HYDERABAD, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469Established 1864Published From HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR

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89 yrs on, Tatas back in Air India cockpit PNS n NEW DELHI

Eighty-nine years after launch-ing Tata Aviation Service -- theprecursor to Tata Airlines andAir India - the Tatas, originalowners of Air India, havebrought back the beleagueredairline to their fold.

Although many airlines havecome and gone from the Indianskies to date, since the time thefirst move was made to priva-tise Air India, the salt-to-soft-ware conglomerate has never letits love affair with aviation,more so with Air India that itsformer Chairman JehangirRatanji Dadabhoy Tata (JRD)had, to go off the radar. It is saidthat for JRD, a pioneer of the

Indian aviation industry, head-ing Air India as Chairman wasnever just a job, but a labour oflove.

Indicating the respect that theTatas have for legacy, the groupshelled out Rs 18,000 crore totake back Air India. It is thesame group that did not mindinvesting Rs 2 lakh back in 1932

to start Tata Aviation Service.From the first airmail service

flight from Karachi to Bombayin October 1932, with JRDsteering a Puss Moth aircraft, towresting control of Air Indiaonce again now, the conglom-erate has had a roller-coasterride in the Indian civil aviationhistory.

Tata Airlines going public in1946 as a 'joint stock company'named Air India and the maid-en flight on June 8, 1948 of Air-India International -- the firstpublic-private enterprise ofindependent India -- with itsiconic mascot Maharaja toEurope, remain the breakoutlandmarks in the skies of thegroup.

Air-India Internationalbecame one of the best airlinesin the world with staff, main-tenance and services providedby Tatas' domestic airline AirIndia.

Contrary to the time taken toprivatise the current Air India,it is said that JRD was surprisedwhen the group's proposal

made in October 1947 to floatAir-India International withthe government holding 49 percent, Tatas 25 per cent, and therest by public, was accepted"within weeks", at a time whenit took at least two years "not tomake a decision".

However, the flights havenot been without headwinds.In 1953, when the then gov-ernment of Jawaharlal Nehrunationalised Air India, JRDfought vehemently against it.There was very little the groupcould do when the govern-ment decided to nationalise 11airlines, all of which, exceptAir India, were making heavylosses, and merge them into asingle state corporation.

o Maiden flight of Air-India International on June 8, 1948, with itsiconic mascot Maharaja to Europe, remains a landmark for group

o In 1953, then Jawaharlal Nehru government at the Centrenationalised Air India, against the wishes of its founder JRD Tata

o Post nationalization, JRD served as the state carrier's Chairmanfor 25 years

o Homecoming of Air India amid an aviation industry crippled bythe Covid-19 pandemic.

T’gana spent Rs 74,165 crore onwelfare schemes in seven yearsML MELLY MAITREYI n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao on Fridaysaid that the fact that people arehappy with TRS governmentand its welfare and develop-ment schemes is evident whenthey chose the ruling party forthe second term with a greaternumber of seats.

“People’s court is the biggestcourt,” he said, pointing outthat TRS candidates won all the32 Zilla Parishads, 136 munic-ipal chairpersons andHyderabad Mayor post twicewith support of the AIMIM.

Giving a reply to the shortdiscussion on Social Welfareschemes in the State held in theAssembly on Friday, KCR saidevery government would dosome work, but the concernshown and the quantum ofwork done in a given time wasimportant and people do noticeit.

He said that the governmentwould soon launch a newscheme to let people constructhouses in their own land.“About 1,000 to 1,500 houseswould be sanctioned in eachconstituency for those withtheir own sites and guidelineswould be issued soon,” theChief Minister said.

Drawing comparison withthe social welfare spend of theCongress government in 10years from 2004 to 2014 andthat of the TRS government inthe last seven years, he said thatTRS had spent Rs 74,165 croreand the Congress governmentRs 21,663 crore. If the Congress

government spent on an aver-age Rs 2,166 crore a year, theTRS government spent five-fold at Rs 10,118 crore a year.

“This is because of the wis-dom of the economy and howjudiciously the State utilised itstax and non-tax revenue toincrease its GSDP to spend onwelfare and development,” theChief Minister said.

He said that the Telanganagovernment showed progressin all sectors – in welfare mea-sures to SC, ST, BC, Minorities,EBC and women and farmers,capital expenditure on infra-structure development – it wasin top position in the country-and in spiritual development bytreating all religions equally.

The Chief Minister,responding to concerns raisedby the members, said that theState government would com-plete the CB-CID inquiry intoWakf lands in one year asrequested by AIMIM member

Akbaruddin Owaisi.The government would give

15 days more for those whocompleted 57 years to apply forpensions and ration cardswould also be issued if somemissed it in the recent sanctionof cards.

Citing a poem in Telugu, hesaid over 15 lakh workersmigrated from other Stateslike UP, West Bengal, Bihar,Odisha, AP et al, to eke a liv-ing in Telangana as it offeredbetter life with water, power,medical facilities and liveli-hood. “This is what ourTelangana is and let’s not belit-tle it and its progress for polit-ical reasons,” he said.

KCR said Yadadri templebeing reconstructed as aprominent piece of architecturewould be inaugurated inNovember last week orDecember with Sudharshanayagam and the Prime Ministerhas accepted his invitation.

No pattas to tenant farmers, but govt help if needed: CM KCRC

hief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, whohas ruled out giving pattas to tenant

farmers to enable them draw Rythu Bandhuas well as reinstatement of field assistantsunder NREGS, made his stand clear onceagain on Friday. He, however, said the government wouldhelp tenant farmers “from a humanitarianpoint of view” if they faced any serious crisisand not as a matter of policy. KCR alsoagreed to look into the pleas of fieldassistants. His response came even as the fieldassistants tried to file their nominations inthe Huzurabad by-election to protest against

their removal from the posts. Responding tothe issue of field assistants raised byCongress members in the Assembly duringa discussion on Social Welfare Schemes inthe Assembly, KCR said the field assistants’setup was created as an alternative to thePanchayat Raj system and taking away therole of local bodies’ representatives. Only after field assistants were removed dueto irregularities in many areas, visible workwas done in Gram Panchayats and moreassets were created under NREGS, he said. Field assistants were under the wrongimpression that they were employees andthey were not, the Chief Minister said, but

agreed to examine their issue. On the issueof tenant farmers, the Chief Minister made itclear once again that the government policywas to protect the real farmers / owners ofagricultural lands and thus under theDharani system, the government has doneaway with the tenant cultivator column.Tenant farmers were a different category andthe tenancy would keep changing every year.The agreement would be between thecultivator and the owner. The governmentwould not intervene and it would not be forthe administration to keep updating therecords about changing tenancy, the ChiefMinister said.

‘YSR did injustice to TS in every way’

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday said that formerchief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh late YS Rajashekara

Reddy did injustice to Telangana in every sector. Taking seriousobjection to AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi praising YSR, father ofAndhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, KCR said,“Maybe YSR has done something. During Rajashekar Reddy’sregime only the Telangana region lost out the most. I want toremind people of that.” Notifying the Assembly on Friday that hetook permission from the Speaker to mention YSR by name, KCRsaid, “You (Akbaruddin) can praise anyone, it is your right. But it isimportant to recall that during his regime, a government order wasgiven where in the land of Dargah Hazrat Hussain Shah Wali wasgiven to Lanco Hills. This is a fact. The land belonging to theDargah Hazrat Shah Biyabani at Chevella was put up for sale duringhis regime. We went along with Mahmood Ali and many Muslimsand fought against it and stopped it.” The Chief Minister added thatduring YSR’s rule, people even tried to encroach the 17 acre landof the masjid at Guttala Begumpet with the then chief minister’sblessings. “But we went there along with 400-500 people duringthe agitation and fought to stop it,” KCR said. He said that itsurprised him when someone who has done so much injustice toTelangana is praised in the Assembly. KCR said, “We are taken bysurprise when the person who has done immense injustice toTelangana in every way – be it in terms of water, funds andeverything else – is being praised.”

KTR hard sells TS to the Frencho Don’t look at us through the prism of Delhi or Mumbai, Hyderabad is different, says Minister.

o Hyderabad is the vaccine capital of the world and not just India: KTR

PNS n HYDERABAD

Reminding that the beauty ofIndia lies in its diversity, ITMinister KT Rama Rao onFriday advised the Indo-French business communitynot to look at Hyderabadthrough the prism of NewDelhi or Mumbai and said thatTelangana would meet anydeal, or even beat it “by a mile”offered by any other State inIndia to investors to set shop.

Speaking at the Indo-FrenchInvestment Conclave atNovotel, KTR said, “India is avery heterogeneous country.India is a very diverse country.As far as Foreign DirectInvestments go, the overarch-ing and overall policymakingis vested with the Union gov-ernment, but everything elsethat you require – land, power,

water, HR, incentives – it is allvested with States.”

He said that each State inthis federal structure is differ-ent. “Not every State is thesame. Take Telangana – ourEoDB ranking has been amongtop 3 due to our policies andwork. Our policy is extremelyattractive and it delivers,” theMinister said.

Urging the delegates toengage with States directly, hesaid, “India is more likeEurope. Each State is very dif-ferent and everything changesevery 150 km in India – lan-guage, culture and cuisine. Ifyou only look at India throughthe prism of the Governmentof India, then you would bethinking this is one countryand one philosophy, one expe-rience and that’s it. That’s nothow it works.”

The Minister pointed outthat TS-iPASS gives flexibilityto tailor incentives to strategi-cally important projects.“Through TS-iPASS, 17,302clearances have been givenand the State has attractedinvestments worth USD 32billion and created directemployment for 1.6 millionpeople. More than 80 percentof projects have been realisedand operations have begun,”KTR said.

He said, “I assure you, if youcan tell me your growth plansin India and if you can tell mewhat my competitionMaharashtra and Tamil Naduhas offered you, I will only say,“I will only meet their offer orwe will beat their offer by amile. Come to Telangana,invest with us and be a part ofour growth story.”

Portrait of PVNarasimha Raounveiled in TSAssemblyPNS n HYDERABAD

A portrait of former primeminister PV Narasimha Raowas unveiled in the MLAslounge of the TelanganaLegislative Assembly onFriday.

It was unveiled byAssembly Speaker PocharamSrinivasa Reddy, in the pres-ence of Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao, hisCabinet colleagues, CongressLegislature Party (CLP)leader Mallu BhattiVikramarka and family mem-bers of Narasimha Rao.

Narasimha Rao's daughterand TRS MLC Vani DeviWAS also present.

The TRS government haddecided last year to unveilNarasimha Rao's portrait inthe Assembly premises aspart of its plan to organise theformer Prime Minister's cen-tenary celebrations on agrand scale.

Rafale deliveries toIndia ahead of schedule,says French envoyPNS n HYDERABAD

Aerospace major DassaultAviation is expected to deliv-er all 36 Rafale jets well beforethe schedule despite a lock-down for a few days to containthe spread of Covid-19 inFrance, French Ambassador toIndia Emmanuel Lenain saidon Friday.

Speaking on the sidelines ofthe fourth edition of Indo-French Investment Conclavehere, organised by the Indo-French Chamber ofCommerce & Industry(IFCCI), Lenain said firmsbelonging to the Europeancountry have invested over 10Billion Euros in India provid-ing employment to 2.50 lakhIndians.

"It ( delivery of aircraft) willbe ahead of schedule. We arevery proud of that. In spite ofCovid it has not been dis-turbed at all on the contrary,"the envoy told PTI.

India had signed an inter-

governmental agreement withFrance in September 2016 forthe procurement of 36 Rafalefighter jets at a cost of aroundRs 58,000 crore.

The first batch of five Rafalejets arrived in India on July 29last year

“The factory producingRafale was closed (duringlockdown). We had a commit-ment to India. After the lock-down teams worked extrashifts working nights andweekends to make sure thatthese planes were delivered ontime. And so right nowDassault has delivered 29 and26 have already been ferried toIndia," he said.

Describing the recent devel-opments in Afghanistan as"worrying" , the Ambassadorsaid some of the countriesincluding France have askedthe Taliban regime to allowfree flow of humanitarianassistance to the beleagueredcountry besides not to provideshelter for terrorists.

Jeevan: BJP MLAs cats in Assembly PNS n HYDERABAD

TRS MLA from ArmoorAshannagari Jeevan Reddyhas described the BJP leadersas 'tigers' outside the Assembly,but 'cats' inside the House.While participating in theshort duration discussion onthe 'State Government'sWelfare Programmes' held onFriday, Jeevan Reddy threw achallenge at the BJP membersto name the BJP-ruled stateswhich are implementing theschemes the Telangana state isimplementing. He challengedthat he is ready to leave theAssembly if the BJP MLAsnamed the BJP-ruled stateswhere schemes like those inTelangana are being imple-mented.

He urged Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao to con-duct a 'Kanti Velugu' specialcamp for the Oppositionleaders as their eyes cannotsee the ongoing developmen-tal programmes in the state.He said that the ChiefMinister has been taking upschemes like Rythu Bandhuand Dalit Bandhu, which arenowhere else in the world.

No walkouts or suspensions;monsoon session concludesPNS n HYDERABAD

As the monsoon session of theLegislative Assembly conclud-ed on Friday, Legislative AffairsMinister Vemula PrashanthReddy pointed out that no ses-sion time was wasted as therewere no walk-outs or suspen-sions. He also advised theCongress MLAs to attend thewinter session of the Assemblyafter preparing elaborately. Healleged that the Congress MLAswere sitting in the House inquarters (one after the other).

The minister said that it wasnot proper on the part of CLPleader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarkato say that the government did-n't allot adequate time to theOpposition. He said that thegovernment gave more time tothe Opposition parties than

what was given to the rulingparty. "The allegations of theCongress are meaningless,"Prashanth Reddy ridiculed andsaid that the government allot-ted 11.08 hours for theOpposition though their num-ber is very small and gave only9.02 hours to the ruling partywhich has 101 members.

While addressing the mediaafter the House adjourned sinedie on Friday, along with ChiefWhip Vinay Bhaskar, WhipGampa Goverdhan, MinisterPrashanth Reddy said that theHouse discussed six issues. Fourof them were presented by theruling party while MIM and theCongress presented one each.He said that the Chief Ministerwanted to continue the sessionfor a few more days, however,the members asked the CM to

conclude the session in view ofthe festival. The minister saidthat the government completedthe agenda. The Speaker alsohad a discussion on concludingthe session on Thursday.

The minister said that the ses-sion was held meaningfully anddemocratically. The membersextended their support for thesmooth conduct of the House.He said that the session was heldfor more than five hours everyday. The discussions on the sixissues were held comprehen-sively, focusing on public issuesand government programmes.He said that the Chief Ministerdirected them to record all theissues raised by the membersbefore the House. He said thatthe House will discuss theremaining issues during its win-ter session.

TS assembly...Continued from page 3

The Union Governmentshould look into it forenhancing reservation per-centage accordingly, he hadsaid. KCR then stated thatthere has been a demand forBC Census from many Statesbut the Centre submitted anaffidavit to the SupremeCourt that it could be anadministratively difficult andcumbersome exercise.

KCR said the BC Censusshould be definitely done andmembers of all political partiesin the Assembly agreed. It wasthen decided to adopt a resolu-tion in favour of the BC Census.

Continued from page 3

KCR added, “Nothing camefrom the Centre. I am stand-ing in the Assembly as aresponsible CM; you shouldstop this madness. Centre hastaken more loans than us.Centre had a debt of Rs50,000 crore when the BJPcame to power, now theyhave Rs 1.35 lakh-crore debts.When you don’t have funds,how will you even give it tous?”

He said that whatTelangana gets from theCentre is the State’s rightfulshare and it is a constitution-al arrangement. “Centrally-sponsored schemes likeNational Health Mission andSarva Sikhsha Abhiyaancome to everyone, not justTS. Under these we got justRs 42,000 crore over the pastseven years and we sent Rs2,74,000 crore (to theCentre).”

Centre itself...

Tata Sons wins...Continued from page 3

He said a group of ministerscomprising Home MinisterAmit Shah, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman,Commerce Minister PiyushGoyal and Civil AviationMinister Jyotiraditya Scindiahas cleared the winning bidfor Air India on October 4.

This marks the return ofAir India to the Tatas.

Jehangir RatanjiDadabhoy ( JRD) Tatafounded the airline in 1932.It was called Tata Airlinesthen. In 1946, the aviationdivision of Tata Sons waslisted as Air India and in1948, Air India Internationalwas launched with flights toEurope.

B Gopal bags...Continued from page 3

Instituted by the Satyajit RayFilm Society Kerala, a state-based organisation, the awardcomprises Rs 10,000 cashprize, a memento and plaque.

He was selected by a panelcomprising Malayalam film-maker Balu Kiriyath, musicdirector Perumbavoor GRaveendranath and others.

Eminent filmmaker andDada Saheb Phalke awardee,Adoor Gopalakrishnan,actress Madhabi Mukherjeeand producer Mohan G werethe earlier recipients of thehonour. Gopal has directed 30films Telugu films and twoHindi moves in his decades-long tinsel town career, theorganisers said in a statement.

Central control of State projects...Continued from page 3

Agreeing that the matter waslinked to the self-respect ofpeople, KCR pointed out thatthe suggestion had come fromthe neighbouring State ofAndhra Pradesh, which wasitching for a confrontationwith TS unfortunately, he said.KCR also expressed his disap-pointment with the decision ofthe Centre to cut down paddyprocurement from the State.

The Constitution had giventhe Centre the responsibility to

keep buffer stocks under itscontrol so that if there was anydrought or floods affectingfood grains yield in any Stateor states, the Centre couldrelease stocks to the affectedState and provide food secu-rity to people. The FoodCorporation of India, aCentral agency, was entrustedwith the task of procurementof paddy for this purpose. Butrecently the Centre threw upits hands and said it alreadyhad huge stocks, the ChiefMinister said.

Telangana got...Continued from page 3

KTR said that throughTSMDC, the government isholding discussions withother countries for mineralexploration to procure lithi-um directly.

Currently, there are 6,312electric vehicles in the State.Incentives worth Rs 26.18crore have been given by thestate. Around 40 TSRTC elec-tric buses are being run in theState, mainly connecting theairport and the city, KTR said.

CEA Subramanian...Continued from page 3

Prime Minister NarendraModi, in a tweet, wishedSubramanian the very bestfor his future endeavours,saying, "It’s been a delight towork with@SubramanianKri. His aca-demic brilliance, uniqueperspectives on key eco-nomic as well as policy mat-ters and reformist zeal arenoteworthy."

The government will haveto look for a new person forthe crucial post at a timewhen the economy is com-ing out of the pandemic-induced decline.

Kishan blames KCR for high fuel...Continued from page 3

“It’s no wonder that KCR wentback on his promise ofreopening the Nizam SugarsFactory and constructing sev-eral hospitals on the line ofNIMS. The same ChiefMinister is now claiming thathe never gave such assur-ances,” Kishan Reddy said.

He claimed that the TRSsupremo has only two goals—family and power.

Kishan Reddy urged thevoters of Huzurabad to standby the BJP as these electionswill decide the future ofTelangana. “TRS will go andBJP will come to power in

2023, the Union Minister pre-dicted. He called upon the BJPcadre to strive hard and rebuffthe ruling party’s suppressivetactics.

“It’s common for KCR toindulge in venomous cam-paigns during by-elections,”Kishan Reddy alleged.

Earlier, both the BJP andCongress candidates EatalaRajender and BalmooriVenkat Narsing Rao filed theirnomination papers on Friday.The by-poll will be held onOctober 30.

