HYDERABAD, SUNDAY MARCH 14, 2021; PAGES 10+16 `5www.dailypioneer.comRNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 3 ISSUE 142*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

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 | SUNDAY | MARCH 14, 2021

EGG RATES

` 45, 820 (10 gm)

` 160

GOLD

` 70, 700(1kg)

` 1000

VIJAYAWADA 365

HYDERABAD 393

VISAKHAPATNAM 505

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `33.. 6655

SILVER

HYDERABADBULLION RATES

`//110000

CHICKEN RATES

Dressed/With Skin `180

Without Skin `205

Broiler at Farm `124

`//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

The expression of solidar-ity by TelanganaIndustries Minister K. T.

Rama Rao with the Andhras'struggle against privatisation ofVisakhapatnam Steel Plant istimely and welcome. It is wel-come not merely because of hisfears that the axe may next fallon BHEL, Singareni Collieriesand other public sector unitsin Telangana.

His gesture in askingwhether Andhra is not a partof India is a show of unity witha neighbouring Telugu Statewith which Telangana hasbeen slugging it out in Courtsand Tribunals on major issueslike sharing of water, powerand funds. At this criticalhour for VSP, the criticism thatKTR is trying to woo Andhravoters in the elections to twoMLC seats that have a com-bined electorate of 10.36 lakhsis inconsequential.

Having vented their ireagainst each other, the way for-ward for the two Telugu Statesmay lie in presenting a unitedface before the Centre oncommon issues like privatisa-tion of VSP. Leaders in NewDelhi know from history andfrom evidence that Telugus, atleast their leaders, can rarelyspeak in one voice even onexistentialist issues concerningall sections of people.

They also know they don'thave to bow and scrape beforethe Telugus like they have todo in Tamil Nadu on emotiveissues like Hindi or be extrarespectful towards Bengaliicons like Tagore, Bose andIshwar Chandra Vidyasagar.History is witness to how LalBahadur Shastri had to climbdown after riots rockedMadras State and promise thatHindi would not be imposedin States where it was not themother tongue.

No such deference wasshown to Telangana by Indira

Gandhi after the violent agita-tion in 1969 for separateStatehood or to Andhra in1972. She only sacked theCongress chief ministers KasuBrahmananda Reddy and P. V.Narasimha Rao. The strugglefor Telangana saw fruitiononly in 2014 when theCongress, led by SoniaGandhi, mistakenly hoped toreap rich electoral rewards bydividing the State.

In the conundrum of regionand caste, the larger picture hasbeen lost of how disunityamong the Telugus has beenexploited by parties ruling atthe Centre and given neigh-

bours an opportunity to dom-inate. Jairam Ramesh, memberof the UPA government'sgroup of ministers (GoM),wrote in his book on bifurca-tion that formation of AndhraState (in 1953) could havecome three or four years ear-lier had Rajaji been morecooperative, T. Prakasam moreaccommodating, andJawaharlal Nehru not adamantabout consensus.

Later, both Nehru andIndira Gandhi turned a blindeye to the safeguards promisedto the Telangana region in theGentlemen's Agreement. Themotives in both cases were

opportunistic. Rajaji fearedthat Communists would havean upper hand in a unitedAndhra, while UPA II sup-ported formation of a separateTelangana in 2014 out of elec-toral considerations. Therewas complete disunity withinparties and between each otherwhich turned suicidal for threemajor parties. The Congressand BJP today have no elec-toral presence in Andhra,

while the TDP stands decimat-ed in Telangana.

BJP, the party now in powerin Delhi, has faced no suchrepercussions by reneging onthe promises of giving a spe-cial package to Andhra, ITInvestment Region (ITIR) inTelangana or a coach factoryin Kazipet. It has gotten awayby describing these U-turns aspolicy changes. It was a bigzero in Andhra and remains assuch today, though inTelangana it suffered no back-lash having been an activepartner to bifurcation.

The move for hundred percent divestment from VSP,the crown jewel of Andhra,constitutes a betrayal of theworst kind as the steel plantrepresented a sweet victoryafter years of struggle by peo-ple seeking jobs that a megaindustrial unit would provide.Until then, millions of tonnesor iron ore mined in Bailadilawere shipped from Vizag portto Japan and China with the

latter sending back low qual-ity steel to India.

All that Vizagites got was alayer of red-coloured iron oredust falling off the conveyorbelt running from railwaydumpyards to the port. Oncethe disinvestment processenunciated by FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanis complete, Vizag will be leftwith privately owned petrole-um and chemical units, whichhave seen many industrialaccidents and fatal pollutionevents. Steel plant workersfear that Sitharaman has kepta door open even for completeshutdown of VSP.

By her rather terse statementon VSP's privatisation,Sitharaman, who has links withcoastal Andhra, ignored thestruggle in the late 1960s thatforced Indira Gandhi to declarethat a shore-based steel plantwould be set up in the city. Theslogan of "Visakha ukku,Andhralu hakku" (Vizag Steel isthe right of the Andhras) rever-

berated throughout the Stateleading to the resignation of 66MLAs, including those fromTelangana, and the death of 32agitators.

Politics aside, the presentdivestment plan has drawn flakfor the low valuation of the assetsat Rs. 32,022 crore (when thecompany has 19,700 acres ofunused land) and for an inflat-ed debt burden primarily causedby borrowings at high interestrates.

What has rattled the workersis the Centre's refusal to look atrevival proposals like allotmentof captive mines or merger ofNMDC, Kudremukh Iron OreCompany, SAIL and VSP, allfalling under the Steel Ministry.

The Centre's tough stand onVSP has eliminated any prospectof establishment of the steel plantat Bayyaram in Telangana aspromised in the A.P.Reorganisation Act 2014. TheCentre may end up antagonis-ing both the Telugu Statesinstead of one.

S NAGESH KUMARFormer Resident Editor,

The Hindu

No such deference was shown to Telangana

by Indira Gandhi after the violent agitation

in 1969 for separate Statehood or to Andhra

in 1972. She only sacked the Congress chief

ministers Kasu Brahmananda Reddy and

P. V. Narasimha Rao

‘ALL ANDSUNDRY’

Telugus display welcome unity against VSP privatisation

Sub-registrar officesnot to work today

PNS n NEW DELHI

Andhra Pradesh andTelangana stand to immense-ly benefit from the frameworkand guidelines for testing,monitoring and surveillanceof drinking water quality aswell as a Water QualityInformation ManagementSystem (WQMIS), an onlineportal launched by the UnionJal Shakti Ministry to providedetailed information on lab-oratories for this purpose.

As per a statement made in2016 by the Centre in the LokSabha, Visakhapatnam, WestGodavari, Krishna, Guntur,Prakasam, Nellore, Chittoor,Kadapa, Kurnool, Anantapurand Srikakulam districts inAP have fluoride levels inexcess of 1.5 mg/l, the permis-sible limit as per the drinkingwater standards of Bureau ofIndian Standards (BIS).

Not only this, nitrate con-tent is above the desirablelimit of 45 mg/l in all the 13districts of the State. Theproblem of excess fluoridewas even more acute inTelangana, but has largelybeen contained of late due tothe Mission Bhagiratha of theState government.

The guidelines specify workto be done in terms of surveil-lance and monitoring at thestate, district, block/tehsil andvillage levels.

The basic water qualityparameters prescribed underthe guidelines are pH value,total dissolved solids, turbid-ity, chloride, total alkalinity,total hardness, sulphate, iron,total arsenic, fluoride, nitrate,total coliform bacteria, e colior thermo-tolerant coliformbacteria.

The guidelines have beenprepared in consultation with

the Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR).

Jal Shakti MinisterGajendra Singh Shekhawattold reporters that the aim ofthe Jal Jeevan Mission is toprovide functional tap waterconnections by 2024 to allrural households and waterquality is an important aspectof it.

He said the total cost of theJal Jeevan Mission is Rs3,60,000 crore and 2 percentof it has been dedicated to thequality of water.

According to a 2018 assess-ment by the Central GroundWater Board, 52 per cent of allthe blocks in the countryhave inter alia any one of thegeogenic contaminants likearsenic, chloride, fluoride,iron, nitrate and salinity.

Nearly 20 states in Indiahave drinking water sourcescontaminated with arsenic,

fluoride, nitrate, iron, salini-ty or heavy metals.

Apart from these, there are61 priority districts acrossfive states identified by theMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare which are affected byJapanese Encephalitis - AcuteEncephalitis Syndrome (JE-AES).

Bharat Lal, AdditionalSecretar y and MissionDirector of National JeevanMission, said the purpose ofthe exercise is to instil a senseof confidence about waterquality and people can alsotest water quality.

He added that a database of2,200 laboratories across thecountry has been prepared sothat water quality can be test-ed. All the laboratories havebeen accredited by theNational Accreditation Boardfor Testing and CalibrationLaboratories.

Centre to monitor water quality,Telangana, Andhra to benefit PNS n HYDERABAD

The State Government hasclarified that the sub-registraroffices in Hyderabad districtand undivided districts ofRangareddy, Mahabubnagar,Nalgonda, Khammam andWarangal would not functionon Sunday on account of theMLC elections contrary tothe decision taken earlier.

Clarifying this in a mediastatement, the StateGovernment pointed out thatthe office of sub-registrar willwork across the state onSundays and second Saturdaysin March to meet the increas-ing workload of non-agricul-tural property registrations inthe last month of the currentfinancial year.

As per the earlier order, thesub-registrar office shouldwork on March 7 (Sunday),March 13 (second Saturday),March 14 (Sunday), March 21and 28 (Sundays). Because ofthe MLC elections, the officeswould not function in thedistricts where the MLC pollsare underway.

However, the offices wouldfunction as per schedule onSundays - March 21 and 28,but would not function onMarch 29 which is slated to bea public holiday on account ofthe Holi festival. The govern-ment has appealed to all tomake use of the facility.

People are advised to regis-ter their property in Tahsildaroffices by booking the slot inadvance.

Continued from page 3

Recently, sparking outrageamong the agitators, UnionFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman had reiterated thatthe Cabinet Committee ofEconomic Affairs (CCEA), inits meeting, held on January27 this year, has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for 100percent disinvestment ofGovernment of India share-holding in Rashtriya IspatNigam Limited (RINL) alongwith RINL’s stake in its sub-sidiaries/joint venturesthrough strategic disinvest-ment by way of privatisation.

Replying to a questionposed by media persons,Deodhar said that the decisionhas been taken by theNarendra Modi government.“It is not only about theVisakhapatnam Steel Plant.All loss-making PSUs, barringdefence and security sectors,are being privatised.

Government has no businessto be in business.”

He assured that all theemployees will be taken careof by the Government evenafter the plant is privatised.

On a question that region-al parties are accusing the BJPgovernment of betrayingAndhra Pradesh, Deodharsaid: “Both the YSRCP andTDP are cheats. They have notdone a single thing for thestate. They are simply playingpolitics over the steel plant.”

Terming the rule of region-al parties as dynastic, caste-driven, Deodhar accusedChief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy of pro-moting religious conversionsbehind the veil of the steelplant privatisation protests.

“BJP will spread awarenessamong the eligible beneficia-ries about the Covid-19 vac-cine. About 80 percent of BJPwork is related to services tothe people,” he said.

Deodhar says norethink on VSPprivatisation

Continued from page 3

He said that he would sendher father back to her after theMLC election.

Nabila is studying in LakshInternational School,Karimnagar. The girl joyfullythanked KTR for speakingwith her over the phone. TRSparty uploaded the girl's videoon its Twitter handle.

The whole sweet conversa-tion between Nabila and KTRtook place on Saturday follow-ing KTR's teleconference withparty activists. During hisinteraction with party activists,KTR had come to know aboutthe birthday of NawazHussain's daughter. NawazHussain has been in Hyderabadfor the last 20 days in connec-tion with the Graduates MLCelection campaign.

‘TelanganaJeetna Hai’...

India helped...Continued from page 3

Prime Minister NarendraModi with the true spirit of'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'(regarding the world as onefamily) has initially support-ed with supply of medicines toover 150 countries besidesCOVID-19 vaccine supply toover 75 nations from India,Goyal noted.

"This is the true spirit andstrength of the people of Indiathat we ever care for theworld while protecting our-selves," Goyal said, addingthat the presiding deity ofTirupati Lord Balaji blessedand encouraged us to servethe world during the COVID-19 period.

Noting that Covid-19 pan-demic has not yet ended, heurged people to be careful and

protect themselves by strictlyobserving the protocolsincluding maintaining socialdistance and wearing masks atall times.

“We have to wait till every-body is vaccinated and till acure is found,” he said.

After the Covid-19-inducedlockdown was eased, India'seconomy is back on its feetand the Indian Railway hasdone more freight loadingsthis year compared to last,besides reinstalling andrestarting almost 80 percent oftrains including mails andexpresses in the country, hesaid.

In Tirupati, expansion workat the railway station wasnearing completion and thatwould help it receive moretrains from different parts ofthe country, he added.

KV teacher...Continued from page 3

Dinesh Patel told IANS,"Shalu has been developedusing waste materials likeplastic, cardboard, wood, alu-minium etc. It took threeyears to develop it and theexpenditure was around Rs50,000.” He added by sayingthat it is a prototype and itcan recognise someone,memorise things, answerquestions related to GeneralKnowledge and Maths, etc

“Shalu can greet people,display emotions, read thenewspaper, recite recipes andperform many other activi-ties. This can be used as ateacher in schools and as areceptionist in offices too,”Patel added. Shalu has beenmade using Plaster of Parisand can be made more pleas-

ant with the help of a mask.The developer thinks thatShalu can be a perfect com-panion for office work anddaily household chores.“With more research anddevelopment in this area,humanoids can revolutioniseour lifestyle forever”, saysPatel.

Supratik Chakravarty,Professor in the ComputerScience and EngineeringDepartment of IndianInstitute of TechnologyBombay has appreciated theefforts from Dinesh Patel.He wrote a letter to him thatsaid "it is really great devel-opment. Such a robot can beused in the field of education,entertainment and severalother fields too. Shalu can bean inspiration for the next-gen scientists.”

BJP complainsagainst TRSsocial mediaheadContinued from page 3

The Cyber Crime Police reg-istered a case under IT Actand handed it over to inspec-tor B Ramesh for furtherinvestigation. The police areexamining the posts againstBandi Sanjay posted byKrishank.

It may be recalled that avideo stating that BandiSanjay earned Rs.600 croreillegally has been doing therounds in social media plat-forms for the last few days.The BJP IT Cell has allegedthat it was Krishank whoposted it to malign BandiSanjay Kumar.

Man diesafter taking...Continued from page 3

Rao’s family complained thatafter taking the vaccine, hedeveloped high fever. As hishealth deteriorated, he wasshifted to the Eluru DistrictHospital on March 12.

The police registered acase under Section 174CRPC. Inquest as well as thepost-mortem was conduct-ed for the body and handedover the body to his relatives

District Coordinator forHealth Ser vices, WestGodavari, AVR Mohan saidthat the deceased was suffer-ing from long-term ailmentslike paralysis on the rightside and diabetes.

He said many elderly peo-ple had been administeredCovid vaccines and did notdisplay any side effects.

With Corona and allstruggling, how didAdani's wealth riseby 50%, asks RahulPNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader RahulGandhi on Saturday askedhow did businessmanGautam Adani manage toincrease his wealth by 50 percent while everyone else wasstruggling because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

His remarks come after anew report said that Adaniadded USD 16.2 billion tohis wealth taking his networth to USD 50 billion in2021, more than anyone elsein the world.

Tagging the news report ina tweet, Gandhi asked, "Howmuch did your wealthincrease in 2020?”

