Laden was killed under Trump’s predeces-sor and Democratic President Barack Obama.

The death of Baghdadi is a severe blow to the IS,which has been in disarray and has no declared succes-sor as leader yet. But the group has in the past provedresilient, continuing to mount or inspire attacks in theregion and beyond, despite losing most of its territoryin recent years. Baghdadi — an Iraqi native believed tobe around 48-years-old — had long been sought by theUS as head of a militant group that at one point con-

trolled large areas of Syria and Iraq, where it declareda Caliphate. The IS has carried out atrocities against reli-gious minorities and attacks on five continents in thename of an ultra-fanatic version of Islam that horrifiedmainstream Muslims.

Padmini RaghavedraSecunderabad

THE RESULT OFTHE CURRENT

MALAISE IS THATLEADERS, BOTH

ON THE LEFT ANDTHE RIGHT

EXTREMES OF THEPOLITICAL

SPECTRUM, AREPOSITIONING

THEMSELVES ASALTERNATIVES.

THEY COULDPROVE

DANGEROUS ANDCOMPOUND THE

PROBLEMFURTHER

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Bring a Clean Air Act

The ‘unofficial’ trip by EU MPs, most of whom are Right-wingers, has raised questions about its credibility

Delhiites have acted on poor air quality and burstfewer crackers but AQI readings are still abysmal

We are likely to have negativeeconomic growth in 2019. Toget to the root of problems, wemust stop violence and restorecalm in the city.

Hong Kong chief executive —Carrie Lam

Pollution on Diwali hasgone down and was thelowest in the last five years. But our targetis to eradicate it.

Delhi Chief Minister—Arvind Kejriwal

#RIPSujith. It is a reallysad, sad morning. Let'shope such accidentsdon't happen againin the country.

India off-spinner—Ravichandran Ashwin

S O U N D B I T EThe word takla (baldy) isderogatory. I've met bothkinds of people, those whoare bothered by it and thosewho don't care.

Actor—Ayushmann Khurrana

Trapped by the glass ceiling

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The corporate landscape has long been dom-inated by men and is still skewed in theirfavour. In 2013, the archaic Companies Act,

1956, underwent some much-needed amendments,which infused critical measures of gender equal-ity into today’s business scenario. Subsequently, ina knee-jerk reaction to the regulation, women’s rep-resentation on company boards jumped substan-tially, from a mere five per cent in 2012 to around16.91 per cent in October. According to PrimeDatabase, 1,905 of the total 11,268 directors on theboards of 1,822 NSE-listed companies are women.While India is improving gender diversity onboards, it still lags behind on the world stage.Worldwide, although participation of women inthe workforce is increasing, it is not commensu-rately showing in higher leadership roles. Accordingto the Global Board Diversity Tracker, EgonZehnder, in 2018, 84.9 per cent of large companyboards across 44 countries included at least onewoman among their directors. Overall, 20.4 percent of all directors in the countries under studywere women — up from 13.6 per cent six years ago.In Western Europe, board positions held by womenhave risen from 15.6 per cent to 29.0 per cent overthe same period. On the international diversityfront, 72 per cent of the companies surveyed hadat least one non-national board member.

While it is good news that women now makeup to 20.4 per cent of directors in this study, it isequally critical to advance the number of womenin leadership positions on boards. This matters, notonly because some board positions are more pow-erful than others but also because multiformityin board leadership correlates with diversityacross the rest of the organisation. Overall, just 5.6per cent of all board seats are held by women inleadership roles. However, frequent headlines inthe popular Press call for increased diversity in cor-porates while institutional investors have beenincreasingly pressing for female directors onboards. Further, it has also been found that gen-der diversity on boards improves financial perfor-mance. In its most literal form, diversity is definedas “differences” and it becomes a purposeful, strate-gic direction once these differences are valued.Diversity can be defined as acknowledging, under-standing, accepting and valuing differences amongpeople with respect to age, physical appearance,class, race, ethnicity, gender, disabilities, job func-tion or experience, religion, personal style and soon. On corporate boards, diversity brings togeth-er individuals with different backgrounds whichtransform into a number of benefits, including newideas and better communication, debate and cor-porate governance processes. Studies have shownthat, compared to homogeneous groups, diversegroups exhibit increased information search anda greater range of perspectives. Further, they gen-erate more alternative solutions to problems andevidence different environmental perceptions.

Diversity in the boardroom is an issue receiv-ing increased attention both in academia and inthe media. Gender diversity has received consid-erable attention during the last decade, with stud-ies concerning practice in a number of countries,including the US, Canada, France, New Zealand,Australia, Spain, Jordan, Tunisia, Denmark,Iceland and Norway. A central question is whetherthe presence of women contributes to the perfor-mance of the board, such as, for example, role ortask and ultimately, corporate performance.

Numerous arguments in favour ofwomen in positions of power have beenproposed in terms of a business case,including increased diversity of opinionsin the boardroom; women directorsbringing new ideas and strategic input;influence on decision making and lead-ership styles of the organisation; provid-ing female role models and mentors;symbolising career possibilities toprospective recruits; improving compa-ny image with stakeholder groups;women’s capabilities and availability fordirector positions; insufficient competentmale directors; ensuring “better” board-room behaviour; long-term companysuccess and competitive advantage;adding value through women’s distinc-tive set of skills; creating cultures of inclu-sion through a diverse workforce;increased profitability and knowledge offemale market segmentation. In summa-ry, the weight of the argument appearsin agreement on the value of women onboards for a multiplicity of positiveeffects.

However, diversity may also lead todecreased communication, less effectivedecision-making, increased conflict andparochialism. Specifically, with regard togender, research suggests that organisa-tional actors make decisions that are con-sistent with their cognitive bases and thatpeople of different genders possess dif-ferent norms, attitudes, beliefs, and per-spectives based on them. Gender diver-sity has been found to facilitate creativ-ity within groups, but also led to clash-es within groups because others find itdifficult to identify with those of a dif-ferent gender. Thus, gender diversity hasboth positive and negative implicationsfor decision-making and processes rel-evant to the board of director advice andcounsel function. However, becauseboards are engaged in non-routine prob-lem-solving and meet infrequently, theimproved brainstorming, creativity, con-sideration of diverse perspectives and

questioning of the status quo in whichthey engage may represent “functionalconflict” and benefits that outweighother, possibly negative implications forcommunication.

Although, increasing gender diver-sity on corporate boards is beneficial toan organisation in many ways, genderstereotypes and expectation of specificroles for women by society become amajor impediment. A survey by Catalystshows that Chief Executive Officers(CEOs) fear appointing a woman to theboard due to a belief that they are unqual-ified and will have a “women’s agenda.”In addition, CEOs are afraid to appointwomen not currently holding a director-ship but do not hold the same fear formen.

Also evidence suggests that priorwork experience can counteract negativeexpectations of a woman’s performance.Women are also presumed to be lesscompetent than men (by both men andwomen) in a male-dominated environ-ment. Unequivocally successful womenare then disliked for contravening gen-der roles, unless they can also prove theirfemininity or communal traits.

Generally, conceptions of leadershipinclude core values such as heroism,physical and emotional toughness andself-reliance. This masculine ideology ofleadership perpetuates the status quo ofwho looks like a leader and the percep-tion is that a leader is not a woman.While there are no gender differences inexperience-based qualifications of boardor corporate tenure, female directors holdless powerful corporate titles, fewermultiple directorships, occupy morestaff functions and earn considerably lessthan male directors, implying thatwomen are both under-valued andunderutilised in the executive suite andcorporate governance.

Since the CEO pipeline is based onthe treatment of and value given to topdirectors, women, in general, do not

appear to be as well strategically placedto inherit a CEO’s role as their male col-leagues. Notwithstanding these benefits,women still find it hard to break thestrong and invisible glass ceiling andreach the top.

Globally, one-third of businesses stilldo not have women in senior manage-ment roles. At this pace, women will notreach parity with men until 2060. Closerhome, nearly half of Indian women leavethe workforce between junior and mid-dle management levels due to lack ofwomen-friendly corporate policies.

The industry needs to take over andapply a dual strategy to achieve greatergender diversity. The top managementshould have a clear vision and change ofmindset to increase women’s participa-tion on boards, not only in letter but alsoin spirit, with voluntary diversity targetsand a crucial alignment between boardcomposition and strategy. Having estab-lished an enabling environment, compe-tent and qualified women should becoached and mentored to take up lead-ership roles and rise up the corporate lad-der. Corporates need to actively promoteand engage in creating women leadershippositions. Lessons can be drawn fromSweden, which has produced the high-est percentages of women CEOs andChief Financial Officers (CFOs), both at17 per cent. This is only possible by cre-ating strong and sustainable leadershipdevelopment programmes for women inmiddle and senior executive ranks todevelop them for C-suite positions.