TRS candidate GelluSrinivas Yadav, who filed hisnomination, also filed anoth-er set of papers on Friday.

ED to probe Telugu Akademi...Continued from page 3

The Central Crime Station,Detective Department hasalready 10 accused in the case.

Six accused, including mas-termind Chunduri VenkataKoti Sai Kumar, were arrestedon Wednesday while four wereearlier taken into custody.

The arrests were made dur-ing the investigation into threecases registered on the compl-aint of Telugu Akademi, Uni-on Bank of India and CanaraBank. The case relates tofraudulent withdrawal of FDsfrom two public sector bankswith the total amount involvedbeing Rs 64.5 crore.

The fraud was committed bya group of bank agents in co-nnivance with some bank offi-cials and an employee of Tel-ugu Akademi.

Those arrested include Sag-oori Ramesh, in-charge acco-unts officer at Telugu Akade-mi, M. Sadhana, Canara Bank'sChandanagar branch manag-er, Sheikh Mastan Vali, chiefmanager, Union Bank of Ind-ia's Karwan branch, BVVNSatyanarayana Rao, CMD, APMercantile Cooperative CreditSociety Ltd and VedulaPadmavathi, manager (opera-tions), AP Mercantile Coope-rative Credit Society, who issister of Satyanarayana.

‘Centre’s Bima Yojana not scientific...Continued from page 3

“The very system is wrong. Itis not scientifically designed,thus justice is not being doneto farmers who suffered croploss due to floods and othernatural calamities. The Househas to discuss the subject andrepresent to the Centre formaking the scheme beneficialfor farmers,” he said.

KCR was responding toopposition MLAs who raisedthe plight of farmers whoincurred losses as the State wasnot implementing Centre’scrop insurance scheme.

On compensation to farm-ers who suffered crop damage

due to the recent CycloneGulab, he said the State gov-ernment was enumerating thedamages and would be gettingreports from the districts.

The format given by theCentre is complicated but theprocess is underway and willbe sent to the Centre, he said.

“Perhaps the Centre toomust have realized the dwin-dling benefits the farmers gotcompared to the premiumpaid towards crop insurance.Agriculture experts like MSSwaminathan and AshokGulati made several recom-mendations to the crop insur-ance scheme but the Centredid not follow up,” he said.

ML MELLY MAITREYI n HYDERABAD

The Telangana government ishopeful that the Centre wouldpostpone the implementation ofthe July 15th gazette notificationfor bringing all the irrigationprojects in the Krishna andGodavari basins in both the Statesunder the control of the Krishnaand Godavari River ManagementBoards.

Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Ro said in theAssembly on Friday that during hisrecent visit to Delhi, he had raisedthe gazette notification issue withPrime Minister Narendra Modi ,Home Minister Amit Shah, and JalShakti Minister Gajendra SinghShekhawat, and suggested that itbetter be postponed. "I spoke toPM and Home Minister. Let us see

what happens," he observed. If thenotification, scheduled to be imple-mented from October 14, was notpostponed, then an all-party del-egation would go to the Centre, headded.

The Chief Minister wasresponding to a suggestion ofMIM member Akbaruddin Owaisithat an all-party delegation shouldgo to Delhi to make a representa-tion. Otherwise, the managementof State's projects and water wouldgo into the hands of the Centre.

2

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TS Assembly adopts resolution forBC Census along with Census-2021PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Assembly on Fridayunanimously adopted a resolutionrequesting the Centre to take upcaste-wise census of the BackwardClasses in the general census for2021 to facilitate their upliftment.

Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao moved the resolution statingthat it was necessary to maintainaccurate statistics for taking up var-ious welfare measures for the ben-efit of the poorest of the poor.

The resolution asked the Uniongovernment that “the caste-wiseCensus of Backward Classes of cit-izens be conducted while con-ducting Census-2021”.

KCR said that many States weresending representations ahead ofCensus-2021 being taken up andmembers of Telangana Assemblytoo agreed unanimously that the

BCs were up to 50 percent of thepopulation in the State and justicewas needed to be done to them inmany sectors.

Participating in the discussion on‘Dalit Bandhu scheme’ two days ago

in the Assembly, the Chief Ministerhad said that even the populationof SCs has gone up from 15 percentin the State to about 17 percent.

Central control of Stateprojects not proper: KCR

Tata Sons wins bidto acquire Air IndiaPNS n NEW DELHI

Salt-to-software conglomerate,Tata Sons, have won the bid toacquire debt-laden state-run AirIndia offering Rs 18,000 crore foracquiring 100 per cent sharehold-ing, a senior government officialsaid on Friday.

An SPV of Tata Sons — theholding company of conglomer-ate — has emerged as successfulbidder, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, sec-retary to the Department ofInvestment and Public AssetManagement (DIPAM) — thegovernment department respon-sible for privatisation — told themedia on Friday.

Tata Sons beat SpiceJet promot-er to bag Air India.

The DIPAM secretary saidTatas' bid of Rs 18,000 crorecomprises taking over of 15,300crore of debt and paying the restin cash.

Both bidders had quoted abovethe reserve price, he said addingthe transaction is planned to beclosed by December.

Monsoon sessionadjourned sine die

The monsoon session of theTelangana Legislative Assembly

and Council was adjourned sinedie on Friday after fairlymeaningful discussion and debatewith the Opposition and rulingparty members putting acrosstheir views. The monsoon sessionthat started on September 24continued for seven days and washeld for a total duration of 37hours. A total of seven Bills andone resolution for the BC Censuswere adopted by the Assembly.Short discussions were held onsix topics, including PallePragathi and Pattana Pragathi,Dalit Bandhu, IT and Industry,Haritha Haram and Social Welfareschemes.

Kishan blames KCR for high fuel pricesPNS n HYDERABAD

Describing the Huzurabad by-election as a fight between a sincereperson and a dictator, UnionTourism Minister G Kishan Reddyon Friday blamed Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao for the high-est-ever prices of petrol, dieseland LPG.

Addressing a public meeting aspart of the election meeting, theUnion Minister was at his vitriolicbest, attacking the TRS in generaland Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao in particular.

“KCR is the reason for theincrease of prices of LPG, petroland diesel. The decision of increas-ing prices of petrol and diesel intune with the world prices was

taken when KCR was a UnionMinister. It is not good for KCR tolevel allegations now, instead ofquestioning the then governmentat the Centre,” Kishan Reddy said.

He alleged that the several con-spiracies have been hatched in theAssembly and Pragathi Bhavan to

ensure that the BJP candidate doesnot win the contest.

“Insincerity and vendetta aresynonymous with the TRS,” healleged, accusing the TRS supremoof going back on his promises.

Telangana got Rs 5,600 croreinvestments in EV sector: KTRPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana has attracted investmentworth Rs 5,600 crore in the electricvehicle segment and this has thepotential to generate 8,300 jobs byway of direct employment andtwice as many indirect jobs, saidMinister KT Rama Rao on Friday.

“In October 2020, we unveileda new electric vehicle policy. OtherStates only have electric vehiclepolicy but in our State we haveelectric vehicle and energy storagepolicy. In the short time since weintroduced the policy, we haveattracted investment worth Rs5,600 crore and are trying to

attract more investments.”EVs run on lithium-ion batter-

ies and 80 percent of the lithiumused in these batteries is current-ly mined by China.

ED to probeTelugu Akademifunds diversionPNS n HYDERABAD

The Enforcement Directorate isset to begin a probe into the Rs64.5 crore Telugu Akademi FixedDeposit fraud in Hyderabad.

The central agency is likely toregister a case under the Preven-tion of Money Laundering Act. Asthe case involves money launderingand the proceeds were used by theaccused to purchase assets andmake investments, the HyderabadPolice made a request to the ED toinitiate the probe.

HHYYDDEERRAABBAADDWWEEAATTHHEERR

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated OCTOBER 08, 2021 5:00 PM

FFoorreeccaasstt:: ThunderstormTTeemmpp:: 29HHuummiiddiittyy:: 83%SSuunnrriissee:: 6:07 amSSuunnsseett:: 05:58 pm

AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Ashwin & Shukla Paksha

Panchangam

Tithi : Tritiya 07:48 Chaturthi 28:54

Nakshatram : Vishakha 16:47

Time to Avoid : Time to Avoid (Bad

time to start any important work)

Rahukalam : 9:07 am - 10:35 am

Yamagandam : 1:31 pm - 2:59 pm

Varjyam : 8:26 pm - 9:54 pm

Gulika : 6:11 am - 7:39 am

Good Time : (to start any important work)

Amritakalam : 8:47 am - 10:14 am

Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:39 am - 12:26 pm

Caste census must to extend welfare measures to poorest of poor: KCR

TS hopeful ofpostponement ofgazette notificationimplementation

o By-poll a fight between a sincere person and a dictator, states Union Minister

B Gopal bagsSatyajit Ray AwardPNS n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Well-known Telugu filmmaker BGopal, alias Bejawada Gopal, hasbeen chosen for the fourth SatyajitRay Award for his overall contri-bution to the Indian cinema.

India becoming $ 5 trillion economy by 2025‘impossible’ due to pandemic: RangarajanPNS n HYDERABAD

India becoming a USD five trillioneconomy by 2025 is impossible un-der the current circumstance andthe country needs to grow at ninepercent per annum for the next fiveyears in order to achieve that, for-mer Reserve Bank Governor CRangarajan said on Friday.

Address the 11th Convocation of

ICFAI Foundation for Hig-her Education,Rangarajan saidattempts should bemade to curb theadverse impact of athird wave of Covid-19.

"A few years ago,there was the hope thatIndia would become a USDfive trillion strong economy by

2025. That has become impos-sible. India's economy was

USD 2.7 trillion strong in2019. At the end of March22, we will still be at thesame level. To go fromUSD 2.7 trillion to USD 5

trillion, the economy has togrow at 9 per cent for five

consecutive years," Rangarajansaid.

Centre itself is dying, what willit give us? CM asks BJP MLAsPNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao on Friday minced no wordswhen it came to countering theclaims made by BJP Legislatorsregarding the Centre's contributionin welfare schemes.

Speaking in the Assembly, KCRsaid: “If you want to increase yourparty’s presence (in the House),there are many ways, but this is notthe way. One person says that weare diverting Central funds. Firstyou give, then talk about diverting.The BJP-led Central governmentitself is in a dying position, whatwill you give us? There is nomeaning to such comments.

Telangana contributes to thenation; the nation gives back a very,very, very small portion of TS con-tribution. We get just Rs 24,000crore. These are factual and officialfigures.”

He said, “Telangana gives to theCentre; the Centre gives nothing toTelangana. Only 5-6 States gener-ate revenue for the country andTelangana is the fourth, despite itbeing the youngest State. It will onlyhurt you. This is not going to bringany political gains and only createlosses (for the BJP). If I begin to talklike Telangana agitation, it will bedifficult for you. It’s not useful for

you.”

‘Centre’s Bima Yojananot scientific, says CM ’

The Fasal Bima Yojana – cropinsurance scheme implemented

by the Centre – has not been ofmuch help in its present form andit needs to be reformed, said ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao onFriday. Speaking during QuestionHour on the issues related toagriculture and crop insurancescheme in the Assembly, the ChiefMinister said that the present cropinsurance is lopsided.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Friday wrote to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, request-ing urgent help from the Uniongovernment to address the energycrisis in Andhra Pradesh.

In his letter to Modi, the ChiefMinister brought to the notice ofthe Prime Minister that the powerdemand had increased by 15 per-cent in the last six months and by20 percent in the last month. Hesaid that this, coupled with coalshortage, is pushing the country's

energy sector into turmoil.“The energy crisis has resulted in

a three-fold increase in electricityprices across Europe and China,and AP has been meeting a grid

demand of about 185 ~190 MUdaily. Power generation stations op-erated by APGENCO, which sup-ply about 45 percent of the State'senergy needs, hardly have coalstocks for one to two days and gen-eration from these could be impact-ed further,” Jagan said in his letter.

He said that APGENCO coalplants were operating at less than50 percent of their 90 MU /day cap-acity because of the coal shortage.

“The central generating stationshave also not been able to supplymore than 75 percent of their 40MU /day capacity. In order to

absorb energy from the 8000 MWof renewable energy capacity,Andhra Pradesh has not been exe-cuting contracts with coal-basedplants and consequently, it dependsheavily on market purchases forsourcing its shortfall energy,” theChief Minister wrote.

He said that the daily averagemarket price of about 40 MU/dayenergy that the purchase by theState has increased around thricefrom daily average of Rs 4.6 perkWh on September 15, 2021 to adaily average of Rs 15 per kWh onOctober 8, 2021.

COAL SHORTAGE

As AP stares at energy crisis, Jagan writes to Modi

SC says ‘not satisfied’at UP govt actions inLakhimpur Kheri casePNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Friday saidit was "not satisfied" with thesteps taken by the Uttar Pradeshgovernment in the brutal killing ofeight people in the LakhimpurKheri violence, and pulled up thestate police asking whether send-ing summons and telling "pleasecome" was the way the accused aretreated in other murder cases.

"The proof of the pud-ding is in the eating, abench headed by ChiefJustice N V Ramanatold the UP govern-ment, and sharplyquestioned whyUnion Minister ofState for HomeAjay Mishra's sonAshish Mishra, anaccused in the case,

has not been arrested yet.As the court mulled transferring

the probe into the violence onOctober 3 in which four farmerswere among the killed to anotheragency, it also said any investiga-tions by the CBI "may not be thesolution" because of the personswho have been named in the FIRlodged by the UP police, in a veiledreference to the fact that AshishMishra is the son of a union min-

ister.The top court questioned

the soft approach of thepolice towards the accused

(Ashish Mishra) namedin the FIR after Harish

Salve, appearing for theUP government, said a

notice seeking hispresence has been

sent and that he hassought some time.

CEA Subramanianto quit, return toacademia PNS n NEW DELHI

Chief Economic Advisor (CEA)KV Subramanian will be leavingthe Finance Ministry and return-ing to academia on completion ofhis three-year term.

The government had appoint-ed Subramanian, an ISBHyderabad professor, as the CEAin December 2018. He had suc-ceeded Arvind Subramanian, whoquit the position close to a yearahead of his extended tenure.

Subramanian's three-year termwould have come up for renewalin December but he decided toreturn to academia.

RESERVE BANK RAISES IMPS LIMITFROM RS 2 LAKH TO RS 5 LAKH

In a bid to promote digital transactions, the RBI on Fridayproposed to increase the per transaction limit from Rs 2lakh to Rs 5 lakh through Immediate Payment Service.

IMPS managed by the National Payments Corporation ofIndia is an important payment system providing 24x7instant domestic funds transfer facility and is accessiblethrough various channels like internet banking, mobile ban-king apps, ATMs, etc. With RTGS now operational 24x7, th-ere has been a corresponding increase in settlement cyclesof IMPS, thereby reducing the credit and settlement risks.

JOURNALISTS WHO TOOK ON PUTIN ANDDUTERTE WIN 2021 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Two journalists whose work has angered the authoritiesin Russia and the Philippines were awarded the NobelPeace Prize on Friday, honouring the right to free

speech which the prize-giving committee described asunder threat around the globe. Maria Ressa and DmitryMuratov were given the award "for their courageous fightfor freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia,"Chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen of the Norwegian NobelCommittee said. "At the same time, they are representativesof all journalists who stand up for this ideal,” she said.

RBI REVEALS IT IS REVIEWING SCHEMETO PENALISE BANKS FOR DRY ATMs

The Reserve Bank of India is reviewing its scheme ofpenalising banks for non-replenishment of ATMs aftergetting feedback from lenders, its Deputy Governor T

Rabi Sankar said on Friday. In August this year, RBI hadannounced that it will penalise banks for failure to timelyreplenish currency notes in ATMs. The scheme, which isaimed at ensuring availability of sufficient cash for thepublic through ATMs, has come into effect from October 1,2021. “We have received various feedback-- some positiveand some raising concerns,” Sankar said.

TALIBAN OFFICIAL SAYS AT LEAST 100DEAD, WOUNDED IN AFGHAN BLAST

Ablast went off Friday at a mosque packed with ShiiteMuslim worshippers in northern Afghanistan, killing orwounding at least 100 people, a Taliban police official

said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility forthe blast, which took place in Kunduz, the capital ofKunduz province, but militants from the Islamic Stategroup have a long history of attacking Afghanistan's Shiiteminority. Dost Mohammad Obaida, the deputy police chieffor Kunduz province, said that the majority of them havebeen killed, in reference to the victims.

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PNS n HYDERABAD

To ensure greater trans-parency in desiltation of nalas,the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) has decided toentrust the task of clearing thenalas for three years at a stretch,instead of awarding annualcontracts, to the private agen-cies under the ComprehensiveRoads MaintenanceProgramme (CRMP) of thecivic body.

The civic body has alreadyentrusted the task of maintain-ing the 790-km-long roads inthe city to private parties twoyears ago.

The private agencies wereasked to maintain the roads forfive years at a total cost of Rs1,850 crore after dividing theroads in zones.

It was only because of theprivate agencies, the mainte-nance of roads has improved in

the city compared to earlier.On the lines of the mainte-

nance of the roads, the GHMCwants to entrust the task ofmaintaining the nalas for threeyears. The GHMC officials

have embarked on an exercisein this regard. They discussedthe modalities at a recent meet-ing extensively. According tothe GHMC, there are manydrains in Kukatpally,

Sherilingampally and LB Nagarzones. However, the length ofthe nalas in Khairatabad,Secunderabad, Charminar iscomparatively less. An exerciseis going on to divide the work

into packages in the zones toinvite bids. The execution ofdesiltation will begin fromnext year. The winner of thebids would work three years todesilt the nalas by working atleast eight hours per day. Thetender guidelines will detail themachines to be used for desilt-ing.

The tender guidelines wouldbe prepared in foolproof way,indicating that the desiltedmud should be transported tothe dumping yards in specialtrucks allotted especially for thepurpose. Small earthmoversand trucks are necessary towind their way through narrowalleys in slums. For the pur-pose, special trolleys and tip-pers should be deployed.Arrangements are being madein this regard.

The officials say that themaintenance would improve alot better with the deploymentof private agencies.

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 9, 2021 hyderabad 04

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Central Crime Station(CCS) Balanagar team onFriday apprehended six auto-mobile offenders who wereinvolved in 15 cases. Whilefour of them were offenders,two of them received the stolenvehicles, said the police.

The arrested persons havebeen identified as Ch Balaraju,23, a bike mechanic from IDABollaram. Balaraju along withothers, R Swamy, 19, E VijayaKrishna, 24, , B Subash, 21, MdAbdul Alam, 20, Md Sohail, 19,K Deepak, 21, and Md Anwar,20, formed a gang that stolemotorcycles, said the police,adding that Ratha Swamy andVijaya Krishna are absconding.

The police received a com-plaint from the owner of aRoyal Enfield Bullet bike, whosaid that his bike was stolen onSeptember 27 from front of hisresidence at Dundigal.

Police then registered acomplaint and launched aninvestigation. Based on techni-

cal evidence, police appre-hended the six persons onFriday.

"The gang members move inisolated areas during late nighthours after consuming alcoholand target high speed sportsmotorcycles, in the colonyroads. They break the handlelocks and unplug the powersupply plug and join both thewires directly to start themotorcycles, following which,they flee from the spot," saidPV Padmaja, DeputyCommissioner of Police,

Balanagar Zone, Cyberabad. Officials recovered 24 vehi-

cles, including eight RoyalEnfield Bullet 350, two KTM,four Yamaha R-15, eight BajajPulsars, and one each of aHonda Glamour and SuzukiAccess, all worth Rs 45,85,000from their possession.

