2

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 4 ISSUE 38*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

}SAM'S

SPECIAL SONG IN PUSHPA

ANNOUNCED

Page 11{

www.dailypioneer.com

ANALYSIS 7TAX CUTS ALONE WON’THELP REIN IN OIL PRICES

MONEY 8SENSEX, NIFTY ADVANCE ON GAINS IN IT, FMCG STOCKS

SPORTS 12HAMILTON’S STUNNING

WIN IN BRAZIL

HYDERABAD, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

HHYYDDEERRAABBAADDWWEEAATTHHEERR

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated NOVEMBER 15, 2021 5:00 PM

FFoorreeccaasstt:: ThunderstormTTeemmpp:: 27HHuummiiddiittyy:: 85%SSuunnrriissee:: 6:21 amSSuunnsseett:: 05:40 pm

AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Kartik & Shukla Paksha

Tithi : Dwadashi 08:01

Nakshatram : Revati 20:14

Time to Avoid : Time to Avoid

(Bad time to start any important work)

Rahukalam : 2:48 pm - 4:12 pm

Yamagandam : 9:13 am - 10:36 am

Varjyam : 7:12 am - 8:56 am

Gulika : 12:00 pm - 1:24 pm

Good Time : (to start any

important work)

Amritakalam : 5:38 pm - 7:22 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:38 am - 12:23 pm

PNS n HYDERABAD

The ongoing war of words betweenthe ruling TRS and BJP over paddyprocurement in Telangana escalat-ed on Monday with workers of thetwo parties clashing by peltingstones at each other during the visitof State BJP president Bandi Sanjayto paddy procurement centres inNalgonda district.

Mild tension prevailed duringBandi Sanjay's visit in Nalgondadistrict with police having toresort to lathi charge to disperseTRS cadre and BJP workers whoindulged in stone pelting, inMiryalaguda of Nalgonda dis-trict, police said.

SNCN ACHARYULUn HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao changing tack and launchingan all-out war against the BJP hasnot only galvanised the TRS rankand file, but has also piqued theinterest of political observers in theState.

Apart from asking whetherKCR’s change of tactics would beenough to keep the BJP at bay,many wonder if the TRS supremo

would be consistent in his standand keep the pressure on the saf-

fron party. This is because KCR hasbeen quite inconsistent when itcomes to dealing with the BJP – hehas shown a soft corner sometimesand at other times, has been vehe-mently against the national party,depending on the situation.

Suffice to say, after the 2019 LokSabha elections, KCR has main-tained a firm stand against BJP atnational level. This is creating con-fusion among the TRS cadre as wellas the people.

Of late, KCR has declared a war

against the BJP-led Union govern-ment and this has made the TRSleaders and cadre happy. Theywant him to continue attacking theBJP as they believe that thisapproach will politically benefit theTRS.

“Inconsistent stand of KCRagainst the BJP leadership at thenational-level has definitely harmedthe TRS politically,” said a seniorpink party leader.

o Activists face-off over Bandi Sanjay’s visit to IKP centres

KCR’s battle cry against BJP gladdens TRS heartsPNS n HYDERABAD

IT Minister KT Rama Rao was onMonday understandably furiousover twitterati for trending‘Nathuram Godse Amar Rahe’ andextolling the ‘virtues’ of the manwho assassinated a man known fornon-violence.

In a tweet he said, “To insult agreat man who the entire worldidolises; to desecrate the image ofthe father of our nation andextolling the virtues of the murder-er!! Wonder what / whose version

of history leads to this kind of luna-cy & idiocy? Shame on all thosewho condone this atrocitytacitly (sic)”.

KTR was respond-ing to a tweet put outby Krishank Manne,TRS spokesperson.

Krishank wrote,“Who are those peo-ple who are trendingGodse Amar Rahe????Which party do theybelong to? ‘Long Live’ the manwho killed Gandhi ji? Isn't it an

insult??”.Some of the more vitriolic twit-

terati even described Godseas the “best finisher”.

Godse was trending ontwitter since November14, 1949 was the dayhe was hanged todeath for assassinat-ing Mahatma Gandhi.

TRS activists andleaders suspected that BJP

supporters were behind thistrend.

Small plots in Uppal Bhagyatattract middle class buyersPNS n HYDERABAD

Middle class buyers are expressinginterest in plots in Uppal Bhagyatthat will soon go under the hammer.

This was evident at a pre-bid me-eting organised by the HMDA offi-cials at the venture on Mondayahead of the auction of 44 plots inits Uppal Bhagyat layout.

The HMDA has decided to auc-tion off 44 plots or 1.35 lakh squareyards. These 44 plots include 21residential plots, 15 multipurposeplots, four set aside for shoppingand entertainment purposes, twoplots for hospitals and two othersfor educational institutions.

The plots attracted the attentionof not only the middle-class citi-zens, but also representatives oflocal traders as well as builders,developers, companies and agen-

cies who came to enquire about theterms and conditions and cleartheir doubts.

Led by Chief Engineer BLN Re-ddy, HMDA officials K Gangadhar(Estate Officer), C Vijayalakshmi, MRankishan (OSD), K Gangadhar(Chief Planning Officer), Prasun-amba along with MSTC officials ina pre-bid meeting to clarify doubts,instalment payments, registration etc.

It was suggested that the EMD

should be paid inclusive of bankcharges and in case of any doubtsthe HMDA concerned authoritiescould be contacted. Officials clar-ified that all Indian citizens couldparticipate in the bidding.

The sale of the Uppal Bhagyatplot, which has been going on fortwo phases so far, has received anunexpected response, officials said.

Uppal Bhagyat Venture is spreadacross 733 acres and has infrastruc-ture covering 250 acres underGHMC limits.

Officials said that the plots arenear the Vijayawada and WarangalHighways with clear titles of 150 sqyard to over 5,000 yards catering toboth middle class and affluent.

HMDA said it would register theplot within a fortnight for thosewho win the bids in the auction onDecember 2 and 3.

TS pushes for final reporton Warangal, other airportsPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana government, whichhas been waiting for a long time forconstruction of six regional air-ports in the State, has decided togive priority to three such airportsin the first phase.

It has represented to the AirportAuthority of India to give its finalreport by the end of this month sothat it can proceed further.

At present, there is only the RajivGandhi International Airport atShamshabad and under the Udaanscheme introduced by the Centre,the State government decided toset up six regional airports. In thefirst phase it proposed Mamunuru(Warangal), Jakranpally (Nizama-bad) and Basant Nagar (Pedapalli).

With Warangal city developingrapidly in IT and industrial sectors,the Telangana government is keento construct an airport on a war-

footing and provide air-services tothe city by next year.

In Basant Nagar and Mamunuru,there are airstrips suitable for therunway but they are damaged dueto non-use. In Jakranpally, it has tobe constructed anew.

For the second phase, the AAIsought reports on Khanapur(Adilabad), Gollagudem-Petacheruvu (Bhadradri-Kothagudem),Gudibanda (Mahbubnagar).

It wanted the TS government togive revised estimates for expansionin a phased manner as there was nodemand from air passengers for now.

Hyd has more wine shops than hospitals, PSNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

The decision of the Telangana gov-ernment to generate additionalrevenue through liquor sales maybe understandable, consideringthat this is one of the easiest waysto boost its coffers, but it is also atelling remark on the state of affairsin the State.

The decision to increase thenumber of liquor vends also makesit amply clear where the prioritiesof the government lie.

In short, Hyderabad has moreliquor shops than hospitals andpolice stations catering to its pop-ulation.

There is one liquor shop cater-ing to every 22,323 people, while

there is only one police stationcatering to 77,792 residents.Likewise, Hyderabad has one hos-

pital dedicated for Covid-19 treat-ment for every 34,691 residents.

The Institute of Perception

Studies (IPS) as part of its ‘HakkuInitiative’ has analysed the databased on the total population anddata on wine shops in the city.

Dr Neelima Kota, director of IPSsaid, “This difference will be mas-sive if we consider all kinds ofliquor shops – both legal and ille-gal. This analysis is to show the pri-ority given to wine shops versussafety and health of residents ofHyderabad in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic.”

“With 3.5 times more wine shopsthan police stations, can womenever feel safe?” Dr Kota asked. It’snot just the feeling of safety, it’s alsothe health of the citizen that isreflected in these figures.

Police personnel try to disperse TRS and BJP activists agitated over the visit of BJP Statepresident Bandi Sanjay to paddy procurement centres in Nalgonda on Monday.

TRSLP to meet todayto ‘husk BJP’s paddy’

Siddipet Collector quitsservice to join the TRSPNS n HYDERABAD

Siddipet district CollectorVenkatrami Reddy has opted forvoluntary retirement from serviceand decided to join the TelanganaRashtra Samithi “to take part in thedevelopment programmes of theState under the leadership of ChiefMinister and TRS president KChandrasekhar Rao”.

Venkatrami Reddy submittedhis resignation letter to ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar. Soonafter, the government issued ordersaccepting his resignation.

Venkatrami Reddy’s loyalty toand admiration for KCR’s leader-ship is well known and his wear-ing his heart on his sleeve oftenlanded him in controversy.

It may be recalled that when hetouched the feet of Chief Ministerto seek his blessings at the inaugu-ration of Siddipet DistrictCollectorate complex, it created afurore as many disapproved that bydoing so publicly as districtCollector, he brought down the

dignity of the post he was holding.Many said that IAS officers shouldowe their allegiance to theConstitution and no to politicalleadership as it would send wrongsignals to the people.

Venkatrami Reddy also court-ed controversy recently for hisremarks warning dealers not tosell paddy seed to the farmers dur-ing Yasangi season and instruct-ed the Agriculture ExtensionOfficers to encourage farmerstowards crop diversification.

40% Telugus among 1.67 Lstudents who opted for USPNS n HYDERABAD

One in every five foreign studentswho stepped onto US shores in2020-21 was an Indian and 40 per-cent of these Indians were Telugus.

Of the 9.14 lakh internationalstudents, 1,67,582 were Indians inthis period, according to the OpenDoors Report-2021.

Sources indicated that 40 per-cent of these students are apparent-ly from the Telugu States Telanganaand Andhra Pradesh.

It may be mentioned here thatState-specific official numbers areyet to be released.

As per the 2021 Open DoorsReport, Indian students made up

for nearly 20 percent of those land-ing in the US in the 2020-2021 aca-demic year.

Going by these numbers, theUnited States remained open andwelcoming to international stu-dents throughout the Covid-19pandemic.

Last year, the US governmentand US higher-education institu-tions implemented measures tosafely welcome international stu-dents in person, online, and viahybrid learning methods, guaran-teeing that opportunities andresources to international studentsremained robust.

Gujarat ATS seizes 120 kgheroin worth Rs 600 crorePNS n Ahmedabad

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad(ATS) has seized 120 kg of hero-in, valued at Rs 600 crore in glob-al market, from the state's Morbidistrict and arrested three personsin this connection, police officialssaid on Monday.

The drug consignment was sentto the accused persons by theirPakistani counterpart at theArabian Sea near the Indo-Pakistaninternational maritime boundaryline, and was to be delivered to an

African country, they said.It was initially kept hidden in a

coastal area near Salaya in Gujarat'sDevbhumi Dwarka district beforebeing moved to Morbi's Zinzudavillage from where it was seized onSunday, state Director General ofPolice Ashish Bhatia told reporters.

"Acting on an intelligence inputon Sunday, the Gujarat ATS raid-ed an under-construction house inthe village and recovered 120 kg ofheroin worth Rs 600 crore in theinternational market. Three per-sons were arrested,” the DGP said.

KTR furious as Godse trends on twitter

15,458 potholesrepaired in city

Page:3

After words, TRS, BJP activistsget physical over lifting of paddy

2

Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao on Monday called a TRS

Legislature Party meeting at theTelangana Bhavan on Tuesday tochalk out an action plan in thewake of what the TRS calls thedual standards of Uniongovernment and State BJP leaderson paddy procurement that iscreating confusion among thefarmers and people, KCR made itclear in his media conferencesearlier that TRS MPs, MLAs andMLCs would resort to a dharna atDelhi till the Centre gives clarity onpaddy procurement issue and toprotect the interests of farmers.

2 2

22

22

FULLY-VACCINATED INDIANS CAN ENTERSINGAPORE WITHOUT QUARANTINE

Singapore has begun the arduous task of reestablishingitself as Asia's international aviation hub, throwing itsborders open to five more countries as it presses on with

plans to reopen and live with Covid. The city-state will allowquarantine-free travel for fully-vaccinated people fromcountries including India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, it saidMonday as it looks to safely move past the pandemic that haskept its 5.7 million residents home for more than a year.Inoculated visitors from Indonesia and India will be able toenter Singapore from Nov. 29, without having to quarantine.

ROW OVER BOOK: SALMAN KHURSHID'SHOME IN NAINTAL SET ON FIRE

The Nainital home of Congress leader Salman Khurshid wasvandalised and set on fire today, days after his new bookon Ayodhya sparked a controversy by drawing a parallel

between "Hindutva" and radical Islamist groups. Visuals sharedby Mr Khurshid on Facebook show tall flames, charred doorsand shattered window panes at his Nainital home. Two menare seen trying to douse the fire by throwing water. Sharingthe visuals, the Congress leader said in a post, "I hoped toopen these doors to my friends who have left this calling card.Am I still wrong to say this cannot be Hinduism?"

INDIA RESUMES ‘NO QUARANTINE’ RULEFOR TRAVELLERS FROM 99 COUNTRIES

India on Monday resumed quarantine-free entry for foreigntravellers from 99 countries, which have agreed to a mutualrecognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates with it,

almost 20 months after restrictions were imposed. Travellersfrom these 99 countries, including the US, the UK, France,Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and Russia, which havebeen listed under "Category A", have to submit a self-declaration form on the Air Suvidha portal before the scheduledtravel, apart from uploading a negative RT-PCR report,according to the revised Guidelines for International Arrivals.

NOW, GET CERTIFIED VEGETARIANMEALS FROM IRCTC KITCHENS

The IRCTC on Monday tied up with the Sattvik Council ofIndia to get certified in the process of cooking, transpo-rtation and storage of vegetarian food specially on board

trains to religious sites with the Railways' catering arminviting a third party audit of its base kitchens where suchfood is cooked to ensure a vegetarian environment. The moveis to ensure pure vegetarian food is not only served to thosepassengers who want it, but also to ensure that the processof preparing the meals is sattvik. Sattvik certification is simplya process certification of vegetarian meal preparation.

TS seeks greaterinvestmentincentives, higher FRBM limit PNS n NEW DELHI

The State government hasrequested greater cooperationfrom the Centre for strengthen-ing progressive States likeTelangana to enable speedy devel-opment of the nation.

Speaking at a video conferencehosted by Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman with ChiefMinisters and Finance Ministersof States on Monday, IndustryMinister KT Rama Rao, whoparticipated along with StateFinance Minister T Harish Rao,said that it was a proud fact thatTelangana was the fourth highestcontributing State for the nation'sGDP.

He said that as per RBI report,Telangana with 2.5 per cent ofpopulation in the country wascontributing to 5 per cent of nat-ion's GDP.

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. Executive Editor: Navin Upadhyay. 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 | TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

EGG

RATES

HYDERABAD 443

VIJAYAWADA 382

VISAKHAPATNAM 402

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..3344

`̀//110000

CHICKEN

RATES

Dressed/With Skin `200

Without Skin `220

Broiler at Farm `108

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

When President RamNath Kovind gaveaway the Padma

awards at Rashtrapati Bhavanin New Delhi a week ago, therecipients included the 77-year-old barefooted TulasiGowda of Honnali village inKarnataka.

Belonging to the Hulakkitribe, Tulasi Gowda has sincethe age of 12 planted 30,000saplings and is a ‘walking for-est encyclopaedia’.

Even Prime MinisterNarendra Modi bowed hishead in reverence to her.

Similarly, Harekala Hajabba– a fruit vendor – was alsoamong the recipients ofPadma Shri. The 66-year-old,who sells fruits nearManguluru bus station, builta school in a hamlet spendingmoney from his pocket.

Also honoured were MathaManjamma B. Jogati, a trans-gender, for her excellence infolk arts and Jogati dance,

three-star ranked first AirForce officer Marshal PadmaBandopadhyaya, MohammadSharif of Ayodhya, a bicyclemechanic who cremated over25,000 orphan bodies in threedecades, Bhuri Bai a dailywage earner-turned-artist ofBhill community in MadhyaPradesh, Dalavai ChalapatiRao, a puppeteer fromAnantapur, Yadla Gopala Raoof Srikakulam who has beenbreathing life into theatresince he was 12 years old, KasiVidwat Parishad presidentProf Ramyatna Shukla, who ismodernising Sanskrit gram-mar and philosophy, 82-year-old MK Kunjal from a remotearea in Kerala for resistingatrocities of caste Hindus onDalits, KrishnammalJagannadhan of Tamil Nadufor spreading Gandhian phi-losophy of non-, Girijanmother Rahee Bai SomaSopere of Ahmad Nagar, whois described as mother of

seeds of traditional crops, andseveral others.

None of them craved recog-nition; many of them are notaware of Delhi streets. Thesepeople are different from thosewho lobby for Padma awardsin Delhi.

Who were the recipients ofPadma Awards in earlierregimes?

In Congress regimes, manyweeks before Padma Awardswere declared, moneybagsused to reach VIPs. Pressureused to be exerted on theAwards committee. Influentialpeople used to ensure these

awards for their kith and kinusing their clout. Parties usedto be thrown in farmhouses inthe presence of elders.

In the UPA regime, formerPresident Pratibha Singh Patilin 2010 presented PadmaBhushan to a hotelier in NewYork, Sant Singh Chatwaalwho was sentenced by a UScourt to three years in jail andimposed US $5 lakh fine formobilising election fundsfrom people illegally.

A former militant ofSrinagar Gulam MohammadMir was also awarded aPadma Award. A Kashmiri

shawls vendor HasmatullahKhan as also Dr Khaleelullahwho was involved in severaleconomic crimes as director ofGP Pant Hospital in Delhi.There were allegations that anactor 'bought' Padma Shri.The list runs long.

During the Congressregime, one of the Presidentsof India managed to getPadma Shri award to a nurse

who took good care of him.There were alsoinstances ofC o n g r e s sregimes hon-ouring jour-nalists, underthe garb of pseudo-secularism, whoplayed second fiddle to themand slung mud on BJP leaders.

What is shocking is thatJawaharlal Nehru was award-ed Bharat Ratna in 1955 whenhe was still in office andIndira Gandhi got it in 1971when she was the PM, whileDr BR Ambedkar, architect ofthe Constitution, India firsteducation minister MaulanaAbul Kalam Azad and IronMan of India Sardar Patelwere awarded Bharat Ratnaposthumously.

Shehnai exponent UstadBismillah Khan whoenthralled the global audiencewas awarded Bharat Ratna byAtal Behari Vajpayee.

Prime Minister NarendraModi understood the

irregularities takingplace in selection ofthe awardees in thefirst two years of his

coming to power.Therefore, he totally trans-

formed the Padma Awardsprocess. Since 2017, he put afull stop to Union ministersmaking recommendations forPadma Awards and intro-duced a transparent anddemocratic system wherebythe general public makes thenominations.

He created machinery fromgrassroots level to inform himabout those who render ser-vice to the public withoutexpecting recognition. Heexpanded the Padma Awardscommittee by includingexperts from various fields.

Till 2014, names of onlysome loyalists were furnishedto the government for theawards. In 2014, the Padma

Awards Committee wentthrough 2,200 nominationsbut in 2020, over 46,000 nom-inations were sent.

Since 2017, there has beena perceptible change in the listof Padma awardees. Names ofthe 70-year-old Kalaripattutrainer in Kerala – MeenakshiAmma, folk singer ofKarnataka Sukri BommeGowda and the like wereincluded in the list.

Padma Awards are regard-ed as the highest civilian hon-ours in the country. But theirsignificance was lost as worth-less people and those whocame up in life through illegalmeans secured the awards.Modi reformed the PadmaAwards process by recognisingthe services of the commonman and downtrodden sec-tions. It has enhanced thevalue of Padma Awards.

What better yardstick tomeasure the lofty personalityand selfless thinking of Modi?

Y SATYA KUMAR

BJP National Secretary

TRULY

SPEAKING

What is shocking is that Nehru was awardedBharat Ratna in 1955 when he was still inoffice and Indira Gandhi got it in 1971 whenshe was the PM, while it was bestowed onDr BR Ambedkar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azadand Sardar Patel posthumously.

Modi has enhanced the value of Padma Awards

Gudur says TRS governmentis ‘an anti-social element’ PNS n HYDERABAD

Bharatiya Janata Party statesenior leader Gudur NarayanaReddy on Monday describedTRS government in the state asan anti social element as it hasbeen taking decisions whichwere detrimental to the society.