Inclusion of women on boardsshould become an integrated strategy ofbusinesses worldwide and in India in par-ticular with companies focussing on nur-turing and developing women leaders.With the rich cultural heritage that wehave, let the power of “Shakti” contributeto making our businesses best in theworld.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,Amity University)

Nearly half of women in the country leave the workforce between junior and middlemanagement levels due to lack of friendly corporate policies

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

Take a leaf out ofAkbar’s policies

MARKANDEY KATJU

India can either continue on its divisive path or take the inclusive road. The IbadatkhanaMovement is a step in the right direction

HIMA BINDU KOTA

THE TOPMANAGEMENT

SHOULD HAVE ACLEAR VISION AND

CHANGE OFMINDSET TO

INCREASEWOMEN’S

PARTICIPATION ONBOARDS, NOT

ONLY IN LETTERBUT ALSO INSPIRIT, WITHVOLUNTARY

DIVERSITYTARGETS AND A

CRUCIALALIGNMENT

BETWEEN BOARDCOMPOSITION

AND STRATEGY.HAVING

ESTABLISHED ANENABLING

ENVIRONMENT,COMPETENT AND

QUALIFIEDWOMEN SHOULD

BE COACHED ANDMENTORED TO

TAKE UPLEADERSHIP

ROLES AND RISEUP THE

CORPORATELADDER

The Ibadatkhana Movement, that began recently in the Bay Areaof California, USA, is going to be of historical importance forthe future of India. I explained this to the members of the newly-

formed Ibadatkhana Committee and its chairman Tassawar Jalaliat a meeting in Jalali’s San Jose home recently. Here’s a gist ofwhat I said there. As mentioned in my article, India’s National Aim,this world really consists of two worlds, the one of the developedcountries like North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealandand China and that of the underdeveloped countries, which alsoincludes India. Our national aim must be to transform India and getinto the ranks of the developed, highly industrialised countries. Withoutdoing so, we will never be able to abolish poverty, unemployment,malnourishment, gaps in health and education and other social evilswhich are plaguing our nation.

This transformation is only possible by a historical, united, peo-ple’s struggle, which will be fiercely opposed by powerful vestedgroups, both internal and external, which feel that their interests willbe jeopardised if the transformation succeeds and India emergesas an industrial giant, like another China. So unity among Indiansis absolutely imperative if our struggle for this transformation is tosucceed. The present reactionary, neo-fascist regime in the coun-try, whose leaders have feudal mindsets, has an ideology whichdestroys the unity of our people by propagating and spreading reli-gious hatred against minorities. All its talk of sabka saath, sabkavikas, sabka vishwas (national inclusiveness, progress and trust)is empty, fraudulent and hypocritical rhetoric. Ever since it came topower in 2014, lynching and attacks on Muslims and vandalisa-tion of churches have continued unabated. Hence this regime is inreality anti-Indian as it preaches an ideology contrary to the verynature and identity of India as a country of great diversity. Hence ithas to be combatted by all genuine patriots who wish to see a pros-perous nation.

Of late, the economy has tanked and the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) has declined (it is said to be five per cent, though ArvindSubramanian, former Chief Economic Adviser to the Governmentsays it is really 2.5 per cent), the manufacturing sector, agriculture,real estate, power and so on, are all in the dumps and spirallingdownwards. Unemployment has reached record heights (as admit-ted by the Government’s own National Sample Survey). Farmers’distress is continuing unabated with thousands committing suicideand every second child is malnourished (according to UNICEF reportsand the Global Hunger Index). All this is bound to generate mas-sive opposition in India in the form of popular demonstrations, andso on, which will soon begin. Hence to divert public attention fromthe real problems the country faces, which the present Governmenthas no idea how to solve, it resorts to gimmicks like Yoga Day, sur-gical strikes, cow protection and abrogation of Article 370.

In addition, the Government needs a scapegoat who can beblamed for all evils, like the Jews in Nazi Germany. The scapegoatsin the current Indian scenario are the Muslims, who are fair gamefor cow vigilantes and hoodlums, again, to deflect attention fromthe real massive economic problems the country faces.

At present, the country is standing at a crossroad in our 5,000-year-old known history. It has two options, either continue on thepath of self-destruction being pursued by the present rulers, the pathof polarising society on communal lines and oppressing minorities,marginalising them and denying them any space in the public dis-course, or the inclusive path shown by Mughal emperor Akbar. Hispolicy — called suleh-e-kul (universal toleration of all religions) andgiving equal respect to all religions and communities — alone canlead to the country’s prosperity. This is the path being shown nowto Indians by the Ibadatkhana Movement.

Ibadatkhana was the house of worship built by Akbar in 1575at his new capital in Fatehpur Sikri. In it, scholars of all religionsmet amicably and discussed what their religion had contributed tobenefit mankind. This was remarkable, considering that at that timeEuropeans were massacring each other in the name of religion. TheCatholics were killing the Protestants, the Protestants were killingthe Catholics and both were murdering the Jews.

The Ibadatkhana Movement, though it relates to India, couldnot begin within the country since today freedom of speech hasbeen suppressed and the media is largely muzzled or sold out. Anydissent and opposition to the Government invites slapping of crim-inal or sedition charges, invocation of the notorious Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act and long terms in prison. So opposition to the pre-sent regime, which is taking India towards the dark abyss of frag-mentation and destruction, can only begin in the free space avail-able in America. Later, of course, the movement will spread to theIndian subcontinent.

(The writer is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India.)

The number of elderly people inthe country is increasing expo-nentially. In 2001, one out of

seven of the aged people in the worldwas projected to be from India. Thisnumber of 7.66 crore (5.6 per cent) ofthe elderly population in that yearincreased to 10.38 crore (8.6 per centof the population) in 2011.

In just eight years, India is project-ed to surpass China as the world’s mostpopulous country. Estimates fromthe United Kingdom-basedInternational Longevity Centre, too,show that the population of the agedin India is set to increase by over 55per cent by 2050. Those above 80 yearsof age will go up by 326 per cent in thesame year.

The increase in the number of

senior citizens will be the greatest andthe most rapid in the developingworld, with Asia as the region with thelargest number of elderly. Even now,our senior population is more thanthree times that of America.

The Elderly in India 2016 reportby the Ministry of Statistics states that71 per cent of the aged populationresides in the villages. A UN reportbased on an Agewell FoundationStudy in 2018, with more than 10,000respondents across northern, south-ern, western, eastern and centralIndia showed that 62 per cent of theelderly did not get palliative care.

As much as 68 per cent of theelderly, who are being taken care of bytheir kin, have to look after the chil-dren of their families in turn. Theyhave to perform tasks such as baby-sitting in return of proper care andsupport. As the majority lives in ruralareas, healthcare equipment such aswheelchairs, relief material such asadult diapers and care-giving servicesare a distant thought.

In a remarkable coincidence, theInternational Day of Older Persons

(IDOP) and the day India ratified theUnited Nations Convention on theRights of Persons with Disabilities, fallon October 1. However, the similari-ty ends here, as the population of theelderly is growing and efforts toimplement the Convention are staticif not on a downward trajectory.

Sadly, Parkinson’s disease is acommon disability in old age. Thoughour new law recognises chronic neu-

rological conditions as a specified dis-ability, strangely neither those affect-ed by Parkinson’s disease nor MultipleSclerosis are provided four per cent jobreservations. The Rural DevelopmentMinistry implements the IndiraGandhi National Old Age PensionScheme but only among senior citizensliving below the poverty line. The mea-gre pension of `200 per month is forpeople above 60 years of age and ̀ 500

per month for elderly above 80 yearsof age. The Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojanais supposed to provide aids and assis-tance to senior citizens from familiesthat belong to the Below Poverty Line(BPL) category. The number of ben-eficiaries in this scheme reduceddrastically from 1,665 last year to 261this year in Bihar. Surprisingly, thenumber of recipients in 2018-19 fromGujarat, Rajasthan, Goa andPuducherry has been zero in compar-ison to last year. Ironically the themeof the IDOP this year was “The jour-ney to age equality.”

Interestingly, an all-girl team,Tech Witches, from NOIDA devel-oped Maitria mobile app that connectschildren at orphanages with senior cit-izens in old-age homes. This innova-tion fetched them a bronze medal atTechnovation Challenge in the US. It’sa wonderful way to bridge the chasmbetween people with the misfortuneof loneliness and depression andthose lacking the nurturing affectionand blessings of the elderly.

Another possible way by whichthe youth can embrace the elderly is

what I propose as the Aashirwadscheme that is based on Switzerland’sconcept of “Time Bank.”

Under that scheme, a retired per-son in good health, who has time onhis/her hands, can provide care andsupport for elderly people in need intheir area. Every hour worked isrecorded as a “deposit” on a specialpersonal account, which can later beused to pay for the care workers’ timewhen the volunteer in turn needs assis-tance.