Netizens ripChiranjeevi's tweetContinued from page 3

According to Wikipedia,Chiranjeevi, who was bornon August 22, 1955, was astudent of the YerramalliNarayanamurthi College(YNM College) during 1973-76. However, the movementfor the Visakhapatnam SteelPlant gathered momentumduring 1966-67.

Presuming Chiru startedattending school at the age offive, he should be either inClass VI or VII by the timethe movement for the steelplant was launched. The steelplant was realised in 1971. Bythat time, Chiranjeevi shouldbe in his teens (say 16 years).He must have been studyingIntermediate by that time,netizens guess applying plainlogic.

Going by the prevalenteducation system, there were

no nursery classes then.Generally children used to beadmitted to schools at the ageof five. Going by that system,a student should have com-pleted his SSC at the age of 15and Intermediate at the age of17. The student would grad-uate from a university whenhe or she was 20.

Netizens took pot shots atChiru, asking him whether hehad blackened the 'collegewalls' with slogans while hewas in Class VI? Or, did hetake part in the movementwhen he was pursuingIntermediate? If that weretrue, did he 'agitate' for aplant that had already beenachieved!

Taking Chiru at his wordon his political innings, neti-zens are asking him why hedid not achieve captive minesfor VSP when he was a mem-ber of the UPA Cabinet.

TRS MLARamulu Naik’s...Continued from page 3

Ramulu Naik's video wentviral on social media plat-forms. Netizens expressedtheir anger over Ramulu Naikand decried that TRS leaderswere manipulating voters withtheir money power.

Reacting to Ramulu Naik'svideo, Congress MP fromBhongir Komatireddy VenkatReddy said that the TRS partywas "murdering democracy"by openly purchasing votes.Ramulu Naik's words were'shameful'. He alleged thatTRS was seeking to createdifferences by purchasingvotes on the basis of caste. Hedemanded that the ElectionCommission should file a caseagainst Ramulu Naik suomotu based on the video.

Komatireddy alleged thatpolice filed false cases againstsome Congress activists when

they "obstructed distributionof money to 1,000 graduatevoters at TRS MLA fromBhongir MLA Pailla ShekharReddy's camp office. He con-demned the act of the police.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao had beenindulging in unethical politics,knowing that the TRS wouldbe defeated in both graduateMLC constituencies.

Hence, KCR had a meetingwith leaders of employees'unions at Pragathi Bhavan towoo them in the name of PRC.TRS leaders had beenindulging in 'vote purchasing'and 'threatening tactics', hestated.

Komatireddy urged gradu-ate voters to cast their votescautiously. Democracy wouldnot survive if people cast votein return for money. Votersmust exercise their franchisesincerely, he said.

BJP daresKTR to allotBayyarammines to VSPContinued from page 3

He dared Jagan to holddiscussions with theTelangana Government if hehas any love for the VSP.“The Governments of APand Telangana can purchasethe VSP and run it if theyare so passionate about it,”Satya Kumar said.

“It’s ridiculous thatsomeone like KTR, who didnot come to the rescue ofthe flood-hit residents ofHyderabad, is now speakingabout the VSP. It’s evenmore ridiculous thatTelangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao andKTR, who had threatened todrive away people ofAndhra from Telanganasoil, are now speaking aboutthe VSP,” the BJP leadersaid.

With 24K cases,India recordshighest single-day spike PNS n NEW DELHI

India on Saturday recorded24,882 fresh COVID-19infections, the highest so farthis year, which took thecaseload to 1,13,33,728,according to Union healthministry data This is also thehighest daily rise in the last 83days. As many as 26,624 newinfections were recorded onDecember 20.

The death toll climbed to1,58,446 with 140 new fatal-ities, the ministry data updat-ed at 8 am showed The coun-try's active caseload increasedto 2,02,022. It constitutes1.74 per cent of the totalinfections. The recovery ratedropped to 96.82 per cent.The number of people whohave recuperated from thedisease surged to 1,09,73,260.The case fatality rate stands at1.40 per cent, the data stated.

Owaisi fixed...Continued from page 3

She was repeatedly get-ting extortion and ransomcalls. Since she did not yieldto their pressure, she wasimplicated in false casesacross the country, sheclaimed.

A total 29 FIRs were filedagainst her in five states viz.Karnataka, Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh, Telanganaand Kerala.

"I am a victim of politicalvendetta and political leaderstried to fix me permanentlyin false cases," said Nowhera.

Nowhera Shaikh, founderof the All India MahilaEmpowerment Party (MEP),alleged that due to her riseon the political arena, heropponents had tried to pro-ject her as a scamster.

Nowhera Shaikh said thatthough AIMIM made astatement in Parliamentalleging Rs 50,000 crorescam by Heera Group, theparty could not prove evenRs 50,000 rupee scam. It wasall aimed at maligning herand tarnishing her compa-ny's image. TheEnforcement Directorateand other central agenciescould not prove her guilt tilldate.

2

Published From HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARHBHUBANESWARRANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA VISAKHAPATNAM

*LATE CITY VOL. 3 ISSUE 142Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Established 1864 RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

www.dailypioneer.com

MONEY 06WHO GRANTS EMERGENCY

AUTHORISATION FOR J&J COVID VAX

AGENDA 7US & THE GREAT SOUTH

ASIAN REALIGNMENT

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

HYDERABAD, SUNDAY MARCH 14, 2021; PAGES 10+16 `5

10

SATYANADELLA, USLAWMAKERS

APPALLEDBY ACTS OF

HATE...

OBTUSE ANGLE

HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated March 13 , 2021 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Magha & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Pratipada: 05:05 pm

Nakshatram: Uttara Bhadrapada: 02:19 am (Next

Day)

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 04:53 pm – 06:22 pm

Yamagandam: 12:25 pm – 01:54 pm

Varjyam: 10:45 am – 12:29 pm

Gulika: 03:23 pm - 04:53 pm

Good Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 09:08 pm – 10:52 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham: 12:01pm – 12:49 pm

FFoorreeccaasstt:: SunnyTemp: 36/18Humidity: 26%Sunrise: 06:30 amSunset: 06:24 pm

Violation of FSI norms

blatant

4

Govt committed to promote

renewable energy:Gadkari

6

24,882 new infections, Indiarecords highest single-dayspike so far this year

P:2

‘Telangana Jeetna Hai’n 12-yr Nabila made KTR emotional with her birthday wishn KTR extends birthday wishes over phone to TRS activist’s daughter

PNS n HYDERABAD

Normally a birthday girl would wel-come loads of gifts, with her wishesbeing mainly yummy cake, nicedress, dainty shoes, chummy schoolfellows, and neighbourhood kids infull attendance at her birthday bashin the company of parents. However,12-year-old Nabila Mohammed,daughter of a TRS party activist fromKarimnagar, spontaneously said'Mereko kuch nahichahiye...Telangana jeethna hainbuss' on Saturday when TRS work-ing president KT Ramarao, made asurprise phone call to wish her on herbirthday, and asked her to spell outher birthday wish. It made KTR's day.

An emotional KTR then said'Arre wah kya baat hai' and prom-ised to meet her on his next visitto Karimnagar. That her wish

was spontaneously became clearwhen the girl said 'gift nahi chay-ihe', though KTR persistentlyasked her to tell what gift shewanted. When KTR cajoled her,saying 'kuch na kuch' gift, she

firmly said 'nahi chayiye'. KTR then asked her not to think

otherwise for keeping her dad awayfrom her on the occasion of herbirthday.

TRS MLA RamuluNaik’s ‘distributemoney’ video viralPNS n HYDERABAD

In what could prove to be a majorembarrassment for the KCR gov-ernment, a video in whichTRS legislator from Wyraconstituency RamuluNaik is purportedlyseen asking his follow-ers to 'distributemoney and purchasevotes' surfaced onSaturday. In no time,the video became viral,drawing widespread criti-cism ahead of the MLC elections.

In the video, Ramulu is seen stat-ing openly that the party would givemoney if people cast vote to TRScandidate contesting from theNalgonda-Khammam-Warangalgraduates constituency.

In the video, shot two days agoduring an election campaign in hisconstituency, Ramulu Naik, while

urging party leaders to distributemoney to voters, says: "I am

telling off the record. Wewill give money, if youcast votes. No need tofear in this regard."

Ramulu Naik isseen making thesestatements even as fol-

lowers caution him stat-ing that media persons

are around. He goes on tosuggest that the leaders should

categorize voters and identify thosewho may not cast their votes to TRSas well as doubtful voters so as todistribute money to them.

Netizens rip Chiranjeevi's tweetMARTHI SUBRAHMANYAMn VIJAYAWADA

Hawk-eyed netizens havepounced on actor and formerUnion minister Chiranjeevi forinaccuracies in his recent tweet,recalling his purported role as acollege student in the late sixties'agitation for the VisakhapatnamSteel Plant in undivided AndhraPradesh.

Poor Chiru's tweet, reportedlyposted when he was recoveringfrom sunstroke that he sufferedduring a shoot recently, has beentorn to shreds.

In his now notorious tweet,Chiru had claimed: "As a student

of YNM College in Narsapuram,I, along with other college matesblackened the college walls writ-

ing slogans with a brush in favourof the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.We staged dharnas, hartals, andobserved relay hunger strikes toachieve the steel plant. When thesteel plant was realised, we, thestudents, celebrated the occasion.The slogans of those days are stillgreen in my memory."

The 'Mega Star', as his die-hardfans still call him, then pledged hissupport to the current move-ment against the privatisation ofthe Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. Healso said it was unfortunate that"the Centre did not allot captivemines for the steel plant".

Man dies after takingCovid vax, probe onPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Alarmed at the death of a 64-year-old man just two days after tak-ing Covid-19 vaccine in WestGodavari district, health offi-cials said that it was too early tolink the death with the vaccine.

Health officials said that theyare awaiting the sample report toconfirm the reason for the fatal-ity as the recipient was sufferingfrom paralysis and other comor-bidities.

P Kutumba Rao, a watchman inVanguru village under Pedavegi

mandal in West Godavari wasadministered the Covid-19 vac-cine on March 10. After he com-plained of unease, he was shiftedto Eluru Government Hospital onMarch 12 where he passed away.

Rao was suffering from paral-ysis, diabetes and other ailments.

As the family members of Raofiled a police complaint with theII-Town police, a post-mortemwas conducted. Samples weresent to Regional Forensic ScienceLaboratories in Vijayawada.

BJP complainsagainst TRSsocial media headPNS n HYDERABAD

The IT cell of the BJP state uniton Saturday lodged a complaintwith the Cyber Crime PoliceStation against TRS social mediaconvener Krishank alleging thathe had uploaded a fake video onhis Twitter handle @KrishankTRSto defame BJP state party presi-dent Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

BJP IT Cell convener A VenkatRamana stated in his complaintthat he happened to see an edit-ed, false video uploaded by theTRS social media convener to"defame" BJP state party presidentand MP from Karimnagar BandiSanjay Kumar and "instigate pub-lic against the BJP party".

Venkat Ramana enclosed a CDcontaining the video with hiscomplaint. He alleged that thevideo in question was false, fake,and created by splicing clippingsof various videos.

Venkat Ramana urged theCyber Crime Police to takeappropriate legal action againstthe persons who had made thevideo containing false informa-tion "at the earliest in the inter-est of justice".

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Daring Minister for MunicipalAdministration in Telangana KTRama Rao to allocate theBayyaram steel mines toVisakhapatnam Steel Plant if hegenuinely has as much love forAndhra Pradesh as he has beenprofessing, BJP national secretaryY Satya Kumar on Saturdaychallenged the TRS leader to takeup the VSP privatisation issuewith Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy.

The BJP leader wasrepudiating the allegationslevelled by KTR against UnionMinister for Steel DharmendraPradhan at a media conference

here on Saturday where hecharged the TRS leader of stokingpassions over the VSPprivatisation issue only with aneye on the votes of Andhra-origin graduates in the MLCpolls.

Owaisi fixed mein false cases:Nowhera ShaikPNS n HYDERABAD

Heera Gold group MD and CEONowhera Shaik, in her first pressconference after being releasedfrom jail on the Supreme Court'sorders, alleged on Saturday thatHyderabad MP and AIMIM pres-ident Asaduddin Owaisi and hismen were behind the 'false' and'frivolous' cases filed against her.She asserted that the process ofrepayment to investors would berolled out soon.Nowhera Shaikh alleged that in2012 Asaduddin Owaisi had fileda complaint against her in theCentral Crime Station (CCS) ofHyderabad. Later, his followerslodged false complaints againsther, resulting in her arrest onOctober 15, 2018.She alleged that, prior to the fil-ing of the cases against her,

Deodhar says norethink on VSPprivatisationPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Rubbing salt into the wounds ofworkers, BJP national secretary andco-in-charge for Andhra PradeshSunil Deodhar on Saturday madeit clear that the Government has nobusiness to be in business andhence all public sector units (PSUs),barring some sectors, would be pri-vatised. The BJP leader was inVijayawada to attend a party meet-ing that discussed matters relatedto Tirupati by-elections, VizagSteel Plant privatisation issue andthe activities taken up by partyworkers to spread awareness onCovid-19 vaccine.

India helped over 150 countriesduring Covid: Piyush GoyalPNS n TIRUPATI

India has done its best to help theworld during the Covid-19 crisisunder the dynamic leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi, saidRailway Minister Piyush Goyal onSaturday. After offering prayers at thefamous hill shrine of LordVenkateswara at Tirumala here,Piyush Goyal told reporters that dur-

ing the pandemic period, the coun-try with its over 130 crore popula-tion has shown the world its resilientstrength by quickly recovering aftera fight with the dreaded virus.

India was not dependent on any-body during the pandemic period,rather it extended support to theworld in the battle against the virus,Goyal claimed.

KV teacher develops humanoid ‘Shalu’It can speak 38 foreign languages - similar to Sophia developed by Hanson RoboticsPNS n MUMBAI

India is a land of innovationsand in a recent development, aComputer Science teacherfrom Kendriya Vidyalaya at theIndian Institute of Technology-Bombay has developed a robotthat can speak nine local lan-guages and thirty-eight foreignlanguages.

Dinesh Patel is a teacher at

Kendriya Vidyalaya at IITBombay and has developed ahumanoid named "Shalu".Shalu can speak regional lan-guages which include Hindi,Marathi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati,Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam.Shalu resembles a woman andcan speak like one. She is ableto speak thirty-eight foreignlanguages.

Dinesh Patel got inspired by

Rajanikanth's Robot movieand developed a humanoidrobot. It is similar to Sophiawhich is developed by HansonRobotics of Hong Kong. Shecan not only perform manyhuman gestures such as shak-ing hands but also smile anddisplay human emotions likeanger.

With Corona and all struggling,how did Adani's wealth rise by50 pc, asks Rahul Gandhi

P:2

BJP dares KTR to allotBayyaram mines to VSP

FARMER LEADER RAKESH TIKAIT TOHOLD MAHAPANCHAYAT IN NANDIGRAM

Amid an intense Trinamool vs BJP fightover Chief Minister Mamata Banerjeegetting injured last week, farmers'

leader Rakesh Tikait is visiting Bengal'sNandigram today, where he will hold amahapanchayat (public meeting). MsBanerjee has filed her poll nominationfrom the assembly seat and will take onBJP's Suvendu Adhikari, whose exit fromthe Trinamool last year triggered an exodusof leaders from the party. Mr Tikait, who hasbeen leading a massive farmers' protest against the threecentral agriculture laws at the Delhi-UP border, was welcomedin Kolkata by Trinamool MP Dola Sen Saturday.