In a media statement he saidthat the proposal to increase thenumber of liquor outlets in thestate was a harmful one. He saidthat proliferation of liquor shopswould lead to rise in the crimerate and social unrest.

He said reports in the mediasuggest that the state govern-ment has allowed increasein the number ofliquor outlets in thestate in the nextLiquor Policy Year.The state govern-ment has added404 new shops tothe existing 2,216taking the total to2,620. With the opening ofnew shops liquor sales wouldreach the nook and corner ofthe state and shops would be

found in each street and by lane. Apart from the licensedshops belt shops would come

up in thousands all overthe state, he added.

"Has the govern-ment taken a deci-sion to open liquorshop in each by lane

of the state? Does itwant to ensure avail-

ability of liquor stores atthe corner of each street?Does it want to ensure freeflow of Whisky and Brandy?"he questioned.

Cong to contest Councilpolls under LACs quotaPNS n HYDERABAD

The Congress has decided tocontest the biennial electionsto the Telangana LegislativeCouncil from the LocalAuthorities’ Constituencies.However, a final decision onwhether or to contest all thenine LACs for 12 MLC seatswould be taken on November16.

The decision was takenduring the virtual meeting ofthe Political AffairsCommittee of TPCC held onMonday evening.

TPCC president A.Revanth Reddy, AICC secre-taries N. Bose Raju andSrinivasan Krishnan, PACconvener Mohammed AliShabbir, former PCC presi-dents N Uttam Kumar Reddy,Ponnala Lakshmaiah and VHanumanth Rao, former CLP

leader K Jana Reddy, ElectionCommittee chairmanDamodar Raj Narasimha,Campaign Committee chair-man Madhu Yashki Goud,former Union MinistersRenuka Chowdhary andBalram Naik, MLA JaggaReddy, Mahesh Kumar Goud,G Chinna Reddy, A Sampath

Kumar, Dasoju Sravan andother senior leaders attendedthe meeting.

The Congress leaders ofnine election-bound districtshave been directed to furnishdetails of the party's strengthand the potential candidatesin their respective LACs byTuesday evening. Based on

their inputs, the list of seatsto be contested will be decid-ed.

Further, the Congress hasdecided to intensify the mem-bership campaign. Since thePraja Chaitanya Yatra, pro-posed to be held fromNovember 14 to November 21has been postponed in view ofthe Model Code of Conductfor the Council elections, theparty has decided to focus onmembership drive till the endof the polls.

The TPCC working presi-dents and senior vice-presi-dents will coordinate withDCC leadership to boost thecampaign across theTelangana State. The progresswill be monitored on a day-to-day basis.

Several other importantissues were also discussed inthe TPCC PAC meeting.

TS again complainsto KRMB against AP’sHNSS LIS worksPNS n HYDERABAD

Requesting immediate inter-vention and stoppage of con-struction work on the HNSSproject by the AndhraPradesh government, theTelangana government onMonday once again lodged acomplaint with the KrishnaRiver Management Board.

Irrigation DepartmentEngineer-in-Chief (General)C Muralidhar, in his letter tothe KRMB Chairman, saidthat Telangana has beenrepeatedly requesting theBoard to restrain AndhraPradesh from drawing morethan 34 tmc ft of water fromSrisailam reservoir.

“HNSS Lift Irrigationscheme is nowhere men-tioned in the inter-State agree-ments and there is noPlanning Commission clear-ance. As per Central WaterCommission and Ministry ofWater Resources approvals,only 34 tmc ft can be divert-ed by AP during flood flows,”he wrote.

Never saw an election like Huzurabad by-poll: Eatala PNS n HYDERABAD

The BJP MLA representingHuzurabad, Eatala Rajender,has said that he had never seenan election like the recentHuzurabad by-poll in the his-tory of independent India.

He said that he had beenhoping that he wouldn't see anelection like that in future. Healleged that the TRS had puta price on democracy, self-respect and the democraticrights of the people.

Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao tried topurchase votes like goods inthe market. However, theHuzurabad people gave theverdict that self-respect cannotbe bought with money, he said.

Addressing a gathering atHanmakonda on Monday,Eatala alleged that the TRS hadtransformed entire villages inthe Huzurabad constituency ascentres for 'Dawaths' duringthe by-poll.

He said that plain clothpolice met and counselledevery voter in every house.Hundreds of governmentemployees also worked as TRSactivists. Their acts were dis-gusting, he said. The entirepeople of Telangana hated theacts of TRS and have buriedKCR's arrogance. They haveproved that there is no place formoney in an election, he said.The Huzurabad constituencyhas given a huge jump todemocracy. Huzurabad is nowa compass for Telangana. It isnot possible to clear the debt Iowe to the people ofHuzurabad, he said.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Ministry of Defence hasannounced formerSecunderabad CantonmentBoard vice-president J RamaKrishna as the civilian nomi-nated member of the SCB.

Accordingly, the MoDissued a gazette notification on

Monday.Confirming the news,

Ramakrishna thanked allnational BJP leaders, alongwith the party's State, district,constituency level leadershipalong with the party karyakar-tas. He vowed to strive forprogress of the party and fordevelopment of the SCB.

J Rama Krishna is civiliannominated member of SCB

Continued from page 1

He said that the TRS leadersas well as the party cadre arehappy about the presentstand taken by KCR againstthe Centre, but are not surewhether this would contin-ue in the future.

This TRS leader pointedout that KCR suddenlybegan attacking the BJP inthe aftermath of theHuzurabad Assembly by-election defeat.

While the TRS had madehigh fuel prices one of themain planks against the BJPin Huzurabad, after the elec-tions, KCR declared a fightagainst the Centre overpaddy procurement. Beforethe Huzurabad Assemblyby-election, KCR hadremained camped in Delhifor about a week duringwhich he met Union HomeMinister Amit Shah thrice injust one day. But when AmitShah came to Tirupati tochair the SZC meeting, KCRskipped the meeting.

KCR’s battle...

Continued from page 1

His reported remarks that hewould not listen even to courtsof law invited displeasure fromthe court but VenkatramiReddy said his remarks weremisquoted.

Speaking to the media afterresigning from his post hereon Monday, VenkatramiReddy said that the TRS gov-ernment was striving for thewelfare of people and theChief Minister was developingthe State as a model for theentire country. He said hehad personally seen the devel-opment that has taken place inthe State in the last seven years.

“KCR is constantly strivingfor development of State with

unwavering focus,” he said,adding that he wanted to trav-el with KCR on his journey forState’s development and hencedecided to resign from hispost.

Replying to a query,Venkatrami Reddy said hewould join TRS as soon as hegets a call from KCR andvowed to work as per thedirective of the Chief Minister.He said the credit for givingtop priority to irrigation andirrigation projects and extend-ing irrigation facilities to lakhsof acres in a short span of timewould go to KCR.

Meanwhile, speculation isrife that Venkatrami Reddyresigned from his post as hehad concrete assurance from

the party leadership that hewould be given the opportu-nity to become an MLC underthe Local Authorities’Constituencies quota.

It may be mentioned herethat 12 MLC posts will befalling vacant on January 4 andfor which the ElectionCommission recentlyannounced the election sched-ule.

Venkatrami Reddy wasselected as Group I officer in1996 and appointed as DeputyCollector. He dischargedduties as Bandar RDO,DWAMA PD of Chittoor andTirupati, HUDA Secretary,MD, Incap. He worked asJoint Collector and Collectorfor seven years.

Siddipet Collector quits service...

Continued from page 1

Speaking at the release of the OpenDoors report on international

student mobility, MinisterCounselor for Consular Affairs DonHeflin said, "Despite the globalpandemic, Indian students were

able to apply for visas and travel tothe United States. We issued over62,000 student visas this summeralone, more than in any previous

year. This goes to show that theUnited States remains thedestination of choice for Indianstudents looking to study abroad”.

40% Telugus among 1.67 L students who opted for US

Continued from page 1

Demanding that Bandi Sanjaysecure an assurance from theCentre for the procurement ofpaddy during the upcomingRabi season, TRS leaders andworkers tried to disrupt hisvisit.

The two sides pelted stoneson each other, forcing thepolice to resort to lathi chargeto disperse the clashinggroups.

Bandi Sanjay visited theprocurement centres inNalgonda and Suryapet dis-tricts to 'expose' what he callsTRS government's failure toprocure paddy from the farm-ers.

He, however, had to faceprotest from the TRS cadres.Holding black flags and rais-

ing slogans of 'Bandi Sanjay goback', the protesters tried tostop him.

Before the BJP leader’s visit,local TRS MLAs also visitedthe procurement centres,claiming that the state govern-ment is committed to procurethe entire paddy crop cultivat-ed during the Rabi season.They alleged that the BJPleader was trying to provokethe farmers.

Bandi Sanjay, however,alleged that the farmers at theprocurement centres werefacing severe hardships as thestate government was notprocuring the paddy. Healleged that the TRS govern-ment was blaming the Centrefor its failure to come to therescue of the farmers.

Earlier, the TRS cadre

allegedly threw eggs andtomatoes on the convoy ofBandi Sanjay who was on avisit to Nalgonda andSuryapet districts to assesspaddy procurement and tointeract with the farmers.

In the stone-pelting thattook place after Bandi Sanjay'svisit in Nalgonda district, afew members of both the par-ties and two policemen suf-fered minor injuries, a seniorpolice official said.

Another police official saidthere was one incident ofstone pelting on BandiSanjay's convoy in Suryapet inwhich the windshield of avehicle was damaged. Theofficial, however, said it wasnot clear if stones were pelt-ed by TRS workers.

The Chief Minister hadearlier promised officialswould come to the fields, buypaddy and deposit money infarmers' bank accounts with-in 48 hours, he claimed.

Demanding that the Stategovernment procured thepaddy produced in the rainyseason without delay, he saidthe BJP would not rest untilthe TRS government specifiedas to when it is going to pur-chase the crop and pay thefarmers.

KTR furious...Continued from page 1

Y Satish Reddy, a TRS sup-porter, said, “Allegedly BJPmasked IT team trendsNathuram Godse Amar Rahe.

Can Modi Ji clear his standon Godse & Gandhi? Can BJPclaim & own Godse just liketheir IT cell? A party whichcannot debate on economygrowth, development willonly survive doing thesecheap stunts (sic)”.

Hyd has more...Continued from page 1

Covid is a serious life-threat-ening emergency for everycitizen. The importance givento filling the coffers of the Stateshows the preparedness interms of health amid a ragingpandemic. “All this is forincreasing awareness andhopefully implementation ofthings citizens need,” Dr Kotasaid.

At present Hyderabad has460 liquor stores withinGHMC limits and newlicences are being given. AcrossTelangana 2,216 retail liquorvends are operational and theState government intends toincrease this to 2,620.

In Financial Year 2014, rev-enue from liquor was just

about Rs 10,833 crore and byFY 2021, it has shot up to Rs27,888 crore. Liquor sales havebeen a main source of incomefor the state, but experts ques-tion if the revenue is moreimportant than the safety andhealth of the citizens.

It may be mentioned herethat the Telangana govern-ment issued a notification onNovember 9, calling tendersfor granting fresh licences toliquor stores for a period of twoyears, beginning December 1,2023.

The applications for obtain-ing licences would be receivedtill November 16 and the allot-ment of wine shops would bedone through a draw of lots bydistrict collectors onNovember 18.

After words, TRS, BJP activists get physical over lifting...TRSLP to meet today to ‘husk BJP’s paddy’Continued from page 1The party already staged State-wide dharnas on November 12. It is learntthat the TRS, under the leadership of KCR, is contemplating to organiseRythu Deeksha or dharna at Delhi where it would speak about BJPgovernment’s attitude, injustice meted out to State on various issues,BJP’s policies and strategy to counter the opposition party’s propaganda.KCR is expected to give a direction to the party leaders on these aspectsand how to continue the protests against Centre’s attitude and policies inthe State too. It may be mentioned here that the Congress leaders havebeen demanding that if the TRS was sincere about its protests against theCentre’s policies, then it should take the fight to Delhi to draw attention ofthe Union government rather than whiling away its time here.

TS seeks greater investment incentives...Continued from page 1

Telangana’s per capita incomeincreased from Rs 1.24 lakh in2014 to Rs 2.37 lakh now.

Welcoming the decision toallow additional 0.5 per cent ofloans for the States whichachieved the capital expendituretargets, he requested that theFRBM limit be increased by

another two per cent of GSDP.KTR suggested that if incentives

were given in investments to tex-tiles, garments, toy, leather goods,light engineering goods, footwearetc., more jobs could be providedeven to less skilled persons. Sucha policy was implemented success-fully in East Asia and China. Healso said performance linkedincentives be extended to MSME

sector which were contributing to30 per cent of GDP.

He said that ITIR, industrialcorridors, Kazipet coach factory,Bayyaram Steel Plant were onlyconfined to papers and not sanc-tioned yet. Centre should encour-age Textiles, electronics industryand life sciences sectors whichcan create huge employmentpotential in the next 10 years.

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021 hyderabad 03

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Mumbai unit of theNarcotics Control Bureau(NCB) seized 1,127 kilo-grams of ganja worth Rs 5.63crore in Nanded district inthe early hours of Mondayand arrested two people, anofficial said.

The operation was carriedout at Manjram in Naigaontaluka, some 570 kilometresfrom here, and the consign-ment, loaded on a mutli-axle truck, was on its wayfrom Hyderabad and was tobe delivered in Jalgaon, hesaid. The quantity seized isamong the highest in anyoperation by the Mumbaiunit of the NCB.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Tollywood actress ShaluChaurasia was injured in anattack by an unidentified per-son near KBR Park in the tonyBanjara Hills on Sunday night.

The young actor wasattacked and her mobilephone snatched away whenshe was taking a stroll around8.30 p.m.

She complained to thepolice that a man first askedher to hand over her moneyand valuables. When sheresisted, he punched her onher face and also tried toattack her with a rock. Theassailant snatched her mobilephone and escaped.

She sustained injuries onher head and near her eye andwas taken to a private hospi-tal.

Responding to the com-plaint by the actress, theBanjara Hills police have reg-istered a case and launched aninvestigation. They were scan-ning footage from CCTVcameras in the area to identi-fy the attacker.

The sprawling KBR Park isfrequented by celebrities, busi-nessmen and political leaders

for morning or evening walks.Incidents of chain snatchingwere reported around thepark in the past.

In 2014, a man had openedfire on Aurobindo Pharmaexecutive K NityanandaReddy with an AK-47 whenthe latter was sitting in his carafter a morning walk.Fortunately for Reddy, heescaped unhurt. Police laterarrested a former policemanposted with the anti-Maoistforce Greyhounds, who con-fessed to stealing a rifle andcarrying out the attack forextortion.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao onMonday paid tributes to trib-al leader and freedom fight-er Birsa Munda on his 146thbirth anniversary.

The Chief Minister notedthat Birsa Munda had sacri-ficed his life at a very youngage fighting for the country'sindependence, for the self-respect and rights of the adi-vasis, tribes and found a per-manent place in the history ofthe country's freedom move-ment. KCR said that underself-governance in Telangana,the government is imple-menting several welfare anddevelopment programmesfor the adivasis, tribes andprotecting their self-respect.

The Union governmenthas declared November 15 asJanjatiya Gaurav Divas orTribal Pride Day as a tributeto Birsa Munda.

KCR pays tributes to Birsa Munda on birth anniversary

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Falaknuma Police onMonday, arrested four personsincluding a police official ofthe Hyderabad City Police,involved in the murder of amobile technician in the earlyhours of Sunday.

The arrested persons wereidentified as Mohammed SamiMohiuddin, 32, a home guardwith the Hussaini Alam Police,Mohammed Amjad Mohiuddin, 25, Mohammed Ali, 21and Amer Mohammed Khan,26, all residents of NawabSaheb Kunta in Achi ReddyNagar, Hyderabad. Thedeceased person, MohammedArif, is Amer's brother-in-law, said the police.

"Arif had a girlfriend whokept falling ill regularly. Hesuspected that his sister,Shaheen Kausar, along withher husband, Amer, were per-

forming black magic on hisgirlfriend that made her fallsick. He then demanded Rs 2lakh cash from them andthreatened them with direconsequences. Amer thenhatched a plan along with hisbrother, Sami and his friendsAmjad and Ali, to kill Arif.The four were then waitingoutside Arif 's house at Payeenbagh, Jahanuma, late onSaturday night and then firstattacked him with chilli pow-der and then with axes and knives," said Dr Gajarao Bhupal,Deputy Commissioner ofPolice, South Zone,Hyderabad.

Based on a complaint, thepolice registered a murdercase and launched an investi-gation.

The four were apprehendedon Monday, produced beforea court and remanded to judi-cial custody.

Home guard amongfour held for murder

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad Traffic Police onMonday, filed 31 charge sheets of SRNagar Traffic Police against personswho were caught while driving theirvehicles in a drunken condition andproduced them before the court atNampally.

The court awarded two personswith a fine of Rs 10,500 and a fiveday jail term at Chanchalguda jailand 29 persons were fined Rs 10,500.

In a similar development underthe Cyberabad Police Commissio-nerate, persons caught during thedrunk driving checks fromNovember 8 to 12, were produced

before the court on Monday. Of the271 drunk driving cases, 42 persons

were jailed from a period rangingfrom one to seven days and a totalfine amount of Rs 10,23,100 wasimposed by the court. As many as 46cases of driving without licencewere disposed of and a total amountof Rs 1,38,700 was levied on them.One person caught driving whileusing a cell phone was imposed afine of Rs 2,000 and three minorscaught driving were imposed a fineof Rs 6,500.

The driving licences of all personsfound driving drunk are being sentto the concerned RTOs for suspen-sion as per Section 19 of the MV Act,said police officials, requesting cit-izens to refrain from doing so.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Special Operations Team(SOT), LB Nagar Zone alongwith the Medipally Police onMonday, apprehended threedrug peddlers and seized 1,240kilograms of marijuana andother evidence all worth Rs2,08,05,000 from their posses-sion.

The arrested persons havebeen identified as Santhosh,29, Vasudeva Reddy, 25 andRajeshwar, 24. Three othersinvolved in this racket, Yaseen,32, Ravinder, 25 and Madhu,27, are absconding, said thepolice.

The main accused, Yaseen,runs a travel business on var-ious routes including to theagency area of Visakhapatnamdistrict, Andhra Pradesh. Hegot acquainted with ganja ped-dlers from Sileru and decidedto transport ganja to receiversin Hyderabad and Mahar-ash-tra area.

Vasudeva Reddy's garagewas being used as a dumpingplace to dispatch ganja. Yaseenoffered the rest of the accusedRs 20,000 for each trip from

the agency area and back. In one such trip, on

November 10, the accusedprocured 1,240 kg of ganjafrom the supplier at Rs 8,000per kg which was to be sold tocustomers at Rs 15,000 per kg.The four dumped the contra-band at Reddy's garage onNovember 13. On Sundaynight, the six accused packedthe weed in 73 packets, eachweighing about 2 to 2.5 kgs,while the remaining 10 kgs ofloose ganja was kept in a

gunny bag. However, based ona tip off, police officials raid-ed the spot and apprehendedthe three.

According to the police,Yaseen, Ravinder and Madhuwere near the garage duringthe raid and upon noticingpolice presence, escaped fromthe place.

Officials are on the lookoutfor Yaseen, the main accusedand are hoping to weed out thelist of suppliers and receiverswith his arrest.

Cops seize 1,240 kg of ganja worth Rs 2 cr; three arrested

PNS n HYDERABAD

The advent of social media, hastruly made the world a smallerplace with more and more personsconnecting with each other on var-ious social media platforms. Whilesome look out for friendship orcompanionship, others look out forflings, irrespective of their maritalstatus. For some, such adventuresprove to be costly with the pricepaid being their own life.

According to investigations bythe police, in a majority of the mur-der cases reported in the city, illic-it relationships were found to be themotive behind the murders withthe other motives being old enmi-ty, fights for supremacy, individualdisputes, love affairs, property dis-

putes and so on. Despite the Home Minister's

personal intervention after a spewof murders, asking the police toincrease security and vigilance, ina span of 45 days, over 19 murderstook place in the twin cities. In all,27 persons are cooling their heelsbehind the bars. These include theculprits and their accomplices.

Murders are not just limited tobad blood between two individu-als alone. Due to various reasons,the near and dear are eliminatingfamily members due to propertydisputes, financial disputes andlove affairs and illicit relations.