A hunt is on to nab the twoabsconding accused in thecase, said M Pavan, Inspector,CCS Balanagar, adding that theaccused might be a part of larg-er gang that deals in stolenautomobiles.

Police arrest six for stealing bikes, 24 vehicles recovered

PNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad-based MaxiVisionEye Hospitals group, haslaunched its 19th SuperSpecialty Eye hospital inKothapet on Thursday.

Rachakonda Commissionerof Police Mahesh M Bhagwat,film producer Allu Aravindunveiled the new hospital whoattended the programme aschief guests. Dr Kasu PrasadReddy, co-chairman, founderand mentor, MaxiVision EyeHospitals, attended the pro-gramme as guests of honour.

MaxiVision Eye Hospitalsstand true to their commit-ment to making quality andhighly affordable eye care eas-ily available to every citizen.

CEO of MaxiVision Eyehospitals group VS Sudheergreeted the guests during theirvisit. MaxiVision's highly effi-cient staff presented a thor-

ough guide of the technologyused at the center.

Speaking on the occasion,Mahesh Bhagwat said, Dr Kasupraad Reddy's efforts in eyecare services for the past 25years are highly appreciablewho stands tall in the industrywith his in-depth insights andrich experience in treatingcritical cases at ease. It is greatto see that an eye care hospi-tal with ultramodern facilitiesis being set up in Rachakonda

region. Elaborating more on the

same Dr Kasu Prasad Reddysaid, as all of us know thatMaxiVision is an eye carechain group that is the firstchoice of local and internation-al patients and importantcelebrities alike is at the fore-front of the vision care technol-ogy revolution and specialisesin overall ophthalmic carecovering diagnostics, treat-ment, and surgery.

Making quality, affordable eye care available to every citizen

GHMC mulls to assign desiltation work of nalas to private agencies

PNS n HYDERABAD

The SR Nagar Police onFriday have apprehendedthree habitual offenders forcheating jewellers of Rs 40lakhs by diverting their atten-tion and mortgaging goldplated rings.

The accused identified as EBhaskar, 51, Venkat Reddy,59, Vardhan, 32, and Rajen-dra have targeted about fivejewellers at various placesusing rings coated in gold.

On receiving a complaintfrom Ganesh, 29, a pan bro-ker that the accused has vis-ited his shop on October 20,2019 and mortgaged gold-plated ring and took Rs16,000. Later, he again visit-ed the shop and pledged twomore rings, but did not returnto collect them. Growing sus-picious over it, Ganesh veri-fied the purity of gold fingerrings only to find that therings are gold plated. He fileda complaint with the police,who registered a case andarrested the accused persons.

G RAVI KIRAN

n HYDERABAD

The police observe Octoberas the National CyberSecurity Awareness Month,conducting various cam-paigns. They have been sen-sitising people on how to staysafe online.

The Cyber Crime wings ofthe city police are doing manysocial media campaigns aswell. However, it seems crim-inals are observing it as themonth of cyber crimes.

The first week of Octoberwitnessed a surge in cybercrimes in Hyderabad alone.The number of crimes hasincreased in Telangana aswell. Cyber crimes in Indiaregistered a rapid increasewith the rise in digital trans-actions after demonetisation.The number of cases starteddoubling in 2017 itself. As perthe latest NCRB report, thedaily average was 3.3 in 2018,7.3 in 2019 and 13.7 in 2020.

In this context, India start-

ed observing October as theCyber Security AwarenessMonth in 2017.

However, this year, manycases were registered fromOctober 1 onwards. OnOctober 4 alone, seven per-sons were cheated by cybercriminals in the name ofinvestment. Altogether, thefraudsters looted Rs 24.87lakh from them.

This week, many peoplebecame victims of cybercrime in Jubilee Hills andBanjara Hills. Two lost moneywhen they responded to therequest of a fake friend forcash. Two people lost moneywhen fraudsters posed asbike sellers. They use fake QRcodes to get the money fromthe victims.

This week, a gang fromRajasthan was arrested bythe Cyber Police. They havecheated many in the name ofsales in OLX and by puttingfake posts on Facebook.

On Friday, RachakondaPolice busted an online bet-

ting gang. The cyber crimi-nals have cheated many peo-ple after luring them withhuge profits in online betting.

Cyber crimes show no signof decline, despite the aware-ness campaigns by the police.However, the cops have suc-ceeded in cracking many ofthose cases and arresting thecriminals, which is a greatrelief.

KVM Prasad, ACP (CyberCrime Wing) of Hyderabadsaid, "We cannot preventcyber crimes as everything isput online nowadays anddigital transactions havebecome common. During thelockdown period and whenCovid cases were high, peo-ple had no choice but to goonline. This made things easyfor cyber criminals. Peoplehave to be careful with themessages and requests com-ing online from unknownpeople and should not betempted by discounts andprofits. Staying alert can onlyprotect them.”

Awareness campaigns fail to tackle cyber crimes in city

PNS n HYDERABAD

A cyber crimes review meet-ing was held by the PoliceCommissioner of CyberabadStephen Raveendra IPS hereon Friday as a follow up to theone conducted on September14 last month.

The meeting was held withthe officers of Cyber CrimeWing, along with CyberabadTraffic DCP SM Vijay KumarIPS, DCP Crimes RohiniPriyadarshini IPS, DCPLavanya NJP., PrasadPatibandla, CRCIDF and it'steam member Manish Yadav,Cyber crimes ACP VenkatReddy, Inspectors KatkamSrinivas, Ravinder Reddy andother officers at the CyberabadCP Office in Gachibowli. "Themeeting was conducted

regarding the establishment ofan Investigation OperationsCentre for expeditious dispos-al of Cyber Crime cases whichare increasing every day. Thiscentre is planned to designSOPs to be followed by inves-tigating officers when anyCyber Crimes is registered,"said Stephen Raveendra,adding that he had instructedthe Cyber Crime wing officersto coordinate with technicalexpert team led by CRCIDFDirector Prasad Patibandla todesign SOPs to investigateCyber Crimes in an expedi-tious manner owing to rise inCyber Crimes. He reiteratedthe need to keep the SOP sim-ple and in template model withemphasis on the evidentiaryvalue of each step that is fol-lowed.

SOPs to be designed to investigate cyber crime

PNS n HYDERABAD

Two persons were killedwhen a rashly driven car hada head on collision with theirtwo-wheeler after jumpingthe divider at Medipally onFriday.

The deceased persons wereidentified as Somaiah, 70and Krishna, 27, residents ofKPHB. According to thepolice, Somaiah along withhis sons, Krishna andDevaraya Vinesh, 16, wastravelling on a two-wheeler totheir native village atRaagapuram in Palakurthy.

When they reachedNandanavanam park on theWarangal Highway road, arashly driven car crashedinto their two-wheeler afterclimbing over the roaddivider from the oppositelane. As a result of the crash,the two fell on the road anddied on the spot. Vinesh sus-tained injuries and wasadmitted to a hospital wherehe is undergoing treatment.

Two killed, one injured as carhits motorcycle

3 arrested for cheating five pawn brokers

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Commissioner of Police,Hyderabad Anjani Kumarhas issued PD Act against ahistory-sheeter MahmoodBin Alvi, 42, a resident of OldMalakpet on Friday.

He has committed severaloffences including a murderto assert his dominance anda robbery along with hisassociates in an organisedmanner, thereby adverselyaffecting the public orderand public health at large.The Chaderghat Police arrest-ed the accused on July 19,2021 in a crime registered atChaderghat police stationand remanded him to judicialcustody. The PD Act was exe-cuted on him and was lodgedin Chanchalguda prison .

Hyd CP invoked PD Act against history-sheeter

PNS n HYDERABAD

The sleuths of Malkajgiri SOT,Rachakonda Commissioneratealong with the NeredmetPolice on Friday apprehendedtwo bookies and seized Rs 53lakh cash, mobile phones, tabsand debit cards from theirpossession.

The arrested persons havebeen identified as ChunnamKiran, 40 and Syed AqueelAhmed, 38, both residents ofSardar Patel Nagar Colony,Secunderabad. Anotheraccused, identified as AneguSurender Reddy, 32, a residentof Kushaiguda is a punter wholost Rs 15 lakhs while placingbets online.

Acting on specific informa-tion, on Friday, police officialslaid a trap at RK Puram,Neredmet and apprehendedChunnam Kiran and Aqueelfor conducting online bettingwith Betfair.com.

"Chunnam Kiran, an MBAgraduate, who had learnt aboutthe online betting sites, popu-

lar in the UK, planned tobecome an agent to earn quickbuck. As per his plan, he float-ed a fake firm, Sreenidhi SoftByte and opened a currentaccount at Bangalore Axisbank in Indira Nagar. Further,he managed to become anagent and created an accountin Betfair.com by paying 20lakh in advance for member-ship to bet online," saidMahesh Bhagwat, RachakondaPolice Commissioner.

"He secured punters by tak-ing advance payments andopening fresh accounts andproviding username and pass-word to the punters on a 70-30per cent commission basis.

Kiran has been operatingonline betting since 2018through mobile phones andmore than thousand puntersare in contact with him, whoare betting online. Transactionsof over crores of rupees havetaken place in his fake bankaccount. He maintains a verylow profile and never meets anypunter directly," added the CP

Kiran employed his child-hood friend Aqueel to assisthim. Both of them are secret-ly operating online betting onsports and casinos.

Kiran used to frequentlyvisit Srilanka, UK and Goa forcasino betting and is in contactwith a vast number of bookies.About a few months ago, heemployed four women fromNepal and brought them toHyderabad. He is paying themRs 30,000 per month. A hugenumber of active punters whoare playing online betting withChunnam Kiran are also iden-tified and action will be takenagainst them in due course oftime, said the police.

Kingpin among two personsheld for online betting racket

PNS n HYDERABAD

GMR Group is investing Rs6,300 crore on Rajiv GandhiInternational Airport here toexpand the aerodrome capac-ity to 34 million passengers perannum by 2024, a senior exec-utive of the company said onFriday.

Antoine Crombez, DeputyCEO, GMR Airports Ltd, saidthe majority of funds for theexpansion are raised throughissuance of bonds.

"This is as part of Hyderabad(airport) expansion on bothdomestic and internationalsides of the airport. We areinvesting Rs 6,300 crore. It isan investment to expandcapacity to reach 34 millionpassenger capacity by 2024,"Crombez said on the sidelines

of an Investment Conclavehere organised by the IFCCI.

Funds for the expansionhave been secured, he furthersaid, adding most part of thefinance is through bondsissuance. Hyderabad airportoperator GHIAL would raiseUSD 300 million by issuingbonds in the overseas marketto fund its expansion plans, theGMR group had said inJanuary this year. The proceedswill be used towards the cap-ital expenditure with respect tothe master plan (expansion) ofthe airport, to increase thecapacity to 34 million passen-gers per annum, the inframajor had said.

Passenger traffic at RGIAwas eight million in FY 2020-21, witnessing de-growth of 63percent over previous year

due to lockdown and otherCOVID-19 restrictions. Theairport handled over 21.50million passengers duringFY2020 though it is designedto handle 12 million passen-gers per annum.

Crombez said the demerg-er of Airports vertical fromGMR Infrastructure Limited ison the way and it is expectedto be over by the end of the cal-endar year.

The conclave, organised tostrengthen investment oppor-tunities in Telangana, saw alarge delegation of 100+French company CEOs, CXOsand diplomats.

The conclave showcased theadvantages of the State to theIndo-French business com-munity via B2B and B2G meet-ings.

RGIA capacity to be expanded to 34 mlpassengers with Rs 6.3K cr investment

PNS n HYDERABAD

A 35-year-old woman wasfound dead in the city out-skirts at Shamshabad onFriday morning.

Cyberabad Police, who ini-tially suspected a sexualassault, had ruled out the pos-sibility after a preliminarymedical examination andbooked a murder case. Thedeceased, identified asYadamna, was found stabbedto death in Shamshabad. "Wenoticed the stab wounds onher torso and are working onclues to identify the personbehind the attack. Once wehave a suspect, the motive willbe revealed," said the officialsprobing the case. A case wasbooked under section 302 ofthe IPC and the body wasshifted for atopsy.

Woman found

murdered at

Shamshabad PNS n HYDERABAD

Stating that the governmentof Telangana has specialfocus on mental health,Health and Family WelfareCommissioner VakatiKaruna on Friday said thatmental health services arebeing made available to allcitizens in the State.

October 10, 2021 isobserved as World MentalHealth Day with the theme"Mental Health in theWorld". In a release, theCommissioner said, "Dueto Covid pandemic, whilethe world is focussed onphysical health, the sectorneeds to focus on mentalhealth as well. Mental healthis plagued by these pan-demic and problems arealready there in the sector."

As per the definition of theWorld Health Organisation,

health is about improvingcomplete physical, mentaland social well-being."Mental health is somethingthat is relevant to every age.It is not uncommon for anadult to have problems withovercoming advances in

their life," Karuna said.The Commissioner said,

"Prior to Covid-19 pandem-ic, one in seven people inIndia experienced someform of mental illness andnearly 20 crore people sufferfrom some form of mental

health problems. Nearly 80percent of people are noteven aware that they aresuffering with mental issues,which ultimately createsproblems in education andemployment opportunities."

Karuna said that anothersad fact is that one out ofevery four suicide worldwideis reported in India.

The Commissioner said aspart of national mentalhealth, mental health ser-vices will be made availableto all citizens in the State.

Asha workers in the Statehave been going door-to-door and identifying citizenswho are facing mental healthissues. These people arebeing directed to psychia-trists at primary health cen-tres and community healthcentres wherein counsellingand outpatient services areavailable.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Cyber Crime Police ofHyderabad on Friday arresteda person for opening fakebank accounts of NRIs andclaiming IT returns for hispersonal gains

The accused identified asSasidhar Reddy, 29, a residentof Visakhapatnam and nativeof Kadapa district in AndhraPradesh cheated an NRI of Rs21.89 lakh by using hisAadhaar and Pan cards.

The modus operandi of theaccused is to open fake bankaccounts using their cardsand update it on the IncomeTax portal and claims theTDS amount with the fakeaccount and withdraw it.

On September 4, policeofficials received a complaintfrom Hanumantha Rao, a

chartered accountant statingthat the accused had filed ITreturns for the FY 2019-20 ofhis client Raghavendra, anNRI. They have verified thesame using Aadhaar based e-verification filed with a refundof Rs 21,89,680, for which thebank has credited the amount.

The CA lodged a complaintwith the police, who registereda case and arrested theaccused.

TDS fraud: 29-yr-old man booked for cheating NRIs

TS giving priority to mental health services

The accusedopens fake bankaccounts on thename of NRIsand claim TDSamount with thefake account

HYDERABAD | FRIDAY | OCTOBER 8, 2021

PNS n NIZAMABAD

Torrential rains and floodinghave resulted in heavy loss ofcrops in Hungarga in Bodhanmandal. Following the unex-pected rain, water was releasedfrom the Sri Ram Sagar Project(SRSP) at Pochampad whichwashed away crops on 1400acres of land across Hungargavillage, Village SarpanchMadhavi said.

The villagers led bySarpanch Madhavi submitteda memorandum to DistrictCollector Narayana Reddy onFriday.

They said that the crops

which were ready for harvestremained submerged in waterfor five days. Speaking at theCollector's Office, the villagersexpressed grief over the loss ofblack gram, sunflower andsoybean crops on their landsspread in Neela, Kandakurthiand Bikinelli villages. Besides,500 acres of fertile land gotdamaged.

In the memorandum sub-mitted to the Collector, thefarmers demanded release ofan immediate compensationfor their losses and crop insur-ance. The team of villagersincluded vice sarpanch,MPTC Padma and others.

Ryots in Bodhan demand compensation for crop loss

Governor Dr Tamilisai Sounderarajan lights the lamp to inaugurateTelangana's first and only Truebeam STx with velocity, offering

precision radiation and better clinical outcomes, at Apollo CancerCentre in Jubilee Hills on Friday, as executive vice chairperson of Apollo

Hospital Shobana Kamineni and Regional CEO of Apollo Hospitals YSubramanyam look on.

ONE AND ONLY

PNS n JAYASHANKAR BHUPALPALLY

Members of the Maoist partyhave set up many boobytraps with an intention to killpolicemen in the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border areas.

Anti-Naxal squad andCRPF force under the lead-ership of Chintoor ASP GKrishna Kant IPS jointly led

by Chintoor and Atapak cir-cle inspectors on Fridayremoved 10 booby traps inMallampeta village forestarea on the Chhattisgarhborder.

Trenches were dug into theground to a depth of 10 feetand bamboo poles werecarved like needles, whichwas covered with twigs andleaves.

Cops remove booby traps

PNS n WARANGAL

The election campaign haspicked up moment forHuzurabad by-election all offa sudden. Voters of the con-stituency feel that they havenever experienced such a high-intensity poll campaign in theirlife so far.

The Huzurabad by-pollbecame significant as EatalaRajender, who was dismissedfrom the state Cabinet, and try-ing his luck this time on a BJPticket. The ruling TRS hastaken the by-poll as a challengeand deployed Ministers, MPs,MLAs, MLCs and others lead-ers to undertake door-to-doorcampaign for electoral successof Gellu Srinivas, TRS candi-date. Meanwhile, the formerdisgraced Minister EatalaRajender is meeting voters andexplaining them how he washumiliated by the ruling TRS.BJP Telangana state presidentBandi Sanjay Kumar was alsocampaigning in favour ofEatala.

Eatala has a strong hold inKamalapuram mandal. But, theruling TRS candidate is givingstiff competition to Eatala even

in his stronghold. There wasdelay on the part of Congress tochoose its candidate. NSUIstate president Balmuri VenkataNarsing Rao was filed byCongress as its candidate forHuzurabad.

In the presence of TPCCpresident, the Congress nomi-nee filed his nomination papers.The main contest is betweenBJP candidate Eatala Rajenderand TRS candidate GelluSrinivas. Meanwhile, CongressAssembly constituency in-charge Koushik Reddy migrat-

ed to TRS. Many other leadersfollowed suit.

The Congress and BJP can-didates filed their nominationson Friday giving a shot in thearm to the poll campaign.

Eatala Rajender has targetedChief Minister K Chandras-ekhar Rao for his criticism.

The impact of other partiesin the by-election was almostnil. The TRS feels that DalitBandhu announced by theTRS and other welfare anddevelopment schemes will helpits candidate win the elections.

