VIJAYAWADA, SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT: PARL PANELFOR RELOOK AT INDUS WATER TREATY

Aparliamentary panel has recommended renegotiatingthe Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan to address theimpact of climate change on water availability in the

river basin and other challenges which are not coveredunder the agreement. The Standing Committee on WaterResources has also recommended that India shouldconstantly monitor the Chinese actions so as to ensure thatthey do not pursue any major interventions on theBrahmaputra river which could adversely affect India'snational interests.

FATHER NOT OWNER, EVERY CHILD HASRIGHT TO USE MOTHER'S SURNAME: HC

Afather does not own the daughter to dictate terms andevery child has a right to use his or her mother'ssurname, the Delhi High Court on Friday observed. The

observation came while hearing a plea by a minor girl'sfather seeking direction to the authorities to reflect his nameas his daughter's surname in the documents and not hermother's name. Justice Rekha Palli declined to pass such adirection and said, "A father does not own the daughter todictate that she should use only his surname. If the minor ishappy with her surname, what is your problem?"

SC RULES IN AMAZON'S FAVOUR ONFRL-RELIANCE RETAIL MERGER DEAL

The Supreme Court Friday ruled in favour of US-based e-commerce giant Amazon by holding that Singapore'sEmergency Arbitrator award, restraining the Rs 24,731

crore merger deal of Future Retail Ltd with Reliance Retail,was valid and enforceable under Indian laws. The court alsodealt with the larger question and as a proposition of law,held that an award of an EA of a foreign country is enforc-eable under the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act. FRLhad argued that an EA is not an arbitrator under the Indianlaw as the term doesn’t find any mention in the statute here.

RAJIV KHEL RATNA RENAMED AFTERHOCKEY LEGEND MAJOR DHYAN CHAND

India's highest sporting honour Khel Ratna Award, whichwas named after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, wason Friday rechristened in the honour of hockey wizard

Dhyan Chand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he hadbeen getting many requests from citizens across India toname the Khel Ratna Award after Dhyan Chand. "Respectingtheir sentiment, the Khel Ratna Award will hereby be calledthe Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award! Major DhyanChand was among India's foremost sportspersons whobrought honour and pride for India”, he tweeted.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

All the 6.37 lakh students who hadregistered for the SecondarySchool Certificate (Class10) were declared passedon Friday, the secondyear in a row when theState recorded 100 per-cent pass on account ofCovid-19.

The pandemic hasensured that like in 2020,no exams could be held. In2020, the governmentdeclared all the 6.26 lakh studentswho had registered as passed.

Education Minister AudimulapuSuresh who released the SSC'results' on Friday said that detailswould be available onwww.bse.ap.gov.in.

Details of student grades for the2021 academic year can be foundby selecting the district, zone,

school, student name anddate of birth. Grades are

released for March2020 and June 2021based on the talentsof the students sub-ject-wise.

Speaking on theoccasion, Suresh said

that a high level com-mittee was constituted

to grade the students.He said that the Chaya Ratan

Committee has looked into all theissues and made recommenda-tions. The Minister rued that tal-ented students have to suffer dueto the examinations not beingconducted.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In yet another setback to the rul-ing YSRCP government, theAndhra Pradesh High Court onFriday issued a stay order on theordinance to hold elections forcorporations and municipalitieswhere a few villages are mergedinto them.

In all, 46 petitions were filed byvillagers against the merger oftheir villages into the corporationsand municipalities. The petitionsallege that the merger by the gov-ernment will not lead to anydevelopment, but rather anincrease in taxes. The High Courtissued a stay order for threeweeks.

The High Court said it wouldinquire into all the petitions filedagainst the ordinance and theamendments put forth by theState government and completethe final hearing within threeweeks. The court directed thestate government not to hold theelections till then.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy on Friday felicitated acebadminton player PV Sindhu forwinning the bronze medal at theTokyo Olympics.

Sindhu, along with her familymembers called on the Chief Min-ister at his camp office here whereJagan felicitated the Olympicsmedallist with a shawl and amemento.

Sindhu showed the Olympicsmedal to the Chief Minister andthanked him for his continued sup-port and blessings.

Jagan asked her to start her pro-posed Badminton Academy soonand train youngsters.

After her meeting with theChief Minister, Minister Mutta-mshetti Srinivas, Special ChiefSecretary Rajat Bhargava,

Information and Public RelationsCommissioner T Vijay KumarReddy and officials presented acash prize of Rs 30 lakh to Sindhuon behalf of the Andhra Pradeshgovernment.

SAAP chairman ByreddiSiddhartha Reddy also congratu-lated Sindhu. He said that Sindhuis a huge inspiration for youngsterswho wish to make sports theircareer. He praised Sindhu's achie-vement of winning medals at con-secutive Olympics and said that shewas the pride of the country andof the Telugu people.

He wished her more success inthe future.

Speaking to the media aftermeeting the Chief Minister, Sindhusaid that the State government wason the forefront of encouragingplayers.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Hundreds of Visakhapatnam SteelPlant workers, including tradeunion leaders, were arrest-ed and shifted to variouspolice stations in thecity on Friday eveningwhen they tried tosubmit a representa-tion to UnionFinance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman.