In a dispute over Rs 2,000, a manidentified as Sonu was murdered inFareerwada. A cab driver Afsarmurdered the dancer with whom

he had a live-in relationship as thewoman pressurised him into mar-rying her. Unable to bear with themalicious propaganda against herin the neighbourhood, Mounikahad a clash with her husbandMuralidhar Reddy and ended himin a fit of anger.

An alcohol addict Qadir, mur-dered three persons under tipsycondition by smashing their headswith a boulder.

Joyga Begum of Moinabad, find-ing her husband to be a hindranceto her illicit relationship with herlover, in league with four otherseliminated husband Adil.

In another case, with the samemotive, wife Firdoush along withher lover eliminated husbandMuskan.

Kotireddy has also murdered hislover Nagachaitanya for her fault ofpressurising him to marry her.

In yet another incident, Nandinikilled her mother Yadamma alongwith her lover Ram Kumar as shefound her to be a hindrance to herrelationship with Ram Kumar.

In an incident that had takenplace on Saturday late night, a 32-year-old Mohammad Sohel aliasArif Ali, who ekes out a living byselling mobile phones, was behead-ed by a three motorcycle borneassailants, who attacked him withan axe while he was speaking overhis mobile phone in front of hishouse in Chandrayanagutta underFalaknuma police station. Propertyand family disputes were stated tobe the cause for the murder.

Illicit affairs behind increasing murders in city

PNS n HYDERABAD

Three men were held in pos-session of 2 kilos of ganja andthree packets of MDMAweighing three grams in thelast two days in Cyberabad.

The Cyberabad Policestepped up its drive againstganja trade in CyberabadCommissionerate limits andcontinuous raids are beingconducted on a daily basis,said Stephen Ravindra,Cyberabad Police Commiss-ioner, adding that bulk buyers,local retailers and drug trans-porters are on police radar inorder to curb ganja peddlingand usage.

Over the weekend, twocases were registered where-

in three offenders were arrest-ed with a ganja plant weigh-ing 2.200 kilos and threepackets of MDMA drug,weighing three grams wereseized in Cyberabad limits.Officials also registered 108 e-petty cases.

"So far, as many as 8 drugoffenders were detainedunder the PD Act and thepublic is hereby requested toinform the police regardinginformation related to drugsuppliers through Dial 100 orthrough Cyberabad NDPSEnforcement Cell 7901105423 or Cyberabad Whats-App number 9490617444and their identity will bekept confidential," said theofficial.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad City Police announced theauctioning of 1,214 abandoned/unclaimedvehicles of various types and makes. It is pro-posed to dispose of these vehicles by way ofpublic auction as empowered under section7 of the Hyderabad (Metropolitan area)Police Act 2004, read with section 40 of theHyderabad City Police Act, said an officialrelease. "Any person having any objection orownership/hypothecation interest in any ofthese vehicles may file an application beforethe Commissioner of Police, Basheerbagh,Hyderabad City and claim the vehicle withina period of six months from the date of noti-fication, failing which the vehicles will be auc-tioned," police said.

Cyb police arrest 3 in possession of MDMA

NCB seizes 1,127 kg of marijuanabound from Hyd

44 persons jailed for driving drunk

NAVEENA GHANATE

n HYDERABAD

Nearly 66 percent of the roadsunder Comprehensive RoadMaintenance Programme(CRMP) have been relaid andare being maintained by privateagencies which were entrustedwith the task by the GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC).

Under CRMP, these privateagencies have been entrustedwith repairs, maintenance andre-carpeting of 709-km roadsin seven packages. Of the 709km, stretches totalling 468.663km have been re-carpeted.

While the focus now is onmaintenance of these stretch-es, GHMC officials say thatwork on the remaining roadsis being taken up on a war-

footing. So far, Rs 554.74 crorewas spent on 468.663 km of BTroads. As part of the agree-ment, the private agencies areresponsible for taking uprepairs and re-carpeting works,irrespective of rains. Under theCRMP scheme, maintenanceof 709.49 km of roads has beentaken up at an estimated costof Rs 1,839 crore for five years.

These roads have been given tothe agency to maintain in 7packages for 5 years. The agen-cies are responsible for foot-paths, central dividers, struc-tures, curb painting, line mark-ing, and greenery maintenance.

The private agencies con-cerned for the roads have setup control rooms to receivecomplaints from the public as

part of road maintenance. Sofar 15,458 potholes have beenrepaired as per the complaintsreceived from the public.

It may be mentioned herethat 9,013 km of roads areunder GHMC limits. Of these,2,846 km are black top (BT)roads and 6,167 are cementroads. About 526 km of theseroads are 4-lane and above.

Hyd cops to auction abandoned vehicles

PNS n HYDERABAD

A 21-year-old student iden-tified Subhash Chander, 21, aBTech final year student, waskilled after a rashly drivenlorry drove over him atKeesara on Monday.

On Sunday, Subash leftfor college on his bike. Whenhe reached Nagaram, a tipperlorry crushed him to death.Subhash died on the spot.Based on a complaint, thepolice registered a case. Ahunt is on to nab the driverof the tipper lorry.

Lorry crushes man to death

FACELIFT

PNS n HYDERABAD

Two men, both labourers by profes-sion, were convicted for 10 years ofrigorous imprisonment each onMonday for killing their co-worker.The men were earlier arrested by theAdibatla Police of Rachakonda.

Accused men Hanuman Manuteand Bandan Kumar Chowdary hadmurdered Abdullah following aheated argument during which thevictim abused the two men onFebruary 8, 2020, said the police.

"The trio were drunk during theirscuffle when the two men ganged upon Abdullah and killed him bybludgeoning him with a fire extin-guisher," explained the police, adding

that following a complaint from theiremployer, the police arrested the duoand produced them in the court.

During the trial on Monday, the

III ADJ court judge K. Kusha con-victed the accused men to undergo10 years Rigorous Imprisonment andimposed a fine of Rs 500 each.

PNS n HYDERABAD

A local court at LB Nagar on Monday,sentenced a man to undergo four yearsof rigorous imprisonment forkidnapping a minor girl fromSaroornagar in 2015. The court alsoimposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.The convicted person was identified asA Shravan Kumar, 20, a car driver from

Lingojiguda. According to the police,he was stalking a 13-year-old girl andkidnapped her while she was on herway to school. He took her in a carand married her in Karmanghat. Later, out of fear, he abandoned hernear her house and threatened her not to inform her parents. Based on a complaint, Saroornagar Policearrested Shravan Kumar.

Telangana Tourism authorities on Monday inspected FoxSagar Lake after Minister KT Rama Rao sought action byway of a tweet. Earlier, Ashfaq Ahmed in a tweet urged theMinister to save the ancient archaic structure along with a

beautiful lake which is in a dilapidated condition.Responding to the tweet, the Minister asked the GHMC

zonal commissioner and TSTDC to look into it. Respondingto the Twitter complaint TSTDC Chairman U Srinivas

Gupta, along with officials, inspected Fox Sagar. SrinivasGupta instructed his officials to clean up the surroundingscarry out repairs to the sluice gate (built in 1897) and start

boating at the earliest.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Miyapur police onMonday, arrested two fakereporters for blackmailing alegally-run beauty parlorowner and demanding money.

The arrested accused wereidentified as Manik alias Siva,32, and Amarnath, 33.

“On Sunday, the two wentto a beauty parlor and posedas reporters from vernacularnewspapers and asked themfor documents. They thenasked the managers to pay Rs30,000 per month and Rs10,000 as an advance bythreatening that they wouldwrite articles against theirestablishment," said police.Following a complaint, a casewas booked and the arrestswere made on Monday.

Police arrest 2fake reporters

Two get 10 yrs RI for murder of man Man gets 4 years in jail for kidnap

Over 15K potholes repaired

Movie artiste injured in attack at KBR Park

04HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

PNS n SIDDIPET

Praising the decision of theCentral government to amendlaws of the land to suit thedemand of the situation, theLok Satta Telangana presidentTummanapalli Srinivasdescribed that the UnionHome Minister Amit Shahtaking part in the SouthernZonal Council meeting held atTirupati recently as a welcomestep and he also welcomedHome Minister inviting sugges-tions to amend the IndianPenal Code, Evidence Act, andCriminal Procedure Code.

Expressing concern over dif-ference injustice done to thehaves and have-nots, Srinivassaid that it should not beallowed to happen henceforth.He wanted the state and cen-tral governments to wake upand tighten their belts to pro-vide lawful governance before

people started hating thegovernments. Responding toAmit Shah’s appeal, he wantedthe legal experts, people’s orga-nizations, and advocates’ asso-ciations should tender theiradvice, suggestions to

reform the functioning ofjudicial, police, and revenuedepartments.

He said that the Lok Sattawould write a letter to theCentre on the much-neededjudicial and police reforms.Sunday’s meeting failed tobring to the notice of the meet-ing convened by Amit Shah thestates’ bifurcation issues, paddyprocurement, delineation ofAssembly constituencies, irri-gation, Mahila University,pending railway projects, andother relevant issues. Lok Sattaleaders Singirala Kanakaiah,Rajesham, Prakash, Zaheer,and others were present at thepress meet.

Amendments to IPC, CrPC,Evidence Act welcomed

PNS n NIZAMABAD

The Election Commissionwill issue notification for theMLC elections on Tuesdayand nominations will bereceived upto November 23.

The district officials havemade arrangements for thesame collectorate, accordingto District Collector NarayanaReddy. Earlier the Congress,TRS, and the BJP contestedthe MLC elections. Similarly,this time also they are goingto contest the polls to theUpper House, he said.

The model code of conducthas been in vogue in the dis-trict. Contestants shouldadhere to the code withoutfail. Accordingly, they should

seek permission for holdingmeetings, the district collec-tor said ruling out permissionto the rallies. Nominationswill be received from Nov 16to 23. Their scrutiny takesplace on Nov 24. The last datefor withdrawal of nomina-tions is November 26.

The polling would be heldon December 10 and count-ing of votes takes place onDec 14. The election processwil l be completed byDecember 16. Polling takesplace from 8 am to 4 pm onDecember 10. Six pollingcenters have been set up inthree divisions of the undivid-ed Nizamabad district andthree in the Kamareddy dis-trict.

As per the existing voters’list, ZPTCs, MPTCs, munic-ipal councilors, and munici-pal corporators are eligible tovote. In fact, there are 824 vot-ers. Meetings should be heldwith prior intimation with200 people in the indoormeetings and 1000 people inthe outdoor meetings.

Flying squads, check postsand committees have beenconstituted to enforce themodel code of conduct in afoolproof manner. In the by-elections caused due to thedeath of MLC Dr. BhupatiReddy, TRS candidateKalvakuntla Kavita wasdeclared elected defeating hernearest BJ: rival LakshmiNarayana.

Notification for MLC polls todayThree-cornered contest predicted

PNS nMULUGU

District Collector KrishnaAditya has asked the medicaland health department author-ities to work to earn the trustof the people to undergo insti-tutional deliveries in govern-ment hospitals.

Addressing the DMHOAppayya, Mulugu Area hospi-tal authorities, YeturunagaramCommunity Health Centresuperintendent, ChildImmunisation Officer, leprosyand TB control officer, medicalofficials of the PHCs at collec-torate on Monday, he appreci-ated the government medicalofficers’ services to the peopleof Mulugu district to providebetter medical services to them.

He asked them to ensure thatthe regular, contract, and out-sourced personnel get their

salaries regularly withoutany pendency. Similarly, ASHAworkers should be provided anhonorarium without fail. Heasked them to furnish him withonline data of released fundsand the extent of funds expend-

ed.He enquired medical and

health authorities whether theyare marking the attendance ofemployees online in the atten-dance application or not.

Whether the employees areapplying for leave throughDDO online or not, heenquired. If anyone is found toabstain from duties withoutapplying for leave, he threatenedto take action against the med-ical officer and staff members,found absent from PHCs, dur-ing his field visit to the PHCs.

He asked senior assistants tofurnish details of funds releasedto the PHCs scheme-wise indi-

cating the opening and closingbalance.

officials to register in the ser-vice register of employees rel-evant data, to maintain themedical equipment stock reg-ister and told the officials tofurnish him with details ofvacancies in each PHC. Heasked pharmacists to maintainbuffer stocks of medicines fortwo months for various dis-eases. The availability of med-icines should be recorded in therelevant stock register. In the e-Aushadhi portal, OP modulesshould be posted.

He sought submission ofprogramme-wise rankings forperformance for each healthsub-center and furnish detailsof the repairs undertaken tohospital buildings. DMHO Dr.Venkateswarlu, Mulugu AreaHospital SuperintendentJagadeeshwar, DCHS DrJohnson, Yeturunagaram CHCsuperintendent Dr. SureshKumar, Child HealthImmunisation Officer Dr.Shyam Sundar took part in themeeting.

Earn the trust of people to undergo

deliveries in govt hospitals

PNS n WARANGAL

Rumors spread over about theragging incident that tookplace in Kakatiya MedicalCollege(KMC) in the late-night on Sunday.

A student from the KMCtweeted the ragging incident.Noticing the tweet, Mattewadapolice visited the KMC campuson Monday morning andenquired with the students.Several hostels students did notcome forward to reveal the rag-ging incident on Sunday night.Speaking to the media,Mattewada Inspector T Ganeshstated that we thoroughlyexamined the hostel premises,interacted with the thrid yearand fourth-year students. Wetried to trace the tweeted stu-dent number and their where-abouts.

However, particular studentdetails are not to trace out. Allthe hostellers stated that therewas a freshers' meeting held on

Monday, but there is nosuch(ragging) incident wenever saw, said Ganesh.

Knowing the tweet onTwitter, a central team fromHyderabad visited the KMCafter through examining theyconcluded no such raggingincident took place in theKMC Campus In view of theprevious incidents, the centralteam camped at KakatiyaMedical College(KMC) cam-pus and monitored the move-ment of the students.

KMC Principal Dr. DMohan Das stated that third-year students are busy withfresh party arrangements onthe campus, the third-year stu-dent was holding a birthdayparty on the campus, the stu-dents converted into ragging.There is no ragging reportedon the campus.

However, the committee isappointed for inquiry on theragging incident on the cam-pus. Based on the inquiry

report action would be takenagainst students.

The false information tweetis posted on Twitter and taggedto Prime Minister to LocalInspector, the person hasdetailed a Twitter account weregistered a case in CyberCrime to trace out the personwho posted false information,said Das.

According to Twitter, "thestudent named as Reddy tweet-ed that 50 students from thefourth year (internship) wereragged the first-year studentsin boozing condition wereforcibly consumed alcohol withfirst-year students", the studenttagged tweet to Prime Ministerto Local Inspector as theirposition.

Ragging rumors in KMC cause tension

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana RealtorsAssociation (TRA) has allegedthat the government hadlaunched the Dharani portalwithout identifying the prob-lems of lands and had handedover the responsibility of run-ning the portal to an incapablesoftware company.

The TRA also alleged thatthe government had entrustedkey responsibilities to IAS offi-cers who have no knowledgeabout land issues.

In a statement issued onMonday, Telangana RealtorsAssociation presidentNaragoni Praveen Kumar saidthe government had failed toseparate government and pri-vate lands even though theDharani portal was launched14 months ago.

He said the government hadbeen troubling lakhs of farm-ers by blocking their lands.

Praveen said that lakhs ofacres had been entered in theDharani portal in the name of

‘Sri’ and asked the governmentto explain to whom thoselands were given.

There is no mechanism withofficials to solve problems likethe recording of less area undersome survey numbers andmore area under some othersurvey numbers.

He asked the governmentwhy it was celebrating the firstbirthday of the Dharani portalby cutting cakes when farmerswere having a lot of problemswith the portal.

Praveen alleged that farmerswere not receiving the fruits ofwelfare as the government is

showing the land which hasnot yet been converted Nala asnon-agriculture land.

There is no facility to passon legal rights to heirs due tovarious reasons although theyhave title deed (patta) pass-books and full ownershiprights.

The TRA president said thatit is not proper for the govern-ment to publicize that Dharanihad bagged 10 lakh slot book-ings and good revenue. Heasked the government to con-duct a comprehensive landsurvey to prepare error-freeland records.

Dharani portal being managedby an incompetent company : TRA

PNS n NIZAMABAD

As a part of River Coo rdina-tions and Ama lgamations,the comprehensive reportwould be handed over to theCentre at the earliest ..theGRBC chief .Chandra ShekarAyyar said.

On visiting the Sri RamSagar Project today Monday,The River Board Chairman,Ayyar told the Press todaythat the Rivers andTributaries built across theGodavari he felt its necessaryto send the ComprehensiveReport on the Rivers inSouth India that Flow fromNorth.

He said the Center is ask-ing the River Board to collecta report on Rivers.

In view of this programSchedule, the Chairmandrew reports on SindoorProject, Nizam Sagar builtacross Manjeera, Gupta, AliSagar on Sunday andChoutpally Hanmanth ReddyLift Irrigation Project.

As a part of KakatiyaCanal, Saraswathi, Laxmi inFlow Flood Canal,theChairman with an Outlook,went round the Rivers,Streams, and several in FlowFlood Canals and the DPRDetailed Project Reportwould be submitted to theCenter soon. The Boardmembers accompanied werePS Kutiyal, EEC Padmini,K.Sudhaker, CE Jagityal,SRSP Circle Madhu SudhanRao, CE Nizamabad.

Report on Godavari River to be sent to Centre soon:GRBC

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana KisanCongress has alleged thatpaddy procurement is beingcarried out on a dull note inthe constituencies of CivilSupplies Minister GangulaKamalakar and AgricultureMinister Singireddy NiranjanReddy.

The TRS government hasweakened the procurementsystem in the State, the KisanCongress alleged, and askedwhen it will procure onecrore quintals of paddy if thegovernment has procuredonly 7.70 lakh quintals inone month.

Speaking to the mediaalong with leaders Sudhir

Reddy and Marri NarsimhaReddy, Kisan Congress statepresident Anvesh Reddy saidthe inefficiency of the gov-ernment in procuring paddyduring the Kharif season hasbeen exposed.

The TRS government hasbeen stating that farmerscultivated 62 lakh acres, butthe government didn’t havedetails of the number of var-ious crops and their yieldingtime. The problems are dueto the lack of a plan forprocuring paddy, he alleged.

Anvesh Reddy said thatthere is an unjustifiable delayin paying money to farmersand at some places farmersare not receiving money evenafter 25 days. The govern-

ment paid only Rs 43 croreinstead of Rs 1,509 crore, headded.

He said that millers havestarted looting farmers in thename of wastage. The pro-curement officials are nottaking the paddy producedby tenant farmers.

They are asking for landdocuments, he alleged, stat-ing that the Kisan Congresswill stand by farmers if pro-curement officials troubletenant farmers.

He demanded that thegovernment should see thatfarmers were not subjectedto looting by millers. Heasked the government to paymoney as per ‘Thukam Patti.’

The government has been

est imating that farmerswould cultivate paddy on 50lakh acres in the Rabi season.The government has beenstating that farmers shouldnot cultivate paddy duringRabi. But it has not suggest-ed what farmers should cul-tivate, he pointed out.AnveshReddy said that other cropscannot be cultivated on landswhere paddy is being culti-vated. The procurement ofparboiled rice issue is aminor issue, but the Stateand Central governments arenot able to suggest a solutionto it.

The farmers are confuseddue to the lack of an agricul-ture policy in the State, headded

Paddy procurement on dull noteWhen will the 1 cr quintal target complete, questions Kisan Congress

PNS n NIZAMABAD

A student of Intermediate sec-ond year jumped from themain campus building ofKakatiya College and commit-ted suicide on Monday.He wasidentified as Sai Kiran, a residentof Padakal village of JakranpalliMan dal. According to the col-lege management, Sai Kiranwent to the third floor of the col-lege building and jumped fromthere in the afternoon.

When he went out on ascooter, he was involved in aroad accident. When the victim’srelatives came to the college topursue the matter with him, SaiKiran apparently rushed to thetop floor of the college andleaped from there.

Fourth town SI Sandeep vis-ited the accident spot and reg-istered a case. Soon after theincident students’ union leadersBhanu Chander and Kalyanreached

PNS n JAYASHANKAR

BHUPALAPALLY

Union Transport and R andB secretary KS Srinivas Rajuasked district auth orities,addressing them throughvideo conference fro m Delhion Monday, to complete land

acquisition for the nation-al highways projects as earlyas possible.Reviewing theland acquisition with districtcollectors and national high-waysauthorities, he said thatorders were given to acquirelands for Mancherial-

Hanumakonda GreenField National Highway inJayashankar Bhupalapallydistrict.

Therefore, he wanted theofficials to complete surveyand conduct meetings togatherpublic opinion on theland acquisition and com-plete the acquisition of theland.Similarly, he asked theofficials to acquire land forthe Sironcha-Mahadevpurnationalhighway project andtake steps to complete the tollgate near Katara.