FREE TABLETS, FUEL PRICE CUTAMONG DMK'S 500 POLL PROMISES

Free computer tablets with data card forstudents, free local public transport forwomen, reservation of 75 per cent jobs

for people of Tamil origin, fuel price cut,and financial assistance of Rs 25,000 toone lakh people going on pilgrimage tomajor Hindu temples are among more theDMK's top poll promises revealed todayas the party prepares to give a tough fightto the ruling AIADMK. DMK chief MK Stalinreleased the manifesto, which, he said, hasmore than 500 poll promises.The party, which has been holdingprotests against NEET, will bring a law against the medicalentrance exam in the first assembly session, it has said.

DELHI MAN SHOT DEAD OVER DJ SONGSAT BROTHER'S BIRTHDAY PARTY: COPS

A28-year-old man was arrested forshooting dead another man allegedlyafter an altercation between them

over playing DJ songs during a birthdayparty in Najafgarh area, police said onSaturday. The man, Anuj Sharma, wasshot dead by Naveen Kumar on Thur-sday during the birthday celebrations ofthe victim's younger brother held at afarmhouse in Najafgarh area of the nationalcapital, they said. An altercation took placebetween Naveen and Anuj over playing DJ songs during thebirthday celebrations. The accused, who was under theinfluence of alcohol, opened fire at Anuj and fled from the spot.

PROTESTING FARMERS BUILDHOMES BY HIGHWAY NEAR DELHI

Eyeing long haul, farmers protestingagainst three contentious agricul-tural laws since late November

have now started constructing brickhouses near Delhi's border. Afterbraving winter chills, facing internetcurbs and other restrictions to con-fine their movement, demonstratorsare prepared to continue the sit-inamid a deadlock with the government.At Tikri border, protesters can be seen con-structing these houses on their own. They are spending onthe construction material but saving on cost of labour; theestimated cost of each house is around Rs 20,000-25,000.

2

2

2

2

2 2

22

2

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MARCH 14, 2021hyderabad 04

CPI (Maoist) Party and its labour wing Viplava KarmikaSamakhya called upon the people in Telangana to observeMarch 15 as Anti Privatisation Day protesting against the

privatisation of public sector entities by BJP-led NDA government atthe Centre. In separate statements released to the press here onSaturday, the Maoist Telangana State Committee SpokespersonJagan and Viplava Karmika Samakhya secretary Azad have accusedthe Modi government of selling out public sector companies toprivate corporate forces in the guise of development. They extendedsolidarity to the nationwide strike called on March 15 by the UnitedForum of Bank Unions (UFBU) to express resentment against theprivatisation of public banks. The Modi government had thrownthousands of workers onto the streets by privatising profit makingCoal India. Acting as a tout for corporate forces like Adani andAmbani the government now wants to do the same with the lives oflakhs of workers of SCCL and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Jaganalleged. The privatisation drive was aimed at suppressing workers,farmers and weaker sections, Jagan and Azad complained. Theycalled upon the people in the country and working class to stagecollective agitations against the privatisation to protect the nationfrom capitalist forces.

CITY LIGHTSCPI (Maoist): Observe March 15 as Anti Privatisation Day

The Indian Council ofMedical Research(ICMR) has appointed

Jawaharlal Institute ofPostgraduate MedicalEducation & Research(JIPMER), Puducherry andNizam's Institute of MedicalSciences (NIMS), asmentor institutes forTelangana for setting upnew laboratories to take-updiagnostic tests forcoronavirus. JIPMER,Puducherry is also thementoring institute forTamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry. The JIPMER andNIMS will provide technical guidance to laboratories that arewishing to start coronavirus diagnostic tests in Telangana. 'Theseinstitutes are mandated to review the requests for approving anynew laboratory for COVID testing," ICMR said.ARRANGEMENTS IN PLACE

Pollingofficers carrying ballot boxes at LB

Stadium as they prepare to go to their pollingcentres ahead of polling to the Telangana Legislative

Council on Sunday Jumbo-sized ballot boxes and large ballotpapers have been readied for the polling in view of the largenumber of candidates in fray. Over 10 lakh graduates would

be exercising their franchise in preferential method at1,530 polling stations.

— SV Chary

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana on Saturday record-ed 216 new Covid-19 cases,raising the state's tally overthree lakh, even as 168 morepeople recovered from thevirus in the past 24 hours, offi-cials said.

Hyderabad accounted forthe highest number of cases at52, followed by Rangareddy(19), Medchal Malkajgiri (18),Karimnagar and WarangalUrban (11 each) and Adilabad(10) and Sangareddy (8 each).

Among other places thatreported fresh cases wereSiddpet (7 each), BhadradriKothagudem, Jagityal,Khammam, Mehboobnagar,Mancherial and RajannaSiricilla (6 each) andKamareddy (5).

Although the total numberof cases have crossed threelakh, the number of activecases in the state stood at 1,918, declining slightly from 1,936a week ago, more than theneighbouring Telugu state ofAndhra Pradesh.

However, Telangana did notsee a sharp climb back inactive cases like AP.

Meanwhile, two more

Covid deaths occurred in thepast 24 hours, raising thestatewide death toll to 1,652.

The southern state's Covidfatality rate stands at the same0.54 per cent rate, compared tothe national average of 1.4 percent even after a week.

Powered by 168 morerecoveries, total number ofrecoveries in Telangana hascrossed 2.97 lakh, narrowingthe gap between total casesand recoveries.

The state's recovery ratestood still at 98.81 per cent,which is still higher than thenational average of 96.8 percent.

In the past 24 hours, thestate tested 34,482 samplesfor the virus, taking the totalnumber of tests over 91 lakh.Per million population,Telangana has tested 2.45 lakhsamples.

TS logs 216 more virus infections; tally over 3L

PNS n HYDERABAD

Adhering to floor-space index(FSI) norm prescribed formulti-storeyed structures inIT Zones of Hyderabad is onlyconfined to paper as each ofthe several high-rise struc-tures, built in one acre, inMadhapur, HI TEC City,Gachibowli areas of the ITzone have a total carpet arearanging between 10-15 lakhsquare feet. According to the FSI rule,builders are prohibited fromconstructing structures withcarpet area more than 2.5-lakhsquare feet for structures builtin one acre. We can come across structureswith total carpet area rangingbetween 10-15 lakh squarefeet built on a one-acre site inIT Zone and Financial district. According to Cushman andWakefield report, the FSI in ITzone in the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) limits is more thanthat of FSI in other metropol-itan cities. As hundreds of employeestroop out of these high-risestructures in the morninghours, cars and two-wheelerscome out on to the streets at

once, creating traffic snarlsdue to locking of the grid. The construction of buildingswithout leaving proper set-backs has turned the city intoa concrete jungle. The rain water flooding thestreets as there is no scope forthe incident rain water to per-colate into the soil. As a resultof rain water do not percolatedown, due to which the groundwater table is receding fast. Inadequate green belt aroundmajor structures, fumes dis-charged by automobiles, dustparticles have been contribut-ing to air pollution havebecome a major health hazard.

The concrete structures andhigh-rise buildings have beencontributing to increase theseverity of exposure to ultra-violet rays. The people havebeen suffering on beingexposed to high temperaturessince there was no room for theearth to release its trapped heatinto atmosphere. While the FSI for one-acre ofsite in Delhi is only 1.23 lakhsquare feet. If any builderexceeds the FSI limit, the Delhigovernment has been initiatingstern action against them. TheFSI limit is 2.55 lakh squarefeet, 2.5 lakh square feet, 3.25lakh square feet in Mumbai,

Bengaluru and Chennairespectively.In Pune, permissions areawarded for construction ofhigh-rise structures with aceiling of 2 lakh square feet onFSIBut, the officials of GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) haveapparently turned a blind eyeto adherence to the FSI normshere to roll red carpet to the IT,BPO and KPO units. As aresult, the builders are nothesitating to build structureswith a carpet area of over 10-15 lakh square feet on a one-acre site.

BUILDING OUTSIDE THE LAW

As summer sets in, cases of fever, throat pain on the rise

PNS n HYDERABAD

Patients suffering from neu-rological disorders had topostpone their emergencysurgeries as the departmentof neurology of the NIMShad not been equipped withthe modern equipment,replacing the old and out-dated ones.

In fact, the anaesthesiawork station in the operationtheatres needed repairs andalso the operation theatrelights needed overhauling.The drilling machine used tocut bones had gone out oforder. For the past fivemonths, these had not beenreplaced.

The neurology departmenthas three units, 60 beds andthree operation theatres.

The patients suffering fromspinal chord ailments,melanomas in brain requiresurgical intervention. Thesurgery is very complex innature. Only highly skilledand experienced surgeonswould be able to performthese surgeries. On an aver-age, at least six to seven surg-eries are conducted in thedepartment.

The hospital authoritieswere blamed for not makingpurchases to replace the oldequipment from time to timein tune with the increasingnumber of patients.

Moreover, the equipmentpurchased several years agohad gone out of order. Eversince the anaesthesia workstation, purchased a year agoby spending Rs 35 lakh, andoperation theatre lights hadgone out of order, the surg-eries in the department hadbeen affected.

The drilling machine used

to cut bones and costing Rs15 lakh, went out of order fivemonths ago. It was notreplaced. Over 60 patients,suffering from spinal chordailments and spondylitis andanother 100 suffering fromtumours and blood clots inbrain had been forced towait for surgeries.

In fact, these patientswould have to wait for anoth-er four to five months.Because of the chronic natureof their diseases, delay in pro-viding surgical interventionsmight endanger their lives.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hayathnagar policecaught two persons oncharges of illegally trans-porting liquor fromTelangana to AndhraPradesh, here on Friday mid-night. The police seized 600liquor bottles and a car, allput together worth Rs 6 lakhfrom them.

The arrested persons wereidentified as R Damodar, 26,from Nalgonda and R Hari,22, from Hasthinapuram inVanasthalipuram.

Police said the suspectswho are auto-rickshaw dri-vers and aware that liquorrates in the State are lowerthan Andhra Pradesh, plot-ted to earn easy money bytransporting liquor and sell-ing it for higher rates in theneighbouring state.

Accordingly, they weretransporting liquor in the carand were caught during avehicle checking at Kohedavillage. They were producedbefore the court for remand-ing in judicial custody.

Two held for transporting liquor fromT’gana to AP

Delay in replacing old OT equipmentforces patients to postpone surgeries

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Rachakonda SpecialOperations Team busted an oiltheft gang and arrested ninepersons at Adibatla here onSaturday. The police officialsseized 805 litres of diesel andpetrol, cash of Rs 40,000, threefuel tankers and other mater-ial from them.

The arrested persons wereidentified as B Sai RaghuGoud, 35, Ch Ravinder Reddy,33, V Karunakar, 38, VYadagiri, 30, Yella Reddy, 37,M Kranthi Goud, 30, KShashank Reddy, 23, G LingamGoud, 30, and G Rambabu, 33.

According to the police,Raghu who was previouslyinto real estate business earli-er could not succeed. Later, heworked with one Ramesh andindulged in oil theft from

tankers in Mallapur gotacquainted with various dri-vers and helpers engaged intransporting fuel from oilcompany storage points atCherlapally.

"He chose a convenientplace along the service roadlocated adjacent to the OuterRing Road in Adibatla. Afterthe oil tanker drivers load thetankers at the storage points,they reach the designated placeand commit theft of fuel beforereaching to their destination,"police said. Raghu sold thestolen diesel for Rs 70 per litre.

Up on receiving the infor-mation, the team of SOT LBNagar headed by Inspector TRavi Kumar with the help ofAdibatla Police raided onthe diesel pilferage point andapprehended the accusedpersons.

Police bust oil theft gang, arrest nine Bus driver caughtfor drunk driving PNS n HYDERABAD

A private bus driver wascaught by the Narayangudatraffic police for driving thevehicle in an inebriated stateon Friday night.

The driver Govardhana-giri, 51, of Anantapur districtwas driving a bus from thecity to Hindupur. "When wechecked him, we found hisBAC level as 47 mg/100 ml asagainst the permissible BAClevel of 35 mg/100 ml. Fivepassengers were travelling inthe bus," said B ChandraMohan, Inspector (Traffic)Narayanguda.

Violation of FSI norms blatant

Impact of second wave soon in Telangana, warn officials

PNS n HYDERABAD

Come summer, the patientsvisiting hospitals with com-plaints of fever and throat painhas increased so also the num-ber of Covid cases, accordingto medical and health depart-ment officials.

They said that the climate issuitable for the pandemic tospread to others and point outhow the virus broke out inMarch last year. The medicalofficers advise people to takesuitable precautions in summeras the body temperature tendsto increase in the season. Theincrease in the number of fevercases being reported, thoughnot remarkable, is considerable,

they say. During the current sum-

mer, the number of pandemiccases is on the rise inTelangana, while the states ofMaharashtra and Kerala reportthe second bout of the pan-demic attack. The medical andhealth officials predict that theimpact of the second wave inMaharashtra and Kerala wouldbe felt soon in Telangana.

Some of those who havebeen returning to the statefrom the UK, Saudi Arabia,Dubai and other countrieshave been testing positive forthe virus.

People, thinking that theCovid-19 has been driven outof the country's soil, have been

careless and not observing theprecautions, making them vul-

nerable to the attack. Peoplewearing masks have come

down and also those observingphysical distance.

Compared to the Covid casesreported last week in variousdistricts, 14 districts haveshown a slight increase in thecases. Under GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) limits,27 cases were reported onMarch 4, while 35 cases werereported on March 10. Becauseof the severity of summer andfevers, the Covid cases are like-ly to increase further, the med-ical and health officials said.

Recently, 33 persons whohave taken part in a funeral inKarimnagar tested positive forthe virus. Out of 150 employ-ees working in a private firm,

21 tested positive for the viruson a single day. Similarly, fivehostellers tested positive inAdilabad. The medical andhealth department officialspredict that many more casesmight not have been reportedso far.

Even the unauthorised med-ical diagnostic centres havebeen testing people for Covidas antigen kits have been madeavailable on a large scale.Therefore, the test resultsremained unaccounted for sofar. The health bulletin releasedon Thursday accounted forthree deaths due to theCoronavirus in a single day, aphenomenon taking place afterthree months.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The customs officials onSaturday detained a passengerfor attempting to smuggle goldin paste form. The passengerwas detained when he arrivedfrom Sharjah by flight G9458

with 672 grams of gold pasteconcealed in his speciallydesigned slippers. Officialssaid the total net gold valuedat Rs.27.4 lakh was extractedand the passenger wasdetained. In another case, thecustoms officials booked cases

against four passengers arriv-ing from Sharjah by 6E-1406for smuggling gold. The goldcut pieces were hid in themouth of the passengers. Asmany as 471 grams of gold val-ued at Rs.20.67 lakh was seizedfrom the four passengers.

Customs foil gold smuggling attempt

PNS n HYDERABAD

Three persons were detainedby the Falaknuma police inconnection with the murderof Jabbar, a rowdy sheeter, atAnsari Road on Friday.

Jabbar was attacked by afew persons with lethalweapons near the City Plazafunction hall on Ansari Roadon Friday afternoon.

He died while under treat-ment in hospital. Late in thenight, the Falaknuma policedetained three persons forquestioning.

It is learned that Jabbarwas murdered by gangmembers of Shanoor Ghazi,who was murdered eightmonths ago at Kalapather.Jabbar was one of the sus-pects in the case and wasarrested by police then.

A few months ago, twopersons including a history-sheeter, were killed on thesame day at Ansari Road.

Three held inFalaknumamurder case

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Bachupally police caughttwo persons involved in adozen automobile theft caseson Saturday. Police recovered11 motorcycles, all togetherworth nearly Rs 9 lakh fromthem. The arrested persons

were identified as R Raju, 24,a painter from Yellamma-banda and T Mahender (24),a driver from Chevella inRanga Reddy district. Policesaid the two did a recce ofsecluded residential coloniesin the night and stole bikes,which were later sold off.