Aashirwad scheme, the Indianversion of the Swiss initiative, can alsobe implemented in the country on apilot basis and then spread across thenation, depending on its success.

Sadly, the Universal Declarationof Human Rights did not mention dis-crimination on the basis of age. Still,the younger generation and everybodyelse must embrace the elderly by pro-tecting their rights and by respectingthem for their contributions.

(The writer teaches at UniversityCollege of Medical Sciences, Delhi andis a disability rights activist. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Let India’s elderly population age wellAbout 62 per cent of our senior citizens don’t get palliative care and 68 per cent of the aged, who are

being taken care of by their kin, have to look after the children of their families in turn

SATENDRA SINGH

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 30, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

AMIT SHAH TOLD ME NO FORMULA HAD BEENDISCUSSED FOR CHIEF MINISTERSHIP. THERE IS NO

DOUBT THAT I WILL BE CM FOR NEXT FIVE YEARS.—MAHARASHTRA CM-ELECT

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS

WE AGREED TO CONTEST FEWER ASSEMBLY SEATSONLY TO MAINTAIN THE ALLIANCE BUT NOW WE WANTTHE BJP TO KEEP ITS WORD.—SHIV SENA MPSANJAY RAUT

F O R E I G N E Y E

The fact that we are livinglonger is well known.According to a study by theOffice for National Statistics,by 2030, one in five peoplewill be aged 65 or over. Thiscreates a huge healthcarechallenge. Successivegovernments have abjectly failed to deal withthe crisis in social careprovision. The JohnsonGovernment has shamefullykicked the issue further intothe long grass. This hasbeen a collective derelictionof duty by Westminster.

(The Guardian editorial)

HUGE HEALTHCARECHALLENGE AHEAD

Lion Air vows to followrecommendations in crash report

JAKARTA:The low-

c o s tIndonesian carrier

whose Boeing 737 Max 8jet crashed a year ago, killing

189 people, has vowed to followrecommendations from a probe into thedisaster. Indonesian transport officialsreleased a report on the Lion Airaccident Friday that said faultydesign by Boeing, inadequatetraining for the pilots and laps-es in maintenance doomed theflight, which crashed on October29, 2018. Relatives of victimsscattered flowers Tuesday on waterswhere the aircraft plunged into the JavaSea, mourning and marking the crash anniver-sary. Edward Sirait, Lion Air's CEO, shared con-dolences and said improving safety was a "neverending job." A lawyer for Boeing expressed hissympathies and urged family members of thevictims to seek compensation from a $50 mil-lion fund set up to help them.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 30, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Rupee gains 18paise against USdollar in early tradeMUMBAI: The rupee onTuesday appreciated by 18paise to 70.72 against the USdollar in morning trade, asgains in domestic equitymarket and easing crudeprices strengthened investorsentiments. However,strengthening of thegreenback vis-a-vis othercurrencies overseas cappedgains for the rupee, forexdealers said. At the interbankforeign exchange, the rupeeopened strong at 70.75,showing a gain of 15 paiseover its previous closing. OnFriday, the rupee hadappreciated by 12 paise tosettle at 70.90 against the USdollar.

Tata Motors zooms16% after Q2 earningsNEW DELHI: Shares of TataMotors on Tuesday zoomed 16per cent after the companyposted strong quarterlyresults. On the BSE, the scripjumped 15.10 per cent to Rs170.30. On the NSE, itadvanced 16.04 per cent to Rs171.40. The homegrown automajor on Friday reported aconsolidated net loss of Rs187.7 crore for the quarterended September 30, against aloss of Rs 1,009.49 crore inthe same period of 2018-19.Equity markets were closed

on Monday for 'DiwaliBalipratipada'. Further, thecompany also said its boardhas approved raising of aroundRs 10,000 crore throughpreferential allotment to parentTata Sons and externalcommercial borrowing.

ICICI Bank rises 2%after Q2 resultsNEW DELHI: Shares of ICICIBank on Tuesday jumped 2per cent after the lenderwitnessed an improvement inasset quality for September2019 quarter. The scrip rose1.95 per cent to Rs 478.60 —its 52-week high — on theBSE. On the NSE, it rose by1.93 per cent to its one-yearhigh of Rs 478.65. The privatesector lender on Saturdayposted a 6.09 per cent declinein consolidated net profit forthe September quarter at Rs1,131.20 crore. It had reporteda net profit of Rs 1,204.62crore for the July-Septemberperiod a year ago. The bank,however, witnessed animprovement in asset qualityas gross non-performingassets (NPAs) fell to 6.37 percent of the gross advances bythe end of Sept 2019, from8.54 per cent a year ago.

ASSET MONETISATION PMC depositors protest outsideRBI office seeking payback

PNS n NEW DELHI

The finance ministry has writ-ten to all ministries asking themto seek details of land parcelfrom CPSEs under their admin-istrative control for monetisa-tion, according to sources.

The exercise is part of thegovernment's efforts to meetdisinvestment target of Rs 1.05lakh crore for the current finan-cial year. The Department ofInvestment and Public AssetManagement (DIPAM) hasalready empanelled 11 consul-tancy firms for monetisatingland and properties of centralpublic sector enterprises(CPSEs), public sector under-takings (PSUs) and other gov-ernment organisations.

The list of empanelled firmsincludes RITES Ltd, BostanConsulting Group, AnarockProperty Consultants Pvt Ltd,Cushman & Wakefield andFeedback Infra Pvt Ltd.

DIPAM has asked all min-istries and departments to getdetails from CPSEs under theiradministrative control of thoseland parcel for monetisationwhich are free from any encum-brances, litigation and encroach-ment, the sources said. It also

asked the ministries to seekboard-approved monetisationplan of CPSEs for smooth sale.According to the sources, theland parcel including that ofenemy property and residentialquarters could be sold bybunching up together or sepa-rately on a case-to-case basis.

Over 6.50 crore shares in 996companies of 20,323 share-

holders are under the custody ofCustodian of Enemy Propertyfor India (CEPI), under thehome ministry. Of these 996companies, 588 are functional oractive companies — 139 ofthese are listed, while 449 com-panies are unlisted.

The government has set a tar-get of mobilising Rs 1.05 lakhcrore from disinvestment pro-

ceeds and achieving this hasbecome more critical after itdoled out Rs 1.45 lakh crorestimulus by way of a cut in cor-porate tax. The proceeds fromdisinvestment will be critical forthe government to stick to itstarget of keeping fiscal deficit at3.3 per cent of the gross domes-tic product in the current finan-cial year. Earlier this month, theCabinet approved a new processof strategic disinvestment witha view to expediting privatisa-tion of select PSUs.

The Cabinet headed by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi gavenod for sale of 53.29 per centgovernment stake in BharatPetroleum Corp Ltd and its63.75 per cent stake in ShippingCorporation of India, 30 percent in Container Corporationof India, 100 per cent NEEPCOand 75 per cent in THDC.

Officials said strategic salemay involve two-stage biddingbeginning with an expression ofinterest or a preliminary intentshowing bid, and a final finan-cial bid. Pre-bid meetings withlikely bidders and roadshows toattract potential investors willform part of the process to pro-vide clarity on every aspect ofthe stake sale.

The Department of Investment and PublicAsset Management (DIPAM) has alreadyempanelled 11 consultancy firms formonetisating land and properties of centralpublic sector enterprises (CPSEs), publicsector undertakings (PSUs) and othergovernment organisations

FLIGHT SAFETY

PARIS: The Airbus A220should no longer use fullpower at high altitudes,Canadian and European airsafety regulators haveannounced following severalincidents with their engines,including one in which piecescame off in-flight.

In an emergency airwor-thiness directive issued overthe weekend by TransportCanada and also transmittedby the EU's Aviation SafetyAgency (EASA) on Monday,airlines operating the aircraftare ordered to not exceed 94per cent of maximum outputwhile above 29,000 feet.

The statement said thedirective was issued following"several occurrences of enginein-flight shutdowns" withA220s operated by Air

Canada, but there have alsobeen several incidents withflights operated by Lufthansa'ssubsidiary Swiss.

During one Swiss flightparts of the engine fell overFrance, and following inci-dents in September andOctober the airline halted allflights with the aircraft untilthey could be inspected.

The aircraft was designedand originally built byCanada's Bombardier, but ithad difficulty gaining enoughorders.

Mass prayer at sea on firstanniversary of jet crashJAKARTA: Grieving relatives tossed flowers into thesea Tuesday where an Indonesian Lion Air jet crashed

a year ago, killing all 189 on board, after a final acci-dent report pointed to plane design flaws as a key

factor in the disaster. Indian national BhavyeSuneja, the pilot of the plane, was also killedin the crash.

The crash on October 29 last year was fol-lowed months later by a second accident —

involving the same model Boeing 737-Max air-craft — when an Ethiopian Airlines plane went

down with 157 people aboard, leading to the glob-al grounding of the US planemaker's entire MAX fleet.