District Collector BhaveshMisra told the official thatthe greenfield highway wind-sits way for a distance of 25km through Tekumatla,Chityala, andMogullapallimandals. Surveywas conducted in 3 mandalsand identified 90 percent ofthe land tobe acquired for theproject.

He assured the officials tocomplete the land acquisi-tionfor the highway projectsoon. Similarly, he assuredthe official to take up landac-quisition for the Sironcha-Mahadevpur highway.RDOSrinivas, Collectorate landacquisition wing superinten-dent took part.

Inter studentleaps to death

PNS n NAGARKURNOOL

District Collector P UdayKumar on Monday asked theR and B officials to complete

the nursing and medicalcollege buildings by December15. Reviewing the progresswith contractors and engi-neering officials at the collec-torate along with MLA MarriJanardhan Reddy andAdditional collector ManuChowdary, he asked the offi-cials and contractors to acquirethe building material inadvance so as to complete thebuildings on time. He askedthem to deploy double thenumber of laborers at theworksite.

He asked them to submit adaily progress report and alerthim in case they stumbledupon any problem.

The additional ward con-structions in the existing hos-

pital to facilitate an increase inbed strength should be readyalong with the furniture byDecember 15.

When construction of plinthbeams has been completed,steel box pillars and ready-made tresssheets should befixed. These works should becompleted in three shifts in 24hours, he said.

Earlier receiving representa-tions from people during Praja

Vani, he asked the governmentofficials to take steps to disposeof the representations receivedfrom the people then andthere. He monitored the con-duct of Praja Vani in Mandalsby Tahsildars through webcast-ing. In all, 39 representationswere received at the Praja Vanion Monday. He spoke withTahsildars through webcastingto resolve the problems airedat Praja Vaani.

Complete Nursing, MedicalCollege buildings by Dec 15:DC

Quicken landacquisitionfor high wayprojects

PNS n HYDERABAD

TRS leaders, including RythuBandhu Samithi Chairmanand MLC Palla RajeswarReddy and MP B LingaiahYadav, on Monday lashed outat State BJP president BandiSanjay, accusing him of pro-voking farmers at IKP centresin Nalgonda district.

Addressing a media confer-ence at Telangana Bhavan herealong with MLAs GadariKishore, P Sekhar Reddy,Saidireddy and Ch Lingaiah,they alleged that while farm-ers were worried whether theyshould cultivate paddy inYasangi or the Centre wouldprocure entire paddy cultivat-ed in kharif, the BJP leadercreated unrest with his visit.

They demanded that BandiSanjay should go around theState only after making a clearstatement on paddy procure-ment in Yasangi.

Condemning the attack onfarmers allegedly by the BJPleader and his supporters,they demanded the arrest ofthose guilty. “Farmers ofTelangana would not keepquiet like their counterparts inUttar Pradesh as ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao supported them in everyway by giving water, powerand investment assistance,”the TRS leaders said.

They would fight on behalfof farmers if the Centre did

not procure paddy inTelangana as in Punjab.

The State government set up4,500 centres and purchasednine lakh tonnes of Kharifpaddy so far during this sea-son. While procurement wasgoing on smoothly at IKPcentres, the BJP leader’s visitled to clashes in which sever-al farmers were injured, theyalleged.

The BJP leaders were enact-ing dramas without givingclarity about purchase ofYasangi paddy. While theCentre asked the State not tocult ivate paddy duringYasangi, Bandi Sanjay wascontradicting his own party atthe Centre, they said.

If the BJP government hasuniform policy across thecountry, then why was it not

purchasing paddy in SouthernStates as in Northern States,

they questioned.MP Lingaiah said that

Nalgonda district was leadingin paddy procurement andfarmers in the district consid-er KCR as their God and if theBJP leaders tried to instigatepeople against KCR, then theState would see severe unrest.

MLA Saidireddy said thatother BJP leaders too wouldmeet the fate of Bandi Sanjay

if they tried to instigate farm-ers who opposed the visit ofthe BJP president.

MLA Gadari Kishore saidthat Bandi Sanjay shouldchange his functioning style atleast now and get a statementfrom Centre on procurementof Yasangi paddy. There wasno other leader with greaterconcern for farmers thanKCR, he said.

TRS leaders condemn Bandi Sanjayfor creating ‘unrest’ at IKP centres

KCR, a Ghajini, brands BandiPNS n NALGONDA

State BJP president BandiSanjay said the CM hadbecome Ghajini towards thefarmers. On Monday, he vis-ited the IKP Center inNalgonda and met the farm-ers. Speaking to reportersafterward, the BJP chief saidthe CM was misleading thefarmers asking them to plantcotton and grain once and notagain. He said the farmerswere injured in TRS partyactivists' attacks.

He added that, althoughwe were scheduled to comehere in advance, the policeallegedly failed to quell theclashes. Bandi Sanjay askedthe Telangana governmentwhy you can't start buying.

He said the Center hadincreased the support pricefrom Rs 1,800 to Rs 1960 in

the past. He said TRS plays todivert the attention of farm-ers and create a problem ofpeace and security.

All the states are givingmoney within 48 hours afterthe sale of paddy. And the CMasked what you are doing.

He said he was ready for astone-throwing attack for thefarmers and ready for sacri-fices

The TRSleaders allegedthat whilefarmers wereworried whetherthey shouldcultivate paddyin Yasangi orthe Centrewould procureentire paddycultivated inkharif, the BJPleader createdunrest with hisvisit.

nation 05HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

IND

IA C

OR

NE

R

An idol of goddess Annapurna brought back from Canada after 108 years was installedat the Kashi Vishwanath temple here on Monday in a ceremony attended by UttarPradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Idols of five other deities removed during the

reconstruction of the temple were also installed. The idol of the goddess was taken to thetemple in a silver palanquin, shouldered by Adityanath. The procession started from theKushmanda temple in Durgakund inthe morning. It was installed in thenorth-east corner of the temple amidchanting of hymns. The chief ministerhad arrived here on a two-day visit onSunday night. He inspected thecleaning and repair of the Shahi drainon the Lahurabir-Maidagin road late inthe night and ordered to complete thework on a war footing. Adityanath alsotook stock of the construction of theKashi Vishwanath temple corridor afterpaying obeisance at the temple.

India's first Food Museum opens in Thanjavur

Union Minister for Commerce, Industry, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal onMonday virtually launched India's first Food Museum here and said measures were on tomake the country go up the ladder from currently being the fifth largest agricultural exporter

in the world. Highlighting the importance of focussing on quality and productivity in taking thefarmers' produce to the world to become a global supplier, the Minister said "we are already the5th largest agricultural exporter in the worldand we are aspiring for more." "By adoptingglobal best practices, we will improve ourprocesses, bring about system changes,reduce our unnecessary expenditure andbenefit our farmers and consumers," Goyalsaid after launching the museum virtuallyfrom Delhi. The world today looks upon thecountry as a trusted partner, he said andadded, "we will continue to work towardsAatmanirbhar Bharat. In this mission, thegovernment is working towards realising theimage of strong and self-reliant farmers."

Kashmir reels under sub-zerotemperatures

Kashmir continued to reel under sub-zero night temperatures as the mercury settled onthe freezing point in Srinagar late on Sunday, officials said. Several areas in Kashmirwere engulfed by a layer of fog on Monday morning as the mercury went below the

freezing point, they added. Srinagar recorded a low of zero degree Celsius -- up from minus0.9 degrees Celsius the previous night. The officials said Pahalgam, which serves as the basecamp for the annual Amarnath Yatra,recorded a low of minus 4 degreesCelsius, the coldest in Kashmir. Gulmargin north Kashmir's Baramulla districtrecorded a minimum temperature ofminus 1.6 degrees Celsius. The mercuryat Kupwara in north Kashmir too settledat a low of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius.Qazigund, the gateway town to the val-ley, recorded a minimum temperature ofminus 1.2 degrees Celsius, whileKokernag town in the south recorded alow of 0.4 degrees Celsius.

PNS n KOLKATA

The TMC on Monday hintedthat the winter session ofParliament is set to be a stormyone, as opposition partieswould do all that it takes "tostop India from turning into anelected autocracy".

The Cabinet Committee onParliament Affairs has recom-mended that the winter sessionbe held from November 29 toDecember 23, according tosources.

Taking to Twitter, TMCRajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said, "Two brazenOrdinances extend ED andCBI Director terms from2ParrotParrot to 5 yearsParrotParrotParrotParrotParrot #Parliament Winter Sessionbegins two weeks from now. Berest assured, Opposition partieswill do all it takes to stop Indiafrom turning into an electedautocracy.”

The party, during theupcoming session, is likely to

raise matters such as theCentre's move to bring ordi-nances to extend the tenure ofCBI and ED directors up to fiveyears.

It may also bring up issuesof inflation, farmers' protestand enhancement of BSF juris-diction.

TMC's Lok Sabha leader

Sudip Bandopadhyay sought toknow why the Centre had topush ordinances when thewinter session was in the off-ing.

"What was the hurry whenthe winter session ofParliament is likely to beginnext week? It (tenure extensionof CBI, ED directors) could

have been discussed inParliament. We will raise thematter in the Parliament. Manyissues need to be discussed," hetold PTI.

Another senior TMC leadersaid on condition of anonymi-ty that the floor coordinationstrategy with other opposi-tion camps will be taken up fordiscussion during a party meet.

"The Pegasus row will alsobe raised in Parliament. Thegovernment can't evade dia-logue on this issue. But ourstrategy will be decided duringa meeting chaired by our partysupremo and parliamentaryparty chairperson MamataBanerjee next week. During themeeting, the floor coordinationstrategies with other oppositionparties will also be discussed,"he explained.

The TMC, after its stunningvictory in the West Bengalassembly elections earlier thisyear, is trying to cobble up anopposition unity with an eyeon 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

TMC hints winter session of Parliament to be stromy PNS n BHOPAL

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday targeted theCongress-led regimes in thecountry for “ignoring” thewelfare of tribals, addingefforts are underway to ensuredevelopment of regions whichremained backward duringthe "previous" regimes.

“Tribals were not given theirdues by the earlier govern-ments and were deprived ofbasic facilities,” Modi said,addressing the JanjatiyaGaurav Diwas celebrationshere.

The Central government iscelebrating November 15, thebirth anniversary of reveredtribal icon Birsa Munda asJanjatiya Gaurav Diwas.

“Like Ambedkar Jayanti,Gandhi Jayanti and other sim-ilar days, the jayanti (birthanniversary) of Bhagwan BirsaMunda will be celebrated everyyear on November 15,” Modisaid.

Development is now takingplace in 100 aspirational dis-tricts which remained back-

ward during the earlier(Congress) regimes, Modi said.

Modi launched multiple ini-tiatives for the welfare of thejanjatiya community, includingthe ‘Ration Aapke Gram'scheme in Madhya Pradesh.

The scheme is aimed atdelivering the monthly quotaof PDS Ration to beneficiariesfrom janjatiya community intheir own villages everymonth, so that they don't haveto travel to the Fair Price Shopto collect their ration.

Modi also handed overgenetic counselling cards tobeneficiaries, marking thelaunch of the Madhya PradeshSickle Cell

(Hemoglobinopathy) Mission.The Mission has been devel-

oped to screen and managepatients suffering from sicklecell anaemia, thalassemia andother hemoglobinopathies andto increase public awarenessabout these diseases, whoseimpact is seen to be more pro-found on the janjatiya commu-nity of Madhya Pradesh.

The PM laid the foundationstone of 50 Eklavya ModelResidential Schools across var-ious states and UTs includingAndhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Odisha, Tripuraand Dadra & Nagar Haveli andDaman & Diu.

Modi targets Congress-ledregimes over plight of tribals

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre is likely to allowconducting post-mortem aftersunset in hospitals with prop-er infrastructure, except forcases of homicide, suicide,rape, decomposed bodies andsuspected foul play, sourcessaid.

The aim is also to push forpost-mortem for organ dona-tion even after sundown if ade-quate infrastructure is avail-able, they said.

The issue of conductingpost-mortem after sunsetwas examined by a technicalcommittee in the DirectorateGeneral of Health Servicesunder the Union Ministry ofHealth recently, a sourcesaid.

Autopsy likely to be allowedafter sunset withproper infra

PNS n NEW DELHI

The number of Indians study-ing in the United Statesdecreased by nearly 13 per centin 2020-21 as compared to theprevious academic year,according to an annual reportreleased by the Institute ofInternational Education onMonday, with US officialsattributing the drop in num-bers to the impact of the coro-navirus pandemic.

However, the US remains a"top destination" for interna-tional students, and Indianstudents still constitute thesecond largest group of inter-national students in the US

after those from China, accord-ing to the 2021 Open DoorsReport.

Senior officials of the USEmbassy in New Delhi onMonday shared some of thedetails from the report at apress conference held at theFulbright House here, and alsotold reporters that "over 62,000student visas were issued thissummer alone, more than inany previous year".

The figures on student visasindicate that the "downturn" innumber of Indians studying inthe US, was a "Covid blip", andthat the "overall trendline hasbeen generally positive", saidAnthony Miranda, Counselor

for Cultural and EducationalAffairs at the US Embassy.

He spoke about the globalimpact of the COVID-19 pan-demic on education and stu-dent mobility, and that the US

too suffered its impact with adrop in the number of interna-tional students studying in theUS.

The number of Indiansstudying in the US decreasedby about 13 per cent in 2020-21 vis-a-vis the previous acad-emic year, while in reference tothe same period, the overalldecrease in number of interna-tional students in the US wasabout 15 per cent, Mirandasaid, citing the report.

He asserted that nothwith-standing the impact of thepandemic, "the US remains atop destination for internation-al students, welcoming over914,000 international students

from over 200 places of origin,"citing the report.

Indian students comprisednearly 20 per cent of this num-ber, with 1,67,582 students inthe 2020-2021 academic year,according to the 2021 OpenDoors Report, the US Embassysaid in a statement.

The annual report is pub-lished by the Institute ofInternational Education (IIE),in partnership with the USDepartment of State's Bureauof Educational and CulturalAffairs. It is the comprehensiveinformation resource on inter-national students and scholarsin the US, and American stu-dents abroad.

Number of Indians studying in US dropped by 13%Cruise drugs case: Sam D'Souzaappears before Mum Police SITPNS n MUMBAI

Sam D'Souza, whose namehad cropped up in connectionwith the pay-off allegationssurrounding the drugs-on-cruise case, appeared before theMumbai Police's SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) onMonday, an official said.

Bollywood superstar ShahRukh Khan's son Aryan Khanwas arrested last month by theNarcotics Control Bureau(NCB) after it raided the cruiseship and claimed to have seizeddrugs onboard. Aryan Khan

was later granted bail by theBombay High Court.

Independent witnessPrabhakar Sail last monthclaimed that he had overheardNCB witness K P Gosavi dis-cussing a pay-off deal of Rs 25crore with D'Souza over phoneafter Aryan Khan was arrestedby the NCB.

The Mumbai Police laterconstituted a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) toprobe the allegations of extor-tion against NCB officials inconnection with the case.

On Monday, D'Souza

reached the SIT's office insouth Mumbai along with hislawyer Pankaj Jadhav at around12.45 pm to record his state-ment, a police official said.

The NCB's vigilance team,which is also probing the pay-off allegations in the cruisedrugs case, has already record-ed D'Souza's statement.

Earlier, D'Souza in his pre-arrest bail plea, filed before theBombay High Court, claimedthat Gosavi had taken Rs 50lakh from Shah Rukh Khan'smanager Pooja Dadlani to getAryan Khan released.

Transfer of Madras HC CJ snowballs into controversyPNS n CHENNAI

The Supreme Court col-legium's proposal transfer-ring Madras High Court ChiefJustice Sanjib Banerjee toMeghalaya has snowballedinto a controversy with voic-es for and against the shiftingof the senior judge.

The Collegium had earlierrecommended for the transferof Chief Justice SanjibBanerjee to the MeghalayaHigh Court.The collegium,headed by Chief Justice ofIndia N V Ramana, in itsmeeting held on September16, had also recommended forthe transfer of JusticeMunishwar Nath Bhandari ofthe Allahabad High Court tothe Madras High Court.

Two major lawyers' bodieshere-- the Madras High CourtAdvocates Association

(MHAA), the largest one witha membership of over 20,000advocates and the MadrasBar Association, an elite groupof advocates -- have joined thechorus and passed resolu-tions protesting against theproposal to shift the CJ.

Over 30 senior advocates ofthe High Court have alsojoined those protesting againstthe transfer.

This follows over 200 advo-cates writing to the CJI andthe collegium last week,protesting against ChiefJustice Sanjib Banerjee's trans-fer to Meghalaya High Courtand seeking to reconsider theproposal. While so, there werevoices in support of the trans-fer as well. Advocate R C PaulKanakaraj, former president ofthe MHAA and the chief ofBJP Legal Wing, alleged theissue was being politicised.

Delhi govt ready to imposelockdown to curb pollutionPNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi government hasinformed the Supreme Courtthat it is ready to take steps likecomplete lockdown to controlpollution if it is mandated forthe entire NCR area.

"GNCTD (Government ofNational Capital Territory ofDelhi) is ready to take stepslike complete lockdown tocontrol the local emissions.However, such a step would bemeaningful if it is implement-ed across the NCR areas inneighbouring states. GivenDelhi's compactsize, a lockdownwould have lim-ited impact onthe air qualityregime," theDelhi govern-ment said in anaffidavit.

"This issuewould need tobe addressed at the level of air-shed involving NCR areas. Inview of the above, we areready to consider this step ifthe same is mandated for theentire NCR areas by the gov-ernment of India or by theCommission for Air QualityManagement in NationalCapital Region and adjoiningareas," it said.

The affidavit was submittedin response to a plea filed byenvironmental activist AdityaDubey and law student AmanBanka, who sought directionsto provide stubble-removingmachines to small and mar-

ginal farmers for free.The Delhi government

apprised the top court thatkeeping in view the deteriorat-ing ambient air quality allSchools, Colleges, Educationaland Coaching Institutes, SkillDevelopment & TrainingInstitutes, Other TrainingInstitutes, Libraries (exceptwhere exams are being con-ducted) have been closed tillNovember 20, 2021.

"All private offices, estab-lishments are advised to allowtheir staff to work from home,so as to ensure least vehicular

movement on theroads till November17, 2021, the Delhigovernment said.

The AAP govern-ment also told thetop court that all pri-vate offices andestablishments havebeen advised toallow their staff to

work from home, so as toensure least vehicular move-ment on the roads tillNovember 17, 2021.

It submitted that over thepast several years, the AirQuality Index does not go into 'severe' category fromFebruary till September.

"In fact, October, 2021 hasbeen the cleanest month in thelast six years with better airquality and no severe dayswere witnessed and also sawless stubble burning incidentsin Punjab and Haryana aver-aging around 675 incidentsper day.

Idol brought back from Canada after108 years installed at Varanasi shrine

PNS n NARAYANAPUR

A Naxal commander was killedin an encounter with securitypersonnel in Chhattisgarh'sNarayanpur district on Monday,a senior police official said.

The gunfight took place ataround 11.30 am in the forest ofBahker under Chhotedongarpolice station limits when ateam of the District ReserveGuard (DRG) was out on anarea domination operation,Narayanpur Superintendent ofPolice Girija Shankar Jaiswalsaid.

When the patrolling team wascordoning off the forest inBahker, located over 300 kmfrom the state capital Raipur, agroup of Naxals, positioned ona hill, opened fire at the securi-

ty personnel leading to the gun-fight, he said.

However, the ultras soon fledthe spot on finding the securi-ty personnel zeroing-in on them,he said.

"During a search of theencounter site, the body of aNaxal clad in 'uniform' wasrecovered along with an AK-47rifle," the official said.

The slain rebel has been iden-tified as Saket, commander ofthe outlawed Peoples' LiberationGuerilla Army (PLGA) compa-ny no. 6 of the Maoists, he said.

Narayanpur shares the borderwith Gadchiroli district in neigh-bouring Maharashtra, where 26Naxals, including top rebelleader Milind Teltumbde, werekilled in an encounter withpolice on Saturday.

PNS n ITANAGAR

Two days after five Assam Riflespersonnel, including a colonel-rank officer, were killed in ambushin Manipur, soldiers of the para-military force on Monday shotdead three militants of NationalSocialist Council of Nagaland(Khaplang), a separatist organisa-tion, in a remote part of ArunachalPradesh's Longding district.The rebels were gunned down byAssam Rifles (AR) at KhoglaVillage in Wakka Circle of the dis-trict around 8 am, LongdingDeputy Commissioner Bani Lego

stated. One AR jawan was report-edly injured in the incident, hesaid. A team of district police offi-cers later visited the village, locat-ed along the country's borderwith Myanmar, to collect the bod-ies and sent them for post-mortem, the DC said. The slainultras are yet to be identified, hesaid, adding that more details areawaited. On Saturday, a com-manding officer of the AssamRifles, his wife and son, alongwith four other personnel of theforce, lost their lives in an ambushby militants in Churachandpurdistrict of Manipur.