Huz'bad poll campaign picks up paceTRS, BJP luring voters with liquor and money: Revanth PNS n HUZURABAD

TPCC President and MP ARvanth Reddy said that theCongress party would win theHuzurabad bye-elections with acomfortable majority. He wasaddressing a public meeting afterCongress candidate and NSUIState President Balamuri Venkatfiled his nomination. Seniorleaders including Madhu YashiGoud, T Jeevan Reddy, D SridharBabu, Ponnam Prabhakar,Shabbir Ali, Geetha Reddy andothers took part in thenomination rally and publicmeeting. Revanth Reddy said thatVenkat was picked as thecandidate after seriousdeliberations. He said that theCongress party never tookHuzurabad bye-election lightlyand it announced its candidate'sname at the last minute as part ofa political strategy. Stating thatBalamuri Venkat was young,energetic and serious on public

issues, he said that the Congressparty finalised his candidature tosend a strong message to thestudents and youth across theState that it would fight for theirrights. The TPCC chief said thatwhile the TRS and BJP leaderswere trying to lure people inHuzurabad by distributing liquor,cash and sarees, the Congressparty did its ground-work in thelast five months and strengthe-ned its connection with thepeople. "Congress party does nothave any illicit money to distrib-ute among voters. Our leadersnever grabbed lands which wecould sell for elections. We onlybelieved in serving the peopleand this time too, we picked acandidate Venkat who is directlyconnected with the people," hesaid. The TPCC chief said that theCongress victory in Huzurabadbye-elections would strengthenits struggle against the TRS andBJP Governments on their failedpromises and false assurances.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The management ofValayam TV congratulatedand presented silk sarees tothe winners of Bathukam-manu Perchandi - Bangaar-am Geluchukondi contest onthe second day on Friday.The jury declared three per-sons - Manjula Kondle fromWarangal, Ramadevi fromHanumakonda and Pushpa-latha from Hyderabad aswinners.

Valayam TV, which isorganising the contest to addmore flair to the

Bathukamma festivities inTelangana, wishes for larg-er participation and winprizes. During the nine daysof Bathukamma celebra-tions, three winners will bepresented three silk sareesdaily.

To obtain more detailsabout the contest, visitValayam TV on YouTube.Valayam TV requests thewomen to participate in thecontest daily and win goldand silver gifts on SaddulaBathukamma, which is onthe last day of Bathukammacelebrations.

Win big on SaddulaBathukamma in TS

PNS n KHAMMAM

Groupism came to the fore atthe general body meeting asfollowers of former MinisterTummala Nageswara Rao andMLA Kandana UpenderReddy pelted stones on eachother in full view of the police.

It all began followers ofDCCB director and PACSchairman Inturi Sekhar andKallurugudem PACS chairmanVasamsetty Venkateswarlu pelt-ed stones on each other at themandal parishad general bodymeeting. CI Satish and traineeSI Vijay Kumar beefed up secu-rity for the meeting. In spite ofit both the groups clashed.However, CI Satish pacifiedboth the groups.

Khammam rural CISatyanarayana Reddy,Nelakondapalli Police sent theclashing groups away. WhileVasamsetty venkateswarlu leftthe place immediately, InturiSekhar along with KhammamRural TRS president BellamVenu proceeded in a rally up

to bus stand and left the police. Surprisingly, some have

raised slogans to the effect 'JaiNama Nageswara Rao'.

In fact, Tummala NageswaraRao and Kandala UpenderReddy would not see eye to eyein Palair constituency. Becauseof the rivalry, the chasmamong the lower-rung cadresis widening.

Whenever an official meet-ing was held, hitherto both thegroups used to restrict them-selves to trading charges.However, on Thursday at ameeting held to identify villagecommittees in the camp officeof the MLA the followers ofboth the groups rained blows

on each other. In the days to come, the gulf

is going to widen further anddifferences between the twoleaders of the TRs party aregoing to reach its crescendo.

The leaders of the both thecamps are waiting for anopportunity to catch the neckof their rivals.

If the TRS leadershipignores ironing out the differ-ences between the two leaders,their rivalry is going to disturbthe traditional vote bank of theTRS. Upender Reddy who waselected on a Congress ticket inthe last elections crossed overto the TRS in the changedpolitical situation.

TRS groups clash again at MPPgeneral body meeting in Palair

05

PNS n SIDDIPET

District Collector PVenkatram Reddy hasdesired that all roads in thedistrict should be full ofgreenery as desired byFinance Minister Harish Rao.

He asked the officials toensure that the multi-layeravenue plantation on RajivRahadari should serve as amodel for Telangana. In fact,three fourths of work hasbeen completed in thisregard, he said asking theauthorities to complete therest of the work and reach thegoal.

He reviewed the progressof multi-layer avenue planta-tion on either side of RajivRahadari, Bhongir andSircilla road with municipal,forest officers, panchayat sec-retaries and others issueddirections to them on multi-layer plantation.

He expressed dissatisfac-tion over the progress of themulti-layer plantation insome stretches of the district.Three or four-line plantationshould be taken up on eitherside of Rajiv Rahadari,

Sircilla, Toopran,jagadevipur,Bhongir roads.

He told the officials thatthey should be armed withinformation on saplings to beplanted on either side ofRajiv Rahadari, sanctionedplants, saplings dead, thenumber of saplings needed toreplace them.

He asked the authorities topay attention to wateringplants through trankers as themonsoon season is drawingto a close.

The district collector saidthat there are enough fundsfor avenue plantation of RajivRahadari. The funds are suf-ficient to meet all expensesfor the next three years.

The payments to theNREGS workers would bemade at a faster rate throughthe NrEGS scheme, he said

asking the authorities to givemuster to the workers asearly as possible.

He asked officials to under-take a special drive fromFriday for clearance of junglesin Siddipet district limits forRajiv Rahadari and completeclearing of the jungle in fivedays.

The responsibility of plant-ing saplings in the middle ofthe road divider rests with theforest officials, he said addingthat over 14,000 saplings areneeded to plnat saplings onthe divider.

Additional CollectorMuzammeel Khan, traineecollector Praful Desai, districtRevenue officer BChennaiah, DFO Sridhar, ZPCEO Ramesh and other dis-trict officials took part in themeeting.

‘Multi-layer avenue plantation on Rajiv Rahadari should be a model for state'

PNS n KAMAREDDY

District collector Jitesh VPatil has said that the draftvoters' list would be releasedon November 1.

Addressing participants ofan all-party meeting held atCollectorate on Friday, he dis-cussed rationalisation ofpolling booths. There are269 polling booths inYellareddy, 266 in Kamareddyand 255 in Jukkal.

Discussing revision of vot-ers' list with representatives ofall parties, he said that thereis scope for establishinganother polling booth if thenumber of votes in a givenbooth exceeded 1500.Additional collector VenkataMadhava Rao said that if theexisting polling booth islocated at a distance of morethan 1.5 km, another pollingbooth would be set up.Representatives of politicaloutfits brought to the noticeof the authorities that thenames of deceased have fig-ured in two polling booths.

List of draft voters to be out on Nov 1

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

District Collector S VenkataRao on Friday paid a surprisevisit to Srivari Vanam nearManyamkonda and asked theofficials to plant large saplingson the either side of the roadfrom Mahabubnagar-Raichurroad to Manyamkonda tem-ple as part of the avenue plan-tation.

He asked the authorities totake steps to prevent the deathof the saplings. He suggestedfrequent watering them andreplace the dead plants withtaller plants. The Srivari Vanamshould be groomed in such away that it gladdens the heartsof visitors. Temple executiveofficer Srinivasa Raju, horticul-ture assistant director Saibaba,horticulture officer Swapnaand others accompanied thedistrict collector. Later, heinspected the drip-irrigationprovided on subsidy to farm-ers Salim and Shamim for cul-tivation of dragon fruit.

Collector pays surprise visit to Manyamkonda

PNS n WARANGAL

Commissioner of policeTarun Joshi has called uponpolice officials to have anunderstanding of using mod-ern technology.

He was speaking at a one-day workshop on "Cybercrimes and communicationtechnologies" at the NIT hereon Friday.

Cyber expert Dr Pal RaviKumar explained the officialsthe steps they should takewhen a cyber crime wasreported and how to identi-

fy cyber criminals and theline the investigation shouldtake. Expressing concernover increase cyber crimesfor the last several years, heobserved that the number ofthefts by cyber criminals hasincreased with the use oftechnology worldwide.

To check the crimes, peo-ple should be sensitised onhow the cyber crimes occur.The loss to the victims couldbe minimised by the promptresponse by the police afterthe crime was reported, hefelt.

CP asks police to adapt to modern technology

PNS n HYDERABAD

Bharatiya Janata Party statesenior leader Gudur NarayanaReddy on Friday demandedChief Minister K Chandrase-khara Rao to review the situ-ation arising out of spread ofdengue in the state immediate-ly and take control measureson war footing.

In a media statement, he saidthat the hospitals are full withthe patients of dengue. Hesaid that the spread of denguein the state was at epidemic lev-els, ringing alarm bells amongthe people. He said thataccording to government

records there were 4,694dengue cases all over the statetill October 5. However, thenumber might be double thanwhat the government claims.

Narayana Reddy said thatthe disease has wrecked havocin 2019 as the state loggedabout 13,361 cases in that year.Though the number of caseswas less in last year, it was atalarming level in this monsoonseason. The BJP leader saidthat while the number of Covidpositive cases has been comingdown, number of dengue caseswas on the rise. He alleged thatthe Health department didnot pay enough attention

towards dengue in this mon-soon season and this was thereason for the sudden spurt inthe cases.

Narayana Reddy said thatthere were heavy rains in thestate during the monsoon sea-son in this year and the sani-

tation situation has deteriorat-ed to worse. Mosquito menaceis high and this was the reasonfor the spread of Dengue.

He said that the sanitationsituation was much worse inGreater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation as water logginghas taken place at hundreds ofplaces since last year. Manycolonies are still in water inseveral areas. Number ofDengue cases was also quitehigh in GHMC limits, headded.

The BJP leader said that theprivate hospitals have beenfleecing the Dengue patientsfrom middle and poor sections.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Member of Rajya Sabha andTRS Secretary General Dr KKeshava Rao has been appoint-ed as member of Press Councilof India on Friday. The orderswere issued appointing PCI's14th term members. Six mem-bers from editors, seven fromjournalists, two each fromnewspapers and one each fromnews agency managers, UGC,Bar Council of India, SahityaAcademy are being appointedas the members of PCI.

4,694 dengue cases registered: Gudur

PNS n JAYASHANKARBHUPALAPALLY

The CITU has urged the SCCLmanagement to pay higherwages of Rs 19,147 per monthto contract workers as per theGO No. 22 and pay Rs 15,700per month to municipal work-ers as per the Pay RevisionCommission (PRC).

The CITU observed proteston Friday in the statedemanding pay hike for work-ers employed in 73 scheduledindustries.

Earlier, the CITU activiststook out a rally from RajivGandhi statue to SCCL GM's

office via MRO office. Theydemanded immediate imple-mentation of GO Ms No. 22.

The CITU leaders soughtputting amendments to labourlaws on hold and wanted thegovernment to put an end to

disposal of the PSUs. After the rally, the workers

staged vanta-varpu pro-gramme for two hours infront of the general manager’soffice at the culmination ofthe rally.

CITU demands higher wages for SCCLcontract workers, municipal employees

Keshava Raoappointed PCI member

PNS n MEDCHAL MALKAJGIRI

District Collector Harish hasappealed to farmers to growcommercial crops in lieu ofpaddy to earn profit. He wasspeaking at the general bodymeeting of Medchal-Malkajgiri Zilla Parishad afterinaugurating the mini meet-ing hall built on the first floorof the ZP building here onFriday.

He asked agriculture offi-cer Rekha Mary to pay spe-cial attention to ensure farm-ers raised alternative crops topaddy.

‘Raise cashcrops in lieu of paddy toearn profit'

K VENKATESHWARLU

n HYDERABAD

Stating that CLP leader MalluBhatti Vikramarka's statement52.5 percent of farmers inTelangana are tenant farmerswas far from the truth, MinisterSingireddy Niranjan Reddy onFriday said that 92.5 percent oftillers in the State can be cate-

gorised as 'small and marginalfarmers'.

Pointing out that all details ofall the farmers in the State areavailable with the AgricultureDepartment, the Minister saidthat Telangana has acquiredthese details in scientific man-ner. "Also, details of every'gunta' of land under cultivationare available," he said. He asked

the opposition leaders if theyhave details of tenant farmersas they claimed.

Niranjan said that the figuresof tenant farmers are dynamic,since the agreements betweenfarmers and tenant farmerswould generally be for one yearonly. He went on to emphasisethat the condition of tenantfarmers in TS was not as wor-

risome as in neighbouring AP."While the Chief Minister

has made it clear that the gov-ernment will not extend RythuBandhu to tenant farmers, wemay think of giving compensa-tion to those facing a crisis," hesaid. Niranjan Reddy said thatthe argument of BhattiVikramarka that the govern-ment was not giving input sub-

sidy was wrong. He said that theTelangana government paidthe pending input subsidyamount of Rs 668 crore of thethen Congress governmentfrom 2009 to 2014. He said thatthe government paid Rs 843.62crore to 4.36 lakh farmers,who have taken less than Rs50,000 as loans, under loanwaiver scheme.

Minister picks holes in Bhatti's claim of 52.5% tenant farmers

Hindu Bengalis referred totheir Muslim brethren asbecharas to be pitied and notdisapproved of them even forvoting for Partition almost 100per cent. Their leader, verypopular with the peasantry,Fazulul Haque, had proposedthe Pakistan Resolution atLahore on March 23, 1940, atthe Muslim League session. Itis true many Hindus discrim-inated against Muslims. Afrequent complaint was thatthough they invited Muslimsto wedding dinners, the latterwere made to sit separatelyand had to wash their emptyplates at the end of the meal.

One complaint I have per-sonally heard from a memberof the Bramachari family. Thesituation was that their villagehad become impossible tolive in and the entire familyhad to flee to, say, Calcuttaovernight. How to deal withhis six-month-old sister (whomay cry at night) was thequestion. After discussion,the family decided to strangleher. Thankfully, an elderlyaunt got an idea, “let’s give hera little afeem so that she sleepsthrough the night”.

There was no spare farm-land for the incoming peasants.So they were sent to Danda-Karanya in Madhya Pradesh,

which had been cleared forthem. The refugees had beenused to a lot more fertile landand, therefore, most of themcould not adjust to the part-stony forest land and theyreturned to West Bengal’srefugee camps. The result ofovercrowding in Calcutta wasunwelcome. Several streets, likePark Street which reminded oneof London, became unkemptand ordinary. Yet Bidhan Roy,the medical physician-cum-Chief Minister, battled on todevelop West Bengal. He builttwo small cities, Kalyani andDurgapur, to create space fornew industries. His only faultwas to be subservient to Nehru,but then he was not a grassrootspolitician. The number onephysician in India, his privatepatient fee then was `64,unheard of in Bombay andMadras of those days.

Roy was followed byCongressman Prafulla Sen,who was clean and honest. Helasted three years when in1967, the general electionswere called. The Congresswas replaced by a UnitedFront Government headed byAjoy Mukharjee, a formerCongressman often referred toas the Gandhi of Bengal.Once, fed up with the recalci-trance of Deputy CM Jyoti

Basu and their CommunistMinisters, Ajoy babu sat on adharna. Asked by a journalistas to how he can protestagainst his own Ministry, hisreply in Bengali was: “I am notmukho (chief) montri, normurkho (foolish) montri but athutto (broken arms)Jagannath.” The reply soundsvery effective in Bengali. Withthe Communists dictatingterms, West Bengal washurtling down. Naxals addedpoison to the bitterness.

West Bengal, for 33 yearsor more, had to suffer theCommunist policy of keepingpeople on the frontiers ofpoverty so that they do notrebel but, at the same time, donot get strong enough fororganising a revolution. Theonly unusual step they tookwas to make peace with share-croppers, who were partnerswith land owners. West Bengalshifted to three crops a year;the yields went up and thetillers were happier. WestBengal has become a farming-cum-trading State rather thanjust number one industrialState in 1947.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, an authorand a former member of theRajya Sabha. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERSSir — Mental health is a critical topic inthe modern era. The World MentalHealth Day encourages us to be more con-scious of not only the physical but also ourown mental health as well. Good healthdoes not refer to merely the absence of anydisease but it centres around completephysical, social and mental well-being.Most people know that exercise is goodfor your body but did you know how goodit is for your mental health as well? Regularexercise can really help you deal with anx-iety and depression. Mental wellbeingplays a vital role in an individual’s life aswell as the society’s as whole.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ourlives have changed considerably. Ourmovements have been restricted, social lifehas been halted and we have started livingin a digital workspace which has increasedour stress and depression levels. People havelost their loved ones and their jobs whilemany are still struggling with the side-effects of the infection or post-illness trau-ma. As the Mental Illness AwarenessWeek is underway, we must take a step toput our mental and emotional health on thepedestal for not just a few days, but for aslong as we want to live happily.

Somya Agrawal | Ujjain

A BID TO SENSITISE PEOPLESir — Selfless acts of those who save livesof road accident victims will now berewarded with a cash prize for theirhumane attitude amidst the ever-growinginstances of accidents. The Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highways must belauded for this initiative of rewarding thesamaritans. This can augur well to reduceIndia’s staggering road mishap toll. India hasa bad distinction of having the highest num-ber of road accidents, ranking third among20 nations. The fatalities ratio is much high-er as compared to the US and Japan.

The National Crime Records Bureaudata reveal that of the 1,33,715 lives lost in2020, 1,20,716 cases were due to negligence.These numbers are alarming since mobil-ity was disrupted during the pandemic. Inspite of an amendment to the Motor Vehicle

Act to sensitise police forces and hospitals,altruism is affected on account of harass-ment and legal complications. Reductionin mortality demand concerted action onseveral fronts like scientific road designs,standards, zero tolerance enforcement,safety awareness etc. The Samaritan plancan work well only if district committeesreadily recognise their contribution aidedby the police, hospitals and the otherauthorities concerned.

Vijay Singh Adhikari | Nainital

PUT CRACKERS TO ‘FIRE’Sir — Both the States and the courts havetheir own responsibilities and limitations.It is unfortunate some progressive-think-ing court orders are ridiculed for being“anti--sentimental”. Similarly, people ofDelhi and Rajasthan are sore with theirGovernments for banning firecrackers fora specific period. The Delhi Governmenthas banned the storage, sale and use of fire-crackers. Bursting of crackers, the ensuingemission of pollutants into the air and the

enormous damage they can do to the res-piratory system is known only too well.

An interesting explanation offered bythe Rajasthan Government is the “effect onimmunity” by the smoke of firecrackers. Asis known, immunity plays a large role in theprevention of COVID-19, as well as recov-ery. The Supreme Court’s prohibition onsale of firecrackers through the famous 2018judgment has still not been imbibed by thecommon people. The court had, instead,allowed green crackers. People of Delhi andthe rest of NCR will vouch for the terrible“gas chambers” their cities turn into aroundDiwali. This year’s Delhi Governmentorder has cleared the air — no storage, nosale, no use of firecrackers. It is always pos-sible that clandestine black marketing offirecrackers may happen; but the intentionof the courts and the Governments cannotbe sidetracked.

Ganapathi Bhat | Nagpur

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

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HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 9, 2021

06

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Starting with the Congress, and later the Communists, political partiesfor decades didn’t allow West Bengal to realise its full potential

BENGAL, FOR 33 YEARS OR

MORE, HAD TOSUFFER THECOMMUNIST

POLICY OF KEEPINGPEOPLE ON THE

FRONTIERS OFPOVERTY SO THAT

THEY DO NOTREBEL BUT, AT THE

SAME TIME, DONOT GET STRONG

ENOUGH FORORGANISING A

REVOLUTION

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

PRAFULL GORADIA

We are disturbed and distressed thatinnocent civilians have been killed inKashmir; we deplore and condemn the

senseless killings of members of minoritycommunities; no cause can justify or con-done that. Among those killed were ordinarypeople like you and me — a pharmacist, astreet food vendor, a taxi driver and schoolteachers. The targeted killings by theResistance Front (TRF) militants were obvi-ously meant to convey the message that theywill resist the influx of those who fled Kashmirin the 1990s and ‘outsiders’ and ‘non-locals’

into the Valley as they fear it could changeits demographic profile. The fear of demo-graphic change may have been fueled by thewebsite launched to facilitate and expedite thereturn of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley.

