HYDERABAD, THURSDAY JANUARY 21, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 3 ISSUE 92*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

MONEY 8HOUSING SALES IN OCT-DEC UP

25 PER CENT ACROSS 7 CITIES

ANALYSIS 7DON’T BE AN ANTI-VAXXER

SPORTS 12WARNE PREDICTS HUGE

FALL- OUT IN OZ TEAM

}SVP TO ROLL IN DUBAIPage 11

{

Nirmal healthworker diesafter vaxPNS n HYDERABAD

A 42-year-old man, healthcareworker in the Kuntala PHC ofNirmal District, who was vac-cinated at about 11.30 am onTuesday, developed chest painabout 14 hours later and wasbrought dead to the districthospital. Health officials said,as per preliminary findings,that the death was unrelated tothe vaccination. According toan official statement issued bythe Director of Public Healthand Family Welfare here onWednesday, the man haddeveloped chest pain around2.30 am on Wednesday andwas taken to the DistrictHospital, Nirmal around 5.30am, where he was declaredbrought dead. "Preliminaryfindings suggest that the deathseems to be unrelated to vac-cination. As per the guidelines,postmortem will be conductedby a team of doctors.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana and AndhraPradesh figured in the list oftop-10 states in the country inNiti Aayog’s India InnovationIndex ranking released onWednesday.

While Telangana retained itsfourth place, neighbouringAndhra Pradesh climbed threespots to reach seventh place, upfrom the tenth spot it achievedlast year. Karnataka has main-tained its top position, whileMaharashtra has leapfroggedover Tamil Nadu to occupy thesecond place followed byTelangana, Kerala, Haryana,

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, UttarPradesh and Punjab.

Among Union Territories,and North-Eastern and hillstates, Delhi and HimachalPradesh occupy the top spotsrespectively.

“As the world grapples withthe Covid-19 pandemic thisyear, the significance of inno-

vation is even more greatly felt,”Niti Aayog vice chairman RajivKumar said.

He added that while innova-tion has always been pivotal forhigher productivity and eco-nomic growth, it is also crucialfor bolstering a post-crisiseconomy. In this light, theforesight of the Central govern-

ment in fostering a culture ofinnovation through initiativeslike the Atal InnovationMission, Startup India, etc. islaudable.

“The second edition of theindex will allow states to contin-ue to evaluate their innovationenvironment and assess theirprogress. The division of inno-vation into two dimensions,namely innovation capabilities(Enablers) and innovation out-comes (Performance) will givethe states a better perspective foridentifying the critical focusareas,” Rajiv Kumar added.

PNS n HYDERABAD

IT and Industries MinisterKT Rama Rao has urged theCentre to establish a VaccineTesting and CertificationLaboratory at the GenomeValley in Hyderabad on thelines of the Central DrugLaboratory at Kasauli inHimachal Pradesh. Besides, aGovernment Medical StoreDepot (GMSD) could be setup in the Genome Valley onthe outskirts of the city inorder to strengthen the vac-cine manufacturing industryin Hyderabad, benefiting theentire nation.

In his letter to Union Healthand Family Welfare Minister

Harsh Vardhan, KTR saidHyderabad had come to beknown as the 'vaccine capitalof the world', with more thansix billion doses being manu-factured every year, account-ing for about one-third of theglobal vaccine output. He stat-ed that the recent visit ofPrime Minister NarendraModi and those of the delega-tion of 80 foreign ambas-sadors to the Genome Valleyto assess the status of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing,served as a testimony toHyderabad's leadership posi-tion in vaccine developmentand manufacturing.

VENKAT RAM REDDY LAKKADIn HYDERABAD

With the Telangana RashtraSamiti's plenary fast approach-ing, the long-standing chorus atvarious levels in the party formaking IT Minister K T RamaRao, TRS working presidentand son of Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, as theChief Minister seems to havenow gained stridency andreached the TRS brass, thoughKCR himself has been elo-quently silent on the crucialmatter.

The chorus has now becomerather uninhibited after seniorTRS leader and Health MinisterEtala Rajender expressed hisopinion two days ago affirmingthe view in party circles that itis time for KCR to hand overthe baton to KTR.

Striking while the iron is hot,on Wednesday yet anotherMinister Talasani Srinivas Yadavand two TRS MLAs, BajireddyGoverdhan and Shakeel AamirMohammed, overtly supportedthe view that "KTR has all thequalities to become CM" and that"the state will achieve furtherprogress if KTR is made CM".

The buzz in TRS circles is thatKCR may hand over reins to hisson KTR anytime on 'health

grounds'. Their ballpark estimateis that the coronation may takeplace during the TRS plenary,which is held on April 27 everyyear. TRS leaders and cadre

speculate that KCR may make anannouncement on making KTRas the next CM during theparty's plenary in April.

Talasani said, "What's

wrong in KTR becoming CM?KTR is already playing a keyrole both in the party as wellas in the TRS government.KTR is the most efficient andcapable leader. He can handleany situation and has thecapacity to face any chal-lenges."

Bodhan TRS MLA Shakeelwent a step further, saying thatthe upcoming Budget session ofthe Legislative Assembly shouldbe held under the leadership ofKTR. He even requested KCRto give a serious thought onmaking KTR as CM and hopedthat KCR would anoint KTR atthe earliest. Shakeel went on tosay that Telangana State wouldachieve further progress withKTR as CM. "KCR shouldbless KTR to become CM.This is not just my opinion butthe opinion of the majority ofthe young MLAs in TRS,"Shakeel said.

Nizamabad Rural TRS MLABajireddy Govardhan said thathe was among the TRS MLAswho wished KTR should bemade CM at the earliest.

"I appeal to KCR to thinkseriously on this issue. I hopeKCR will soon announce KCRas next CM," Bajireddy said.

‘Make KTR CM' chorusgains stridency in TRS

PNS n HYDERABAD

BJP state unit president BandiSanjay has alleged that ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raowent to Kaleshwaram projecton Tuesday only to immerse, atthe confluence of three rivers,hallowed material from thespecial pujas he had performedat his farmhouse to propitiateplanets for ensuring that KTRwould become the ChiefMinister of Telangana.

The CM rushed to TriveniSangamam, along with hisspouse, to disgorge the pujamaterial, he said. He suggestedthat they should come clean onwhat they had immersed at theconfluence of three rivers.

Sanjay alleged that KCR hadbeen hoodwinking people onthe Kaleshwarm project. Hewanted the CM to explain thesignificance of the project. TheCM had drawn up plans toamass Rs 3 lakh crore over thenext three years, he alleged.

On the chorus to make ITMinister KT Rama Rao the nextChief Minister, Sanjay observedthat only those who had sabo-taged the Movement forTelangana had been battingfor KTR to become the CM,

while the 'true supporters of themovement' object to it.

Sanjay expressed his displea-sure at Health Minister EatalaRajender "not getting his due inTRS". "Whenever the govern-ment faces a crisis, CM projectsthe crisis manager Eatala to savehis skin," Bandi observed.

Claiming people's 'full sup-port' to BJP, Sanjay said that thepink party would not benefit inanyway if KTR were to becomethe CM. "If some of the MLAscome forward to join the BJP,only those "who believe in BJPideology and are not tainted"would be allowed to join thesaffron party, he said.

People had been appealing toKCR to make a Dalit as CM, hementioned. He sought to knowthe progress in installing 125feet high Ambedkar statue inthe city.

"While KCR does puja tobenefit his family, the pujadone by the BJP will benefitsociety," he observed.

TS, AP top India Innovation rankings

DURGA PRASAD SUNKUn HYDERABAD

Sleuths of the Anti corruptionBureau (ACB) nabbedTelangana State WarehousingCorporation chairman andGeneral Manager red-handedon Wednesday when theywere accepting bribe forreleasing the retirement ben-efits of a retired employee.

The accsued, V. BhaskaraChary, MD of StateWarehousing Corporation,and M. Sudhakar Reddy,General Manager of the corpo-ration, were booked for graft.Based on a complaint fromBanoth Sundar Lal (61), retiredwarehouse manager, the ACBlaid a trap on Wednesday.

TSWC MD, GM caught by ACB, Rs 75,000 seized

KTR seeks Vaccine Testingand Certification Lab in Hyd

KCR's Kaleshwaram trip to make KTR CM

HC bars coercive stepsagainst LRS, BRS applicantsINKESHAF AHMEDn HYDERABAD

A division bench of theTelangana High Court onWednesday directed the stategovernment to not take anycoercive steps against the BRSand LRS applicants till the casepertaining to the schemespending before the SupremeCourt of India was adjudicated.

The division bench, compris-ing the Chief Justice of the stateJustice Hima Kohli and JusticeB. Vijaysen Reddy, also direct-ed the advocate-general of thestate BS Prasad to submit thecopies of the recent SC order onthe issue to the High Court andto the petitioners concerned fortheir perusal.

The High Court passed theseorders, while dealing with abatch of Public InterestLitigation (PIL) pleas filed onthe issue by various persons,including Congress party MP

Komatireddy Venkat Reddy. The HC told the petitioners

it would hear the batch of peti-tions filed on the LRS and BRSissue only after the completionof case hearing by the SupremeCourt. During the course ofarguments, the advocate-gener-al of the state brought the issueof the hearing by the SC on the

issue and told the HC that theapex court of the country hadasked the state government tofile its response on the issuewithin 8 weeks of time.

In his petition MPKomatireddy Venkat Reddyurged the HC to declare theRule 10 of the TelanganaRegularization of Unapprovedand illegal Layout Rules 2020issued vide G O Ms 131 of 2020on August 31,2020 as "illegalarbitrary unconstitutional andviolative of provisions of TheTelangana Urban AreasDevelopment Act 1975, GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation Act 1955,Telangana Town Planning Act1920, Telangana MunicipalitiesAct 2019, HyderabadMetropolitan DevelopmentAuthority Act 2008, TelanganaPanchayat Raj Act 2018 as wellas Article 14, 21 and 300A of theConstitution of India.