Two automobile thieves arrested

JIPMER/NIMS appointed as mentors to set up new labs

Ashish Vardhan playing for Lucky XI took his back to backsecond five-wicket haul in his second match against RangaReddy team in the A3 division one-day league on Saturday.

Ashish Vardhan, who demolished the opponent team with his spellbowling took five wickets of 6 overs and conceded only 25 runs.Ashish was the only bowler who was dominant against RangaReddy team. Varun Mishra, from Lucky XI attacked the opponentwith his batting techniques from the beginning and scored 103 runswith 14 fours and 2 sixes, which helped the Lucky XI team to chase258 runs comfortably.

Ashish scalps five wickets in HCA one-day league match

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MARCH 14, 2021 hyderabad 05

PNS n HYDERABAD

The stage is set for Sunday'spolling to the two GraduateMLC polls where multi-cor-nered contests are being wit-nessed. Polling would be heldfrom 8 am to 4 pm forMahabubnagar- Rangareddy-Hyderabad and Warangal-Khammam- NalgondaGraduates' constituencies.Jumbo-sized ballot boxes andlarge ballot papers have beenreadied for the polling as alarge number of candidates arein the fray.

As many as 93 candidatesare contesting fromMahbubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad constituency while71 nominees are in the frayfrom the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda con-stituency.

Over 10 lakh graduateswould be exercising their fran-chise in preferential method at1,530 polling stations. Thecampaigning for the electionfrom the two Graduates' con-stituencies witnessed a war ofwords between the ruling TRSand opposition BJP andCongress.

Against the backdrop ofunexpected setbacks in theDubbak Assembly bypoll andthe GHMC polls, the TRSmade a determined bid towin the two Council seatsand deployed Ministers, MPsand other leaders for the cam-paign.

In a surprise move, the TRSfielded former Prime Minister

PV Narasimha Rao's daughterS Vani Devi, an educationistand artist, as its candidatefrom Mahabubnagar-R ang are d dy - Hyd e r ab a dGraduates' constituency.

Sitting MLC and BJP leaderN Ramachander Rao, howev-er, put up a spirited campaign.Union Minister of State forHome G Kishan Reddy, BJPOBC Morcha national presi-

dent K Laxman and otherleaders campaigned for theBJP nominee.

Union Education MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'addressed two meetingsrecently to supportRamachander Rao's candida-ture. TRS Working Presidentand Minister for IT KT RamaRao, who spearheaded theTRS' campaign, attacked theBJP over the NDA govern-ment allegedly not imple-menting the promises made toTelangana at the time of bifur-cation and allegedly not pro-viding two crore jobs in thecountry every year aspromised.

The BJP, meanwhile, soughtto corner the TRS for alleged-ly neglecting the educationsector and not providing jobs,among others. TheMahbubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad constituency is wit-nessing a keen contest as for-mer minister G Chinna Reddy(Congress), TDP Telanganaunit president L Ramana andformer MLC K Nageshwar, aprominent analyst, and othersare also in the fray.

The TRS fielded sittingMLC Palla Rajeshwar Reddyfrom Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda Graduates' con-stituency while the BJP can-didate i s G PremenderReddy. Telangana JanaSamit i (TJS) leader MKodandaram is in the frayfrom the constituency. Thecounting of votes would betaken up on March 17.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A delegation of Congress lead-ers led by TPCC chief NUttam Kumar Reddy metChief Electoral OfficerShashank Goel on Saturdayurging him to take actionagainst the TRS for violatingthe Model Code of Conduct inthe MLC elections.

Speaking to the media aftermeeting the CEO, UttamKumar Reddy, along with for-mer MLA Marri SashshidharReddy, Hyderabad CityCongress president AnjanKumar Yadav and other lead-ers, alleged that TRS leaderswere indulging in electoralmalpractices and irregularitiesto lure voters in the MLC elec-tions. He also alleged thatprivate school buses werebeing forcibly taken to trans-port voters.

He said that the CEO hasbeen briefed about how theTRS was trying to engage fake

voters (those without degrees)to cast their votes anddemanding that such practicesbe prevented. He said that theruling party was also misusingthe postal ballots, meant forpolice personnel on duty, tocast votes in favour of TRScandidates. The TPCC chiefsaid that the Chief ElectoralOfficer has assured to inquireinto the issue raised by theCongress.

He said jobless youth wouldnot get unemploymentallowance of Rs 3,016 permonth until they give a shockto KCR by electing Congresscandidates in MLC polls. Heappealed to all employees,unemployed youth, teachers,women, professionals like doc-tors, advocates and journaliststo vote in favour of Congresscandidates and give a humil-iating defeat to TRS and BJP.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Followers of MLC KalvakuntlaKavitha and TRS leaders cel-ebrated her birthday by cuttingcakes, planting saplings, dis-tributing food and sarees tothe poor.

Earlier, Minister for HomeMahmood Ali, MusheerabadMLA Mutha Gopal, SportsAuthority of Telangana State(SATS) chairman AllipuramVenkateshwar Reddy andsenior TRS leaders participat-ed in the birthday celebra-tions organised by theTelangana Jagruthi. Thirty

wheelchairs and six three-wheeler scooters were distrib-uted to girls and physicallychallenged by Home MinisterMahmood Ali, MLA MuthaGopal and other senior TRSleaders to mark her birthday.

Kavitha planted saplingsat Pragathi Bhavan, alongwith her mother and MPSantosh as part of her celebra-tions. MLAs, chairmen ofvarious Corporations andsenior leaders plantedsaplings, distributed fruitsand conducted blood dona-tion camps across the State onthe occasion.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Lamenting that the TRS isresorting to unethical electionpractices, AICC NationalSpokesperson Sravan Dasojuon Saturday alleged that TRSleaders are trying to influencethe voters by distributing Rs5,000 to Rs 10,000 to each votewhile providing liquor and

arranging parties to entice thevoters.

“Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao has madepolitics a corporate businessand bought leaders right fromsarpanch to MLAs and MPs.He has a habit of buying pub-lic representatives, includingthe voters. Therefore, he is yetagain following a similar

model in MLC elections, too,to manipulate voters.Therefore, I appeal to all grad-uate voters to be vigilant abouthis trap and follow your con-science to cast your valuablevote”, he cautioned.

“If we take money from theTRS and vote for their candi-dates, we cannot question thegovernment on job notifica-

tions for filling up 1.93 lakhvacancies while regularising1.20 lakh contract employees.We will lose the voice to askthe government for the imple-mentation of the prestigiousITIR project, Animation andGaming project, which canpotentially generate over 60lakh jobs. Our voice will belost to ask for initiating an

unemployment stipend of Rs3,016 per month. Therefore,selling votes means sellingour self-respect and selling ourfundamental right to questionthe government”, he said.

He also requested the StateElection Commission to lookinto the issue and take actionagainst TRS leaders for circu-lating money illegally.

PNS n BHAINSA

Minister for Endowments AIndrakaran Reddy hasassured the victims of recentcommunal clashes of strin-gent action against rioters,who vitiated the law andorder situation in the town.

On Saturday, he visitedthe colonies where thecommunal disturbanceswere reported on March 7night.

Later, speaking to themedia here on Saturday,he said that a series ofcommunal clashes reportedin the town has been affect-ing both the rel igiousgroups. As a result, thedevelopment of Bhainsahas taken a back seat.

The government wouldshow no lenience to thosewho triggered the communalclashes in the town. It iseverybody’s knowledge aboutthe hand behind these com-munal disturbances, heremarked.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Budget session of theTelangana Legislature com-mencing from March 15 in thebackground of Covid-19 will seethe implementation of strictmeasures to keep the pandem-ic at bay.

The first and foremost is noentry to MLAs and MLCs intothe Legislative Assembly andLegislative Council withoutundergoing a Covid test andonly those who tested negativeand produce a certificate to thateffect will be allowed into theHouse.

Everyone, including theLegislature staff led byLegislature Secretary NarasimhaCharyulu, media persons andpolice personnel, has beenundergoing the test in the spe-cial camps being organized onthe Assembly premises.

Special arrangements havebeen made at the Assemblypremises to let those attendingthe budget session undergo thetest, officials said.

Those who took vaccinesalso should undergo the Covidtest as a precaution in the lightof cases going up in some States,they clarified.

In Telangana, though there isno alarming increase in thenumber of positive cases as inneighbouring Maharashtra, theState has been witnessing a risein the new infections. Specialarrangements have been madeat Nizam’s Institute of MedicalSciences to administer the vac-cine to MLAs and MLCs.

Meanwhile, physical distanc-ing and other precautionary

measures will be in order like inthe last legislative session heldin September. The governmentis also considering reducingthe number of physical copiesand documents related to theBudget and give soft copies inpen drives.

Telangana government hasbeen giving important budget-related papers, books and doc-uments through CDs and pendrives but this time, it also pro-posed to decrease bulky budgetbooks and give soft copiesinstead. Unlike the Central gov-ernment which totally went

digital this time for its budgetformat in view of Covid scareand avoided printing processand gathering of people closeproximity, the State govern-ment will limit the physicalcopies to the extent possible,sources said.

The State Legislature AffairsMinister Vemula PrashanthReddy and Speaker PocharamSrinivas Reddy reviewed thearrangements to ensure socialdistancing norms with the StateLegislature officials. They alsodiscussed immediate uploadingon Governor’s address to theJoint session of Assembly andCouncil, Budget speeches in thegovernment website, in additionto live telecast to reduce thenumber of physical copies.

Sanitation of LegislativeAssembly and Council premis-es would be given special atten-tion and wearing of a mask ismandatory and everyoneincluding media, police person-nel and personal assistants ofmembers should cooperate withthe Legislature staff.

Stage set for twoGraduate MLC polls

As many as 93candidates arecontesting fromMahbubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabadconstituencywhile 71nominees are inthe fray from theWarangal-Khammam-Nalgondaconstituency

No Covid test, no entry into Assembly Budget session to begin from March 15

MLC polls: Shravan for ‘conscience vote’

Minister assuresaction againstBhainsa rioters

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS)leader Pannala Gopal Reddyalleged that higher officialsare mounting pressure andthreatening the police, rev-enue and health depart-ments’ employees, who wereperforming election duties,to sign the postal ballotpapers.

He lodged a complaintwith the Nalgonda DistrictCollector and ReturningOfficer Prashanth J Patel inthis regard.

He alleged in his com-plaint that several irregular-ities are taking place inSuryapet, Narsampet,Khammam and WarangalRural areas and soughtaction against those whowere indulging in such activ-ities.

He alleged that higher offi-cials have been extendingtheir support to the rulingparty in this regard.

TJS lodgescomplaint withNalgonda Collector against TRS

Cong complains to CEO against TRS poll malpractices

TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy and other Congress leaders call on ChiefElectoral Officer Shashank Goel in Hyderabad on Saturday and complain againstthe TRS poll malpractices

PNS n HYDERABAD

Dubbak MLA RaghunandanRao vowed to corner the gov-ernment in the forthcomingAssembly session, commencingfrom Monday, raking upBhainsa riots, unemploymentallowance and the PRC and soon.

He charged Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao with vio-lation of model code of pollconduct by discussing the PRCwith the government employ-ees.

He alleged that KTR hasbeen feigning love to protectVisakhapatnam Steel Plantfrom privatisation with an eyeon votes of Andhra graduates.

KTR, who showered love onjournalists on the issue ofhouse sites, had failed torespond when some scribeswere stabbed in Bhainsa 10days ago.

It was ridiculous for KTR torake up privatisation issue andit has become customary forhim to criticise the Centre inelections, he said.

Addressing the media here

on Saturday at the party officeafter a meeting with partypresident Bandi Sanjay,Raghunandan, who vented hisire against KTR and FinanceMinister T Harish Rao, soughtto know whether Harish Rao isthe minister for Siddipet alone,

or for the whole State.What happened to the TRS

MPs, who are keeping mum inParliament, if the Centre wereto render injustice to Telangana,he wondered. He dared TRSleaders for a debate on the floorof the Assembly on the support

extended to the State by theCentre.

He predicted a repeat ofDubbaka and GHMC pollsresults in MLC polls, too. BJPMLAs would confront theSpeaker, if the Speaker did notallow time for them to speak,he said adding that the MLAswould achieve their rightthrough Gandhian ways.

Brute majority alone shouldnot be the yardstick to run theHouse, he felt. He vowed toexpose the hollowness of theTRS government on unem-ployment allowance.

Had the State governmentpunished rioters earlier, thelaw and order situation wouldhave been better in Bhainsa.

Earlier, Raghunandan Rao,BJP MLA from the city RajaSingh had a meeting with partypresident Bandi Sanjay at theparty office here. The partypresident gave them directionson the strategies to be adoptedon the floor of the Assembly.The BJP has been devisingstrategies to corner the govern-ment with the increasedstrength in the Assembly.

BJP to corner govt on Bhainsa, PRC

Dubbak MLA Raghunandan Raocharged Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao with violation ofmodel code of poll conduct bydiscussing about the PRC with thegovernment employees

Dubbak MLA Raghunandan Rao, Goshamahal MLA Raja Singh addressing themedia at the party office in Hyderabad on Saturday

Repeat spiritof Dubbakvoters: GudurPNS n HYDERABAD

BJP senior leader GudurNarayana Reddy appealed tothe graduate voters to electthose candidates who canraise their voices in theCouncil to redress their griev-ances.

In a statement here onSaturday, he said that BJPcandidate N RamchanderRao contesting from theHyderabad- Mahbubnagar –Rangareddy and GujjulaPremendar Reddy fromWarangal –Khammam–Nalgonda seatshave a clean image and theyhave been sincerely fightingfor people’s cause.

He alleged that presentMLC fromWar ang a l – K h am m am –Nalgonda MLC constituencyPalla Rajeswar Reddy neveraddressed the issues of theeducated unemployed youthin the past six years.

He said that the MLC pollsare a great opportunity toteach a lesson to ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, who has been indulgingin authoritarian rule.

Kavitha celebrates birthday by planting saplings

Minister for Home Mahmood Ali distributing a wheelchair to a physicallychallenged to mark the birthday of MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha in Hyderabad onSaturday

PNS n WARANGAL RURAL

Warangal Rural DistrictCollector Haritha advised thepresiding and assistant presid-ing officers to explain inadvance to the election agentsas jumbo ballot boxes are beingused in the graduate electionsand if they have any doubts.

She said the staff should con-tinue their duties till the end ofthe elections and those who

arrived at the last minuteshould also be given a chanceto vote.

Every graduate, who comesto vote, should bring either avoter card or an Aadhaar cardor driving licence or ration cardor passport or PAN card.Covid said the rules should befollowed by taking necessaryprecautions to avoid over-crowding in the polling booths,she said.

Warangal Rural District Collector Haritha addressing polling officials in Warangal Rural district on Saturday

PNS n SIDDIPET

A team of Andhra Pradesh IASofficers visited the Siddipet dis-trict headquarters to study thetown planning model. AndhraPradesh MunicipalAdministration, UrbanDevelopment, Special ChiefSecretary Y Srilakshmi,Housing Corporation MD NBharat Gupta, IAS officersRamu and Ravinder Reddytoured the town on Saturday.

Municipal commissionerKV Ramanachary apprised theteam of development works inthe town. They visitedKomaticheruvu in the town,double bedrooms flats at KCRNagar, Ranganaika Sagar andSuda nursery.

Speaking on the occasion,Srilakshmi said that Siddipet

town is in the forefront ofdevelopment and lauded thegovernment for the construc-

tion of two-bedroom flats forthe poor, beautification of theKomati Cheruvu and

Ranganaika Sagar project anddeveloping greenery in thetown.