It cannot be claimed that everything ishunky dory in Kashmir following the abroga-tion of Article 370 and the bifurcation of theState into two Union Territories. Clearly, theUnion Ministers’ mega outreach programmesand Union Government’s promise of hugeinvestment in infrastructural development havenot brought normality to the troubled region.By restoring statehood and special status,granting more autonomy commensurate withlegitimate political aspirations, promising thepreservation of Kashmir’s distinct culture andidentity, demilitarising the region to theextent possible and strengthening secularism,the Union Government can militate against mil-itancy and win the hearts and minds of the peo-ple of Kashmir.

G David Milton | Maruthancode

The Valley is ‘not’ beautiful

How Congress tieddown Bengal’s hands

Nearly a century ago,Gopal KrishnaGokhale said: “WhatBengal thinks today,

India thinks tomorrow.” What aflattering compliment to a Statewhere I grew up and spent 38years. Even after Partition, WestBengal maintained its positionamong Indian provinces. Thenbegan a pour-in of haplessrefugees from East Bengal,Pakistan’s eastern wing. ChiefMinister Bidhan Roy was a capa-ble, honest and visionary leaderbut Jawaharlal Nehru did notallow him to handle the inflowof refugees.

Nehru wrote him letter afterletter. To quote from them: “Ihave your letter of August 4about the influx from EastBengal. I realise your difficultiesand naturally we should do whatwe can to help you. But as I toldyou long ago, there is no reason-able solution to the problem ifthere is a large influx from EastBengal. That is why I think thatit was a very wrong thing forsome of the Hindu leaders of EastBengal to come to West Bengal.

“I have been quite certainright from the beginning thateverything should be done toprevent Hindus in East Bengalfrom migrating to West Bengal.If that happened on a mass scale,it would be a disaster of the firstmagnitude. Running away isnever a solution to a problem. If,as you suggest, things have gonetoo far already, then naturally weshall all do what we can, but Ishudder at the prospect and themagnitude of the human miserythat will come in its train. To thelast, I shall try to check migrationeven if there is war.”

These are samples of doublestandards of the Nehru dynasty.Because when it came to Punjab,many more were coming in,many dead, in bleeding trains. Atthe time, rumours were afloatthat Master Tara Singh, a Sikhleader, had threatened Nehruthat if he came in the way ofPunjabi refugees, the PM may bekilled. Otherwise, why have onepolicy for Punjabis and anotherfor Bengalis? Bengali Muslimswere not leaving in significantnumbers; here it was largely aone-way traffic.

That was the time when

SOUNDBITEI have told Tesla that it should manufacture electriccars in India, andalso export cars from here.

Union Minister — Nitin Gadkari

I thank theChancellor (Angela Merkel) for the decisiverole she has had in

designing the future of Europe.

Italian Prime Minister — Mario Draghi

Watching thisyounger generationof talent capture thestage inspires me toreinvent, unlearnand relearn.

Actor— Shilpa Shetty Kundra

For the past twoyears, the MHA has been directlycontrolling the security situation inthe Valley. And look what it has led us to!

PDP spokesman — Suhail Bukhari

I think we will see a really strongEngland side comeout here as wewould want as

players and as Australian fans.

Australian Test skipper

— Tim Paine

Dealing with celebrities and their kin is often a double-edged sword, espe-cially when it comes to journalism. On the one hand, it garners eyeballsand mileage in terms of attention and, on the other, if not handled deftly, it

can open up a can of worms. Captioning this case through the pedigree of analleged offender does get the reader’s attention. That it may not be in the best

traditions of healthy journalism is another matter.What an adult does, cannot be laid at the doorstepof his parentage, irrespective of the merits of thecase. On Friday afternoon, Shah Rukh Khan’s sonAryan’s bail plea was rejected in the cruise shipdrug raid case. Aryan is an adult, responsible forhis own conduct. The law of the land will deal withhim appropriately, depending on the merits of thecase. Why then bring in the parentage? Aryan isin the limelight for many wrong reasons. In casethe chap is not guilty, he should be allowed to walkfree honourably. However, if he is guilty (the

panchnama does quote him as saying, ‘I am going to have a blast…have a goodtime’, with six gm of charas), he should be awarded punishment like anybodyelse, without giving any leverage to his lineage.

In fact, erring children born to super influential parents should meet with evenharsher punishment to set an example. The law enforcers, media and the society,on their part, should also make sure that they do not indulge in witch-hunting. Whilea few grams of drugs on the cruise liner is hitting the headlines, the drug seizureof `21,000 crore from the Mundra port in Gujarat was conveniently forgotten bythe media and swept under the carpet early enough. Undue hype only makes lifemiserable for the accused and the NCB, besides weakening the case. RheaChakraborty’s case is still fresh in our memories. On a different note, certain psy-chologists point out that SRK’s repeated brag about his success after a hard strug-gle and mega stardom may impress people like Karan Johar but it could be irri-tating to many. In that case, there would be a propensity to bring him down a pegor two. Therefore, a section of the media may be overtaken by this desire to showa mirror and possibly establish how the brag itself could be misplaced.

The time to think is over. It is time to act sensibly and avoid the third wave of theCoronavirus pandemic. It is time to wear masks, fully covering the mouth andnose. The festive season began on Thursday with the first day of Navratras. It

will last till the new year. The three-month period has several events that can turn super-spreaders. Social, cultural and religious groups are ready with their demands for per-mission to celebrate certain festivals. Political parties are advising restraint, but votebank policies can sway them any time. The Governments at the Centre and in theStates have so far shown a strong resolve to break the infection cycle this time. Theyare also running against time in trying to fully vaccinate the eligible population in thecountry. A relief of sorts is the revelation by a survey that more people are losingtheir inhibitions about vaccination. Social media platform LocalCircles says vaccine

hesitancy is at its lowest at seven per cent. The sur-vey responses show that the vaccine-hesitant do notplan to take the jab till they are convinced that thecurrently available vaccines provide enough protec-tion from the current and future variants of COVID-19. There is no logic to remain hesitant, but the leastthat such people can do is strictly follow the safe-ty precautions. There is clear evidence that vacci-nation will not prevent infection but can certainlyreduce its intensity and the unvaccinated only havethe precautions as a fallback.

The Centre asserts it can tackle the third waveif it becomes unavoidable. It apparently has an adequate medical infrastructure interms of beds, separate hospitals, oxygen, drugs and doctors to tackle a daily surgeof 4.5-5 lakh fresh cases. It is a worst-case scenario no doubt, but people mustrealise that the country is officially still not rid of the second wave of the pandem-ic. At the national level, there is a consistent pattern of daily decline in cases. However,the virus is proving difficult to control in some pockets of the country. The COVID-19 positivity percentage is over 10 in 34 districts of the country. Thirteen of thesedistricts are in Kerala and 18 in the Northeast. The rest of the country is opening upfast now. Schools have reopened, economic activity is back to normal, domestictravel has re-commenced. Many States have unlocked places of worship though some,like Tamil Nadu, are keeping them closed during weekends to avoid crowding. UnlikeIndia, several countries are still experiencing a bad pandemic situation, but theGovernment plans to open up the country for foreign tourists from October 15. Itmust have its logic for doing so. The Government may want to have a rethink con-sidering that people still do not follow elementary rules like wearing masks. The lastday of the ‘Mahalaya’ ceremony on Wednesday, for instance, saw thousands assem-bling on river banks, completely careless about the safety of self and others.

Staying safe

Cruise controlKids born to influential parents have an

equal right to be judged fairly, or punished

PICTALK

IAF’s aerobatic team, Sarang, performs to mark the 89th foundation day of the force, at Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad PTI

The nation must continue to be serious about COVID and not let its guard down

Pollution levels arethe worst in India

WE CAN’T STAY SILENT IF FARMERS

ARE KILLED IN A PLANNED WAY…I ALSO

UNDERSTAND MY DUTY.

—PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER

CHARANJIT SINGH CHANNI

THE PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER IS NOT EVEN

ABLE TO DECIDE ON HIS OWN DGP. HIS JOB

IS ONLY TO SPREAD NEGATIVITY.

—UP CHIEF MINISTER

YOGI ADITYANATH

As India’s air pollution levelshave expanded geographicallyover time and increased somuch in Maharashtra and

Madhya Pradesh that an average personis now losing an additional 2.5 to 2.9years of life expectancy, a data of min-istry of agriculture showed that 95,278incidents of stubble burning have beenreported so far since this January. Thecases have declined during the monsoonperiod.

The data showed that 10,765 inci-dents reported in January; 10,111 inFebruary; 10,646 in March; 39,254 inApril; 21,970 in May; 2,036 in June; 273in July; 68 in August and 155 inSeptember. Maharashtra has reported2,516 incidents in January, 2,308 inFebruary, 1,713 in March, 915 in Apriland 519 in May. Madhya Pradesh hasreported 416 incidents in January, 226 inFebruary, 5,183 in March, 20,690 in Apriland 2,367 in May. Chhattisgarh hasreported 2,230 incidents in January,1,710 in February, 526 in March, 230 inApril, 214 in May and 783 in June.

Bihar reported 2,618 incidents inApril and 378 in June. Haryana report-ed 132 incidents in January, 234 inFebruary, 1,934 in April, 1752 in May.Uttar Pradesh reported 828 incidents inJanuary, 1,269 in February, 447 in March,7,227 in April and 2,369 in May. Punjabreported 1,183 in April, 9,940 in May and328 in June.

As per the data, Punjab witnessed anincrease of 44.5 per cent incidents of stub-ble burning in 2020 despite getting 46 percent of the total funds from the centralgovernment for checking crop burningresidue. Punjab saw 76,590 incidents offire in 2020 as compared to 52,991instances in 2019 which indicates anincrease of 44.5 per cent as compared tothe earlier year. Haryana in the year 2020,the total active fire events reported was5,000 while in 2019, it was 6,652 whichindicates a decrease of 25 per cent.

The stubble burning in Delhi and itsneighbouring states-Haryana, Punjaband Western Uttar Pradesh has notstarted yet. Stubble burning is essential-ly a common practice followed by farm-ers in order to get their fields ready forsowing wheat. This usually happensahead of the winter season. After thepaddy is harvested, there is very little timefor farmers to sow wheat, which makesit an urgent task for farmers. While somealleviating measures have been taken bygovernments, these are never enough asevery year Delhi witnesses unusual lev-els of smog during the months of Octoberand November. This makes it importantfor the government to diagnose andaddress the fundamental issues whicharm twist the farmers to burn paddystraw every year.

Paddy stubble burning in Punjab,Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh isa fact, but farmers have no choice. They

Stubble burning by farmers is not defiance but a low-cost straw disposalmethod that also reduces the turnaround time. The solution lies in this fact

POLLUTION INDELHI AND THE

NATIONALCAPITAL REGION

IS INVARIABLYBLAMED ON

STUBBLEBURNING BYFARMERS OF

NEIGHBOURINGSTATES,

ALTHOUGH STUBBLE IS ONLY

ONE OF THEMANY SOURCESOF DELHI’S AIR

POLLUTION.OTHERS

INCLUDE DUST,INDUSTRIAL AND

VEHICULAREMISSIONS, AND

INCINERATION

Life is a complex process. Living through it requires many skills,all of which are perhaps not even listed. The human life spanis less than 50 man-years for effective work. This itself would

be a generous figure if one factors in the time spent in sleeping,rejuvenation, looking after daily needs, etc. To calculate this for allthe human groups inhabiting the planet is a daunting task. Peoplelearn what they can in what their circumstances and talent enable.This can only go so far. The time spent in earning a livelihood and‘keeping the body and soul together’ is yet to reach the calcula-tion table. The reality of the planet Earth runs into numbers whichare demanding to comprehend. Life has existed in some form forbillions of years on this planet. It evolved gradually from the livingcells to amphibian life to separation of creatures that lived on theland and water. The present version of Homo Sapiens has traces,in some parts of the planet going back to 70000 years or more.

In the meanwhile, land movements took place, volcanic eruptionsand more shaped the geography of what is today the plant Earth.Pushing of the weaker landmass against a more stable earth struc-tures like the Tibetan plateau caused mountains to rise. Rivers flowedand river valley cultures, emerged over thousands upon thousandsof years. The history of the world as taught and learnt in curricu-la around the globe, in the best of cases, do not even cross 10,000years. Clearly there is so little that we know of how the Homo Sapiensarrived to be where they are on this planet. Planet Earth itself is avery small speck in the solar system of a galaxy. Our galaxy is oneof many. A galaxy is a gravitationally bound system of stars, stel-lar remnants, inter stellar gas, dust and dark matter. To compre-hend the figure, it is impor tant to recognise that in 2021, datafrom NASA’s space probe was used to revise the previous esti-mate to roughly 200 billion galaxies. This was only with refer-ence to the observable universe. Most of the galaxies are approx-imately 3000 to 300000 light years in diameter. Most galaxies are‘gravitationally organised into groups, clusters and super clus-ters’. The speed at which the so called stars of this galaxy sys-tem move is even more complex to comprehend. Galaxy of MilkyWay ‘includes the solar system with the name describing thegalaxy’s appearance from Ear th.

It is estimated to contain 100 to 400 billion stars and at leastthat number of planets. The solar system is located at a radius ofabout 27000 light years from the galactic centre.’ The above descrip-tion would be enough to flag the super microscopic reality of a humanexistence on this planet. Yet, this super miniscule existence is some-thing ‘super’ in its own way. It has life and an intelligence whichis somewhat evolved. It is important to keep the above in mind tohave a sense of proportion about the significance and value of humanlife. It is important to understand how precious a super tiny lifeexpression can be.It is important to get a sense of proportion anddepth to our thinking and endeavours. All measurement is not justa measurement through figures. It is also a measurement by expe-rience. It is also a measurement by potential. There are several nar-ratives available of the powers some evolved Homo Sapiens suc-ceeded in achieving. All this needs to be built into our curriculumplanning and so-called school, college and beyond, education.

(The writer is a well-known management consultant. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

It’s been the biggest shockin archaeology for a longtime. British and

American archaeologists havefound solid evidence thathuman beings — we couldcall them ‘the forerunners’ —were in the Americas around6,000 years before the earliestpreviously accepted date.

What the archaeologistsfound, at White Sands inNew Mexico, was thousandsof actual footprints, whichdefinitely beats some chippedstones that might or might notbe ancient spear points.Moreover, the lead author ofthe report in the journal‘Science’, Prof. MatthewBennett of BournemouthUniversity in England, thinksmost of the footprints werejust kids.

“These were America’s

first teenagers,” he told ‘TheObserver’, “and they werehanging out together as theydo today. The only thingmissing then was a smart-phone.” What the forerunnershave given us, is a couple ofchallenging mysteries. Thesmaller one is how they gotthere.

They presumably startedby crossing the now-sub-merged land bridge betweenSiberia and Alaska. That wasthe easy bit. But a solid wallof glaciers more than a kilo-metre high blocked the landroute south through Canadafrom Alaska 22,000 years ago.How did they get aroundthat? Maybe they had dugoutcanoes (though big trees wererare in the Ice-Age Arctic), butit would have been a very longway down a rocky, ice-clad

coast (2,500 km.) with noth-ing to eat but the fish you cancatch. By comparison the‘Clovis’ people, who we usedto think were the first humansin the Americas, had it easy.

By the time they showedup about 13,000 years ago, anorth-south corridor hadopened up through the ice-fields in what is now Alberta.You could walk the whole dis-tance to Clovis, New Mexico,

and find food along the way.From the arrival of the

Clovis people onwards, evi-dence of human presence inthe Americas is widespreadand continuous. Furtherresearch has found that somesimilar people may have beenin the two continents as longas 16,000 years ago.

But the bigger mystery isthis: if there were alreadyhuman beings in New Mexico22,000 years ago, where didthey go for the next 6,000years? How could there not beother evidence of their pres-ence in other places?

You can’t carbon-datefootprints in the mud, but youcan date the ditch grass seedsthat are trapped in the mud(now turned into rock) in thelayers just above and belowthose footprints. The archae-

ologists tested the date everyway they knew, and everytime the answer came out thesame: the footprints arebetween 23,000 and 21,000years old.

Okay, then. Time to askthe question we’d all ratheravoid. Could the forerunnersbe one or more groups thatdid an end-run around theglaciers 22,000 years ago,thrived for a little while in theAmericas, and then for somereason died out? No evidencefor a human presence over thenext 6,000 years strongly sug-gests that the forerunners justweren’t there any more. Nomass extinction of Americanmegafauna (large prey ani-mals) until the Clovis huntersarrive sixty centuries latermakes it almost certain.

When human hunter-

gatherers first settled a conti-nent or ocean island wherethe big prey animals had notco-evolved with humanbeings and did not fear them,there was always a massextinction: Australia 46,000years ago, the Americasaround 10-12,000 years ago,New Zealand only 700 yearsago. If it didn’t happen anyearlier than that in theAmericas, then the forerun-ners were probably long gone.

Or maybe, they were stillhanging on somewhere insmall numbers until theClovis people arrived, proba-bly with better weapons, andswept them aside. That’s whatDr Andrea Manica, a geneti-cist at Cambridge University,thinks. He told the BBC thatthe genetics “clearly shows asplit of Native Americans

from Asians approximately15-16,000 years ago.”

The forerunners are notrepresented in that genetic lin-eage, and Manica suggeststhat “the initial colonists of theAmericas were replaced whenthe ice corridor formed andanother wave of colonistscame in. We have no idea howthat happened.” Yes, we do.We just don’t like to thinkabout it.

The world’s prehistory isfilled with examples of morepowerful groups driving outor wiping out less powerfulgroups. Often the men andthe boy children would bekilled while the women wouldbe kept, but the forerunners (ifthey were still around to meetthe new bosses) weren’t eventhat lucky. Sixty centuries,and nothing to show for it.

The archaeologists have found thousands of footprints at White Sands in New Mexico, which has left them with two challenging mysteries

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 9, 2021

07

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

FIRSTCOLUMNCOMING TO GRIPS

WITH HUMAN REALITY

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

(The writer is a SpecialCorrespondent, ThePioneer. The views

expressed are personal.)

America’s first teenagers?

GWYNNE DYER

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘The Shortest History

of War’. The views expressed are personal.)

VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

are compelled to burn paddy stub-ble in the short time they have.These farmers work on a paddy-wheat cycle. Since wheat is a rabicrop, farmers are compelled to har-vest paddy and sell it as well asmake sure the field is ready for thenext round of sowing. This processtakes around 15 days. The strawwas once removed manually dur-ing the harvest and used as cattlefeed or to make cardboard, butnow most farmers rent a combineharvester which leaves up to 80per cent of the residue in the field.Farmers say they donot have thetime or money to store the strawor plough the stubble back intothe ground. For these farmers,burning the paddy straw is an easyway out.

This act of farmers is not defi-ance. Instead, the burning processis a low-cost straw-disposalmethod that also reduces the turn-around time for them. However,the resultant smoke travels all theway to the national capital due tothe winds. This smoke adds to thealready existing suspended partic-ulate matter (SPM) and otherthings that clogs lungs.