The VSP workersand trade union leadershad reached the Vizag air-port to submit a representation tothe Finance Minister urging arethink on the Centre's decision toprivatise the plant.

However, as there was no per-mission for the gathering, a posse

of police personnel that wasdeployed at the airport refused toallow them into the Airport prem-ises. The workers staged a dharna

on the highway, disruptingtraffic flow.

Slogan shoutingensued, with cries of"Nirmala SitharamanGo Back" and "SaveRINL" reverberating.When some of the

workers tried to enterthe airport premises,

the police arrested andshifted them to various

police stations in the city.Meanwhile, the Finance

Minister arrived from Delhi andunder strict security, her convoymoved to Visakhapatnam PortGuest.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Contractors of Polavaram multi-purpose project, MeghaEngineering Company Ltd (MEIL),on Friday began excavation for thehydroelectric power station pres-sure tunnels, thereby reaching acrucial juncture of the project.

Every year, 3,000 tmc ft of waterfrom the Godavari goes waste intothe sea - much more than con-sumed in the State. If this water isutilised, the State has the potentialto develop and move forward in allsectors.

Keeping this in view, the govern-ment has decided to build ahydropower plant along with thePolavaram project. The Polavaramproject will store 194 tmc ft of wateronce it is completed. Of this, 120tmc ft will be used for hydropow-er generation and irrigation pur-poses while the remaining 70 tmcft will be stored. This water can beused for cultivation and drinkingneeds of the people in the Godavaribasin, especially in the East andWest Godavari and Krishna dis-

tricts.The 960 MW Polavaram hydro-

electric power station will have 12vertical Keplan turbines (each of 80MW capacity). For these, 12 pres-sure tunnels have to be dug. Eachtunnel will be 145 meters long andnine meters deep and will have 12generator transformers, each witha capacity of 100 MW. For thepower project, a 206 m longapproach channel, 294 m wide, willhave to be dug.

Work on the hydropower plant

is already in full swing.The Water Resources

Department is overseeing the exca-vation work, while Genco officialsare overseeing the excavation of keypreserve tunnels and all otherworks.

The Polavaram project isdesigned to help cultivate 10.5lakh acres under the right and leftcanals. Godavari water storageopportunities are non-existentexcept at the Sir Arthur CottonBarrage, which is limited.

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

In a key decision, the YS Jagan-mohan Reddy government onFriday decided to shift the Stateheadquarters of Lokayuktha andAP State Human Rights Commi-ssion from Hyderabad in neigh-bouring Telangana to Kurnool,which has been designated asjudicial capital of Andhra Pradeshas per the three-capital formula.

The State Cabinet that hadmet here on Friday took a deci-sion in this regard.

Until now, no major head-quarters or offices are function-ing from Kurnool, though it'sbeen more than a year since theState Assembly passed a Billpaving the way for three capitals- Legislative capital Amaravati,Executive capital Vizag and judi-cial capital Kurnool.

Due to the ongoing hearing ofcases filed by Amaravati farmersin the High Court, the YSRCPgovernment has refrained fromshifting any government office toVizag and any judiciary relatedoffice to Kurnool.

In fact, whenever he met HomeMinister Amit Shah, the ChiefMinister requested the former toissue notification shifting the APHigh Court to Kurnool. To this,Jagan had always received a coldresponse from the Centre.

Taking this into consideration,the State Cabinet, based on theopinion of the High Court,approving shifting of theAPSHRC and Lokayukta head-quarters to Kurnool marks a keyjuncture in the YSRCP govern-ment's long-term plans.

"The Cabinet has decided toshift Lokayukta from Hyderabadto Kurnool in view of the opinionexpressed by the High Court andalso to notify the headquarters ofAP State Human Rights Commi-ssion at Kurnool," I&PR MinisterPerni Venkataramaiah told rep-orters after the Cabinet meeting.

When asked if shifting theseoffices to Kurnool is part ofJagan's three-capital formula, theMinister questioned if Kurnoolwas not part of Andhra Pradesh."Can't the city have such offices?Is it in a desert where no one cansurvive?" Nani asked, stating thatthe government decision wasbased purely on the opinionexpressed by the High Court.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State Council of Ministers onFriday approved the recommen-dations of the six-member Emp-owered Committee of Secretariesto divest the State government's10.4 percent stake in GangavaramPort Limited (GPL) for a "fairprice" of Rs 120 per share.

The Cabinet had in May thisyear approved the merger of GPLwith Adani Ports and SEZLimited (APSEZ). APSEZ latersought to buy the 10.4 percentequity held by the AP governmentfor Rs 645.1 crore.

Alternatively, it offered sharesworth Rs 645.1 crore to the APgovernment in the new entityconsequent to the merger.

On June 4, the government co-nstituted the Empowered Com-mittee of Secretaries to implementthe process of "disinvestment" andmerger of GPL with APSEZ.

The state government provid-ed 1,800 acres of land, valued atRs 54 crore, as its 10.40 percentequity in the Gangavaram Port.