AP IAS officers tour Siddipet

PNS n PEDDAPALLI

Bhagyanagar train betweenSecunderabad andKagaznagar stations will beresumed from April 1, accord-ing to South Central RailwayDivisional Railway Users’Consultative Committee(DRUCC) member KyathamVenkataramana. The trainwas cancelled in March 2020due to the Coronavirus.Therefore, many passengersfaced problems due to thecancellation of the train.Ramana said orders had beenissued to run the train fromApril 1, following a directivefrom Railway Minister.

Andhra Pradesh Municipal Administration, Urban Development, Special Chief Secretary Y Srilakshmi and other IAS officersenjoying the cool breeze at the Ranganaika Sagar reservoir during their tour in Siddipet on Saturday

Bhagyanagartrain to beresumed

ID card must for voting: Collector

PNS n PATANCHERU

GITAM Deemed to beUniversity, Hyderabad, B Tech,B Pharmacy and BA second-year students organised theFreshers’ Day on Saturday.The purpose of the party is towelcome new students andencourage their creativeimpulses to boost their confi-dence. It is the day whereseniors and juniors bond andunite to celebrate being part ofthe campus.

The event was started withthe lighting of the lamp by Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof N Siva

Prasad, HoDs and faculty. Prof.Siva Prasad while welcoming

the new students said that theindustry requires all-roundersrather than book worms.

He advised the studentsthat they have to make use ofthe opportunities providedby the university. He exhort-ed the students to work hardwith dedication. He suggest-ed to the seniors that theyshould help to put the juniorson right track.Joel Xavier,Director, Student Life,appealed to students that theyhave to enjoy the other extraand co-curricular activitiesbeing offered by the StudentLife department.

Freshers’ Day at GITAM

A student stages a dance recital

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MARCH 14, 2021money 06

MONEY MATTERS

Veteran industrialist RatanTata on Saturday hopedeveryone can be immunised

and protected soon from thecoronavirus pandemic, having gothimself vaccinated. Tata in asocial media post praised theprocess of vaccination, describingit as "effortless and painless"."Very thankful to have gotten myfirst vaccination shot today. Itwas effortless and painless," he

said. Having got vaccinated at a time when the number of COVID-19 cases are rising in India, Tata said, "I truly hope everyone can beimmunised and protected soon." India had recorded 23,285 cases ofcoronavirus infection in a day, the highest in around 78 days, takingthe total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,13,08,846, according to theUnion Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The total number ofCOVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India has crossed 2.80crore with 18.40 lakh jabs given on Friday till the evening, theministry had said. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled outon January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated, andvaccination of the frontline workers started from February 2, 2021.The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1,for those who are above 60 years of age and for people aged 45 andabove with specified comorbid conditions.

Ratan Tata takes first shot of Coronavirus vaccine

Mumbai, Mar 13 (PTI)There are green shootsvisible in various

sectors of the economy andthe country is already lookingat a 'V-shaped' recovery,Minister of State for Financeand Corporate Affairs AnuragThakur said on Saturday."India is already looking at 'V-shaped' recovery. Along withthe green shoots in various sectors, in the month of February, FPIinflows were Rs 25,787 crore," Thakur said at a virtual conclaveorganised by the Institute of Actuaries of India. After two consecutivequarters of contraction, the country's gross domestic product (GDP)entered into a positive territory with a growth of 0.4 per cent in theOctober-December quarter of the current fiscal, according to the datareleased by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in February. Thakursaid the country' foreign exchange reserves, which have beensteadily increasing over the last few months, had touched all timehigh at USD 590 billion in January 2021. He said the accretion tothe forex reserves in the last eight month was USD 100 billion."These are signs of confidence that the global funds and investorslook at India as a destination to invest and they are bullish aboutIndia's growth story," Thakur added.

New mobile app on poll stats,economic data launched

Ahead of the assemblyelections in four statesand a union territory, a

startup firm has unveiled amobile application with pollstatistics and data on thecountry's economy to helpvoters take fact-baseddecisions before exercisingtheir franchise, company

officials said. The startup - Demokratika- launched the application,BolSubol, which has economic and political information about all theconstituencies in India for over 60 years on average, they claimed."Except the election commission's efforts, not much seems to bedone by political parties to empower voters. Hence, the app is rolledout. It will offer a powerful microblogging tool," Ritesh Verma, one ofthe directors of the company, said on Friday. Most of the digitalplatforms related to the field are social networking applications. Thesedo not help voters take fact-based decisions, another director of thefirm Sheshagiri Anegondi said. There is an election knowledge gamethat users can play, and most of the features of the app are free, theofficial said. "Users have to pay for some of the features of themobile application," he added. Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry willgo to polls on April 6, while assembly elections in Assam will be heldin three phases starting on March 27. The eight-phased polls in WestBengal will be held between March 27 and April 29. Votes will becounted on May 2.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government is committedto promote renewable energyresources in the country, espe-cially in the micro, small andmedium enterprises (MSMEs)sector, Union minister NitinGadkari has said.

He also exuded confidencethat within five years, India willbe a top manufacturing hub forautomobiles in the world.

Gadkari, who holds MSMEportfolio along with roadtransport, said by making solarenergy available, "we will cre-ate big market for electricvehicles".

He invited investors abroadto invest in Indian MSMEs andexpressed hope that this willprovide a number of opportu-nities to the MSME sector to

become the world's largestmanufacturing hub.

The minister was addressinga webinar on 'Aatmanirbhar

Bharat – Opportunities in Solar& MSME' on Friday evening.

In his address, Gadkari saidthat the MSMEs with good

track record are now beingencouraged for capital market.

He said there exists a hugeopportunity for investment inscrapping policy.

The minister highlightedthat India has tremendouspotential and capacity for elec-tricity generation.

He said that the solar powerrate in India is Rs 2.40 per unitand commercial rate of poweris Rs 11 per unit and the cheappower generated through solarenergy can be used for auto-mobiles and other develop-mental works.

The government has set anambitious target for renewableenergy and in particular, solarpower generation, for thisdecade. The target for renew-able energy installation is 450GW by year 2030.

Govt committed to promoterenewable energy: Gadkari PNS n NEW DELHI

The government would laydown principles for usage ofdata for the development ofany industry, where suchnorms do not already exist,and put in place adequatesafeguards to prevent misuseand access of data by unautho-rized persons, according to adraft national e-commercepolicy.

The government is in theprocess of developing regula-tions for personal and non-personal data, the policy,which is under discussion,said.

The draft has stated thatsharing of data for industrialdevelopment would be encour-aged and regulations for datawill be provided for the shar-ing mechanism.

"The government shall laydown principles for usage ofdata for the purpose of devel-opment of any industry, e-commerce, consumer protec-tion, national security, eco-nomic security and lawenforcement including taxa-tion where such principles donot already exist and put inplace adequate safeguards toprevent misuse and access ofdata by unauthorized per-sons," it said.

According to the draft, thegovernment acknowledges theimportance of data as an assetand needs to use data emanat-ing from India for "Indianentities first".

An inter-ministerial meet-ing, under the chairmanship ofa top official of the departmentfor promotion of industry andinternal trade (DPIIT), washeld on Saturday to deliberateupon this draft.

For free and informedchoice, it said that e-com-merce operators would have toensure that algorithms used bythem, are not biased and thatno discrimination due to dig-itally induced biases is preva-lent.

"Consumers have a right tobe made aware of all relevantdetails about the goods andservices offered for sale includ-

ing country of origin, valueaddition in India, and anyother such information whichmay be necessary for makingan informed decision at thepre-purchase stage," it said.

To promote fair competi-tion, the draft said that e-com-merce operators must ensureequal treatment of allsellers/vendors registered ontheir platforms and not adoptalgorithms which result in pri-oritizing select vendors/sellers.

It said the operators have tobring out clear and transpar-ent policies on discounts,including the basis of dis-count rates funded by plat-forms for differentproducts/suppliers and impli-cations of participation/ non-participation in discountschemes, so as to ensure fairand equal treatment.

Govt to put in place safeguardsto prevent data misuse, access

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government departmentswill not be able to renew reg-istration of their vehicles olderthan 15 years from April 1,2022, if a proposal in thisregard issued by the theMinistry of Road Transportand Highways is finalised.

It has sought stakeholderscomments to amend relatedrules in this regard issuing anotification.

Once approved, this will beapplicable to all governmentvehicles - central or state gov-ernments, union territories,PSUs, municipal andautonomous bodies, as perthe notification.

"From April 1, 2022, govern-ment departments will not beable to renew the certificate ofregistration of their vehicles,

after 15 years. This will applyto all government - central,state, UT, PSUs, municipalbodies & autonomous bodies,"the Ministry of Road,Transport and Highways saidin a tweet.

The development comesclose on heels of the voluntary

vehicle scrapping policyannounced in the UnionBudget on February 1 for2021-22 which provides for fit-ness test after 20 years for per-sonal vehicles while commer-cial vehicles would require itafter the completion of 15years.

Renewal of registration for oldgovt vehicles to stop from ’22

PNS n MUMBAI

No-frills carrier SpiceJet onSaturday said it will add 66new flights, including addi-tional services on certainroutes, in its domestic networkfrom March 28.

These new flights, which willbe operated with Boeing 737sand regional jet BombardierQ400s, are aimed at augment-ing connectivity between metroand non-metro cities as part ofits enhanced network.

"We are delighted to furtherexpand our domestic opera-tions and add 66 new flights toour network for the start ofthis summer schedule. As thecountry's largest regional oper-ator, the new flights furtherreiterate our commitmenttowards enhancing regionalconnectivity, besides offering

unique connections to manyleisure destinations,” saidShilpa Bhatia, ChiefCommercial Officer, SpiceJet.

In a bid to support theincreasing travel demand fromsmaller cities which were ini-tially connected by SpiceJetunder UDAN scheme, theairline has introduced newflights connecting Darbhanga,Durgapur, Jharsuguda,Gwalior and Nashik withsome key metro cities, the air-line said in a release.

The airline will launch newflights on the sectors ofAhmedabad-Darbhanga-Ahmedabad, Hyderabad-Darbhanga-Hyderabad, Pune-Darbhanga-Pune and Kolkata-Darbhanga-Kolkata after con-necting Darbhanga withMumbai, Delhi and Bengaluruearlier, it said.

PNS n GENEVA

The World HealthOrganization granted an emer-gency use listing Friday for thecoronavirus vaccine made byJohnson & Johnson,meaning the one-dose shotcan now theoretically be usedas part of the internationalCOVAX effort to distributevaccines globally, including topoor countries without anysupplies.

In a statement, the U.N.health agency said “the ampledata from large clinical trials”shows the J&J vaccine iseffective in adult populations.The emergency use listingcomes a day after theEuropean Medicines Agencyrecommended the shot begiven the green light across

the 27-country EuropeanUnion.

“As new vaccines becomeavailable, we must ensure theybecome part of the global solu-

tion and not another reasonsome countries and people areleft further behind,” WHOdirector-general TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus said at

a Friday press briefing. WHOhas previously signed off onCOVID-19 vaccines developedby Pfizer-BioNTech andAstraZeneca.

A massive study thatspanned three continents foundthe J&J vaccine was 85%effective in protecting againstsevere illness, hospitalizationsand death.

That protection remainedstrong even in countries likeSouth Africa where variantshave been identified that appearto be less susceptible to otherlicensed vaccines, includingthe one made by AstraZeneca.

The U.N. backed COVAXeffort previously announced ithad an initial agreement withJ&J to provide 500 milliondoses, but that is not legallybinding.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, a WHOsenior adviser to Tedros, said hehoped J&J might be able toprovide at least some of thosedoses in the coming months.

“We're hoping by at least Julythat we have access to dosesthat we can be rolling out, if noteven earlier,” Aylward said. Headded that officials were partic-ularly keen to get J&Jdoses to countries because itrequires only one dose and canbe stored at regular refrigeratortemperatures.

J&J has faced produc-tion delays in the U.S. andEurope but has recently signedagreements with rival pharma-ceuticals who will help maketheir vaccine.

In February, Sanofi Pasteursaid it would be able to makeabout 12 million doses of theJ&J vaccine at one of itsFrench production sites oncethe shot is cleared by the EMA.It is aiming to make 1 billiondoses this year.

WHO grants emergency authorisation for J&J Covid vax

PNS n NEW DELHI

Tata group firm Titan onFriday said it has completedits exit from joint ventureMontblanc India Retail,which operates retail bou-tiques in the country forMontblanc products.

Last year on October 8,Titan had announced its exitfrom the five-year joint ven-ture with the luxury firm

"… we hereby informyou that, on 12th March2021, the Company has com-pleted its exit fromMontblanc India RetailPrivate Limited (MB India).Consequently, MB Indiaceases to be an associate/ JVCompany of the Companywith effect from March 12,2021," Titan said in a regula-tory filing.

Titan held 49 per centequity stake in MontblancIndia Retail Private Limited.

Titan completesexit fromMontblanc JV

Indian economy looking at‘V-shaped' recovery: Anurag

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

Taking forward its industri-alisation efforts, Odisha gov-ernment Friday accorded inprinciple approval to eightproposals envisaging invest-ment of around Rs 1214 croreand direct employmentopportunities for 2427 per-sons.

The approval was given atthe State Level Single WindowClearance Authority (SLSW-CA) meeting held under theChairmanship of ChiefSecretary S C Mahapatra.

The Proposals are mainlyfrom the sectors like manufac-turing, plastic, food process-ing and hospitality sectors.

The proposers are wellknown industrial houses andtheir coming in will providefurther fillip to the sectors,said Industries secretaryHemant Sharma.

The Chief Secretary hasdirected concerned depart-ments to facilitate earlygrounding of the projectsthrough proactive support.

He also directed to makeproper assessment of theland and water requirementsfor these projects.

The approved projectsincluded a 2.75 MTPA ironore beneficiation plant and

1.2 MTPA pellet plant byEnergise Minerals PrivateLimited at an investment ofRs. 256 crore to be set up inRairangpur of Mayurbhanjdistrict.

This project is estimated toprovide employment to over274 persons. The govern-ment also gave its nod to a5-star hotel by ITC Limitedat Dumduma inBhubaneswar with invest-ment of Rs. 141.14 crore,which will provide employ-ment to 120 persons.Another 5-star hotel byFalcon Real Estate PrivateLimited in Bhubaneswar,Khordha with an invest-ment of Rs. 120.26 crore withan employment potential of900 persons, was alsoapproved.

PNS n JAIPUR

Bank unions held a demon-stration near Ambedkar Circlehere on Friday to protestagainst the government's deci-sion to privatise two public sec-tor banks.

State Convenor of UnitedForum of Bank Unions,Mahesh Mishra said 10 lakh

bank employees have beenprotesting in the country forthe last one month and calledfor a two-day nationwide strikeon March 15 -16.

He said on March 4, theUnited Forum made everyeffort before the AdditionalChief Labour Commissionerto prevent the strike. Theunion's representatives stayed

in Delhi till March 10 for thegovernment's response, but itwas not ready to change itsdecision of privatisation oftwo public sector banks.

He said the names of twopublic sector banks are yet tobe announced.

Banks will remain closed forfour days from Saturday, headded.

Bank unions hold protest against privatisation

SpiceJet to add 66flights from Mar 28

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Tata group has proposedto acquire more than 60 percent stake in online groceryplatform BigBasket, accord-ing to a filing, as the con-glomerate seeks to expand inthe fast-growing e-commercespace.

The group plans to buy upto 64.3 per cent stake inSupermarket GrocerySupplies Pvt Ltd (SGS)through a combination ofprimary and secondaryacquisitions, a filing with theCompetition Commission ofIndia (CCI) showed.