“While KCR doespuja to benefit hisfamily, the pujadone by the BJP will benefit society,”he observed.

TRS corporatorassaults MRO

PNS n NAGARKURNOOL

In all, 12 persons sustained seri-ous injuries and 50 sheep worthRs 3 lakh perished when aWanaparthy-bound RTC bus,belonging to Nagarkurnooldepot, collided head on with avan transporting sheep on

Wednesday. The bus driver,seriously injured, was rushed toa hospital. Under the impact ofthe collision, the DCM van wascrushed.

The injured persons havebeen rushed to a hospital fortreatment. The Bijinepalli Policeare investigating the case.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Banjara Hills corporatorVijayalakshmi, belonging toTRS, asserted her positionand allegedly resorted tohigh-handed behaviour onWednesday.

Vijayalakshmi, who wentto the Mandal RevenueOffice at Shaikpet, mentionedthat she was the daughter ofTRS Rajya Sabha member KKesava Rao and allegedlyassaulted the MRO SrinivasReddy. Srinivas Reddy lodgeda complaint with the policestating that Vijayalakshmiresisted him while he wasabout to leave his office toattend Telangana High Courtand abuse d him. He alsoalleged her followers tried todetain him.

12 hurt, 50 sheep perishas bus, van collide

All eyes on TRS plenary, with KCR eloquently silent

2

2 2

2

2

22

PNS n WASHINGTON

Joe Biden took oath as the 46thpresident of the United Statesat the Capitol on Wednesday.His deputy, Kamala Harris,the daughter of immigrantsfrom Jamaica and India, alsotook oath as the new VicePresident of the United States.She is the first Black person,first woman, and first AsianAmerican to occupy the posi-tion.

In his remarks after takingoath, Biden said, "Here westand days after a riotous mobthought they could silence thewill of the people. It will nothappen, not today, not tomor-row, not ever - not ever."

Biden also pledged that hewould be honest with thecountry as it continues to con-front difficulties, saying thatleaders have an obligation to"defend the truth and defeatthe lies". "Hear me out as wemove forward," Biden said.

"I know forces that divide usare deep & they are real. But Ialso know they are not new.Our history has been a con-stant struggle betweenAmerican ideal that we're allcreated equal & harsh uglyreality that racism,nativism,fear, demonizationhave long torn us apart," Bidenremarked.

"Today, we mark the swear-ing-in of the first woman inAmerican history elected tonational office, Vice-President

Kamala Harris. Don't tell methings can't change," Bidenobserved.

Earlier, Donald Trumpwalked out of the White Housefor one last time on Wednesdayand headed to Florida.

In his final remarks beforeleaving the White House,Trump said, "We love theAmerican people and again ithas been something very spe-cial. And I just want to saygoodbye, but hopefully it's not

a long term goodbye. We'll seeeach other again."

Joe Biden and KamalaHarris took oath under theunprecedented securityumbrella of thousands of secu-rity personnel, who trans-formed the Capitol into afortress to prevent any breachby pro-Trump extremists.

The 78-year-old veteranDemocrat leader was adminis-tered the oath of office by ChiefJustice John Roberts at the

West Front of the Capitol - thetraditional location for presi-dential inaugural ceremonieswhere the deadly violence tookplace just two weeks ago.

The inauguration was heldunder the watch of more than25,000 National Guards, whohave transformed the capitalinto a garrison city, mainlybecause of the threat of moreviolent protests by the support-ers of outgoing PresidentDonald Trump, who becamethe first president to skip hissuccessor's inauguration sinceAndrew Johnson in 1869.Outgoing Vice President MikePence attended the ceremony.

Biden, who is the oldestpresident in American history,took the oath by placing his lefthand on his 127-year-old fam-ily Bible, which was held by hiswife, Jill Biden. He used thesame Bible during his swearingin as vice president and seventimes as senator fromDelaware.

Just before Biden's oath, hisdeputy 56-year-old Harris wassworn in as 49th Vice Presidentof the United States by JusticeSonia Sotomayor, the firstLatina member of the SupremeCourt, creating history as thefirst female, first Black and firstIndian-American vice presi-dent of the world's oldest andmost powerful democracy.

The ceremony was attendedby former presidents BarackObama, George W Bush andBill Clinton.

‘DEMOCRACY HAS PREVAILED’“Leaders have an obligation to defend the truth and defeat the lies. Hear me out as we move forward,” Biden tell fellow Americans

ED arrests realtor in Rs 1,030-cr e-tender scam PNS n HYDERABAD

The ED on Wednesday arrestedSrinivas Raju Mantena, founderand chairman of the Hyderabadbased Mantena Constructions,and his associate in connectionwith the Rs 1,030 crore e-tenderscam in MP state. The agencyhas filed prosecution complaintagainst Srinivas Raju Mantena,founder and chairman of M/sMantena Constructions, and hisassociate Aditya Tripathi of M/sArni Infra, resident of Bhopal,under the Prevention of Money

Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA)based on a case booked by theEconomic Offences Wing,Bhopal, and started investigation.

Joe

Biden takes

oath 46th President

of the US

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

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

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

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

hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JANUARY 21, 2021

EGG RATES

` Rs.45,700 (10 gm)` 100

GOLD

` Rs.71, 200(1kg)` 800

VISAKHAPATNAM 430

HYDERABAD 410

VIJAYAWADA 410

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..4411

SILVER

VISAKHAPATNAM

BULLION RATES

`̀//110000

CHICKEN RATES

Dressed/With Skin `135

Without Skin `153

Broiler at Farm `93

`̀//KKGG

(IN VISAKHAPATNAM)

Continued from Page 1

Citing his earlier request,the Minister said vaccinesmanufactured in Hyderabadwere presently being sent tothe Central Drug Laboratoryin Kasauli for testing and cer-tification. He asserted thatthe logistics and the timeinvolved were constrainingthe industry in being a moreeffective and competitive des-tination. He pointed out thatthe Indian Council for MedicalResearch (ICMR) was estab-lishing the country's largestNational Animal Resourcefacility for biomedical researchin the Genome Valley, forwhich the State Governmenthad provided land required forthe project free of cost, besidesfacilitating its establishment.

"I am happy to note that thisfacility already has a mandate

of testing and certifying thedrug including vaccines, med-ical devices and to certifythem on behalf of the Uniongovernment. I would like torequest that the establishmentof this facility be expedited,and this institution is strength-ened further to conduct test-ing and pre-release certifica-tion of Immuno biologicalsmeant for human use inIndia," he added.

Rama Rao also stated thatestablishing a GovernmentMedical Store Depot of theCentral government inHyderabad with state-of-the-art data monitoring and track-ing system, would go a longway in supporting the vaccinemanufacturing efforts in thecountry. Currently, such facil-ities are only available inKarnal, Mumbai, Chennai,and Kolkata.

Continued from Page 1

"At around 11:30 in themorning M. Sudhakar Reddywas caught red-handed in hisoffice chamber when hedemanded and accepted anamount of Rs.75,000 from thecomplainant. Chemical testconducted on M. SudhakarReddy yielded positive resultsand the tainted currency was

recovered from his posses-sion," said ACB.

Further investigationsrevealed that M. SudhakarReddy was acting at the behestof V. Bhaskara Chary, MD ofState WarehousingCorporation who is holdingfull additional charge (FAC) inthe Hyderabad AgricultureCo-operative Association asthe Managing Director of

Telangana State Markfed.Subsequently, the ACB

arrested both the accused forperforming their duty "dishon-estly and improperly to obtainundue advantage".

The tainted officials wereproduced before the PrincipalSpecial Judge for SPE andACB cases, Hyderabad andwho sent them to judicial cus-tody.

Continued from Page 1

He also urged the HC todeclare the Rule number 13of The TelanganaRegularization ofUnapproved and IllegalLayout Rules 2020 as "illegal,arbitrary, unconstitutionaland violative of provisions ofvarious earlier enactmentsof the state, besides directingthe state government to reg-ularize the plots under theTelangana Regularization ofUnapproved and IllegalLayout Rules 2020 withoutimposing any penalties. Continued from Page 1

It may be recalled that Tourism Minister VSrinivas Goud too had previously stated thatKTR was capable enough to lead Telangana Stateas CM and that he should be made the CM atthe earliest.

TRS leaders and cadre expect KCR to handover reins to KTR only in April during the ple-nary. This is because by that time all the elec-

tions, namely Warangal, Khammam municipalcorporation polls, MLC polls for two seats andNagarjunasagar Assembly bypoll would becompleted and there will be no more electionsleft in Telangana until 2023 December Assemblybypolls. This, party circles feel, would pave theway for KCR to make KTR the Chief Ministerand give him time to settle down and strength-en party and prepare it to face the Assembly pollsand retain power for third time in a row.

Continued from Page 1

The last edition of the IndiaInnovation Index, releasedin October 2019, was a first-of-its-kind metric for assess-ing the innovation capabilitiesof Indian states and UnionTerritories.

“Since then, India, and theworld, have undergone a tec-

tonic shift due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With the pan-demic triggering an econom-ic shutdown, the role of inno-vation to revitalise the econ-omy has never been moreimportant,” the report said.

The 2020 edition buildson the previous year’smethodology by introducingmore metrics to provide a

more holistic outlook of theIndian economy.

The framework is updatedto include globally consideredparameters for measuringinnovation, such as the per-centage of GDP spent onresearch and development,while keeping them specificto the Indian economy, itnoted.

Farmers are protestingagainst laws that deregu-late the sale of crops,

allowing private buyers freerein in a marketplace that haslong been dominated by gov-ernment subsidies. Farmerssay the reforms that have longprotected small landholders’place in the market will putthem at risk of losing theirbusinesses and land to bigcorporations.

However, what is missing inthis narrative is the culpabili-ty of the market in the messthat the agricultural professionis in today, as well as evidenceon whether, and how, the stateand market have responded tothe agrarian crisis that germi-nated over six decades.