Naxal commander killed in encounter 3 NSCN-K rebels shot deadby Assam Rifles in Arunachal

Six boys accused of rape run awayfrom reform homePNS n INDORE

Six boys have run away froma reform home in MadhyaPradesh's Indore district,police said on Monday.

Six juveniles, charged withrape and other seriousoffences, escaped after break-ing the window of the BoysCorrectional Home in HiraNagar area on Saturdaynight, City Superintendent ofPolice (CSP) Nihit Upadhyaysaid.

They hailed from Indore,Barwani, Dewas andKhandwa districts, he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress demanded a"white paper" from both theCentre and the Delhi govern-ment on Monday on the stepstaken by them to tackle pollu-tion in the national capital andsaid they should be heldaccountable for playing with thehealth of people.

Talking to reporters here,Congress spokesperson JaiveerShergill accused both theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) andthe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ofindulging in a blame game andwasting the taxpayers' money on"hollow" advertisements.

The Congress is holding talks for a prospective alliance with theNCP, Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the MaharashtrawadiGomantak Party (MGP) for the Goa Assembly elections, due early

next year, a Congress office-bearer said on Monday. AICC Goa deskincharge Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters that all these parties are ofthe view that Goa needs to be rid of a "corrupt and communal"government led by BJP. "The main aim of this alliance, if itmaterialises, will be to give a stable government in Goa for five years,"he said. The polls are due in Goa in February next year. The GFP andthe MGP had been part of the BJP-led government for some time inthe last five years. Underlining Congress' strategy for the elections,Rao said his party is open for a tie-up with the people whounderstand Goa, belong to the soil and understand the Goan cultureand community.

Cong discussing tie-up withNCP, MGP, GFP for 2022 polls

Cong demands ‘white paper' from BJP,AAP on steps taken to tackle pollution

sile defence systems like theSaudi-procured Patriot batter-ies had come a cropper againstthe crude drone attacks fired byYemen’s Houthi rebels in 2019.Even the subsequent expo-sure of the much-bandiedIsrael’s Iron Dome interceptorsin the Israeli-Hamas war result-ed in 60-odd Hamas rocketspiercing through the Israeli airdefence system. Such demon-strated gaps in the supposed-ly ‘cutting edge’ and existingmissile defence systems put thethreat of the Chinese hyperson-ic capability in another realm,even if the Chinese trial mis-sile is believed to have missedthe target by 24 miles.

Some naysayers havedownplayed the Chinese alarmby pointing to the possibleattempts by the Pentagon andthe all-powerful arms industryto drum up the critical politi-cal rhetoric and warmongeringtowards finances for the esti-mated $1.3 trillion investmentin ‘nuclear modernisation’ of itsentire base of the nuclear ‘triad’.Aiding this plausible view is therecent Biden commitmenttowards defending Taiwan mil-itarily, signing AUKUS (a secu-rity pact among the US, UKand Australia) and puntingsubstantially on the sensitivemicrochip industry to stayahead of the Chinese on thetechnological front. In times ofoverall economic hardship(COVID crisis, ironically orig-

inating from China), parallelallusion to a grave Cold Warmoment to frame a compellingand bipartisan national argu-ment in favour of strengthen-ing the military wherewithal ispolitically kosher.

Irrespective of the suitabil-ity of the expression, the factremains that while the US toohas been working on hyperson-ic technology, it has yet to con-duct a hypersonic weaponstest. True to their patent play-book of deflection, the Chinesehave rubbished news of‘weaponising’ the technologyand, instead, attributed thesame towards a re-useablespace vehicle for “peaceful pur-poses”. This convenient tactaffords the Chinese to rebuffany calls towards nuclear armscontrol until the last moment,by when the die is cast inBeijing’s favour. The unofficialChinese mouthpiece, GlobalTimes, worded its ostensibleclarification while still retainingthe spectre of threat in itsphraseology: “It is Washingtonthat has gone hysterical inviewing China. Granted, the UShas enough nuclear weapons todestroy the planet several timesover, but China has sufficientcountermeasures to make itsrivals fear and think twicebefore launching a strike againstChina. This is the goal ofChina’s defence strategy that theUS does not understand.”

Such weapons and tech-

nology add to the ‘destabilising’quotient of the Chinese imper-atives that can be masked inunrelated socio-economic-diplomatic manoeuvres that areusually deployed in adjunct tothe military footprint. Oddly,the reverse-engineering ofAmerican technology hasplayed a considerable role indeveloping platforms like theChinese hypersonic missilesprogramme, which the seminalFinancial Times article (whichbroke the news first) describedas “far more advanced than theUS officials realised”, addingthat “the test raised new ques-tions about why the US oftenunderestimated China’s mili-tary modernisation”.

Meanwhile, back home,the Indian leadership is con-tent with obfuscations,whataboutery, mealy-mouthed statements and polit-ical bombast to downplay theChinese threat. The reality ofthe Chinese capabilities isstaring at the world, and it callsfor an honest, detailed andthorough recognition of thethreat perceptions with duepreparation for countermea-sures. The professional andrealistic assessment of a‘Sputnik Moment’ by a USGeneral is one such lesson.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governorof Andaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

THE GOVT MUST PROVE ITS INTENTIONSSir — While allegations are made by theOpposition parties that constitutionalbodies like the CBI, ED and IT are mis-used by the ruling dispensation to tar-get opponents and others who don’t toetheir line of thinking, the Governmenthas given enough credence to the saidallegations by promulgating two ordi-nances on Sunday to extend the termsof the chiefs of the ED and CBI up to fiveyears from the earlier mandatory twoyear tenure for such positions. It is saidthat the Centre has enacted the ordi-nances to beat the Supreme Court’s orderthat no more extension should be givento the incumbent Chief of the EDSanjay Kumar Mishra, after his tenurecomes to an end on November 18.

Now, if the Government wants toprove that the promulgations have beenmade only in the interest of the nation,and not to defy the verdict of the apexcourt, they have a very good opportuni-ty in hand to do so. The Governmentshould not extend the tenure of S KMishra anymore, allow him to retire onthe due date and appoint another seniorofficer with an impeccable record as thenext Chief of the ED.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

IMPART CYBER EDUCATION TO KIDSSir — What were the reasons behind therise in cyber crimes against children in2020 by over 400 per cent?. In 2019, therewere 164 reported cases against children,in 2018, the number was 117, and in 2017,79 such cases, as per NCRB data. Increaseof cyber crime against children from 2019(162) to 2020 (842) is alarming. The rea-sons behind this alarming increase isattributed to the Coronavirus pandemicwhich made it compulsory for childrento stay at home and use digital technolo-gies more than ever. The use and popu-larity of social media has already beengrowing among children, but it increasedmanifold during the COVID-inducedlockdowns. Another cause of this concerncould be the exposure to a sudden rise invirtual learning among children in india.

Since children are not very aware of

the cyber world, they are easy prey forhackers. Exposure to violence and obscen-ity, too, is an important cause.Therefore,the need to educate children onthe risks of unsafe browsing from ayoung age becomes even more important.India is picking up pace in the field of digi-tisation and the world is likely to revolvearound the internet for years to come.Therefore, safe internet browsing practicesand data privacy should be taught inschools and given equal significance.

Tarun Patidar | Ujjain

NEED TO MOVE ON FROM COAL Sir — Referring to the Glasgow climatepact, US climate envoy John Kerrymade a caustic comment that theGovernments had no choice but toaccept India’s coal language change for‘the responsible use of fossil fuels.’ In con-trast, the British Prime Minister BorisJohnson sounded optimistic when hesaid, “But today's agreement is a big stepforward and, critically, we have the firstever international agreement to phase

down coal.” At the 26th Conference ofthe Parties summit in Glasgow (COP26),Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiledthe five nectar elements, ‘Panchamrit,’which he termed an “unprecedented con-tribution of India to climate action.”

Greta Thunberg’s views apart, thecardinal question here is, can India phasedown the use of coal? As of September2021, 2.09 lakh MW of India’s 3.89 lakhMW installed generation capacity is ther-mal power, generated from burningcoal and lignite, accounting for 53.6 per-cent of the total installed capacity. Andas much as 0.60 lakh MW of thermalpower generation capacity is under con-struction in the country. India will needenormous investments to reduce itsdependence on fossil deposits buriedeternally under the earth. The fallacy ofthe Net Zero commitment by 2070appears obvious.

Haridasan Rajan | Kozhikode

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

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

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

06

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

While the US too has been working on hypersonic technology, it is yet to conduct a weapons test while the Chinese have already done it

TRUE TO THEIRPATENT PLAYBOOK

OF DEFLECTION,THE CHINESE HAVERUBBISHED NEWSOF ‘WEAPONISING’THE TECHNOLOGY

AND, INSTEAD,ATTRIBUTED THESAME TOWARDS

A RE-USEABLESPACE VEHICLE FOR ‘PEACEFUL

PURPOSES’

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

BHOPINDER SINGH

The five-time ODI World Cup winnerAustralia at last grabbed its maidenT20 World Cup as it defeated New

Zealand by eight wickets on Sunday. Boththe teams played in great spirit but theAustralians were better at the end of theday. The Kiwis added another ‘runner-up’title in their collection as they had earliertasted defeat in the 2015 and 2019 WorldCup finals as well. In cricket, it is said that

catches win matches, but in the UnitedArab Emirates, it was all about who winsthe toss and takes the right decision.Notably, out of the 24 matches played inthe last round, 19 were won by the teamchasing.

‘Man of the Match’ Mitchell Marshplayed a superb knock ably supported bythe Player of the Tournament DavidWarner and Maxwell, whereas Cummins,Hazlewood and Zampa bowled exception-ally well, though Starc had an off night. NZput up a good total, thanks to KaneWilliamsons’s knock, but their bowlerscould not deliver. Interestingly, DavidWarner quietly took a sweet revenge onWilliamson who had replaced him as thecaptain of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL2021. Hopefully, NZ would make up for itin the next WC; it is too good a team tomiss out to get to the last dance.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

Aussies win T20 World Cup in style

A ‘Sputnik Moment’,in Chinese context

On October 4, 1954, thenSoviet Union hadlaunched the first earth-orbiting satellite,

Sputnik 1, to shock the rival USAin the early days of the Cold War.This momentary setback in theensuing rivalry of sovereign com-petences birthed the term ‘SputnikMoment’ to imply the disconcert-ing technological gap betweennations, especially with an ‘enemy’nation. The motive was to acceptthe bitter reality of inequalityand galvanise the national moodtowards a common purpose andresolve to overcome the obviouslacunae. Later, Senator John Kerryused the term “New SputnikMoment” to invoke the much-needed spirit of bipartisanship onmatters concerning new energysources, education, infrastruc-ture and technology, all of whichwere falling prey to partisan chest-thumping. Former US PresidentBarack Obama was to evocative-ly posit the task of rebuilding theeconomy in the aftermath of the2007 global economic crisis as“Our Generation’s SputnikMoment”! Most recently, in arecalibrated context of the mostrelevant ‘enemy’ facing the ‘FreeWorld’, Joint Chiefs of US MilitaryStaff, General Mark Milley, likenedthe dangerous Chinese advance-ments in military technology withthe test of its hypersonic weaponssystem as “very close” to a“Sputnik Moment”.

The fact that the forewarningcame from the topmost servingGeneral of the US military makesthe latest ‘enemy’ threat bothcredible and significant. The lat-est hair-raising alarm against theChinese can be contextualised tothe time when the Sovietslaunched the Sputnik along withthe assumption that it could beplunged back into the US territo-ry without any credible deterrence— today, similar questions of theUS military’s capability to deter apotential Chinese deployment ofits hypersonic weapon loom. Theextremely provocative backdropof the ongoing Chinese belliger-ence in the Taiwan Straits, SouthChina Seas or even along theIndian border reiterates the vul-nerability felt in the Sino-warysphere. As it is, the much famedand multibillion worth of US mis-

SOUNDBITEBy pushing securityforces into civilianareas such as farming land andwedding halls, theGoI is choking public spaces.

PDP president —Mehbooba Mufti

Poverty and thetop global healthproblems areclosely connected.By improving one,

we can make progresstowards fixing the other.

Microsoft co-founder—Bill Gates

Tribals were not

given their due

by the earlier

Governments and

(they) were

deprived of basic facilities.

Prime Minister

—Narendra Modi

Everyone has to say goodbye tocricket one day. But my target is to carry on playing

until the 2023 World Cup.

Pakistan bowler —Wahab Riaz

Having lifted the 50-over World Cup five times, the Aussies are no strangersto the pinnacle of glory, though the trophy’s T20 cousin hadn’t been addedto their collection until Sunday evening, when the Kangaroos got the bet-

ter of the Kiwis in the final played in the UAE. The Aussies, always one of thestrongest title contenders across all formats, played exactly like champions. Theirrelentless chasing of targets, especially in the last few matches, showed that theywere confident and meant serious business. Though not all players were in thebest of form, somebody or the other rose to the occasion to save the day. Australialost only one of their five matches (to England), leaving in no doubt their supe-

rior skill set and brute power. That’s how formerIndian cricketer Virender Sehwag, along with oth-ers from the cricket fraternity, underlined theAustralian victory. While India took an early exitfrom the tournament (and it was not the first timewhen India’s fate was pinned on the other team,Afghanistan, in this case), the Black Caps man-aged to hang on till the finals, but in vain. Havingsaid that, they had made it to the 2015 and 2019ODI World Cup finals, too, but lost to Australia andEngland, respectively.

But the courage and sporting spirit that theKiwis bring to the field, though rarely being hailed as the “top dog”, must be applaud-ed. While New Zealand’s World Cup ambition will have to wait until 2023, its focusmust now shift to India for a three-match T20 and two-match Test series, star t-ing November 17. Now it’s time for both the teams to focus on the matches aheadwith the fighting spirit they are known for and give their best. Team India had demon-strated resilience earlier this year when it pulled off a magnificent victory fromthe jaws of defeat against England as well as Australia. The same never-say-dieattitude is needed to be brought to the table; it applies to the Kiwis as well. Ifboth teams manage to put up a good show, it would certainly be a boost for thesport, besides uplifting the morale of the players and their fans. Cricket is muchlike life, where there always are new opportunities and one must always bounceback. One win will not make you invincible and one defeat will not define you.And, it is not over even after it’s ‘over’.

It’s once again the same drama that Delhiites have witnessed year after year: TheSupreme Court upbraiding the authorities — both the State Governments and theCentre — over the toxic smog that clouds the national Capital’s skyline throughout

the winter. Just as the city was returning to normal after battling months of the COVID-19 scourge, the pollution menace has once again unsettled it. Those suffering fromlung-related issues are forced to shut themselves up and live under dread. The restgo about the business, huffing and puffing, disregarding the looming toxic threat. Theyhave few options. Life has to go on. People have to earn their livelihood. The city can’tbe brought to a grinding halt. The horror of the lockdown is still fresh in the mind ofmillions of those who suffered the most. It’s a matter of shame and measure of theinsensitivity of the authorities that the Supreme Court has to step in to remind them

that the situation was perilous and that life cannotgo on like this. The court has also set the record rightby asking the authorities not to seek scapegoats infarmers, pointing out that only four per cent of theair pollution is attributed to stubble burning. Pointingthis out, Justice Surya Kant said on Monday duringthe SC hearing: “The cat is out of the bag. Farmersare blamed needlessly.” The court identified facto-ries, transportation and road dust as major contribut-ing factors other than stubble burning.

In its order today, the cour t said: “TheGovernment has not indicated precisely what are the

steps they are taking to control these (industrial pollution and pollution due to trans-portation, dust and stubble burning). We direct the Central Government to hold anemergency meeting tomorrow…and what are the steps they can take.” On stubbleburning, the court said: “While it’s not the major cause...there is a lot of stubble burn-ing in Punjab and Haryana. We request the State Governments to pursue farmers tostop the burning for a week... Punjab and Haryana should hold these meetings.” Everytime the Supreme Court has tried to nudge the authorities on some important issues,the refrain is the same: Please don’t get into the domain of governance. But what shouldthe court do if the Centre does not even convene a meeting of the States around Delhiwhich must be brought on board to tackle the pollution menace. After all, Delhi is notan island. The SC has rightfully directed the Centre to hold a meeting of Delhi, Punjaband Haryana to work out a comprehensive plan to deal with the situation. It’s timethe SC sets up a permanent committee headed by a retired Judge to monitor roundthe year the steps required to prevent the visitation of the annual menace. Going bythe experiences of the past, the authorities are prone to sliding back into the “sleep”mode once the air quality level shows even the slightest improvement.

When breathing kills

Die hardThe T20 final was unfavourable, but Kiwis will

do well to keep their fighting spirit alive in India

PICTALK

Devotees pray on the banks of the Yamuna on the occasion of ‘Dev Uthani Ekadashi', in Prayagraj PTI

The SC is forced to remind the Govts that toxic smog is taking a toll on the citizenry

The teaser ofPrithviraj capturesthe essence of thelife of the legendarywarrior SamratPrithviraj Chauhan.

Actor —Akshay Kumar

Tax cuts alone won’thelp rein in oil prices

THERE ARE SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS REGARDING

THE CREDIBILITY OF SUCH AWARDS. SEEMS LIKE

EVERYONE WHO APPLIES GETS THE AWARD.

—BJP LEADER

SUVENDU ADHIKARI

OUR TOURISM DEPARTMENT HAS RECEIVED THE

SKOCH GOLD AWARD FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL

PERFORMANCE DURING COVID-19.

—WEST BENGAL CHIEF MINISTER

MAMATA BANERJEE

Given the fast pace of vaccination and substantially diminished effect ofCOVID-19, the GDP is expected to register growth close to 10 per cent

Closing the two-week COP26 climate summit in Glasgow onSaturday, Alok Sharma, the British president of the 197-coun-try conference, declared “We’ve kept 1.5 (degrees Celsius) with-

in reach, but its pulse is weak.” But he was close to tears several timesin his closing remarks. That was not because the 40,000-delegate meet-ing was a complete disaster. It wasn’t a complete success either, butthese things never are. Sharma was upset because a last-minute assaultby the world’s coal, oil and gas superpowers — Saudi Arabia andAustralia as the biggest exporters, China, India and Russia as hugeproducers and consumers — nearly brought the meeting to a halt. Afterdays and nights of almost non-stop negotiations, the great majorityof the countries present got a commitment to phase out ‘coal power’into the conference report for the first time. No timetable, but it’s astart. What? You mean none of the other summits ever mentioned coalin their reports? Coal is the worst fossil fuel by far, in terms of the vol-ume of carbon dioxide it puts into the atmosphere when it burns. Surelythey must have mentioned it before. Nope. The fossil fuel powers alwaysmanaged to keep it out of the final documents by threatening to sab-

otage a process that depends on consensus and unanimity.Ridiculous, of course. Your whole purpose is to stop global warming,but you’re not allowed to mention the principal cause? At the final ple-nary session, India’s climate minister, Bhupender Yadav, stood up andasked how developing countries could promise to phase out coal andfossil fuel subsidies when they “have still to deal with their develop-ment agendas and poverty eradication.

“The answer is that all the development agendas and poverty erad-ication will shrivel up and die if the warming stays on its current track— and Yadav probably knows that too. But he effectively threateneda veto, and managed to get the phrase “phase out coal” changed to“phase DOWN coal”. It wasn’t much of a victory, because the offend-ing word ‘coal’ is still in the Glasgow Climate Pact. It will be there atall future climate summits, and every year there will be attempts tostrengthen the other words around it. Eventually they will succeed. Atthis point you may want to join with Greta Thunberg in dismissing thewhole process as “blah, blah, blah”, but you would be wrong. This isthe only way millions-strong groups of people called countries, mostof whose ancestors were hunter-gatherers only a few thousand yearsago, can make decisions on subjects that matter to all of them. Theirrepresentatives come together physically, and if the debate is intenseand the meeting goes on long enough, their fixed positions tend to startbending towards compromise and consensus. That’s how their ances-tors did it in the far distant past, and that’s how we still do it today.So the great achievement at Glasgow was to agree that they will allmeet again next year and keep worrying away at the problem and ‘ratch-eting up’ the promises. There’s no formal agreement to meet againthe year after that, but everybody expects that this will be an annualevent in the future, no longer a five-yearly one. It doesn’t mean thathuman beings will respond fast enough to avoid catastrophic warm-ing. We have left it very late, the special interests will continue to wagea fighting retreat in defence of the status quo, and some ‘non-linear’response to the warming climate may suddenly upset all our plans andexpectations. We are in unknown waters now.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘The Shortest History of War’. The views expressed are personal.)