Every year, pollution in Delhiand the National Capital Region isinvariably blamed on crop stubbleburning by farmers from neigh-bouring states-Haryana, Punjaband West Uttar Pradesh. Althoughtheir stubble is only one of manysources of Delhi’s air pollution.Others include dust, industrialand vehicular emissions, andincineration. Weather plays a roletoo. Farmers burn stubble twice ayear - in summer and at the onsetof winter. The first time they do it,

the warm breeze disperses it quick-ly. But the second time, in Octoberand November, plummeting tem-peratures and low wind speedspread the smoke far and wide.

According to the governmentdata, stubble burning is a poten-tial source of Green House Gases(GHGs) and other chemically andradioactive important trace gasesand aerosols such as CH4, CO,N2O, NOX and other hydrocar-bons. It is estimated that uponburning, Carbon (C) present inrice straw is emitted as CO2(70 percent of Carbon present), CO(seven per cent) and CH4(0.66 percent) while 2.09 per cent ofNitrogen (N) in straw is emitted asN2O. Besides, burning of cropresidue also emits large amountsof particulates that are composedof a wide variety of organic andinorganic species. Many of the pol-lutants found in large quantities inbiomass smoke are known or sus-pected carcinogens and could leadto various air borne/lung diseases.Besides, it is estimated that burn-ing of one tonne of paddy strawaccounts for loss of 5.5 kgNitrogen, 2.3 kg phosphorus, 25 kgpotassium and 1.2 kg sulphurbesides, organic carbon.

In Delhi, the PM10(Particulate Matter-10 describesparticles that can be inhaled, withdiameters that are generally 10micrometres and smaller) andPM25 levels are 4-5 times higherthan the national average, accord-ing to a detailed study carried outby IIT-Kanpur, and submitted tothe Delhi Pollution ControlCommittee and Department ofEnvironment way back in 2016.

Industries alone further add toalmost 90 percent of SulphurDioxide to Delhi’s pollution. AndCarbon Monoxide is contributedat the rate of almost 83 percent justby the vehicles.

According to the University ofChicago’s Air Quality Life Index(AQLI) report, in India, home to22 of the world’s 30 most pollut-ed cities, toxic air kills more thanone million people each year.According to the report, morethan 480 million people or about40 per cent of its population liv-ing in the Indo-Gangetic plains inthe north where pollution levelsregularly exceed those found any-where else in the world by anorder of magnitude. Residents ofnorthern India are on track to losemore than nine years of lifeexpectancy if pollution levels ofthat of 2019 persist as the regionexperiences the most extremelevels of air pollution in the world,it said. In 2019, India’s average par-ticulate matter concentration was70.3 microgram per cubic metre(?g/m3), the highest in the worldand seven times the World HealthOrganisation’s (WHO’s) guide-line of 10 ?g/m3, the report said.

The smoggy air cloakingIndia’s cities often contains dan-gerously high levels of fine partic-ulate matter, known as PM2.5.These pollutants have been linkedto lung and heart disease and areknown to impair cognitive func-tions and the immune system.PM2.5 air pollution causedaround 54,000 premature deathsin New Delhi in 2020, accordingto an analysis by GreenpeaceSoutheast Asia.

RAJESH KUMAR

The super-miniscule existence of humans is something ‘super’ in its own way

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 9, 2021 Money 08

PNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of Indiaexpectedly kept interest ratesunchanged at a record lowon Friday but signalled thestart of tapering pandemic-era stimulus measures oneconomic recovery takingroots.

The six-memberMonetary Policy Committee(MPC) kept the key lendingrate or the repo rateunchanged at 4 per centwhile the reverse repo rate orthe borrowing rate wasmaintained at 3.35 per cent.It voted 5-1 to retain theaccommodative stance, RBIGovernor Shaktikanta Dassaid in an online broadcast.

He indicated the centralbank's willingness to make"gradual" adjustments to theexcess liquidity in the mon-etary system which current-ly stands at over Rs 9 lakhcrore.

Importantly, the GSAPprogramme to purchase gov-ernment securities from themarket has been stoppedfor now to ensure that thereis no further infusion of liq-uidity, he said and stressedthat the step is not a rever-sal of its accommodativepolicy stance. RBI will beready to resume bond pur-chases if needed, he added.

RBI had bought Rs 2.2lakh crore worth bondsthrough GovernmentSecurities AcquisitionProgramme or GSAP in theprevious two quarters.

RBI keeps interest rates unchanged atrecord low; signals tapering of stimulus

PNS n MUMBAI

RBI Deputy Governor MRajeshwar Rao on Friday saidthe central bank is examiningwhether deposit acceptanceby Google and Amazon iswithin the prescribed lawsand regulations, at a timewhen concerns about big techfirms' play in the financialspace are at a heightened

level. Both Google Pay andAmazon have announcedpartnerships with lenders toaccept deposits in the coun-try through their mobilephone apps. "We are examin-ing the issue regarding theregulatory implications, hav-ing regard to the applicablelaws and the regulations thatare prescribed for the thing.So, we are examining it," Rao

told reporters. He addedthat the entry of big techs intothe financial sector space is aglobal phenomenon which isengaging the attention of cen-tral banks around the world aswell. In its last financial sta-bility report in June this year,the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) had warned againstallowing big tech firms intofinancial services.

Big tech's financial sector play under watch

PNS n MUMBAI

To further ease the financial woesof the states hit by the pandemic,the Reserve Bank has decided tocontinue with all the enhancedborrowing limits through the waysand means advances (WMA) andoverdraft facility this fiscal. Sincethe beginning of the pandemicand resultant higher borrowings,states have been paying higherinterest to their bondholders -trending close to 7 per cent all sofar this fiscal. This is despitemany of them borrowing less thanthe notified amount by tapping theWMA window more often thistime around, and as of July, it hasrisen 35 per cent to Rs 92,000crore. As recommended by theSudhir Shrivastava-led panel thatreviewed the WMA limits forstates and UTs, the Reserve Bank

has enhanced the interim WMAlimits and has given Rs 51,560crore till September-end to helpstates tide over the difficultiesduring the pandemic, the centralbank said on Friday, announcingthe fourth monetary policy reviewwherein it left all the key policyrates unchanged. “Consideringthe uncertainties related to theongoing pandemic, it has beendecided to continue with theenhanced WMA limits up toMarch 31, 2022,” RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das said. It has alsobeen decided to continue theliberalised measures introduced todeal with the pandemic, such asenhancing the maximum numberof days of OD in a quarter from36 to 50 days and the number ofconsecutive days of OD from 14to 21 days, up to the end of thisfiscal, the governor added.

RBI keeps all liquidity windowsfor states open till March-end

PNS n NEW DELHI

The real estate industry on Fridaywelcomed the RBI's decision tokeep key policy rates unchanged,saying the interest rates on homeloans will remain at historical lowlevel and housing sales may rise byup to 40 per cent during this festivalquarter. The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) decided to keep benchmarkinterest rate unchanged at 4 percent. This is the eighth time in arow that the RBI has maintained

status quo. "RBI's move of keepingthe repo rate at 4 per cent andreverse repo rate at 3.55 per cent isa welcome move. Theacknowledgment of taking anaccommodative stance while havingindicators of economic recovery is amessage in the right direction,"CREDAI President Harsh VardhanPatodia said."While inflation has been better

than expected with the festiveseason coming in and RBI keepingrates at status quo we look forward

to more support from bankers onhome loans to push the festivesales cheer," he said. NAREDCO-Maharashtra President AshokMohanani said the interest rates willcontinue to be at a record low forsome time and this is the best timeto buy homes. Anshu manMagazine, Chairman & CEO, India,South-East Asia, Middle East &Africa, CBRE, said he expectsresidential sales to further increasein the coming months as home loanrates would remain cheap. Anarock

Chairman Anuj Puri said: "In shortfor homebuyers, the low home loaninterest rates regime will continue inthe market and help foster housingdemand during the ongoing festiveseason. Notably, this is a periodwhen housing sales usually surgeon the back of attractive offers bydevelopers and lending banks." Theongoing festive quarter will see atleast a 35-40 per cent yearly risein overall housing sales across thetop 7 cities as against the sameperiod in 2020, he said.

Realtors hail RBI policy; expect sales to rise 40pc in Oct-Dec on low rates

PNS n MUMBAI

Following are the highlights ofthe RBI's bi-monthly monetarypolicy announced by GovernorShaktikanta Das:nRBI keeps short-term lending

rate (repo) at 4 pc for 8thtime in row; retains accommodative policy stance

n Marginal standing facility rateand bank rate too remainunchanged at 4.25 pc;Reverse repo rate alsounchanged at 3.35 pc

n GDP growth projection tooretained at 9.5 pc for FY'22

n RBI says retail inflation likelyto be 5.3 pc for 2021-22,lower than earlier projectionof 5.7 pc

n Going forward, severalevolving factors providecomfort on food price front,says RBI Guv

Highlights of RBI's bi-

monthly monetary policy

PNS n MUMBAI

After flagging concernssurrounding the inflationaryimpact of the high indirect taxeson fuels for the second time, RBIGovernor Shaktikanta Das onFriday said it is now for thegovernment to take a decision onthe issue, which is pinchingcommon citizens. Das, who hadearlier flagged the issue publiclyfor the second consecutive timein as many policy announcements, said that the governmenthas acted on other supply sideissues like pulses and edible oils.It can be noted that thegovernment had hiked duties andcesses on fuels like petrol and

diesel to record levels after asharp dip in global crude priceslast year which resulted in higherrevenue collections. With therebound in prices, thegovernment has not moved tocut the taxes due to whichIndians are paying over Rs 100for a litre of petrol and diesel isalso close to the three-digit mark.“On this issue (indirect taxes onfuels) as well as on several otherissues where the action lies in thedomain of the government, thereis constant engagement betweenthe RBI and the government. Wevoice all our suggestions andconcerns from time to time,” Dastold reporters in the customarypost policy interaction.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The RBI's decision to keep interestrates unchanged while continuingits accommodative stance is a pru-dent step in view of the unevenpath of recovery momentum, IndiaInc said on Friday. The central bankexpectedly kept interest ratesunchanged at a record low onFriday but signalled the start oftapering pandemic-era stimulus

measures on economic recoverytaking roots. Chandrajit Banerjee,Director General, CII said even asencouraging signs of improvementhave been noted across severalpockets of growth lately, "we are inconsonance with RBI's reading thatthe current growth recoveryprocess would need continued pol-icy support even as the inflationtrajectory has turned out to bemore favourable than expected”.

India Inc welcomes RBI's decisionto keep interest rates on hold

Flagged our concerns on high

petrol taxes: RBI Governor

The centre has relaxed exportban for Odisha to ship810.1894 MT (tonnes) of

red sanders wood in log form.The relaxation was given for redsanders wood in the form oflogs fallen due to cyclone, fromParalakhemundi forest divisionin Odisha. According to anotification of the directorategeneral of foreign trade (DGFT), the state's forest, environment andclimate change department, will finalise the modalities for export ofthe respective quantity within 12 months."Prohibition on export ofred sanders wood in log form has been relaxed for export of810.1894 MT (tonnes) of red sanders wood in log form by theForest, Environment and Climate Change Department, Governmentof Odisha," it said. In 2017, the government prohibited the imports ofred sanders, an endangered species of wood.

Centre eases export bannorms for Odisha

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold in the national capitalon Friday rose Rs 50 to Rs45,959 per 10 grams amidgain in international pre-cious metal prices and rupeedepreciation, according toHDFC Securities. In the pre-vious trade, the preciousmetal had settled at Rs 45,909per 10 grams. Silver in contrast dipped by Rs 922 to Rs59,834 per kg, from Rs 60,756per kg in the previous trade.The rupee opened on a weaknote and fell below the 75 perUS dollar level in early tradeon Friday.

PNS n CHENNAI

Two and three wheeler majorTVS Motor on Friday unveiledthe upgraded version of itspopular motorcycle TVSApache RTR 160 4V, equipped

with a host of new features,strengthening its product port-folio. The advanced featuresinclude a new headlamp assem-bly, Daytime Running Lamp(DRL) and three ride modes,besides TVS SmartXonnect

among many others. The spe-cial edition prices begin fromRs 1.15,265 (for the base vari-ant with drum brakes) to Rs1.21,272 (ex-showroom NewDelhi) for the special editionvariant. The growing expec-

tations of our aspirationalcustomers, by delivering cut-ting edge technology to rac-ing enthusiasts", TVS MotorHead (Marketing) premi-um motorcycles,Meghashyam Dighole said.

TVS rolls out special edition of Apache RTR160

Gold gains Rs 50; silvertumbles Rs 922

PNS n NEW DELHI

There is a need to re-negotiatethe existing trade relationshipand relook at the free tradeagreement with 10-memberASEAN bloc with an aim toeliminate barriers and misuseof the FTA, Commerce andIndustry Minister Piyush Goyalsaid on Friday.

The two-way trade betweenIndia and ASEAN (Associationof Southeast Asian Nations) isabout USD 80 billion andremoval of non-trade barriersand other impediments wouldhelp take this figure to USD200 billion in the coming years,he said. "It is unfortunate thatin the recent past, we had todeal with several restrictivebarriers on our exports in theASEAN region particularly inthe agri and the auto sector. Ithink these only result in rec-

iprocal action from other coun-tries including from India andwill hurt the long-term desireof our leaders to expand tradebetween the countries.

"Therefore, I think there is aneed for re-negotiating theexisting trade relationship,trade barriers, relooking atour FTA with ASEAN andfocusing on new rules to elim-inate the misuse of the FTA,eliminating non-tariff barriers,and that can ultimately lead tobuilding confidence on boththe sides to reduce tariffs forinter-Asean and India trade,"Goyal said.

He was speaking at CII'sIndo-ASEAN BusinessSummit. The minister urgedhis ASEAN counterparts tosupport the effort for early con-clusion of scoping exercise andcommencement of the tradepact review.

Goyal: Review FTA with ASEAN to stop misuse

MONEY MATTERS

PNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank on Fridayretained the GDP forecastfor the current financial yearat 9.5 per cent and flaggedglobal semiconductor short-ages, elevated commodityprices and potential globalfinancial market volatilityas downside risks to eco-nomic growth.

In his address after thethree-day meeting of therate-setting panel, RBIGovernor Shaktikanta Dassaid recovery in aggregatedemand gathered pace inAugust-September, and it isreflected in high-frequencyindicators, like railwayfreight traffic; port cargo;cement production; electric-ity demand; e-way bills; GSTand toll collections.

"The ebbing of infections,together with improvingconsumer confidence, hasbeen supporting private con-sumption," he said, andadded the pent-up demandand the festival seasonshould give further fillip tourban demand in the secondhalf of the financial year.

Also, rural demand is

expected to get impetus fromcontinued resilience of theagricultural sector andrecord production of khariffoodgrains in 2021-22 asper the first advance esti-mates. Das also said theimproved level in reservoirsand early announcement ofthe minimum support pricesfor rabi crops has boostedthe prospects for rabi pro-duction. The support toaggregate demand from gov-ernment consumption is alsogathering pace.

The Governor said criticalsupport to aggregate demandalso came from exports,which remained in excess ofUSD 30 billion for the sev-enth consecutive month inSeptember 2021, reflectingstrong global demand andpolicy support.

RBI retains growthforecast at 9.5 for ’22

PNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Friday projectedsubstantial softening in retailinflation in the near term onthe back of easing food pricesand favourable base effect.

The Consumer Price Index(CPI)-based inflation is nowprojected to be at 5.3 per centfor 2021-22 with risks even-ly balanced. In its August pol-icy, the central bank hadestimated inflation to be at5.7 per cent due to supplyside constraints, high crudeoil and raw materials cost.

"The CPI headlinemomentum is moderatingwith the easing of food priceswhich, combined withfavourable base effects, couldbring about a substantialsoftening in inflation in the

near-term," RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das said whileunveiling the bi-monthlymonetary policy.

On a quarterly basis, theCPI for Q2 has been project-ed at 5.1 per cent: Q3 at 4.5per cent and Q4 at 5.8 percent. CPI inflation forQ1:2022-23 is projected at 5.2per cent.

Headline inflation contin-ues to be significantly influ-enced by very high inflationin select items such as edibleoils, petrol and diesel, LPGand medicines, he said.

"Efforts to contain cost-push pressures through acalibrated reversal of theindirect taxes on fuel couldcontribute to a more sus-tained lowering of inflationand an anchoring of inflationexpectations," Das noted.

RBI cuts inflation projectionto 5.3% for FY'22

EV sales penetration of30% for pvt cars by’30PNS n NEW DELHI

The government intends to haveEV sales penetration of 30 percent for private cars, 70 per centfor commercial vehicles and 80per cent for two and three-wheelers by 2030 as there is animmediate need to decarbonizethe transport sector, Union min-ister Nitin Gadkari said onFriday. Gadkari further said ifelectric vehicles penetrate to 40per cent in the two-wheelers and

cars segment and close to 100per cent for buses by 2030,India would be able to reducecrude oil consumption by 156million tonne worth Rs 3.5 lakhcrore.

"There is an immediate needto decarbonize the transportsector and make it sustainablewith the economy, ecology, andenvironmental point of view ,"he said while addressing anevent organised by industrybody FICCI virtually. "The gov-

ernment intends to have EVsales penetration of 30 per centfor private cars, 70 per cent forcommercial vehicles, 40 percent for buses, and 80 per centfor two and three-wheelers by2030," he added.

The road transport and high-ways minister pointed out thatin the EV mission, NITI Aayoghas inspired 25 states to come upwith EV policies, out of which15 have already announced stateEV policy.

RACHEL DAMMALA

hanks to the pan-demic, peoplehave finally wokenup to see the dan-ger the planet hasbeen facing as a

result of mankind’s selfishdeeds. One of the biggestcontributors to all the wastethe earth has been amassingis the textile industry. Fastfashion has done motherearth more damage than onecan imagine. In an attempt tocounter this problem andprevent further damage, weobserve Sustainable FashionDay this year, today.

Fast fashion is a term usedto describe a highly profitableand exploitative businessmodel based on replicatingcatwalk trends and high-fashion designs, mass-pro-ducing them at low cost. Theterm is also used to generi-cally describe the products ofthe fast fashion businessmodel. Many today are turn-ing to green living, by takingto thrift stores, handloomclothing, and other sustain-able methods. Instagram hasbeen doing a good job ofpromoting these trends. Thenewest to join in, is one ofrenting fashion!

One such store is ‘Rent NFlaunt’, an online luxuryrental platform, a new start-up that wants to bring abouta behavioral change by mak-ing rental lifestyle a fashionstatement. It was conceptu-alised by Sakshi Goel in 2020,who took inspiration fromour own culture where wedidn’t shy away from sharingour clothes or accessorieswith our near and dear ones.“In this context, rentalwardrobe is like sharing ahuge range of products, par-ticularly accessories!” sheshares.

Rent N Flaunt has 2 broad-line plans, the first one beingoccasion-based renting for4/8 days and the second, sub-scription plans which enablethe client to style 3-5 prod-ucts for a whole month. Sogoing green with fashiondoesn’t mean you have to beplain Jane, repeating yoursame old clothes. Now one

doesn’t have to repeat theiraccessories ever, with Rent NFlaunt’s monthly subscriptionplans, you can just rent outyour favorite designerbrands, style them, returnand book another. As simpleand convenient as it can be.The store has designer acces-sories like Machael Kors,Kate Spade, Coach, PaisleyPop to name a few.

