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HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 18, 2019; PAGES 12 `3

}RAJINIKANTH: I WANT TO PLAYTHE ROLE OF ATRANSGENDER

Page 11www.dailypioneer.com

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI DEHRADUNVIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 2 ISSUE 69*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

HYDERABADWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated December 17, 2019 5:00 PM

ALMANAC TODAY

Month & Paksham:Margashirsha & Krishna PakshaPanchangamTithi : Saptami: 11:30 pm Nakshatram: Purva Phalguni 12:01 am Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)Rahukalam: 12:12 pm- 01:34 pmYamagandam: 08:05 am – 09:28 am

Varjyam: 08:58 am- 10:28 am

Gulika: 10:50 am - 12:12 pmGood Time: (to start any important work)

Amritakalam: 06:00 pm - 07:30 pmAbhijit Muhurtham: NIL

FFoorreeccaasstt:: Clear with periodic cloudsTemp: 28/16Humidity: 73%Sunrise: 06.39Sunset: 05.45

3 capitals for Andhra, hints AP CMVisakhapatnam may be executive capital, Legal capital in Kurnool and Legislative capital in Vijayawada From TDP’s Singapore model to YSRCP’s South Africa style, decisions help ruling party gain political capital

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Ending the uncertainty overfuture of Amaravati as AndhraPradesh capital, Chief MinisterY. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy onTuesday said the state mayhave three capitals with exec-utive and judicial capitals com-ing up in Visakhaptnam andKurnool respectively.

He said while the legislativecapital may continue to func-tion from Amaravati, thecoastal city of Visakhapatnammay be made the executivecapital and Kurnool may bedeveloped as the judicial cap-ital. He told State LegislativeAssembly that the state needsto have innovative thinking toensure decentralization.

"Decentralization is the realconcept. We should also

change. Countries like SouthAfrica have three capitals. Wemay also have three capitals."

"Legislative capital mayremain here. Assembly mayfunction from here. We may

have executive capital inV i s a k h a p a t n a m .Administration may work fromthere. Kurnool may have judi-cial capital.

Continued on Page 4

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Former Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu flew outof handle on Tuesday out ofrage as Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy stated onthe floor of the state legisla-tive Assembly hinting at thestate could be having threecapitals.

Talking to media outsidethe Assembly after being sus-pended from the House, hecame crashing down like a

ton of bricks on the YSRCPgovernment predicting that it

will destroy the state furtherand compared the the rule ofthe present regime with thatof Mohammad-bin-Tughlaq.He questioned why Jagan hasthis much hatred onAmaravati and wonderedwhy he is bent upon killingthe new city.

If the state is to have threecapitals, from where willJagan will rule --fromAmaravati? or Visakha? orKurnool?

Continued on Page 4

Why this much hatred againstAmaravati, asks Chandrababu

L VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrashekhar Rao has askedthe officials concerned not torush through Yadadri Templerenovation works, consideringthe need to ensure high qual-ity and strict adherence toAgama Shastra rules. KCRwent round Yadadri templepremises for six and half hourson Tuesday, along with officialsfrom various departments. Heinitially performed a specialpooja to Sri Laxmi NarasimhaSwamy and sought blessingsfrom Vedic scholars.

Later, he keenly inspectedworks being executed atGopuram, Dwaja Sthambham,Sivalayam, sanctum sancto-rum, Mada streets, queue lines,kitchen where prasadam isbeing made, Towers,Pushkarini, Yagashala, amongothers. He expressed his sat-isfaction that all the works were

being done reflecting sublimespirituality and traditions.

"Works on temple cannot be

done as per deadlines. Sincethey are going to be permanentconstructions, each and every

precaution should be taken onall aspects.

Continued on Page 4

Follow Agama shastra rules strictly,CM KCR tells Yadadri officials

TRS push for irrigation led toboom in food processing industryTo attract investments that promote large scale employmentNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

IT and Industries DepartmentMinister K T Rama Rao hassaid that the ripple effects ofgiving priority to the irrigationsector through theKaleshwaram project and therevival of tanks are reflectingin the rising demand for foodprocessing units in the state somuch so that TS is now look-ing at options to export andfind ways to use paddy by pro-moting agro-based industries.With substantial additionalland being irrigated now, theneed for agro-based and foodprocessing industries hadincreased tremendously, hepointed out at a review withofficials of IT and IndustriesDepartment here on Tuesday.

KTR said:"The Telanganagovernment has been givingtop priority to the agricultur-al and irrigation sectors. Thishas led to an increase in cropproduction, giving a largescope for the food processingindustry. Food processingunits will create employment

opportunities in rural areas." A Cabinet sub-committee is

reportedly working towardsturning certain agri productsinto value-added products byencouraging industrialists andincentivizing them in a waythat it benefits both farmer andindustrialists.

KTR stated that the govern-ment would bring in more tex-tile, electronics, and food pro-cessing units to the state as

these sectors had abundantscope for job creation. Heinstructed officials of the ITand Industries Departments toset targets for attracting invest-ments that boost employmentopportunities in the state.

The Minister said that theTelangana government'sIndustrial Policy had succeed-ed in attracting investors fromacross the world.

Continued on Page 4

Asks officials not to complete works in a hurry CM conducts over6-hr inspection of Yadadri temple renovation works

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao during his inspection of works being executed at Gopuram, Dwaja Sthambham,Sivalayam, sanctum sanctorum, Mada streets, queue lines of Yadadri Temple on Tuesday

TSPB vice chairman Vinod Kumar, TRRSS chairman Palla Rajeshwar Reddycongratulate KTR on completion of one year as TRS working president on Tuesday

Pregnantwoman rapedin KarimnagarKARIMNAGAR: In yetanother heinous incident, apregnant woman was rapedby a cable TV unit worker inKarimnagar town onMonday. According to acomplaint lodged by the fam-ily of the victim, the worker,Ramakrishna, came to theirhouse in Bommakal village ofKarimnagar rural mandal torepair the cable connectionon Monday.

The woman's husband, asecurity guard, was awayfrom home. The workersexually assaulted her, filmedthe entire act, and black-mailed her that he wouldmake the clip public if sherevealed the incident.However, the woman andher husband complained tothe police. The accused wasbooked under SC/ST Act formolestation.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Amid the protests across thecountry against the CitizenshipAmendment Act, a delegationof 19 opposition leaders onTuesday met President RamNath Kovind and urged him toask the Narendra Modi govern-ment roll back the legislation.

Addressing the media afterthe meeting, Congress' interimPresident Sonia Gandhi saidthat the whole country is agitat-ing on the CAA, and the oppo-sition was anguished with thepolice action against the protest-ers in the northeast and inDelhi. "Delhi is an example

where the police has trespassedinto the Jamia women's hosteland dragged them out.... theyhave beaten up students merci-lessly, you have seen that the

Modi government seems tohave no compassion when itcomes to shutting down people'svoices," she said.

Continued on Page 4

Urdu writer toreturn Padmaaward HYDERABAD: AcclaimedUrdu writer from Hyderabad,Mujtaba Hussain hasannounced that he would bereturning his Padma Sriaward to the Union govern-ment. He decided to returnthe Padma award to registerhis protest against theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and the plan to updatethe National Register ofCitizens (NRC).

Protest overcitizenship law turnsviolent in East DelhiPNS n NEW DELHI

Angry protesters demandingscrapping of the amended cit-izenship law torched severalmotor bikes, pelted stones atpolice and damaged publicbuses in Northeast Delhi'sSeelampur area on Tuesday, infresh violence in the nationalcapital.

Police resorted to batoncharges and fired tear gasshells to disperse the protest-ers. Plumes of smoke billowedfrom at least two localities.

Police said two bikes oftraffic cops were burnt by thedemonstrators, adding a policebooth in the area was dam-aged.

A large number of police-men were deployed followingthe violence.

Police said the protesterswere marching fromSeelampur towards Jafrabad.

Clashes erupted betweenpolice and protesters atSeelampur Chowk when thesecurity personnel tried tostop them from moving ahead.

According to a senior policeofficer, the protest began ataround 12 pm. The protestersraised slogans against the newlaw as well as the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC).

The clashes erupted twodays after violence broke outduring a protest in the NewFriends area in South Delhinear Jamia Millia Islamia.

Police said two bikesof traffic cops wereburnt by thedemonstrators,adding a police boothin the area wasdamaged

NAVEEN KUMAR n HYDERABAD

Contract carriages operatedby aggregators like Ola andUber as well as auto-rickshawsoperating in the city are hence-forth liable to be booked underthe Moror Vehicles Act by theCyberabad police forrefusing/cancelling rides ofpassengers. Aggrieved peoplecan lodge complaints throughthe dedicated WhatsApp num-ber, according to traffic author-ities. It is illegal on the part ofcontract carriages to cancel orrefuse rides; so, instead ofignoring the issue, people can

always alert the police to booka case, said DCP of CyberabadTraffic Police, S.M. VijayKumar.

Two such cases were booked

on Tuesday via WhatsApp. Section 178 of the MV Act,

under which offenders will bebooked, says action will betaken if the service provider

'fails or refuses to accept thefare when tendered' and 'refusalto ply contract carriage'.

People are not aware of this.This (refusal/cancellation ofride) is totally illegal and, afterwe start booking cases, in duetime they will learn a lesson notto cancel rides. A fine of Rs 500will be charged per cancella-

tion. We have a WhatsAppgroup with volunteers whohave been vocal about facingproblems from cab serviceproviders. We booked twocases on Tuesday, one of themin Secunderabad, which wasreferred to the Hyderabad traf-fic police," the DCP said.

Appreciating the move,Vinod Kumar Kanumula, ChiefFunctionary of Indian RoadTransport, opined that theother Commissionerates in thecity should also start this. "It isa good move from the police.I have faced this issue myselfseveral times.

Continued on Page 4

Bihar woman,set on fireafter rapebid, diesPATNA: The 23-year oldwoman, who was set on fireafter a failed rape bid inBihar's Muzaffarpur districton December 7, died here onMonday night. She wasundergoing treatment inPatna'a Appolo hospital afterreceiving 80 per cent burns.

The victim's kin said thewoman died around 11.40p.m. on Monday night.

The Muzaffarpur districtadministration had assured tobear the entire cost of treat-ment of the woman.

According to the familymembers of the victim, herlast words were, "I want jus-tice. The person who hascommitted this crime shouldbe hanged."

PNS n MUMBAI

Amid raging protests over theamended Citizenship Act,Union Home Minister AmitShah on Tuesday assertedthere was no question of goingback on its implementationand accused the opposition ofengaging in a "false" cam-paign over the legislation.

Speaking at India EconomicConclave, Shah said there wasnothing against minorities inthe Citizenship (Amendment)Act (CAA), which was passedby Parliament last week andhas received Presidentialassent.

"There is no going back on

Citizenship Act, government isfirm like rock on its imple-mentation," said Shah amiddemand by opposition partiesfor withdrawal of what theycalled an "unconstitutionaland divisive" law.

Amit Shah

No going back onCitizenship Act: Shah

CJI recusesfrom hearingconvict's pleaPNS n NEW DELHI

Chief Justice S A Bobderecused himself on Tuesdayfrom hearing the plea of con-vict Akshay Kumar Singhseeking review of the 2017apex court judgment uphold-ing his death penalty in theNirbhaya gang rape-and-murder case. At the outset aspecial bench comprising theCJI and Justices R Banumathiand Ashok Bhushan made itclear that the review plea hasto be heard by another appro-priate bench.

Continued on Page 4

NIRBHAYA CASE

Cabs cancelling, refusing rides will be booked

{

Opposition delegation meetsPresident, seeks CAA rollback

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HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 hyderabad 02

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(IN HYDERABAD)

Oppositionparties in

Andhra Pradeshare rejuvenatingand gearing up for

the upcom-ing polls to

local bodies. Theelections to local bod-

ies, likely to be held in thefirst half of 2020, are going tobe the litmus test for all, includ-ing the ruling party. TeluguDesam Party, Janasena and theLeft parties are busy involvingtheir respective cadre inprotests against the policies ofthe YSR Congress government.

TDP is formulating strate-gies for surviving effectively inthe political arena of the state.The party's stir, therefore, isintended to take on the YSRCgovernment on the one handand keeping its flock togetheron the other. For, the rulingparty is believed to be making

attempts to poach from TDPso as to strip it of the rank ofprincipal opposition in theAP Assembly. Just six TDPmembers are enough for theruling party to disturb its bêtenoire politically.

The ruling party, by estab-lishing ward-level secretariatsand the system of volunteers invillages, has the paved the wayfor reaching out to people. So,TDP faces a formidable chal-lenge in regaining its strengthand sustaining its position.Trying to align with BJP couldprove to be a very big task forTDP in the backdrop of YSRC'srelentless efforts to strike afriendly deal with the saffronparty. The issue will be decid-ed, basing on their pros andcons, at the behest of Modi-Shah combination. Whichpolitical combination in APwill be useful for BJP to retainpower at Centre in 2024?

What kind of plan of action isneeded for that? Who will bethe electoral partner for BJP inAndhra? Which party is capa-ble of going the 'extra mile' toget maximum benefits thatcould also turn the tide in BJP'sfavour? These are some theissues that BJP would consid-er while taking a call on pos-sible political tie-ups. In anycase, BJP is eagerly waiting fora political partner in AP to but-tress its strength in Parliament.That future partner in APshould be like AIADMK ofTamil Nadu, which has beenacting as staunch supporter of

BJP on all key issues. It is onlybecause of the unqualifiedsupport extended by partieslike AIADMK that the Modigovernment could have the lastlaugh in the case of CitizenshipAmendment Act. As thingsstand, YSRC may be BJP's nat-ural choice in AP, consideringit has 22 Lok Sabha members.But BJP is wary that a party'spresent strength in legislaturemay get altered followingchange of mood in voters.Still, BJP needs support ofregional parties before the2024 polls.

Janasena Party headed by

film star Pawan Kalyan is pos-sibly going to play a very cru-cial role in the coming elec-tions. He seems to have real-ized his blunder of going italone in the recent polls.Pawan made it clear recentlythat he never alienated himselffrom BJP. In fact, Pawan seemsto be working for a grand

alliance against YSRC in AP.Pawan is concentrating onmass contact programmesrelated to farmers and workingclasses and is trying to projecthimself in national media as afighter solving people's prob-lems. He seems to have pre-pared himself even to lose hislone MLA in AP Assemblywho is slowly getting nearer toCM Jaganmohan Reddy bypraising his policies on thefloor of the House.

Pawan is enjoying thepatronage of BJP without hav-ing single seat in Parliament.The left parties should also beincluded in this proposedalliance as per the opinion ofmany. But the Left partieswon't align themselves with afront in which BJP is a partner.So, it may not be possible evenfor Chandrababu and Pawanto get Left parties included intheir possible combination.

Jaganmohan Reddy is keenon having proper ties with BJPat Centre as the sword ofcriminal cases is hangingabove his head. Hence, YSRCsupported CAB recently.

One incident that took placein Delhi in 1997 needs a closelook. A ninth class girl student,daughter of a Sub-Inspector inDelhi police, got very muchdisturbed to see police atroci-ties on a hapless woman in aBollywood film 'Hamare DilApke Pass Hai' in which hero-ine Aishwarya Rai is subjectedto high degree of harassmentat the hands of a sub-inspector.That girl, in that very particu-lar moment, had a hallucina-tion of seeing her real lifefather in the role of the sub-inspector in that movie. Theadverse comments made byher classmates after watchingthat movie over police harass-ment in general adds fuel to

fire in 'hurting' feelings of thatgirl. Soon after returninghome, that girl fumes at herfather, stating how he could beso cruel towards a haplesswoman. Her father is stunnedon receiving such responsefrom his teenage daughter.This suggests that people havestrong positive opinion onpolice; yet, they easily get dis-turbed if things go wrong evenif it is a fictitious one.

The latest happening in thenational capital makes peopledraw a parallel with the fore-going incident. A womanjournalist Bushra Sheik, work-ing for BBC, got a raw deal atthe hands the Delhi policewhile she was covering mid-night protests of the studentsof Jamia Milia IslamiaUniversity in Delhi over CAA.This real incident seems tohave 'enough stuff ' to defamethe Delhi Police.

M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist

The issue will be decided, basing on theirpros and cons, at the behest of Modi-Shahcombination. Which political combinationin AP will be useful for BJP to retainpower at Centre in 2024?

Opposition bracing up for polls to local bodies in AP

PIN POINT

HYDERABAD ‘ENCOUNTER'

Hospital seeks HC advice onpreserving bodies of accusedPNS n HYDERABAD

The state-run Gandhi Hospitalhere on Tuesday sought adirective from the TelanganaHigh Court over preservingthe bodies of the four accusedin the rape-murder of awoman veterinarian, who werelater killed in an allegedencounter with the police.

The directive was soughtfollowing concerns expressedby the hospitals forensic expertsover keeping the bodies.

The forensic professor, whopreserved the bodies, hasexpressed concern as to howlong we can preserve the bod-ies. We cannot keep them anylonger, a senior medical officialat the Gandhi hospital said.

The forensic professor'sviews have been forwarded tothe High Court for guidanceand orders from the courtwere awaited.

Whatever the forensic pro-fessor has said is his concernover maintaining the bodiesfor a longer period.

With his reference, we haveapproached High Court," theofficial said.

"So, we asked for the highcourt to kindly give us thedirection as what should bedone next, he said.

Whatever the High Court

says they will follow, he said.As per the forensic experts

views, the bodies have been ingood condition, but he needsfurther guidelines as to whatis to be done as no cut-off timehas been given, he said.

The bodies have been pre-served in minus degrees tem-perature, he said.

The bodies were to be pre-served till December 13 as perthe high courts directives ear-lier, the official said, addingthat no further directives havebeen received from the HighCourt.

The four men, accused inthe rape and murder of the

woman veterinarian, werekilled in an alleged encounterwith police on December 6.

The four accused werearrested on November 29 forallegedly raping and killingthewoman veterinarian bysmothering her and laterburning her body.

They were allegedly gunneddown by the police after theaccused snatched the firearmof the law enforcers atChattanpalli when they weretaken to the scene of crimenear the culvert, under whichthe charred remains of the 25-year- old veterinarian werefound on November 28, to

recover her phone, wrist-watch and others pertaining tothe case.

The Supreme Court hadappointed a three-memberinquiry commission headedby former apex court judge VS Sirpurkar to probe into the

circumstances that led to thealleged encounter of the fouraccused in the gang-rape andmurder of the veterinarian.

The apex court had said thepreservation of the bodiesshall continue until furtherorders.

Korutla TRS MLAbacks ‘encounter' JAGITIAL: While the SupremeCourt has ordered an inquiry intothe killing of four accused inDisha case, Korutla TRS MLA ChVidhyasagar Rao asked allTelangana legislators to back thepolice. Justifying the encou-nter, he took out a rallyin Metpalli town onTuesday. The MLA isplanning to take outanother rally inKorutla on Thursday.Speaking on theoccasion, VidhyasagarRao appealed to all MLAs ofTelangana to extend theirsupport to police by organisingrallies in their respectiveconstituencies. Stating that itwas not against any government,the MLA wanted all sections ofsociety to come forward to instill

self-confidence among the policepersonnel. "On the day ofencounter, people showeredflowers on policemen. However,nobody was talking about theinjustice being meted out topolicemen. Nobody would save

the people if the police loseself-confidence,"Vidhyasagar Rao said."Time has come to makechanges in existing laws,"he added. However,

political analysts felt thatVidhyasagar Rao had

organised rallies to counterHealth Minister Etela Rajenderwho opposed the encounter. TheMinister said that encountersand imprisonments would notsolve problems. There should bechange in the behaviour andattitude of people.

The forensic professor's views havebeen forwarded to the High Court forguidance and orders from the courtwere awaited

PNS n HYDERABAD

Nine railway stations of SouthCentral Railway (SCR) includ-ing Secunderabad, Hyderabad,Kacheguda, Vijayawada,Nizamabad, Kurnool city,Basar, Vikarabad and ParliVaijnath have been awardedwith the EnvironmentalStandard ISO 14001:2015 cer-tification for implementingEnvironmental ManagementSystem successfully in railwaystations.

The standards are mainlyaimed at minimising consum-able resources and developingenvironment friendly atmos-phere. ISO 14001 certifica-tion is issued to the stationswhich fulfil the laid downstandards in provision of ser-vices and amenities for trans-portation of passengers andmaintenance of cleanliness inrailway station premises andtimely disposal of garbage tomunicipal authority.

This includes maintainingcleanliness, disposal of solidwaste, pet bottle shredders,anti-littering, water conserva-tion, energy conservation,installation of solar energy,developing green belt andimplementing zero-wastemanagement among others.

Gajanan Mallya, GeneralManager of SCR compliment-ed the officials and advisedthem to further improve thestandards of EnvironmentManagement System for get-ting certification for somemore stations.

It may be mentioned herethat National Green Tribunal(NGT) directed IndianRailways to identify 36 stationsto be developed as eco-smartstations by achieving greenenvironment standards. SCRidentified three stations fromits zone namely Secunderabad,Kacheguda and Vijayawada.