The Port began its commercialoperations on April 17, 2009 andso far remitted Rs 277.97 crore tothe State government, includingRs 183.56 crore as 2.1 percent rev-enue share out of the grossincome. The EGoS went by therecommendations of SBICAP andalso took advice from other majorconsultants before suggesting thatthe state government sell its stakefor Rs 120 per share "as a fair pricein case of a direct sale".

It also suggested that Rs 120 pershare be set as the reserve pricein case of a bid process. "TheCabinet approved the report andthe recommendations of theEGoS," top official sources said.

According to government esti-mates, the new entity operated byAPSEZ could increase the portbusiness to 40-45 million tonnes,from the current 32-35 milliontonnes, in the short term and gen-erate a revenue share of Rs 30crore per annum to the state.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State Cabinet, headed by ChiefMinister YS Jaganmohan Reddy onFriday, took several key decisions,including approving JaganannaVidya Kanuka, education reforms,compensation to Agrigold victimsand an additional Rs 10 lakh pack-age for the Polavaram project dis-placed families. The Cabinet alsoapproved revised DPRs for Mach-ilipatnam and Bhavanapadu portsand also setting up of Rajahmund-ry Urban Development Authority.

With the revised DPR, the Stategovernment can save around Rs700 crore while developingMachilipatnam port.

Briefing the media after theCabinet meeting, Information andPublic Relations Minister PerniVenkatramaiah (Nani) said thatproposals for transforming educa-tional infrastructure and to bringin comprehensive academic andadministrative reforms wereapproved.

He disclosed that the Cabinetapproved the launch of JaganannaVidya Kanuka, dedication of phase-1 of Nadu-Nedu programme to thenation and launch of Phase-2 ofNadu Nedu programme on August16.

All schools, includingAnganwadi centres, Zilla ParishadSchools, Municipal and TribalWelfare schools have been classi-fied into six categories - SatelliteFoundation Schools (PP1 &PP 2),Foundation Schools (PP1, PP2,Class 1 and 2), Foundation SchoolPlus (PP1, PP2, Classes 1-5), Pre-High School ( Classes 3-7/8), HighSchool (Classes 3-10) and HighSchool Plus (Classes 3-12).

Nani said that textbooks are be-ing printed in English and Telugu.

He said the Cabinet hasapproved to launch YSR NethannaNestham scheme on August 10 forproviding Rs 24,000 per annum toevery weaver family that owns ahandloom for the third consecutiveyear. The decision will benefitaround four lakh weavers while theState will bear an additional expen-diture of Rs 200 crore.

Nani said the State government

has already distributed compensa-tion of Rs 2,38,00,70,000 to3,40,000 Agri Gold victims whohave deposited less than Rs 10,000and the Cabinet gave its approvalto clear payments of Rs 500 croreto four lakh Agrigold victims, whohad deposited less than Rs 20,000,on August 24.

The Cabinet also approved anadditional Rs 10 lakh R&R pack-age for the families displaced forthe Polavaram project. The Cabinetalso approved sanction of oneMotor Vehicle Inspector, one JuniorAssistant/ Senior Assistant andthree Home Guard posts for a newunit office at Punganur in Chittoordistrict.

Nani said the Cabinet approvedorganising the YSR LifetimeAchievement Awards and YSRAchievement Awards function onAugust 13. He said the Cabinet alsoapproved Andhra Pradesh BovineBreeding Ordinance 2021, opera-tional guidelines for auctioning offishery wealth in the public waterbodies of 100 hectares and aboveacross the state, policy on seed pro-duction through RBKs. He fur-nished the status note on Kharifand other seasonal crops.

Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy chairs the meeting of the State Cabinet on Friday.

n Revised DPR for Machilipatnam, Bhavanapadu ports,RUDA, feasibility report of Dagadarthi airport approved

Nod to reforms in education

With the revised DPR,the State governmentcan save around Rs700 crore whiledevelopingMachilipatnam port.

Cabinet signals intent with nodfor Lokayukta, SHRC at Kurnool

Recommendationto divest 10.4 pcstake in GPLaccepted

Double Olympics medallist PV Sindhu shows the bronze medal she won at the Tokyo Gamesto Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy as her family members and Minister M Srinivaslook on, at the Chief Minister’s Office in Vijayawada on Thursday.

Sindhu calls on CM,gets deserving praise

VSP workers stage protest asNirmala reaches Vizag, arrested

HC directs AP govtnot to hold elections

Polavaram work at crucial stageAll 6.37 lakhapplicants declaredto have cleared SSC

222

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Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, D.No. New 3-88, Old 3-22, Chandra Theatre, Gosala, Penamaluru Mandal, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh - 521 151, Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

vijayawada 02

Among other keydecisions taken bythe State Cabinetwas approval to startCLAP programme.

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | AUGUST 7, 2021

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

When private goods andservices like a car, TV,

cloth or mobile phone aresold, the costs involved areusually recovered, irrespectiveof who the buyer is. The sit-uation is not same when theGovernment provides goodsand services to citizens.

State Governments all overIndia, as per their policy, maycharge a particular category ofcitizens more as compared toits actual cost and another cat-egory of citizens less for thesame goods or services. Forexample, as per the TelanganaRetail Power Tariff for 2018-19 (latest), power tariff forconsumers who consume upto 100 units per month variesfrom Rs.1.45 per unit toRs.2.60 per unit.