The parties to the pro-posed deal are Tata DigitalLtd (TDL), SGS andInnovative Retail ConceptsPvt Ltd (IRC) -- which isengaged in B2C (Business toConsumer) sales throughwww.bigbasket.com andrelated mobile applications.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Franklin Templeton MutualFund, which closed down itssix schemes in April 2020, hassaid that so far there have beenno adverse findings against thefund house or its employees ormanagement.

This comes followingreports of markets regulatorSecurities and Exchange Boardof India (Sebi) issuing show-cause notices to the fund houseand its officials with regards tothe fund house's practicesaround risk management,inter-scheme transfers andpersonal transactions byemployees and management,among others.

"We have submitted detailedresponses to show-cause noticesissued by Sebi. We cannot go

into detail of our responses, butwe believe that we acted in com-pliance with applicable regula-tions and rules and that we havestrong defenses to the allega-tion," Sanjay Sapre, President ofFranklin Templeton AssetManagement (India) Pvt Ltd,said in a letter to investors.

With respect to the accusa-tions regarding personal trans-actions of employees and man-

agement, the fund house saidit takes such matters seriously.

The personal redemptionsby certain individuals beforethe winding-up decision areunder review and those indi-viduals have cooperated fullywith that process and submit-ted detailed responses to Sebi,which are under consideration,Sapre said in the letter onFriday.

Tatas plan toacquire over 60 pc stake inBigBasket

No adverse findings againstFranklin Templeton: Sanjay

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government will sellits entire stake in TataCommunications throughan offer for sale and therest to Tata Son's invest-ment arm PanatoneFinvest Ltd.

"Tata CommunicationsLtd has today (Friday)signed an amendmentagreement between thePresident of India,Panatone Finvest Ltd, TataSons Private Ltd and thecompany for sale of theentire shareholding in thecompany by theGovernment of India,"TCL said in the BSE filingon Friday.

Govt to sell16.12 pc stakein Tata Commthrough OFS

Odisha approves eightinvestment proposals

sundaymagazine

89Building responsible business

F R O M T H E I N S I D E

If you’re having badday, show you’rehaving a bad day.Don’t try to put up

something that’s fake— Elle Fanning

Slick clicks

HYDERABAD, March 14, 2021

While many say we don't needa specific day to celebratewomen, very few believe in it...

President Biden’s first diplomatic out-reach — America is Back — is ladenwith harsh domestic realities such asirreconcilable partisanship, stark ethnicdifferences, pandemic riven economy,

and an unprecedented assault on the democraticprocess, all needing urgent attention that limitsUS’ international focus. The White House’s lim-ited foreign policy bandwidth, at least in the firstcouple of years, means retracting the US fromunwarranted and intractable commitments andfocusing on significant challenges — addressingChina’s rise, preventing drift of European allies,limiting nuclear proliferation in the Middle East,and fostering healthy globalisation and free tradethat benefits the US.

A productive American foreign policygeared up to wind down its presence inAfghanistan and poised to increase its focus onChina disrupts its longstanding balance betweenIndia and Pakistan, where both rivals haveenjoyed equal strategic relevance to the US if notequal benefits. For the last two decades, the US’India-Pakistan balancing was majorly driven byan equilibrium between two lenses throughwhich Washington observed South Asia — ‘theAfghanistan lens’ that necessitated relying onPakistan for its support in getting out of theAfghan quagmire and ‘the China/Indo-Pacificlens’ that compelled investing in India as astrategic partner who can stand against Beijing.The equilibrium meant internecine parity toPakistan while ensuring a steady flow of finan-cial and military aid. With a gradual witheringaway of the Afghanistan lens, the US’ South Asiaapproach would enter a phase of realignment,leaving Pakistan in a quest for ‘strategic rele-vance’ to the US.

Such a realignment would prove a mixedbag for New Delhi. On the one hand, it wouldlimit impunity enjoyed by Pakistan with the USfor its state-sponsored terrorism against India byencashing its Afghanistan card. On the other,Pakistan’s desperate attempt to remain strategi-cally relevant can include nefarious designs thatcan harm Indian interest and threaten regionalsecurity. As the American appetite to get out ofAfghanistan grows, it is not only imperative forNew Delhi to remain vigilant about its interest inAfghanistan but also keep a tab on the strategicdesires of its next-door neighbour.

QUEST FOR STRATEGIC RELEVANCEStrategic relevance is used in the context of

small states. Small states try to play a minor yetcritical role in the strategy of big powers inexchange for their own security assurances andfinancial largesse.

Pakistan, by no means a small state, madestrategic relevance to the US a cornerstone of itsforeign policy since independence for nearlysimilar reasons. First, having the US by its side,Pakistan hoped to offset military disparity with amighty neighbour and arch-rival India duringthe Cold War years. Second, it would ensure acontinuous flow of civilian and military aid from

the US. Third, it allowed the unelected MilitaryInc. of Pakistan to get away with its real powerand authority, unlike military juntas of the ThirdWorld who face American censure.

Having understood the benefits, Pakistanbecame a member of SEATO in 1954. While themembership did not obtain security guaranteesagainst Indian incursion similar to NATO Art. 5,it ensured US goodwill and considerable finan-cial assistance. Pakistan continued to seizeopportunities coming its way. For example, thelate 1960s gave it a chance for yeoman serviceduring the Sino-American détente. Pakistan wassummoned to facilitate negotiations with MaoZedong, which it happily delivered in the hopeof American favours.

Nothing turned out to be more fortunate forPakistan than the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.That fortuitous event entrenched Pakistan in theUS’ strategic calculus like never before. Pakistanhad constant attention of the US as the escala-tion with the Taliban kept piling on the bodycount of American troops. However, it seemsthat the denouement of that dream is approach-ing, making Pakistan’s rulers in both Islamabadand Rawalpindi jittery.

GEOECONOMIC RESETMost recently, Pakistan’s National Security

Advisor Moeed Yusuf has expressed a desire fora US-Pakistan ‘reset’ based on geoeconomics andnot geopolitics. With an ostentatious candor, hesays a ‘new Pakistan’ does not want the relation-ship to be viewed through lens A, B, or C. IfPakistan is really sincere about an economicsecurity paradigm, it is a most-welcomed sce-nario for India. The market size disparity willsettle the unabating chase for parity with India,which is at the root of many regional problems.

This can be a mere charm offensive byMoeed, an old DC warhorse who has spent overa decade shaping pro-Pakistan opinion and lob-bying for his country through lucrative think-tank positions he perched. Or, it indicates buyingtime until Rawalpindi formulates a new strategy.The recent India-Pakistan ceasefire agreementfeeds into this arithmetic of taking a step back.For two reasons, the geoeconomics desiresmacks of insincerity.

First, it does not square with Pakistan’sdomestic realities. With soaring inflation, bil-lions in circular debt, decreasing per capita pur-chasing power, incessant political wrangles, fed-eral government’s policy command contested bythe provincial, military, and baronial powers,lack of urban infrastructure and connectivity,and domestic security challenges, much leaves tobe desired for Pakistan to enamor private UScapital.

Second, a geoeconomics-oriented Pakistanhas to give up on using terrorism as a state poli-cy; there is no way tradesmen and terrorists canthrive together. However, any such changeswould mean the military losing control over thePakistani state, which it would never let happen.It also raises a paradox: Pakistan’s civil-military

elite who have disproportionately benefited fromone extraneous lens or another — most recently,Afghanistan — why wants to give that lens sud-denly for a standalone relationship? Hence thereset pitch is indicative of both consternationand parallel churning that wants to recaptureany potential loss of that status.

POST-AFGHAN ANXIETYWith its decision to test Shaheen-III missile

that can carry nuclear weapons to Israel onBiden’s inauguration day, Rawalpindi hasbetrayed its desperation for relevance and atten-tion. But what makes Pakistan so insecure aboutlosing relevance? Apart from internecine parityand millions of dollars in aid, it is Pakistan’s elitethat stands to lose the most. It is unimaginablefor Pakistan’s civil-military rulers, some of whomare dual citizens having properties, businesses,and families in the US, to lose the heft. It is apersonal loss too.

Further, being in the US’ good books grantscomplete impunity to the military leadership indomestic and international affairs. Just look atthe countries that invited US incursions or wrathand their corresponding sins-Iraq for allegedlysupporting Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, Iranfor aspiring to possess nukes that can threatenIsrael, Syria and Libya for dictatorships and abet-ting jihadists, Myanmar for military despotism,and North Korea for proliferation. But a countrywhere all sins converge — the presence ofOsama bin Laden, nuclear weapons that canreach Tel Aviv, sworn animus towards Israel,sheltering jihadists, military dictatorship, indi-rect control of the civilian government, humanrights abuses, and proven proliferation to NorthKorea, Iran, and Libya — is immune from anyAmerican punitive actions because the US needsit to navigate and exit the largest quagmire itentered after Vietnam. Even the idea of losingthis privilege can fret Pakistan’s generals morethan anything else.

But will Afghanistan be pushed to oblivion?Is a post-Afghan world dawning in? Given theAmerican involvement in Afghanistan today andthe Taliban’s truculence, it seems that the UStroops would never leave Kabul’s soil. Once, itdid not appear to be true in the case of Vietnamtoo. Many had assumed that a small Americanpresence in Vietnam was a fait accompli, andtotal disengagement was next to impossible. In acouple of years, they were proven wrong.

Moreover, mere troop presence does notmean high salience in American foreign policy.Some American 5,000 troops are still stationedin Iraq compared to around 2,500 inAfghanistan, but Afghanistan is a high-priorityissue today. Even if a battalion remains hunkereddown in Kabul, Afghanistan will not attract thesame foreign policy focus forever. And Pakistanis aware that the expiry date is approaching.

A NEW ACCESS POINTPakistan is now preparing to plug itself

into any issue that can continue its present

perks as a ‘strategically relevant’ country. AsadMajeed Khan, the Pakistani ambassador to theUS, talking to a DC-based think-tank, said that“we also represent the Iranian interest here…and we have been doing that for the last 40years.” As Iran supplants Afghanistan as theprime focal point in the days to come, Pakistanwould want to encash that issue to its advan-tage.

Pakistan’s pursuit of strategically relevantaccess point would be oriented towards west andcentral Asia instead of eastwards. To its east liestwo behemoths — India and China, both wouldensure American attention towards Pakistanwithout the endearing ‘strategic relevance.’ India-US partnership has acquired a new strategic hueshedding the subcontinental shibboleth of anuclear flashpoint. Pakistan has too oftenrehearsed nuclear brinkmanship with the US toblunt its utility. After the abrogation of Art. 370,Imran Khan’s entreaties of ‘nuclear shadow hov-ering over South Asia’ in the pages of New YorkTimes fell on deaf ears.

Similarly, its inordinate proximity with ‘ironbrother’ China that proved an asset during theCold War is now a sure liability. It is folly even toimagine another Sino-American rapprochement,and hence, Pakistan’s China bet is a sunk cost forits American calculus. In fact, anything it needsto do is to salvage its image from sin by associa-tion.

IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIAThis situation leaves Pakistan with three

possible options. First, delay the Afghan peaceprocess and buy as much time with the currentsituation as possible. Although US presence lim-its Pakistan’s ability to assert itself inAfghanistan, it can endure the short-term pain.Such instability hurts Indian interests as it hurtsothers. Second, it has already increased its over-tures toward Tehran, even if it means upsettingSaudi Arabia and the UAE to an extent. Pakistanis emboldened by China’s leverage brought byBeijing’s promise to pour billions in an economystifled by sanctions. Beyond beguiling itsAmerican counterparts through the Tehran card,cutting India to size in Persia would be its anoth-er goal. India’s camaraderie with Gulf monarchscomes at the partial cost of old warmth withIran, but New Delhi should ensure its vital ener-gy and security interests are not hurt. Finally,Pakistan has a notorious past of fomenting trou-bles through non-state actors when it is desper-ate. India would need to stay ahead with betterintelligence and border surveillance to meetpotential challenges.

Pakistan is facing a crisis moment of bulkexpiries in the coming days — Afghanistan,China, and nuclear cards — while its desire tomilk its strategic relevance continues. New Delhineeds to closely monitor the internal strategicchurning in its neighbourhood and war-game itsown responses to stay ahead in the game.

The writer is Visiting Fellow at the StimsonCenter in Washington DC

CSR initiatives will survive only if theyare intertwined with business models.CEOs can build a responsible business

For the last two decades, the US’ India-Pakistanbalancing was majorly driven by an equilibriumbetween two lenses through whichWashington looked at South Asia — ‘theAfghanistan lens’ and ‘the China/Indo-Pacific lens’. With a gradual witheringaway of the Afghanistan lens, the US’South Asia approach would enter aphase of realignment leaving Pakistan ina quest for ‘strategic relevance’ to theUS, writes CHIRAYU THAKKAR

PAKISTAN IS FACING ACRISIS MOMENT OF

BULK EXPIRIES IN THECOMING DAYS —

AFGHANISTAN, CHINA,AND NUCLEAR CARDS

— WHILE ITS DESIRE TOMILK ITS STRATEGIC

RELEVANCE CONTINUES.NEW DELHI NEEDS TO

CLOSELY MONITOR THEINTERNAL STRATEGIC

CHURNING IN ITSNEIGHBORHOOD ANDWAR-GAME ITS OWNRESPONSES TO STAYAHEAD IN THE GAME

US & THE GREAT SOUTHASIAN REALIGNMENT

special 08HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MARCH 14, 2021

AISHWARYA SRIDHAR(CANON EOS INFLUENCER)

Most of us might havewondered how thosetourist guides on thejungle safaris identify atiger or tigress and

remember their names so precisely. Itis definitely nothing short of a mysteryfor many.

However, the answer is quite sim-ple. One can easily differentiate betweentwo tigers by examining their stripes. Notwo tigers can have the same pattern. Itis just as unique as the fingerprints ofhuman beings. Interesting enough? Getready for some more. Did you know thatflamingos feed with their head and beakupside down? The reason is this waythey filter the water and then eat theplanktons.

All these facts and much more iswhat excites Mumbai-based AishwaryaSridhar, the first Indian woman to winWildlife Photographer of the Year.

However, it was not as if it happenedout of the blue, Sridhar since she wasmerely 10 years old, loved watching thebirds and animals in her backyard. Herlove for the Nature couldn’t be left hid-den from her father who decided togiver her a camera as soon as she turned11. This, further fed her love towardsanimals and in return for wildlife pho-tography.

“Initially, it wasn’t wildlife photog-raphy for me. It was more about observ-ing animals and birds. My father is amember of Bombay Natural HistorySociety and I went on a lot of wildlifetreks with him. That kindled my inter-est. After a few years, I realised that Ihave to document this experience on apermanent basis and photography wasthe natural option to go with. This, cou-pled with getting a camera as a birth-day gift ignited my love for the field evenmore. It became a part of me and alsomy favourite toy,” Sridhar tells you.

Unlike many people, Sridhar does-n’t have to convince her parents abouther career choice. In fact, they knew iteven before she did.

“My parents have always been sup-portive of my choice of profession.Initially, they thought of me doing a 9to 5 job, but soon after I realised that Iam an outdoor person and might not beable to do justice to the job. So, I thoughtmight as well turn my passion into pro-fession and they were happy of my deci-sion,” she says.

It’s been 10 years since Sridhar hasbeen into this profession, but luckily shecan’t recall a single event of beingcharged by an animal even when shewas on foot near an elephant. However,the even dangerous situation, she says,is to receive stares from people question-ing the existence of a woman into a pro-fession that they think is a man’s job.

Not that, these stares were ever ableto demotivate her. Instead, it boosted herconfidence and made her feel special. “I

took these stares as a compliment. I feelproud being one of the few women inthis field. I feel happy that I am doingsomething different,” she says.

One might wonder how is to expe-rience a forest and meet its residents,Sridhar sums it up in one word — beau-tiful.