Sakshi and her sisterNimisha, always shared amutual love for luxury prod-ucts, which was anothermotivation to start Rent NFlaunt. The former wanted tomake luxury more accessibleand available. “I feel rentallifestyle will be a lot moresustainable as it absolves us,shopaholics, from the guilt ofover-purchasing. It also helpsin decluttering our homesleaving us with stuff that weactually need and value.Apart from being sustainable,we wanted to make luxuryaccessible. We want people toexperience the Luxury RentalLifestyle, and slay in stylewithout harming the planet.”

Millennials and Gen Zhave been experimenting alot with their consumptionpattern. With minimalism ona boom, the rental lifestylecan come as a great hack foravoiding mindless consump-tion. It solves the age-oldconundrum of “I don’t haveanything to wear, and I haveshopped too much,” by pro-viding accessories withoutguilt. Now you can always

be in trend, withoutputting a dent in your pock-et.

With the pandemic, onecan have doubts regardingthe assurance of safety ofsuch ideas. But sanitisationand quality check are of para-mount importance at Rent NFlaunt. Soon after the pack-age is returned, it is thor-oughly checked for wear andtear, sanitised, and sealedbefore

the next dispatch. WithRent N Flaunt, you can rentaccessories from anywhere asthey deliver pan India.Moreover, there are no main-tenance charges and theyprovide free pick-up anddelivery service for a conve-nient user experience!

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

SaturdayOctober 9, 2021

T

Flaunt itby renting it

SHIKHA DUGGAL

he discovery ofmodern medicineis very crucial forhuman lives, push-ing us all to ahealthier tomor-

row. In this week’s spe-cial weekly column,we have a medicalprofessional, the well-known Director ofInternationalProsthetic Eye

Center, Dr.Kuldeep Raizada.

He whocrossed theborders of hisbeautiful cityof Aligarh, topursue hiseducation in

Hyderabad inthe year 2000,

talks to us abouthis journey, andlove for the City

of Pearls. The warmth,

love, and respect he’sreceived for his pro-fession, from the city,

he says,has

been very encouraging. Hismedical practice bloomed intoa full-time profession and heacknowledges every momentthe city has gave him so muchof its affection back. “This cityhas helped me maintain mydignity; it has brought me thatlove and respect in society. The citizens havealways reciprocate well! There is a significantimprovement in the quality oflife in the city that I haveseen. With the setup of mod-

ern scientific innovation,the bound-aries ofmedicaltechnology

have extended to unimagin-able heights here! There hasnever been a point that theposition of a doctor inHyderabad must have dimin-ished, we remain indispens-able.”

Launching his career withthe department of prostheticsat the LV Prasad Eye Institutein 2002, he built his own EyeCenter. Equally absorbed inthe business of medicaldevices park, in order tobecome the largest manufac-turer of medical devices in eyecare, he set-up ‘Akriti Eye Care’.

He says his most worrisomeconcern while migrating tothe Nizamian city back then,was verbal communicationand the food! He is extremelyhappy with the fact that he isable to cope with these. Whenhe geared to settle down liber-ally, he saw that that was ahuge section of people whocould speak Hindi too, alongwith Urdu, English andTelugu — it was a confluenceof languages coming togetherin one state. Asserting that thecity’s cuisine swept him off hisfeet, he is totally in love withthe Hyderabadi gastronomy.Comparing Hyderabad towhat was formerly the imperi-al capital of this country toother cities, he declares, “TheHyderabadi culture and itssocial lifestyle makes oneattached to it, because it is fullof emotional influences. The‘work culture’ sets it apartfrom other cities! It doesn’tbring any kind of chaos ontothe stage. Highly valued bythe residents, economic com-petitiveness and attractivenessare some of the vital assets.The identity of thecity is prosperingon its own.”

The one thingthat comes tothe mind of

the founder of Akriti EyeCare’s when he hearsHyderabad is ‘cleanliness’!There is this active support ofthe citizens, they just don’tturn into orators but takeactions on it too.

Apart from that, the platterof trade prospects it has tooffer is also what makes thecity stand out amongst others.

Sharing one of his fondestmemories spent here, the doc-tor shares, “In the year 2005, Imet my soulmate here! Weworked at the same place, Ididn’t realise how I had fallenin love with her while practic-ing medicine (he giggles).Thereafter, a beautiful journeybegan with my wife and todaywe are blessed with two gor-geous kids, their birth herecan never let me forget myaffection for this city ever.”

Recollecting a very oldmemory from the city whenhe wasn’t even a permanentresident back then, he says, “I had come here for myinterview, and it was the perfect time to be here.Ganesh Chaturthi was goingon. I witnessed the city in agala mood, so much was happening. It was all free of judgements, people from allbackgrounds, and languageswere merrily bopping on therhythm of drums, it was abeautiful sight to witness.”

Advising the promisingyoungsters in the medicalfield to focus on a singulardomain when in the medicalpastures, he also mentionsthat “discipline coupled withmodest sacrifices is the onlyroute to success, because itdoesn’t come overnight.”

On a concluding note hesays he is now pleased to seehow this city is also beingknown for developments ineye prosthetics, and that’sthere more to come in the

city.

Making eye carethrive in Hyderabad

T

ood lovers whopost images of foodon Instagram,wanting to sharetheir experiencewith others, are

more likely to crave for more,affecting their waistline, findsa study.

Surveys have suggested thatalmost 70 per cent of millen-nials — those born in theeighties and nineties — regu-larly share images of foodbefore eating it. It is also one

of the most common themeson social media platforms, theDaily Mail reported.

A study led by researchersat Georgia SouthernUniversity in the US showedthat diners who photographtheir meals and upload onsocial media sites such asInstagram take longer to feelfull. It leaves them more likelyto want a second serving.

Previous studies have foundthere are some benefits.According to one such study,

sharing food images on socialmedia made food taste better,because taking snaps makesthe brain concentrate more onthe smell and taste of the food.

For the new study, pub-lished in the journal Appetite,the team recruited 145 stu-dents and split them into twogroups.

Both were given plates ofcheese crackers to nibble buthalf were told to stop and takea picture first, the report said.

Immediately after eatingthem, volunteers were asked torate how much they likedthem and whether they want-ed more. The results showedthose taking snaps of thecrackers scored higher interms of enjoyment and wanti-ng seconds.

According to researchers,picture-taking seemed tochange the way the brain per-ceives food and increases thecraving for more calories.

“Memories of food and theact of recording consumptioncan affect how much we eat.Our results indicate picture-taking leads to greater wantingof the food following con-sumption,” the researcherssaid in the paper.

The effects were mostnoticeable in volunteers givensmaller portions — six crack-ers instead of 12.

“Those seeking to eat small-er portions, especially oftempting foods that they wantto cut back on, should avoidtaking pictures of what theyare eating,” the researcherswarned.

INSTAGRAMMING FOODIMAGES MAY LEAVE YOU

CRAVING FOR MORE

PNS | VIJAYAWADA

majority of tal-ented models inthe fashion andfilm industrybelieve thatfashion is noth-

ing but freedom of expres-sion. It’s a choice and in awider sense, a lifestyle.Though the field of fash-ion is quite alluring, thequalities that finally matterare, undoubtedly, stabilityand hard work. Severalupcoming models floodthe fashion field each day,aspiring to try their luckas actors in the film indus-try. Jain Sagar, 27, fromGudivada is no exception,but his perseverance andpassion are what made allthe difference. The Pioneerlearns more about his longyet inspiring journeywhich got him to becrowned the prestigiousMr ContinentalInternational, Mr Indiaawards, and win quite anumber of titles at thenational level too.

Carrying good looksalone doesn’t mean onewould rock the ramp,Sagar remembers sayingthis to his friends when hewas first advised to try hisluck as a model.

“As I met with someminor accident during mycollege days, my walkingstyle slightly differed. Forthis reason my walk wasoften teased of resemblinga ramp walk. Though Iwas into pursuingAeronautical engineering,I just gave it a try, in myattempt to do somethingout of the box. But slowly,I became determined toenter the modelling indus-try, this got stronger whenI was cheated by one ofthe online fashion agen-cies in Mumbai. That’swhen I started watchingand attending fashionshows that fetched me alot of learning and atten-tion. I then started toarrange some eventswhere I got to know aboutthe fashion shows happen-ing around. Meanwhile, Ialso participated in streetshows during weekends inMumbai and Chennai. Todate, I participated inmore than 55 fashionshows at the district, state,national and internationallevel. I also acted as ajudge for more than 18reality shows. I won the

titles of Mr Super Modelof Tamil Nadu in 2016, MrKing South India in 2017,Best Model fromKarnataka in 2018,Fashion Icon of India in2019 and most recently,Best Talent of the Year atMr India 2021 (FilmfareAwards) in Jaipur.”

The model says hismost prestigious title inhis career has to be the MrContinental International2019 — 1st Runner Up,with India in the secondplace. The contest waeheld in Malaysia, wheretopmost models fromalmost 28 countries tookpart.

Talking about winningsuch a precious title, hesays, “It was quite a mem-orable moment receivingwards from noted direc-tors and actors ofBollywood.”

Jain Sagar, now trainsmodels like him, and alsohas taken to onlinegrooming these days.

The passionate model isknown for voicing his sup-port to the transgendercommunity, which lacks aproper platform of theirown to preserve their iden-tity. He recently also repre-sented the community atthe ‘Lakme Glammon2021’ Fashion Show, whichhas been garnering mil-lions views on the internet!

“I believe God blessesyou with a ten per centluck. It’s up to you to honethe remaining 90 per cent

with your efforts. I wouldrather say, more than fameand luck, bad luck encour-aged me all the way toperceive life clearer. Anawful lot of times, I havebeen made waiting forvarious chances in thefashion world. Despite allthat, I never let my talentfor sale which keeps memotivated till date. Besidesbeing a model, I am anengineer in the film indus-try and an entrepreneurtoo, which makes my par-ents’ hearts swell withpride.”

Sagar’s life is no bed ofroses. Opening up abouthis hardships, he says, “Myfather had suffered seriousloss in jewellery business,and that’s when I promisedmyself that I would alwaysstand by his side, shoulder-ing and sharing his finan-cial burden.”

Though the actor madea name for himself as amodel,. ultimately, he says,he longs to see himself onthe silver screen some day.“Irrespective of my hur-dles and failures, my hopeis still alive, and I amthriving and workingtowards my goal. I have nosecond thought but mov-ing forward with utmostperseverance and passionwhich I believe to be theformula for success,” con-cludes the dashing person-ality, who is determined,and is eagerly looking for-ward to prove his talent onthe silver screen.

Determined to rock theramp and the big screens

F

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oto

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y S

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ha

ryPA

RT

Yl Anika Khara

It's party time for the founders of Women Business Cult,Anika Khara and Deepika Maheshwari, who did afabulous job at helming their women entrepreneurs

store. The store by Parichi Goel and Nikita Agarwal was ahit, with customers pouring in to buy the various items onsale. FE

STIV

EDE

LIGH

TS

10

what’s brewing?

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

FUN

The preview event of Vega SriGold and Diamonds, a premiumjewellery brand store at Jubilee

Hills in Hyderabad, was a grandaffair. Actresses VarshiniSounderajan (of Chandamama

Kathalu fame), Archana Ravi,Honey Reddy, and other popularmodels showcased the exquisitepremium jewellery by Vega Sri atthe event.

GLITZ & GLAM

l Radhika

l Syeda Azra

l Smitha

l Parichil Nikita

l Honey Reddy l Naveen Kumar and Sailaja

l Ashna

l Archana Ravi

l Varshini Sounderajan

l Manideep and Spandana

Hyderabad Saturday October 9, 2021

11

Hyderabad Saturday October 9, 2021

KIRAN ABBAVARAM'S NEXT GOES ON FLOORS

ctor Kiran Abbavaram, who has been impressing fans and critics with his performances in filmslike Raja Vaaru Rani Gaaru, SR Kalyanamandapam, and his upcoming comedy-thriller, SebastianPC524, signed another film that went on floors on Friday.

The film, which will be directed by debutant Kaarthik Shankar, was launched with a muhurtam ceremonyat Annapurna Studios. The film is being produced by Kodi Divya Entertainments, Kodi Divya, daughter ofveteran Tollywood director Kodi Ramkrishna. Actress Sanjana Anand has been roped in to play the female lead opposite Kiran. The yet-to-be-titledfilm, which marks the 5th film of the actor, will have composer Mani Sharma scoring the soundtrack.Further details about the cast and crew of the film will be out soon.

A

tollywood

ctress Samantha Ruth Prabhu,who is known to speak hermind against the things plagu-ing society, on Friday, sharedseries of posts on herInstagram Stories, slammingpeople for setting different

standards for men and women.The star actress quoted author Farida Don her Instagram Story days after her splitwith actor Naga Chaitanya. She wrote“Good morning” over the post.

The quote read: “If matters are con-stantly morally questionable when doneby women, but not even morally ques-tioned when done by men — then we, asa society, fundamentally have no morals. -Farida D.”

The actress also addressed speculationsurrounding her separation from NagaChaitanya in a powerful statement.

Sharing a note on her social media onFriday, Samantha responded to rumoursabout “affairs”, family planning andalleged abortions, dismissing them as“false”.

She wrote: “Your emotional investmentinto a personal crisis has overwhelmedme. Thank you all for showing deepempathy, concern and for defending meagainst false rumours and stories that arebeing spread. They say I had affairs, neverwanted children, that I am an opportunistand now that I have had abortions. Adivorce in itself is an extremely painfulprocess. Let alone allowing me the time toheal. This attack on me has been relent-less. But I promise you this, I will neverallow this or anything else they say, breakme.”

Samantha had written an Instagrampost that she and Chay had decided to

separate on October 2 after fouryears of marriage.

She wrote: “To all our well-wishers. After much delibera-tion and thought Chay and Ihave decided to part ways as hus-band and wife to pursue our ownpaths. We are fortunate to have afriendship of over a decade thatwas the very core of our relation-ship which we believewill always hold a spe-cial bond between us.We request our fans,well-wishers, and themedia to support usduring this difficulttime and give us theprivacy we need tomove on. Thanking youfor your support.”

ikhil Siddharth, who has beenbusy shooting for his upcomingfilms 18 Pages and Kartikeya 2,has now, for his 19th film hasteamed up with editor-turned-director Garry BH. Malayalam

actress Iswarya Menon of MonsoonMangoes fame will play the female lead inher Telugu debut. This yet to be titled flickthat is bankrolled by Raja Shekhar Reddy, isbilled to be a complete action-packed enter-tainer, to be made on a large scale. Nikhilwho is doing different genre films is allexcited to play a spy for the first time. Atop-notch technical team will be workingfor this high budget entertainer, whoseshoot launched on Friday. While ManojhReddy is the cinematographer, SricharanPakala renders soundtracks for the film.

Anirudh Krishnamurthy is the writer.Arjun Surisetty handles art department,while Ravi Anthony is the productiondesigner.

K RAMYA SREE

aha Samudram iseasily one of themost anticipatedfilms of themonth — for itsensemble cast andalso for the return

of Siddarth to Tollywood.After delivering a

blockbuster like RX100,Ajay Bhupathi’s direc-torial venture Maha

Samudram is gear-ing up for an

October 14release, andfans can’t waitto see

Siddarthreturn toTelugu

cinema.Produced by Sunkara

Ramabraham under AKEntertainments, the filmhas Aditi Rao Hydari andAnu Emmanuel playingfemale leads.

In a conversation withthe press, Siddarth spoke inand out about the film, hisinterest to work for Telugucinema and more.

Firstly, speaking on howhe came on board thismulti-starrer project, wherehe shares screen space withactor Sharwanand, the Oyestar shares, “I watchedRX100, Everyone knowshow perfectly that moviewas made. When AjayBhupathi was narrating thisstory to me, it didn’t seemlike Maha Samudram is hissecond film. I was so inawe of the narration, that Iimmediately gave my nod.”

Despite having to post-pone the film’s shoot multi-ple times, owing to Covid,the actor is happy withthe way it has turned out

to be, and is confidentof the film’s success.

Siddarth wasshown in a never-seen-beforeintense look inthe trailerreleased some-

time back, and the

actor credits his makeupartist Shiva, who has beenwith him for eight years,for the look.

Speaking about the trail-er, Siddarth was all praisefor the editor and directorfor the way the trailer wascut. He says, “This film’strailer is edited in a first-of-its-kind manner — leavingaudience confused on whatthe film is all about. Thetrailer is great, but every-one who has seen it saysthey don’t understand whatthe story is, and that iswhat we wanted.”

“Circumstances arisebecause of the decisions wemake. ‘Good man’, ‘badman’ is based on the deci-sions they make. I saw themovie, it will be a wonder-ful love story. Maha is thename of the heroine, whois it? That is evident in thefilm. Female charactershave been wonderfullywritten. This is definitely asure shot blockbuster.Thanks to Ajay Bhupathifor imagining me in a rolelike this, and for trustingme with it. People will startseeing me in different light,after this film, as I wasalways carried an image ofa ‘chocolate boy’ or a ‘loverboy’,” shares theBommarillu star.

Siddarth stayed awayfrom the film industry forquite sometime for reasonsbest known to him. But theactor proudly calls himselfa Telugu star despite havingbig hits in other major lan-guages. For him, not muchhas changed in his lifesince his first film Boys, in2003. “I am the same manwho developed maturityover time. The break I gotmade me realise what Iwant to do. It was theTelugu people who mademe a star. I have an iconicfilm in every language —Boys in Tamil and Rang DeBasanti in Hindi, but Iwould always maintain thatI am a Telugu actor, every-where. I am a Telugu star,an Indian actor. That iswhy I wanted to thrill theTelugu audience again andI am not going to leave theTelugu industry anytimesoon.”

Heaping praises forSharwanand, his co-star,Siddarth says, “Sharwaand I are always talkingabout the possible rea-sons on why this film isgoing to become a hit.Sharwa rose to greatheights from the last timewe met, and formed afan-base of his own.We do

not know how the chem-istry with the heroines inthe movie will be, but thechemistry between Sharwaand I, is amazing.”

About his productionhouse, he says he set it upto give a boost to peoplewho are outsiders just likehim, and that he is in talkswith some young directorsand will soon producefilms in Telugu.

On a concluding note,the actor shares a funnyincident with his directorwhen he got injured duringthe shooting of the film.“During the climax shoot, Iinjured myself, and Ajaycalled up my family andtold them I was having asurgery. My entire familywas worried and made callsthroughout the day.Thankfully I only had aminor injury, and recov-

ered without anysurgery.”

‘I AM A TELUGU STAR & I WILLNOT LEAVE THIS INDUSTRY’

e told you that Sampath Nandi isbusy with his upcoming ambitiousproject Simbaa The Forest Man.Bankrolled by Sampath Nandi andRajender Reddy D, the movie iswritten by Sampath himself and

helmed by Murali Manohar Reddy.Now according to the latest update, actor

Jagapathi Babu has joined the sets of SimbaaThe Forest Man. Set against the backdrop of ajungle, as is evident from the film’s name,sources say that Jagapathi Babu will beseen playing a very crucial role in thefilm. Krishna Prasad is the cinematogra-pher, while the music for the film is byKrishna Saurabh. Production Designingis being taken care of by Rajeev Nair andediting is by Tammiraju.