But for same the electrici-ty, tariff varies from Rs.5.00 toRs.9.50 per unit if yourmonthly consumption isabove 200 units.

However, the average costper unit for all these con-sumers is Rs.7.05 per unit (TS

SPDCL). It means some con-sumers are paying below aver-age cost and some are payingabove average cost. This iscalled cross-subsidy.

It means one category ofconsumers is cross-subsidiz-ing power consumed byanother category of con-sumers.

This is prevalent in allstates of India in varyingdegrees and to some extent itis desirable as all sections ofsociety are able to access elec-tricity, which is now essentialpart of quality living.

With the enactment of theElectricity Act 2003, majorreforms were codified into asingle Act.

The Electricity RegulatoryCommissions (ERCs) weregiven the mandate and duty toensure that that power utili-ties like Generation,Transmission andDistribution arms are run oncommercial principles(Section 63(b)) and the PowerTariff progressively reflects

the cost of service (in simplewords, power tariff shouldcover cost of supplying powerto the consumers and ensuregood financial health forDiscoms) and also reducespower cross-subsidy in themanner decided by it (Section63(g)). This was stated in theyear 2003 in the Act enactedby Parliament.

In January 2006, theGovernment of India issuedTariff Policy under theElectricity Act of 2003.

Section 8.3 of the TariffPolicy says that ERC wouldnotify roadmap within sixmonths, with a target that lat-

est by the end of year 2010-11,the tariff rates are within 20%of the cost of service.

The roadmap will also indi-cate intermediate milestonesof gradual reduction in cross-subsidy. So latest by 2010-11,the cross-subsidy was man-dated to come within 20% ofthe cost of service. But whatis the position now on groundin the year 2021, 10 years afterthe target year? The informa-tion below will be an eye-opener to citizens ofTelangana. As per the latestTelangana State Power Tarifforder 0f 2018-19:

The Electricity Act 2003

provides that theGovernment, as a policy, canask ERC to fix tariff for a spe-cific category of consumersbelow the cost of service(Section 65 of the ElectricityAct of 2003).

Free power to farmerscomes under this category.But a condition relating to thislaw is that the Governmentmust extend subsidy to

Discoms to compensate forsuch reduction in tariff so thatDiscoms are not financiallyburdened due to lower tariffdirected by the State Govt.

The power supplied to cer-tain categories of consumersbelow the cost of service (likefree power to farmers and atlower tariff to some other cat-egories) is partly funded bycross-subsidy and partly bygovernment subsidy.

It is a different matter that

the Government claims that itis providing free power tofarmers and at reduced rate tosome other categories.

The fact is that it is alsopartly funded by some cate-gories of consumers, thoughit is not acknowledged pub-licly.

The moot question is: WhyERC is not able to enforce themandate of the ElectricityAct of 2003 and the TariffPolicy of 2006, which make it

clear that cross-subsidyshould not exceed 20% of thecost of service and progres-sively it should be brought tozero? Why are consumers inTelangana still paying cross-subsidy at more than 20% ofcost of service?

For protecting the interestsof consumers and economicactivity in State, it is high timethe Telangana State ElectricityRegulatory Commission fixedcross-subsidy not exceeding20% and also came out witha roadmap to make cross-sub-sidy progressively zero, asmandated by the Tariff Policyof 2006. Let the consumer payfor what they consume.

As far as farmers and othervulnerable sections are con-cerned, the State government,as part of its welfare policy,can always extend upfrontsubsidy to Discoms to supplypower free of charge to farm-ers and at reduced tariff toother specific categories ofconsumers as decided by itspolicies.

SURESH CHANDA

IAS (Retd.)

The author is a former Special

Chief Secretary, Telangana

State Governments all over India, as pertheir policy, may charge a particularcategory of citizens more as compared to itsactual cost and another category of citizensless for the same goods or services. This isprevalent in all states of India in varyingdegrees and to some extent it is desirable

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

Reluctance of the State govern-ment to share costs has affect-ed execution of at least 10 rail-way projects worth Rs 22, 334crore in Andhra Pradesh.

This has held up the execu-tion of the new 309 km Nad-ikudi-Srikalahasti line project.

Indian Railways has takenup 10 projects on cost sharingbasis with AP government,including five new line projectsof a total length of 958 km cost-ing Rs 13,399 crore and five do-ubling projects of a total lengthof 811 km costing Rs 8,935crore.

"An amount of Rs 3,263crore is outstanding towardsthe share of the AP govern-ment. The AP government isnot depositing its share in thecost sharing projects and there-fore execution has been severe-ly affected on this account,"Railways Minister AshwiniVaishnaw told BJP Rajya Sabhamember GVL Narasimha Raoin a written reply.

The Nadikudi-Srikalashtinew line project was includedin Budget 2011-12. While thesanctioned cost of the projectis Rs 2,643 crore, the AP gov-ernment was to provide landfree of cost and also share 50percent of the constructioncost of the project.