One of the norms laid downby NGT is getting ISO 14001certification from BIS.Accordingly, all the three iden-tified railway stations to bedeveloped as eco-smart stations- Secunderabad, Kacheguda andVijayawada are now in receipt ofISO 14001: 2015 certificationcomplying the NGT norms.

GM of SCRcomplimentedthe officials andadvised them tofurther improvethe standards of EMS

PNS n HYDERABAD

Axe may fall on 238 engineer-ing colleges across the state dur-ing the academic year 2020-21as the deadline set by theAICTE to the engineering col-leges, at the behest of the stategovernment, to secure buildingpermissions for the collegestructures has expired lastmonth.

The colleges apparently builtstructures without necessarypermissions. Following receiptof complaints in this regard, theAICTE served notices to thecollege managements and askedthem to produce necessarypermissions to get a nod foradmissions. At the interventionof the government, it gavedeadline for two years. But thecolleges, seems to have notreceived the building permis-sions even now. The ChiefSecretary had written to theAICTE, asking it to extend thedeadline by two years, it com-

plied with the request. As thedeadline expired last month,the AICTE served notices to thecollege managements again.

Out of these colleges, manycolleges are located under theHMDA limits. There are 42 col-leges which come in regionsprohibited by the GO 111.Some of the colleges raisedmulti-stored structures withthe permission from gram pan-chayat. The AICTE asked thegovernment in April this yearto complete verification of thepermissions and submit areport by October.

Chicken pricesdrop asdemand slumps PNS n HYDERABAD

Chicken prices havedropped over a week. Theprice of chicken was Rs 220per kg till a few days back.Recently it dropped to Rs150-180 per kg, while thelive chicken is being soldbetween Rs 82 to 92 per kg.

The demand for chickenhas come down because ofwinter season and Ayyappadeeksha. The traders attrib-ute it the mismatch in dem-and-supply chain. The chic-ken sales during normaldays are 4 to 5 lakh kgs. Thetraders say that there is atleast 30 per cent cut in thesales.

Axe may fall on 238engineering colleges

KTR completes 1 year as working presidentHYDERABAD On completion of a year onassuming charge as TRS workingPresident, party leaders made a beelineto congratulate Minister for Industries KTRama Rao. Ministers Koppula Eshwar,Satyavathi Rathod, Gangula KamalakarMPs, MLAs, MLCs and party leadersextended greetings on the occasion.Labour Minister Malla Reddy on theoccasion of the completion of a year heldspecial prayers in Yadadri temple.Mohammed Baba Fasiuddin DeputyMayor GHMC presented chader beforethe saint Hzt. Yousufain Shareefain RHDargah, Nampally on Tuesday, seekingblessings for KTR. B Vinod, RanjithReddy, Maloth Kavitha and othersgreeted the Minister.

Minister reviewsstep for VaikuntaEkadasi fete PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for animal husbandryTalasani Srinivas Yadav onTuesday asked officials to makeall arrangements for theVaikuntha Ekadasa Dhanur-masa celebrations to be held atRanganadha Swamy templein Jiaguda on January 6 to ruleout any inconvenience to devo-tees. He asked the officials tobeef up security arrangeme-nts and implement all mea-sures before January 1.

MANUU staff, faculty join anti-CAA stir PNS n HYDERABAD

Students of Maulana AzadNational Urdu University con-tinued their protest for the sec-ond consecutive day onTuesday while teachers andnon-teaching staff also tookout a rally to show solidaritywith the students of JamiaMillia Islamia and AligarhMuslim University.

Boycotting the exams, stu-dents of MANUU continuedtheir protest on the campus,raising anti-government slog-ans and condemning policebrutalities on students of JMIand AMU.

MANUU Students' Union,which has organised theprotest, is demanding actionagainst the policemen whoallegedly entered JMI and

AMU campuses and attackedthe students on Sunday.

The protestors were alsodemanding rollback ofCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and withdrawal of the

proposed National Register ofCitizens (NRC).

The students locked theuniversity gates to prevent thepolice from entering the cam-pus. The police also erected

barricades on the road leadingtowards the university andstopped media persons fromentering the campus.

The students of India's firstand only Urdu university boy-cotted the exams for a secondconsecutive day. The studentsunion is expected to decidelater in the day whether to endthe boycott of exams fromWednesday or continue it.

The union had stated thatthe students may attend the

exams from Wednesday butthe democratic and peacefulprotests will continue.

Meanwhile, faculty andnon-teaching employees ofMANUU took out a rally onthe campus to condemn thepolice highhandedness at JMIand AMU.

Teachers' Association,Administrative Officers'Association and Employees'Welfare Association organ-ised the rally in support of the

Boycotting the exams, students ofMANUU continued their protest on thecampus, raising anti-governmentslogans and condemning policebrutalities on students of JMI and AMU

ISO 14001 certification for nine railway stations of SCR

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 hyderabad 03

RIME ORNERC

5-year jail to manfor assaulting Inter student

Alocal court at LB Nagarconvicted a 22-year-old man

for five years of imprisonmentand slapped a fine of Rs 1,000for assaulting and threateningto kill an Intermediate student.The accused, identified asRamnath alias Sai, was bookedby the Jagadgirigutta Police in2015 for confronting thestudent and threatening tosplash acid on her. "Ramnathalso threatened that he will killher family members. Ramna-th's mother Eshwaramma, 65,also abused the mother of thevictim. The accused wasarrested and sent to judicialcustody" said the police. Undersupervision of PV Padmaja,DCP Balanagar and CourtMonitoring Cell of Women andChildren Safety Wing ofCyberabad, the court trial wasconducted on Monday. Thejudge convicted Ramnath toundergo with imprisonment for5 years fined him with Rs1,000. Eshwaramma was alsogiven 1 year of imprisonmentand a fine of Rs 1,000 fine.

2 held, 250 gmsof opium seized Commissioner's Task Force

sleuths apprehended twopersons from Rajasthan whowere trying to sell opium in thecity on Tuesday. Police officialsseized 250 grams of opiumfrom them. The accused wereidentified as Naga Ram, 27and Banna Ram Chowdhary,26, both natives of Rajasthan."The duo procured 500 gramsof opium from one person inRajasthan and sold half of it tosome persons known to them.On a tip off, they were caughtat Afzalgunj on Tuesday whenthey came to sell theremaining quantity of thedrug," said S Raghavendra,Inspector Task Force (south)team.

Air Force Academy to holdgraduation parade on Dec 21 PNS n HYDERABAD

A combined graduation paradewith full military splendourwill be organised at

Air Force Academy inDundigal on December 21 tomark the successful comple-tion of pre-commissioningtraining of flight cadets ofvarious branches of IndianAir Force.

Air Chief Marshal RKSBhadauria will be the chiefguest and reviewing officer ofthe passing out parade. Duringthe function, he will confer the'President's Commission' to136 graduating trainees.

The ceremony also includesthe presentation of 'wings' and'brevets' to the flight cadetswho would be successfullycompleting flying and naviga-tion training. The chief guestwill also be awarding 'wings' toofficers of Indian Navy andIndian Coast Guard on suc-cessful completion of theirflying training at Air Force

Academy.The flight cadet from flying

branch standing first in theorder of merit will be award-ed the prestigious 'NawanagarSword of Honour ' studdedwith five centuries old dia-monds and other preciousgems, for excelling in overalltraining. The awardee willhave the privilege of com-manding the parade besidesreceiving the President's plaquefor being the best trainee.

On the eve of graduationparade, the reviewing officer

would attend the ceremonialdinner and interact with grad-uating flight cadets and theirparents.

The event will also have adisplay by 'Akash Ganga' SkyDiving team and synchroniseddrill movements by the AirWarrior Drill Team. Aerobaticdisplay by Pilatus PC -7 train-er, fly pasts by formations ofPC-7, Kiran and Hawk aircrafta display by Sarang helicopterteam and display of formationaerobatics by Surya Kiran teamwill liven up the event.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Under-construction homeswill no longer come withattractive price tags. Be itready-to-move-in (RTM)orunder-construction (UC)home, the price difference hascome down vastly.

The average price gapbetween a ready-to-move-inand under-construction homeacross seven cities has reducedto a mere 3-7 per cent in2019, a recent report byANAROCK reveals. The samein 2018 and 2017 was 5-9 per-cent and around 8-12 percent,respectively.

In Hyderabad, the price dif-ference is 6 per cent. The aver-age price of an under-construc-tion home in 2019 was Rs4,015 per sq ft while that ofready-to-move-in property wasRs 4,250 per sq ft.

Irrespective of the pricedifference, in Hyderabadmajority property seekersprefer ready-to-move-inhomes. Without lower prices,

under-construction homeslose the only real appeal theyever really had. This reducingprice gap is highly favourable

for investors. End-users pre-fer to see the end-productrather than a floor plan andare usually eager to get off the

rental treadmill. Investorspreviously chose under-con-struction homes for theirlower prices and the com-pounding capital appreciationas projects neared comple-tion.

Anuj Puri, chairman ofAnarock Property Consultantssaid, "Previously, the ultimateselling proposition of under-construction homes was thesignificantly lower over ready-to-move-in options.

The ready-to-move-in pre-mium was primarily on the'instant gratification' quotient,immediate freedom from rentand zero construction risk. Inthe last two years, the pricegap between these two cate-gories has eroded year-over-year. In 2017, the price gap inthe top seven cities was 8-12percent. This reduced to 5-9percent in 2018 and sank fur-ther to 3-7 percent in 2019.Along with the other benefitsthat ready homes provide,they attract no GST," heexplained.

Price gap between RTM, UChomes shrink to 3-7 per cent

In Hyderabad, the price difference is 6per cent. The average price of anunder-construction home in 2019 wasRs 4,015 per sq ft while that of ready-to-move-in property was Rs 4,250 per sq ft

PNS n HYDERABAD

A study undertaken bySulekha, a digital platform forexpert services shows thatonline searches for divorceand family lawyers haveincreased, with Hyderabadamong the top cities five citiesin India.

Data provided by Sulekhashows that in 2019, around38,344 searches were made forfamily and divorce lawyers inHyderabad, a drastic increaseof 97 per cent when comparedto 2018.

Satya Prabhakar, Founder

& CEO of Sulekha has said thatconsumers are moving fromtraditional to digital medium intheir searches for lawyers.

"Our recent study showsthat there is a sharp increasein the online searches fordivorce, criminal and cyber

lawyers in Indian metros inthe past one year. This indi-cates that consumers are mov-ing from traditional to digitalmedium in their searches forlawyers. The demand forArmed forces tribunal and

consumer protection and dis-pute lawyers have alsoincreased significantly."

Categories such as armedforce tribunal lawyers andconsumer protection and dis-pute lawyers have slowly

gained traction amongst thepeople as there has been anincrease by 12 and 20 per centrespectively.

Chennai, Mumbai andBengaluru top the chart whenit comes to online searches fordivorce and family lawyers. Atotal of 1,08, 478 people fromChennai searched online fordivorce and family lawyers;Mumbai had 60,629 searcheswhile Bengaluru has 50,508searches. Kolkata (42,009),Hyderabad (38,344) andAhmedabad (29,725) alsohad high searches under thistab.

Increase in demand for divorce, family lawyers: StudyData provided by Sulekha shows thatin 2019, around 38,344 searcheswere made for family and divorcelawyers in Hyderabad, a drasticincrease of 97 per cent whencompared to 2018

Osman Sagar to get facelift n Landscape park to be beautified in9 months with outlay of Rs 35.6 cr

n ACCUSED OF HAVING LINKS WITH THE BANNED CPI MAOIST PARTY

PNS n HYDERABAD

Osman Sagar is all set to get afacelift within 9 months.

HMDA is planning to con-struct a landscape park nearOsman Sagar lake to trans-form it into a tourist destina-tion. The park will have facil-ities including art pavilions,kids play area, public arenawith water front line develop-ment, amphi theatres, viewingdecks, pavilion with watchand ward rooms, food courts,skating zone, cycle tracks,walk ways and outdoor gym.

In the initial phase, esti-mates were prepared for thepark in an area of 18 acres ata cost of Rs 35.60 crores.

As per the press release,"Tenders are received for thework and entrusted to Sricoprojects with a period of com-pletion of 9 months. The workwill commence shortly. The

park will be a tourist destina-tion."

It may be mentioned herethat Telangana Governmenthas accorded a sanction for Rs100 crores for beautification ofOsman Sagar viz. Chain linkfencing, Landscape pathways.The task force constituted forthe project decided to devel-op the park in 18 acres.Accordingly the proposalswere modified and requestedthe government to accord theapproval of Rs 36.50 crores.

HMDA is planningto construct apark near OsmanSagar lake totransform it into a touristdestination

TITA to enrol enthusiastic techiesPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana InformationTechnology Association(TITA) has initiated a freshmembership drive.It hascalled for active participationin its Global Committee 2020.The association hasannounced in its GoverningCouncil notification that theterm of TITA GWC 2019 willend on 31 December and thenew members can join thecommittee for the next term.

Speaking on the occasion,TITA president SundeepKumar Makthala said that theassociation which has played akey role in the formation ofTelangana has also taken sev-eral initiatives after the forma-tion of state.

"The association also sup-ported many State govern-ment initiatives that wereaimed to improve the IT sec-tor such as encouraging vil-lage adoption to achieve dig-

ital literacy, encouraging cash-less transactions through digi-tisation, roll out of ambitiousDigithon, connecting govern-ment school students with ITindustry through Digital Yatraand industry tours, support-ing innovation by creation ofinnovation cells in academiaand others," Sundeep said

Employees at the ITIndustry, Corporates, NRIs,students, IT faculties, IT affil-iated industry professionals,government staff working in

the IT field are eligible for themembership.

The association is lookingfor new enthusiastic commit-tee members for this term.The governing council is look-ing for Global Committee,state-level and district com-mittees to work towards thenew membership drive.

Sundeep Kumar said thatlooking at the initiatives of theassociation, several chaptershave been established both inIndia and abroad.

Secretaries of TPF, CMS arrestedPNS n HYDERABAD

The Jogulamba Gadwal policearrested Telangana Praja Frontsecretary Menchu Ramesh andChaitanya Mahila Sanghamcommittee secretary ChukkaShilpa on December 17.

They were arrested followingthe searches conducted at theirresidences. Police had earlierarrested TPF Vice PresidentNalamasa Krishna, along withTelangana Vidyarthi VedikaState president MaddiletiBandari in October 2019.

On Tuesday, police con-ducted searches at Rameshand Shilpa's residences locatedat Nacharam in Hyderabadand Keesara.

Jogulamba Gadwal SPApoorva Rao stated that theyseized outlawed maoist ideol-ogy literature and electronicdata containing revolutionaryideology from their possession.They are affiliated with thebanned CPI Maoist party, andthey are covertly working assympathisers-cum-couriers ofthe maoist party.

The SP added that accordingto the directions of the highercadre, the duo attracts innocentyouth to the banned organisa-tion by injecting their revolu-tionary ideology into theirminds. "They do so throughsecret activities acrossTelangana, recruiting youths tostrengthen the party and tocarry out their destructiveactivities to destabilise demo-cratically elected governments.They want to establish theirown rule through an armedstruggle as per their strategy

and ideology," Apoorva Raosaid.

The officers will producethem before a court, and theywill be sent to judicial remand.Meanwhile, Maoist frontalorganisations condemned thearrests, terming them as gov-ernment's autocratic move tocrush public opinions andvoices of dissent.

Rani, wife of TPF state gen-eral secretary Menchu Ramesh,alleged that the police arrest-ed her husband after foistingfalse cases against him.

GHMC gears up for Prez's visitPNS n HYDERABAD

In view of President RamnathKovind's visit to Hyderabad forhis annual southern sojournon December 20, GHMC ento-mology wing is deployingworkers for spraying, fog-ging and anti larva oper-ations in Hyderabad.

G H M CCommissioner DSLokesh Kumar held areview meeting withhigher officials anddirected them tocoordinatewith the

Cantonment Board officials asit falls under its jurisdiction andensure all arrangements areproperly done.

Apart from providing 20mobile toilets fromCantonment, additional 30

mobile toilets will be provid-ed and GHMC willensure water availabilityround the clock.

Further one contrac-tor will be attached forcleaning toilets twice a

day until December 28.An official will be

deputed tooversee theac t iv i t i e s .

GHMC will provide mobiletoilets at Hakeempet Airport.

Regarding sanitation theGHMC Commissionerinstructed officials concernedto take up sanitation andensure the surroundings ofRastrapathi Nilayam are clean.He also directed the officials tolimit use of plastic material.

Lokesh asked the veterinarywing to deploy dog catchingsquad, monkey catching squad.

Additional CommissionersAdwait Kumar singh, ShruthiOjha, Vijaya Laxmi, DirectorEVDM Sri, Vishwajit Kampati,Chief Entomologist Rambabuparticipated in the meeting.

CCMB to train25 studentson scientificmethodologyPNS n HYDERABAD

CSIR-Centre for Cellular andMolecular Biology (CCMB),Hyderabad is going to con-duct a two-week YoungInnovators Programme (YIP)for the seventh consecutiveyear. Around 20 to 25 schoolstudents from Classes VIII toX are trained during the pro-gramme on scientificmethodology.

The participants will get achance to interact with activescientists at CCMB, and willbe given a hands-on experi-ence on research. The YIP2020 will be conducted from31 December 2019 to 13January 2020.

The participants will beselected on the basis of a testwhich will be conducted on26 December at the CSIR-Indian Institute of ChemicalTechnology auditorium. Thescreening test participantswill also get to attend a sci-ence lecture by Dr VMTiwari, director of CSIR-National GeophysicalResearch Institute. The topicof the lecture will be based onwater management strate-gies.

The last date of registrationis 21 December.

Hyderabad getsdockless scooterrental services PNS n HYDERABAD

Bounce, a dockless scootersharing service, has launched2,000 scooters in Hyderabadfor first and last mile connec-tivity and regular commute.

The company plans todeploy 10,000 scooters byJune 2020.

Varun Agni, co-founderof Bounce said, "We are excit-ed to introduce docklessscooter service as an intra citymobility solution. We havechosen Hyderabad as ourfirst city to expand into as itis one of the most mature andready cities to transition intoshared mobility.”

HMWSSB MD: Use VDSto avoid penality, casesPNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad MetropolitanWater Supply & SewerageBoard (HMWSSB) as part ofits Voluntary DisclosureScheme has received 2,300applications to regularise ille-gal tap connections. HMWSSBMD Dana Kishore saidthat these applicantswill soon be assignedCAN numbers.

Kishore held areview meeting onTuesday where in heurged city dwellers totake advantage of thescheme and avoid the riskof large-scale penalties andcriminal cases.

A total of 73,841 connec-tions were surveyed in the sixdivisions, of which 3,727 werecommercial connections,1,288 were MSB connectionsand 1410 were illegal connec-

tions. He said that, throughthis survey one-time connec-tion fee of around Rs 9.3crores and monthly Rs. 22lakhs will be added to the cof-fers of the board.

MD said that the authoritiesshould take steps to ensure100% billing and 100% collec-

tion. Special teams havebeen formed to addr-

ess the issue of duesand bills for unpaidconnections. Also,MD advised DGMsto set up camps

within their jurisdic-tion to regulate illegal

network connectionsMD advised officials to take

measures to ensure that thereis no overflow and leakage ofwater in tourist areas. Ifignored, stern action will betaken. He also ordered that anymanholes be repaired on a warfooting if necessary.

Six arrested forabducting bizmanPNS n HYDERABAD

Six people, who allegedly abd-ucted a 50-year-old busi-nessman from the cityto recover theirchitinvested amo-unt and took himto Bengaluru,have been arrest-ed and the manrescued within 24hours of the crime,police said onTuesday.

The businessman, who ear-lier resided in Bengaluru, usedto run chit fund business and

did not repay the amount of Rs5 lakh invested by two friendsof the arrested men even aftercompletion of the chit period,

police said. Then heshifted to Hyderabad

and was evading toreturn the amount.The six men thenhatched a plan andabducted him on

December 15, itsaid. Based on a com-

plaint from the busines-sman's wife, a police team

identified the six men andnabbed all of them fromBengaluru on December 16.

‘Cultivateemotionalintelligence’PNS n HYDERABAD

A two-day training pro-gramme on 'EmotionalIntelligence (EI) for effectiveworkplace excellence' for IFSofficers was inaugurated bythe Principal ChiefConservator of Forests RSobha at the Telangana StateForest Academy.

As many as 16 senior offi-cers from 13 states are attend-ing the training programme.

Sobha said every officershould be aware of themsel-ves and their employees to beable to work together asexcellent teams. While intel-ligence is generally inborn, EIis learnt. Research alsoshowed that people with highEI are more successful in lifewhile people with high intel-ligence quotient mayencounter problems.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Malkajgiri MP Revanth Reddyhas charged the ruling TRSwith collecting 6 per cent ofcost for development works as'Kalwakuntla Sales Tax' (KST)unofficially and alleged theKST scam behind the recentliquor price hike and demand-ed CBI probe into liquor pro-duction, distribution, sales andalso in the hike of liquor prices. Revanth Reddy wanted theCenter to order CBI probe into'KST'.