The sheer beauty of the forest, shesays, takes you there again and again.But, when you are a wildlife photogra-pher, your job demands you to do muchmore than just experience the serenity.You have to be patient and responsible,no matter how excited you are.

“The moment I see an animal, I takeout my camera. This has become a reflexnow. But in between all this, I don’t for-get my responsibility. We have to respectthe animal’s space and it will reciprocatethe same,” she says.

While it has been said over a thou-sand times, Sridhar just echoes all thisadvice and tells you the most importanttrait of a wildlife photographer ispatience. “I have spent over seven yearsin following and filming Maya, thetigress in Jim Corbett. She has grown upin front of my eyes. One can imagine theamount of patience it would haverequired. There were times when frus-tration hit me right in my face, but Iknew it happens and how to tide overit. And, all this patience has paid off andmy documentary on her is ready torelease,” she says.

The fact that attracted Sridhar tofilming Maya, she says, is that she has-

n’t been filmed yet. Besides, it is inter-esting to observe the behaviour of a tiger,how she behaves with her cubs and withother males of the group.

The breathtaking photos hasn’t justearned her the first Indian woman towin Wildlife Photographer of the Year,but also become Canon EOS Influencerlast year. The title came when her workwent viral on social media and peoplestarted following her work.

And now, if you are wondering howmany pictures has she clicked till date,she doesn’t have a count of them. Maybe in thousands or even more.

This is not all. There is much morein her kitty. Her first documentary PanjeThe Last Wetland was telecasted on DDNational and the second Queen of Taruwas awarded at the 9th WildlifeConservation Film Festival, New York.Above all, she has also received theWoman Icon Award 2019 in the Mediacategory for using photography in con-servation and the Diana Award 2019which is given to young change mak-ers aged nine-25 by the Royal House,London. If this was not enough, she hasalso been a TEDx speaker and is aGlobal Goodwill Ambassador.

However, if you ever got a chanceto speak to her, her charming voice willnot give you even a slightest of hint ofthe fierceness that she beholds and thechange that she has been trying to bringin the society by encouraging women tostep in to the “so-called” man-dominat-ed fields.

SLICK CLICKSWhile many say we don't need a specific day to celebrate women, very few believe in it. Today, weare celebrating women who broke the shackles of the society and brave all the stares in order tomake a place for themselves in an industry which was mostly ruled by men. MUSBA HASHMI chatsup AISHWARYA SRIDHAR and ANEGA BAWA about their journeys to capturing the world

ANEGA BAWA(CANON EOS MAESTRO)

You love clicking pic-tures and one daydecide to enroll your-self in a reputed pro-fessional institute.

You show them their your port-folio and the voice from theother side, who is a senior pho-tographer, tells you: These pic-tures are useless, you don’t haveany idea of the art and that youcan never be a photographer.

It goes without saying thesewords will be more than enoughto make you put aside your cam-era only to never pick it up again.However, 36-year-oldGurugram-based Anega Bawa’sstrong will didn’t allow her tostay away from her love — cam-era — for more than eightmonths.

One of the most treasuredmaternity, newborn and babyphotographer, Bawa loved pho-tography since a young age,however the professional bentcame only in 2012 when she waspregnant.

“I love handling newbornsand that is why I took up thisgenre. I started it when mydaughter Akira was born. It allbegan with clicking even thesmall moments of joy in her life.Take for example, when shehad her first bite or when shefirst began crawling. It was atedious task, but the excitementthat it brought was worth it all,”Bawa, a mother of two, tells you.

For Bawa, clicking new-borns is not a task any morebecause she don’t have the NewParent Syndrome. “It is like apiece of cake for me now. But,back then when I just started, Iwasn’t confident enough. Moreso, because I was handling some-one else’s baby that too a new-born. To earn the confidence ofthe parents was the real task. Butnow, I am comfortable withnewborns and I love them. Eventhe babies love coming in my lap.Moreover, the parents put in somuch of trust in me that they tellme that I can handle the baby onmy own,” she says.

With that being said, Bawastill takes time to build a connec-tion with the baby and then pro-ceed with the photo shoot. Shenever rushes into the process.“When parents walk in my stu-dio with their babies, the firstthing I do is to put off the baby’sclothes to make him feel com-fortable and at home. Then, I askthe mother to feed the child andhand them over to me. I makethe baby fall asleep and thenbegin the work,” she tells you.

Though unlike wildlife pho-

tography, the genre doesn’tdemands you to rush after orchase your subjects, but it defi-nitely requires the same amountof patience, if not more.

“There are times when thebabies just don’t sleep. They cryand cry. In such a case, we can’tforce them into the photo shoot.We have to wait until the babyis calm and gets settled down. Iremember my longest shootwith a baby. The parents walkedin my studio with twins in themorning and we have to clickthem both together. The chal-lenge was to make them bothcalm. When one was calm, theother cried and vice versa. Thiswent on for about six hours.Even the parents started panick-ing about the photo shoot. I toldthem to remain patient and thatwe will be able to pull it off. Itwas not before six in the eveningthat the twins settled in and wewent ahead with the shoot. Itwent on till 8 pm,” Bawa recalls.

However, there are somepeople who question Bawa’s artof clicking newborns by makingthem pose. Bawa reply to themin the most humble way. “Ababy’s bones are soft enough tofold. When the baby is inside thetummy, isn’t he bended? We arenot doing anything under thesun. We just reciprocate theposes that the baby is in while inthe mother’s belly,” she explains.

The best time, she says, toget a newborn photo shoot doneis when the baby is between six

and 14 days old. “After thisperiod, the babies bone start los-ing flexibility and it becomeshard to make them pose.Besides, it can also pose somerisks,” she says.

However, the fact of thematter is that Bawa gets to dovery few newborn photo shoots.There are several reasons forthat. “First, here in North India,people follow the tradition of notletting the mother and babyout of the house for 40 days. Thesecond thing is they believebachche ko nazar lag jayegi (babywill get exposed to evil eyes),”she says and tells you

Not only photographing,Bawa is involved in all aspects ofwork — from retouching tocreating backdrops, weavingprops, designing clothes, stylingand everything in-between. So ifyou are someone who believes inmaking memories, you can def-initely ask Bawa to capture thosebeautiful moments of your life.

Apart from the multiplebeautiful pictures, Bawa alsohas the title of Canon EOSMaestro in her kitty.

“I got the title in 2019. InOctober that year, I got a callfrom the Canon Head Quaterssaying that they like my workand called me for an interview.I went there, met the team andshowed them my work andachievements. I, till date, don’tknow how they found me backthen, but this is how it happenedand I got the title,” Bawa says.

We are incredibly proud tohave path breaking womenphotographers across genreson board with us as part ofour EOS AmbassadorProgramme. These womenhave paved a unique path forthemselves in the industrywith their hard work andpassion for the art ofphotography. While ourCanon Maestro, Anega Bawahas given a new meaning tomaternity photography withher poise and creative style,our Canon EOS InfluencerAishwarya Sridhar has madethe whole country proud bybeing the first Indian womanto be awarded the covetedWildlife Photographer of theYear Award in 2020.

Canon mentors are the voicerepresenting us on groundand we hope that throughthem, we can reach out tomore women who aspire tobecome professionalphotographers. We help ourmentors by providing themwith the best technologicalinnovations in the camerasegment such as the EOS RSystem suited to their genreof photography. Built on overthree decades of continuousEOS innovation, the system isbased around a pioneeringlens mount which offersgreater creative possibilitiesand better dynamics ofcapturing every moment.Through EOS R System, weaim to enable professionalsto redefine the boundaries ofphotography andvideography.

— C SUKUMARAN,Director, Consumer System

Products and ImagingCommunication Products,

Canon India

She faced staresdangerous than forest

Innocence captured

Amur falcon clicked by Aishwarya Sridhar Photo by Anega Bawa

sundaymagazine

India&world 9HYDERABAD, March 14, 2021

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT CHECKINGTHE BOX ON CORPORATE SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITY. IT'S ABOUTHITTING OUR BOTTOM LINE

— PEGGY JOHNSON

Residential buildingsaccounted for 24% of thetotal electricity consump-

tion in India in 2016. This totalelectricity consumption willincrease as more housing unitsare built to meet the estimateddemand of 38 million housingunits in 2030. The electricity con-sumption per household is alsoincreasing as people have accessto better electricity and invest inmore appliances due to increasingspending power. As a result,national electricity consumed bythe residential sector is expectedto increase by more than eighttimes by 2050.

The construction industryalready accounts for 25-40% ofthe world’s total carbon emis-sions. Increase in energy con-sumption by the residential sectorwill result in an exponentialincrease in Greenhouse Gas(GHG) emissions without appro-priate mitigation interventions.

Affordable housing, includingthe Low Income Group (LIG) andEconomically Weaker Section(EWS), accounted for almost 96%of the residential housingdemand in 2012. Even though theenergy consumption of theaffordable housing sector is rela-tively small right now, it willincrease as the number of build-ings and appliance usage increas-es. Hence, any strategy to reduceenergy consumption in the resi-dential sector must include theaffordable housing sector.

The affordable housing sectoris largely managed by the govern-ment owing to its role as regula-tor and major builder. The gov-

ernment launched several initia-tives to meet the affordable hous-ing shortage through its vision on‘Housing for All by 2022.’ Itlaunched the Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana (PMAY) — Urban(PMAY-U) and Rural (PMAY-R)in 2015. Most recently, itlaunched the Affordable RentalHousing Complexes (ARHCs)scheme under PMAY-U to pro-vide affordable housing tomigrant workers and the urbanpoor. The PMAY sub-schemesprovide financial support toState/Union Territories (UTs)through different interventions.

Integrating thermal comfortand energy efficiency strategiesinto the PMAY schemes providesa unique opportunity for wide-spread and quick adoption by theaffordable housing sector. Thesestrategies can be made mandato-ry through the PMAY schemesthus linking them to fiscal bene-fits.

As a first step, the scope ofthe building design regulationsunder PMAY needs to beincreased. This can be done byintegrating Energy ConservationBuilding Code-Residential(ECBC-R) developed by theBureau of Energy Efficiency’s(BEE) into PMAY schemes.

The first part of ECBC-Rincludes design and materialselection to improve thermalcomfort in residential buildings,improve natural ventilation andincrease daylighting. This willhelp reduce energy demand forlighting, cooling or heating. Thisis especially beneficial to the LIGand EWS population which may

be unable to purchase appropriateappliances, especially to improvethermal comfort, due to financialconstraints.

The second part of theECBC-R will include strategiesfor sustainable mechanical sys-tems such as heating, cooling andrenewable energy systems.Including sustainable coolingtechnologies is key to reducingthe GHG footprint of buildings.Rising global temperature due to

climate change is forcing moreand more people to use air condi-tioners to achieve thermal com-fort in their homes. Almost 30%of electricity consumption inhomes is from air-conditioningmaking it one of the biggest con-tributors towards spikes in energyconsumption. Most refrigeratorsand air-conditioners containchemical refrigerants that have1,000 to 9,000 times greatercapacity to warm the atmosphere

compared to carbon dioxide. It isnecessary to phase out theserefrigerants and support climateresponsive sustainable coolingsystems. While use of air-condi-tioners in LIG and EWS housingunits is low currently, the numberis expected to increase in bothrural and urban areas by 2030.

ECBC-R (Part I) can bemade mandatory for all afford-able housing projects, whileECBC-R (Part II) can be made

voluntary. Sustainable mechanicaltechnologies can have high costand maintenance requirementsand should be provided based onproject-to-project suitability.PMAY can provide greater finan-cial benefits to projects adoptingECBC-R (Part- II).

While design interventionscan be integrated into projects atzero cost, material and technolo-gy interventions may result inincreased construction costs. It

will be necessary to reduce thefinancial burden on developers aswell as buyers. The governmentmust invest in research and test-ing for new materials and tech-nologies. Housing built throughthe ARHC schemes provide agreat opportunity to constructpilot projects as occupants do notinvest in the property directly.

It will also be necessary forthe government to simultaneous-ly roll out financial support pro-grams. Direct/indirect mecha-nisms need to be introduced toabsorb the extra costs of buildingsustainably. Increasing home loansubsidies with relaxations in GSTand taxes will incentivise con-struction of low carbon buildings.Housing schemes under PMAYwith green building certificationscan be awarded extra subsidiescoupled with stamp duty waiver.Strategic relaxation in FloorSpace Index (FSI) norms can helpreduce common infrastructuredevelopment costs. Developerscan use the excess budget to pro-vide energy efficiency measuresin their buildings.

Robust enforcement and highcompliance rate will be essentialto ensure the intended energysavings and GHG reductionsthrough this strategy. Regularevaluation and improvements tothe policy will help build trustamongst all stakeholders andinspire confidence in adoptingenergy efficiency strategies. Thiswill help us stay on track toachieve our carbon goals.

The writers are Anant Fellowsfor Climate Action

Upon entering the small,dimly lit but cheerfulorphanage inNizamabad, a smalltown located in the

south of India, eight years ago, Inoticed the pale faces of the childreninside. Four pairs of eyes were fixedon me while the lower half of theirbodies — which at first glanceseemed to me to be incrediblyscrawny — hid behind a corrodedmetal door separating the receptionarea from a large empty hall thatwould probably be repurposed fortheir dining or play through the day.The children in this orphanage wereborn out of illicit relationships in thecommunity, thus abandoned by theirbiological mothers, and all sufferedfrom AIDS.

“They have not received theirmedicines since the past 3 months,”informed Rajoo the founder of theorphanage, noticing my sadness atthe state of the children.

“Why not?” I asked, shocked. “The CSR manager of the com-

pany that provided the medicines hasbeen replaced. The new manager hasa different plan and so he directed thefunds to a set of other CSR initia-tives.”

Standing in the vacuous, win-dowless hall that was being hurried-ly now readied by Rajoo’s industri-ous staff for serving lunch to the fortytwo ailing but happy and clamorousorphans who were all gatheredaround me, I was convinced of thecolossal dangers to the little end-ben-eficiaries of whimsical ‘CSR initia-tives’.

Philanthropy done through spo-radic corporate social responsibilityinitiatives is common in developingcountries such as India, but is notsustainable. In FY 2019-20, an aston-ishing 20.33 per cent of listed Indiancompanies reported losses. In fact,19.65 per cent of Indian companieswho were profitable in Q4 2019-20reported losses in Q1 2020-21 as alikely direct consequence of thepandemic on the country’s economywhich will only worsen in FY 2022.This pushes down the legal liability

of these companies to financiallycontribute to any CSR at all this year.

However, only if these corpora-tions’ social initiatives are inter-twined with their business models,will the initiatives survive employeeturnover and financial losses of thecompany. The company’s procure-ment policies, supply chain manage-ment, production units, and distri-bution networks can be tweaked tobe more socially responsible.Similarly, services and products thatare harmful to society can be phasedout, ushering in those that help peo-ple while also being profitable.

For example, companies likethe Euro 24 billion Veolia earn rev-enues from water and waste manage-ment as well as energy services. TheEuro 9.26 billion Dutch State Mineshas moved out of the polluting busi-ness of coal mining and reinventeditself into a science-based company

active in nutrition, health and sus-tainable living. Similarly, in India,USD 4.2 billion Tata Power haspledged to transition from produc-ing thermal power to entirely renew-able sources of power by 2050.

This way, the company’s socialinitiatives can not be stopped lest itimpacts revenue generation. Howcan CEOs transform their companiesto do this?

CONCEIVE To embed social responsibility in

a company’s operations, servicesand products, first employees atlarge need to be convinced that thisis the right thing to do. Only then willthey willingly implement the changesneeded across the company. Makeemployees feel that it was their ideato change.