The results after decades ofagriculture development sug-gests that farmers continue tobe vulnerable to frequentepisodes of losses in their eco-nomic activity that neitherthe state nor the markets havebeen able to mitigate.

Market Economy and StateIn his book, Wealth of Nations

(published in 1776), AdamSmith explains that in a mar-ket economy, guided by themotive of self-interest, individ-ual decisions collectively deter-mine the economy's allocationof scarce resources throughfree markets for the socialgood. In other words, opera-tion of demand-and-supplyforces, through a perfectlycompetitive market, results inoptimal allocation of resourcesand a perfect market leads tosocial efficiency and maxi-mum social welfare.

But, in the real world, per-fect competition is not so ‘per-fect’ as it appears at first. Thatmeans unless demand andsupply reflect, respectively, allthe benefits and all the costs ofproducing and consuming aproduct, the prices determinedin perfect competition may notnecessarily be ‘perfect’ or ‘right’ones.

If so, perfect competitioncannot ensure maximumsocial welfare or markets fail toachieve social efficiency.

Economists call this ‘marketfailure’. In ordinary sense, mar-

ket failure means that pricesfail to provide the proper sig-nals to economic agents—consumers and producers— sothat the market does not oper-ate in the traditional way. Thisis also precisely reflected inagriculture markets in India,where neither the producingfarmers nor the consuming cit-izenry is satisfied with theprices.

However, government pol-icy interventions, such as taxes,subsidies, wage and price con-trols, and regulations, mayalso lead to an inefficient allo-cation of resources, or govern-ment failure. Given the tensionbetween the economic costs

caused by market failure andcosts caused by "governmentfailure", policymakers attempt-ing to maximise economicvalue are sometimes facedwith a choice between twoinefficient outcomes, i.e., inef-ficient market outcomes withor without government inter-ventions.

Government should playan important role in bankingand securities regulation,channel investment supportthrough direct transfers toenforce contracts and proper-ty rights. The real challengetoday is about finding theright balance between themarket and government and to

explore farmers' own institu-tions beyond the market andthe state.

Collective Action andCooperative Economics

The collective action orcooperative approach demon-strated by Elinor Ostrom andothers challenges the currenteconomic orthodoxy that thereare indeed alternatives to state,privatisation and markets ingenerating wealth and human

wellbeing.As is known, between the

individual/market/governmenta range of voluntary, collectiveassociations, producer organ-isations, cooperatives, and pro-ducer companies can evolveefficient and equitable rules toget the most out of commonresources. We know that todaythere is an alternative secure,stable and sustainable model ofbusiness owned and controlledby 800 million people world-wide. Cooperatives with over400-million-member farmersare responsible for over 50% ofagricultural production andmarketing in the world. It is nocoincidence that the world’smost successful and stableeconomies generally also hap-pen to have the world’s mostco-operative economies.

Farmer collectives are there-fore viewed as an importantelement in linking smallhold-ers with modern markets(input and output) as they pro-vide many benefits for thisinterface. Further, primaryproducers’ organisations orcollectives are being correctly

argued to be the only institu-tions that can protect smallfarmers from ill-effects ofglobalisation or make themparticipate successfully inmodern competitive markets.Producers’ organisations notonly help farmers buy or sellbetter due to scale benefits butalso lower transaction costs forsellers and buyers, besidesproviding technical help inproduction and creating socialcapital.

A striking example is TheGujarat Co-operative MilkMarketing Federation with 28lakh milk producers whoseAmul brand is a householdname. It transfers 82% of itsretail price to farmers in thesupply chain. A number ofequally successful coopera-tives are running today inIndia and the need to promotethem in the interest of smalland marginal farmers isimmense.

A unique initiative of FarmerProducer Organisations(FPOs), which are member-based farmers’ institutions withthe objective of integration of

smallholders into agriculturalvalue chain, was taken byGovernment of India,NABARD over the last 10 years.About 5,000 FPOs were formed,of which around 3,200 are reg-istered as Producer Companieswhich require not only techni-cal handholding support butalso adequate capital and infra-structure facilities includingfair market linkages for sustain-ing their business operations.Such basic model of “beyondmarkets and states”, is possiblein communities with high lev-els of autonomy and internaltrust when people have a rea-sonable expectation of influenceover the things that affect theirlives.

This is because unlike themarket or state it is only collec-tive action and cooperationwhere efficiency and equitycan be combined and the prof-its arising out of their businessare returned to those who tradewith the business, thus keepingthe wealth generated by localbusinesses in the local commu-nity for the good of the localenvironment and families.

DR RAMESHCHENNAMANENI, MLA

HUMBOLDT EXPERT IN

AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND

COOPERATION

The collective action or cooperativeapproach demonstrated by Elinor Ostrom and others challenges the current economicorthodoxy that there are indeedalternatives to state, privatisationand markets in generating wealthand human wellbeing

Indian farmer at crossroads: Market, state or collective action?

KTR seeks VaccineTesting and CertificationLab in Hyderabad

TSWHC MD, GM caught by ACB, Rs 75,000 seized

‘Make KTR CM' chorus gains stridency in TRS

HC bars coercivesteps against LRS,BRS applicants

TS, AP top India Innovation...Continued from Page 1

During preliminary investiga-tions, it came to fore that topofficials of many infrastruc-ture companies, mostly based inHyderabad, conspired with afew senior Government officialsand IT service providers ofMPSEDC to tamper with the e-tenders for illegally obtaining

large value contracts.Search operations were con-

ducted in Hyderabad, Bhopal &Bangalore at more than 20locations, including the resi-dence and office premises con-nected with M/s MantenaConstructions, M/s Max Infra,M/s GVPR Engineers, M/s ArniInfra, M/s Osmo IT Solutions,M/s Antares etc, and a large

amount of incriminating docu-ments and digital devices wereseized for examination.

"Fund trial investigation hasalso yielded direct unexplainedfinancial transactions betweenM/s Mantena and its front enti-ty M/s Arni Infra, with theaccused directors of M/s OsmoIT Solutions who are already inthe custody of EOW, "said ED.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana has become the sec-ond state in the country toadminister highest number ofCovid vaccines to healthcareworkers.

Around 69,625 healthcareworkers have been vaccinatedin the state since January 16.Only Karnataka is ahead ofTelangana in vaccinating80,686 healthcare workers. TheCentral government haspraised Telangana MedicalHealth Department for effec-tively managing the vaccina-tion programme.

On January 19, around 894sessions were conducted inthe state in which 51,997 peo-ple were vaccinated. Around 71per cent of the beneficiarieshave been vaccinated in thestate in the first four days.

Telangana reported 51 casesof adverse effects followingimmunization (AEFI) onJanuary 19. Of whom threerequired hospitalisation andare stable. On the first day,3962 (92%) people were vacci-

nated in 140 centers and 11were found with AEFI. OnJanuary 18, 13665 (80%) peo-ple were vaccinated in 335centers and 15 people weredeveloped AEFI symptoms.

To start with, only 30 bene-ficiaries were given the vaccineper session. It was increased to100 beneficiaries per session onJanuary 19.The state has also

announced that on January 20,no Covid vaccination will beconducted in the state. It willresume on Thursday. Around1,77,368 beneficiaries werevaccinated till January 19.

The cumulative number ofhealthcare workers vaccinatedagainst Covid has touched6,31,417 on Tuesday nightthrough 11,660 sessions, as

per the provisional report. Around 3,800 sessions were

held since the start of Covidvaccination drive in the coun-try on January 16. A total ofnine beneficiaries, who devel-oped AEFI, required hospital-isation. In Andhra Pradesh, atotal of 58,495 healthcareworkers have been vaccinatedtill January 19.

Telangana becomes second stateto administer highest jabs of vax

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Union Government hasissued orders allotting statecadres to candidates who gotinto the Indian Police Service(IPS). According to theseorders, Telangana was allottedfour new IPS officers, whileAndhra Pradesh was giventhree officers. The cadre allot-ment order was issued onTuesday evening.

Following are the officerswho are allotted to Telanganacadre: Paritosh Pankaj (hailingfrom Bihar and with rank142), Sirisetti Sankeerth(Telangana, 330), Patil KantilalSubash (Maharashtra, 418)and Ankith Kumar Sankhwar(Uttar Pradesh, 563).

Three others hailing fromTelangana who got into IPSwere given other State cadres.MV Satyasai Karthik (rank103) got allotted toMaharashtra, while RenkntlaSheetal Kumar (417) was allot-ted to Assam Meghalaya andRajanala Smruthik (466) toChhattisgarh.

The other Telugu State -

Andhra Pradesh was allottedthree IPS officers Viz,: JagadishAdahalli (Karnataka, 440),Pankaj Kumar Meena(Rajasthan, 666) and DheerajKunubilli (Andhra Pradesh,320).

Similarly five IPS officershailing from Andhra Pradeshwere allotted to other States.They are: Y. Megha Swaroop(rank 98) allotted toMaharashtra, TirumalarajuSD Varma (478) to HimachalPradesh, Neethipudi RashmitaRao (534) to Maharashtra,Korukonda Siddharth (566) toGujarat and JuvvanapudiMahesh (612) to Kerala.

In all 150 IPS officers weregiven cadre allotments all overthe country by the Ministry ofHome Affairs.

IPS CADRE ALLOTMENT

TS gets fourofficers, AP three PNS n HYDERABAD

A young mechanical engi-neering graduate who turnedinto a thief targeting elderlycustomers at ATM centreswas arrested by the Nacharampolice here on Wednesday.Police recovered Rs 90,000and 11 ATM cards from him.

The arrested suspect wasidentified as S Shiva Kumar(25), who graduated in B Tech(Mechanical) from a reputedprivate engineering college in2019, and was a resident ofDevakadra in Mahabubnagar.