Tuesday's ceremony was closed to media, but videofootage supplied by relatives showed victims' fami-ly members praying and casting flowers into the JavaSea where the plane dived moments after takeoff fromJakarta.

Airbus A220s ordered toslow down over engine

InterGlobeAviation sharesfall 3 % NEW DELHI: Shares ofInterGlobe Aviation fell 3 percent on Tuesday after theDGCA asked IndiGo not to useA320 Neo planes which are fit-ted with PW engines that havealready been used for over3,000 hours, or face groundingof aircraft. The scrip declined3.03 per cent to close at Rs1,410.30 on the BSE. Duringthe day, it dropped 5.19 per centto Rs 1,378.75. On the NationalStock Exchange (NSE), thecompany's shares fell 2.63 percent to close at Rs 1,415.

The scrip has been falling forthe third consecutive day.Shares of InterGlobe Aviationhad on Friday tumbled 12 percent, wiping more than Rs7,600 cr off its market valuationafter the company posted asubstantial loss in the Septquarter.

PNS nMUMBAI

Harried depositors of the trou-bled Punjab and MaharashtraCooperative (PMC) Bank con-tinued with their protests by agi-tating outside an office of theReserve Bank here on Tuesday,to demand a payback of theirstuck money.

A depositors' delegation alsomet a Chief General Manager-rank officer after the protest insuburban Bandra KurlaComplex (BKC), and submitteda memorandum. The PMCBank has been put underrestrictions by the RBI for overa month, after an alleged Rs4,355 crore scam came to lightfollowing which the depositwithdrawal was initially cappedat Rs 1,000, causing panic anddistress among depositors. Thewithdrawal limit has been raisedin staggered manner to Rs40,000. At least five depositors,who had high quantum ofmoney stuck with the bank,died in the last month, includ-ing one who committed suicide.

The depositors, majority ofthem senior citizens andwomen, gathered at the RBIbuilding which houses theoffices of the chief general man-ager for cooperative bankingregulation, with banners like itbeing a "Black Diwali" becauseof the PMC crisis.

Later, a five member delega-

tion went to meet senior RBIofficials and submitted a mem-orandum. After its meetingwith RBI officials, Jitshu Seth,one of the delegation members,said they requested the RBI toassure them that their moneylying with the trouble-hit bankwas safe. "The RBI official saidtheir priority is to protect themoney of each and every depos-itor," she said, adding that theRBI was also been urged toeither arrange a Rs 4,000 croreinfusion into the bank or mergeit with a healthy lender.

Another delegation memberHarbans Singh said he will befiling a writ petition in the court

seeking payback for depositorsby selling property worth overRs 4,000 crore attached by theinvestigating agencies.

Depositor Satish Thapar, whowas among the protesters, saidthe bank can be revived becausethe probing agency has attachedmore assets of the accused thanthe loans given.

"The bank has become asinking ship now, but we wantthat it should be restartedimmediately," he said. He saidthe depositors' current and sav-ings accounts with the PMCBank should be activated withimmediate effect so that "theycan have their bread and butter".

A depositors' delegation also met a ChiefGeneral Manager-rank officer after theprotest in suburban Bandra Kurla Complex(BKC), and submitted a memorandum

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Department forPromotion of Industry andInternal Trade (DPIIT) willsoon approach the cabinet toseek approval for implemen-tation of a comprehensivevision document for startupswhich has proposed series ofsteps for budding entrepre-neurs, an official said.

Under the Startup IndiaVision 2024, the departmenthas proposed measures likeeasing regulatory requirementsfor startups such as reducingtax compliance time to just onehour per month and facilitiesof debt financing, the officialsaid. The other proposalsinclude setting up of 500 newincubators and accelerators,creating innovation zones inurban local bodies, deploy-ment of entire corpus of Rs10,000 crore fund of funds,

operationalise credit guaranteescheme, and establishment ofa seed fund.

Further, the vision docu-ment has proposed providingwork orders and pilot projectsfrom government, ranking ofministries and central publicsector undertakings for theirincreased engagement withstartups, and organising aglobal startup event in thecountry. "We are trying totake a consolidated view onstartups - as in what sort ofpolicy is required for them,what benefits we can give,how each ministry needs to

deal with them, and how toreduce their compliance bur-den," the official added.

At present, startups complywith a plethora of require-ments such as goods and ser-vices tax (GST) filings, taxreturns and other local lawsevery month. Compliance tothese processes takes a lot oftime and cost.

Startup India is the flagshipinitiative of the government,launched in January 2016,which intends to build a strongecosystem for the growth ofstartup businesses, to drivesustainable economic growthand generate employmentopportunities. The StartupIndia action plan provides taxand other incentives.

So far, as many as 24,250startups have been recognisedby the department. They areeligible for different tax incen-tives.

DPIIT to approach cabinet for Startup India Vision 2024

Adani partners withDigital Realty to builddata centre infra in India

IOB puts Jai Balajis' NPA account up for sale PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned Indian OverseasBank (IOB) has invited bids tosell one of its non-performingasset accounts in order torecover dues of over Rs 187crore. The Kolkata-based bor-rower Jai Balaji Industries Ltd,which is into steel business, hasan outstanding of Rs 187.10crore to the bank.

"IOB invites bids from(securitisation companies)SCs/(reconstruction compa-nies) RCs/ banks/ NBFCs/(financial institutions) FIs forsale of non-performing assetsas per the list during the thirdquarter of the financial year2019-20," said the bank'sstressed assets managementdepartment in a tender doc-ument.

The bank said this is thefirst lot of non-performingasset accounts to be sold dur-ing the ongoing quarter of thecurrent financial year.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Adani Group on Tuesday saidit is partnering with SanFrancisco-based Digital Realtyto develop and operate datacentre infrastructure acrossIndia. Under the agree-ment between AdaniEnterprises andDigital Realty, thetwo parties will"jointly evaluatedeveloping andoperating datacentres, data cen-tre parks and culti-vating undersea cableprovider communities ofinterest across India," a state-ment said. Digital Realty is aglobal provider of data centre,co-location and interconnec-tion solutions.

"The collaboration wouldleverage Digital Realty's exten-sive experience and industry-leading solutions for their glob-

al data centre customer basealong with Adani's expertise infull-stack energy management,renewable power, and real estatedevelopment and manage-ment," the statement said.

The strong engineering andproject management capabil-

ities of the two compa-nies will also enable

this partnership toexecute effectivelyin a complex envi-ronment and deliv-er facilities on time

with the requiredhigh uptime levels, it

added. "Data centre infra-structure is critical to enable aDigital India and this partner-ship leverages several of thecapabilities developed by theAdani Group...our ability topower our data centres withsolar and wind energy is uniqueand addresses some of thechallenges of building and oper-ating data centres," Adani said.

Airtel sharesdrop nearly 5%PNS n NEW DELHI

Shares of Bharti Airtel onTuesday fell nearly 5 per centafter the company deferredSeptember quarter resultannouncement till November14, due to the adjusted grossrevenue (AGR) issue. The scripdropped 4.65 per cent to Rs355.30 on the BSE. On theNSE, it declined4.82 per centto Rs 355.10.

The com-pany wasearlier sched-uled to approveand release its Q2numbers on Tuesday. "...themanagement of the companyrecommended to the board ofdirectors that the agenda itemrelated to the approval of audit-ed financial results for thesecond quarter and half yearended September 30, 2019... bedeferred till November 14,2019, on account of the factthat more clarity is needed onthe AGR matter arising out ofrecent judgement of... the SC,"Airtel said.

3 Indian-origin CEOs in HBR's top 10 best-performing headsPNS n NEW YORK

Three Indian-origin CEOs,Shantanu Narayen, Ajay Bangaand Satya Nadella are among theworld's top 10 best-performingchief executives, featured in a listcomplied by the HarvardBusiness Review (HBR). 'TheBest-Performing CEOs in theWorld, 2019' list by the HBR fea-tures 100 CEOs and has beentopped by American technolo-gy company NVIDIA's CEOJensen Huang. Among the top10 chief executives on the list,

three spots have been occupiedby the Indian-origin CEOs.

On the 6th spot is AdobeCEO Narayen, followed byMasterCard CEO Banga, ranked

7th and Microsoft chief Nadellaon the 9th spot. The listalso features India-born CEO ofDBS Bank Piyush Gupta on the89th spot. Apple CEO Tim

Cook is ranked 62nd.The list also includes Nike

CEO Mark Parker ranked 20,JPMorgan Chase chief JamieDimon (23), Lockheed Martin

CEO Marillyn Hewson (37),Disney CEO Robert Iger (55)and SoftBank head MasayoshiSon (96).

The HBR said since 2015, itsranking has been based not onlyon financial performance butalso on environmental, social,and governance (ESG) ratings.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos,who has been the top CEOevery year since 2014 on thebasis of financial performancealone, failed to make this year'slist owing to Amazon's relative-ly low ESG scores.