Prior to this, he wanted thestate government to roll backthe hiked prices of liquor.

In an open letter to the peo-ple of the state on Tuesday, theCongress MP, who describedthe excise and prohibitiondepartment as excise and pro-motion department, accusedthe Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao of becom-ing brand ambassador forpromoting alcohol in the state.

Coming down heavily ongovernment, Revanth Reddysaid that the state governmentencouraged setting up of a beltshop for every 10 houses withan eye on excise revenue to fillstate's coffers in spite of the factthat the poor people are com-mitting crimes under the influ-ence of alcohol.

He said, liquor is found to bethe chief reason for committingcrimes against women, but thegovernment permitted beltshops. These shops have beenset up close to schools andtemples. Telangana whichshould be home to intelli-gentsia and academiciansbecame hunting ground ofalcoholics.

Revanth Reddy accused thegovernment of killing the

instinct of questioning thegovernment by making peoplegetting addicted to alcohol. Theprojected revenue of Telanganawith a population of over 4crore would be around Rs26,000 crore per annum, asagainst the Rs 23000 crore ofthe UP which has a populationof over 22 crore. This makesthe Telangana as top state inliquor sales, he said.

Prior to the Center intro-ducing the GST, 'KCR intro-duced KST' and the revenuerealised benefits KCR familydirectly, he said accusing KCRof implementing his sentiment- lucky number 6 - to get worksdone. He added, to get worksdone in the state, KCR and Coshould be paid 6 per cent of thecost, he said blaming the gov-ernment for not even sparingtipplers in imposing the KST.

KCR and the governmentunder his leadership is lootingthe hard earned money of thepoor.

He alleged that a liquor bot-tle that costs Rs 10 is being soldat Rs 50 or Rs 100, collecting500-1000 per cent profit from

the people and felt that itamounts to exploitation.

Why the consumers' forumis not taking up the case suomoto as exploitation takesplace so brazenly, he won-dered.

The state government whichprohibited lottery as it comesunder gambling has adoptedthe lottery system for allotmentof wine shops. Collecting a feeof Rs 2 lakh for each applica-tion, the government moppedup Rs 900 crore, he said.

Revanth Reddy said thatthe government on one handprohibited the people of thestate from indulging in lottery,but on the other, the stategovernment mobilised Rs 900crore revenue through lottery.Is it not a crime? If the gov-ernment did not allot theshops, it should return themoney immediately.Otherwise, it amounts tocrime.

Quoting an example, he saidKCR in 2004 introduced anapplication fee of Rs 10,000 forticket aspirants who haveapplied for the TRS party tick-

ets. He did not return themoney to the unsuccessfulticket aspirants. However, withthe court's involvement, hehad to return the money.

Similarly, in allotment ofwine shops too, if the unsuc-cessful wine shop allotteesapproach court, he or she isbound to get back their appli-cation money, he felt.

The government issuedlicenses to new wine shopsfrom Nov 1. The shop ownersare supposed to pay Rs 5 lakhquarterly. Though there is timetill Jan 30 for the shop ownersto pay the license fee, theexcise department has servednotices on wine shops askingthem to pay the fee. Thisexplains the pathetic conditionof the state's finances.

The state government is notcounting on the ill-effects ofpromoting liquor shops sinceit eyes only on excise revenue,he criticised.

Liquor production and dis-tribution passed into hands ofmafia in the state, he allegedthat a ruling party MP has beencamping in Chennai and Delhito take care of hiking prices ofliquor and collecting kick-backs, Revanth alleges.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 hyderabad 04

KCR in 2004introduced anapplication fee of

Rs 10,000 for ticketaspirants who have appliedfor the TRS party tickets.He did not return themoney to the unsuccessfulticket aspirants

— REVANTH REDDYMalkajgiri MP Former MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha with Telangana Jagruthi Germany unit President Swarnakar and his fiancee Dr Julia.

The couple invited Kavitha to their wedding to be held on December 22 at Begumpet

WEDDING BBELLS‘KST scam' behind liquorprice hike: Revanth Reddy

Continued from Page 1

The construction workshould not disturb the sanctumsanctorum and its prominence.There is no need to hurry theworks. Follow caution andquality. Constructions shouldbe strong and everythingshould be done in tune withthe Agama Shastra rules. Thisis an ancient temple.Performing poojas here is atradition handed down overgenerations. Laxmi NarasimhaSwamy has devotees in thecountry and in other countriestoo. In the days to come, lakhsof devotees will visit Yadadri.Hence, the aim should be toensure that devotees will haveno problem in having darshanor during their stay, holy bathat Pushkarini and while ton-suring their heads," the ChiefMinister said.

KCR complimented thesculptors who had createdwonderful sculptures. Heappreciated the design of thetemple and the positioning ofthe idols. The CM said hardwork put in by 560 sculptorshad borne fruit after four years4 years in the form of greatwalls. The Chief Minister sug-gested that gardens and greencover should be created forensuring a pleasant atmos-

phere on the temple premises.He directed the officials con-cerned to ensure that wallpaintings depicted the great-ness of the temple, the story ofLaxmi Narasimha Swamy, andSthala Purana.

Later, KCR examined theRing Road works at Yadadri.He visited 15 VVIP cottagesbeing constructed as part ofthe Presidential suite and sug-gested some changes there.

The Chief Minister instruct-ed that, like in the case of theBaswapurram reservoir, theMylargudem Tank near thePresidential suite should bedeveloped as a tourist spot.Works between the main tem-ple and the Ring Road should

be developed as planned. Hewanted works on tank(Koneru) to begin. Ministers GJagadish Reddy, VemulaPrashanth Reddy, Malla Reddy.Government whip G Sunitha,Rajya Sabha Member J SantoshKumar, MLAs Sekhar Reddy,Gyadari Kishore, Vivekananda,MLCs Seri Subhash Reddy, AKrishna Reddy, SambipurRaju, ZP chairman A SandeepReddy, YTDA special officerKishan Rao, district collectorAnita Ramachandran, TempleEO Gita, Temple sculptorAnanda Sai, R&B E-in-CsGanapathi Reddy, RavindraRao, CM special secretaryBhoopal Reddy accompaniedthe Chief Minister.

Follow Agama shastra rules strictlyCM KCR tells Yadadri officials

Three capitals for Andhra: AP Chief MinisterContinued from Page 1

High Court may be locatedthere," he said.

Legislators of ruling YSRCongress Party (YSRCP) hailedthe chief minister's announce-ment with the thumping ofdesks and slogans of 'Jai Jagan'.

Reddy said a final decisionin this regard would be takenby expert's committee consti-tuted by the state government.The panel is seeking opinion ofpeople from all the regions.

The chief minister made theannouncement at the end ofthe heated debate overAmaravati, which saw Speakersuspending nine members ofthe opposition Telugu DesamParty (TDP) for stalling theproceedings.

Ever since YSRCP came topower in May, the fate ofAmaravati was hanging in bal-

ance as the new governmenthad put all the works on hold,citing irregularities in devel-opment of the capital duringTDP rule. The governmenthad formed a five-membercommittee, comprising urbanplanning experts, to look intothe issue of state capital andmake recommendations.

The panel had also soughtpeople's opinion from all 13districts of the state.

The foundation stone forAmaravati as the capital ofAndhra Pradesh was laid byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2015.

A brainchild of then chiefminister N. Chandrababu

Naidu, Amaravati's design wasprepared by Singapore gov-ernment. He had planned to

develop the city on the banksof Krishna river as a world-class city.

Why this much hatred againstAmaravati, asks ChandrababuContinued from Page 1

The decision will be counterproductive for the state. Will people makerounds to three capitals to get their works done? Will they build onehome at each of the capital cities?. What the government is going toachieve by having a secretariat at Visakhapatnam? Moreover, thegovernment should be slush with funds to have three capitals, andquipped that it would be better for the government to have one officein each mandal. He demanded the CM to make public in which capitalpeople can find the ministers. Chandrababu, giving vent to his angst,said that the government is taking decision on the state capitalshaving suspended the Opposition members. Only time will teach alesson to people like Jaganmohan Reddy, he said. It has become acatchword for the CM to use the word benami holders. He dared thegovernment to take action against the culprits if assets are acquiredin Amaravati in the name of benami-holders.

Continued from Page 1

TS-iPASS had alreadygranted approvals to 11,569companies, out of which80% of the units had start-ed functioning, generating 6lakh jobs.

The Minister said thatmany foreign investors fromtextile and electronics sec-tors were keen on investingin Telangana. The TSGovernment had createdfavorable conditions for thetextile industry in the state.

Telangana housed thecountry's largest textile park- Kakatiya Mega Textile Parkin Warangal and had recent-ly signed an agreement withKorean company YoungoneCorporation, the Ministermentioned.

As part of efforts to boostthe electronics manufactur-ing sector in the state, KTRrecently held a series of

meetings in Bengaluru,along with PrincipalSecretary Jayesh Ranjan.Major firms such as OnePlus, Sky Worth had alreadyset up their facilities inHyderabad. Attempts werebeing made to rope in elec-tric vehicle and battery man-ufacturing industries, hesaid.

As part of steps to attractinvestments, KTR will soonhold sector-wise meetingswith industry leaders.

He instructed IT andIndustries Department offi-cials to provide completeinformation related to landbanks and industrial parksto investors evincing inter-est in setting up their firmsin the state. KTR instruct-ed officials to work aggres-sively towards bringing inmore investments to thestate for boosting employ-ment opportunities.

TRS priority to irrigation ledto rise in demand for food...

Continued from Page 1

However, the GreaterHyderabad officials shouldstart a similar service for thepublic as well. Services likeOla have an option to cancelup to three-four rides per day,post which they will be fined,Kumar said.

"Cab services are animportant means of trans-portation in a growing cityand a large number of com-muters are now using taxisthrough app-based aggrega-tors. There is an urgent needto frame rules to regulate theoperation of these cab ser-vices," said an official of theTransport Department.

Cabscancelling,refusing rideswill be booked

Oppositiondelegationmeets...Continued from Page 1

Leader of Opposition inthe Rajya Sabha Ghulam NabiAzad said that "the govern-ment knew that what is goingto happen but did nothing onit, and in Assam five peoplehave died and many have bul-let wounds".

The opposition leadersassembled at the MahatmaGandhi statue in ParliamentHouse before proceeding tothe Rashtrapati Bhavan withSonia Gandhi leading them.

The opposition delegationalso included SamajwadiParty's Ram Gopal Yadav,DMK's T.R. Baalu, TrinamoolCongress' Derek O'Brien, andthe Communist Party of India-Marxist's Sitaram Yechuri.

l Malkajgiri MP demands CBI probe into liquor production, distribution

PNS n HYDERABAD

Agriculture Minister S NiranjanReddy has sought cooperationof the WarehousingCorporation Board in buildingof warehouses in Telangana forthe benefit of farmers storingtheir produce in them.

Niranjan Reddy was partici-pating as chief guest in theboard meeting held here onTuesday. He said that ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raowith the help of the Nabardcould build 336 warehouses ata cost of Rs 1000 crore.v

Niranjan Reddy wanted thefarmers would be able to selltheir produce when remunera-tive prices are there in the mar-ket. Niranjan Reddy pointedout that many warehouses arebeing put to good use by thefarmers as crop yield increasedwith the improvement in irri-gation facility.

He exhorted the Center tobuild the highest number of

godowns in Telangana with thehelp of the Central WarehousingCorporation and the represen-tations of the corporationresponded faviourably to theproposal.

He said that the states have 50per cent share in the ware-housing corporation. The areaunder various crops hasincreased with the amenities likeround the clock power to farm

sector, Rytu Bandhu scheme,Rytu Beema and execution ofirrigation projects. The cropyield is going to increase more,he said. Currently, there is noproblem as the CM got manygodowns built out of foresight,he said adding that more andmore godowns needed to bebuilt to meet future needs.

The representatives of thewarehousing corporation toldthe minister that they are readyto build godowns provided thestate government allots land inthe districts and mandals iden-tified by them at the price sug-gested by them.

The minister asked the offi-cials to prepare the necessaryproposals in this regard.

Agriculture principal secre-tary C Parthasarathi,Warehousing Corporation MDBhaskarachary, CWC GeneralManager RR Agarwal, region-al manager Pravin Kumar anddirector Dr Muthuraman andothers took part in the meeting.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for Welfare KoppulaEswar has appreciated parentsand civil society organisationsfor taking intellectually challen-ged persons under their wingsand serving them facing anundaunted challenge.

He was participating as thechief guest in the inaugural ofthe two-day maiden culturalcarnival of the intellectuallychallenged at LalitakalaThoranam on Tuesday.

For reasons not known, livesof intellectually challenged per-sons are pitiable yet they havebeen progressing without giv-ing room for any fear, he

remarked. All through theirlives the intellectually chal-lenged should be nursed likebabies, he said adding that ser-vices being rendered to themare invaluable.

The Minister for WelfareKoppula Eswar has appreciat-ed parents and civil societyorganisations for taking intel-lectually challenged personsunder their wings and servingthem. challenged in the state at54,000 out of the total 10.50-lakh differently-abled persons.

Stating that the governmentwill take measures for nursingthem, he hinted at establishingan organization for every 3 or4 districts with the help of the

NGOs. Minister for Womanand Child Welfare SatyavatiRathore said that the govern-ment is kind enough to increasepension payable to them fromRs 500 a month to Rs 3,016besides reserving seats for themin educational institutions andgovernment jobs. The culturalprogrammes presented by thementhralled audiences.

Certificates have been pre-sented to representatives of theNGOs working for the mentallychallenged by ministers.

Principal secretary womanand child welfare departmentJagadishwar, senior citizenswelfare department directorSailaja and others took part.

Minister: Will take measures tonurse intellectually challenged

Ministers Koppula Eshwar, Satyavathi Rathod participate in the Cultural Carnival for intellectually challenged at Lalitha KalaThoranam, Nampally on Tuesday

Niranjan Reddy

Agri Minister urges Center tobuild more warehouses in TS

CJI recuses fromhearing convict's plea...Continued from Page 1

The CJI said one of his rel-atives had earlier appearedon behalf of the victim's moth-er in the case and observedthat it would be appropriatethat some other bench hearsthe review plea at 10:30 amtomorrow. Advocate A PSingh, appearing for Akshay,started his submission sayingthat the case in hand has suf-fered political and mediapressure and graveinjustice has beendone to the con-vict.

Akshay hadsought clemencyarguing life inDelhi is anywaybecoming shortdue to rising air andwater pollution.

On July 9 last year, theapex court had dismissed thereview pleas filed by the otherthree convicts — Mukesh (30),Pawan Gupta (23) and VinaySharma (24) — in the case,saying no grounds have beenmade out by them for reviewof the 2017 verdict.

The 23-year-old paramedicstudent was gang raped andbrutally assaulted on the inter-vening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving busin south Delhi by six personsbefore being thrown out onthe road. She died onDecember 29, 2012 at Mount

Elizabeth Hospital inSingapore.

One of the six accused inthe case, Ram Singh, alleged-ly committed suicide in theTihar Jail here. A juvenile, whowas among the accused, wasconvicted by a juvenile justiceboard and was released froma reformation home after serv-ing a three-year term.

The top court in its 2017verdict had upheld the capital

punishment awarded tothem by the Delhi

High Court and thetrial court in thecase.

"The statemust not simplyexecute peopleto prove that it is

attacking terror orviolence against

women. It must per-sistently work towards sys-

tematic reforms to bring aboutchange. Executions only killthe criminal, not the crime...,"said Akshay in the reviewplea, filed through advocateSingh. Akshay, lodged in a jailhere, has further said thatdeath penalty entails "coldblooded killing" and does notprovide convicts the chance toreform themselves.

The plea referred to themoral reasons for abolition ofthe death penalty and saidthere was no evidence to showthat such a punishment hasgot a deterrent value.

SC servesnotices to TS,AP bar councilsPNS n HYDERABAD

The Supreme Court issuednotices to Andhra Pradeshand Telangana State BarCouncils for filing counteraffidavits in a petition filedbefore it challenging the con-duct of the elections held inNovember 2018 last year.

The petitioners alleged thatthe elections to the BarCouncils were without mak-ing amendment to Section 3of the Advocates' Act-1961and in violation of section 34of AP Reorganisation Act -2014. Arguing the case beforethe court, the counsel for thepetitioners Balaji told thecourt that as per Section 34of the AP ReorganizationAct 2014, it was mandatory toamend the Section 3 of theAdvocates Act by the Legi-slature to constitute the TSBar Council. He told thecourt that the Bar Council, inits affidavit had also con-firmed the fact that the Actwas not amended so far.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Netflix series "Delhi Crime",based on the 2012 Delhi gan-grape-murder, which sawnation-wide protests leading toa change in India's rape laws,found acceptance with theaudience as it depicted theprocedural investigation of thecase without exploiting thepain behind it, says actorShefali Shah.

Shah plays VartikaChaturvedi, whose character inthe show was based on formerDelhi Police DCP ChayaSharma who cracked the caseof the brutal gangrape of thephysiotherapy intern within72 hours.

The 23-year-old, who cameto be known as 'Nirbhaya', thefearless one, was assaulted onthe night of December 16,2012 in a moving bus by sixmen and died of her grievous

injuries 13 days later in aSingapore hospital.

Revisiting the heinousness ofthe crime is not somethingmany wanted to do when theseries, directed by Indian-Canadian filmmaker RichieMehta, premiered on thestreamer early this year.

"I got a lot of reactions say-

ing 'we are too afraid and tooscared to open up old wounds.So we don't want to watch it'.A lot of people were very ter-rified about it saying it mightbe a graphic depiction of whathappened, but it is not.

"Then they watched theshow and they appreciated thesensitivity with which it washandled. We weren't harness-ing the pain, we were harness-

ing the strength of being ableto catch the culprits," Shah toldPTI in a telephonic interview.

The actor said the series fol-lowed the investigation of thecase in the five-day aftermath,not the incident.

"I completely respect andunderstand the sentiment. It'snot an easy one to take," sheadded.

Shah, 47, said becoming

Vartika was a challenge but sheeventually managed to findthe soul of the character.

"I think I've managed to fillher shoes, which were verylarge shoes to fill. When youwatch it, you don't think Shefalidid a good job, you just respectand admire Vartika as a person.You understand her strength,the intricacies of who she is. Ican safely say that there can'tbe any other Vartika.

"There might be someoneelse who is powerful than heras a character or even anotheractor playing it much morestrongly than I could. But thisversion of Vartika which hasbeen loved and appreciated,and respected so much, therecan't be another one."

The actor, who recently wonthe best actress iReel Award for2019, said creating a characteris the "highest kick" she gets outof a project.

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 nation 05SHORT READS

‘Police crackdown on campus dangerousfor democracy’NEW DELHI: Criticising thepolice crackdown in JamiaMillia Islamia, DelhiCommission for Women chiefSwati Maliwal on Tuesdayurged women to approach thepanel in case they had anycomplaint. "The protest shouldalways be peaceful. The policebrutality with students afterbarging inside the library issaddening. It is very dangerousfor democracy. I hope anatmosphere of peace will beestablished soon. If a girl has acomplaint, please contact us!"she tweeted.

Nigerian nabbed with drugs worth lakhs

Modi to students:Bring issues indemocratic mannerBHOGNADIH: Accusing theCongress of peddling lies overthe amended Citizenship Actand creating an atmosphere offear among Muslims, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onTuesday iterated that no citizenin the country would beaffected by the law. Addressinga poll rally here, Modi appealedto college and universitystudents, who had beenprotesting over the amendedAct, to bring forth issues fordiscussion with thegovernment in a "democraticmanner". He alleged that "urbannaxals" were trying to instigateyouth in the country to fomenttrouble. "The Congress isspreading lies, creating anatmosphere of fear for Muslimsover the Citizenship Act. I givemy assurances no citizen in thecountry will be affected by thelaw," he stated.

Murder convictescapes from openprison in MaharashtraAurangabad: A murder caseconvict has escaped from aprison in Maharashtra'sAurangabad district, policesaid on Tuesday. Akalan RisuBhosale, lodged at the Paithanopen jail here, was working ina field when he managed togive police the slip onMonday, police inspectorBhagirath Deshmukh told PTI.Bhosale was pronouncedguilty in a murder case in2011. He was shifted to thePaithan open jail from aprison in Nashik on June 22this year, the official said. "Hewas working in an onion fieldin the prison area when he ranaway. A case has beenregistered and search for theprisoner is on," he said.This year, four prisonersescaped from the jail and thepolice managed to nab one ofthem, the official said.

MUMBAI: A 27-year-oldNigerian national has beenarrested for possession ofmephedrone worth Rs 4.20lakh in the eastern suburb ofMankhurd here, police said onTuesday. The Anti NarcoticsCell's Ghatkopar unit onMonday arrested Anayo OkolieSanday, a resident ofNallasopara in neighbouringThane district, an official said.Sanday had come to sell thedrugs on Sion-PanvelExpressway and was nabbedafter being identified by aninformant, he said. The policeseized 210 gm of mephedroneworth Rs 4.20 lakh from theaccused, he added. The policehave registered a case underrelevant sections of theNarcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances Actand are investigating the sourceof the drug and to whom it wasbeing supplied to, the officialsaid.