The estimated cost of theproject is Rs 5,000 crore. So farit has incurred an expense ofRs 1144 crore of which the APgovernment has deposited Rs6 crore towards its share.

The Budget outlay of Rs 95crore from General BudgetarySupport (GBS) and Rs 1,144.35

crore of the State deposit hasbeen provided for FinancialYear 2021-22 for the project.

The project involves acqui-sition of 2,220 hectare of land,of which the AP governmenthas handed over 1,269hectares. While the State gov-ernment is to expedite acqui-sition of the remaining land ,execution of the project hasbeen taken up in three phases.

"The Government ofAndhra Pradesh has to depositRs 1351.50 crore towards theircost share in the project. It isnot depositing its share in theproject. Execution of the pro-

ject is held up on this account,"Vasihnaw said.

He said that the AP govern-ment, in a letter on November3, 2020, said that it will bearland cost only, in other words,it has refused to share the con-struction cost of the project.

"Since the AP governmenthas refused to continue withthe agreed-to cost sharingarrangement for the project, itsexecution is held up," Vaishanwsaid.

The Union Minister saidthat 401 km long Guntur-Guntakal doubling with elec-trification was sanctioned in2017-18 with an outlay of Rs3,631 crore. So far, an expen-diture of Rs 1,276 crore hasbeen incurred and budget out-lay of Rs 364 crore has beenprovided for Financial Year2021-22.

The project involves acqui-sition of 197 hectare privateland, 7 hectare governmentland and forest land diversionof 31 hectare, out of which 14hectare private land has beenacquired.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor BiswabhusanHarichandan on Friday saidthat the State should be a rolemodel in prevention of theCovid-19 third wave fromhappening.

Addressing a webinarorganised on 'Creating aware-ness on prevention of thirdwave Covid-19 in the State',Harichandan said there areseveral NGOs who have donetremendous work during firstand second wave of Covid-19and they can play a major rolein complete eradication of thevirus.

The Governor appealed tothese NGOs to put theirresources to optimum use andsensitise unvaccinated peopleto get vaccinated and createawareness on following Covid-appropriate behaviour amongthe people.

Harichandan said due to arapid vaccination drive organ-ised by the State government,many lives have been saved.

The Governor added thatnot many problems the firstwave brought were noticed in

the second wave and the prob-lems of the second wave maynot surface in the third wave.He said that vaccination of alleligible people and adhering toCovid-appropriate behavioursuch as wearing mask, main-taining social distance andregular hand wash can helpprevent the third wave.

The five-fold strategy advo-cated by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi - testing, trac-ing, treatment, Covid-appro-priate behaviour and vaccina-tion - will be more effective inthe fight against new variantsof Covid-19 virus, he said.

Initiating the discussion, DrMukesh Tripathi, Director,AIIMS-Mangalagiri, said afterthe first and second wave of

Covid-19, people have becomeaware of the precautions to betaken in prevention of spreadof the virus. He said people sh-ould avoid large gatherings andadvised on use of N-95 masksas cotton masks provide lessprotection against the infectionand masks should not be usedfor more than one week.

Mukesh Kumar Meena,Secretary to Governor said inhis introductory remarks saidthat society is facing anunprecedented situation due toCovid-19 and people in unor-ganised sector and the poorhave been affected the mostdue to the pandemic. Meenasaid that it was necessary thatall precautions are taken toprevent the third wave.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh has exportedaround 42,935 Metric Tonnes(MT) of bananas in 2020-21 toseveral countries. It's quite anachievement as the bananaexports from the state have reg-istered exponential growthfrom just 246 MT in 2016-17,and 18,500 MT in 2018-19.

It is learnt that the GreenCavendish premium- GrandNaine which has a lot of dem-and abroad contributed major-ly to the whopping bananaexports from Andhra Pradesh.

This variety is said to be reg-ularly being exported to theMiddle East market. Exportsare also on the rise to UAE,Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia,Qatar and Iran.

The tissue-cultured GrandNaine variety promises greater

returns as it is obtained bycloning and micro-propagationof tissues of the selected eliteplants and daughter suckersand grown under micro-cli-matic conditions in green andshade houses.

"As per the information pro-vided by the Agricultural &Processed Food ProductsExport Development Authority

(APEDA), based on thePhytosanitary Certificatesissued by the state horticulturedepartment, the export ofbananas from Andhra Pradeshwas 42,935 MT in 2020-21,"Union Minister for Commerceand Industry Anupriya Pateltold Rajya Sabha.

She said that Anantapur andKadapa districts have been

identified as a cluster forbanana exports under theAgriculture Export Policy.APEDA, in collaboration withthe Andhra Pradesh govern-ment, has been taking severalsteps to promote exports ofbanana from the State, such asorganising capacity buildingprogrammes in collaborationwith national research institu-tions and horticulture univer-sities, mobilising potentialexporters, encouraging for-mation of new FPOs, imple-menting Global GoodAgricultural Practices (GAP)certification.

APEDA in collaborationwith the state government isalso organising Buyer-SellerMeets, providing training onfertigation, promoting 100 per-cent tissue culture plantationsin the cluster etc.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

With the media highlightingthe differences betweenAssistant CommissionerShanti and DeputyCommissioner Pushpavar-dhan, AP Women's Commis-sion took up the issue suomotu and issued directions toEndowments Commissionerto submit a detailed report.