For this, it is crucial that thecompany’s leadership deploys a con-

sultative process across teams forproposing the idea and then request-ing employees for their opinionabout it as well as suggestions for theroll out plan.

Not only is the process informa-tive, but also instils a sense of own-ership amongst employees of thechanges in the company that will fol-low. This will result in strongerimplementation by these employeesof the changes that will later be pro-posed by the leadership.

CASTNext, the transformative process

needs to be placed within a specificteam such as the strategy team, sus-tainability department, R&D or aresearch centre located within thecompany. All the changes neededwithin the company will emanatefrom this team.

However, often a common mis-

take corporations make is to inappro-priately locate this team within theorganisation by either banishing it toa lower down reporting line or to sitwithin the company’s corporatecommunications team, or strippingit of power in other ways. This givesout a signal to employees that anysocial good done by the company isnot important or is simply for imagebuilding.

Instead, the leadership needs toensure that the team responsible forthe transformation is em-powered,reports directly to the CEO, and isinvolved in all business and financialdecisions. This would requirechanges such as having a key employ-ee lead this team, inclusion of theteam within corporate governancestructures or even close physicalproximity of offices of this team tothe CEO.

COLLABORATE Embedding social good within

operations, services and products ofa company requires teams to close-ly collaborate towards identifying keystakeholders, conducting a material-ity analysis, and implementing ini-tiatives that are driven by the resultsof the materiality analysis.Conducting a materiality analysisensures that social initiatives areimportant both to the business andstakeholders.

Teams across the company needto then collaborate with internal aswell as external entities to ensure thecontinued implementation and mon-itoring of the initiatives that result insocial good as well as revenues.

This often results in an align-ment of initiatives for business andsocial welfare. An example of acompany that successfully alignsbusiness interests, CSR, and philan-thropy is Piramal EnterprisesLimited, an Indian business con-glomerate earning revenues of 5,419crore in the last financial year. Thecompany’s CSR has a sharp focus oneducation and healthcare which alsomirrors the company’s main businessfocus on technology and healthcare.Beyond business and CSR, the pro-

moters of the company Ajay Piramaland his wife Dr. Swati Piramal areactively engaged in philanthropicactivities also in the fields of educa-tion and healthcare. This alignmentof business, CSR, and philanthropyon just 2 clear social goals is an effec-tive approach to ensure deep socialbenefits. Further, this has ensuredthat the social initiatives continueeven during the current economicdownturn as the company’s CSRspend for FY 20 remained unde-terred, amounting to 4.51% of itsaverage net profits of the 3 preced-ing financial years which more thandoubles up on the legally mandatedannual CSR spend.

In other cases, the transforma-tive process results in social respon-sibility being a generator of revenue.Micro-finance, employment ser-vices, affordable housing and variousbusinesses that cater to customers atthe bottom of the pyramid are someexamples. However, businesses thatmight cater to higher income groupsbut source directly from producers,or those who extend their servicesand add value to the smaller compa-nies in their supply chain, or work toeradicate the environmental pollu-tion caused by their operations andproducts, or work on cross subsidisedmodels to provide their products andservices at differentiated pricing tocustomers with different payingpower, are also positively contribut-ing to society. There are many busi-ness models that can usher in ben-efits to society as well as revenues.

Recently, on a trip to HyderabadI made my way by road to visitNizamabad again. Upon enquiring,the locals told me that Rajoo’sorphanage had long closed down dueto lack of regularity in funds. I won-dered what happened to the children.

The writer is the CEO ofSustain Labs, a company that trans-forms companies towards being sus-

tainable and profitable. She is theauthor of Indian Instincts: Essayson Freedom & Equality in India,

and a Global Leadership Fellow atthe World Economic Forum

Philanthropy done through sporadic CSR initiatives in developing countries,such as India, is often not sustainable. Only if the corporations' socialinitiatives are intertwined with their business models, will the initiativessurvive employee turnover and financial losses of the company

STILETTOS

MINIYA

CHATTERJI

HOW CEOS CAN BUILD ARESPONSIBLE BUSINESS

THERE ARE MANYBUSINESS MODELSTHAT CAN USHERIN BENEFITS TO

SOCIETY AS WELLAS REVENUES

Reduce carbon footprint of affordable housing sector by integrating thermal performance and energy efficiency

measures in Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, write RUCHIE KOTHARI & SHWETANG MONANI

Affordable housing & carbon footprint

Accolades from world over forIndian-origin duo in South Africa

Two young Indian-origin women fromSouth Africa's

Pretoria city, a 21-year-old beauty productsentrepreneur and a 30-year-old architect, havewon internationalaccolades for theirexemplary leadership thisweek.Beauty productsentrepreneur, RabiaGhoor, received theForbes Woman Africa‘Young Achievers' Awardfor 2021, while architectSumayya Vally, wasincluded in the 2021Times100 list thatacknowledgesleaders who areshaping thefuture.Ghoor'saward wasannouncedduring avirtualForbessummitto

celebrate African womenleaders who arecommitted to economicand social transformationon the continent. Ghoorstarted ‘Swiitch Beauty',her make-up andskincare online beautystore at just 14, droppingout of school two yearslater to concentrate full-time on the business,which was inspired aftershe spotted a gap for theAfrican market.“American, European orAsian brands that areunavailable here in South

Africa were

constantly innovating andevolving, especially in thedigital space, while SouthAfrican brands laggedbehind or just straight updidn't exist.“I began researchingproduct sourcing,formulation, e-commerce, packaging,manufacturing, designwith the end goal in mindbeing to create a beautybrand that firstly, didn'tbreak the bank andsecondly - made thingsthat people wouldactually use in real life -things that did what theysaid they were going todo,” Ghoor said.“After being announced

as the winner, Ireceived tonnes ofemails forcollaborations.That is exposurefor my brandand myself. Ithink winning

openednetworking

opportunities,” sheadded.

The Ethiopian government is disputing charges of ethnic cleansing in the Tigrayconflict, calling allegations by the United States “unfounded." “Nothing during orafter the end of the main law enforcement operation in Tigray can be identified or

defined by any standards as a targeted, intentional ethnic cleansing against anyone inthe region,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Saturday. “That is

why the Ethiopian government vehemently opposes such accusations.”Allegations of ethnic cleansing amount to “a completely unfounded and

spurious verdict against the Ethiopian government,” it said, accusingWashington of “overblowing things out of proportion.” US Secretary of

State Antony Blinken asserted Wednesday that ethnic cleansing hashappened in western Tigray, the first time a top official in the

international community has openly described Tigray's allegedatrocities as such. Blinken told the foreign affairs committee of the USHouse of Representatives that the US is “seeing very credible reports ofhuman rights abuses and atrocities that are ongoing” in Tigray, aregion in the north of Ethiopia that is the base of a party that

dominated Ethiopian politics for decades before therise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The leaders

of that party, known by its initials TPLF, arein hiding as federal forces and their

allies — including fighters fromEritrea — hunt down fighters

loyal to the localadministration in Tigray.

The Biden administration is not planning to step upgovernment surveillance of the US internet evenas state-backed foreign hackers and

cybercriminals increasingly use it to evade detection, asenior administration official said Friday. The officialsaid the administration, mindful of the privacy and civilliberties implications that could arise, is not currentlyseeking additional authority to monitor US-basednetworks. Instead, the administration will focus ontighter partnerships and improved information-sharingwith the private-sector companies that already havebroad visibility into the domestic internet, said theofficial, who spoke to reporters on condition ofanonymity.The comment was an acknowledgement of the fraughtpolitical debate surrounding domestic governmentsurveillance - nearly eight years after former NationalSecurity Agency contractor Edward Snowdentriggered a scandal with leaked agency documents -and a recognition of the challenges in balancing thegrowing cyber defense imperative against privacyconcerns that come with stepped-up monitoring. Foreign state hackers are increasingly using US-based virtual private networks, or VPNs, toevade detection by US intelligenceagencies, who are legally constrainedfrom monitoring domesticinfrastructure.In the crucial second stage ofthe SolarWinds hackingcampaign, for instance, thesuspected Russianintelligence operativesused US-based VPNsto siphon off datathrough backdoors invictims' networks,establishing anaccount thatmade it seemlike they werein the US.

Antibodies raised by some COVID-19 vaccines are less effective atneutralising new, circulating variants of the novel coronavirus such as theones first reported in the UK, South Africa and Brazil, according to a new

study. The research, published in the journal Cell, noted that the neutralisingantibodies induced by the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were lesseffective against the coronavirus variants first described in Brazil and SouthAfrica. According to the scientists, including Alejandro Balazs from theMassachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the US, neutralising antibodies workby binding tightly to the virus and blocking it from entering cells, thus preventinginfection. They said this binding only happens when the antibody's and the virus'shapes are perfectly matched to each other "like a key in a lock." If the shape of the virus changes where the antibody attaches to it -- in this case,in the spike protein of the novel coronavirus -- they said the antibody may nolonger be able to recognise and neutralise the virus as well.In the study, the researchers developed assays for COVID-19, comparing howwell the antibodies worked against the original strain versus the new variants.

scopekaleid backpage

Satya Nadella, US lawmakersappalled by acts of hate against Asian Americans

Microsoft CEOSatya Nadellaand several US

lawmakers have said thatthey are appalled by theongoing acts of hateagainst Asian Americansand condemned hate,racial discrimination andviolence in all forms.

More than 3,000 inci-dents of abuse againstAsian Americans werereported between Marchand December 2020,according to AsianAmerican advocacygroups. There were only216 reported cases in2019, according to FBIstatistics.

“I am appalled by theongoing acts of hateagainst Asian Americansand the Asian communityglobally. Racism, hate andviolence have no place inour society. I am unitedwith the Asian andAsian Americancommunity instandingagainst thisinjustice,”Nadellasaid in atweet, aday afterUSPresidentJoe Bidensaid that the'vicious' hatecrimesagainst AsianAmericans in thecountry

amidst the pandemic was'un-American' and itmust stop.

Denouncing 'violent'attacks on the AsianAmericans, Biden in hisfirst prime-time addressto the nation since assum-ing office in January, saidthat members of the com-munity were harassed,blamed and scapegoated.

In a statement,Microsoft said that it con-demns hate, racial dis-crimination, and violencein all forms.

Meanwhile, prominentlawmakers have joinedhands to introduce a leg-islation to address the riseof hate crimes and vio-lence against AsianAmerican and PacificIslander (AAPI) commu-nities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Congressman DonaldM. Payne,

expressedconcern

over anincreasein racistattacksagainst

Asian

Americans during theCOVID-19 global pan-demic.

“I want to condemn theabuse and assault that hashappened to AsianAmericans during hispandemic in the strongestwords possible,” Paynesaid.

“Hate and violencehave no place in Americaat all. These attacks muststop because they arecowardly attempts toscapegoat and blameAmericans for a pandem-ic that started thousandsof miles away. Thankfully,we have a president whosupports diversity andwill protect all Americansin his language and hisactions. It is time for us tocome together as a coun-try and that includes allAmericans,” he said.

Senator DianneFeinstein said that overthe past few weeks, nomi-nees for the top threeleadership positions atthe Justice Departmenthave appeared before theSenate JudiciaryCommittee, as has thedirector of the FBI.

“At each hearing thetopic of hate crimes cameup, in large part due tosteep increases in attacksagainst AsianAmericans,” she said.

The Biden administration hassaid it is willing toreconsider the objections

or adverse decisions to foreignworkers on visas like H-1B, themost sought after among IndianIT professionals, due to thethree policy memos by theprevious Trump regime whichnow have been rescinded.The move is expected to come tothe rescue of a large number ofIndian IT professionals who werehaving a tough time during theprevious Trump administration dueto various policies and memorandums onnon-immigrant work visas, in particularthe H-1B. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visathat allows US companies to employforeign workers in specialty occupationsthat require theoretical or technicalexpertise. The technology companiesdepend on it to hire tens of thousands ofemployees each year from countries likeIndia and China.The US Citizenship and Immigration

Services(USCIS) on Friday announced "it mayreopen and/or reconsider adversedecisions" on Form I-129, Petition for aNonimmigrant Worker, made based onthree rescinded policy memos.The USCIS said it will generally use itsdiscretion to accept a motion to reopenfiled more than 30 days after the decision,if filed before the end of the validity periodrequested on the petition or labourcondition application, whichever is earlier,and the decision was based on one or

more policies in the three rescinded H-1Bmemoranda.On June 17, 2020, the USCIS issuedPolicy Memorandum 602-0114, whichofficially rescinded two prior policymemoranda. First titled "DeterminingEmployer-Employee Relationship forAdjudication of H-1B Petitions,Including Third-Party Site Placements,"that was issued on January 8, 2010;and second "Contracts and ItinerariesRequirements for H-1B PetitionsInvolving Third-Party Worksites,"

issued on February 22, 2018.On February 3, 2021, USCIS issuedPolicy Memorandum 602-0142.1, whichofficially rescinded PM-602-0142,"Rescission of the December 22, 2000'Guidance memo on H1B computerrelated positions'," issued on March 31,2017. Both Policy Memorandum 602-0114 and Policy Memorandum 602-0142.1 state that they apply to "anypending or new (H-1B Petitions),including motions on and appeals ofrevocations and denials of H-1Bclassification."

Biden admin to reconsider objections to H-1B visas during Trump regime

Vaccine-induced antibodiesless effective against someCovid variants, finds study

Despite hacks, US not seeking

widened domesticsurveillance I

n 2009, then-Vice President Joe Biden was "Sheriff Joe,” the enforcer making sure federal dollars from a massiveeconomic aid package were getting to the right places and quickly. This time, President Biden's role is different: He'slead salesman for the USD 1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package, eager to score political points as Americans begin to

reap benefits from the massive government relief effort. Biden signed the bill into law Thursday and then extolled itin a prime-time address to the nation that night. On Friday, he celebrated the package again, this time withDemocratic lawmakers in his first Rose Garden event as president. Biden said Friday that he would draw on hisexperiences in 2009, saying he worked four to five hours daily for six months to ensure that the stimulussucceeded. That same type of focus will be needed for coronavirus relief. "The devil is in the details," the presidentsaid. “It's one thing to pass the American Rescue Plan. It's going to be another thing to implement it. It's going torequire fastidious oversight to make sure there's no waste or fraud and the law does what it's designed to do. And Imean it. We have to get this right.” The White House has plotted an ambitious campaign to showcase the law'scontents while looking to build momentum for future, more difficult parts of the president's sweeping agenda.

Ethiopiarejects ‘ethniccleansing,’charge, opento probe

Kuwait's#MeToo

moment:Women

denounceharassment,

violence

Abrar Zenkawiwas cruising

toward thebeach in Kuwait

City when shesaw a manwaving and

smiling inher rearview mirror.

Elsewhere, this may havebeen a benign highway flirtation.

But in Kuwait, it's a haunting routinethat often turns dangerous. The man pulled

up beside her, inched closer and finally drove intoher. Zenkawi's car, carrying her toddler nieces, sister and

friend, flipped six times.“It's considered normal here. Men always drive way too

close to scare girls, chase them to their homes, followthem to work, just for fun,” said Zenkawi, 34, who spent

months in the hospital with a shattered spine. “They don'tthink about the consequences.”

But that may be changing as women are increasinglychallenging Kuwait's deeply patriarchal society. In recent

weeks, a growing number of women have broken taboos tospeak out about the scourge of harassment and violence

that plagues the Gulf nation's streets, highways and malls,in an echo of the global #MeToo movement.

An Instagram page has led to an outpouring of testimonyfrom women fed up with being intimidated or attacked in a

country where the criminal code doesn't define sexualharassment and lays out few repercussions for men who

kill female relatives for actions they consider immoral.

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MARCH 14, 2021

Biden played ‘sheriff' on ‘09 aid,now salesman on COVID law