According to the police,Shiva Kumar targeted elderlypersons with little or noknowledge of withdrawingmoney from ATM centres.He approached them in theguise of helping them and thencollected their PIN andexchanged their debit cardwith a duplicate one. Oncethey left, he withdrew moneyfrom their accounts, policesaid.

He was involved in six sim-ilar cases including inNacharam, Ghatkesar,Malkajgiri and Neredmet. Hewas also arrested by the

Ghatkesar police. Recently, hecheated a 57-year-old employ-ee of the Food Corporation ofIndia and withdrew Rs 20,000from his account at an ATM inMallapur. Based on his com-plaint, a case was booked andShiva Kumar was arrestedfrom an ATM centre inMallapur. He was producedbefore the court and remand-ed in judicial custody.

Nirmal health...Continued from Page 1

The district Adverse EventFollowing Immunisationcommittee is examining thematter and will submit itsreport to the state AEFI com-mittee. The state AEFI com-mittee will in turn furnish itsreport to the central AEFIcommittee for taking a view,"the statement said.

ED arrests realtor in Rs 1,030-cr...

Shiva targetedelderly peoplewith little or noknowledge ofwithdrawingmoney from ATMcentres. Heapproached themin the guise ofhelping them andthen collectedtheir PIN andexchanged theirdebit card with aduplicate one

Man held for cheatingelderly at ATM in Hyd

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JANUARY 21, 2021 hyderabad 03

The State Bank of India (SBI)Chairman Dinesh Kharainaugurated the Retail Assets

Credit Processing Centre for Smalland Medium Enterprises, Kompally.During his visit to the city, Kharaattended the meeting of theParliamentary Standing Committeeon Urban Development (2020-21) and conducted the local boardmeeting at LHO Hyderabad. Khara said that bank's area of focus inCSR activities include healthcare, education, livelihood, skilldevelopment, environment protection, empowerment of women andyouth. On this occasion, SBI donated tractor and medicalequipments to Kalpavruksha Kamadhenu Trust and Ashray Akruti.“CSR activities in project mode are done through SBI Foundationestablished in 2015 with a vision of becoming a premier CSRinstitution in line with the bank's tradition of service beyondbanking,” he added. Prakash Mishra, Chief General Manager, saidthe bank has spent an amount of Rs 300 lakh during the currentfinancial year till date on various CSR activities in Telangana. Thebank also undertook sustainability initiative for protection of wildlifeand animals by adopting tigers and providing support for thewelfare and maintenance of cows, he said.

IICT Principle scientist Shail-aja has donated 3,000 mas-ks to Rachakonda Police and

Sanghmitra of RachakondaSecurity Council (RKSC) onWednesday. Rachakonda CPMahesh Bhagwat IPS, andAdditionall CP Sudheer Babureceived the four layered cloth face masks designed by IICT,manufactured by Khar Energy and sponsored by Cipla foundation.CP Mahesh Bhagwat said that 3,000 masks will be distributed tothe Sanghmitra volunteers of RKSC and another 10,000 onreceiving will be distributed to Rachakonda police personal. The CPappreciated and thanked the gesture of IICT represented by Shailaja,Principal scientist Dr Nivedita Salu, senior scientist SChandrashekhar, Research scholar Vani, Cipla foundation and Kharenergy represented by CEO KLN Raju and AS Vani who were alsopresent on the occasion.

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar along with DGPMahender Reddy visited

Public Gardens on Wednesdayand inspected thearrangements being made forRepublic Day. The ChiefSecretary instructed theofficials to make arrangementsincluding security, traffic management, barricading and others in acoordinated way duly taking preventing measures as per Covidprotocol. Vikas Raj, Principal Secretary, GAD, Sunil Sharma,Principal Secretary, TR&B, SAM Rizvi, Secretary, HM & FW, LokeshKumar, Commissioner, GHMC, Jitender, Additional DG (L&O),Anjani Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Swetha Mohanty, Collector,Hyderabad and other officials were present.

CITY LIGHTS

CIE at IIIT Hyderabad announced the onboarding of two startupsMachstatz and eSkindoctor under Avishkar DeepTechaccelerator cohort No. 11 & OJAS MedTech Accelerator cohort

No. 5. Avishkar deeptech is a 6-month cohort-based accelerator foremerging tech startups and OJAS MedTech is an accelerator forstartups in life sciences, biotechnology, diagnostics, point of caredevices for healthcare along with cutting edge emergingtechnologies facilitated by CIE at IIITH. The accelerator bringstogether the deeptech expertise of IIITH's research labs andtechnology mentoring opportunities that help startups build qualityproduct/features within shorter timelines. The startups also gothrough a structured strategic business mentoring from Co-CreationConsulting, customer introductions and investor connect for follow-on round of investments. Medtech startups also get access tomedtech consortium which includes clinicians, hospitals, pharma,biotech & manufacturing companies.

To discuss various road safety and traffic management issues inthe Serilingampalli zone, officials of the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation (GHMC), Serilingampalli, Cyberabad

Traffic Police and other related agencies held a zonal levelconvergence meeting at Cyberabad Police Commissionerate hereon Wednesday. During the meeting, issues of illumination, roadmarkings, junction developments, footpath, foot overbridges,waterlogging, drainage, water leakage issues and others werediscussed in detail and specific decisions were taken to addressthem in a time-bound manner. GHMC Serilingampalli zonalcommissioner, Ravi Kiran, DCP Traffic Cyberabad, SM Vijay Kumar,Madhapur Traffic ACP, Chandrashekar, and others participated in theconvergence meeting.

CIE at IIITH announces start of next cohort of Deep Tech

GHMC, Cyberabad cops hold meet on traffic management

WALK UNDERFLYOVER NOW!

The green space under the one-km flyover,inaugurated in April, connecting the JNTUand Malaysian Township, has become a

soothing sight for the city. The Kukatpallyzonal officials of the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation have transformed

the space under the bridge into a beautifulpark. The first-of-its-kind park under the

flyover with walking tracks wasinaugurated under the JNTU flyover on

Wednesday.

ANUSHA PUPPALAn HYDERABAD

While the Education Depart-ment of Telangana mandatesthat students of Class IX andabove, who wish to attend theclasses physically must bring inthe consent letter duly signedby their parents, some schoolsin Hyderabad are making par-ents' consent form with nooption of unwillingness tosend the child to the school.

According to the parentsonly 'agree' or 'willing' optionis mentioned in the consentform. Reportedly, parents arebeing forced to sign even ifthey are not willing to sendtheir child to the schools, oncethe school re-opens inTelangana.

Schools have also asked par-ents to not send their kids toschool if the student has coldand cough. Surprisingly, thishas happened a day afterTelangana Education MinisterSabitha Indira Reddy assuredHyderabad School ParentsAssociation (HSPA) membersthat physical classes will not bemandatory after reopening ofeducational institutions.

The Minister also assuredthe parents that they can sendtheir children to schools onlyif they are willing to sendthem, otherwise they canattend online classes.

A consent form by St

Gorge's Grammer School inAbids, Hyderabad reads,“Willing/Agreeing to send myson to attend offline classes atschool. Mr/Mrs ___ herebyagree to send my son of Class& Sec ___ to attend classes atschool for exams, tests, projectwork, and clearing of doubts.I agree to abide by all the reg-ulations prescribed by theschool. I will make the neces-sary arrangements for my son'spic up and drop from school.I will see that he will follow thesafety measures for Covid likewearing masks, personal san-itizer and water bottles etc. Ifat all my son gets cold, coughor I will not send him toschool.”

One of the parent on condi-tion of anonymity said, "As saidby the government, it's thechoice of parents but schoolsare making it compulsory,while GO 46 is grossly violat-ed yet no action taken by thegovernment, the schoolsreopening shall be violated byprivate schools and the gov-ernment shall be silent. As thegovernment and educationalofficials see education as holycow."

Another parent said, "It'ssurprising that the parents aremade to sign these consentforms despite it was madeclear by the state governmentthat parents will not be forcedto send their kids to schools.

How can schools force parentsto sign such forms despitetheir unwillingness to sendtheir wards to school. Stategovernment should make surethat these schools don't forceparents to send their kids toschools."

A parent said, "Some schoolshave started doing this not allin written word of mouth inparents and teachers meeting.They are keeping it suchphrased way that they are notforcing but like what wouldyou say. This is a forcible dec-laration or self suicide note forparents I would say as schoolswant to throw responsibility onparents but they want entire feewith no restriction.”

“The school in which myward is studying asked if we areready to take risk and make acommitment. My answeralways is how much risk canthe school take and assureparents. I am not ready to riska life for a year of studies," theparent added.

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao onJanuary 11 announced toreopen high schools and col-leges from February 1, 2020.The Chief Minister instructedall the concerned officials tomake necessary arrangementsfor the re-opening of bothgovernment and privateschools for students of ClassIX, X and Intermediate.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Taking a cue from Bangaluru,operating an Multi-ModalTransport System (MMTS) fromrailway station in the city to RajivGandhi International Airport(RGIA) at Shamshabad appearsto a feasible solution as the L andT building a Metro rail corridorfrom Rayadurgam to the airportspending Rs 9,000 crore in thepresent situation was ruled out.

Since the Metro Rail has beenrunning under the losses, devel-opment of the 32-km-long MetroRail corridor to the airport isunlikely.

Completion of the MMTS pro-ject with just Rs 250 crore wouldprovide the vital rail link to theairport from the city.

In fact, the residents of GardenCity in Bengaluru have beencommuting to the airport inlocal train, which is just 2 kmaway from the Kempegowda rail-way station.

The Kempegowda railway sta-tion in Bengaluru is abuzz withairport-bound passengers.Moreover, the flight schedules arebeing advertised in the railwaystation. There are many shuttleservices running to the airportterminal.