The panel also asked theCommissioner to give detailsof the internal complaintscommittee in the depart-ment as per the SexualHarassment of Women atWorkplace Act-2013.

The Women's Commiss-ion also directed the Endow-ments Commissioner to takeaction on the allegationslodged by the AssistantCommissioner against herimmediate superiorPushpavardhan and theAction Taken Report to theCommission.

Meanwhile, theGovernment responded tothe issue by asking SureshBabu, the Regional JointDirector, Rajahmundry toprobe into the issue.

Suresh Babu reachedVisakhapatnam and startedinvestigation.

PNS n GUNTUR

Irrigation department engi-neers on Friday began effortsto instal a stop log at 16thpoint of the Pulichintala pro-ject, where the radial gate waswashed away in heavy floods.

Efforts are being made toreduce water level at the pro-ject. At present, 20 tmc ft ofwater was impounded at theproject while the inflows are1.67 lakh cusecs. Project engi-neers said that 4.95 lakhcusecs of water is beingreleased downstreamPrakasam barrage by lifting19 crest gates.

To carry out works to instalthe new crest gate, at least 10tmc ft of water should be dis-charged from the project.

Meanwhile, Prakasam bar-rage is receiving heavyinflows following a massivedischarge at the Pulichintalaproject.

Cut cross subsidy in power sector as per 2006 Tariff Policy

Rail projects in limbo asAP refuses to share cost

AP should be a role model inpreventing third wave: Guv

Efforts on toerect stop log at Pulichintala

Panel takesup row inEndowmentswing suo motu

AP exports 42,935 MTs of bananas

Category Cost of Service Maximum Max. Cross (Rs. Per unit in Tariff subsidyTS SPDCL) (Rs. Per unit) in %

LT Domestic 7.05 9.50 34.75LT Commercial 7.08 12.00 69.49HT1 Industry 33 KV 4.94 6.15 24.49HT1 Ferro Alloys 132 KV 4.09 5.00 22.25HT2 Others 132 KV 5.18 6.80 31.27HT3 Airports, Railway and Bus Stations 4.59 6.45 40.52HT4 Irrigation and Agriculture 33 KV 4.69 5.80 23.67HT4 Irrigation and Agriculture 132 KV 4.38 5.80 32.42

Continued from Page 1

The AP High Court that washearing a petition filed by arights activist last monthsought to know what was theneed for the APSHRC to belocated in another state. Itsaid it will shortly direct theState government to relocateAPSHRC, Lokayukta andother such organisations toAP from Hyderabad.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice Arup KumarGoswami and Justice NJayasurya was hearing a PILfiled by AP Citizen RightsSociety joint secretaryMalleswara Rao urging thecourt to direct the govern-ment to provide office, staffand facilities for the APSHRCin Andhra Pradesh.

Cabinet nod...Nod to reformsin educationContinued from Page 1

The Cabinet also approvedthe launch of Clean AndhraPradesh (CLAP) programme.

Accordingly, 1.2 crore binswill be provided in 124municipalities and municipalcorporations across the state,as well as 14,000 tricycles invillages 1,771 electric vehiclesand 3,097 autos for collectionof garbage.

Recommendationto divest 10.4 pc... Continued from Page 1

In the medium term, the gov-ernment estimates that thecargo handling could increaseto 100 million tonnes, givinga revenue share of Rs 70 croreper annum.

"APSEZ is the leading portoperator in the country anddue to their rich expertise andstrength in the port sectorthey are likely to substantial-ly increase the traffic andbusiness of Gangavaram Portand also invest in new busi-nesses such as Container,Liquid and LNG terminalsand create higher revenue

share (for the state govern-ment) and value," a govern-ment note said.

This would lead to substan-tial increase in export-importactivities through the state,resulting in higher tax earn-ings, more employment andrevenue, the note said.

Besides, the state estimatesthat LNG and petroleum busi-ness could earn value-addedtax to the tune of Rs 1,200crore (on import of one mil-lion tonnes of LNG).

Enhanced port operationscould result in creation of anadditional 1,000 jobs directlyand 1,500 indirectly.

Cabinet approves new DPR forBandar port, setting up RUDAPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Information and PublicRelations Minister PerniVenkatramaiah (Nani) afterthe Cabinet meeting on Fridaysaid approval was given toconstitute the RajahmundryUrban DevelopmentAuthority (RUDA) consistingof Rajahmundry MunicipalCorporation, Nidadavole andKovvuru Municipalities withan extent of 1566.442 sq. kmby taking certain areas ofGodavari Urban DevelopmentAuthority and Eluru Urban

Development Authority.Accordingly, the GodavariUrban DevelopmentAuthority would be renamedas Kakinada Urban Develop-ment Authority.

The Minister said that theCabinet approved regularisa-tion of government landunder unauthorised occupa-tion by way of dwelling unitsup to 300 sq yards.