The Indian economy isnow moving up aftercertain unsavoury sce-

narios of note-ban, pandemicclosures of activities. Goldsales are up, event bookings arerising, market has a good timeduring Diwali despite cumulative inflation and lessintervention by the state apparatuses.

The G 20-led state controlscreated panic, made peopledependent on the governmentand stymied growth globally.A free flow Diwali is changingthat. Sales rise 10 percent andgold demand rises to 96.2tonnes in India, says the WorldGold Council.

According to theConfederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT), sales of its 70million members increasedover `72,000 crore in at least

20 cities from where it couldcollect the data. Some otherdata claim $1.25 trillion sales.Secretary general of CAITPraveen Khandelwal says thatfor a long time, people hadsubdued their needs because ofclosure of activities in thecountry and the shock thatdemonetisation had given tothem. Now with the openingup of the market and activities,people are making their pur-chases freely.

Many retailers say theywere apprehensive before thefestival but to their surprisedespite severe rise in pricespurchases are increasing. Indemand were items such asearthen lamps, candles andpapier mache lamps, whichhelped small potters, craftsmenand handicraftsmen rake insubstantial profits. Sweets, dry

fruits, footwear, watches, toys,home décor, and fashion cloth-ing also saw huge demand.

The World Gold Councilexpected gold sales wouldrecover from 35 per cent belowthe pre-pandemic level. Thedemand has been more thanexpected. But it may not be aseuphoric as the government issaying or as the Rs 1.3 lakhcrore GST collections indicate.

The CAIT says this yearsales exceeded that of 2019 —`60,000 crore; ̀ 50,000 crore in2018 and `43,000 crore in2017. The confederation says

the upswing shows a sustain-able demand trend as risingvaccination levels along withlower transmission levels haveinstilled confidence in buyers.

The expectation is that byMarch 2022, there would beanother ̀ 2 lakh crore sales. ButGST collections may not be theactual indicator because it iscollected over high prices dueto inflation. Overall growth isuneven. Some sections aredoing well but India slipsdown on hunger index to 101position.

The wedding seasonbeginning mid-November is tocontinue the boom. The wed-dings this year are expected tohappen with the usual pompand show. Countrywide, thedemand for gold sales surged.Weddings are one of thebiggest drivers of gold purchas-

es in India as bullion in theform of jewellery is an essen-tial part of a bride’s dowry andalso a popular gift from fam-ily and guests.

Gold remains the biggestfinancial security instrumentfor rural and other families.The investment is consideredsecure and appreciating. Forthe bride too it is an essentialpart of her dowry and also asought after gift from familyand guests. After two years ofpandemic and severe hits tothe economy due to note-bana semblance of restoration isbeing noticed.

The weddings also createwealth distribution at variouslevels. Till November-end,about 25 lakh marriage cele-brations are on the cards. Awedding in India involvesbanquet halls, caterers, various

kinds of pipe bands, music sys-tem, hiring of musicians, dec-orations lights, ponies, priests,ornaments, garments and gifts.At the social level, differentartisans and craftsmen areinvolved in generating incomefor many.

It is not the Indian busi-nesses that alone are gainingbut many foreign houses andretailers are making robustsales. In short, the Indiansocial system is gettingstrengthened. As per estimatestill Diwali, about `9,000 crorewas spent on gold jewelleryand silverware while tradersselling packaging itemsmarked good sales.

Despite the chances of aprogressive recovery, the RBIholding on to the repo rate at4 per cent unchanged for theeighth time in a row is raising

eyebrows as savings is becom-ing non-remunerative. In real-ity, the rising inflation is erod-ing the basic value of savings.This is being viewed as a riskto the economy. Indian econ-omy traditionally has beengrowing on small savings thatare now being disincentivised.

The note-ban that hadshaken the poor, could notunearth black money nor con-tain fake currency said to becoming from Pakistan. Afterfive years, Directorate ofRevenue Intelligence says thatfake currency seizure hasunprecedented jump.

Strong controls and G-20harsh steps have not helpedcountries. India must discusshow to ensure a free-flowgrowth instead of oppressiveimposition of measures thatcause scares.

After two years of pandemic and severe hits to the economy due to note ban, a semblance of market restoration is being noticed

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

07

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

FIRSTCOLUMNCOP26: WE ARE INUNKNOWN WATERS

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Free-flow Diwali boosts sales: Lesson for oppressive G20

SHIVAJI SARKAR

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

GWYNNE DYER

UTTAM GUPTA

Not yielding much to cut emissions, COP26was a more productive climate summit

On November 3, 2021, the UnionGovernment notified reduc-tion in central excise duty(CED) by ̀ 5 per liter on petrol

and `10 per liter on diesel. Seen in iso-lation, these cuts may appear to be sig-nificant. However, when viewed in thebackdrop of the unprecedented increaseaffected by the Narendra ModiGovernment ever since it assumed office,this is small.

In May 2014, the CED on petrol was`9.8 per liter whereas on diesel it was ̀ 3.8per liter. As on November 2, 2021, it was`33 per liter on petrol — a cumulativeincrease of ̀ 23.2 per liter. On diesel, it was`32 per liter — higher by `28.2 per liter.The cuts notified on Nov 3, 2021, haveoffset only 1/5th of the hike on petrol and1/3rd on diesel.

The hike in duties has adverselyimpacted the economy by way of increas-ing prices across all sectors (all the morebecause increase in diesel price leads tohigher cost of transportation), eroding thepurchasing power of common man,undermining competitiveness of theindustrial and services sector and increas-ing the cost of implementing welfareschemes such as making food available atsubsidized rate. But, looking at things inisolation won’t be fair.

We need to consider as to how theextra revenue from duty hike was put touse. Of the `23.2 per liter increase in CEDon petrol, `13 per liter was given effectduring 2020 alone (`3/- in March and`10/- in May). In case of diesel, of the`28.2 per liter hike, `16 per liter was donein 2020 (`3/- in March and ̀ 13/- in May).During FY 2020-21, the economy wasdevastated by the COVID pandemicleading to contraction in GDP (grossdomestic product) by 7.3 percent.

As a result, the Union Budget suffereda double blow.

While, on one hand, there was a dras-tic reduction in receipts (gross tax receiptsor GTR was about `400,000 crore lessthan the target) on the other, the expen-diture of the Government increasedsharply to cover both life/health and liveli-hood needs. Major heads where itsexpenses zoomed included food subsidy:`500,000 crore; fertilizer subsidy:`134,000 crore; MGNREGA: `111,000crore; health: `94,000 crore. Besides, ithad to maintain high capital expenditure- revised estimate (RE) for the year being`439,000 crore.

Consequently, the fiscal deficit(FD)during 2020-21 was 9.5 percent of GDPor ̀ 1850,000 crore in nominal terms. Thiswas despite the Centre collecting `335,000crore from CED on petrol and dieselalone (during 2019-20, tax collection fromthese products was `180,000 crore).Imagine, if CED were to be less by `5/10per liter on petrol/diesel, i.e. same quan-tum as the cuts affected now, the collec-tion would have been lower by at least`100,000 crore.

THE HIKE INDUTIES HASADVERSELY

IMPACTED THEECONOMY BYINCREASING

PRICES ACROSSALL SECTORS,ERODING THEPURCHASING

POWER OFCOMMON MAN,UNDERMINING

COMPETITIVENESSOF THE

INDUSTRIAL AND SERVICES

SECTOR ANDINCREASING

THE COST OFIMPLEMENTING

WELFARESCHEMES

This would have affectedschemes for protecting thelife/livelihood; alternatively,Government would have beenforced to increase the FD to 10 per-cent or `1950,000 crore whichwould also entail heavy cost by wayof macro-economic instability, rat-ing downgrade, high interest rate,increasing debt, inflationary pres-sures and so on. Clearly, reducingduty cannot be an unmixed bless-ing all the more, when other rev-enue streams are drying up as hap-pened during 2020-21.

During the current year, giventhe fast pace of vaccination andsubstantially diminished effect ofCOVID, GDP is expected to reg-ister growth of close to 10 percent.As a result, the GTR is likely toexceed the target by about`200,000 crore. On the expendi-ture side, food subsidy may not bevery much off the mark thoughfertilizer subsidy could exceed thetarget by at least `40,000 crore(courtesy, steep increase in theinternational price of fertilizers).

The resulting budgetary cush-ion will help in absorbing the rev-enue loss from the recent cut induties — estimated to be about`65,000 crore in the remaining fivemonths of the current fiscal.

Twenty-five StateGovernments have also reducedVAT (value added tax). Thistogether with cuts in CED shouldprovide substantial relief (forinstance, ̀ 20 per liter on petrol inKarnataka). Yet, there is clamor for

more; some even wishing thatCED goes back to the level exist-ing prior to 2014. Even this shouldbe possible if only overall tax rev-enue picks up say, monthly GSTcollection going up to `150,000crore on a ‘sustained’ basis. Till thathappens, both the Centre andStates will need to act in a calibrat-ed manner.

However, to focus on reducingtaxes alone won’t help in reining inoil prices. Let us look at somenumbers. In Delhi, the pumpprice of around `104 per litre (ason Nov 3, 2021) includes ex-refinery price plus freight (ERP+F)of `47/-, dealer commission of ̀ 4/-, CED, `28/-and VAT, ̀ 25/-. Evenif, CED and VAT are completelywithdrawn (theoretical), the con-sumer will still pay `51/-.

In the break-up of pump price,ERP+Falone is `47/-. This corre-sponds to the international priceof crude oil at $85 per barrel. Beinga function of the global demand-supply balance, the price of crudecan go to any level; for instance, inthe first quarter of CY (calendaryear) 2012, it had touched a highof $125 per barrel. If, that scenariowere to repeat, the ERP+F wouldbe `69 per liter. Plus, dealer com-mission, the pump price will be`73 per liter even if the Centre andState don’t charge any duty.

Considering that Indiadepends on imports for 83.5 per-cent of its crude requirements,there is a high probability of ourhaving to pay such a high price.

Indeed, this is where the shoe real-ly pinches. There is an urgent needfor promoting self-reliance in oilproduction.

A recent directive of the UnionGovernment to Oil and NaturalGas Corporation (ONGC) totransfer 60 per cent of the operat-ing rights in the Bombay High andSouth Bassein region (nearly 50percent of India’s oil productioncomes from these two areas) to amultinational oil company (MNC)is a good move as this will help infully utilizing the potential of thisprolific area. That apart, there is anurgent need to put in place a ‘sta-ble’ and ‘conducive’ policy forattracting investment and increas-ing indigenous production.

Another important aspect hasto do with economy in the use offuel and improving energy use effi-ciency — a potent way of moder-ating demand. In fact, the currenthigh price should signal con-sumers to make necessary movesin that direction. India being thethird largest importer of oil, alower Indian demand can also con-tribute to lowering of the interna-tional price of crude.

Finally, at present, marketingof petroleum products is themonopoly of public sector under-takings (PSUs). Out of 70,000petrol pumps in the country, theyaccount for 90 percent. There isneed to bring competition byincreasing share of private sectorwhich will help reduce price bylowering the margins of firms.

(The writer is a policyanalyst. The views

expressed are personal.)

HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021 Money 08

oney atters

BoM tops PSU lenders chart in terms of loan

State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has emerged as thetop performer among public sector lenders in terms of loan

and savings deposit growth during thesecond quarter of the currentfinancial year, as per quarterly resultsdata. The Pune-headquartered lenderrecorded an 11.46 per cent increasein gross advances at Rs 1,15,236crore in the July-September period of2021-22, according to the publisheddata of BoM. It was followed byPunjab & Sind Bank which posted

9.53 per cent growth in advances with aggregate loans at Rs67,574 crore at the end of September 2021, as per data from thebank's quarterly results.

PNS n MUMBAI

Stock market barometersSensex and Nifty ended mar-ginally higher on Monday asrise in wholesale inflationcapped early gains despite apositive trend in global mar-kets.

The 30-share index settled32.02 points or 0.05 per centhigher at 60,718.71 with half ofits constituents ending ingreen.

The broad based Nifty edgedup 6.70 points or 0.04 per centto close at 18,109.45.

PowerGrid was the top gain-er in the Sensex pack, risingover 3 per cent, followed byITC, Asian Paints, Nestle Indiaand Kotak Bank.

TCS rose by 0.83 per centwhile Infosys inched up 0.31per cent. HUL, Dr Reddy's andSun Pharma were also amongthe gainers.

On the other hand, TataSteel fell the most by 3.24 percent, followed by M&M whichdeclined 1.19 per cent. BajajAuto, Reliance, SBI and BhartiAirtel declined.

Indian markets opened ona positive note on Mondaydespite mixed cues from Asianmarket peers where Chineseshares traded lower post betterthan expected consumer spenddata, said Narendra Solanki,Head- Equity Research(Fundamental), Anand Rathi.

During the afternoon ses-sion markets lost initial gainsand traded marginally in green

with buying in healthcare, IT,and tech stocks.

"Upside remain capped asWPI inflation in Octobersurged to 12.54 per cent from10.66 per cent a month ago and1.31 per cent in October 2020,"he noted.

The wholesale price-basedinflation spiked mainly due torise in prices of manufacturedproducts and crude petroleum.

It has remained in double digitfor the seventh consecutivemonth beginning April.

Sectorally, BSE healthcare,FMCG, consumer durablesand IT indices rose up to 2.09per cent, while metal, basicmaterials, telecom and energyindices fell up to 2.35 per cent.

Broader midcap rose0.41 per cent, while smallcapfell 0.19 per cent.

Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch at Geojit FinancialServices, said. "Domestic mar-ket was trading with a negativebias, between gains and losses,tracking volatile global marketsand in the wake of domesticinflation data. On the contrary,China's industrial outputgrowth accelerated to 3.5%YoY despite fresh Covidrestrictions and supply short-ages, thereby easing concernsover a global economic slow-down." Ajit Mishra, VP -Research, Religare Brokingsaid that upbeat global cuestriggered a firm start but prof-it taking across sectorstrimmed the gains as the dayprogressed.

Sensex, Nifty advance ongains in IT, FMCG stocks

PNS n SINGAPORE

In Singapore's largest databreach, the personal informa-tion of nearly 5.9 millionSingaporean and South-eastAsian customers of a hotelbooking site was found tohave been leaked, according toa media report on Monday.

The Personal DataProtection Commission(PDPC) has imposed a penal-ty of SGD 74,000 onCommeasure, a local firmwhich operates the websiteRedDoorz.

However, the amount ismuch lower than the com-bined SGD 1 million fineimposed on SingHealth andIntegrated Health InformationSystems for the 2018 databreach which affected 1.5 mil-lion people, The Straits Timesnewspaper reported.

According to PDPC, theamount of the fine wasfinalised taking into consider-ation the hardship on the hos-pitality sector caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.

"In deciding the amount offinancial penalty to beimposed, we also consideredthat the organisation, whichoperates in the hospitality

industry, had been severelyimpacted by the Covid-19pandemic," the PDPC said inits judgment issued lastThursday.

"This is the largest databreach that has occurred sincethe Personal Data ProtectionAct came into effect," it said.

Commeasure found outabout the breach on September19 last year after an Americancyber-security firm alerted thecompany.

RedDoorz said most of thecompromised data came fromthe booking platform's largestmarket, Indonesia. The com-pany's customers are all fromSouth-east Asia. It is under-stood that about 9,000 of theaffected people are from

Singapore.The compromised data

included customers' name,contact number, e-mailaddress, date of birth, encrypt-ed password to their RedDoorzaccount and booking informa-tion. The hackers did not accessor download customers'masked credit card numbers.

The stolen data was put upfor sale on a hacker forumbefore it was taken down,according to Singapore'sBusiness Times report last year.

Commeasure informed theaffected customers about thedata breach on September 26last year and advised them tochange their RedDoorzaccount passwords. The PDPCwas notified on September 25.

Info of customers leaked inSingapore’s largest data breach

PNS n LONDON

Investors have until 3 December2021 to take advantage of the cur-rent EB-5 investor visa in theUSA. The investment programallows applicants to obtain agreen card by investing 500,000USD in a qualifying business. On3 December, Congress will be vot-ing on the US budget, with manyproponents pushing for a poten-tial increase to 750,000 or 900,000USD.

With the US passport ranked asthe most powerful passport in theworld, via the recently launchedGlobal Passport Index, US citizen-ship is an important asset for anyinternational investor. The GlobalPassport Index, created by theinvestment migration consultan-cy Global Citizen Solutions, pro-vides a pioneering methodology

that considers investment oppor-tunities and quality of livingalongside travel mobility.

"From limitless work opportu-

nities and top-rated education toexceptional living standards, theUSA is an easy choice for thoselooking beyond just a simple

investment. While the approach-ing debate in Congress is some-thing for us to keep an eye on,there is still time to take advan-tage of the current EB-5 invest-ment cost. My only advice is ifyou're considering an investorvisa in the US, submit yourapplication soon. There's notelling what will happen nextyear" , points out PatriciaCasaburi, Managing Director atGlobal Citizen Solutions.

Investing in an EB-5 visa grantsapplicants and their family mem-bers the right to permanently livein the United States, with the pos-sibility to receive your contribu-tion back after the investmentproject is completed. To qualifyfor the EB-5, applicants mustdirectly invest at least $500,000into a US-based business inTargeted Employment Areas

(TEA), which is classified asareas in need of economic stim-ulation. The respective invest-ment must create at least ten full-time jobs for American workers.Alternatively, applicants caninvest $1million in non-targetedareas. Other conditions for appli-cants include holding a cleancriminal record and being inexcellent health. A key perk of theEB5 scheme is that the investorcan obtain citizenship after fiveyears, provided they live for sixmonths per year in the UnitedStates. The EB-5 visa programwas created in 1990 to encourageforeign direct investment in newbusiness development in rural orareas with high levels of unem-ployment. Through the visa pro-gram, foreign nationals can qual-ify for green cards in exchange forqualifying investments.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Representatives of cryptoexchanges, Block chain andCrypto Assets Council(BACC), industry bodies andother stakeholders will maketheir submissions on cryptofinance on Monday before aparliamentary panel chaired byBJP leader Jayant Sinha.

This will be the first meet-ing on the subject to be con-vened by the ParliamentaryStanding Committee onFinance on the subject, whichhas generated a lot of interestas well as concerns in variousquarters around investmentpotential and risks.

The panel, headed by Sinha,who is also a former Ministerof State for Finance, will alsogather inputs from academi-cians from IIM Ahmedabad.

The panel's meeting, sched-uled to be held in the after-noon, assumes significance asit comes days after PrimeMinister Narendra Modichaired a high-level meetingwith officials from variousministries and RBI on theissue of cryptocurrency.

Talking about the meeting,panel chairman Sinha said the

meeting on crypto financewill discuss the opportunitiesand challenges this fast evolv-ing industry presents to theregulators and policy makers.

“We have called stakeholdersfrom across the industry includ-ing operators of major exchanges,members of CII as well as acade-mics from the IIM Ahmedabad,who have done a very thoroughstudy on the crypto finance,”Sinha told PTI. He further saidthe panel has also called repre-sentatives from the IndiaInternet and Mobile Associationof India, of which Blockchainand Crypto Assets Council, aspecific body that deals withcryptofinance players.

“We will hear from themabout their views on the rightregulatory framework for thisindustry as it continues todevelop and evolve,” he said.

The Supreme Court in earlyMarch 2020 had nullified theRBI circular banning cryp-tocurrencies. Following thison February 5, 2021, the cen-tral bank had instituted aninternal panel to suggest amodel for the central bank'sdigital currency. The RBI hadannounced its intent to comeout with an official digital cur-rency, in the face of prolifera-tion of cryptocurrencies likeBitcoin about which the centralbank has had many concerns.

Crypto finance: Jayant Sinha-led Par panel to collect views

PNS n HYDERABAD

IBM on Monday announcedthat it has set up a new facili-ty here offering clientsBusiness Process Operationsconsulting from IBMConsulting.

The new facility will befocused on Business ProcessOperations across severaldomains such as finance andaccounts, procurement andsupply chain, human resourcesand recruiting, and industryspecific processes includingrisk and compliance, IBM saidin a release.

With this facility, IBMConsulting can help clientsachieve their digital transfor-mation goals leveraging talentand IBM's comprehensivecapabilities in process re-engi-neering, data and technology,it said.

The new facility will alsohave dedicated workspaces tocollaborate with clients viathe IBM Garage, a collabora-tive approach to fast-trackinnovation and drive mean-ingful, lasting transformation.