The South Central Railway inthe past expressed its willingnessto run MMTS to the airportdirectly provided it gets permis-sion to build a railway station inthe premises of the airport.Earlier, the SCR decided to runairport services at a lowest fare of

Rs 25. The proposal has beenshelved as the GMR did not give

it permission. The GMR refusedto give site for building railway

station. If the Rayadurgam-air-port corridor is to be executed,the GMR offered to give site forbuilding underground railwaystation.

The Metro Rail which sustainsRs 1 crore loss per day is not ableto execute the Rayadurgam-air-port corridor.

In Bangaluru, the commuterspay just Rs 20 to reach airport. AnSCR official, who wished toremain anonymous, said that thesame can be done here to provideMMTS is allowed to run up toairport.

In the second phase of theMMTS project, there was a pro-posal to double the track fromFalaknuma to Unda Nagar. Newrailway track should be laid up tothe airport from there, which is

just six km away.In 2013, the project cost was

estimated to be Rs 250 crore. Theproject was proposed to be exe-cuted in the MMTS phase-II, butthe GMR refused to give land.The MMTS phase-II conceived ata cost of Rs 550 crore to providetransportation service to cityoutskirts remained non-starter asthe state government did notrelease funds.

In case the second phase isthrough, MMTS trains will runbetween Secunderabad-Ghatk-esar, Secunderabad-Bollarum,Moulali-Sanat Nagar, Tellapur-BHEL, Falaknuma-Un-da Nagar,Airport-Unda Nagar.

The Rs 330-crore YadadriMMTS project also did not takeoff due to the shortage of funds.

MMTS phase-II holds key to provide cheap transport to airport

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana reported 267 newCovid cases on Tuesday takingthe overall tally to 2,92,395 inthe state. Two new deaths arereported on January 19, takingthe total tally to 1,583. Thefatality rate is 0.54 per centwhich is less than the nation-al average of 1.4 per cent.

The Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation areareported 55 new cases whileRangareddy reported 16 newcases. Districts of Telangana isseeing the increase in cases.Medchal Malkajgiri reported18 new cases while Karim-nagar reported 20 new cases.

Around 351 citizens recov-ered from the infection onTuesday taking the tally oftotal recoveries to 2,86,893.The recovery rate, as per thegovernment now stands at98.11 per cent, which approx-imately one per cent higher

than the national average of96.7 per cent. The governmenttested 27,471 citizens for thevirus on Tuesday.

So far 75,42,537 sampleshave been tested in the state.Samples tested per millionpopulation stand at 2,02,647.Still, 1006 reports are awaited.

The state currently has3,919 active cases. Of the totalactive cases, 2,270 are underhome isolation. Of total pos-itive cases, 70 per cent areasymptomatic with no severesigns of distress while 30 percent are symptomatic.

According to the state bul-letin, men aged between 31and 40 years contribute to14.72 per cent of the totalcases. Women aged between21 and 30 years contribute to9.02 per cent of the total cases.The deaths due to comorbidi-ties have risen to 55.04 percent. 44.96 per cent of victimshad no comorbidities.

Active corona cases drop below 4K in TS

SBI, Kompally branch rolls out new facility for MSMEs

IICT, Cipla donate 3,000 face masks to Rachakonda Police

CS Somesh Kumar, DGP inspect arrangements for Republic Day

PNS n HYDERABAD

As part of operation smile, theRachakonda anti-human traffick-ing unit (AHTU), conducted raidsand rescued 26 minor children, infour separate cases, who wereemployed for work against thelabour laws in liquor bottle clean-ing companies, furniture manu-facturing workshops and samosa-making firms in Yadadri Bhongirdistrict on Wednesday.

The police have also arrestedfour persons for exploiting the chil-dren for labour.

The accused persons were iden-tified as Challa Bapu Reddy,Beeram Venkat Reddy, PanjalaVeeranna Goud and Vikas Kumar.Manhunt is launched to nab theother accused involved in the case.

Out of total rescued children, 18are boys and eight are girls between

the age group of 15 and 17. Thesechildren belong to states ofJharkhand (9), Chattisgarh (7),Bihar (3) Madhya Pradesh (3),Telangana (3) and West Bengal (1).These minors are counseled andhanded over to their parents.

The accused used to pay 25 paisafor washing one empty liquor bot-tle and Rs 300 for a day to eachchild working in furniture andcooler manufacturing firm. Theaccused used to pay an amount ofRs 50 for making 100 samosas.

"All the children were traffickedby the owners of the two compa-nies, detained in sheds locatedwithin the premises of the compa-nies and exploiting them for labourwork inhumanly in contraventionto the labour laws," said police.

The team of AHTU, BhongirDivision police team along with themembers of District ChildProbation Unit, Bhongir Districtand Labour Department BhongirDistrict members conducted theraids and rescued the children.

Technical snag disrupts Metro train servicesPNS n HYDERABAD

Metro rail services in the cityhave once again come to astandstill on Wednesday dueto glitch. On the way fromAmeerpet to Jubilee Hillsbus station, the metro railstopped for 15 minutes enroute.

The alert crew immediate-ly unloaded passengers onthe train from Hi-Tec City toJubilee Hills. The authoritieshad sent another train topick up the stranded passen-gers. However, in the past,there have been several tech-nical problems with metrotrains.

AHTU rescues 26 child labourers

PNS n HYDERABAD

A jilted lover who killed a 17-year old teenager nearOsmania University in 2018has been sentenced to lifeimprisonment onWednesday.

The accused A Venkat, 25,befriended the victimAnusha, 17, when they bothattended same tution. Due tosome misunderstanding thevictim started avoidingVenkat.

Aggrieved Venkat underthe pretext of sorting out theissue called her to a seclud-ed spot near the OU staffquarters and slit her throat.Due to which she died on thespot. The accused wasnabbed by the OsmaniaUniversity police and furtherfiled a charge-sheet.

During the trail onWednesday, local court inNampally pronounced him asguilty and awarded him lifeimprisonment and fined himRs 1,000.

Jilted lover gets life for killing a 17-year-old girl

Some schools don’t give adamn for parents’ consent

PNS n HYDERABAD

The father-son duo, whowere moving around in a carthat had stickers declaringthem as the Intelligence Bur-eau (IB), was caught by theNallakunta Traffic Police dur-ing a regular check.

The car also had anemblem that resembled thatof a government departmentstuck on it. Apart from this,there was a very high freque-ncy wireless set akin to thoseused by the patrol vehiclesthat was placed inside the carso that those outside wouldthink that they were from thepolice or security force.

The police arrested theduo, Murali Chand, 66, andhis son Durga Bhavan Sun-dar, both residents of BaghAmberpet. Enquiries reveal-ed that that they had the 'Inte-lligence Investigation Bureau'as an organisation in 2018.Posing as special investigationofficials, they roamed in themodified car with stickers,police said. There was noconfirmation yet on whetherthey cheated anyone.

Imposters held in Hyd

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JANUARY 21, 2021 hyderabad 04

MARTHI SUBRAHMANYAM

n HYDERABAD

To continue the winning streakin Nagarjuna Sagar by-poll too,the BJP has drawn strategy.

As part of the strategy, theparty is planning to set up itsown survey wing and establish90 shakti kendras, one forevery three polling booths, inthe constituency.

To campaign for the party,the BJP will draw party work-ers from seven mandals andtwo municipalities.

The survey wing will assessstrengths and weaknesses ofthe candidates of the rival par-ties. For every 70 voters, apanna pramukh will beappointed, besides a 25-mem-ber booth committee.

The party's vigilante teamswill estimate the impact of var-ious castes in voting and reportback to the party. The reportdeals impact of castes in wards

and identifies the most influ-ential person in the wards?

They also study local factors,including caste, and submit areport to the party to enable itto formulate poll strategies.

State unit vice-president andformer MLA SankineniVenkateswara Rao, who hasbeen appointed in-charge forthe by-poll, started holdingconsultations with party work-ers. According to partysources, Lambadas have a

strong presence in the con-stituency with a population of39,000 followed by Yadavs,32,000. The Reddy populationis put at 26,000.

Out of the 22,000 SCs,13,000 belong to the Malacommunity. The Mudiraj com-munity population is put at8,500. The strength of fisher-man population, MunnuruKapus and the Gowdas is putat 5,000 each.

Kammas figured at the bot-

tom of the spectrum with apopulation of over 3,000.

Leaders of these communi-ties will be deployed to woovoters depending on the casteequation.

The constituency in-chargesaid that the BJP would fire onall cylinders to snatch a victo-ry deploying Union ministersand state leaders for the cam-paign.

"Nagarjunasagar by-poll willset the agenda for the fall ofTRS government. We will workfrom the grassroots level toprove the BJP's critics's predic-tions about the saffron partywrong," he said.

The BJP has not been yetfinalised the candidate, butaspirants Anjaiah Yadav andSridhar Reddy are in the racefor party ticket. However, partyactivists recommend partyticket to the latter.

The party activists inclinetowards Sridhar Reddy's can-

didature as they feel that hewould be able to matchCongress strongman JanaReddy in all respects.

New entrant to politicsIndrasena Reddy is also aspir-ing for the ticket.

In fact, it is not a cakewalkfor the BJP to defeat theCongress veteran Jana Reddyin the absence of a strong BJPleader in the constituency.

The BJP is optimistic that arepeat of Dubbak by-pollwould take place inNagarjunasagar too. The BJPdoes not rule out giving ticketto Anjaiah Yadav in the eventof the TRS fielding a familymember of the deceased MLANomula Narsimhaiah.

Congress nominee JanaReddy has already transformedinto poll mode and has begunmeeting leaders of variouscaste groups and has beenholding meetings with localleaders.

BJP plans 90 ‘shakti kendras’ inSagar to continue winning streak

PNS n SIDDIPET

Rural Water and SanitationMinister Errabelli DayakarRao went candid on Wedn-esday, admitting that it wasMission Bhagiratha, the flag-ship programme of the TRSgovernment that attracted himto the ruling party.