The Cabinet also accordedapproval for the revised DPRand revised administrativesanction to take up Phase-1project works with a revised

cost of Rs 5,155.73 crore of aGreenfield port atMachilipatnam in Krishnadistrict.

The Cabinet also approvedthe revised DPR and revisedadministrative sanction witha total estimated cost of Rs4,361.91 crore for develop-ment of Bhavanapadu port inSrikakulam district.

The Cabinet also approvedthe draft techno economicfeasibility study report fordevelopment of Greenfieldairport at Dagadarthi inNellore district.

Sindhu calls onCM, gets...Continued from Page 1

Sindhu that the Chief Ministerencouraged her before sheleft for Tokyo. "Withthe blessing of theChief Minister, Iwon the bronzemedal and hecongratulatedme," Sindhu said,promising to winmore medals for thecountry.

Sindhu said the State gov-ernment's decision to imple-ment 2 percent reservation forsportspersons was a majorincentive. She said it was alsohighly commendable that theState government was pre-senting the YSR Awards toencourage sports.

She said her badmintonacademy would soon beopened in Vizag.

Later, Sindhu along with herfamily members visited

the Kanakadurga tem-ple where she wasaccorded a tradi-tional welcome bythe temple officialswho offered

Poornakumbham.Sindhu and her fam-

ily members offered specialpuja on the occasion. Thetemple priests blessed Sindhuafter the puja, offeredprasadam and a portrait of thedeity.

Dr Rajat Bhargava, SpecialChief Secretary, Departmentof Culture and Youth and oth-ers were present.

AP logs 2,209new Covidcases, 22 deathsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The active coronavirus caseswent up further by 291 to20,593 as Andhra Pradeshreported 2,209 new infec-tions, while 1,896 patients gotcured in the 24 hours ending9 am on Friday.

The State also had 22 freshCovid-19 fatalities in a day,according to the latest bul-letin. The total Covid-19 pos-itives now increased to19,78,350, recoveries to19,44,267 and deaths 13,490.

On Friday, the state com-pleted 2.50 crore coronavirustests that turned out an over-all positivity rate of 7.7 per-cent. The overall recoveryrate touched 98.4 percentwhile the mortality rate rema-ined stable at 0.68 percent.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | AUGUST 7, 2021

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP Legislature Party deputyleader Nimmala Rama Naidu onFriday held the poor maintenanceby the YSRCP governmentresponsible for the washing awayof the crest gate of the Pulichintalairrigation project in the latestfloods in the Krishna River.

Rama Naidu said that the gov-ernment and the IrrigationMinister did not bother to ensureflood cushion maintenance workswhich eventually led to the col-lapse of the gate and the riverwastefully flowing into the sea. Itwas a sheer betrayal of the farm-ers that the Jaganmohan Reddyregime was ignoring the mainte-nance and operation of the irri-gation projects as per the pre-

scribed norms.In a statement here, the TDP

said the overall construction ofPulichintala was full of flaws inboth civil and mechanical works.The YSR regime was responsiblefor the present situation. The spill-way was reduced to just 546 mwhen it should be 754.59 m. Only24 crest gates were fixed whenthere should be 33 gates atPulichintala to effectively check a

flood situation. The gap betweengates in each pier should not bemore than 6 mm but it wasincreased to 400 mm. This result-ed in far higher pressure that thegates were not able to handle dur-ing the flood. A concrete damshould be built there but a 355 mearthen dam was constructed.

The TDP leader deplored thatthe crest gate was now washedaway just because the projectdesign was changed, lesser gateswere fixed than required andearthen dam was built instead ofa concrete one. The projectdesigns were changed only to do'Dhana Yagnam' in the name of'Jala Yagnam'. Jaganmohan Reddylooted commissions during hisfather's rule, which was givingshocking results now.

Poor upkeep led to Pulichintalacrest gate collapse, says TDLP

THANKSGIVING ‘‘DARSHAN' !!

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP National GeneralSecretary Nara Lokesh onFriday condemned the non-stop attacks and harassment ofthe minority communities thatwere leading to death of vic-tims under the ruthless regimeof Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy in AndhraPradesh.

Lokesh said that yet anoth-er minority youth namedAleesha lost his life in the after-math of alleged beating by theexcise policemen atBhatrupalem in Guntur dis-trict. He was beaten up foralleged smuggling of liquorfrom across the inter-Stateborders. This incident broughtback sad memories of how thepolice and the ruling party

leaders' harassment causedAbdul Salaam to commit sui-cide along all his four familymembers in Nandyal.

In a statement here, NaraLokesh asked whether it wassane and correct on the part ofthe Jaganmohan Reddy policeto use their brutal force againsta youth on the pretext of ille-gal liquor smuggling charges.In that case, what punishmentshould be given to the Chief

Minister who has been sellinghis own brands of harmfulcheap liquor in the name ofGovernment liquor shops allover the State. The rulingparty's atrocities were increas-ing with each passing day.