Revisiting theheinousness of thecrime is notsomething manywanted to do whenthe series, directedby Indian-Canadianfilmmaker RichieMehta, premieredon the streamerearly this year

PNS n GUWAHATI

AASU leaders Samujjal KumarBhattacharya and LurinjyotiGogoi along with actor BarshaRani Bishaya and hundreds ofother agitators courted arrestfor the second consecutiveday on Tuesday as part of their'Mass Satyagraha' against theamended citizenship law,police said.

Guwahati PoliceCommissioner Munna PrasadGupta told PTI that the AASUactivists had courted arrestand were "not detained".

"They are doing this as partof their Satyagraha pro-gramme. We released themlater and now they are on theirway to their homes," he said.

The agitators courted arrestin front of the office of theDeputy Commissioner ofKamrup Metropolitan district

and were taken to a temporaryjail inside the Dighalipukhuritank complex.

All Assam Students' Union(AASU) chief adviser SamujjalKumar Bhattacharya said theCentre has to either repeal theamended Citizenship Act orkeep arresting them every day.

AASU general secretaryLurinjyoti Gogoi said the gov-ernment is on one side doingnothing to repeal the Act andon the other doing a "drama"by arresting them.

"The government is playingthe Hindutva card. However,Assam will not fall prey totheir communal agenda," hesaid.

PNS n NAGPUR

In unprecedented scenes, twoMLAs of the ruling Shiv Senaand opposition BJP held eachother by the collar over theissue of assistance to farmers.

Soon after proceedingsbegan, BJP MLA AbhimanyuPawar tried to display a ban-ner in front of Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray.

The banner carried a reportpublished in the Sena mouth-piece 'Saamana', aboutThackeray demanding Rs25,000 per hectare for farmershit by untimely rains.

The BJP MLAs sought toremind Thackeray of thisdemand made by him beforehe became the CM of provid-ing assistance to affected farm-ers.

The BJP members rushed tothe well of the House andshouted slogans, seeking

implementation of Thackeray'sprevious demand.

Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwadtried to snatch the bannerfrom Pawar and the two brieflyheld each other by the collarbefore senior ministers andformer ministers pulled themapart.

Speaker Nana Patoleappealed to BJP members toreturn to their seats and allowthe House proceedings to con-tinue.

However, some Sena MLAsalso tried to snatch the flexboards from BJP members,leading to ruckus.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The amended citizenship lawis meant to give citizenship toreligiously persecuted refugeesand not to take away the citi-zenship of Indians of any reli-gion, Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu told traineediplomats from Bangladeshon Tuesday.

He also said that India isaware of the heavy burden onBangladesh as a result of theinflux of lakhs of displacedpersons from the RakhineState of Myanmar and that itappreciates Dhaka for itshumanitarian gesture towardsthese displaced persons.

He said that Bangladeshcould count on India's full sup-port towards their bilateralefforts with Myanmar in therepatriation of displacedRohingyas back to Myanmar,a statement from the VicePresident's Secretariat said.

The vice president'sremarks on the Citizenship

(Amendment) Act come daysafter Bangladesh foreign min-ister A K Abdul Momen andHome Minister AsaduzzamanKhan cancelled their visits toIndia amid protests againstthe legislation in the northeast.

Naidu emphasised thatIndia wants peace and stabili-ty in the neighbourhood andfriendly relations with all itsneighbours.

Without naming Pakistan,he said Kashmir was a settledissue and deplored theattempts by a neighbouring

country to aid, abet, fund andtrain terror outfits to promotecross border terrorism.

The vice president soughtBangladesh's support inrestructuring and reformingmultilateral organisations suchas the United Nations, so thatpolicies that affect the entireworld were not decided by afew.

He told the trainees diplo-mats that the world was mul-tipolar now and it was time torestructure multilateral organ-isations to reflect this newglobal reality.

PNS n CHENNAI

Actor-politician Kamal Haasanon Tuesday opposed the pro-posed nation-wide NRC andhit out at the AIADMK forsupporting the BJP-led NDAgovernment's latest amend-ment to the Citizenship Act,saying the ruling party inTamil Nadu was being "obedi-ent to their masters".

AIADMK's support to theamendment bill in theParliament was a betrayal ofthe Tamils and the nation, theMakkal Needhi Maiam chiefcharged.

"They are obedient to theirmasters, you know who theirmasters are," he told reportersapparently alleging that theAIADMK was dancing to thetunes of the BJP-led Centre.

A day after the MNM saidit has moved the SupremeCourt against the CitizenshipAmended Act, he said theparty would take up the cud-gles against the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) aswell.

"There is this NRC, when itis implemented (at the nation-al level) we will get into thefield (against it) and go as far

as we should go," he said whenasked about the follow upaction by the MNM on theCAA.

MNM would pursue legalsolution against the CAA, headded. To a query on the stu-dents' protest, he said theyoungsters will have to bepolitically aware.

On Home Minister AmitShah saying that the CAA wasnot against Muslims, he quot-ed a Tamil proverb to indicatethe Minister was allegedlyobstinate and does not see rea-son.

The actor-politician soughtto know why the rightbestowed on "Pakistani Hinduwas not given to Sri LankanHindu."

Expressing concern over theplight of Tamil refugees fromthe island nation, he askedwhat answer the country hadfor them who had all alongtrusted Tamil Nadu.

"What is the urgency for thisamendment when everyoneis concerned about the slide ofeconomy and soaring inflationand this question is the start-ing point of the nation-wideprotests," he said.

Rather than answering ques-tions, "throttling" the voices ofthose raising such questions inDelhi, Aligarh and Assam was"state terrorism," he alleged, inan apparent reference tocharges of police excesses whilehandling the student protes-tors.

MINORITIES NEED NOT FEAR CAA

Some parties indulging invote bank politics: GadkariPNS n NEW DELHI

Asserting that minorities inIndia have nothing to fearfrom the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA),Union Minister Nitin Gadkarion Tuesday said some partieswho want to play vote bankpolitics are creating fear andinsecurity.

Road Transport, Highwaysand MSME Minister Gadkarispeaking at 'Agenda Aaj Tak2019' said "deliberate" attemptsare being made by such forcesto create "misunderstanding" ofthe law.

"This Act is against foreign-ers and not against Indian cit-izens... People are being pro-voked by deliberately creatingmisunderstanding about thelaw ...Whoever are Indian cit-izens, whichever religion theybelong to, caste creed or sex -we have neither supported anysuch discrimination nor will dothat. CAA is not againstminorities," Gadkari said.

He said ever since BJP hasrisen to power in the Centre,there are political parties whoare creating fear amongminorities saying that "BJP is

against minorities or will drivethem out which is not true".

The Minister said that cre-ating fear is a part of politics bysome opposition parties whoplay "vote bank politics" whichis not good in a democracy orin national interest or for theunity and integrity of the coun-

try."It is a simple fact that no

country welcomes illegalmigrants by rolling out red car-pet to them. You must beaware that in Assam the previ-ous agitation was held becauseof large scale illegal migrantsentering the country. They

were given right to franchiselater due to vote bank politics.Some of them reachedParliament and Assemblies," hesaid.

Gadkari said in Bangladeshand Pakistan, the number ofHindus, Jains, Sikhs andBuddhists have decreased dras-tically in the last 40-50 yearsbecause of injustice meted outto them.

"They don't have any othercountry to take refuge in. Ifthey want to come to us, wewill give them citizenship. Thisis quite natural. There arethousands of people inKashmir and in other parts andthere is no harm in providingcitizenship to them," he said.

He also added that a sectionof political parties or media aremisquoting "Hindutva" andstressed that all those living inIndia are "Hindus orHindustanis" and Hindu is alifestyle much above the nar-row confines of religion.

The Minister said: "It is notproper to politicalise a nation-al issue (CAA). We are tryingto convince them ... we willconvince them, peace will berestored."

Gadkari said ever since BJP has risento power in the Centre, there arepolitical parties who are creating fearamong minorities saying that "BJP isagainst minorities or will drive them outwhich is not true".

‘Delhi Crime' harnessed strength of beingable to catch culprits, not pain: Shefali Shah

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Human Rights Watch hasurged the Centre to immedi-ately repeal the Citizenship(Amendment) Act in view ofnationwide protests against it,and said there should be anindependent probe into police"brutality and excesses" againststudents and other protesters.

In a statement on Tuesday,the international human rightsbody's South Asia DirectorMeenakshi Ganguly said the"government failed to graspthe extent of public oppositionover erosion of basic rightsevident in these protests".

Its "strongest response to theprotests would be to repeal"the Act and "withdraw itsplan for citizenship verifica-

tion that threatens marginal-ized communities", the organ-isation said.

On the police action againststudents of Jamia MilliaIslamia, Aligarh MuslimUniversity and others innortheastern states protest-ing against the law, she said theauthorities should immedi-ately order all police person-nel to abide by internationalstandards on policing assem-blies.

"The police may have usedexcessive force against demon-strators across the country"and the government "shouldestablish a credible indepen-dent investigation into allega-tions of excessive force, brutal-ity, and vandalism" by police-men, Ganguly said.

Scuffle between BJP, SenaMLAs in Maha Assembly

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

Odisha School and MassEducation minister SamirRanjan Dash on Tuesday saidall district education officershave been asked to look out fora teacher of Gujarat, an accusedin several cases of rape, whomight be working in an educa-tional insititute in the state.

The state governmentrecently received a letter fromthe CBI which informed that49-year-old DhavalkumarHareshchandra Trivedi, aGujarat-based teacher, mightbe hiding somewhere inOdisha.

The premier investigating

agency suspect that Trivedimight be working in anycoaching centre or education-

al institution in a remote partof Odisha as he is a goodEnglish teacher.

"We have received the letterfrom the CBI regarding thefugitive teacher who has beeninvolved in a number ofheinous crime like rape. Thestate government has alreadywritten letters to all the DistrictEducation Officers and BlockEducation Officers to trace

the fugitive teacher if workingin their areas," Dash toldreporters here Tuesday.

The minister said thedepartment has also attachedthe identification of theaccused teacher in the letter.All the educational institu-tions, both government andprivate ones, have also beeninformed about Trivedi, theminister said.

‘Rapist’ Gujarat teacher hiding in Odisha: CBI

Samir Ranjan Dash

Repeal Citizenship(Amendment) Act: HRW

PNS n NEW DELHI

Entry and exit gates at fivemetro stations in northeastDelhi were closed on Tuesdayin view of protest in theSeelampur area.

"Entry and exit gates ofSeelampur and Gokulpuriare closed. Trains will not behalting at these stations,"Delhi Metro RailCorporation (DMRC) tweet-ed.

Earlier DMRC closedWelcome, Jaffrabad andMaujpur-Babarpur metrostations.

Angry protesters demand-ing scraping of citizenshipamendment law clashed withpolice, pelted stones at themand damaged several buses inNortheast Delhi's Seelampurarea.

Police resorted to batoncharges and fired teargasshells on the protesters whowere marching fromSeelampur towards Jafrabad.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress MP ManickamTagore has submitted aprivilege notice againstUnion minister SmritiIrani for "misleading" theHouse on Rahul Gandhi's'rape remark' on December13. Sources said Tagoremet Lok Sabha SecretaryGeneral SnehlataShrivastava and moved theprivilege notice against theUnion minister.

Tagore said the noticehas been received by thesecretary general and willbe taken up further.

"Under Rule 222 of therules of Procedure andConduct of Business inLok Sabha, I hereby give anotice of a privilege motionagainst Minister of Textiles,Women and ChildDevelopment Smriti Iranion the statement made byher during the interventionin the in Lok Sabha on 13thDecember, 2019," he saidin his petition. Tagore saidthe minister's assertionson the floor of the houseare "absolutely false".

"The honourable mem-ber has willfully mislednot only members of thehouse, but also the entirenation. The minister hadclaimed that Rahul Gandhihas given a clarion call torape women in India in hisspeech during an electionrally on December 12. Theminister has knowinglyand intentionally misledParliament by falselyattributing a statement toRahul Gandhi," he said.

Privilegenoticeagainst Irani5 Metro

stationsclosed in Delhi

M Venkaiah Naidu

Naidu emphasisedthat India wantspeace and stabilityin theneighbourhoodand friendlyrelations with allits neighbours.

The premier investigating agencysuspect that Trivedi might be workingin any coaching centre or educationalinstitution in a remote part of Odisha ashe is a good English teacher

CAA: AASU leaders,actor court arrest

CAA does not take awaycitizenship of Indians: V-P Naidu

Kamal hits out at CAA; saysMNM opposed to NRC

Even as the thunderous reverbera-tions of the 16-year-old environ-mental activist, Greta Thunberg, atthe UN, just three months ago, areyet to die down, to our utter sur-

prise, the Madrid climate talks under the aegisof COP25 ended in a failure. This is not thefirst time that such discordance amongmember nations has been witnessed. The pre-sent talks failed despite the fact that whileinaugurating this conference, UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres had issued a verystern warning. “I call on anyone who is stilllobbying their Governments for a slow tran-sition or even no transition, to end those activ-ities now. The world is watching,” he empha-sised. Today, the world community appearsto be focussed more on the protection of theirown domestic agenda rather than payingheed to the impending disaster.

The first decade after the Rio de JaneiroEarth Summit of 1992 saw a rare buildingup of consensus on almost all issues.Perhaps it was the decade after the Cold Warand the first Gulf War when the world com-munity saw immense merit in consensus-building. The same was also manifest dur-ing the signing of the WTO Agreement atMarrakesh, Morocco, in 1994. But in thevery next decade, one saw the appearanceof discordant notes, particularly as formerUS President George W Bush virtuallyrefused to follow the Kyoto Protocol evenas America was the largest polluter in theworld. This trend was further aggravatedwhen President Donald Trump followed thesame route as charted earlier by Bush.

Unfortunately, despite the bleak scenario,the voice of a number of smaller and less pol-luting nations, prominently Tuvalu, Maldives,Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan among oth-ers, who are already facing the brunt of theclimate change, seems to have been lost. Onthe other hand, high polluting nations suchas China, India and the European Unioncould not account for their efforts at reduc-ing global warming. They were unable toquantify in specific terms the targets achievedas was laid down under the Paris Agreement.But the prime reason for the failure of theMadrid Summit, which was participated by197 countries across the world, was a lack ofconsensus on development of a marketmechanism to limit carbon emissions.

The concept of trading in carbon mar-kets as a response to climate change was animportant outcome of the Kyoto Protocol. Theprimary purpose of the Protocol was to makethe developed countries pay for their emis-sions while at the same time, monetarilyreward those nations with good record in thisregard. The underlying philosophy was thatsince the developing countries could start withcleaner technologies, they would be reward-ed by those who were stuck with old and pol-luting technologies. In a way, this translatedinto wealthier countries purchasing theextent of reduction in carbon levels achievedby the developing countries.

In this manner, the devel-oped and wealthier nationswould not only be able to selltheir technology to the develop-ing countries but could alsogather carbon credits to meet therequirements of Kyoto Protocolwithout any reduction in theiremission levels. The failure of theMadrid summit, to achieve anyresults in this direction, may havealso disappointed those whoencouraged carbon tradingmechanism like the oil majorRoyal Dutch Shell Plc and theSpanish utility Iberdrola SA.

Such a market mechanismwas also considered important byheavy industrialised countries,who are economically dependenton oil and gas production. In thenormal course, large-scale de-car-bonisation would take muchlonger than as prescribed underthe Paris targets. Besides, itwould also ensure that the richand already developed coun-tries could continue to pollute onthe strength of carbon credit pur-chased by them, while theoptions of developing and rela-tively poor countries would becurtailed. It can, thus, be inferredthat the summit spent moretime in ensuring that the inter-ests of the developed countriesare well protected through thecarbon trading mechanism.

In fact, the scheme of carboncredits is some kind of a smoke-screen which enables the devel-

oped and richer countries toexploit those still developing.Those already developed, thus,escape the limits while the lessindustrialised and less pollutingare loaded with the burden of fur-ther reductions. This may ulti-mately impact and retard theirprogress in the long-run.

In this context, let us take theexample of the GFL gas projectin Gujarat. GFL is one of thelargest producers of carbon off-set credits in the world, sellingthem to many of the biggest pol-luters in the EU. Europe’s pol-luters have had a cheap way tooffset their climate responsibili-ties without actually greeningeven a small patch of the land. EUClimate Action CommissionerConnie Hedegaard admitted thatsuch projects have a “total lack ofenvironmental integrity.”

At the summit, not muchtime was spent on determiningthe targets to be achieved by eachcountry so as to keep the emis-sions of greenhouse gases with-in the overall objective of theglobal warming being limited tothe extent of 1.5 degrees between2018 and 2100. For this tobecome a reality by 2050, weshould be a net-zero emitter. Sofar only about 20 countries,including the UK, France, NewZealand, Norway, Finland,Switzerland, Denmark andSweden, figure in the list ofthose who are expected to meet

this target. India, China and theUS still have a long way to go.

In India, with a perceiveddifficulty in cutting emissionsin order to meet the targets, anambitious plan for harnessingsolar energy has been formulat-ed. We are lucky that sunlightis available in abundance butthe challenge lies in the pro-curement of solar Photo Voltaic(PV) cells, which is one of themajor constraining factors inour efforts to realise the fullpotential. According to a reportsubmitted by the parliamentarystanding committee, in order toachieve the target of 100 GW ofsolar electricity capacity by2022, India should have had aninstalled capacity of 32,000MW by 2017-18. But as ofJanuary 31, 2018, the countryonly had a capacity of 18,455MW in just four years — thisis over 20,000 MW a year andappears difficult to achieve.

Irrespective of the disap-pointing outcome of the Madridsummit, as a responsible nationwith high prestige in the interna-tional arena, India does not havethe luxury of a half-heartedapproach towards this vital area.The phenomenon of globalwarming has to be seen as a glob-al warning.

(The author is a formerGovernor and a Senior Adviser atthe Pranab MukherjeeFoundation)

The American plane-maker Boeing’stremendous confidence in the ability ofits latest jet, the 737 Max, even after two

dramatic fatal accidents in Ethiopia andIndonesia killed close to 400 people, was worthwatching. The Max was grounded worldwidein March but Boeing kept churning them outat a rate touching 42 a month. This has led toover 400 aircraft sitting around Boeing’s fac-tories at Seattle, unable to fly anywhere.Boeing’s confidence in its jet and almost bom-bastic optimism that it would be soon cleared

to fly is not matched by the US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA), which has been embarrassed by a rash of stories of how it had beeninfiltrated by Boeing employees, who led their inspectors up the garden path andessentially gave certification to a plane that had some fundamental issues. Theissues are so fundamental that it now appears the Boeing 737 Max may not actu-ally be recertified to fly, that, too, only in the US initially before February 2020,and possibly even March. It is no surprise, therefore, that Boeing has finally decid-ed to wind down production of the aircraft.

In many other industries, a product failure like this would have been fatal tothe company. Thankfully Boeing operates in a comfortable duopoly with Europeanmanufacturer Airbus, which despite opportunities, has not stuck the dagger intoit. The relationship between Airbus and Boeing then is akin to that between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, not really a rivalry, no matter what the advertising says. Ergo,Boeing will survive the worst of this crisis in all likelihood, even though it mighttake a year or so to get back to its feet. Thankfully, for the global aviation indus-try, a few fortuitous airline collapses, including the demise of Jet Airways in India,have meant that at least for the time being there are enough aircraft available topick up the slack of demand. That said, airlines will be wanting aircraft soon enoughand Boeing will have to get its act together to resolve the problems on the Max.Crucially, the manufacturer will also need to fix the trust deficit that it suffers regard-ing the Max with ordinary airline passengers. The crisis also highlights severeflaws in the aircraft certification process. All in all, aviation is safer today than ithas ever been. That does not mean that we take things for granted. Boeing didin case of the 737 Max and will pay a massive price but hopefully, 2020 will bea better year than 2019 was for global aviation.

Ever since it became a reality, the Rightto Information Act (RTI Act), which guar-antees transparency in governance and

ensures its accountability to citizens, has beendefanged by successive regimes. It all beganwith the Manmohan Singh government whenestablishment hawks claimed that the law wasbeing misused by “frivolous and vexatious”requests for information. Another canard wasalso spread about RTI being used as black-mail, a ruse to stifle it as more and more casesof corruption tumbled out of the cupboard fol-

lowing even simple requests for information. This thread was picked up by HomeMinister Amit Shah who asserted that citizens do not have the need to file RTIapplications because the Modi government is anyway transparent. Obviously,the RTI petitions had led to embarrassing revelations on demonetisation, Aadhaarand even bank NPAs. The judiciary, too, has not been proactive on this as ques-tions have begun to be raised about the lack of transparency in its functioning.Agreed every law has advantages and pitfalls and the RTI could probably dowith some caveats but when the Supreme Court, too, plays up the establish-ment’s anxieties, then the implication becomes serious for the common man.On Monday, the court ruled that the misuse and “criminal intimidation” of RTIshould be stopped and that only petitioners, who are connected or involved withthe issues raised, would be entertained. Describing the huge flow of applica-tions under RTI as a “serious problem”, the Bench said though it was not opposedto the transparency law, there was a need to evolve some mechanism to ensurethat only the affected or concerned person has the recourse to power. The prob-lem with such filtering mechanism is that you first isolate the information seek-er, making it that much easier for the powers that be to hound or silence him/herthan when it is a class action plea. Far too many reports have emerged of RTIactivists being killed. According to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative,84 RTI activists have been killed in India since October 2005. Second, infor-mation on a policy matter of far-reaching consequence can never be a matterof personal but general interest. For example, no political party or politician willseek or be a party to a scrutiny of the electoral bond scheme, the working ofwhich impacts voter preferences. Also, if a bidder in a government contractloses out over suspected foul play, will the individual/organisation pursue a peti-tion, the effort for which may disqualify them from future contracts as a trou-ble-maker? The top court, however, directed the Centre and various StateGovernments to fill up vacancies of information commissioners, which havefurther held up crucial files. Independent studies have shown that at one timethere were four vacancies in the 11-member Central Information Commission(CIC) while pendency had been rising every month to touch 33,000. The stud-ies also found out that an appeal in the Andhra Pradesh State InformationCommission could take 18 years for scrutiny. That time taken in Bengal andOdisha would be five and four years.