"Though I was heading theopposition party then, I decid-ed not to criticise ChiefMinister K ChandrashekarRao after seeing how efficient-ly Mission Bhagiratha wasbeing implemented in theState. I then decided to resignfrom the TDP and join TRS,"the Minister said, addressing aState level meeting on MissionBhagiratha implementation atKomatibanda near Gajwel inthe district.

Pointing out that the watergrid programme was firstimplemented in Siddipet byChandrashekhar Rao, he saidthe TRS, after coming topower, subsequently replicat-ed it across the State. Hethanked the engineering staffwho worked relentlessly for thesuccessful completion ofMission Bhagiratha.

"During my political careerspanning four decades, I haveseen people toiling hard tofetch a pot of drinking water

from far away places," he said.Though successive govern-

ments in erstwhile AndhraPradesh had spent lot ofmoney on drinking water sup-ply, they could not resolve theproblem permanently, he said,adding that people used to drillborewells spending thousandsto meet drinking water needs."And now, the Chief Ministerhas implemented a projectthat ensures supply of filteredsurface water to each andevery household in the State attheir doorstep," Dayakar Raosaid.

Thanking those who playeda role in successful completionof the works, the Ministercalled upon them to continuethe work with the same com-

mitment since new houses arebeing built everyday across theState.

Secretary to Chief MinisterSmitha Sabharwal said theUnion government has certi-fied that the Telangana govern-ment had completed MissionBhagiratha since they weresuccessfully supplying drink-ing water to 56 lakh house-holds.

"We achieved this feat with-in a short time because everyengineering official fromEngineer-in-Chief to AssistantEngineer worked with com-mitment," she said. Engineer-in-Chief Krupakar Reddy, CEs,SEs, EEs, DEs and AEs from allthe districts have attended themeeting.

‘Mission Bhagiratha’ is reasonfor joining TRS, says Errabelli SAMPATH SUNKARI n MULUG

The unprecedented victory of BJPin Dubbak bypoll and GHMCelections has certainly boostedthe morale of party leaders andcadre in the entire state.

Cashing in on the opportunityprovided by the recent victories,BJP leader and Rajya Sabha mem-ber Garikapati Mohan Rao, is tak-ing all measures to strengthen theparty in the Mulug district.

Ever since, Mohan Rao tookover as the party incharge of theMulug district, he is actively par-ticipating in the party activities.

He has organised a couple ofmeetings at NSR Hotel and partytraining session at Jangalapally inthe district in December last year.He has also constituted booth-leveland district-level committees.

Mohan Rao, on Monday, suc-cessfully organised meeting withover 2,000 cadres which is said tohave created tremors among TRSand Congress party circles in thesegment.

It may be recalled thatGarikapati Mohan Rao worked aspublicity in-charge for formerTDP chief and former ChiefMinister of the united AndhraPradesh Chandrababu Naiduwhen he organised Bus Yatra dur-ing 2014 General Elections.

Subsequently, Mohan Raojoined the BJP in 2019 and grabbedthe attention of party national lead-ers.

Mohan Rao has been associat-ed with Mulug constituency since1978. He worked as a pulp contrac-tor in BILT Kamalapur unit andwas later elected from the segment.He was a trusted lieutenant of for-mer minister Chandulal andplayed a crucial role in the victo-ry of MLA Seethakka from Mulugin 2009 polls.

Going by the political develop-ments in the segment, Mulug islikely to witness a triangular fightin the next assembly elections in2023.

Speculation is rife that dissidentleaders and cadres of TRS andCongress party are likely to joinBJP. Moreover, philanthropicactivities of Mohan Rao may gaingive an added advantage to the saf-fron party in the days to come.Even, people from Kamma com-munity may also come into BJPfold as he belongs to Kammacommunity. Dissidence inCongress and TRS

It is learnt that there is dissi-dence in brewing within theCongress against Mulug MLASeethakka alias DhanasariAnasuya. The followers of two timeMLA Podem Veeraiah of Mulugwas denied

In 2018 Assembly elections, theCongress denied ticket to two-timeMLA Podem Veeraiah from Mulugand was shifted to Bhadrachalam.When Veeraiah was shiftedBhadrachalam, his followers shift-ed loyalties to Seethakka. However,she is reportedly ignoring the fol-lowers of Veeraiah.

DCC President NallellaKumaraswamy is allegedly playinga key role is keeping aside the fol-lowers of Veeraiah. In TRS partytoo, followers of former ministerChandulal are distancing them-selves from him ever since he lostseat in 2018 to Seethakka.

Several MPPs and ZPTCs ofTRS party are said to be unhappyover the step-motherly treatmentof Mulug party in-charge KusumaJagadeeshwar. As Mulug seat isreserved for STs, segment in-charge is being given to ZPChairman about which aspirantsfrom Tribal community is inpathetic. Row over AMC chairmanpost Govind Naik who took VRSfrom government service andjoined TRS in 2001 is beingignored by the party high com-mand. During 2018 Assemblypolls he was denied MLA ticketand was promised a nominatedpost.

PNS n MULUG

In a bizarre incident, a doctorand health assistant workinghere at Ranigudem primaryhealth centre abstained fromduties after having signed theattendance register for a monthin advance thinking that itwould save him.

The incident came to lightwhen Zilla Parishad ChairmanKusuma Jagadeeshwar made a

surprise visit to PHC onWednesday. He visited theAgency area to inaugurate afew developmental works atPanchothkulapally, Kothuru,and Rainigudem villages.

Jagadeeshwer visited thePHC centre and verified theattendance register. He foundthat the doctor concerned hadsigned the attendance registerin advance for a month, butwas absent.

Jagadeeshwar rang up theDM& HO Dr Allem Appaiahimmediately and inquiredabout the laxity of the officials.

The DM&HO apprised theZP chairman that action wouldbe initiated against the erringofficials. Jagadeeshawar warnedthat he would take the issue tothe notice of higher officials. Healso warned the official of direconsequences if such incidentsrepeat in future.

Doctor signs attendance registerin advance, abstains from duties

BJP has sights set on Mulug

PNS n HYDERABAD

Another 15 megawatts fromSingareni Solar Power plant hasbeen synchronised with Transcoat Ramagundam-3 area powerplant on Wednesday to fulfill 30per cent power needs ofRamagundam region.

Out of the 50 megawatts,Singareni solar power plant atRamagundam-3 area, another15 megawatts solar division wassynchronised with TS Transco onWednesday and with this, a totalof 30 megawatts solar power

has synchronised with Transco,Singareni Collieries CompanyLimited (SCCL) Chairman andManaging Director N. Sridharsaid in a release here.

Earlier, 15 megawatts was syn-chronised with the grid.

With this out of the 129megawatts capacity in the firstphase 85 megawatts Singarenisolar power has been synchro-nised with Transco and the bal-ance 20 megawatts division willbe synchronised by the end ofnext month, he said.

He congratulated the officialsconcerned and staff on the syn-chronisation of 15 megawatts

solar power. 300 megawattsSingareni solar power to be ready

by December this year, howeverin the first phase of the setting upof solar power plants throughoutSingareni area is almost complet-ed. 30 megawatts fromManuguru, 30 megawatts fromRamag-undam-3, 15 megawattsfrom Yellandu and 10 megawattsfrom Singareni thermal powerplant have already been synchro-nised with Transco.

Sridhar instructed the solardivision officials that the balance44 megawatts in the first phase isto be completed by the end ofnext month and erection of 90

megawatts plants in the secondphase have to be completed byMay,2021. 30 per cent of usagethrough solar power plants onlyin Ramagundam region, he said.

Since the balance of 44megawatts installation will becompleted from the first phase of129 megawatts, 18.55 millionunits' solar power would be gen-erated from the first phase plantsby March.

Director (E & M) D.Satyanarayana Rao synchronizedthe 15 megawatts division ofRamagundam-3 power plant.

Another 15 mw Singareni solar power synchronised with Transco

PNS n MEDCHAL

Medchal-Malkajgiri DistrictCollector Swetha Mohanty onWednesday said that necessaryarrangements should be made ingovernment and private schoolsacross district in the wake of the stategovernment's decision to start class-es for students of Classes IX and Xfrom February 1.

Addressing a review meeting ather office, the Collector directed theofficials to ensure that only 20 stu-dents attend the classes in a class-room and only one student must beallowed to sit on each bench.Medical and hygiene teams must beset up on the premises of eachschool, she said.

She advised the officials to set uptwo isolation rooms in every schooland two Personal protective equip-ment (PPE) kits should be madeavailable. Every student should nec-essarily take permission from theirparents to attend the classes, sheadded.

District Education Officer, offi-cials of all the Welfare Departmentsandothers attended the meeting.

Collector clears 100 pendingmutations

District collector Swetha Mohantycleared 100 pending mutations onDharani portal till Wednesday. Areview meeting was held withTahsildars on Dharani portal atCollectorate.

She asked the officials to completethe pending mutations immediate-ly so that the applicants couldreceive a copy of the documentation,land order copy and e-pass bookwithin the stipulated time.

She explained that the registra-tions of agricultural lands made bythe farmers in Dharani were hun-dred per cent cleared and that noapplications were pending. TheCollector also directed the author-ities to complete the registrationsand mutations from time to timeimmediately.

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

Minister for Health Eatala Rajenderhighlighted the role of leaders of localbodies working with dedication to fulfilMahatma Gandhi's dream of GramSwaraj.

Addressing the MPP general bodymeeting held at Illanthakunta onWednesday, he linked the developmentof the villages in leaps and bounds to hav-ing great leaders running the village localbodies.

Eatala takes part in MPP meeting

PNS n RAJANNA SIRICILLA

Collector Krishna Bhaskar onWednesday advised the peopleto make best use of the campbeing organised to solve prob-lems related to Aadhaar details.

"We are organising a specialcamp to solve Aadhaar relatedproblems which could not besolve locally for the conve-nience of the people of the dis-trict," the collector said.