The facility also serves anadditional function of enablingresiliency for IBM Consultingby acting as backup site for

Business Process Operationscentres in Chennai andBengaluru, the release said.

The onsite team will alsocollaborate with IBM IndiaSoftware Labs in Hyderabad tobring in artificial intelligence(AI) and platform offerings toreimagine intelligent work-flows in client operations, itsaid. Business ProcessOperations delivers a unifieduser experience and businessvalue for organisations withuse of agile methodologies,advanced process mining andintelligent workflows pow-ered by hybrid cloud and AI.

In finance organisations forinstance, it provides insightsfor core functionalities such asworking capital optimisation,spend leakage, reducederrors/exceptions, and others,the release said.

IBM expandspresence in TS

PNS n NEW DELHI

The wholesale price-based infla-tion spiked to 5-month high of12.54 per cent in October, main-ly due to rise in prices of manu-factured products and crudepetroleum.

WPI inflation has remained indouble digit for the seventh con-secutive month beginning April.Inflation in September this yearwas at 10.66 per cent, while inOctober 2020 it was at 1.31 percent.

The October WPI is the high-est in five months since May, whenit was at 13.11 per cent.

"The high rate of inflation inOctober 2021 is primarily due torise in prices of mineral oils,basic metals, food products, crudepetroleum & natural gas, chemi- cals and chemical products etc as compared to the corresponding

month of the previous year," theCommerce and Industry Ministrysaid in a statement.

Inflation in manufactured itemswas higher at 12.04 per cent inOctober, as against 11.41 per centin the previous month.

In the fuel and power basket,the rate of price rise was 37.18 percent in October, as against 24.81per cent in September.

Crude petroleum inflation was80.57 per cent during the monthunder review, as against 71.86 percent in September.

Inflation in food articles toowitnessed some uptick on amonth-on-month basis at (-) 1.69per cent in October, against (-)4.69 per cent in September.Vegetable prices were lower at (-) 18.49 per cent, while in onionsit was (-) 25.01 per cent.

WPI inflation at 5-month high of 12.54 pc

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Infosys ScienceFoundation (ISF) on Mondaysaid it will felicitate the laure-ates of the Infosys Prize 2021on December 2, 2021 acrosssix categories, includingEngineering and ComputerScience, Humanities and LifeSciences.

The Infosys Prize cele-brates success in researchand stands as a marker ofexcellence in science andresearch. It also aims toinspire young scholars tochoose a vocation in research.

The Prize comprises a goldmedal, a citation, and a purseof USD 100,000 (or its equiv-alent in Rupees), a statementsaid. It is awarded in six cat-egories: Engineering andComputer Science,Humanities, Life Sciences,Mathematical Sciences,Physical Sciences, and SocialSciences, it added.

Winners will be felicitatedby Gagandeep Kang, FRS -Professor at CMC Vellore,Infosys Prize laureate andone of India's leading virolo-gists.

PNS n NEW DELHI

CAMS, which acts as a reg-istrar and transfer agent formutual funds, has reported a48 per cent jump in profitafter tax to Rs 72.56 crore forthe three months endedSeptember 2021.

In comparison, the compa-ny had a profit after tax(PAT) of Rs 48.95 crore in thecorresponding period lastyear, according to a state-ment.

Its revenues from opera-tions during July-September2021 jumped 33 per cent toRs 227.60 crore, from Rs171.14 crore crore in theyear-ago period.

"Retail investors' confi-dence continues to be posi-tive, evident in the megaNFOs (new fund offers),strong net flows into equityassets, record high SIP (sys-tematic investment plan) reg-istrations and inflows. All ofthese led to our transactionvolumes touch historic highsduring the quarter," the com-pany's Chief ExecutiveOfficer Anuj Kumar said.

CAMS' profit aftertax jumps 48 pcto Rs 72.5 cr inSept quarter

ISF to award sixindividuals forcontributions toresearch, society

PNS n NEW DELHI

South Korea's Krafton said ithas permanently banned over25 lakh accounts betweenOctober 1 and November 10on BGMI game as part of itsefforts to provide a fair game-play environment to its play-ers. "At the end of September,we promised you that fairgameplay has always beenand will be ourpriority...Cheaters have noplace in BGMI and in orderto provide a fair gameplayenvironment to our players,we've been taking severemeasures to remove cheatersfrom the game," it added.

Krafton bans 25lakh accounts onBattlegrounds tostop cheating

PNS n HYDERABAD

Palred Technologies Limited, aTechnology Solutions playeracross Consumer Electronics,eCommerce, and IT Solutionsindustries, announced itsfinancial results for the firsthalf for FY 2021-2022.

Palred Technologies contin-ued its growth momentumand posted strong first half-yearly financial results at 74.72Cr, beating the industry esti-mates. The flagship brandpTron, a subsidiary of PalredTechnologies, boosted thecompany's revenue by register-ing record sales, from 12.93lakh units sold in H1 FY21 to

21.63 Lacs units sold in H1FY22, witnessing over 67%growth. pTron's BluetoothHeadsets and TWS (TrueWireless Stereo) have been themain driving force and stoodforefront in the category, reg-istering sales to the scale of5.13 lac units and 5.96 lac unitsrespectively.

pTron has witnessed a mas-sive growth in business sincethe beginning of 2019. It haspenetrated into the IndianConsumer Electronics indus-try at a rapid speed by intro-ducing a slew of products,especially smart accessorieswhich has seen a majordemand from the consumers.

pTron boosts PalredTech's Q2 revenue

Clock is ticking for EB5 Visa investors

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

Tuesday November 16, 2021

SHREYA SRIKONDA

hose who grew up inthe 80s would be nostrangers to UB40,one of the mosticonic, decade-defin-ing pop and Reggae

bands to emerge fromEngland. Their hits, like Redred wine, Kingston town, Here Iam, could be heard playing onthe radio, in bars, and in everymusic lover’s house. BiggaBaggariddim, UB40’s 20threcord, is a collaborative effortwith artists from all around theworld, including ZorawarShukla of Reggae Rajahs aswell as artists from Jamaica,New Zealand, and UB40’shome town Birmingham. Their1985 album Baggariddimserves as the base for this newproject. Jimmy Brown, drum-mer and founding member ofUB40, talks exclusively withThe Pioneer about how thealbum came about.

“The plan was to have atriple album with our lastalbum For The Many, a dubversion of For the Many, andthen a collaboration album. Allusing the same backing tracks.My favourite tracks changefrom day to day, but I love thecontributions from theyounger guys from Jamaica-Leno Banton and Blvk H3ro.”

he shares.General Zooz AKA Zorawar

Shukla, a Reggae artist fromIndia, appears on the album.Brown tells us that collaborat-ing with the Reggae Rajas (ofwhom General Zooz is a mem-ber), happened over the inter-net! Brown says, “We weredoing a short tour of India andthe Reggae Rajah’s were open-ing for us on a couple ofshows. Then we found out thatthese guys were flying the flagfor reggae in India as well asorganising a sort-of Reggae‘Sunsplash’ show in Goa everyyear. Most of the work onBigga Baggariddim was doneremotely. Sending backingtracks to artists over the inter-net, letting them do what theywant and we mixed themdown when the songs werereturned to us.”

He goes on to say that theprocess of creating music has-n’t changed much throughoutthe years. “We make music thesame way we have alwaysdone. Get together and play.We are a real band. We don’thave a leader, or singer-song-writers, or a producer. Wemake decisions as a band. Theend result is a genuine collabo-ration between all the mem-bers, and has always been thatway.”

In the 70’s, their music wasquite political, including

protesting Margaret Thatcher’sconservative party election winin 1983. In fact, the band’sname comes from‘Unemployment Benefit form40’. ‘Protest music’ was popu-lar, and UB40 had a lot to offerto the scene. Brown says that itwasn’t a conscious decision tomake music with politicalstatements. He says, “Back inthe 1970’s there were lots ofbands and artists that wroteand sang protest songs. It was atime when youth culture wasanti-racist. So it was inevitableour songs would be political. It

reflected the fact that we wereall politically-minded people.All lefty’s, so many of oursongs are about class war.”

He confesses that he doesn’tknow much about IndianReggae! But with this collabo-ration, a new door of possibili-ties has opened for artists tocollaborate more and createmore music. “To be honest, Idon’t really know a lot aboutthe underground reggae scenein India. But I’m hoping thatwill change. We have plans toreturn to India as soon as pos-sible, so we’ll have an opportu-

nity to find out more,” he adds.He says that they’re just

waiting for gigs to return.Since the pandemic, there hasbeen a full stop in live perfor-mances, and the drummer islooking forward to being backon stage.

“We are a working band. Weplay lots of gigs all around theworld. In 2019 we did wellover 100 shows in places likethe USA, Australia and NewZealand, Europe, and the UK.We want to get back to that assoon as possible,” he concludeson a hopeful note.

The Reggae experience: UB40's

Baggariddim has an Indian element

nfertility is defined as the inabilityto conceive after one year of regularintercourse without contraception.It is one of the medical, social andpsychological burdens in the world.

About 18–20% of couples in reproductiveage are infertile.

The thyroid hormone regulates cellularfunction; abnormal thyroid function canaffect your fertility. Undiagnosed anduntreated thyroid disease can be a causefor infertility or frequent miscarriage.

According to the Indian ThyroidSociety about 70 per cent of women withPMS have low thyroid levels, which makethe ovaries less able to produce proges-terone leading to PMS symptoms. 25.6per cent of the Indian population havethyroid dysfunction and possibly resultedin infertility.

Having trouble getting pregnant? Yourthyroid could be the problem - and yourdoctor may not even know it. Standardblood tests miss up to 80 percent of casesin which low tissue thyroid levels arecausing or contributing to infertility.

Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)is a condition in which the thyroid glanddoesn't produce enough of certain impor-tant hormones. For women, there is a linkbetween hypothyroidism and infertility.Low levels of thyroid hormone can inter-fere with ovulation, which impairs fertili-ty. In addition, some of the underlying

causes of hypothyroidism — such as cer-tain autoimmune or pituitary disorders —impair fertility.

Seema Arora (name changed onrequest), 29, a working professional, herworld came to an end when she got toknow that she can’t be pregnant. As thy-roid is very much common in today’slifestyle, Seema was diagnosed with thy-roid but she ignored it and did not go forregular maintenance check ups. After 1year when she underwent TSH blood testshe got to know that she is suffering fromhypothyroidism due to which she is nowunable to conceive.

Since standard thyroid blood tests arenot sensitive enough to detect low ovariantissue levels the majority of the time,women must find a knowledgeable physi-cian who understands that standard testswill often not be useful in detecting lowovarian thyroid levels.

Symptoms:The symptoms of hypothyroidism can

be of many types. Some patients show nosymptoms, while others show somemarked symptoms. The symptoms usuallydepend on the severity of the hormonedeficiency and the rate at which it devel-ops in the patient. The symptoms are usu-ally milder at the beginning but developgradually as the condition deteriorates.

The general symptoms are weight gain,

fatigue, constipation, mus-cle and joint aches, slug-gishness, and intolerancetowards cold weather,abnormal and irregularperiods, fatigue, and sleep-lessness. The skin may turndry and thick. The hairmay become coarse or thin.At times eyebrows disap-pear and nails become brit-tle.

Diagnosis:If you feel the above

mentioned symptomsimmediately go for a TSH(thyroid stimulating hor-mone) test, Chest X-ray, T4or thyroxine test.

Treatment:Hyperthyroidism can be

treated in many ways.

However, a doctor choosesthe line of treatment on thebasis of a number of vari-ables like the underlyingcause of hyperthyroidism,the age of the patient, thesize of the thyroid glandand the presence of coex-isting medical illnesses.

If you are found to havehypothyroidism, thyroidhormone replacement isvery effective in restoringfertility. It may take 1-2months to normalize yourthyroid hormone levelswith medication; and onceyou start medication, youmust check your TSH lev-els to confirm they are inthe normal range. You willusually need to continuethe medicines for the restof your life and recheck

your thyroid functionevery 6 months or so.

Millions of people havean undiagnosed thyroidproblem, and don’t realizethat it is the source of theother health challengesthey face. Infertility is amajor health threat due tothyroid and many otherconditions that are oftenthe direct result of undiag-nosed and untreated thy-roid conditions. In orderto lead a healthy life Iwould recommend that allpatients who recognise anyof these symptoms shouldgo for a TSH test.

(The writer, Dr ShobhaGupta , Medical Director

and Infertility Specialist atMother’s Lap IVF Centre

— Pitampura, New Delhi)

Informa Markets in India, announced the 5th edi-tion of RenewX, a two-day Renewable Energytrade expo slated on November 19 and 20, 2021 at

the Hitex, Hyderabad. This expo will provide anIndustry platform to the renewable energy buyers andsellers enabling them to connect and collaborate forgenerating business opportunities.

One of the leading shows in South India, RenewXwill witness a congregation of South India’s green econ-omy community to discuss industry trends, challengesand market insights.

The expo aims to bring together decision makersfrom RE Sectors, Manufacturers, EPC Companies,Supplier & distributors from different categories — PVmodules, hybrid systems, materials and Equipments,Inverters, charge controllers, batteries, Testing andmonitoring systems, Component manufacturers,Bioenergy equipment manufacturers, backsheet manu-facturers and System integrators.

Stepping out of New Delhi for the very first time, theGooncha Nehru Senior Hockey Tournament is nowbeing held in Hyderabad! The 57th edition of the

tournament is hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru HockeyTournament Society's (JNHTS) and sponsored byGooncha Estates Pvt Ltd, part of the Hyderabad basedGooncha Group. Jayesh Ranjan, the Principal Secretaryof I&C and IT, inaugurated the tourney at SouthCentral Railway Sports Complex on Sunday. The inau-guration was followed by the first knockout roundmatch between RCF, Kapurthala and Tamil Nadu XI.RCF won the match by 3-2 and will now play againstthe winner of the second knockout match in pool ‘A’,day after tomorrow, to qualify and join the seededteams in the Quarter Final League.

For 1st time, Hyd to hostsenior hockey tournament

South India’s largest renewableenergy trade expo announced

T

I

Untreatedthyroid canlead to infertility

10

Hyderabad Tuesday November 16, 2021

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

FUN

Ph

oto

s b

y S

V C

ha

ry

Actress Prantika Das of Sadaa Nee

Premalo fame unveiled the poster ofHilife exhibitions along with actress

Preetei Sundar. The lifestyle exhibitionand grand fashion showcase is here topresent the city with wedding wear,fashion wear, designer apparel along withjewellery, home decor, accessories andmore. The HICC Novotel plays host to theexhibition from November 22 to 24.

LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE

THE HYD CONNECT

Tollywood actress Sreeleela along withBigg Boss fame Ashu Reddyinaugurated Gismat Mandi Jail Theme

Arabic restaurant in Chaitanyapuri,Dilsukhnagar. YouTuber Gauthami andactor Mahesh Kakani, organisers of GismatArabic Mandi, said that the franchise willsoon be seen in Eluru as well.

what’s brewing?

l Neelimal Meenall Simha and Srinivas

l Gauthami

l Sreeleela

l Ashu Reddy

l Mahesh Kakani and Gowtham

l Amishal Dempull Prantika Das

l Preeti l Ananya

l Yashaswil Riya

PAR

TY

ccording to

the latest

buzz,

Samantha is

going to be

showing off her d

ance

moves in Sukumar’s

Pushpa! The Allu Arjun

starrer has ro

ped in the

actress for it

s 5th single,

for which sh

ooting is

going to start so

on at

Ramoji Film

City. With

this song, th

e shooting of

Pushpa will be wrapped

up. The film will e

nter

the post-production

phase once the shooting

is completed.

“Pushpa’s 5th song is

special and needed some-

one special! W

e reached

out to our very sp

ecial

Samantha Garu, and she

gleefully agreed to come

aboard owing to the rap-

port we’ve built o

ver

time,” said a post s

hared

by the makers on social

media. “This would be

her first

special song

appearance of her career

and we are leaving no

stone unturned to make it

truly special and memo-

rable,” the post read.

The film is a

n action

packed story that fo

llows

the lives of re

d sandal-

wood smugglers i

n the

Seshachalam Hills of

the Rayalaseema region

of Andhra Pradesh. The

film will b

e released in

two parts. The fir

st part,

titled Pushpa: The Rise,

will be released in the-

atres on December 17 in

multiple languages.

Along with Allu Arjun,

Pushpa features

Rashmika Mandanna and

Fahadh Faasil in lead

roles. Jagapathi Babu,

Prakash Raj, Dhananjay,

Sunil, Anasuya

Bharadwaj and Harish

Uthaman will play

supporting roles in the

film.

11

Hyderabad Tuesday November 16, 2021

K RAMYA SREE

uriya’s recently releasedJai Bhim, is gaining all thetraction for a strong hit-ting message the filmfocuses on. The film dealswith the innocent and

hardworking lives of an oppressedtribe who, even with no land to calltheir own, nor a strong roof overtheir heads, find joy in simple thingsin life.

Starring an ensemble cast of actorslike Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh,Rajisha Vijayan, Manikandan andLijo Mol Jose, Jai Bhim has beendirected by Tj Gnanavel with Suriyaand Jyotika’s 2D Entertainmentserving as producers. The film’smusic has been composed by SeanRoldan.

Recently, a slapping scene fea-turing actor Prakash Raj in just-released Tamil film Jai Bhim hastriggered a massive debate onTwitter.

The scene in whichPrakash Raj is shown slap-ping a Hindi-speaking

pawn broker, asking himto speak in Tamil

instead, has not gonedown well with a sec-

tion of the audience,who took to

Twitter toexpress their

displeasure.

Interestingly, the film marksTollywood’s beloved actor RaoRamesh’s debut in Tamil cinema.

Ramesh, who is awe-inspired ofSuriya’s dedication for acting, shareswith The Pioneer, “I did not expectthis offer from Gnanavel sir and I amacting with Suriya for the first time.It’s a great experience to work him. Iheard a lot about his dedication, butthis time I saw it live. I admire hissocial service.”

“He changes his hairstyle andlooks from film to film. This showshis passion for cinema. Apart fromthat, I want to know how he man-ages to be a perfectionist personallyand professionally,” laughs Ramesh.

Sharing some of his memorablemoments shooting for the film, theactor says, “Shooting the court scenewas very intense in the film. Apartfrom that, when we went to the US,one guy met Suriya and told he stud-ied in a school run by the actor andnow he is working in US. Suriyawas so down to earth that he askedthe guy to join him and drivethrough the city. He is a humbleman and I consider myself luckyto have worked with him for a filmthat talks about a pressing issue.”

On learning Tamil language anddubbing for himself for the firsttime in Tamil, Rao Ramesh says hewas strictly told to learn the lan-guage.

“People from Tamil Nadu givetheir life to their language. I thinkthat is the only state that values itsmother tongue very much. Peopleeven name themselves Tamil there.Learning Tamil and dubbing forthis film was not easy,” says he,further continuing, “When I first

met Suriya, he told me to speakin Tamil. I was given dia-

logues to dub onlyafter I learnt

Tamil and the direc-tor felt I could dojustice to the lan-guage. They wantedfreshness and want-ed me to dub formyself. I amthankful toSuriya sir andGnanavelsir.”

DUBBING IN TAMIL WASNOT EASY: RAO RAMESH

umanth after a longtime, has signed afilm, Aham Reboot,produced byVayuputra

Entertainments and SOriginals. The film, directedby Prashant Sagar Atuluri, was

formally launched atAnnapurna Studios onMonday. Director ChanduMondetti switched on thecamera while SharanKoppishetti hit the clap board.

According to sources,Sumanth will play an RJ in the

film. The concept poster wasreleased during the opening ofthe film.

Aham Reboot has music bySriram Madduri, and cine-matography by VarunAnkarla. Further details of thefilm will be revealed soon.

tollywood

s

egastar Chiranjeevi’smassive action enter-tainer BholaaShankar, beinghelmed by MeherRamesh, waslaunched recently in

a grand manner.The film’s regular shoot has

commenced on Monday. Ahuge set erected by produc-tion designer AS Prakash inthe city where the Megastarwill shoot some crucialsequences in the first sched-ule.

Bholaa Shankar, producedby Ramabrahmam Sunkara,has been making enoughnoise, ever since it wasannounced officially. The titleposter, followed by Rakhispecial video got overwhelm-ing response. Meher Ramesh

will be presenting megastar ina different getup in the high-ly-anticipated film.

The film boasts of a goodstory-line, an ensemble castand a stellar technical team.Recently, Tamannaah Bhatiacame on board the film toplay female lead, whileKeerthy Suresh will play sisterto Chiranjeevi. This filmfilled with emotions is toutedto be a pure commercial film.