The RTI is slowly becoming another casualty of democracy, the governmenthaving whittled down its efficacy and the institutions formed by it with an amend-ed version. The new RTI anyway strips the Information Commissioners fromthe immunity that is given to Supreme Court judges and Chief ElectionCommissioners, subjecting their service records, tenure and salaries to the dis-cretion of the government or the Executive. Effectively, it means defanging themas the Government can remove them when it considers them unsuitable to itsdesign. A fixed tenure and autonomy regardless of the government of the daywould enable them to pursue fair probes. Otherwise, they would be afraid to beindependent. Even our first Chief Information Commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah,and several other bureaucrats had written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modito not bring the amendments and dilute what actually empowers the commonman. Modi, who made running a corruption-free government his professed mantrasince 2015, lost credibility by pushing something antithetical to that spirit. Butnow that he has the heft of the Lok Sabha verdict, he is beyond any criticismof the citizenry that voted him. Information Commissions are crucial links in allow-ing access to the workings of the Government. The system was anyway depen-dent on retired bureaucrats and now has loyalists. As it appears, RTI is now arobotic ritual than democratic intervention.

Bad day for democracy

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Take the lead” (December 16).It’s incomprehensible as to howthe police could forcibly enter aneducational institution withoutany permission. According toJamia Millia Islamia ChiefProctor, Waseem Ahmed Khan,Delhi Police personnel enteredthe university by force withoutany permission and beat up staffmembers and students who wereforced to leave the campus.Photos of injured students speakfor police brutality inside thecampus. Now the question is:Who issued the order, asking thepolice to forcibly enter the univer-sity and resort to violence? Thisshameful act must be condemnedby everyone who believes indemocratic values.

The BJP has alleged that somepolitical parties are spreadingrumours and inciting violence topromote their political interestsand the students are falling into thetrap. Even if this was the case, therecan be no justification to brutalpolice action. The police cannottrample their right to protest.

Sujit DeKolkata

A healing touch

Sir — BJP general secretary RamMadhav said recently that hisGovernment would soon allowdetained political leaders inJammu & Kashmir to come out

in the open and resume politicalactivity. The State has been undera lockdown since August, whenthe Government withdrew thelimited autonomy granted to itunder Article 370 and fully inte-grated it with India. As against theGovernment’s claim that nor-

malcy has returned to the State,the fact is that extreme restric-tions are still in place. Top localpolitical leaders are still in deten-tion, internet services are yet tobe restored and not all commu-nication lines are functional.

Such moves have only creat-

ed more hardships for the locals.The basic premise of the lifting ofArticle 370 was to usher in devel-opment. The Government needsto accelerate its developmentpitch and allay the fears andanxieties of the Kashmiris.

M Shadab Bengaluru

Lacking political will

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Climate breakdown” (December17). It is disappointing that theUN climate talks ended withoutmaking any significant progress.It could not even frame rules fora new global carbon trading andpostponed them until next year.This will only make the target setby the Paris accord harder torealise. Clearly, it’s not the lack oftechnology but political will thatwill make it difficult for us to tack-le global warming. None candeny that regulated carbon mar-kets can make technologies acces-sible and affordable without hurt-ing the economy.

Sweta SankrityanVia email

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

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

op nionHYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019

06

Global warning

KK PAUL

Irrespective of the disappointing outcome of the Madrid summit, as a responsible nation,India cannot be making a half-hearted approach to address the issue of climate change

Universities must play a lead-ing role in addressing nation-al challenges. Higher educa-tional institutes must emergeas spaces that nurture freeexpression and ideas.

President—Ram Nath Kovind

#MeToo movement cameand went. It is disappointing.A lot of things that should'vechanged have not changed.A lot of things have notcome out, have not changed.

Actor—Radhika Apte

I look very much forward todebating whoever the luckyperson is who stumblesacross the finish line in thelittle watched Do NothingDemocrat Debates.

US President—Donald Trump

S O U N D B I T E

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

An attack on the idea of India

This refers to the editorial, “Jackboots vs Ahimsa”(December 17). The police brutality unleashed on thestudents of Jamia Millia Islamia university and Aligarh

Muslim University, who were protesting the amended cit-izenship law based on religion, must be condemned. Theright to protest is intrinsic to a democracy. A democraticGovernment cannot stymie protests or use force to quellthem just because they are antithetical to a decision takenor a law passed to implement the ruling party’s agenda.The visuals of students walking with their arms raised weredisturbing. The police cannot equate protesting studentswith criminals, barge into hostels and libraries, switch thelights off and thrash them. Students do not exist for thepolice to give vent to their aggressive instincts and pleasetheir political masters.

Widespread protests against the Citizenship AmendmentAct (CAA), decried as an affront to the Constitution as it linkscitizenship with religion, should awaken the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo to the realisation that Indian democracy isbigger than them and they cannot polarise people and pitone community against the other along religious lines adinfinitum. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that “theycan be identified by the clothes they are wearing” is unbe-

coming of the holder of India’s most exalted office. Thereare no prizes for guessing for which “noun” the pronoun“they” is used. Reneging on his call for a 10-year morato-rium on “communal politics” to create the necessary con-ditions for the pursuit of economic progress, his Governmentis taking steps and engendering social strife. Sadly, it doesnot occur to the Modi Government that a country dividedagainst itself cannot aspire to become a superpower and aneconomic power house.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

AT THE SUMMIT,NOT MUCH TIMEWAS SPENT ON

DETERMINING THETARGETS TO BE

ACHIEVED BYEACH COUNTRYSO AS TO KEEP

THE EMISSIONSOF GREENHOUSE

GASES WITHINTHE OVERALL

OBJECTIVE OF THEGLOBAL

WARMING BEINGLIMITED TO THE

EXTENT OF 1.5DEGREES

BETWEEN 2018AND 2100

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Trust in MaxI want to say (to theOpposition) oppose politically as much as youwant but Modi Governmentis firm on implementingthe citizenship law.

Union Minister—Amit Shah

The SC may argue that pleas are frivolous but the fact is afilter kills the very purpose of ensuring transparency

Ten months after the Boeing 737 Max was grounded, itseems it’s not getting back into the air soon

Defanging RTI

Are SDGs on track?

THE BJP GOVERNMENT HAS DECLARED A WAR ON ITSOWN PEOPLE. IT HAS BECOME THE CREATOR

OF VIOLENCE AND DIVISIVENESS.—CONGRESS CHIEF

SONIA GANDHI

WHAT HAS THE CONGRESS DONE TO PUNISH THE PERPETRATORS OF MOB VIOLENCE DURINGTHE 1984 ANTI-SIKH RIOTS?—DEFENCE MINISTERNIRMALA SITHARAMAN

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The world cannot survive unless drastic stepsare taken. The member states of the UnitedNations (UN) in 2015 adopted the 2030 agen-

da for Sustainable Development with 17 Goals atits heart. This is a universal call to end poverty, pro-tect the planet and ensure that all people live a pro-ductive, vibrant life and enjoy peace and prosper-ity by 2030. Since 2020 is round the corner and weare just a decade away from 2030, we must analysethe sufficiency of the actions taken by governments,businesses, developmental organisations, scientif-ic community and civil society to make achievementof Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a real-ity. Since these require substantial changes in allaspects, the limited effectiveness of governments maynot be sufficient, unless businesses and civil soci-ety play their part.

The UN’s SDG Report, 2019, is helpful in mea-suring headways made in several critical areas andindicates some positive developments like substan-tial decline in extreme poverty, 49 per cent fall inthe under-five mortality rate since 2000 and accessto electricity to a large chunk of the world’s popu-lation. Marine life has also been safeguarded andprotected areas have multiplied since 2010. Issuesregarding illegal fishing are also being smoothened.The Paris Agreement on climate change has beensigned by 186 parties. Rapid urbanisation has alsobeen addressed worldwide with 150 countries fram-ing policies at the national-level aiming to solve theproblems arising from it. Over 300 policies andinstruments have been developed by several coun-tries, including the EU, to encourage sustainabili-ty in production and consumption. These improve-ments could not have been possible without thewidespread support of all stakeholders and this all-pervasive participation creates considerable opti-mism and promise for a secure future.

However, unified and concentrated action is stillrequired in many areas. Environment protection andaction to reduce climate change are the top prior-ity as it is predicted that global warming will riseto 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in years to comeif greenhouse emissions are not checked. This, cou-pled with increasing sea levels because of it, will havecumulative effects that will be irreversible and dis-astrous. Add to this an increasing ocean acidifica-tion, coastal erosion, extreme weather conditions,the frequency and severity of natural disasters, con-tinuing land degradation, risk of loss of one millionplant and animal species and we have a perfect recipefor the ecosystem’s collapse.

Human suffering is closely linked to this envi-ronmental degradation as it has the capability tomake many parts of the planet derelict. Given theloss of vital plant and animal species and globalwarming — with the last four years being thewarmest on record — food production will be atrisk, leading to large-scale food shortage and increas-ing global hunger. This can potentially displace upto 140 million people by 2050, unless strong anddecisive action on climate change is taken by theentire world.

The goal to end extreme poverty by 2030 alsolooks unattainable as violent disturbances, conflictsand displacements are adding to the exposure to nat-ural disasters, leading to deep-rooted deprivation.At least half of the world’s population lacks essen-tial health services, more than half of the world’s chil-dren do not meet educational standards andwomen in all parts of the world continue to face dis-

advantages and discrimination. Since achieving SDGs is not easy or

possible alone, all stakeholders shouldpartner for the cause. As resources are lim-ited, be it financial, natural or human, soci-ety must make optimum use of the same.By way of partnership, we have the abil-ity to bring together diverse and scarceresources to deliver a higher impact,greater sustainability and increased valueto all. According to the UN, “Partnershipsfor sustainable development are multi-stakeholder initiatives voluntarily under-taken by Governments, inter-govern-mental organisations, major groups andother stakeholders, whose efforts arecontributing to the implementation ofinter-governmentally agreed develop-ment goals and commitments.”

Through this the UN has recognisedthe importance of partnerships by busi-nesses and all leading institutions asimperative in international relations andglobal development. This fundamentalshift in its thinking and approach isexpressed in its clear acceptance of theinterrelations and interdependence ofthriving business, prosperous societyand a healthy environment as a whole. Allsocietal sectors without exception havebeen named as key development actorsand an unprecedented level of coopera-tion and collaboration is the need of thehour for achievement of SDGs.

Since the launch of SDGs, severalwide-ranging development partnershipshave seen the light of the day, both at glob-al and local levels; from international net-works to bilateral arrangements; frommulti-sector, multi-issue platforms, to sin-gle-sector, single-issue interest groups. Tobring some standardisation into the mul-titude of collaborative arrangements withquite different qualities, three basic typesof partnerships can be identified, whichcan be distinguished in terms of the mainobjectives of the partnership and thenature of the relationship between the

partners.The first category,

“Leverage/Exchange” involves partner-ships that are complementary to eachother and are a one-way transfer or rec-iprocal exchange of resources like knowl-edge, services, skills and funding, that theorganisations need to employ towardstheir own strategic goals. It is applicablewhen each partner has something that ismore valuable to the other than to them-selves, resulting in net gain on exchange.For example, the relationship between anaid agency and a university research insti-tute can constitute a partnership of mutu-al benefit where the agency accessesresearch outputs and expertise from theinstitute while providing research fund-ing or sources of data and case studies tothe institute. An example of this type ofpartnership is Coca-Cola and the GlobalFund Project Last Mile, which leveragesCoca-Cola’s logistic, supply chain, distri-bution and marketing expertise to buildAfrican Governments’ capabilities toensure communities have better access tolife-sustaining and life-enhancing medi-cines. Coca-Cola gains by demonstratingits commitment to a better planet as wellas providing employee engagementopportunities.

The second category,“Combine/Integrate”, identifies a cross-sec-tor partnership, which is essentially a part-nership between two or more organisa-tions where complementary resources arepooled to identify solutions to a commonproblem and in the process accomplisha shared strategic goal. Innovativeapproaches, which are developed by all thepartners involved through brainstormingand consistent dialogue and mutualaccountability, are the hallmarks of thistype of partnership. The core belief hereis that one can achieve more by workingtogether and combining the resourcesthan individually. An example in this cat-egory can be seen in Bangladesh between

a social enterprise and a major supplierof renewable energy, SOLshare, andGrameen Shakti, which is being support-ed and enabled by UN DESA. GrameenShakti brings access to its massive exist-ing customer base and network of solarhomes, as well as its knowledge of thecommunities, and SOLshare brings cut-ting-edge, innovative technology with thepotential to transform the supply ofaffordable energy to low-income house-holds in Bangladesh.

The final partnership type“Transform”, is more ambitious andfocusses on the final goal of tackling adevelopment challenge in an innovativeand multi-faceted way where the problemdefinition may be unclear, and partnersbring differing world views and perspec-tives to the issue. For example, Scaling upNutrition is a global, country-led andmulti-sectoral movement to combatundernutrition and catalyse support forcountries with a focus on a set of evidence-based direct nutrition interventions. Herea partnership is developed to facilitate asystem change with the involvement ofvarious actors like countries, variousGovernment ministries (e.g. ministries ofeducation, health and agriculture) aswell as other change agents like business-es, civil society and the UN.

We are at a time where interventionsto save the planet have to be colossal andno country or individual can contributein isolation. The challenges are global andrequire global solutions. The SDGs havebrought countries and communitiestogether to work for a better life and a sus-tainable planet. It is the duty of all stake-holders to develop and to further strength-en international cooperation on climatechange, migration, technology, trade andpartnerships. Let us take the advantage ofmany synergies that we have and worktogether to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

(The writer is an Associate Professor,Amity University)

Since meeting goals by 2030 requires substantial changes in all aspects, the limited effectivenessof governments may not be sufficient unless businesses and civil society play their part

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

Get off the couch

MD FAIZ YUSUF

The time for the citizens to speak against the high-handedness of the Government is now. We

must do so before there is no one left to speak for us

HIMA BINDU KOTA

THE UN’S SDGREPORT, 2019, IS

HELPFUL INMEASURING

HEADWAYS MADEIN SEVERAL

CRITICAL AREASAND INDICATESSOME POSITIVEDEVELOPMENTS

LIKESUBSTANTIAL

DECLINE INEXTREME

POVERTY, 49 PERCENT FALL IN THE

UNDER-FIVEMORTALITY RATESINCE 2000 AND

ACCESS TOELECTRICITY TO ALARGE CHUNK OF

THE WORLD’SPOPULATION

In the past year, the country has seen numerous developmentsin key sectors such as aviation, railways, oil and gas, roadsand bridges, ports and shipping, telecom, power and urban

infrastructure, just to name a few. Despite all the rhetoric, actu-al “development”, as promised by the Modi Government whenit was elected to power, is yet to materialise. Nonetheless, thisisn’t a statement where I mean to say that the currentGovernment is “unsecular.” I believe this was automaticallyimplied when the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, waspassed in Parliament. For, it entails that every “illegal migrant”,Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians fromAfghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and who entered Indiaon or before December 31, 2014, other than the Muslims, areeligible for Indian citizenship.

Neither is there any need to elucidate on the state of theeconomy, which is at its worst phase with the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) seeing a marked fall every quarter. The econom-ic slowdown is in everybody’s mind. Just a few days ago, for-mer Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian termed theeconomic crisis in the country as a “great slowdown” and saidthat it is in the “intensive care due to structural and cyclicalfactors.” Beyond the economy, amid a steep rise in oil prices,agrarian distress, retail inflation and unemployment have posedanother set of problems. Daimler AG and Audi announced almost20,000 job cuts in the past three weeks.

My intention is not to take pot-shots at the Government.But it dragged its name through the mud when the Delhi Policeforced its way into the Jamia Millia Islamia, one of the mostreputed educational institutions in the country, and brutallyassaulted the students over there. Neither do I need to empha-sise the fact that the Government has been lying to its citizensevery since it came to power. From trumpeting a dream pro-ject of a high-speed rail, what has been delivered is that cru-cial sectors like education, defence and healthcare are facingits gravest crisis ever.

Today, we are living in a country where States like Jammu& Kashmir and Assam are boiling. People’s voices are beingsuppressed. Being apolitical is a risk one should not be tak-ing. Because being “apolitical” or in turn “silent” is a weaponthat only backfires. For silence only means being “complicit”to the happenings. When a Government maintains silence, itis considered to be an accomplice of the wrong because thereality says otherwise. When it is silent, it is used as an excuseto continue with the actions that are detestable. Had theGovernment actually been concerned about the problems sur-rounding the citizens, it would have acted maturely. I am nothere to take criticism on my take of “consequences of beingsilent.” I am here to tell you that this is the real world.

This does not mean that one will not be labelled as an “anti-nationalist” when he/she speaks against the establishment. Onealso needs to understand that raising voices against theGovernment does not in any sense mean that one is speakingagainst the nation. Instead, when one tends to take a view, he/sheis trying to protect the interests of the fellow citizens when actu-ally it is the duty of the Government to do so.

If this situation persists, eventually a time will come whenwe will be able to call ourselves the “largest democracy” withas much credibility as modern-day China. Leaders there statethat they run a “socialist democracy” alongside an authoritar-ian rule that strips people off their democratic rights, which isthe very basis of a democratic State.

As a Muslim who has had mostly Hindu friends, I have beenconfiding in them, laughing with them and sharing this idea ofOne India, which I believed, stood as a strong evidence thatwe can embrace diversity and be united even as we boast ofmore than a billion people with different religions, dissimilar lan-guages, individual beliefs and varied cultures. To my dismay,the Government has been trying to bring out a strange under-current of differences among the citizens, which in my opin-ion, did not exist before. One only wishes all of this ends here.It is not just the Muslims who are being isolated but even theAssamese, the Kashmiri Hindus and the students as well.

If we don’t speak even now, when the Government cameafter the students in Jamia, it may act against all of us. At leastone can draw the line and make it realise that such barbaricways will not be tolerated. The time to act is now.

(The writer is an author and is currently pursuingEconomics Graduation from Ashoka University)

Nostradamus, the world’s mostfamous seer, had predictedthat the year 2020 would

mark the beginning of a new era,accompanied by bloodshed andsuffering, but that it would alsobring new hopes. So, as we stand atthe cusp of the new year, one won-ders what 2020 will bring for India?

Politically, the country will bestable, given the massive mandatewon by Prime Minister NarendraModi just six months ago. The BJPis sure to begin the year with a senseof triumph as the Modi Governmenthas achieved most of the party’s coreagenda during its second term,including the abrogation of Article370, a favourable judgment in the

Ayodhya issue, dealing with theissue of illegal immigrants throughthe Citizenship Amendment Act,2019 (CAA) and the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) and soon. However, there is a need toarrest the widespread unrest creat-ed due to the CAA and the NRC asit is not doing the Government anygood.

Going forward, in 2020, theGovernment is likely to form a trustand begin the Ram temple’s con-struction in a grand manner inAyodhya. The Uniform Civil Code(UCC) is the only remaining part ofthe core BJP-RSS agenda and a Billto regulate the population is also onthe anvil.

Though the BJP will not achievemajority in the Rajya Sabha, Modiand his deputy Amit Shah haveshown how Bills could be pushedthrough with the support of someneutral parties like the Biju JanataDal (BJD).

However, the economy is goingto be the biggest challenge for theModi Government. A plunge indomestic consumption, manufac-

turing, construction, real estate,weakening of industrial production,slump in exports and imports anda mess in the banking and financialsectors need urgent attention.

The Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development(OECD) recently marginally cut itsgrowth forecast for 2019 to 5.8 percent but said it will pick up to 6.2per cent in 2020 and further to 6.4per cent in 2021. The global brokingfirm Goldman Sachs has forecast amild recovery of the Indian econo-my by March 2020.

Politically there could be somerealignments. The Opposition maycontinue to be scattered and weak.The Congress’ prospects are look-ing up a bit. However, it is yet toemerge as an alternative. Both theCongress and the BJP might havenew presidents. While RahulGandhi is expected to return as theparty chief, the BJP might choosethe present working president JPNadda to lead it from now on.