The Collector, along withUIDAI Additional DirectorGeneral Satyanarayana, light-ed the lamp and inauguratedthe camp at Sinare Art Galleryin Siricilla. Krishna Bhaskarsaid that the people of the dis-trict need not go to Hyderabadfor getting their Aadhaar issuessolved. The camp would beheld for two days, he added.

Speaking on the occasion,UIDAI Additional DirectorGeneral Satyanarayana saidthat people from different dis-tricts come to HyderabadRegional Office to get theirAadhaar problems solved.

Special camp to solveAadhaar-related problems

District Collector Krishna Bhaskar on Wednesday directed theauthorities concerned to grant timely permits to those who haveapplied for setting up of new industries in the district. The Collectorpresided over a meeting of the District Industries PromotionCommittee held at his camp office and discussed with the committeemembers on the issue of granting permits to industries. Speaking onthe occasion, Krishna Bhaskar said that timely permission should begranted for new rice mills, stone crushers, welding shops, cementbricks, etc. to be set up in the district. Also, Rs 148.50 lakh has beensanctioned to 57 SC / ST candidates who have purchased vehiclesthrough the industrial subsidy scheme, the district collector said.

Grant timely permits for new units, Collector tells officials

‘Isolation rooms, PPE kitsmandatory in all schools’

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana State PublicService Commission willconduct Departmental Tests,November- 2020 session,from January 27 to February3. The tests which are OMRbased will held in the offlinemode in nine district head-quarters of the State includ-ing Hyderabad clubbed withRanga Reddy and HMDAlimits.

Candidates who appliedfor the examinations candownload their hall ticketfrom the Commission’s web-site www.tspsc.gov.in from 5pm on January 21, the TSPSCsaid in a press release onWednesday.

Hall tickets should be pre-served carefully for futureneeds as duplicate hall tick-ets will not be issued underany circumstances, it said. Incase of any difficulty indownloading the hall tickets,the candidates can contacthelp-desk contact number040-22445566, it added.

TSPSC to holddepartmental testfrom January 27

HYDERABAD | THURSDAY | JANUARY 21, 2021 nation 05

The NCP's Goa unit chief JosePhilip D'Souza on Wednesdaysaid like-minded parties in the

coastal state should decide on analliance in advance for the upcomingstate Assembly polls, instead ofwaiting till the last minute.D'Souza was speaking to reporters inlight of party supremo SharadPawar's visit to the state."The decision on having a pre-poll alliancewith like-minded parties should be taken in advance, without waitingtill the last minute," he said.Pawar is on a private visit to the coastalstate, during which he will also meet the NCP's local leadership. Alast-minute decision will steal the time to prepare from candidates,D'Souza said, adding that he will be discussing the same with Pawarduring his visit. Many leaders from other political outfits have beenapproaching the NCP, but the final decision on their requestwill be taken by the party high command, he said. The statelegislative Assembly elections in Goa are slated to be held in March,2022.

INDIA CORNER

Must decide on tie-up for GoaAssembly polls in advance: NCP

PNS n NEW DELHI

The tenth round of talksbetween protesting farmerunions and three central minis-ters got underway here onWednesday to break the over-a-month-long deadlock on thethree new agri laws.

Ministers Narendra SinghTomar, Piyush Goyal and SomParkash, who is an MP fromPunjab, are holding the talkswith the representatives ofaround 40 farmer unions at theVigyan Bhawan here.

The tenth round of talks wasinitially scheduled on January19, but later got postponed toWednesday.

In the last round of talks, thegovernment had asked protest-ing farmers to prepare a concreteproposal about their objectionsand suggestions on the threefarm laws for further discussionat their next meeting to end thelong-running protest.

But, unions stuck to theirmain demand of a completerepeal of the three Acts.

Thousands of farmers, main-ly from Punjab, Haryana andwestern Uttar Pradesh, areprotesting at various borderpoints of Delhi for over a monthnow against the three laws.

Ministers start 10th round of talkswith protesting farmer unions

PNS n NEW DELHI

Farmer unions opposing theCentre's new agri laws onWednesday rejected a sugge-stion by police officers to holdtheir proposed January 26tractor rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expresswayinstead of Delhi's busy OuterRing Road, sources said. Unionleaders and officers of the Delhi,Uttar Pradesh and Haryanapolice forces had met at theVigyan Bhawan here to discussthe route and arrangements ofthe proposed rally on RepublicDay.The sources said that thefarmer leaders were suggestedby the police officers to take outtheir rally on the KMP Expres-sway, but they did not agree.TheOuter Ring Road passes throughseveral areas of Delhi such asVikaspuri, Janakpuri, UttamNagar, Burari Peeragarhi andPitampura. There might beanother round of talks with thepolice officers on Thursday, afarmer leader, who attended themeeting, said. Thousands offarmers, mostly from Punjab and

Haryana, have been protesting atseveral Delhi border pointsagainst the laws for the last 56days and unions representingthem have begun holding tractorrallies at villages in Punjab tomobilise people for thedemonstration on RepublicDay.During the meeting, "wediscussed several points withpolice officers on our tractorrally on January 26", a seniorfarmer leader said. Joint Com-missioner of Police, S S Yadavcoordinated the meeting fromthe Delhi Police, according to thesources.Police officials fromHaryana and Uttar Pradesh werealso present at the meeting, theysaid.The meeting comes on aday the Centre withdrew its pleaseeking an injunction against theproposed tractor rally onJanuary 26 after the SupremeCourt said "it is a police matter".The police have the "authority" todeal with the issue pertaining tothe proposed tractor march inDelhi on Republic Day, said abench comprising Chief JusticeS A Bobde and Justices A SBopanna and Ramasubramanian.

Union leaders reject suggestionof alternative route for rally

PNS n NEW DELHI

A farmer who allegedly onsumeda poisonous substance at theTikri border died during treatmentat a hospital here on Wednesday,police said. The deceased hasbeen identified as Jai BhagwanRana (42), a resident of Pakasmavillage in Rohtak district ofHaryana. He had consumedSulphas tablets at the farmers'protest site at Tikri on Tuesday,they said.In a purported suicidenote, Rana said he was a smallfarmer and many peasants havetaken to the streets to protestagainst the Centre's new farmlaws. "The government says it is amatter of only two to three states,but farmers from all over thecountry are protesting against the

laws. Sadly, it is not a movementnow, but a fight of issues. Thetalks between the farmers and theCentre also remain deadlocked,"he wrote in the letter. DeputyCommissioner of Police (Outer) AKoan said the man was taken toSanjay Gandhi Hospital by CATambulance where he passedaway during the course oftreatment. He added that legalproceedings under CrPC havebeen initiated in the matter.Last month, a lawyer from Punjab

had allegedly committed suicideby consuming poison a fewkilometres away from the protestsite at the Tikri border. A Sikhpreacher, Sant Ram Singh, hadalso allegedly ended his life nearthe Singhu border protest siteclaiming that he was "unable tobear the pain of the farmers".Thousands of farmers, mainlyfrom Punjab, Haryana and UttarPradesh, have been protesting atvarious border points of Delhi forover two months demandingrepeal of the three laws -- theFarmers' Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act, the EssentialCommodities (Amendment) Act,and the Farmers Agreement onPrice Assurance and FarmServices Act.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre Wednesday withdrewits plea seeking an injunctionagainst the proposed tractor rallyon January 26 by farmersprotesting against the new farmslaws after the Supreme Courtsaid "it is a police matter".The police has the "authority" todeal with the issue pertaining tothe proposed tractor march inDelhi on the Republic Day, said abench comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices A SBopanna and V Ramasubramanian. "We have told you thatwe will not issue any direction. Itis a police matter. We will allow

you to withdraw. You are theauthority and you have to dealwith it. You have the powers topass orders, you do it. It is notfor the court to pass orders..,"the bench said in the hearingconducted via videoconferencing. After theobservation of the apex court,the Centre withdrew the pleafiled through Delhi Policeseeking an injunction against theproposed tractor or trolleymarch or any other kind ofprotest which seeks to disruptthe gathering and celebrations ofthe Republic Day.The hearing in the matter is stillcontinuing.

Centre withdraws plea in SCagainst farmers' tractor rally

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Wednesdayexpressed strong displeasureover the aspersions cast bysome farmers' unions onmembers of the court-appointedcommittee to resolve theimpasse over new farm laws andsaid it has not given anyadjudicating authority to thepanel. The Centre, meanwhile,withdrew its petition seekinginjunction against the proposedtractor rally by farmers on the

Republic Day after the apex courtsaid it was police matter. On theissue pertaining to the commit-tee, a bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde said it hadappointed experts in the panel asthe judges are not experts on thesubject. Controversy had eruptedafter the apex court appointedthe four-member committee assome of the members had earlierreportedly expressed their viewsand favoured the contentiousfarm laws, following which oneof the members had recusedhimself.

SC irked over aspersions cast on members of committee

PNS n NEW DELHI

India's COVID-19 active case-load has fallen below the 2-lakh mark after nearly 7months and comprises just1.86 per cent of the total infec-tions, the Union HealthMinistry said on Wednesday.

It said that 72 per cent ofthe active cases are concentrat-ed in Kerala, Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka,West Bengal.

Thirty-four states and UTshave less than 10,000 activecases.

"The active cases have fall-en to 1,97,201.This is the low-est after 207 days. The totalactive cases were 1,97,387 onJune 27, 2020," the ministryunderlined.

A total of 16,988 peoplehave recovered in a span of 24hours. This has led to a netdecline of 3,327 from the totalactive caseload, it said.

India's daily new cases areon a steady decline which hasalso contributed to the shrink-age in active caseload, it under-scored.

"Globally, India has one ofthe lowest daily new con-firmed COVID-19 cases permillion population in the last7 days," the ministry said.

As on January 20, 2021, atotal of 6,74,835 beneficiarieshave received the vaccination.In a span of 24 hours, 2,20,786people were vaccinated across3,860 sessions. A total of11,720 sessions has been con-ducted so far. The total recov-ered cases stand at 1.02 crore.