Crude oil futures declineon weak global trendPNS n NEW YORK

Crude oil futures fell 0.76 percent to Rs 3,923 per barrelon Tuesday after partic-ipants reduced posi-tions amid a weaktrend in global mar-kets. On the MultiC o m m o d i t yExchange, crude oil fordelivery in November fell byRs 30, or 0.76 per cent, to Rs3,923 per barrel with a business

volume of 21,318 lots.Marketmen said the fall incrude oil futures was mostly

due to trimming of positionsby traders in tandem with

a weak trend overseas.Meanwhile, West

Texas Intermediatecrude oil was trading

down 0.72 per cent toUSD 55.41. Brent Crude,

the international benchmark,fell 0.50 per cent to trade atUSD 61.26 a barrel.

Replace PW engines of 13 A320 Neo aircraft in 15 days: DGCA to GoAir

AGENCIES

Civil aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday askedGoAir to replace 13 A320Neo aircraft's PW engines,which have been used for over 3,000 hours, withinthe next 15 days or face grounding of airplanes, anofficial said. The 13 aircraft have to be fitted with atleast one modified Pratt and Whitney (PW) low-pres-sure turbine engine within the next 15 days, theDirectorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) offi-cial said. The official said there are 13 aircraft in theairline's fleet in which both the PW engines have beenused for more than 3,000 hours. Two budget carri-ers — GoAir and IndiGo — have been facing glitch-es for the last few years in PW engines that powermany of their A320Neo planes.

On Monday, the regulator had asked IndiGo toreplace 16 A320Neo aircraft's PW engines, whichhave been used for more than 3,000 hours.

The Best-Performing CEOs in theWorld, 2019' list by the HBRfeatures 100 CEOs and has beentopped by American technologycompany NVIDIA's CEO JensenHuang. Among the top 10 chiefexecutives on the list

FINMIN SEEKS DETAILS OFLAND PARCEL FROM CPSEs

l Proposes steps for buliding entrepreneur

n aestheticallypleasant environ-ment is core togood mentalhealth and ourhome is no excep-

tion. We all have an inherentdesire to personalise ourhomes to our taste, be itusing minimal furniture andcolour palette or turningmore extravagant. But, thedecor of our homes is morethan just aesthetics. We oftenoverlook the fact that thehealth of the planet is tied upwith our personal tastes onfurniture and colour paletteon our walls. This might benew to many but several cul-tures across the world havealready incorporated thisaspect while choosing decorfor their homes.

“The lifestyle of the cus-tomer and space manage-ment are major factors thatwe look at while designingthe house as per the client'srequirements. Nowadays cos-tumers are not afraid toexperiment. More often thannot minimal and creative fur-niture plays a huge role indecorations. The convenienceand preferred style of theclient these days are oftenstructured around a morespacious environment andutilitarian furniture whichare more practical than justaesthetic in nature.” saysPiyush Tayal, an architectand interior designer atVastukar.

Some of the ways to keephome decorations eco-friend-ly are by reducing wastage,hiring labour under ethicalconditions, adding moreearth elements to the decorand so on.

One can always go out of

their comfort zone and lookfor interior designing stylesthat can help them redecoratetheir home space better andwith minimal wastage.Wondering where to start?Here are a few types of eco-friendly and chic styles ofhome decor that could blendin with the present structureof a typical Indian home.

JAPANDIn “In Japan and Scandinavia,

there’s that appreciation ofthings that are made byhand, made with care andmade to last,” says NinaTolstrup Danish designer.In fact, the most recenttrend that has stepped in isthe “Japandi” which is acombination of both theJapanese decor andScandinavian decor.Japandi interiors are sim-ple, practical and impact-ful. Furniture pieces arechosen carefully and theyare themselves statementand bold accessories. Thedecor and accessories areminimal as well, rangingfrom plain large windows,indoor plants, glassware tobooks and handmadeceramics.

n Japandi decor encouragesethical labour and minimalwastage. The minimaldecor also ensures a largerliving space. The lack ofclutter plays a role in creat-ing a peaceful mindset aswell.

RUSTICn Rustic design is drawn

from natural inspiration,with design emphasis onrugged, natural beauty. Itembraces nature-inspiredtextures, simple and earthy

colours, and ultimatelyunpretentious organicwarmth.

n Rustic design may incor-porate accessories from theoutdoors such as fireplacesor plants with warmthemulating from the designand architectural detailsthat may include featureslike wood beams or woodfloors. It's not uncommonto see exposed brick, duct-work and wood which isalso nature friendly. Thecolours are warmer, and sois the feel of the home.

BOHEMIANn Bohemian or Boho style of

decorating the house is forthose who want theirhomes full of life, culture,and expression of innerbeauty for the world to see.This aesthetic flies in theface of modern sensibilitiesand embraces the carefree,the relaxed, and the unusu-al.

n Bohemian homes mayinclude vintage furnitureand light fixtures,displays of recordcollections, a widerange of prints anditems found inwidely variedsources teamed withpotted plants thatadd to the vibe. TheBohemian style isperfect for upcyclingseveral of your oldunused stuff in thehouse into pieces ofdecor.

n One can always mixand match several dif-ferent styles to find theone that suits one'spersonality. So goahead, experiment andfind your own person-ality in your haven.

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@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/

dailypioneer

WednesdayOctober 30, 2019

ollution levels are increasing inthe country everyyear and humanintervention isneeded to stop

the air from choking us todeath. Even after repeatedattempts from the govern-ment and private organisa-tions people are still unawareof the harmful effects of pol-lution.

The recent spike in pollu-tion after Diwali is a suresign of that unawareness. Toreduce pollution levels in thecity, Kalyani Gorre, a PhDscholar, started SwaasaFoundation in 2016 and hasbeen leading various cam-paigns for a better environ-ment. Kalyani researches onenvironmental sciences at theJawaharlal NehruTechnological University,

Hyderabad.Speaking to The Pioneer,

Kalyani says, “Since mychildhood, I was alwaysinterested to know moreabout plants and how theygrow. I feel I have a personalconnection with the environ-ment. To know more aboutenvironmental issues, I amdoing my PhD on environ-mental sciences.”

When asked about whatdrove her towards workingon environmental issues,Kalyani shares, “During mychildhood days not manypeople used to use plastic.But, now the usage of plastichas been increasing everyyear. People are not aware ofjute and cloth bags. Plastictakes more than decades todecompose. Many cows andfishes are dying from con-suming plastic. All these

issues inspire me to do workon reducing the usage ofplastic.”

She says, “We go to schoolsto explain the hazards ofusing plastic, crackers, andidols of Ganesha made fromPOP. We believe students arethe future of our country andthey are the one who shouldknow about alternatives toplastic. Students respond wellto such activities and alsoshare the same informationwith friends and relatives toreach more.”

“Every year, we distributeclay Ganesha idols inHyderabad. Our initiative,‘Selfie with Ganesha’ got agood response. We are alsoconducting free medicalcamps and food distributionevents for the poor in thecity. We are planning toexpand our services to the

rural areas very soon,” saysKalyani who has conductedvarious awareness activitiesabout eco-friendly crackers,clay Ganesha, jute and clothbags in Hyderabad.

Apart from the environ-mental, Kalyani also raisesher voice on women relatedissues. In the nine-month-oldinfant rape and killing caserecently in Warangal, Kalyaniadvocated on behalf of theparents. She also workedhard for the rights of womenin various cases across Telugustates.

She said that the reducingpollution levels in Hyderabadis only possible with theefforts of government andpeople together. She organis-es birthday celebrations inorphanages and sponsorseducation of underprivilegedchildren.

It is easy to criticise the government orothers for rising pollution levels. But

how many of us put our words to work.Kalyani Gorre is one such person witha dream for a pollution-free city, finds

V SATEESH REDDY

P

STRIVING FOR APOLLUTION-FREE CITY

We go toschools to

explain the hazards of usingplastic, crackers, and idolsof Ganesha made fromPOP. We believe studentsare the future of our countryand they are the ones whoshould know aboutalternatives to plastic.Students respond well tosuch activities and alsoshare the same informationwith friends and relatives toreach more people

KALYANI GORRE

A

The type of choices one makes inselecting furniture can affect theenvironment as well. Home decor isno more an individual phenomenon asit can be transformed into a collectivevision for a healthier environment,finds ANUSHKA PRADEEP

n THE IMPORTANCE OF LIGHTING Lighting also plays a crucial role in home decor. Here are afew tips for the ideal interior lighting suggested byGovindharaju, a lighting consultant.

n INVEST IN LED LIGHTS. LED lights, that consume less energy

than flourscent blubs, have an averagelifespan of about 50,000 hours, around 6 to 8years thus proving economical in the longrun.

n LIGHT AS PER AGEEvery age group has different lighting

requirements of their own. Younger agegroups usually students require lux(illumination) levels of 250-300 to be able toread and write better. Older age groupsrequire lights of higher lux levels.

n INDIRECT LIGHTINGIndirect lighting is the in-thing these days. Indirect lightingincludes having false ceilings or having lights bounce off ofthe ceiling. This adds a cooling effect to the room andavoids harsh lighting.