The makers of the film recentlyreleased a video that showed a group ofmen cutting trees and smuggling them.They are given a fitting reply by the pro-tagonist who appears to be a macho manliving in the forest.

he shoot of AnandDeverakonda’s next,Highway, has finally wrappedup, in the city. The film is apsycho crime thriller setagainst the backdrop of a

highway. Bankrolled by Talari Venkatunder the Sree Iswarya Lakshmi Moviesbanner, the film is helmed by cine-matographer-turned-director KVGuhan, known for his work in films likeAthadu, Naani, Jalsa, and Dookudu.Malayalam actress Manasa Radha-krishnan is being paired opposite Anandin this film that marks her foray intoTelugu cinema. Highway will have musicby Simon K King. The makers of thefilm are now looking to finish post-pro-duction works as early as possible, so thefilm could release in theatres, soonest.

Apart from this, Anand is shootingfor the last leg of a dark comedy titledPushpaka Vimanam. The Dorasani actorwill also be seen in an untitled film eachwith Suresh Productions and MadhuraEntertainments.

It’s a wrap-up forAnand's Highway

oung actor Raj Tarun isteaming up with SandeepMadhav, for an upcomingmultistarrer film, which willbe helmed by Sudheer Rajuand bankrolled by M Asif

Jani of Star Film Factory production.According to the latest update, theupcoming film will be launched onOctober 10, with a puja ceremony.

Sources tell us that both the youngactors — Raj Tharun and SandeepMadhava were impressed by the narra-tion. More details regarding theremaining cast and crew will be outvery soon.

Sandeep Madhav is known for play-ing the lead role in the hit film GeorgeReddy. He made his acting debut withRailway Station which was released in2012, where he played one of the leadroles. He worked as an assistant direc-tor under Jeevan Reddy for the movieDalam. Sandeep made his lead actingdebut with RGV’s directorial ventureVangaveeti. In the film, he essayed theroles of Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga andVangaveeti Radha, Ranga’s brother

On the other side, Raj Tarun is cur-rently working with director SrinivasGavireddy for an upcoming romanticand comedy-drama AnubhavinchuRaja, which is helmed by SrinivasGavireddy who is known for helmingSeethamma Andalu Ramayya Sithralu.Kashish Khan is playing the love inter-est of Raj Tarun in this romantic andcomedy film.

Samantha calls out society's doublestandards, responds on rumours

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Jagapathi Babu joinsSimbaa The Forest Man

Nikhil toplay a spy

Raj Tarun, SandeepMadhav multi-starrer

gets launch date

600TH SIX IN IPL

SIXES BY EACH TEAM

HYDERABAD | SATURDAY | OCTOBER 9, 2021 sports 12

PAK INCLUDE SARFARAZ IN T20 WORLD CUPKarachi: Pakistan on Friday made three changes totheir squad for the T20 World Cup, bringing informer captain Sarafraz Ahmed, Fakhar Zamanand Haider Ali at the expense of Azam Khan,Mohammad Hasnain and Khushdil Shah. Formerspinner Saqlain Mushtaq has been named interimhead coach following the resignation of Misbah-ul-Haq. As announced earlier, former Australiabatter Matthew Hayden and former South Africapacer Vernon Philander will be the team’s battingand bowling consultants for the mega event. Thecut-off for making squad changes is October10.Many former Pakistan cricketers, includingRashid Latif and Shoaib Akhtar, wanted wholesalechanges in the squad announced on September 4.

AMANDEEP DRALL TIED FIFTH AFTER FIRST DAYTourrettes (France): Indian golfer AmandeepDrall enjoyed another fine start as she carded 1-under 71 and was tied 5th at the end of the first dayat the Terre Blanche Ladies Open on the LadiesEuropean Access Series Tour. Another Indian inthe field, Vani Kapoor (77), was tied 52nd.Amandeep, a multiple winner on the domesticHero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, had four birdiesagainst three bogeys. Her four birdies came in astretch between sixth and 11th. Sweden’s LinnGrant who was ranked fourth in the WorldAmateur Golf Ranking before turning professionalin August, held a two-shot lead at the end of dayone after she fired an opening round of 68.

ISL REALLOCATES PRIZE MONEY New Delhi: Indian Super League organisers onFriday announced an increase in the prize moneyof ‘Shield Winners’ by Rs 3 crore starting from theupcoming season, while reducing the amounthanded to the ISL champions.The League WinnersShield, introduced in 2019-20 season conferred totable toppers, were presented with Rs 50 lakh inthe last two seasons. As part of the ISL prizemoney reallocation, Football Sports Development(FSDL) has now allocated Rs 3.5 crore to theLeague Winners. The ISL champions -- winner ofthe final -- will now get Rs 6 crore (previously Rs 8crore), while the runners-up will get Rs 3 crore(previously Rs 4 crore).

POONAM YADAV JOINS WBBLMelbourne: Spinner Poonam Yadav on Fridaybecame the eighth Indian cricketer to sign for theWomen’s Big Bash League after Brisbane Heatroped her in for the upcoming season. The 30-year-old diminutive India wrist spinner joined theBrisbane side to fill the spot left by the withdrawalof New Zealand star Amelia Kerr. Yadav is in theIndian squad for the ongoing multi-format tour ofAustralia. She played in two of the three ODIsagainst Australia but did not find a place in theplaying eleven in the subsequent lone Pink-ballTest. Yadav has made a habit of wreaking havocagainst Australian batters, including her 4 for 19 inlast year’s T20 World Cup opener, and Brisbanewill hope she can do the same in the WBBL.

QUEEN ELIZABETH LAUNCHES BATON RELAY London: Queen Elizabeth II held her first majorengagement at Buckingham Palace since the onsetof the coronavirus pandemic a year and a half ago,as she presided Thursday over the launch of thebaton relay for next year’s Commonwealth Gamesin the central England city of Birmingham. The 95-year-old monarch handed the baton for what areoften referred to as the “friendly games” to four-time Paralympic gold medallist Kadeena Cox, whois fresh from winning two events in Tokyo. Cox, 30,took the baton on a brief journey around the nearbyQueen Victoria Memorial in central London beforehanding it to another competitor. “It’s really special,”she said. “I fall into this category where I’m verydiverse - I’m a female, disabled, Black athlete. Forme I think that’s what the Commonwealthrepresents and especially being in Birminghamwhich is such a diverse place.” AGENCIES

SINGLES

IANS n BENGALURU

The Indian women’s hockey teamcaptain Rani Rampal on Friday

hoped that the experience gainedfrom playing against the best teamsin the FIH Hockey Pro League willhelp her team in the same way as itdid the mens team. The Indianwomens team was on Friday includ-ed in the Pro League for the upcom-ing Season 3 along with Spain as areplacement for Australia and NewZealand who had pulled out becauseof the Covid-19 restrictions imposedby their respective governments.

The other players too expressedtheir excitement over playing the topleague which kicks off on October13 with the first match betweenOlympic and World Champions, theNetherlands and Belgium.

Rani said, “This is great news forus. We have seen how much theexposure at the FIH Hockey ProLeague helped our male counter-

parts from the Indian team. They gotto play the best teams in the world,and I believe that helped them taketheir game to the next level.Likewise, the Indian women’s teamis also looking forward to makingthe most of this opportunity. Theentire team is excited.”

Goalkeeper Savita, on the otherhand, stated that this exposure willhelp increase the talent pool in theIndian team. “We have some verytalented junior players coming intothe core group. Playing regular

matches against top teams in theFIH Hockey Pro League will helpthe team try a different combinationof players ahead of important tour-naments like the Asian Games in2022 and the FIH Women’s WorldCup in July 2022. We believe thisexperience in the Pro League willhelp us improve our game further,”said Savita, who recently won theFIH Woman Goalkeeper of theYear award.

Two-time Olympian Monikatoo joined her teammates inreflecting their enthusiasm toplay the FIH Hockey Pro Leaguethis season. “We never got to playtop teams like the Netherlands asoften as we would have liked to.Before our first match at theTokyo Olympics against theWorld No.1 team, we had playedthem just once more than three orfour years ago. But being part ofthe Pro League this season willgive us the perfect opportunity to

test our abilities against top teams.We are looking are all very happyto be included for this season andhope to make the opportunitycount.” she was quoted as sayingin a release by Hockey India.

Youngster Sharmila Devi,who won the FIH Rising Star ofthe Year, also stated that this willbe a great opportunity for youngplayers like her in the team.

“Playing top teams of theworld will provide youngstersl ike me great exposure.Something we wanted to work onbefore the Asian Games was toperform under pressure. The FIHHockey Pro League will be agreat experience in that aspectand we are very excited about it,”she said. The’Indian women’steam will open its FIH Pro Leaguecampaign with a double-headeragainst the Netherlands onFebruary 19 and 20, 2022 in anaway fixture.

IANS n CHENNAI

Local collegian, AlwinSundar (AS Motorsports),

grabbed the pole position inthe Novice (Stock 165cc) cat-egory as the third round ofthe MMSC fmsci IndianNational Motorcycle RacingChampionship 2021 com-menced at the MMRT, hereon Friday in fair weatherconditions.

Alwin, only 19, and whoheads the championship inthe Novice category followinga double in the first round inAugust, overcame a shakystart in the qualifying sessionwhen he went off the track onthe out-lap, but gatheredhimself to post the fastest lap

of two minutes, 08.098secsafter deftly negotiating traffic.

Mumbai’s Kayan ZubinPatel (Sparks Racing) postedthe second-best lap of02:08.545 while team-mateAllwin Xavier (Thrissur)completed the front rowclocking 02:08.772. In all, 38

riders out of 43 qualified tostart Saturday’s race.

Meanwhile, TVS Racing’sDeepak Ravikumar(01:52.567) and Jagan Kumar(01:52.627) were among thequickest riders in the freepractice session in the pre-mier Pro stock 301-400cc

category with championshipleader Rajini Krishnan(RACR Castrol PowerRacing) just behind the leadpair, clocking 01:52.647.

Later, Idemitsu HondaSK6’ Racing’s Rajiv Sethu setthe pace in the Pro-stock165cc category during thefree practice session by top-ping the timesheets with a hotlap of 01:56.344, ahead ofTVS Racing pair of defendingchampion Jagan Kumar(01:56.405) and KY Ahamed(01:57.070). The close com-petition between Honda andTVS riders has producedseveral nail-biting finishesand this’weekend’s double-header promises more of the same.

PTI n MADRID

Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma card-ed a solid 4-under 67, laced with five

birdies, in the opening round to be tied21st at the ACCIONA Open de Espanahere.

Sharma, who has time and againshown glimpses of fine form but also

given away some advantage after that,was looking good once again, stumbledto just one late bogey on the sixth, whichwas his 15th hole.

India’s other star, Gaganjeet Bhullar,who became a father recently, openedwith 4-over 75 and needs a good secondround to make the cut.

Ross McGowan produced a courserecord 61 and led the way after round onebut world number one Jon Rahm was justtwo shots back on home soil.

Englishman McGowan claimed hisfirst European Tour win in the Spanishcapital 12 years ago at the MadridMasters but had to wait 11 years to seala second at last season’s Italian Open.

Home favourite Sebastian GarciaRodriguez was his nearest challenger butall eyes were on Rahm, who was at eightunder as he seeks a third consecutive vic-tory at his home open.

AP n LONDON

FIFA plans to postponethe Club World Cup

until early next year due tohosting challenges linked tothe pandemic, people famil-iar with the planning said.Coronavirus restrictions ledto Japan withdrawing fromstaging the seven-teamtournament this December,and South Africa then aban-doned a bid due to theneed to get more of thecountry vaccinated.

FIFA is now exploringstaging the event in Januaryor February, the people toldThe Associated Press. Theyspoke on condition ofanonymity because theywere not authorized to dis-cuss ongoing talks.

Qatar is an option —like in February whenBayern Munich won thedelayed 2020 edition inDoha — to help the Gulfnation test venues for themen’s national teams’ WorldCup that starts in November2022.

FIFA is already due tostage the Arab Cup compe-tition in December in Qataras part of World Cup prepa-rations. The Club WorldCup could attract a moreglobal fanbase, with Chelseaqualified as ChampionsLeague winners.

It will disrupt a PremierLeague weekend for thewest London club, as wouldhave been the case if thetournament was contestedas planned in December.

PTI n DUBAI

French University Ecole Superieure Robert deSorbon has conferred former India spinner

Harbhajan Singh with a honorary PhD inSports during a convocation ceremony here.

Harbhajan couldn’t attend the ceremony inperson as he is currently in a bio-secure envi-ronment as part of Kolkata Knight Riders’ cam-paign in the IPL.

The university awards honorary doctoratedegree to eminent personalities in variouswalks of life, which also includes achievementsin the sporting arena.

“If any institution accords respect, youaccept that with utmost humility. If I have beenconferred with honorary sports doctorate by theuniversity, it is because I played cricket and peo-ple have showered their love and affection forthat. I am honoured to be conferred with thedegree,” the 41-year-old Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan’s name was recommended to theFrench University by noted industrialist DrHarcharan Singh Ranauta, vice-president ofIndian Federation of United NationsAssociations (IFUNA).

Harbhajan also thanked the jury whichselected him.

“I would like to thank Dr John ThomasParade, president Sorbon, Dr Vivek Choudhury,chairman, Sorbon International ConvocationCommittee (Celebrity), Dr Mukesh Tyagi,Sorbon International Convocation Committee,for finding me worthy enough.”

Team M Sixes Players Most Sixes

Chennai Super Kings 14 100 9 Faf du Plessis/Ruturaj Gaikwad (20 sixes each)

Punjab Kings 14 93 13 Lokesh Rahul (30 sixes)

Rajasthan Royals 14 90 16 Sanju Samson (17 sixes)

Kolkata Knight Riders 14 80 10 Nitish Rana (15 sixes)

Royal Challengers 13 74 10 Glenn Maxwel (21 sixes)

Mumbai Indians 13 68 12 Kieron Pollard (16 sixes)

Sunrisers Hyderabad 13 66 15 Jonny Bairstow (15 sixes)

Delhi Capitals 13 48 9 Prithvi Shaw/ Shikhar Dhawan (12 sixes each)

Total 54 619 94 Lokesh Rahul (30 sixes)

FAISEL FEATURES

+ Rajasthan Royals’opening batsman Lokesh Rahulsmashed the 600th six in the 14th edition of IPL

+ As many as 94 batsmen hit 619 sixes so far withPunjab Kings’ Lokesh Rahul topped the list with 30sixes in 13 innings

+ Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Glenn Maxwel is onsecond spot with 21 sixes in 12 innings. ChennaiSuper Kings’ Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwadshared the third spot with 20 sixes each

+ As far as teams are concerned, CSK have hit themost of the total sixes that the tournament hasseen thus far. Nine players contributed exactly 100sixes of the 619 sixes in IPL 2021

+ Rajasthan Royals batsmen have hit sixes than anyother team with 16 players have hit sixes. Fifteenbatsmen hit sixes for Sunrisers Hyderabad

+ Delhi Capitals’ nine players hit 48 sixes in14matches which is fewest among the eight teams

Great chance for us, Indian women’s hockey team on playing Pro League FIFA plans to postponeClub World Cup until 2022

Novice Alwin Sunder at pole; Ravikumar, Sethu top practiceSolid start for Shubhankar in Madrid

PTI n DHABI

Ishan Kishan and SuryakumarYadav struck whirlwind fifties as

defending champions MumbaiIndians posted a mammoth 235 fornine against Sunrisers Hyderabadin their must-win IPL match hereon Friday.

MI not only need to win thematch, they have to beat SRH by171 runs or more to leapfrogKolkata Knight Riders in the racefor the fourth and last play-off spot.

MI needed a miracle and thescript unfolded in their favour, atleast in the first innings, when theyopted to bat and posted a mam-moth total.

From the word go, Kishanfound the fence at will and scoredhis 84 runs off just 32 balls.

Yadav’s 82-run knock came off40 balls during which he hit 13fours and three sixes.

MI openers -- Kishan andskipper Rohit Sharma (18 off 13)meant business and showed theintent from the onset.

Kishan, especially, was in bel-ligerent mood as he went hammerand tongs and didn’t spare a sin-gle SRH bowler to bring up his fiftyin just 16 balls, the fastest half cen-tury this season.

It was raining boundaries andsixes for Kishan in every over as MIraced to 78 runs in the first five

overs.The menacing partnership

between the openers was finallybroken in the sixth over by RashidKhan when he induced a top-edgefrom Rohit which was brilliantlycaught by Mohammad Nabi run-ning backwards.

But Kishan was in a relentlessmood as he continued to use hislong handle to great effect and putimmense pressure on SRH attack.

It looked like child’s play forKishan as he clobbered Rashid overthe deep midwicket to bring up theteam’s 100 in 7.1 overs.

Kishan finally departed in the10th over when he top edged anUmran Malik delivery toWriddhiman Saha behind thestumps.

After Kishan’s dismissal, SRHpulled things back, courtesy somesmart captaincy from ManishPandey, who replaced Kane Williamson out with anelbow niggle.

A courageous Pandey broughtyoung left-arm spinner AbhishekSharma into the attck in the 13thover and the bowler reposed hiscaptain’s faith by removing KieronPollard (12) and Jimmy Neeshamin final two balls of the over tostand in chance for a hat-trick.

Yadav, who had not been at hisbest in the second leg so far, roseto the occasion when it matterdand took the onus of guiding MIinnings after Kishan’s dismissal.

He kept the scoreboard tickingwith trademark cricketing shots,the most notable among them wasa lofted hit over pacer SidhharthKaul’s head to bring up his fifty in24 balls.

The last five overs yielded 58runs for MI during which Yadavwas at his attacking best.

PTI n DUBAI

Royal Challengers Bangalorerallied to stop Delhi Capitalsat 164 for five in their IndianPremier League match here

on Friday. The table-toppers frittered

away a strong 88-run opening part-nership provided by Shikhar Dhawan(43) and Prithvi Shaw (48) with theother batsmen unable to build on it.

Shimron Hetmyer (29) hit twobig sixes to go with two boundariesand ensured the Capitals go past the

150-mark after the batters appearedto struggle in the middle overs.

For RCB, Mohammed Sirajbowled well to finish with 2 for 25from his four overs while HarshalPatel, Yuzvendra Chahal and DanChristian picked up a wicket each.

Dhawan and Shaw got theCapitals off to a good start, adding55 runs in the first six overs, with-out taking too many risks. While theleft-handed Dhawan, who has beenin good form, continued to play flu-ently, his opening partner came upwith some fine shots too.

RCB skipper Virat Kohli choseto open the bowling with the off-spinof Glenn Maxwell, who started witha wide. Dhawan showed his intentwith a superb drive on the off-sideto get DC moving.

The left-right combination ofDhawan and Shaw scored 88 runs inthe first 10 overs, hitting some splen-did shots on the way before the for-mer fell to Harshal Patel when hegave a catch to Dan Christian.

Shaw, who was beginning tolook dangerous and slog sweptChahal powerfully for a six over mid-wicket, fell to a catch by Garton inthe deep, two short of a well-deservedfifty.

Christian struck a huge blow forthe Bangalore team by getting the DCcaptain Rishabh Pant (10) to edgeone to the ‘keeper K S Bharat, leav-ing them at 108 for three in the 13thover. Earlier, Kohli won the toss andchose to bowl. Both the teams wentin with unchanged playing XIs.

Kishan, Yadav guideMI to mammoth 235

DC make 164 as RCB fight backM P NRR

DC 13 20 +0.526

CSK 14 18 +0.455

RCB 13 16 -0.159

KKR 13 12 +0.294

PBKS 14 12 -0.001

MI 13 12 -0.048

RR 13 10 -0.737

SRH 13 6 -0.422

IPLpointstable

Honorary PhD in Sports conferred on Harbhajan Singh