Young sensation MahatiSwara Sagar renders sound-tracks, while Dudley cranksthe camera. Anil Sunkara’sAK Entertainments will beproducing the film, in associ-ation with CreativeCommercials, on a massivescale.

Bholaa Shankar is said torelease in theatres in 2022.

m

Massive set erected

for Bholaa Shankar

ampoorneshBabu is backwith yetanother enter-tainer andhow!

Produced by Gururajand Karthik, directed byVadla Janarthan,Sampoornesh launchedhis next project titled Mr.Beggar on Monday witha puja. Adviti Shetty willplay the actor’s loveinterest in this film.Actor Satya Prakashclapped during themuhurtam scene, whileKarti Movie Makers headRaju switched on thecamera.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Sampoornesh said,“Director Janarthan haspenned an amazingscript for this film. Mostpart of the film is set inthe backdrop of Goa.Our next schedule is inGoa next month. I wantthis movie to be respect-ed the way HridayaKalayam was.”

The film is said tohave many senior artists.

Anubhavinchu Raja is made for family

audience: Raj Tarunctor Raj Tarun is gearing up for the release of AnubhavinchuRaja, directed by Srinu Gavireddy. The film, an out and outentertainer, is being jointly produced by Annapurna Studiosand Srivenkateswara Cinemas LLP and is said to hit bigscreens on November 26.

Recently, Nagarjuna released the first look poster of the filmwhich received positive response from the audience, while NagaChaitanya released the title song of the film.

Raj Tarun, who will be seen as a security guard in the film, said,“Generally, we think security guards are awake all night, working

hard. But it was only when I started to shoot, i understood thekind of training security guards undergo before they are offered

a job. I salute all of them. This is a movie a whole family cango watch and watch together and it is made for family

audience. This is surely going to entertain everyone.”

a

a

s

Sumanth plays anRJ in Aham Reboot

Sampoornesh Babu is Mr Beggar

s

SAM's

special song

in PUSHPA

announced

sport 12HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 16, 2021

YASIR SSHAH MMISSES TTEST AAGAINST BBANGLAKarachi: Pakistan’s experienced leg-spinnerYasir Shah was on Monday not picked for theupcoming two-match Test series againstBangladesh after failing to recover from athumb injury. The Pakistani selectorsannounced a 20-member squad for the serieswith opener Imam-ul-Haq and off-spinner BilalAsif earning a recall to the national side.

ANIRUSH NNEW CCHENNAIYIN FFC CCAPTAINChennai: India international Anirudh Thapawas on Monday named captain of ChennaiyinFC for the forthcoming season of Indian SuperLeague (ISL) beginning on Friday. The 23-yearold midfielder, who has been with CFC since2016, takes over from Brazilian RafaelCrivellaro.Thapa, who is one of the key playersfor Chennaiyin FC over the years, said as acaptain there’s an added responsibility and hewould always protect his team and players.

MOHIT SSTUNS KKOREAN TTOP SSEEDDhaka: Young and unheralded Mohit Deshwalof Haryana stunned Korean top seed ChoiYonghee en route to setting up a semi-final clashwith Indian ace Avishek Verma in the men’scompound section of the Asian ArcheryChampionships here on Monday. On a daywhen the Indian recurve archers’ familiarstruggles against the Koreans once again cameto the fore, the compound trio of Mohit, Vermaand Jyothi Surekha kept India’s hopes alive inthe individual sections, advancing into theirrespective last-four rounds.

NORWICH HHIRES DDEAN SSMITH Norwich (England): Norwich appointed DeanSmith as manager of the Premier League’s last-placed team on Monday, a week after he wasfired by Aston Villa. The 50-year-old Smithreplaces Daniel Farke, who was dismissed lastweekend despite overseeing Norwich’s first winof the league season. “It has been a whirlwindseven days, but I’m really pleased to be back andworking for Norwich City in the PremierLeague,” Smith said in a statement.

INDIA TTO CCOMPETE IIN 113TH EEWC New Delhi: A seven-member Indian team willcompete in three gaming categories at the 13thEsports World Championship in Eilat, Israelstarting on Tuesday. The Indian athletes, whowill be supported by MPL Sports Foundationand sportwear brand from Bata, POWER, willbe competing in CS:GO, Tekken7 and PEScategories during the tournament, EsportsFederation of India (ESFI) said in a release.

WAHAB PPLANS TTO RRETIRE AAFTER 22023 WWCKarachi: Left-arm Pakistan fast bowler WahabRiaz is planning to retire from internationalcricket after the 2023 World Cup in India. The36-year-old pacer, who has played 27 Tests, 91ODIs and 36 T20Is, has not been a regular in thePakistan team for a while now and was alsoignored for the T20 World Cup.”Everyone has tosay goodbye to cricket one day.

LALREMSIAMI TTO LLEAD IINDIA IIN JJUNIOR WWCNew Delhi: Forward Lalremsiami, who was apart of the Indian senior women’s hockey teamwhich finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics,will lead the country’s 18-member junior squadat the FIH World Cup starting in South Africafrom December 5. The event will witness 16 topteams from across the globe battle for the titlewhich was previously won by Argentina in 2016.Ishika Chaudhary will shoulder theresponsibility of vice-captaincy.

SINGLES

PTI n DUBAI

No Indian cricketer figured inthe ICC’s T20 World Cup

‘Team of the Tournament’ whichcomprises players from six dif-ferent countries, including SriLanka and South Africa, withPakistan’s Babar Azam beingnamed ‘captain’ of the squad.

India were ousted at thegroup league stage after beingthrashed by Pakistan and NewZealand before winning threeinconsequential games againstAfghanistan, Scotland andNamibia.

The jury members did notthink any of the Indian playersdeserving to be picked whileSouth Africa’s Aiden Markramand Anirch Nortje and SriLanka’s Charith Asalanka andWanindu Hasaranga were theplayers whose teams didn’t qual-ify for the semi-finals but fore theICC team.

Stars players from champi-ons Australia, runners-up NewZealand, semi-finalists Englandand Pakistan also feature in thestar-studded line up.

Opening batter and ‘Playerof the Tournament’ DavidWarner, leg-spinner AdamZampa and seamer JoshHazlewood all made the cut forAustralia after helping steer their

side to their first ever T20 WorldCup title.

There were also spots forEngland’s Jos Buttler as wicket-keeper and New Zealand left-armer Trent Boult, besidesPakistan’s Babar as captain andSri Lanka star Hasaranga -- thetournament’s leading wicket-taker — in the line-up.

One of the jury members,former West Indies pacer IanBishop, said: “As with any teamselection there will be varying opinions, and robust dis-cussion on the final compositionof the squad.

“The panel respects that, andwe encourage the strong debatethat will ensue. This team wasincredibly difficult to select oversuch a highly competitive tour-nament. Selections were basedpredominantly on the Super 12onward to the final.”

TeamDavid Warner (Australia),

Jos Buttler (wk) (England), BabarAzam (captain, Pakistan),Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka),Aiden Markram (South Africa),Moeen Ali (England), WaninduHasaranga (Sri Lanka), AdamZampa (Australia), JoshHazlewood (Australia),TrentBoult (New Zealand), AnrichNortje (South Africa), 12th:Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan).

PTI n BALI

Two-time Olympic medallist P VSindhu will continue her quest

for a podium finish when she spear-heads India’s challenge at theIndonesia Masters Super 750 tour-nament but compatriots SainaNehwal and Sameer Verma will bemissing in action after deciding topull out of the tournament due toinjuries.

Sindhu, who had claimed abronze at the Tokyo Olympics to gowith her Rio silver medal, reachedthe quarterfinals and semifinals atDenmark and France before skip-ping the Hylo Open in Germany.

The 2019 World Championshipin Switzerland was Sindhu’s last title.She reached the final at Swiss Openearly this year but it ended with aloss.

The third seeded Indian, how-

ever, has good memories ofIndonesia as she had reached thefinals at Jakarta two years back andwill look to make a good start whenshe faces Thailand’s SupanidaKatethong in the opener.

Sindhu is likely to cross swordswith Spain’s Clara Azurmendi andCanada’s sixth seed Michelle Li in thenext two rounds and a clash againsttop seeded Japanese AkaneYamaguchi could be on the cards in

the semifinals if she can cross the ini-tial rounds.

Saina, the London Olympicsbronze-medallist, and Sameer, wholooked in good touch in the last twoevents, will miss the Indonesia leg torecover from their respectiveinjuries.

While Saina had suffered agroin injury at Uber Cup, Sameerhad injured his calf muscle inDenmark.

All eyes this week will also be onKidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen,who had reached the semifinals ofHylo Open.

While Srikanth seemed close toregaining his form, Lakshya too haslooked in good touch in his last fewoutings. The duo will look to con-tinue the good run when they begintheir men’s singles campaign here.

Lakshya will meet Japan’s KantaTsuneyama in his opening round,

while Srikanth faces a qualifier afterSameer pulled out.

Tokyo Olympian B Sai Praneethwill take on Indonesia’s Shesar HirenRhustavito, while HS Prannoy is pit-ted against sixth-seeded IndonesianJonatan Christie in his opener.

Parupalli Kashyap will square offagainst Denmark’s Hans-KristianSolberg Vittinghus.

In men’s doubles competition,sixth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddyand Chirag Shetty will lock hornswith Malaysia’s Ong Yew Sin and TeoEe Yi, while the fast-rising pair ofMR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila willbattle it out against the Japanesecombination of Takuro Hoki andYugo Kobayashi.

The women’s doubles pair ofAshwini Ponnappa and N SikkiReddy will take on Denmark’s Alexandra Boje andMette Poulsen.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former India chief coach Ravi Shastri has beenroped in as the Commissioner of the Legends

League Cricket (LLC), a professional event forretired players that is set to take off next year.

The first season of LLC is scheduled to beheld in January next year in the Gulf.

“It feels great to remain connected with crick-et in the thick of action, especially with theLegends of the game who have been championsin their own rights,” Shastri, whose stint withIndia ended after the team’s exit from the ICCT20 World Cup, said in a release issued by theevent’s organisers. “It is going to be a lot of funwith some serious cricket going.

These stalwarts have nothing new to provebut they have their reputation in line and I canassure you, it will be interesting to see how theydo justice to it. “I am extremely thrilled to be apart of Legends League Cricket. This is a uniqueinitiative and we see a very bright future ahead,”added the 59-year-old.

AP n SAO PAULO

Mercedes driver LewisHamilton ended “the hardestweekend I’ve had” with a

stunning victory at the BrazilianGrand Prix, and gained momentumin his Formula One title fight with RedBull driver Max Verstappen.

Hamilton, a seven-time worldchampion, beat Verstappen despitestarting from 10th position on the griddue to a penalty — the secondHamilton faced this weekend in SaoPaulo.

Verstappen, the winner of therace’s previous edition in 2019, fin-ished second and saw his lead in thedriver’s championship shrink to 14points, with three races left. Thewinner of a race gets 25 points.

“Let’s keep pushing,” Hamiltonsaid on team radio after his sixth vic-tory of the season. He took a Brazilflag to celebrate his win in the car andon the podium, just as his idol AyrtonSenna did.

Hamilton’s teammate, ValtteriBottas, finished third and Red Bull’s

Sergio Perez was fourth with theMexican clocking the fastest lap of therace. The Ferraris of Charles Leclercand Carlos Sainz were fifth and sixth,respectively.

Verstappen led most of the raceafter the first turn, when he overtookpolesitter Bottas. But Hamilton, whorose from 10th to third position in justsix laps, went ahead of Verstappen onlap 59, putting a raucous crowd ontheir feet at Interlagos.

Hamilton finished the race witha 10-second advantage overVerstappen and said he felt like he hadwon his first race before a joyouscrowd at Interlagos.

“I was pushing as hard as I could,”an emotional Hamilton said after his101st victory. “From last on the grid(for Saturday’s sprint race), and thenanother five-place penalty — I thinkthat’s the hardest weekend I’ve had.Things kept going against us, but itjust shows, never give up, keep fight-ing. Never, ever stop fighting.”

Mercedes is now 11 points aheadof Red Bull in the constructor stand-ings. Verstappen will leave Brazil

50,000 euros ($57,200) poorer. He wasfined after being seen touching therear wing of Hamilton’s Mercedes onFriday.

“We were just missing a bit ofpace, but we gave it our all and had

fun,” the Dutchman said. “We stillhave a good points lead, today was abit of damage limitation. The comingraces we will bounce back.”

Organizers at Interlagos celebrat-ed the return of the series to the tra-

ditional track, which will host the racefor nine more years.

More than 181,000 tickets weresold for the three days of action, withthousands of fans gathering in frontof the podium — many of themunmasked despite health protocols.

Brazil was cut from the 2020 cal-endar because of restrictions in placefor the COVID-19 pandemic. The SaoPaulo Grand Prix, renamed for thisyear, was allowed to open for fullcapacity only weeks ago when the stategovernment eased restrictions forNovember.

Many fans saw the race as areturn to a more normal life, and theyliked the eventual winner.

Antonio Siqueira, 45, had tears inhis eyes when Hamilton drove byInterlagos’ straight with the Brazilian flag.

“Ayrton’s last title was 30 years ago,and to see the greatest driver ever havethis performance here and still revereour hero was very emotional,” Siqueirasaid. “Today makes it official; there isa Brazilian driver on the grid, and hisname is Lewis.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

Sixty six premier domestic cricketerswill battle it out in toxic Delhi air

which has been the cause for health haz-ards as the Syed Mushtaq Ali NationalT20 Championship’s pre-quarter-finalstarts in national Capital on Monday.

As on Monday, the highest AirQuality Index (AQI) level in Delhi was349, which is ‘Harzardous’ and wasrecorded in Shahdara area.

The place where two of the pre quar-ter-finals will be played is Feroz ShahKotla, which is located in Central Delhi,where the condition is slightly better withpeak AQI of 249, which is deemed“Unhealthy”.

“The conditions are slightly better

compared to past week and there is nointimation tat we won’t go ahead with thegame,” a senior DDCA official told PTIwhen asked if there is a chance of can-cellation.

Kotla will host one match in themorning and the other in the afternoon.

On the cricketing front, Maharashtrawill miss their key and inform playerRuturaj Gaikwad, who has been called fornational duty, when they take on arch-rivals Vidarbha in one of the three pre-quarter-finals.

Ruturaj was the chief architect ofMaharashtra’s wins in the league stageand he had continued his good run fromthe IPL, where he was the leading run-scorer for his side Chennai Super Kings.

But having earned a national India

call-up for the T20 series against New Zealand, Maharashtra will miss hisservices.

In his absence, senior players Kedar

Jadhav and current vice-captain NaushadShaikh, will have to shoulder responsi-bility if the side has to score or chase big.

Kedar has exactly not been among

heavy runs and come Tuesday, he wouldlike to take on the Vidarbha attack withgusto and help his team advance to thelast eight.

Naushad, who is an aggressive bat-ter and can take any attack to cleanserson his day, would need to come good atthe ‘Kotla’. However, the duo would needsupport from other batters.

If a fit Rahul Tripathi, who missedthe league stage due to an injury sus-tained in the IPL final, is available, thenthat will surely help Maharashtra, whohad won the T20 domestic champi-onship, 10 years back.

Maharashtra will also have a newcaptain for the marquee clash as theyoung opener from Pune led in theleague stage.

AP n SAO PAULO

Brazil is already the firstSouth American team to

secure a direct spot in nextyear’s World Cup. Second-place Argentina is nearly there,too.

Anyone thinking Tuesday’squalifying match between theteams will not be decisive has-n’t considered how much pridewill be at stake in the region’ssuperclasico.

Copa America championArgentina is determined toupstage Brazil and show LionelMessi he has a decent shot nextyear of winning the only trophymissing in his career. Victory infront of home crowd could alsomean, pending other results,securing qualification for Qatar2022.

Brazil is aiming to com-plete the best South American

qualifying campaign in histo-ry, although coach Tite is stillexpected to continue experi-menting with his lineup withan eye on the World Cup.

Only 25,000 fans in SanJuan, in Argentina’s northwest,will be at the stadium to watchthe teams play a full game forthe first time in this edition ofWorld Cup qualifying.

The first encounter was

stopped after seven minutes ofplay in September by Brazilianauthorities enforcing proto-cols in place for the COVID-19pandemic.

Brazil leads qualifiers with34 points, six ahead ofArgentina.

Both teams have complet-ed 12 games, one fewer thanthe other eight teams in qualifying.

PTI n JAIPUR

Heavy dew, which will min-imise the toss advantage,

has been predicted for India’sopening T20I against NewZealand as Jaipur gears up tohost its first international matchin eight years on Wednesday.

The winter chill can beexperienced the moment youarrive in the pink city.

Officials and groundstaff atthe Rajasthan CricketAssociation told PTI that in thelast two days, the dew has been

setting around 7pm, the starttime of the first ever T20International to be played at theSawai Mansingh Stadium.

The dew factor proved to bea massive one at the recently con-cluded T20 World Cup in theUAE where teams preferred tochase in better batting condi-tions.

“Here in Jaipur, there couldbe dew in the first innings itselfgoing by the last two dayswhich minimises the tossadvantage to a certain extent.Since it is a T20, one has toexpect lots of runs from this sur-face,” said an official.

“We will use the anti-dewspray on match day but we have all seen its effect is verylimited.”

In the last ODI held here in2013, India chased downAustralia’s 359 in just 43.3 overswith Rohit Sharma and ViratKohli scoring a century each.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The advantage teams have had batting sec-ond in the just-concluded

T20 World Cup is something the ICC canlook into to ensure a level-playing field, Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar saidon Monday.

In the T20 showpiece that concluded inthe UAE on Sunday with Australia’s triumphover New Zealand in the title clash, teams batting second have won almost alltheir matches, including the semifinals andthe final.

“The commentators were saying that thedew factor wasn’t there today so I don’t think it really came into play that muchin this game but I think it has in the previ-ous games and maybe that is something thatneeds to be looked at,” Gavaskar told Sports Today.

“But you may also say that if the groupmatches are played at the same time then whychange for the knockouts,” said Gavaskar.

PTI n JAIPUR

As part of a new leadership group,India’s T20 vice-captain K L Rahul

could not be more excited about work-ing with Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharmaas the head coach is big on setting a goodteam culture with the new skipper beinga tactical genius.

The T20 home series against NewZealand marks the start of a new era forIndian cricket after the disappointmentof a pre-mature exit from the T20 WorldCup.

With the next edition only 12 monthsaway, Rahul said the team managementwill soon take a call on what is the best

template to follow in the unforgivingshortest format.

“Look, obviously I’ve been very for-tunate I have known Rahul Dravid for along time. As a youngster I did pick hisbrain and try and understand the gamebetter and understanding the art of bat-ting better from him. Has been very help-ful to all of us back home in Karnataka.

“As a coach he has has been with theboys around the country and to have himin the set up is a great opportunity to learnfrom, we all know what a big name he isand the kind of things he has done for ourcountry,” Rahul said referring to the newhead coach ahead of the first T20 onWednesday.

The vice-captain also spoke brieflyabout Dravid’s vision for the team.

“When it comes to coaching, I haveplayed a couple of games with the IndiaA set up and we have had a small chat just

before coming out here for training. Heis somebody who’s big on setting a goodteam culture and creating an atmospherewhere people are thriving and trying toget better as people and cricketers.

“He was always a team man when hewas playing and that is the kind of cul-ture he wants to bring in here whereeveryone is putting the team aheadinstead of personal goals.”

The new think thank has just gottogether and there will be plenty of dis-cussions in the near future, said Rahul.

About Rohit, the stylish batter said hisperformances for the Indian team and hisIPL franchise say it all.

“We have all seen him in the IPL and

his stats are for everybody to see. He hasa great understanding of the game andtactically he is really good and that is whyhe has been able to achieve what he hasas a leader.

“He will bring a lot of calm into thedressing room. The next few weeks willbe exciting to know what kind of goalshe has for the team and what kind of tem-plate we are looking to play.

“In a team sport it is always a collec-tive effort and decision.

The job of the leadership group is toensure that everybody is clear about theirroles and feeling secure in the team andit will be an exciting challenge to createthat kind of atmosphere,” he said.

ICC’s ‘Team ofTournament’

No Indian included

Hamilton’s stunning win in Brazil

Shastri joins upcoming LegendsLeague as Commissioner

Sindhu eyes podium finish; Saina pulls out due to injuries

Rohit as leader will bring a lot of calm into dressing room: Rahul

Argentina, Brazil meet inqualifying with eyes on Qatar

ICC must make sure

there is level-playing

field, says Gavaskar

Early dew to minimise tossadvantage in first T20I

Mushtaq Ali Trophy knockouts to undergo in ‘Hazardous’ Delhi air