BONUS POINTS

Earth-consciousHOME DECOR

K Go

vindh

araju

Piyush Tayal

GROOMING INSTYLEBe You Family Salon and Bridal

Studio launched its 29th branch atPetbasheerabad, Suchitra,

Kompally recently. The salon caters tothe urban middle and higher middleclass in the beauty and groomingsegment. The studio wasinaugurated by actress Himaja of

Big

PARTY

10

Hyderabad Wednesday October 30, 2019

FUN TIME

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

what’s brewing?

l The playINDRAJAL isone of themasterpiecesof Hindiwriter JaiShankarPrasad. It isa love storybetween Bela and Goli, members of a travellingcommunity who dream of devoting their entirelife to each other and how different reflections ofour society play a role. It will be held at PheonixArena on November 16 at 7.30 pm.

THE BIG SHORT l CinephilesFilm Club will bescreening themovie The BigShort atLamakaan todayfrom 7 pm. Thefilm is based onthe 2010 book,The Big Short:Inside theDoomsdayMachine, byMichael Lewis showing how the financial crisisof 2007–2008 was triggered by the UnitedStates’ housing bubble.

CITY GUIDE

lGoethe-Zentrum incollaborationwith Salar JungMuseum isconducting aphotographyexhibition, ‘ThePower ofEmotions' tillOctober 31 atSalar JungMuseumbetween 10 amand 5 pm.

ART AAND CCULTURE

CHALAM'S MAIDANAMlSamahaaraTheatre Co-operative isstaging a play,Chalam'sMaidanam onNovember 2 atPhoenix Arenafrom 7.30 pm. It isone of the mostfamous and mostcontroversial of Chalam's works, dramatises hisideas on marriage, freedom and the moral issuesinvolved in them.

COMEDY

GET YOUR EVENT LISTED: To get your events listed, please send your detailsalong with a poster and contact number to features.pioneer@gmail.com

EK AKELI AURATlLocked in a flat, asolitary woman makesher confession. Amiddomestic chores and aforever screaming babyshe tells us the story ofhow her love for ayoung student led toher imprisonment atthe hands of herjealous husband. Theplay will be held atPheonix Arena onNovember 1 at 6.30pm.

POWER OF EMOTIONS

lAn NGO,Cultivating Art isconducting thesecond edition ofHyderabad OpenArt Competitionon November 10at Phoenix Arenafrom 10 amonwards. It is a platform to encourage everyone,especially school children to practice art, exploreideas and encourage all budding artists.

OPEN ART COMPETITION

INDRAJAL

l NEB Sports Entertainment in association withIDBI Federal Life Insurance is conducting the thirdedition of Hyderabad Half Marathon on November3 at Gachibowli Stadium. Pullela Gopichand is theface of the event.

HALF MARATHON

PETEX INDIA

l India’s largest exhibition on pet care products,Petex India 2019, will be held at HICC from November1 to November 3 between 10 am and 8 pm.

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fter his film with debutantSantosh Kumar was shelved overcreative differences,Sumanth, who was lastseen in NTR:

Kathanayakudu, has green lita new film, a remake ofMalayalam filmPadayottam, which will bedirected by newcomerVinu Yagna. The 2018Malayalam gangster com-edy revolved around alocal don fromThiruvananthapuramand how society per-ceived him. The filmingwill commence fromDecember 15 and pair-ing opposite Sumanthwill be debutant Aima.Tammineni JanardhanRao and Sharma Chukkaare jointly producing themovie under East IndiaTalkies and The ManthraEntertainments banners.Further details on the techni-cal and supporting actors’front are awaited.Interestingly, Sumanth’s rolein the shelved film withSantosh was also of a gangster.

hen the makers ofRomantic, featur-ing Akash Puri,informed onOctober 16 thatveteran actress

Ramya Krishnan is on boardfor a key role, it raised manyeyebrows. Generally, majorsupporting actors are castwell in advance before theshoot commences as theywork round the clock, hop-ping from one film set to theother. But, given Ramya’s act-ing stature and the role thatshe will have in the movie, itis unusual that she was a lastminute-addition to Romantic.A little digging by ThePioneer told us that her cast-ing is more than what meetsthe eye. We hear that the

Sivagami of Baahubalireplaced Mandira Bedi in thefilm.

A source close to thedevelopment says, “Prod-ucers Puri Jagannadh andCharmme Kaur cast MandiraBedi days before Romanticmoved to sets. Significantportions involving her wereshot in Goa. However, afterPuri and team saw thefootage last month, they wereunhappy with Mandira’s per-formance. In the best interestof the film they decided toreplace her. The fact thatRomantic stars his son Akashmeans that Puri has becomeextra cautious. Also, theenormous success of iSmartShankar was weighing downon his shoulders and he was

keen to make everythingright with Romantic to con-tinue his success streak. Theywere even clear to Mandira,before she departed from theproject, about what theirexpectations are about herrole. She was paid her duesfor the film though. Later,Puri felt that they need tohave Ramya onboard as it’s arole that has a lot of signifi-cance in the context of theoverall narrative. She has fin-ished many of her shots in asingle take so far.”

The source adds that theteam is planning to reshootGoa schedule once again.“The present schedule inHyderabad will concludetoday and the next schedulein Goa will commence in

November first week.Reshooting is a financial bur-den but Puri has no issues aslong as he gets a qualityproduct,” the source said.

Akash will be seen as aslum dweller in this lovestory who struggles to makehis ends meet, while newbieKetika will be seen as his loveinterest. Prominent VFXsupervisor Anil Paduri willbe debuting as a directorwith this flick.

Puri is leavingno stoneunturned to gethis nextproductionright. Even if itinvolvesspending moreeffort andmoney, findsNAGARAJGOUD

Hyderabad Wednesday October 30, 2019

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resently shooting in Annapurna Seven Acres,Hyderabad, where sequences involvingMahesh Babu, Vijayashanti and Prakash Rajare being shot, the unit of SarileruNeekevvaru will head to Pollachi early nextmonth. Most star-driven movies, which need

a rural set-up, are shot in Pollachi to avoid public glare.Mahesh’s earlier film Maharashi was also shot atPollachi. However, for Sarileru, Pollachi outing for theactor will only be for three to four days, following whichhe will travel to Kerala to complete the rest of the shoot.The team is planning to complete the entire leg of film-ing by November-end so that they can devote a good 40days for post-production.

A joint production venture between Dil Raju, AnilSunkara and G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment, theaction-comedy, directed by Anil Ravipudi, will storminto the cinema halls on January 12. RashmikaMandanna is cast opposite Mahesh in the film.

— NG

Pollachi next stop for team

SARILERUP

SUMANTHin a Malayalamgangstercomedy remake

rowd-funded films are on the rise inTelugu cinema. After Manu andOperation Gold Fish, filmmaker AshokReddy has managed to source funds for

his film, Mr and Miss. We hear the film is anextension of his own short film with the samename that has received much praise online.Ashok Reddy said, “An Amalapuram resident

(Sailesh Sunny) marries a girl (GnaneswariKandregula) from Mumbai. The story is abouthow one of them loses their cellphone that hassome sensitive content on it.” The film’s shoothas been wrapped up and it’s presently in post-production. Pericherla Sudheer Varma haspenned the screenplay, while Yashwant Nag hasrendered the tunes.

Another crowd-funded filmC

ith 118, which releasedearlier this March,Nandamuri Kalyanram hasgot back on the ladder of

success after three lackluster ven-tures in a row. Now, the actor, whois presently busy with SatishVegesna’s Entha ManchiVaadavuraa, has decided to con-tinue his association with Mahesh

S. Koneru, producer of 118, fur-ther. The duo will come togetherfor another venture next year. Theproducer on Tuesday announcedthat they will deal with a ‘newkind of subject this time around’too. Details about who will helm itwill be revealed later.

Meanwhile, Mahesh is delightedwith the response Whistle (Bigil in

Tamil), starring Tamil star Vijay, isgarnering. The film grossed Rs 12crore till Monday and if the steadyoccupancy is a pointer, it will landthe distributors and the producersin massive profits over the courseof the week. With no big releasesscheduled for Friday, the makersare confident that it will have agood run in the next week as well.