"The total recovered caseshave crossed the active case-load by one crore a few daysago. The gap presently standsat 10,048,540," the ministryhighlighted.

Active caseload slips below2 lakh after nearly 7 months

PNS n NEW DELHI

Loss of smell may be the bestpredictor of COVID-19 amongpatients with symptoms ofrespiratory diseases, accordingto new research. The findings oftwo new international studies,published in the journal ChemicalSenses, show that there isfrequent loss of smell in COVID-19 patients which often lasts fora long time. Over 4,500 COVID-19 patients from a total of 23nationalities responded to theresearchers' questionnaire.The studies found that theaverage loss of the sense ofsmell was 79.7 on a scale from0-100, indicating a large tocomplete sensory loss."This emphasises how importantit is to be aware of this symptom,as it may be the only symptom ofthe disease," said AlexanderWieck Fjaeldstad from AarhusUniversity in Denmark.The research found that only

around half of patients with aloss of smell got their sense of

smell back after forty days."This differs from the picture wesee with other viral infections andcauses long-term discomfort forpatients, both in relation to foodand social contact, while at thesame time causing them worry,"Fjaeldstad said.The researchersalso found that the sense of tastewas also significantly reduced, to69.0 on a scale from 0-100,adding the remaining sense offeeling in the mouth was alsoreduced to 37.3 on a scale from0-100. "While the loss of smell initself removes the ability to sensethe aroma of food, thesimultaneous loss of the othersenses make it difficult toregister what you're eating.Putting food in your mouth cantherefore become a decidedlyunpleasant experience,"Fjaeldstad added.The study is of interest both to

patients suffering sensory loss aswell as clinicians and researcherswho work with diagnostics andfollowing-up on COVID-19, theresearchers said.

Loss of smell may be best signof Covid, research confirms

Police have arrested a drugpeddler in Mumbai andseized mephedrone, a

banned drug, worth Rs 1.10crore from him, an official saidon Wednesday. Acting on aninformation, the Mumbaipolice's anti-narcotics cell laida trap on Tuesday andapprehended the 44- year-oldman in Tardeo area, he said. He was carrying a bag from which thepolice recovered 1.10 kg of mephedrone, a banned syntheticstimulant, valued around Rs 1.10 crore, the official said he said.Theaccused, a resident of J J Marg here, has been allegedly involved inselling drugs since last few years, the official said.The police aretrying to find out where the accused got mephedrone and have alsolaunched a search for his associates, he said.A case has beenregistered against him under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugsand Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he added.

Drug peddler held withmephedrone worth Rs 1.10 cr

Chief Election CommissionerSunil Arora on Wednesdaysaid the 2021 Assam

assembly polls will be heldtaking into consideration theRongali Bihu festival in April andthe CBSE board examinations forstudents of class 10 and 12. Theassembly elections will becompleted before the CBSEboard exams which arescheduled between May 4 andJune 10, he said. "We have already taken the festival intoconsideration before coming here for the review meetings," he toldreporters here. The commission is aware of the festivals held in thestates, the CEC said. He said the commission has also helddiscussions with CBSE officials to decide on the poll schedule."Wehave decided that the election process will be completed before theboard exams which will start from May 4," he said.The elections willbe held in strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols, Arora said,adding that the number of auxiliary polling booths would beincreased. "The number of electors at each polling station has beenrestricted to 1,000 as against the existing 1,500," he said.He alsourged the state election authorities and the people to ensure "fair,peaceful and COVID safe polls". The full bench of thecommission, on a three-day visit to the state since Monday, hadheld discussions with the representatives of political parties andofficials of the government to review poll preparedness.

PNS n MUMBAI

The NCP targeted the BJPover the Guja-rat govern-ment's decision to renamedragon fruit as 'Kamalam',saying the time may not be farwhen the saffron party wouldstart calling the country as"Kamalastan".

The BJP has now started"branding itself on fruits also,"NCP chief spokespersonMahesh Tapase said in a state-ment. Gujarat Chief MinisterVijay Rupani on Tuesday saidhis government has decided torename dragon fruit as'Kamalam'. Reacting to it,Tapase said, "The BJP has nowstarted branding itself onfruits also. We fear that thetime may be not far when theywould start addressing Hind-ustan as Kamalastan." TheBJP's election symbol is lotus,which is called 'kamal' inHindi. Rupani said the gov-ernment has applied for apatent to change the nomen-clature of dragon fruit, whichis largely grown in Kutch,Navsari and different parts ofSaurashtra, to 'Kamalam'.

NCP takes dig atBJP over Guj’sbid to renamedragon fruit

n WASHINGTON

Hours after being sworn in asthe 46th US president, JoeBiden would sign 15 executiveorders -- including rejoiningthe Paris climate agreement, a100-day mask mandate andreversing the Muslim ban --undoing some of the majorpolicies of his predecessorDonald Trump.

Biden's first presidentialactions would also includesending a comprehensive billon immigration to theCongress, incoming WhiteHouse officials said.

The immigration bill pro-poses a eight-year pathway toillegal immigrants and remov-ing the per country cap foremployment-based green

cards, a move that would ben-efit hundreds and thousands ofIndian IT professionals in theUS, whose current wait period

for legal permanent residencyruns into several decades.

"President-elect Biden is tak-ing historic action on day one

to advance his agenda —including signing 15 executiveactions and asking agencies totake steps in an additional twoareas. This compares to twoday one executive actions fromBiden's four predecessors in theWhite House combined,”incoming White House PressSecretary Jen Psaki said.

Biden will continue to takeaction over the next 10 days —and over his entire time inoffice — to address the fourcrises that he's laid out, shesaid. Biden will sign executiveorders, memoranda, directivesand letters to take initial stepsto address COVID-19 pan-demic, providing economicrelief, tackling climate changeand advancing racial equity,officials said.

Biden to sign 15 executive orders on day one as president

n WASHINGTON

Joe Biden, hours after beingsworn in as the 46th President,will send a comprehensiveimmigration bill to Congresswhich among other thingsproposes to eliminate the percountry cap for employment-based green cards, a move thatwould benefit hundreds andthousands of Indian ITprofessionals in the US, whosecurrent wait period for legalpermanent residency runs intoseveral decades.Called the USCitizenship Act of 2021, thelegislation modernises theimmigration system, accordingto an incoming White Houseofficial.It prioritises keepingfamilies together, grows thecountry's economy, responsiblymanages the border with smartinvestments, addresses the rootcauses of migration from CentralAmerica, and also ensures thatthe US remains a refuge forthose fleeing persecution, saidthe official, who spoke oncondition of anonymity.

Describing this as a common-sense approach to solvingimmigration challenges, focusingon what works, the USCitizenship Act 2021 creates aroadmap to citizenship for apopulation that lives and worksin the United States.January 1, 2021 is the cut-offdate for those undocumentedworkers. Two-thirds ofundocumented immigrants havebeen in the US for 10 years orlonger. It provides an immediatepathway to green cards forindividuals who meet certaincriteria as they were dreamers orhave been recipients of theTemporary Protected Status(TPS), or are farm workers andmeet certain criteria.They canapply for citizenship three yearslater. For those who don't meetthose qualifications, there will beanother path to citizenship,where they would be in aninterim status for five years.Afterwards they would be eligibleto apply for citizenship withinthree years after becoming greencard holders.

Biden's immigration bill proposesto eliminate per country cap

n WASHINGTON

President-elect Joe Biden hasnominated Rachel Levine,currently Pennsylvania's tophealth official, as the nextAssistant Health Secretary of theUS, a move that could make herthe first openly transgenderfederal official to be confirmed by

the Senate. Describing thenomination of Levine for the postas historic, Biden said she wouldlead his administration's healthefforts amidst the pandemic.The announcement makes Levine,a 64-year-old pediatrician, to bethe first openly transgenderfederal official to be confirmed bythe US Senate, The Washington

Post reported on Tuesday.“Dr Rachel Levine will bring thesteady leadership and essentialexpertise we need to get peoplethrough this pandemic — nomatter their zip code, race,religion, sexual orientation,gender identity, or disability —and meet the public health needsof our country in this critical

moment and beyond,” Biden saidin a statement.Levine, whocurrently is Pennsylvania'ssecretary of health, has risen tonational prominence for leadingthe state's public health responseto the coronavirus pandemic,despite repeated and ugly attackson her gender identity, the reportsaid.

Joe Biden nominates transgender woman as assistant health secy

PNS n KOLKATA

Days before India celebratesthe 125th birth anniversary ofNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose,the TMC on Wednesdaydemanded that a book chron-icling the history of AzadHind Fauj (INA) - compiled bythe history division of thedefence ministry decades ago-- be made public.

TMC MP Sukhendu SekharRoy, during a press meet here,

said the book, edited byhistorian P C Gupta, is still

awaiting release, as both theUPA and the NDA govern-ments at the Centre did nottake any initiative to get it pub-lished.

He claimed that the PrimeMinister's Office and thedefence ministry have severalfiles on Netaji and his exploitslying with them, all underwraps. "I have raised the issuemany times in the RajyaSabha," he said. Roy also point-ed out that Bengal ChiefMinister "Mamata Banerjee,however, released all Netaji-related files available with thestate government".

Talking about the defenceministry manuscript on INA,he said Chief InformationCommissioner (CIC) of India,responding to an RTI filed bysome Chandrachur Ghosh of

Haryana in 2009, hadordered its release. "...but the

then UPA government saidmore details will be added tothe book before its release, aproposal turned down by a sin-gle bench of the High Court.The court ordered the bookcannot be edited further andhad to be released in its orig-inal form. "Subsequently, thegovernment moved the divi-sion bench and the case is stillpending," the Rajya Sabha MPexplained.

He claimed that pages from186 to 191 of the book had saidNetaji did not die in a planecrash, a conclusion also arrivedat by the MukherjeeCommission -- which was