The BJP ended the year byemerging as the single-largest partyin Haryana and Maharashtra. While

the party formed the Governmentin Haryana, the Shiv Sena-Congress-Nationalist CongressParty combine formed theGovernment in Maharashtra,upstaging the BJP there.

With the parting of ways withthe Shiv Sena, the BJP might haveto look for new friends in the com-ing year. As it is, the NDA hasshrunk with the Telugu DesamParty leaving in March 2019 and theSena in December 2019. The JD(U)and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)are the only two big allies left withthe saffron party.

Bihar and Delhi will go forAssembly polls in 2020. Both areimportant for the BJP as it is part ofthe ruling coalition in Bihar and hasbeen trying to get Delhi back as itwas strong in the Capital in the past.The “Modi magic” did not work inboth the States in 2015 as the AamAadmi Party (AAP) won with amassive majority in Delhi and themahagathbandhan, comprising theCongress, JD(U), the RJD andsmaller parties, won in Bihar. Themahagathbandhan has broken up

since then and Nitish Kumar is backas an NDA Chief Minister. Bihar has243 seats and Nitish will lead theBJP-JD(U) combine in the Biharpolls.

As for Delhi, the ruling AAP isgoing strong despite all odds. Thefight there will be three-corneredwith the AAP, the Congress and theBJP fighting for the 70 seats. TheCongress and the BJP have no localleaders to match the stature ofDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal. However, the BJP’s starcampaigner Modi is planning tokick off the poll campaign onDecember 22 with a huge rally at theRamlila Maidan.

Modi has struck up a friendshipwith US President Donald Trump.It is to be seen who wins the crucial2020 US presidential elections. Inany case, India has the support ofboth Democrats and Republicans inthe US and the victory of BorisJohnson in the United Kingdom(UK) might cement the Indo-UKrelationship further, too, makingthings right for the country as far asthe West is concerned. However,

India has to sort out its differencesin the neighbourhood, particularlywith Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Tokyo Olympics in 2020 isan important event as in the 100thyear of India’s participation, theIndian Olympic Association, withthe JSW Group, will showcase thenation’s heritage and economicmight through an India House. Itseems strange that a country of morethan 1.3 billion people can only col-lect an average of less than onemedal per games. Maybe the newyear will see the nation shore up itswinnings as more and more peopletake to sports and training takes cen-tre stage.

India will be hosting the next‘No Money for Terror’ MinisterialConference in 2020. Restrictingfunding is the key to stopping ter-ror in its tracks, as money is thebackbone for training, attacks andother terror infrastructure.

Though the year 2020 is notpacked with events, nevertheless, itis only the beginning and eventsmight overtake any prediction.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

What lies ahead in 2020?Politically, the country will be stable, given the massive mandate won by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just

six months ago but the BJP has a lot of work still left to do to fulfil its core agenda

KALYANI SHANKAR

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

Understandably distracted,Chile’s lack of leadershipsaw a coalition of Stateswith strong links to fossilfuel industry — the US,Brazil, Australia and SaudiArabia — seize theopportunity to underminethe talks. Their success wasto render meaningless thesummit’s final declaration.This is a snub to scienceand strikers in a year ofunprecedented climateactivism. If this climatedenialism persists, we willpay a heavy price.(The Guardian editorial)

CLIMATE CHANGEDIPLOMACY

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 money 08

CAPSULE

Gold prices risemarginally; silvergains Rs 75NEW DELHI: Gold prices rosemarginally by Rs 11 to Rs38,771 per 10 gram in thenational capital on Tuesday,according to HDFC Securities.The yellow metal had settled atRs 38,760 per 10 gram in theprevious trade. Spot gold for24 Karat in Delhi was tradingmarginally higher by Rs 11 onrupee appreciation whichlimited the upside, HDFCSecurities Senior Analyst(Commodities) Tapan Patelsaid. The spot rupee wastrading around 9 paisestronger against the dollarduring the day, he added.Silver prices also gained Rs 75to Rs 45,610 per kg from Rs45,535 per kg in the previoustrade. In the global market,gold was quoting higher atUSD 1,478.20 per ounce,while silver was trading atUSD 17.02 per ounce.

Lupin's armcompletes stakedivestment in KyowaNEW DELHI: Drug makerLupin on Tuesday said itssubsidiary Nanomi BV hascompleted divestment of itsentire stake in KyowaPharmaceutical Industry toJapan-based equity fundUnison Capital Partners.Nanomi BV held 99.82 percent stake in Japan-basedKyowa, Lupin said in astatement. Last month,Lupin's board had approvedthe stake sale in Kyowa for anenterprise value of JPY 57,361million (around Rs 3,702crore). The Mumbai-baseddrug firm said the transactiongenerates post tax net cashinflow of around JPY 33,429million (Rs 2,157.6 crore) andsignificantly strengthens itsconsolidated balance sheet.The deal helps the companypare its net debt from Rs4,361.8 crore (as onSeptember 30, 2019) to Rs1,075.3 crore. The company'snet debt to equity ratio nowstands at 0.08 as compared to0.32 earlier.

Sensex, Nifty hit lifetime peaksPNS n MUMBAI

Market benchmarks Sensexand Nifty soared to new peakson Tuesday, driven by gainsmainly in metal, financial andIT stocks amid firm globalcues and sustained foreignfund inflows.

After surging to its recordintra-day peak of 41,401.65,the 30-share BSE barometersettled 413.45 points, or 1.01per cent, higher at its all-timehigh of 41,352.17.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty rallied 111.05 points, or0.92 per cent, to its record clos-

ing high of 12,165.Tata Steel was the top gain-

er in the Sensex pack, surging4.38 per cent, followed byBharti Airtel 4.37 per cent,Vedanta 3.50 per cent, TataMotors 3.03 per cent, HDFC2.46 per cent and Bajaj Finance2.39 per cent.

On the other hand, SunPharma fell 1.37 per cent,M&M 0.63 per cent, BajajAuto 0.56 per cent and HUL0.48 per cent.

According to experts,domestic market scaled recordpeaks following positive cuesfrom global equities that rallied

on optimism over US-Chinatrade truce.

"The positive mood of themarkets was also aided by the

RBI Governor's statementabout central bank's furtheraccommodative stance interms of policy rate provided

if there is a need," saidNarendra Solanki, HeadFundamental Research(Investment Services) - AVPEquity Research, Anand RathiShares & Stock Brokers.

The traders were also seenoptimistic ahead ofWednesday's GST Councilmeet and expects some posi-tive outcome from the same,he added.

Sustained foreign fundinflows too boosted marketmood here, experts said.

On a net basis, foreign insti-tutional investors bought equi-ties worth Rs 728.13 crore,

while domestic institutionalinvestors sold shares worth Rs796.38 crore, data availablewith stock exchange showedon Monday.

Bourses in Shanghai, HongKong, Seoul and Tokyo endedsignificantly higher, whilethose in Europe were tradingon a mixed note.

On the currency front, therupee appreciated 3 paiseagainst the US dollar to 70.96(intra-day).

Brent futures, the global oilbenchmark, was slipped 0.17per cent to USD 65.23 per bar-rel.

n Tata Steel wasthe top gainer in

the Sensexpack, surging4.38 per cent

n Sun Pharma fell 1.37 percent, M&M 0.63 per cent

n Sustained foreign fundinflows too boosted market

41352.17SENSEX

413.45 (+1.01%)

91.35 (+0.76%)12145.30NIFTY

The positive mood ofthe markets was

also aided by the RBIGuv's statement aboutcentral bank's furtheraccommodative stance interms of policy rate providedif there is a need

—NARENDRA SOLANKIHead Fundamental Research

(Investment Services)

PNS n NEW DELHI

India will not sign any freetrade agreement in a hurry or tothe disadvantage of industryand exporters, Union ministerPiyush Goyal said on Tuesday,more than a month after thecountry walked out of the China-backed mega trade deal RCEP.

On November 4, PrimeMinister Narendra Modiannounced in Bangkok that Indiawill not join RCEP as negotiationsfailed to address New Delhi's "out-standing issues and concerns".

Speaking at an event organ-

ised by CII, Goyal said the gov-ernment took the bold decisionin the national interest becauseclearly, the pact had becomenothing but an India-ChinaFTA which "nobody wants".

This, according to Goyal,was a bold decision "as for thefirst time it reflected the resolveof the government that diplo-macy will not prevail overtrade.

Shareholders votefor raising Rs 5K crloan, appoint Sudhir PNS n NEW DELHI

Fraud-hit CG Power andIndustrial Solutions has gotshareholders' nod to borrowup to Rs 5,000 crore to meetworking capital and otherbusiness needs as it looks tospring back from the worst cri-sis in its history.

As many as 99.99 per centof shareholders, at the com-pany's annual general meetingin Mumbai on December 14,voted in favour of a resolutionmoved for raising borrowinglimit, CG Power said in a reg-ulatory filing on Tuesday.

They also approvedappointment of SudhirMathur as whole time execu-tive director of the companywith an overwhelming 99.99per cent voting in favour of theresolution.

Mathur, who along withnon-executive chairmanAshish Kumar Guhahas been overseeingthe clean up of thecompany after thealleged fraud ofover Rs 3,000 crorecame to light, wasfirst appointed as inde-pendent director on CG Powerboard on October 1, 2018and moved into an executiverole from May 10, 2019.

Shareholders approved bothhis appointments, the filingshowed.

They also approved appoint-ment of Narayan K Seshadri asindependent director on theboard of the company.

In the shareholder notice,the firm had stated that its cur-

rent borrowing as of March31, 2019 was Rs 2,455.39

crore (fund basedincluding short termloans) and Rs 1,380.00crore (non fund based).

"Keeping in view theexisting borrowing and

additional fund requirementsand given the current finan-cial condition of the compa-ny, the company is in urgentneed of both long-term cap-ital and working capital andtowards this, the manage-ment of the company is in theprocess of identifying poten-tial sources of capital," it hadsaid.

FRAUD-HIT CG POWER

They also approvedappointment ofSudhir Mathur aswhole timeexecutive directorof the companywith anoverwhelming99.99% voting infavour of theresolution

India slips to 112th place on gender gap; in bottom-5 on health PNS n NEW DELHI

India has slipped four places torank 112th globally in terms ofgender gap amid widening dis-parity in terms of women'shealth and survival and eco-nomic participation -- the twoareas where the country isnow ranked in the bottom-five,an annual survey showed onTuesday.

While Iceland remains theworld's most gender-neutralcountry, India has moved downthe ladder from its 108th posi-tion last year on the WorldEconomic Forum's GenderGap Report to rank belowcountries like China (106th),Sri Lanka (102nd), Nepal(101st), Brazil (92nd),Indonesia (85th) andBangladesh (50th).

Yemen is ranked the worst(153rd), while Iraq is 152nd

and Pakistan 151st."The time it will take to close

the gender gap (globally) nar-rowed to 99.5 years in 2019.While an improvement on2018 -– when the gap was cal-culated to take 108 years toclose -- it still means paritybetween men and womenacross health, education, workand politics will take morethan a lifetime to achieve," theWorld Economic Forum(WEF) said.

Geneva-based WEF, aninternational organisation forpublic-private cooperation, saidthis year's improvement canlargely be ascribed to a signif-icant increase in the number ofwomen in politics.

The political gender gap willtake 95 years to close, comparedto 107 years last year.Worldwide, women now hold25.2 per cent of parliamentary

lower-house seats and 21.2 percent of ministerial positions,compared to 24.1 per cent and19 per cent, respectively lastyear.

However, the economicopportunity gap has worsened,widening to 257 years, com-

pared to 202 years last year. Thereport said one of the greatestchallenges to closing this gap iswomen's under-representationin emerging roles, such ascloud computing, engineeringand data and AI.

The WEF had published its

first gender gap report in 2006,when India was ranked rela-tively higher at 98th place.

Since then, India's rank hasworsened on three of fourmetrics used for the overallranking. While India hasimproved to 18th place onpolitical empowerment, it hasslipped to 150th on health andsurvival, to 149th in terms ofeconomic participation andopportunity and to 112th placefor educational attainment.

The WEF said economic

opportunities for women areextremely limited in India (35.4per cent), Pakistan (32.7 percent), Yemen (27.3 per cent),Syria (24.9 per cent) and Iraq(22.7 per cent).

It also named India amongcountries with very low womenrepresentation on companyboards (13.8 per cent), while itwas even worse in China (9.7per cent).

On health and survival, fourlarge countries -- Pakistan,India, Viet Nam and China --

fare badly with millions ofwomen there not getting thesame access to health as men,the WEF said.

It also flagged abnormallylow sex ratios at birth in India(91 girls for every 100 boys)and Pakistan (92/100).

The WEF said India hasclosed two-thirds of its overallgender gap, but the conditionof women in large fringes ofIndia's society is precarious andthe economic gender gap runsparticularly deep.

Since 2006, the gap has sig-nificantly widened and India isthe only country among the153 countries studied wherethe economic gender gap islarger than the political one.

Only one-quarter of women,compared with 82 per cent ofmen, engage actively in thelabour market -- one of thelowest rates globally (145th).

Geneva-based WEF, an internationalorganisation for public-privatecooperation, said this year'simprovement can largely be ascribedto a significant increase in the numberof women in politics

PNS n NEW YORK

Defence Minister RajnathSingh has said that India isimpacted to some extent bythe global economic slow-down but expressed confi-dence that the country willcome out of the difficult sit-uation within a short time.

Singh, who arrived in theUS on Monday for the 2019US-India 2+2 MinisterialDialogue in Washington DCon September 18, addressedmembers of the Indian com-munity at educational organ-isation Asia Society here at anevent organised by theConsulate General of India.

He said currently the worldover, there is a talk of a glob-al economic slowdown. “Ialso accept that there is glob-al economic slowdown andIndia is also impacted by it tosome extent. But I can saywith full confidence thatIndia will come out of thisdifficult situation in only fewmonths' time,” Singh said.

Singh said this was not amatter of big concern forIndia because the govern-ment has taken several majorsteps and announced eco-nomic packages to boost eco-nomic growth.

"We can face and tackle theglobal economic slowdownonly by increasing consumerdemand," he said.

‘India will emergefrom difficulteconomicsituation soon’

FM sets Rs 1.1L cr monthlyGST collection targetPNS n NEW DELHI

Amid concerns that the gov-ernment may fall short of taxcollection target in a slowingeconomy, the Centre has set anambitious Rs 1.1 lakh croremonthly GST target for theremaining four months of thecurrent fiscal and asked tax-men to step up efforts toachieve the goal.

Revenue Secretary AjayBhushan Pandey held a videoconference meeting with toptax officials of departmentslooking after both income taxand indirect taxes such as GSTand asked them to step upefforts to achieve tax targets,finance ministry sources said.

While taxmen have beenasked to plug evasions, Pandeyimpressed upon them toachieve targets without harass-ing honest taxpayers.

Taxmen were told in nouncertain terms that both theGST as well as the Rs 13.35lakh crore target for directtaxes for 2019-20 will have tobe achieved.

In the meeting, the GST tar-get was set at Rs 1.10 lakh croreevery month betweenDecember 2019 and March2020. Of these four months, Rs

1.25 lakh collections has to beachieved in at least one month,the sources said.

Gross GST collections, whichinclude the share of both Centreand the states, crossed Rs 1 lakhcrore mark in four out of theeights months of the currentfiscal and only once wasabove Rs 1.1 lakh crore. At thecurrent trend, the GSTtax collection target islikely to be missed byat least Rs 1 lakhcrore.

Out of the Rs 13.35lakh crore direct taxcollection target, aboutRs 6 lakh crore or 45per cent of the annualtarget, has been collected tillOctober (first seven months).

For 2019-20, the Union gov-ernment is targeting Rs 6.63lakh crore from its share of GSTrevenues. GST subsumed 17centre and state levies and the

two equally split the revenues.The sources said the revenue

department in the financeministry is taking concertedmeasures to augment collec-tions in the next four collectionmonths and has exhorted its

senior officers, includ-ing Members ofCentral Board of

Indirect Taxes andCustoms (CBIC)and CentralBoard ofDirect Taxes(CBDT), aswell as other

top officials toachieve tax tar-gets both for

direct and indirect taxes.Officers have been particu-

larly urged to ensure that dur-ing such field enforcementdrive and visits, no taxpayer isoverreached or troubled, theysaid.

Also, it was clarified to theofficers that the corporate taxrelief worth Rs 1.45 lakh croreby way of a cut in rates, shouldnot be taken as an excuse forlesser direct tax collection.

The sources said CBIC andCBDT members, as well asprincipal chief commissionersand chief commissioners andother field machinery, wereasked to make field visits on aweekly basis. The revenue sec-retary, despite pressures ofbudget preparation, will him-self be visiting across theregions every weekend to mon-itor and peruse the collectionsefforts, they said.

While the information onGST and income tax and otherfinancial dealings will beanalysed to check evasions,taxmen have been told to bringevaders to book.

If taxpayers have missed outon sharing correct tax infor-mation, they will be asked tofile the revised return, thesources said.

They said the objectivebehind the meeting was toexhort officers at all levels tomaximise tax collection, at thesame time ensuring that gen-uine taxpayers are not troubledor harassed.

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman holding pre-budget consultation with stakeholder groups of “Industry, Service and Trade”, in NewDelhi on Tuesday. Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Singh Thakur and other dignitaries are seen

Also, it was clarified to the officersthat the corporate tax relief worth Rs1.45 lakh crore by way of a cut inrates, should not be taken as anexcuse for lesser direct tax collection

Hetero unveils ‘Taffic’combo drug for HIV PNS n NEW DELHI

Drug firm Hetero on Tuesdaylaunched an antiretroviralcombination drug, used totreat human immunodefi-ciency virus type (HIV-1), inthe country.

The Hyderabad-based com-pany has introduced the3-in-1 drug under thebrand name 'Taffic' inIndia.

The company'sproduct is a genericversion of Gilead'sBiktarvy and has beenapproved by the DrugController General of India(DCGI).

The product will be mar-keted and distributed byHetero Healthcare Ltd in the

country, the drug firm said ina statement.

"The launch of this productemphasises company's ongo-ing commitment to provideadvanced and effective treat-ments to HIV patients world-wide," it added.

To further this mission,Hetero will be making the

latest combination drugavailable in 116 low andmiddle-income coun-tries upon approvalsfrom the regulatory

authorities there, thedrug firm said.

Taffic, a once-a-day singlepill, is a combination of threemedicines -- Bictegravir(50mg), Emtricitabine(200mg) and TenofovirAlafenamide (25mg).

Bankers: Kotak Mahindra bestsuited to buyYes BankPNS n MUMBAI

Two of India's top bankers onTuesday opined that KotakMahindra Bank (KMB) isbest suited to acquire small-er and capital-starved rivalYes Bank.

Yes Bank's capital buffershave dipped on acceleratednon-performing assets recog-nition under new chief exec-utive Ravneet Gill earlier thisyear.The private sectorlender's capital raising plan isalso passing through uncer-tainties and there are specu-lations on whether Yes Bankis an acquisition target, whichhas been denied by its man-agement.

"I think Uday (Kotak) isthe best candidate to acquireYes Bank. You need deeppockets, Uday has that," SBIChairman Rajnish Kumarsaid at Times Network's IndiaEconomic Conclave here.

When the same questionwas posed to third-largestlender Axis Bank'sManaging Director andCEO Amitabh Chaudhry, itwas answered with the samesuggestion.

"We (Axis Bank) are asmaller bank. We are tryingto ensure that we grow big sothat at some stage we canacquire others. So, yes MrKotak, they are best suitedrather than us," he said.

When contacted, KotakMahindra Group ChiefCommunication OfficerRohit Rao said, "these arecomments made by otherbankers and reflect theirviews, and not ours".

UK PM to outlawBrexit extensionbeyond 2020AFP n LONDON

Prime Minister BorisJohnson plans to pass a lawguaranteeing Britain's Brexittransition period cannot runbeyond the end of 2020, asource in his office said onTuesday.

Johnson won a big major-ity in last week's election ona promise to take Britainout of the European Unionby the end of January, fol-lowed by a transition peri-od when London andBrussels negotiate a tradeagreement.

Rajnath Singh

I can assure all of youthat going forward, noneof the FTAs will be

settled in a hurry or will be settledto the disadvantage of Indianindustry and exporters

— PIYUSH GOYAL, UUnniioonn mmiinniisstteerr

Govt decides to go slow on FTAsto avoid RCEP-like impasse

Follow us on@TheDailyPioneerfacebook.com/dailypioneer

WednesdayDecember 18, 2019

THE DOMINANT SHIFTame of Thrones wasboth an unprecedentedachievement and old-school role model inthe TV decade that’srolling its final credits.

Instalments of the elaborately pro-duced hit were doled out one at atime by an established outlet, pre-mium cable channel HBO. Thatwas standard TV operating proce-dure until, suddenly, it wasn’t. Thenew era arrived in 2013 when afull season’s worth of House ofCards popped up amid Netflix’son-demand movies and old TVshows.

The drama’s unexpected homeappeared simply to be an optionto the 500-channel universe bornin the 1990s. But House of Cardsforeshadowed a streaming goldrush and volume of programmingdubbed Peak TV in 2015 — andwith no drop in altitude in sight.