Kalyanram, Mahesh Koneru team up again

ctors Taraka Ratna andPrince Cecil have teamed upfor a thriller titled S5-No Exit.To be directed by Sunny

Komalapati, it was launched inHyderabad on Tuesday. Speakingafter the muhurat, Sunny recalledhow the producers decided to pool inresources for the project one hourinto the script narration. “A little overa month later, the film was on sets

and I credit the producer’s duo for it.We will be shooting the film with aRed Ranger camera which will be afirst time for an Indian film. What ifa journey on a train has no stops, isthe film’s premise. A train set hasbeen erected outside the city for thepurpose and we are planning to wrapup the film in a single schedule of 40days.” It is a joint production venturebetween Gautam Kantipudi and

Rahul Reddy. Mani Sharma will beproviding the music. Taraka Ratnasaid, “Sunny used animation to nar-rate the story and I was mightyimpressed with it. The film would bea thrilling experience for the audi-ence.”

Avantika, Ruthuja, Ali, Sai Kumar,Raghu Karamchedu, Fish Venkat andSanjay Swaroop will be seen in sup-porting roles.

Thriller on a train with no stops

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PTI n KOLKATA/DHAKA

The Indian cricket team willplay its first ever Day-NightTest match here against

Bangladesh next month, BCCIPresident Sourav Ganguly told PTIon Tuesday, taking a path-breakingdecision within a week into hisnine-month tenure.

The Test is scheduled to be heldat the Eden Gardens from November22-26 and will be the second gameof a two-match series.

The development ended days ofspeculation after Ganguly first pro-posed the idea to the BangladeshCricket Board, which faced resis-tance from its players and sat formultiple meetings to convince them.

“The BCB has confirmed and weare having a pink-ball Test. It’s a gooddevelopment. Test cricket needs thispush. Me and my team were bent onit and thanks to Virat (Kohli) also,he agreed,” Ganguly told PTI.

Bangladesh’s South Africancoach Russell Domingo conceded inDhaka that there are concerns abouthow the match will pan out but theteam has decided to accept thechange and explore new avenues.The match will start at 2pm (IST)and will comprise a Tea and Dinnerbreak.

“We think it’s a great opportuni-ty. I don’t think India has played apink ball Test before. It’s a massiveoccasion at Eden Gardens againstone of the best teams in the world,”Domingo said.

“We are looking forward to thatchallenge. There are some chal-lenges as we will not have a lot oftime to prepare but it’s same forIndia. I don’t think they have had aday-night Test match. So it will besame for both teams,” he added

“Since it’s pink ball, both teamswill be close to each other. Sometimechange is the best,” the formerProteas coach said.

It was Ganguly, who was instru-mental in organising the first everpink ball match in India although it

was a Cricket Association of Bengal(CAB) Super League final betweenMohun Bagan and Bhowaniporeunder lights in June, 2016. Gangulyheaded the CAB at the time.

Two players, who played thatmatch — Wriddhiman Saha andMohammed Shami — are expectedto play the first ever pink Test.

The BCCI had introduced thepink ball in Duleep Trophy that sameyear and it continued for three sea-sons before the Board scrapped it

this year due to lack of broadcastcoverage.

Mayank Agarwal, RavichandranAshwin, Kuldeep Yadav, IshantSharma have also played pink ballDuleep games among the currentIndia players.

The spinners have expressedconcerns about the dew factor, whichthey believe, puts them out of equa-tion.

Ganguly, however, assured thatconditions won’t be a problem.

“We will sort this out and therewould be no dew. We have day-nightone-dayers after all and dew spray isused,” he said.

There are plans to invite India'slegendary Olympians like AbhinavBindra, M C Mary Kom and P VSindhu and felicitate them for theircontribution to the country’sOlympic movement during thematch.

Ganguly, a former India captainand an advocate of the innovation torevive interest in Test cricket, wantsto make it an annual affair likeAustralia's Pink Test in which thenational team wears pink caps toraise breast cancer awareness.

Also, with Bangladesh PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina set to witnessthe first day’s proceedings, it isexpected to be a carnival at the Eden.

Ganguly, within a week of takingover as Board chief, has created alasting legacy.

“It’s just my job, that’s what I’mhere for... Because I’ve played thisgame for so long. I think it’s a greatmove for Test cricket and hopefullyit will bring crowds back to theground,” he said.

Internationally, there have been11 day-night Tests so far since thefirst between Australia and NewZealand in 2015. The most recentday-night Test took place in Januarythis year between Australia and SriLanka in Brisbane.

India were approached to play aday-night Test during their tour ofAustralia last year but the countrydeclined the offer at that time,asserting that sighting the ballbecomes a problem after it gets oldunder floodlights.

sport 12HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 30, 2019

PTI n DHAKA/DUBAI

Bangladesh captain and star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was

on Tuesday handed a two-year sus-pension by the ICC for failing toreport three corrupt approaches,including one at the IPL, by a sus-pected Indian bookie, ousting himfrom the upcoming tour of India.

Twelve months of that ban isa suspended sentence which willcome into effect if Shakib fails tocomply with the anti-corruptioncode of the world body.

The one-year ban that he hasto serve will keep him out of nextyear’s Indian Premier League (IPL)and also the World T20 to be heldin Australia from October 18 toNovember 15 the same year.

“I am obviously extremely sadto have been banned from thegame I love, but I completelyaccept my sanction for not report-ing the approaches. The ICC ACUis reliant on players to play a cen-tral part in the fight against corrup-tion and I didn’t do my duty in thisinstance,” Shakib said in a mediarelease given by the ICC.

In his absence, senior-mostplayer Mushfiqur Rahim mightlead the team in Tests while oneamong Mahmudullah RiyadhMosaddek Hosain is set to be theskipper in the three T20Internationals.

The 32-year-old was beingkept away from team's ongoingpractice sessions before the Indiatour on ICC’s instructions. Theseries against India comprisesthree T20 Internationals and twoTests and gets underway in Delhiwith the shortest format games onNovember 3. Shakib was spoken toby the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unitin January and August this yearand he failed to report theapproaches made to him by “anindividual known to the ACUand suspected of involvement incorruption in cricket, DeepakAggarwal.”

The ICC said Aggarwal hadasked Shakib to provide informa-

tion on team composition andstrategy on three separate occa-sions, one of them being April 26,2018 when his IPL franchiseSunrisers Hyderabad was to takeon Kings XI Punjab. Sunrisers wonthe game by 13 runs.

“These messages on 26 April2018 included a number of delet-ed messages. He confirmed thatthese deleted messages containedrequests from Mr Aggarwal forInside Information,” the ICC stat-ed.

Aggarwal’s other twoapproaches were during theBangladesh Premier League whenShakib was playing for DhakaDynamites in 2017, followed by thetri-series against Zimbabwe and SriLanka in January 2018.

Aggarwal, the ICC said, want-ed to meet Shakib but the cricketerdidn’t oblige as “he had concernsover Mr Aggarwal, feeling he wasa bit ‘dodgy’, and that, followingtheir conversations, he had the feel-ing that Mr Aggarwal was a book-ie,” it added.

Shakib, who escaped the max-imum punishment of five years forthe offence, will not have the rightto appeal as he accepted the ICC’sinvestigation and charges.

Shakib recently spearheaded aplayer’s strike before calling it offafter the BCB assured that theirdemands, including a pay hike, willbe fulfilled.

He is unarguably one of thegreats of the game in Bangladeshwith more than 11,000 runs andover 500 wickets across three for-mats.

The ICC said while Shakib’svoluntary admission, cooperationduring interviews worked in hisfavour, the fact that he failed toreport advances made over monthswas an “aggravating” factor.

“Mr Al Hasan is an experi-enced international cricketer who,having participated in several anti-corruption education sessions, wasfully aware of his responsibilitiesunder the Code,” the world bodysaid in its judgement.

PTI n DUBAI

The Netherlands on Tuesdaysealed their berth in the ICC

men's Twenty20 World Cup inAustralia next year with asuperb eight-wicket win overUnited Arab Emirates (UAE) inthe qualifying play-off here.

Brandon Glover returnedwith a four-wicket haul, whilePaul van Meekeren and T vander Gugten claimed two wick-ets each to restrict UAE to 80 fornine in the stipulated 20 overs.

The Dutch then overhauledthe target, reaching 81 for twoin 15.1 overs, riding on a 53-ball41 by opener Ben Cooper.

The Netherlands thusbecame the third team, afterPapua New Guinea and Ireland,to book a place in the T20World Cup. The Dutch are nowassured of a place in the eight-team first round of the tourna-ment to be held in Australia inOctober next year.

UAE have a final chance toreach the tournament whenthey face Scotland in a qualify-ing playoff on Wednesday.

Hosts UAE skipper AhmedRaza's decision to bat first back-fired as they slumped to 9 for 5.

Opener Rohan Mustafa (1)

was the first to go after he wascaught and bowled by FredKlaassen in the first over.

Paul van Meekeren thenstruck twice in as many balls,having Rameez Shahad (0)and Mohammad Usman (0)caught behind by wicketkeep-er Scott Edwards in the secondover.