The result — nothing is thesame, whether it’s how much tele-vision we consume; how andwhere we do it; who gets to makeit, and the level of respect giventhe creatively emboldened smallscreen. We don’t just watch TV, webinge it until we’re bleary-eyed ifnot sated. We still change channelswith a remote control, but moreoften we’re logging in to watchshows on our phones or otherdevices and on our schedules, notnetwork-dictated appointmentTV.

A comic strip, Zits, recentlysummed up the current reality inthree panels. “What’s on?” a fatherasks his teenage son, who’s sittingcross-legged in front of a TV setand is bracketted by a smartphone on one side and a laptop onthe other. “Everything ever video-taped, filmed, recorded, pho-tographed or otherwise docu-mented whenever I want to watchit,” the teen answers, nonchalantlytossing popcorn into his mouth. “Imiss television,” the downcast dadtells his wife.

ALL HAIL STREAMINGGenerational nostalgia aside,

consumers have embraced thechange in their media world, saidRobert Thompson, director ofSyracuse University’s Bleier Centerfor Television & Popular Culture.“This was the decade that stream-ing became for many, many peo-ple the dominant way in whichthey watch television,” saidThompson. It’s a rapid shift thatbears little relation to the previousentertainment industry revolution,cable TV.

Only about a quarter of the US

homes had cable in 1980 despiteits availability since the mid-20thcentury. While growth finallyexploded in the 80s, it wasn’tuntill the tail end of the 1990s andthe arrival of HBO’s The Sopranosand Sex and the City that premi-um cable received critical praiseand honours, Thompson said.

In contrast, it took less than adecade for leader Netflix to sky-rocket from about 12 million USsubscribers at the decade’s start to60 million this year and 158 mil-lion worldwide. The streamerreportedly lavished $15 billion onprogramming for 2019 alone, andearned buzz with series includingThe Crown, Stranger Things, andOrange is the New Black. Evenmajor films, among them MartinScorsese’s The Irishman, are mak-ing themselves at home on Netflixwhile still in theatres.

Others in the fray includeAmazon Prime Video, although“streaming wars” became theaggressive phrase applied to theincreasingly competitive market-place. With newly emboldened(and sometimes mega-expanded)media companies intent on gettinga piece of the streaming action,there was a growth surge thatwon’t abate in the new decade.

Apple TV Plus launched onNovember 1 with Oprah Winfreyand Steven Spielberg among itsfirst wave of producers, and wasquickly followed by Disney Plus.The latter has a storehouse ofDisney movies and TV shows todraw on, along with acquiredproperties from MarvelEntertainment and Lucasfilm andits Star Wars franchise.

While cord-cutting became aquest for viewers seeking to shedhefty cable bills, there is still aprice tag for the gusher of riches,as much as $14.99 monthly forHBO Max alone. A bonus forviewers as they sort through thecompeting options — more pro-gramming doesn’t just mean moreof the same.

VARIETY STOREIf retailers can provide every

type of yogurt known to humani-ty, why can’t TV take the sameeclectic approach? It has in thepast 10 years, as the increasingdemand for content and thegrowth of niche programmingcreated opportunities for diverseand candid voices. Ongoingefforts by advocacy groups alsocontributed to the gradual butunmistakable shift.

Ryan Murphy, already estab-lished as a successful producerwith Nip/Tuck and Glee, exercisedhis clout to make FX’s Pose, set inthe LGBTQ ballroom culturescene of the 1980s and 90s. Itsstar, Billy Porter , became the firstopenly gay man to win the bestactor Emmy.

Even mainstream broadcastingexpanded its field of vision, withABC the first network in 20 yearsto air an Asian American familysitcom, Fresh Off the Boat, endingthis season. Nahnatchka Khan wasits executive producer, one of thewomen who gained prominencebehind the camera in a sector longdominated by men.

African American women tookthe spotlight in creator-star IssaRae’s Insecure, while Jenji Kohan’s

Orange is the New Black featuredcharacters notable for their ethnic,sexual and class diversity. Someestablished female producers fur-ther cemented their success.Shonda Rhimes added Scandaland How to Get Away with Murderto her body of work, with the lat-ter’s star, Viola Davis, becomingthe first African American to wina best drama actress Emmy. AvaDuVernay, already a filmmakingforce, spearheaded When They SeeUs and Queen Sugar.

Reese Witherspoon, addingproducing to her portfolio, madegood on her vow to bring strongfemale characters to the screenwith the hit series Big Little Liesand The Morning Show.

Statistics confirm the anecdotalevidence. Across all TV platformsin 2017-18, women accounted fora historic high of 31 per cent ofthose working in key behind-the-scenes jobs including directors,writers and editors, according toresearch by San Diego StateUniversity’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film.

While television moved towardbetter reflecting the world at large,it was forced to look inward aswell.

#METOO FALLOUTRevelations of sexual miscon-

duct hit the TV industry hard andwith more lasting effect than anyother sector of Hollywood, evencompared to producer HarveyWeinstein’s fall from filmmakingheights. Two of media’s toppowerbrokers were brought downin the #MeToo era — Les Moonvesand Roger Ailes.

Top-tier actors also lost theirjobs, including Jeffrey Tambor ofTransparent and Kevin Spacey ofHouse of Cards and Louis CK,whose TV projects includedLouie, which he starred in andproduced. — AP

Here’s how streaming and #MeToo shaped TV decade of change

G

he beauty oftheatre direct-ed for the agegroup of 0 to 6years lies inthe unsaid.

Younsters weredelighted by the sheergrace of DhanendraKawade’s movements inthe play ‘Nal-Jal’, bySwangvale, while theelderly audience experi-enced a universal truth, arare connection to a deli-cate yet weathered stateof being.

‘Nal-Jal’ perfectlyencapsulates the ele-ments of pure play. Ajoyous journey into theflow of water, the show isa one-man act, heldafloat with splendidmusical effects, anenchantingly simple setof faucets, pipes, mugs

and other everydayobjects. With captivatingease, Dhanendra movedacross the stage — creat-ing sublime visuals witha torch and a canister ofwater, making musicwith half-full mugs, elic-iting giggles with slowand rushed gargling. Theaudience’s eyes followedeverything, spellbound.

As ripples spread overthe ceiling, a collectivesigh rippled through theaudience. The 10th yearof the Hyderabad Child-ren’s Theatre Festival hasintroduced a fresh waveof talent to the city —with stunning performa-nces by international and national groups,exhibitions, and work-shops. The 10-day cele-brations wrapped uptoday. — PNS

T

‘NAL-JAL’ ENCAPSULATES THE ELEMENTSOF PURE PLAY. A JOYOUS JOURNEY INTOTHE FLOW OF WATER, THE SHOW IS A ONE-MAN ACT, HELD AFLOAT WITH SPLENDIDMUSICAL EFFECTS, AN ENCHANTINGLYSIMPLE SET OF FAUCETS, PIPES, MUGSAND OTHER EVERY-DAY OBJECTS.

Be it acting orcricket, NANDA

KISHORE has doneit all

o help and inspirepeople, we are plan-ning to form fourcricket teams consist-ing of about 60Telugu television

actors. The four teams are red,green, blue and yellow. Redshows the importance of blooddonation, green is for plantingtrees, blue is for saving water andyellow is for winning medals andmaking India proud, said televi-sion actor Nanda Kishore whodebuted in 2001.

Father's encouragementSpeaking to The Pioneer,

Nanda Kishore says, “My fatheris a railway employee who set-tled in Hyderabad. He is also astage artiste and has previouslyacted in a movie calledHyderabad Blues by NageshKukunoor. I also played a lawyerin it. My father introduced meto theatre and made me joinBhoomika Theatre Group whenI was in college. Bhoomika’sfounder G Udayabhanu is myfather’s friend.”

Basics from theatre

Speaking of his experience as a theatre artiste, Kishoreadds, “I learnt a lot fromBhoomika. Theatre is all aboutdiscipline, punctuality, actingand coordination. I learned mybasics from theatre. I used to bea part of many folk dramas inTelugu and Hindi and per-formed across India. Folk dra-mas help you learn how todance, sing and act at the sametime. Theatre helps in personal-ity development.”

Television career In 2001, he got a chance to

play a constable in AthagaruKotha Kodalu serial. Later, heacted in serials like VeluuguNeedalu, Suryavamsham, Chi LaSow Sravanthi and more. He hasalso done dance shows likeNarthanashala, Star War, Jalsaand proved his dancingprowess. Kishore has also beena part of over 10 Telugu filmsand did his PG Diploma inManagement InformationSystems and ComputerApplications from BadrukaCollege. When asked if he facedany challenges in acting,

Kishore shares, “I have neverfaced any difficulties. I have astrong theatre background andit helped me very well. Now, wehave various mediums for act-ing like cinema, television, webseries and so on and it’s impor-tant that one is doing justice toa particular character. It doesn’tmatter which medium one is in,talent matters.”

Theatre gives satisfactionHe informed that being a part

of a play gives him ultimate sat-isfaction. He explains, “Theserials Chi La Sow Sravanthi hasgiven me name and fame. Forme, theatre gives utmost satis-faction as in theatre, we don’thave retakes and have to exceland mesmerise the audience inone go. If a single artist makes amistake, it impacts the wholeteam. Where as in televisionand cinema, we have retakeswhich gives you a secondchance.”

Fitness Freak Nanda Kishore said that

being fit is important for everyone. He adds, “I believe that

without fitness, there is no longrun for people in any field.Every day, I do yoga and go tothe gym. One hour of fitnessactivities is important for peopleon a daily basis. I’m also atrained personal wellnessteacher and teach a few people.Fitness gives you great strength.”

Cricket League Nanda Kishore is also well

known in the cricket circle. Heis an all rounder in TeluguWarriors team. He says, “It wasa great experience playing crick-et with senior actors likeVenkatesh and Sreekanth. I usedto play cricket very well sincechildhood and it made me anall rounder for our Teluguteam.”

He adds that till date he hasportrayed positive charactersand wants to portray a negativeone soon.

He shares, “Positive charac-ters have certain boundariesthat restrict actors in certainways. Negative roles have noboundaries and it also reachespeople fast. I’m looking to do anegative role soon.”

T

Out of the

BOX

Speaking to V SATEESHREDDY,television actorNanda Kishoreshares hisjourney intotheatre,progressinginto television,being an allrounder for theTeluguWarriorscricket teamand his interestin doingnegative roles

A FRESHWAVE OFTALENT

10

Hyderabad Wednesday December 18, 2019

l Priyanka

l M

anda

kini

l Alka Rathore

l Srivani l Dakshi

l Hyderabad's first ever kitten foster training isbeing brought to the city for all the cat-peoplehere, on December 21 at the Pet Cafe (Road No12, Banjara Hills). WhatsApp at 8121913573 /9051073333 to confirm your seats.

l CinephilesFilm Clubwill screen amovie titledPotluck onDecember25. Themovie isabout aneconomicsgraduatestudentstudying for a year in Barcelona, Spain, as partof the Erasmus programme, where he learnsfrom a group of students from all over WesternEurope in a student share-house. The movieshall be screened at Lamakaan

CITY GUIDE

l Learn the basics of Madhubani Painting, tips &tricks, in a session by Bhamini Shree. MadhubaniPainting is a folk art of India, where the ideatraditionally revolves around mythology and nature.The workshop will be held at Lamakaan onDecember 29 at 3 pm.

CCOOMMEEDDYY

MASALA CHAIl Kissago TheatreGroup is staging aplay Masala Chaion December 21 atLamakaan from 8pm onwards. A lotcan happen over acup of tea! MasalaChai revolvesaround the concept tea being a form of socialnetwork. People get together for tea and build longterm friendships with tea being the binding factor inmany relationships.

SPACE TIME

l Gallery Space, Banjara Hills is presenting agroup art show Space Time Continuum by SachinJaltare, Ramesh Gorjala, Anjaneyulu G and BratinKhan until December 20 between 10 am and 6pm.

HYDERABAD COMEDY FESTIVAL

l Badlav is an original Hindi play written and directedby Amaan Ahmad. Badlav revolves around Gayatri,Kalpana, Radha, and Bindya. Gayatri wants changebut her hypocrisy surfaces all the time.The play takesvarious twists and turns and touches the element ofthe Theatre ofAbsurdity.The playis all set to beperformed onDecember 26 at 8pm at LamakaanCultural space.

BADLAV

KITTEN FOSTER TRAINING

ANTARANG 2019

l Aakruti Kathak Kendra is organising ‘Antarang2019’, a two-day free music and dance festivalheld in memory of Guru Kathak Maestro PtDurga Lal Ji at Ravindra Bharati, today between6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. The Kathak Kendra, one ofthe premier Kathak learning centres of India, hasbeen nurturing young talent in Hyderabad since1990.

POTLUCK

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

PARTY

what’s brewing?

AN EVENTOF BLING

The Miss, Mrs andMr Urban India

fashion showwas held recently at

the Shilpakala Vedika,Madhapur, which was

organised by CMOFGlobal, Sarakadam

Stories. ActressRohini was among

the jury members ofthe event. The guestand the participants

enjoyed the eventwhile being decked

up in dazzling outfits.

l Srinivas

l Soundarya

l S

ahith

i Jad

i

Photos bby SV Chary

FUN TIME

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

he originalDrishyam, starringMohanlal, was oneof the most success-ful films of

Malayalam in 2013, spawningremakes in other Indian lan-guages. Its director JeethuJoseph, who was also thefilm’s writer, directed itsTamil remake, Papanasam,with superstar Kamal Haasan.But then he informs thatDrishyam was a blessing anda curse. “Every film of minethat released after Drishyamwas compared to it. I don’tthink it’s fair because as afilmmaker I want toattempt different genresand I even did so in mycareer. I debuted as adirector with an inves-tigative drama, fol-lowed a family drama.The third one was ahumorous film, whichset the box-office onfire. Unfortunately, I’vedone two thrillers —Memories and Drishyam— in the same year, postwhich I earned the tag of athriller filmmaker,” he sighs.

Continuing with the expla-nation, he goes on, “AfterDrishyam, I did a family filmLife of Josutty but it couldn’tbe a major success althoughthe producer didn’t lose hismoney. Fearing that it mightbe judged against Drishyam, Ieven ran a tagline for the title,saying ‘There is no suspenseor twist’. Yet after release, peo-ple told me that they expectedit to have certain twists. I’mexperimenting but it’s notworking out. However, I willcontinue to experiment. Forany filmmaker, it’d be boring

to do thrillers back-to-back.Also, the problem is I'm aproducer's director. I don'tbother about how muchmoney he makes with mydirectorial but I don't wanthim to incur losses for sure.Producers who are approach-ing me are keen that I makethrillers, saying that's whataudiences expect of me.When I say I have humorousstory ready, they seem averseto it. Which is why, I'm pro-ducing films that satiate the

cre-

ativ-

ity in me.”In fact, from Bollywood as

well, it’s more or less the samestory. “Some three-four bigproduction housesapproached me for thrillers. IfI don’t have a thriller subjectwith me, they are dispatchinga thriller script,” he rues.

Jeethu is right now lookingforward to the release ofDonga, starring Karthi andJyotika. He describes the filmas a family entertainer with amix of action, drama andhumour. “Of course, there's a

small suspense angleas well,” he smiles,adding that the filmhas close to threeemotional sequencesbetween Karthi andJyotika and theynailed it. “Their bondin real life helped thescenes come alive. Attimes, I forgot to saycut, immersed inseeing their per-formances. Theydidn’t even useglycerin for suchbits.”

He also wants todo a Telugu film.

“After Drishyam, Idid get a couple ofoffers. Lack of agood story coupledwith the fact that Iwas busy with otherfilms meant I could-n’t accept thoseoffers. Telugu indus-

try is a powerful andbeautiful place and I

would want to do aTelugu film,” Jeethu,who is reunitingwith Mohanlalagain for Ram,a big-budget-ed actionfilm with arealistictouch toit, con-cludes.—NG

ith the crucial Mondaytoo witnessing nomajor drops in foot-falls, Venky Mama,starring Venkatesh and

Naga Chaitanya, is poised tobecome a major success.Naturally, Chay is chuffed to bits.“I’m extremely happy with thecollections and the reactions.People who have spoken to mehave owned the film. I’m also get-ting a lot of appreciation callsfrom family and women audi-ence. Both Venky mama andSuresh mama showed me how a

commercial blockbuster lookslike. In fact more than for thethree of us, the film is grandfa-

ther Ramanaidu’ssuccess,” he said. Hewas speaking at thefilm’s success meet inHyderabad on Tuesday.

Heaping high praise on thefilm’s director Bobby, Chayadded, “Some directors show mea new direction to my career andthat’s what Bobby did with thefilm in terms of my comic tim-ing and action image. Nobodybelieved that I could do actionuntil Tadakha happened. Stuntmasters Ram-Laxman deservecredit for it. They’ve encour-aged me a lot for the militaryepisode in Venky Mama as well.I extend my thanks to them.”

The Pioneer hasexclusively

learnt she willbe playing thefemale lead in

Adith Arun's nextwith debutant

director Naresh,who assisted

Dasaradh earlier,reports

NAGARAJGOUD

Hyderabad Wednesday December 18, 2019

I don’t see any progress in my acting. In the beginning of our career,we all feel a little shy and nervous but as you work more, it increasesyour confidence. I think acting mainly depends on the director and howhe extracts acting from an actor.

11

tollywood

uperstarRajinikanth sayshe would love toexplore the idea ofplaying a trans-gender in a film.

“I have explored almost allthe genres. I have worked in160 films and it’s been 45years in the film industry. Iwant to play the role of atransgender,” said the Tamilscreen idol, when asked ifthere still was any genre orrole that he would like toexplore after such a gloriousinnings in films.

Rajinikanth opened up atthe trailer launch of hisupcoming film Darbar.Asked if he has beenapproached by any filmmak-er to play a transgender, hesaid: “No, not yet. I thoughtabout it just now andexpressed my wish.”

The 69-year-old actor feelsthat he doesn’t see anyprogress in his acting. “Idon’t see any progress in myacting. In the beginning ofour career, we all feel a littleshy and nervous but as youwork more, it increases yourconfidence. I think actingmainly depends on the direc-

tor and how he extracts act-ing from an actor,” said theveteran actor.

The Tamil superstar enjoysglobal popularity. Who doeshe look up to in his life?

“I have said this manytimes. It is Amitabh Bachchan.He is my inspiration. Heinspires me not only in frontof the camera but off screen,too,” replied Rajinikanth.

Asked what his fond mem-ories of working with Big Bare, he replied: “There aremany moments. He loves me.A few years back in Chennai,he told me, ‘after turning 60,you should be careful ofthree things: Do exercise reg-ularly, be busy and do what-ever you want without both-ering about what people say.The third thing he told me is,‘don’t enter politics’.”

Rajinikanth added: “I havefollowed his first two advicesbut the third thing, I couldn'tfollow because of the circum-stances. So, I have learnt somany things from him.People say I do comedy andother characters very well butI have learnt it from Amitji.”

He announced his entryinto politics on December 31,

2017 and confirmed hisintention to contest in the2021 Tamil Nadu LegislativeAssembly elections in all 234constituencies.

The actor also spoke of hiswish to work in a Marathifilm someday, since his rootsbelong to Maharashtra. Headded that his passion foracting has been the drivingfactor for the last 45 years.

He said: “I do speak inMarathi in my house. Once Ihad an opportunity to workin a Marathi film but thatdidn’t work out. I would liketo work in a Marathi film.Let’s see when it happens. Wehave shot this film (Darbar)for 90 days in Mumbai. Ireally love people ofMumbai.”

Rajinikanth, who was bornas Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in aMarathi family in Bangalore,plays the commissioner ofMumbai in Darbar.

Asked what drives him towork in films after havingachieved everything, he said:“To be frank, it’s aboutmoney (laughs). I have tojustify the money I get, andthat is huge. No, actually it isthe passion. I feel we should

love the work that we do. Ilove acting and I love comingin front of the camera. Ithink the camera and thelight give me energy.”

“Actually, I don’t like to actas a cop because it is relatedwith duty and all the seriousaspects. I love to play happy-go-lucky and entertainingcharacters. In a cop film, youhave to be very serious sincehe goes after criminals, so Iused to avoid it. But (Darbardirector) Murugadoss cameto me with a very good sub-ject. It is not a routine copcharacter. He (Murugadoss)has extracted very differentkind of work from me andwhen you see the film, youwill realise it,” saidRajinikanth.

Darbar is an action thrillerwritten and directed byGhajini maker A.R.Murugadoss. The film starsRajinikanth, Nayanthara,Prateik Babbar, Jatin Sarna,Dalip Tahil, and Sunil Shettyin important roles.

The film is scheduled for aworldwide release in Tamil,Telugu, Malayalam and Hindion January 10, coincidingwith Thai Pongal. — IANS

Rajinikanth:South Superstar opensup at the trailer launchof Darbar about Big B'sadvice to not enter politics, wish to work in aMarathi film and many more

S

I WANT TO PLAYTHE ROLE OF ATRANSGENDER

hivathmikaRajasekhar ison a roll.Days afterboarding

Krishna Vamsi’s RangaMarthaanda to play therole of Prakash Raj andRamya Krishna’s singerdaughter, the one-filmold has green-lit anoth-er film. The Pioneer hasexclusively learnt shewill be playing thefemale lead in AdithArun’s next with debu-tant director Naresh,who assisted Dasaradhearlier.

A source close to thedevelopment says, “Thefilm, titled VidhiVilasam, is a thriller. Itwas the director’s ideato have a Telugu girl onboard. Adith proposedthe name ofShivathmika and he was

instrumental in gettingher mother Jeevithahear the narration. He shares a good bondwith Jeevitha, havingworked with her forPSV: Garudavega. LaterShivathmika too heardthe story and she wassold. The role has a lotof meat for a newcomerlike her and there wasno way she could’ve letit slip out of hands.”

The source adds thatthe film will go to floorsnext year.

“Adith is busy withmultiple projects and heis also required to pro-mote Thagithe Thadananext month, whileShivathmika will startshooting for RangaMarthaanda shortly. Somostly, Vidhi Vilasamwill hit the road inFebruary-end.”

Shivathmika to romance Adith Arun

S

T W

Chay dedicates VENKYMAMA success to

grandfather Ramanaidu

opular Telugu actress KajalAggarwal has become thefirst south Indian femalestar to get her wax statue atMadame Tussauds in

Singapore. In fact, she is the thirdTelugu star to be immortalised in the form of a wax statue after MaheshBabu and Prabhas in the museum.The excited actress has revealed herreplica will be unveiled on February5, 2020. Taking to Instagram, shewrote, “Excited and honoured to

unveil my very own wax figure atMadame Tussauds Singapore! On the5th of February 2020, I will be@mtssingapore in the Ultimate FilmStar Experience to introduce my fig-ure, stay tuned! (sic)”

Sharing some photos of the waxstatue in making, Kajal recounted hervisit to Madame Tussauds as a child.“I remember going to @madametus-sauds as a child and being so fasci-nated with all the figures that I’vealways looked up to, admired and

been in love with.. overwhelmed tobe amongst them myself! (sic),” sheposted further.

Addressing and thanking her fans,she added, “This feels like a fabulousculmination so far and a great way tostart the new decade on a good note..the insane hours of hard work andpersonal sacrifices, all feel worth it..forever thankful to have all of you by my side.. this ones for each one of you! Me and my other half will see you in Singapore on 05/02/2020!(how could I not say that?!”

On the work front, the actress will be next seen inShankar’s Indian 2 andSanjay Gupta’s MumbaiSaga alongside JohnAbraham.

KAJAL to get a wax statuein MADAME TUSSAUDS

P

Drishyam was ablessing and a curse:Jeethu Joseph

PTI n ONGOLE

Delhi put up a disappointing battingperformance to be bowled out for 215

on the opening day against Andhra onTuesday.

By stumps, Andhra were also strug-gling at 16 for two, with both their open-ers back in the hut.

Playing their second match of the sea-son, Kunwar Bidhuri (22) and Nitish Rana(51 off 51) repaired Delhi’s innings witha 60-run stand for the fourth wicket beforea mini collapse pushed them on the backfoot. Their innings ended in 70.6 overs.

Lalit Yadav (50 off 104) also put up amuch-needed fight while batting with tail-enders.

Medium pacer K V Sasikanth (5/38 in20.1 oves) was the pick of the bowlers forAndhra, claiming his fourth five-wickethaul in first-class cricket.

JUYAL HHITS TTONHUBLI: Young Uttar Pradesh opener AryanJuyal struck a gritty 100, as he guided UttarPradesh to a modest 232/5 on the open-

ing day of their Elite Group B game.Electing to bat first at the KSCA Hubli

cricket ground, 18-year-old Juyal (109 off251 balls, 11x4) stood tall, as he played aresponsible and mature knock to pull histeam out of trouble.

He was ably supported byMohammed Saif (56 batting off124 balls, 8x4) who came in atnumber 5.

The duo stuck a 109-runstand and resurrected theinnings.

For Karnataka, Mithun (3-45)was the pick of the bowlers, whileMore (1-22) and Shreyas Gopal (1-45)took a wicket each.

ASHWIN BBAGS 55 WWKTSDINDIGUL: Ace off-spinner RavichandranAshwin starred with a five-wicket haul tohelp Tamil Nadu bundle out HimachalPradesh for 158 in 71.4 overs.

B Aparajith, leading the team in theabsence of Vijay Shankar who missed outdue to a niggle, elected to bowl and thebowlers justified the decision as Ashwin(5 for 67) and left-arm spinner R Sai

Kishore (3 for 22) had the HP batsmenin a spin.

The visiting team looked indanger of being bowled out fora sub-100 score before AkashVashist (35, 94 balls, 4 fours) andMayank Dagar (33, 62 balls, 3

fours) got together at 76 for 7 toadd 53 runs and lend respectabili-

ty to the total.Tamil Nadu openers-Abhinav

Mukund and debutant K Mukunth madeeight runs from three overs before badlight ended play for the day.

MAHA DDISMISS JJ&K FFOR 2209PUNE: Anupam Sanklecha’s four-wickethaul helped Maharashtra dismiss Jammu

& Kashmir for 209 in Group C match.The home team finished the day at

51 for 3 in 15.4 overs, trailing by 158runs.

Sent in to bat, Jammu & Kashmirstruggled against the Maharashtra attackled by veteran medium-pacer Sanklecha(4/56) and slipped to 42 for 5 and 79 for6 before left-handed Abid Mushtaq (50,55 balls, 2 fours, 4 sixes) batting at No9 began the rescue act.

His 54-run last wicket partnershipwith M Mudhasir (18 not out, 1 four, 1six) proved valuable as it took J&K pastthe 200-run mark.

Opener Ahmed Banday (76) was theonly top-order to offer resistance as theMaharashtra bowlers kept pegging awayand picked up wickets at regular inter-vals.

His 149-ball knock which included10 fours, ended when he nicked one tothe 'keeper off Sanklecha.

In reply, Maharasthra lost the in-form opener Ruturaj Gaikwad for 10 asJ&K fought back to have the host at 51for 3 at stumps.

VISAKHAPATNAM: Jasprit Bumrahshowed no signs of rustiness as he wentfull tilt at Rishabh Pant but the resur-gent Prithvi Shaw looked far from beingfit for international cricket during hissession with trainer Nick Webb atIndia’s optional practice on Tuesday.

Bumrah has been out with a stressfracture of the back and is expected tobe available for the New Zealand tournext year while Shaw, after serving hiseight-month doping ban, has alreadymade a successful comeback for Mumbaiin domestic cricket.

The Indian team management, aspart of its policy, wanted to have “a word”with both players while checking their fit-ness levels.A peek into the training sessionwas an indicator that re-induction of aproven match-winner like Bumrah is just amatter of time.

He was given the Indian team’s trainingJersey as he bowled for close to an hour to Pant,Manish Pandey and Mayank Agarwal at thenets.

There was no Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma andKL Rahul during the optional training session.

With coach Ravi Shastri and national selec-tor Devang Gandhi keeping a close eye,Bumrah didn’t show any visible discomfort ashe worked up brisk pace to trouble Pant andAgarwal.

However, Shaw, wearing a plain T-shirt,had a chat with trainer Webb as he did the rou-tine obstacle stuff. After that, he was asked totake some high catches given by fielding coachR Sridhar.

There were a few he didn’t attempt but over-all he didn’t seem to have attained the peak fit-ness levels that captain Kohli demands from everymember of the senior team.

Bumrah’s reintegration may be a matter oftime but for Shaw, it might just be some more wayto travel and runs alone won’t suffice. PTI

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 18, 2019 sport 12

SHINWARI LLIKELY TTO MMISS 22ND TTEST Karachi: Pakistan's left arm pacer UsmanShinwari is unlikely to play in the second Testagainst Sri Lanka after being hospitalised withhigh fever, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said onTuesday. He said that Usman is being treated andit is highly unlikely he would be available for thesecond Test starting from Thursday at thenational stadium in Karachi. Sri Lanka have alsolost pacer Kasun Rajitha for the second Test,according to head coach Mickey Arthur. “No hecan't play here and he is being looked after forhis left hamstring problem,” he said.

SSIIDDDDLLEE RREECCAALLLLEEDD TTOO BBOOXXIINNGG DDAAYY TTEESSTT Sydney: Australia's cricket selectors gave veteranpaceman Peter Siddle a career lifeline on Tuesday,calling him up to the 13-man squad for the secondTest against New Zealand in Melbourne beginningon Boxing Day. James Pattinson is favourite toreplace Hazlewood but chief selector TrevorHohns said Siddle had plenty to offer at his homeMelbourne Cricket Ground. “Peter has beenbrought in as a 13th player for Melbourne,” Hohnssaid. “He is a proven Test match performer withan exceptional knowledge of the MCG which willbe a valuable part of our preparation.”

LAKSHYA RREACHES CCAREER-BBEST 332 New Delhi: Rising Indian shuttler Lakshya Senhas climbed up nine places to a career-best 32ndspot among men's singles players in the BWFrankings issued on Tuesday. Lakshya achieved thefeat by winning the title at the Bangladesh Int’alChallenge. There was no further movement in themen's singles chart with B Sai Praneeth andKidambi Srikanth remaining static at 11th and12th spots respectively. Among the womensingles players, Olympic medallists P V Sindhuand Saina Nehwal are static at the sixth and 11thpositions, respectively.

JAMIESON CCOMES IIN FFOR FFERGUESON Wellington: Uncapped paceman KyleJamieson was drafted into the New Zealand Testsquad on Tuesday after injury sidelined LockieFerguson for the rest of the Test series againstAustralia. The Black Caps had high hopes thatFerguson's lightning pace would make animpression on his Test debut in Perth, but hepulled up with a calf strain on the opening day ashis side slumped to a 296-run loss. Coach GaryStead said it was a bitter blow for Ferguson, whowill be out for four to six weeks.

INDIA MMEN TTO FFACE NNZ IIN OOLY OOPENERTokyo: The Indian men's and women's hockeyteams will open their campaigns against NewZealand and the Netherlands respectively at the2020 Tokyo Olympics on July 25. According to thematch schedule, both the Indian teams will opentheir campaigns on the first day of hockeycompetitions. After New Zealand, eight-timechampions in the men's competition, India willface world number one Australia on July 26,before taking on Spain (July 28), defendingchampions Argentina (July 30) and hosts Japan(July 31) in Group A. The women's team, who arealso clubbed in Group A, will lock horns withGermany on July 27, before meeting Great Britain(July 29), Ireland (July 31) and South Africa(August 1). The men's and women's gold medalmatches will take place on August 6 and 7respectively. AGENCIES

SINGLES

PTI n DUBAI

India opener SmritiMandhana was on

Tuesday named in boththe International CricketCouncil’s ODI and T20teams of the year, cappingoff a memorable season.

Mandhana has JhulanGoswami, Poonam Yadavand Shikha Pandey forcompany in the ODI teamof the year and al l-rounder Deepti Sharmain the T20 side.

The 23-year-oldMandhana has played 51ODIs and 66 T20Is forIndia, besides a couple ofTest matches. She has acombined tally of 3476runs in T20Is andODIs.

Australia’s AlyssaHealy was chosen asthe T20 cricketer ofthe year followingher record-breaking148 against Sri Lankaearlier this year.

The ODI crick-eter of the year hon-our went toAustral ia’s El lysePerry, who scored441 runs at an aver-age of 73.50 and took21 wickets at 13.52.

Perry also pocket-

ed the the RachaelHeyhoe-Flint award forbeing the cricketer of theyear across formats.

Perry has had a stel-lar year across formats,with three hundredsincluding one in thewomen’s Ashes Test.She also became the

first player to complete1,000 runs and 100 wick-ets in T20I cricket.

“It’s an amazing hon-our and I’m a little bitshocked, given how many

amazing performancesthere have been acrossthe year,” said Perry,who has won theRachael Heyhoe-FlintAward for the secondtime in three years.

“It’s amazing tobe acknowledgedand I do trulyappreciate it. It’s areally nice way tofinish the year on apersonal note.”

Australian MegLanning was cho-sen as captain ofboth the ODI andT20 side.

“It’s a hugehonour to benamed captainof the ICC ODI

and T20 Teamsof the Year along-side some incredibleplayers. It’s been anamazing year forthe Austral ianteam and we’re

looking forward tothe challenges that lieahead in 2020,” saidLanning.

PTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

India will have to gettheir bowling combi-nation right after fail-

ing to stop the West Indiesfrom executing a perfectchase in Chennai whenthey take on the buoyantvisitors in the second ODIhere on today, aiming tokeep the three-match series

alive.A series win here

would certainly raiseKieron Pollard’s pro-file from a T20 free-lancer to an able

leader but a blind-er from RohitSharma oranother hun-

dred fromskipper ViratKohli on abatting bel-

ter can’t be ruled out.It wasn’t a nightmar-

ish bowling performancein Chennai by any stretch

of imagination but notbeing able to defend 287 on

a slow track left the teammanagement with a fewpoints to ponder.

With the par-score at theACA-VDCA stadium here setto be in the 320-plus range, afifth specialist bowling option

could be mulled upon consid-ering the plight the hosts facedin the last game with ShimronHetmyer and Shai Hope beau-tifully planning the chase withtheir respective hundreds.

The biggest reason for thesetback in Chennai was spinnersRavindra Jadeja (0/58 in 10overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (0/45in 10 overs) being rendered inef-fective.

Hope and Hetmyer didn’tmurder the attack but didenough during the middleovers to ensure 103 runscame without taking anyadventurous route.

They chose theirbowlers perfectly and as aresult, debutant Shivam

Dube leaked 68 runs in 7.5overs, indicating that he is

certainly a “work in progress” asfar as his bowling is concerned.

However, it’s a tricky pathfor India to tweak their playingXI considering what exactlythey have in their reserves.

They have MayankAgarwal, the reserve opener,who is unlikely to get a chanceas Rohit Sharma and KL Rahulare set at the top.

Then they have ManishPandey, the reserve middle-order batsman, who can only bereplaced at No 6 in place ofJadhav.

And Jadhav did nothingwrong in Chennai, scoring 40

off 33 balls with his typical ‘chipand charge’ game.

The questions that peopleare raising is about Jadhav notbeing given another go after hewas hit for 11 in his solitary over.

On a Chennai track, if hecouldn’t be risked for a secondover, what will happen on a bat-ting friendly Visakhapatnampitch where he could be hitthrough the line easily.

So will Pandey, with a bet-ter range of strokes, be anoption instead of Jadhav? Ifthat’s the case then they willhave to go for a specialist fifthbowler — either seamer ShardulThakur or leg-spinnerYuzvendra Chahal.

In case India go for either ofthe two, then the axe may fall onone of the two all-rounders,Dube or Ravindra Jadeja.

Dube was sent to bat at No8 in the last game and mightnot get to bat here irrespectiveof whether India bat first orsecond.

In that case, Shardul couldbe an option as Jadeja’s expe-rience in all departments is anecessity.

However, it is a well-known fact that Jadeja strug-gles on good batting surfaceswhich creates a case forChahal’s conventional leg-breaks.

For the West Indies,Hetmyer has undoubtedly

been one of their key perform-ers and getting his wicket willbe the key for the Indian team.

West Indies’ pacers werealso on the money as SheldonCotterell and a fit-again AlzarriJoseph did a good job both atthe beginning and the back-end of the Indian innings.

Keemo Paul also did his bitand the West Indies pace attackcould be lauded for using a lotof variations including theslower deliveries to good effect.

But on a true pitch likeVisakhapatnam, it will be a dif-ferent challenge for the pacetroika.

PTI n JOHANNESBURG

Widely-followed SouthAfrican swashbuckler

AB de Villiers is exploringthe possibility of coming outof retirement for next year’sT20 World Cup, Proteascaptain Faf du Plessis hasrevealed.

Du Plessis said that talkshave been going on for near-ly three months to get thestar batsman back into inter-national cricket ahead of themarquee event in Octobernext year.

“People want AB to playand I am no different,” du Plessis said after his Paarl Rocks team— coached by Boucher with de Villiers in the line-up — wonthe Mzansi Super League final on Monday night.

“Those conversations have been happening for two or threemonths already: what does it look like, how does it look overthe next year, and that’s where it starts.”

Considered one of the greatest players to have played forSouth Africa, former skipper De Villiers quit international crick-et in March last year citing exhaustion from the workload thathe had often talked about.

He has since been plying his trade in franchise-based T20tournaments around the world.

There were reports that he had made himself available forselection on the eve of the ODI World Cup earlier this year, butSouth Africa’s selectors felt it prudent to not entertain his requestat that point as he had left it for too late.

Du Plessis added, “T20 cricket is a different beast, it’s not alot of time away from home. If you are a full campaigner, youhave to really get stuck in and spend a lot of time on the road.”

“Those conversations have already taken place and will con-tinue to before the next T20 series starts.”

On Sunday, newly-appointed head coach Mark Boucher hadsaid he may try to persuade a few recent retirees, including deVilliers, to return to the South Africa squad ahead of the T20World Cup.

PTI n MELBOURNE

In-form batsmanM a r n u s

Labuschagne onTuesday earned amaiden call-up tothe AustralianODI squad for thethree-match seriesagainst India nextmonth followinga prolific year inTest cricket.

Labuschagnehas averaged 58.05since making hisTest debut lastyear, scoring hundreds in hislast three games.

All-rounder Sean Abbotthas been recalled after fiveyears while also making acomeback are pacer JoshHazlewood and spinner AshtonAgar.

The big names missingfrom the squad are GlennMaxwell, Usman Khawaja,Shaun Marsh and Nathan Lyon.

The Indian fans will alsoget to see Australia’s star play-ers — David Warner and SteveSmith — in action.

The first ODI will be playedin Mumbai on January 14, fol-lowed by Rajkot (January 17)and Bengaluru (January 19).

Hohns is confident thatLabuschagne will come good inchallenging Indian conditions.

“Marnus Labuschagne isready for his international white

ball debut after his strong formfor Queensland in this form ofthe game,” said Hohns.

“The performance of ourwhite-ball squads has beenstrong and we are hoping tobuild the momentum towardsthe T20 World Cup at home atthe end of the year and ulti-mately build towards the 2023World Cup in India,” he added.

Head coach Justin Langerwill not be travelling to India forthe short tour with assistantcoach Andew McDonald tak-ing charge.SQUAD: Aaron Finch (cap-tain), Sean Abbott, AshtonAgar, Alex Carey, PatCummins, Peter Handscomb,Josh Hazlewood, MarnusLabuschagne, Kane Richardson,Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc,Ashton Turner, David Warner,Adam Zampa.

India out to save seriesHosts fret on bowling combination on batting belter; West Indies aim to lock series

Shai ‘Hope’ful ofpipping Kohli, RohitPTI n VISAKHAPATNAM

West Indies opener ShaiHope is quite “sure”

that some of his teammateswill have tomorrow’s IPLauction on their minds dur-ing the second ODI but forhim it will be “secondary” tobeating Virat Kohli and RohitSharma in the 2019 top run-getters’ list.

Hope, a chip of the oldbloc, carried his bat throughwith a century in the firstgame but one number nuggetthat could interest the unini-tiated is the runs he scored inODIs this year.

Talk about whether IPLauction will be on his mind,Hope sounded dismissive.

“I am sure it would bebut I am sure that’s sec-ondary. We came here to playa series against India sowhatever comes secondary issecondary,” Hope said onthe eve of the second game.

“I am sure some of theguys will be looking forwardto the auction but we have anIndia series to play and that’sthe main thing right now,” headded.

Hope is currently third inthe ODI run-getters' list thisyear with 1225 runs behindVirat Kohli (1292 runs) andRohit Sharma (1268 runs).

Is there an added moti-

vation to surpass the Indiansuperstars?

“Thanks for heads up(on numbers). Obviously Ihave to ask the bowlers to dosome damage as well,” hesmilingly replied

“As a batsman, you wantto contribute as much aspossible and if it helps theteam win even more satisfy-ing. Hopefully, we canremove them at the top andthen get some big runs andget to the top of that run get-ters list,” he said.

Shai Hope tosses the ball as he leavesafter batting in the nets AP

India vvss Windies (2nd ODI)Live from 1:30pm IST

STAR SPORTS 1 & 3

ODIs AT VISAKHAPATNAMHIGHEST TTOTALS

India 356-9 in 50 v Pakistan 05-04-2005

West Indies 321- 7 in 50 v India 24 -10- 2018

HIGHEST IINDIVIDUAL SSCORES

India 157* Virat Kohli v West Indies 24- 10- 2018

West Indies 123* Shai Hope v India 24- 10- 2018

BEST BBOWLING

India 5-18 Amit Mishra v New Zealand 29-10-2016

West Indies 4-60 Ravi Rampaul v India 24-11-2013

FAISEL FEATURES

Bumrah bowls full tilt

Labuschagne getsmaiden ODI call-up

Mandhana in ICCteams of the year

AB exploring comebackbefore T20 WC: Faf

Delhi bundled out for 215

Faiz Fazal celebrates after completing hundred PTI