Glover then trappedDarius D'Silva LBW for a duckin the third over, before remov-ing Zawar Farid (5) when hetried to pull a delivery to mid-wicket as UAE lost half theirside inside five overs.

UAE were in danger ofrecording the lowest score inT20I history but they managedto put up 80 for 9 after Raza(22), Waheed Ahmed (19),Mohammad Boota (16) andSultan Ahmed (11) made someuseful contributions.

In reply, the Netherlandslost Max O'Dowd (5) to RohanMustafa in the second overbefore Colin Ackermann (18)was sent packing by ZahoorKhan in the 10th over.

Cooper and Ryan tenDoeschate (11 not out) thensteadied the innings and tooktheir team home with 29 ballsto spare.

PTI n DHAKA

Bangladesh head coachRussell Domingo on

Tuesday welcomed the deci-sion to play their maidenDay-Night Test against India,saying both team’s inexperi-ence of playing with pink ballmight give the visitors an edgeover the hosts.

The Test is scheduled to beheld at the iconic EdenGardens from November 22-26 and will be the secondgame of the two-match series.

The development endeddays of speculation after newBCCI president SouravGanguly managed to con-vince the Bangladesh CricketBoard, which initially facedresistance from its players.

“As a coach I think it’s agreat opportunity. I don't thinkIndia played a pink ball Testbefore, we too haven’t playeda pink ball Test either. It's goingto be a massive occasion at theEden Gardens. It will be a newexperience for both teams.So we’re very excited,”Domingo said.

“We know India are agood Test team. Probably theyare the number one team inthe world, but there will beuncertainty among players ofboth the teams of playing a

pink ball Test.“Both teams don't quite

know what to expect, so itcould work in our advantage,could work in our favour,” headded.

The South African furthersaid it will be a level-playingfield for both the teams interms of preparation for theirfirst-ever Day-Night Test.

“It’s going to be a greatoccasion under lights inKolkata against one of thebest team of all formats. Sowe're really looking forward tothe challenge. For sure therewill be challenges becausewe’re not going to have a lot oftime to prepare with a pinkball,” Domingo said.

“It’ll be the same for boththe teams, not a lot of prepa-ration time, but an excitingevent. It’s new for both of theteams, so it can get the teamsa little bit closer.

“And just the way thegame is going, we’ve got to lookat trying new things at certaintimes. Like I said, we haven’tdone much of it, but some-times change is the best thing.”

Domingo said Bangladeshplayers were initially reluc-tant to the idea because of lackof preparation time.

“I’ve spoken to the players.For sure there were some con-cerns. Some guys actually said‘we don’t know what to expect.A little bit of preparation is

needed, there will be onlytwo-three days between thefirst and the second Test. Howmuch time are we going tohave to get used to it?”

“(But) during my timewith South Africa, we playeda pink ball match in Adelaide.We had a warm-up gamebefore that with a pink ball, wehad a few sessions. It’s a littlebit less time this time forIndia,” he said.

“I’ve got some experiencewith the pink ball. Hopefully,we can share that information(with the players). But our firstfocus will be on the openingTest and once that’s complet-ed, we will work with the pinkball,” Domingo added.

PTI n KOLKATA

BCCI President SouravGanguly on Tuesday said

the historic decision to organ-ise India’s first-ever Day-NightTest is based on “commonsense” as it is the only way torevive falling crowd interest inthe traditional format.

India’s maiden Day-NightTest against Bangladesh, thesecond game of a two-matchseries, will be held at theEden Gardens here fromNovember 22-26 and will bea first for the visiting side aswell.

Ganguly said he is happythat India skipper Virat Kohlias well as the BangladeshCricket Board (BCB) haveagreed on a historic first atsuch a short notice.

“It’s just my job, that’swhat I’m here for... BecauseI've played this game for solong. It’s great. I think com-mon sense is important. AndI think it's a great move forTest cricket and hopefully itwill bring crowds back to theground,” Ganguly told PTI inan exclusive interview justafter the landmark develop-ment.

It’s been less than a weekin office as BCCI chief andGanguly had created some-thing that will be his legacyeven if his term ends in thenext 10 months.

“Test cricket needs thispush. Me and secretary Jay(Shah) and our new teamwere pretty hell bent on it.Thanks to Virat (Kohli) also,he agreed straightaway. Andeven more to BangladeshCricket Board that they agreedat such a short notice. It's agood way forward,” Gangulysaid.

It wasn't an easy job butGanguly managed to con-vince BCB mandarins after alot of back channel talks.

“Things change like this.I think it’s a great start for Testcricket in the subcontinent.Our intentions have beengood. It’s going to be no prob-lem at all. Everything will befine don't worry,” the formercaptain said in an assuredtone.

In the Duleep Trophygames that were held in thepreceding years (2016, 2017and 2018), when Ganguly wasthe technical committee chair-man, dew was one issue thatbecame problematic for thespinners.

“We will make sure there’sno dew. After all day/nightone-dayers are played here.There's this dew treatmentspray and all. Nothing willhappen,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly also informedthat BCCI will persist with 'SGTest' pink balls instead ofDukes or Kookaburra.

“Hopefully SG...Becausethe first match will be with SGso the second Test will alsohave to be with SG.”

Asked why Kookaburraballs can't be used, Gangulysaid that two different balls(different companies) can't beused in the same series.

“No, it can’t be because theseries has to be played withsame ball. It can’t be two dif-ferent balls in the same series.”

With no Shakib Al Hasan,banned for two years (one yearsuspended sentence) forbreaching ICC Anti-Corruption code, Bangladeshmight find it problematic todeal with pink ball underlights.

“I don’t think it’s going tobe a problem. They have suchquality players they wouldadjust easily,” Ganguly sound-ed confident that the matchwont lose its competitiveflavour without Shakib.

Was there a feeling of dejavu when Bangladesh agreedjust like CAB hosted the Indo-Pak game in World T20 afterbeing shifted fromDharmasala at short notice in2016, he replied: “This wasscheduled. We just made it aday/night unlike that game.”

Now that the matchwill be a day-night one,Ganguly said he would nowget on with the arrangementpart.

“We have not decided any-thing yet because we were notconfirmed whether it's goingto be a day/night or day. Oncethis is confirmed we will takeit from there,” he concluded.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Environmentalists wrote to BCCI pres-ident Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday,

requesting him to consider moving thefirst India-Bangladesh T20 outside Delhias the rapidly deteriorating air qualitycould prove a health risk for the playersand thousands of spectators.

The rapid spike in the pollution levelafter Diwali has become a cause for con-cern ahead of the international match atFeroz Shah Kotla Ground on November3. In December 2017, the Sri Lankancricket team was left gasping for breathduring a Test match at the Kotla, forcingmost of their players to wear protectivemasks even as some fell ill.

“In the light of extreme pollution inDelhi, we would like to request you toconsider shifting the venue for the firstT20 outside of Delhi. Making our crick-

eters play a physically demanding sportfor 3-4 hours in Delhi’s toxic air will endup doing more damage to our cricketteam’s health in the long run,” Jyoti Pandeof Care For Air and Ravina Raj Kohli ofMy Right To Breathe said in the letter.

Care For Air and My Right ToBreathe are clean air awareness and advo-cacy non-profit organisations.

“Thousands of innocent spectators atthe venue will also be putting themselvesat risk in order to watch the match in theprevailing situation,” they said.

The environmentalists said outdooraerobic activities raise the respiration rateof the human body, thus depositing evenhigher levels of toxins into our lungs andorgans.

“This puts our sportspersons at evengreater risk when they play outdoors. Anymatch played outdoors harms the healthand very lives of the players and it is irre-sponsible to schedule such sportingactivities during times of such toxic airquality,” they said.

On Monday, Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal had hoped pollution willnot affect the T20 match, emphasisingthat his government has been taking stepssuch as the odd-even scheme to improvethe air quality.

A day later, a smoky haze turnedDelhi's skies grey as the air qualitydropped further and entered the second-worst “severe” category. At 6.45pm,Delhi's overall AQI stood at 410, whilethe situation was worse in the satellitetowns of Ghaziabad, Greater Noida andNoida.

The Ball is PinkGanguly convinces Bangladesh for India’s first ever D/N Test at Eden

It’s my job, that’s whatI am here for: Ganguly

Shakib bannedfor 2 years

India’s inexperience could workin our favour: B'desh coach

“THE BCB HAS CONFIRMEDAND WE ARE HAVING APINK-BALL TEST. IT’S A

GOOD DEVELOPMENT. TESTCRICKET NEEDS THIS

PUSH. ME AND MY TEAMWERE BENT ON IT AND

THANKS TO VIRAT (KOHLI)ALSO, HE AGREED,”

1st B’desh T20 maybe shifted out of DelhiNetherlands secure

2020 World T20 berth

}

Thousandsof innocent

spectators at thevenue will also

be puttingthemselves atrisk in order to

watch the matchin the prevailing

situation