Lokesh demanded that theJaganmohan Reddy regimetake immediate action againstthe police officers and menwho were responsible for thedeath of Aleesha. Also, Rs 50lakh ex gratia should be paidto the family members of thevictim. This death should beconsidered a Governmentmurder. The responsible offi-cers should be dismissed. Theruling party was not giving anyvalue to the lives of the peopleand the minorities. The policewere throwing all rules to thewinds.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Vaccination is the only solutionto save the people from thedeadly the Covid-19 pandem-ic. The developed countriesacross the world are gettingtheir citizens vaccinated whilethe poor countries are unableto afford it. While the richcountries have more vaccinedoses, the poor nations do nothave access to adequate vac-cines for their people, SupremeCourt Judge Justice LavuNageswara Rao has lamented.

Justice Rao inaugurated a two-

day Model World TradeOrganisation MysteryConference being organised byDamodaram Sajeevayya NationalLaw University on Friday. TheJustice appreciated the universi-ty authorities for organising theconference on an important topic‘Equity of vaccination – every-one’s participation or everyone’sshare in vaccination’.

Speaking on the occasion,Justice Nageswara Rao saidthat the entire world was affect-ed by Covid-19 in the past one-and-a-half years. Over 42 lakhpeople died across the world

and 4.2 lakh people died inIndia due to Covid-19. Citingthe example of Somalia whichdoes not have adequate staffand facilities to take up the vac-cination programme, theSupreme Court Justice opinedthat the World HealthOrganisation’s (WHO) Covaxprogramme was aimed at sup-plying the vaccine produced toall countries to meet the highdemand but in vain.

He said India and SouthAfrica had proposed to theWTO waiver of IntellectualProperty Rights (IPR), but it

was rejected by rich countries.“Article 9 (?), 9 (4) of theWTO declaration states that theright may be terminated inunforeseen and urgent circum-stances. Section 31 (F) of thetripartite agreement may alsowaive IPR in emergency con-ditions,” Justice Nageswara Raodetailed.

DSNLU Vice-Chancellor,Prof. S.Surya Prakash,Registrar, Prof. K.Madhusudharna Rao andDirector of the programme,Dr.P.Sri Sudha, co-ordinatedthe inaugural session.

‘Vax only solution to save people from Covid’

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Disciplinary action has beeninitiated by the State govern-ment against K RamachandraMohan, former AdditionalCommissioner-II and thethen Executive Officer,Varahalakshmi NarasimhaSwamivari Devasthanam,S i m h a c h a l a m ,Visakhapatnam and the thenExecutive Officer (FAC)MANSAS Trust,Vizianagaram. To this effect,G Vani Mohan, PrincipalSecretary to Government,Endowments department onFriday issued orders sus-pending K RamachandraMohan pending inquiry.

Earlier, a three-men com-mittee was appointed againstthe misconduct and misuse ofofficial position in deletion oflarge extents of lands fromthe property register of SriVarahalakshmi NarasimhaSwamivari Devasthanam,S i m h a c h a l a m ,Visakhapatnam unauthoris-edly and irregular sale oflands, other irregularities inMANSAS Trust,Vizianagaram. After carefulexamination, a report wassubmitted to the SpecialCommissioner, Endowmentsdepartment and having dueregard for the circumstancesof the case, are satisfied thatit is necessary to place KRamachandra Mohan, undersuspension.

The authorities found thata huge loss of about Rs 74.72crore was incurred to theinstitution as per SR officevaluations. The suspensionorder will take effect withimmediate effect, pendinginitiation of disciplinaryaction against him. Duringthe period the order remainsin force K RamachandraMohan shall not leave theheadquarters without obtain-ing prior permission from thecompetent authority.

Former EO (FAC)of MANSAS Trust suspended

Lokesh demands dismissalof guilty police officers

Flat ownerswant GVMCmeet on taxhike cancelledPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The VisakhapatnamApartments ResidentsWelfare Associat ion(VARWA) has urged theGreater VisakhapatnamMunicipal Corporation(GVMC) to cancel the spe-cial meeting to be held onAugust 7, to pass the reso-lution on property tax hike.

The VARWA membersmet Mayor of GVMC HariVenkata Kumari on Fridayand explained to her that ifthe new property tax systemwas adopted it would placean additional burden onthe people.

The VARWA collectedthe opinion of the taxpayersin the city.

The members of theAssociation explained tothe Mayor the financial bur-den on the owners andurged her to cancel the noti-fication.

The proposed rent-basedhouse and property taxvalue would place an addi-tional burden on the own-ers and the GVMC shouldstop such proposals thatwould cast a negativeimpact on the people, theleaders urged the Mayor.

Meanwhile, the CPM andCPI also demanded that thegovernment stop the newproposal.

The Left parties alsodemanded to cancel thespecial governing bodymeeting to discuss the newtax proposal.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra PradeshGovernment NursesAssociation (APGNA) hassought continuation of deputa-tions to head nurses and staffnurses working in State DME,DH and APVVP in view of thepossibility of a third wave ofCovid-19 spread in the comingdays.

APGNA leaders, led by itsState president D Manjula Devi,along with AP GovernmentEmployees Association presi-dent KR Suryanarayana andAPGEA general secretary GAskar Rao, submitted a memo-randum to Advisor toGovernment (Public Affairs)Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy,Principal Secretary of Medical,Health and Family Welfare, MRavichandra and DME,Raghvendra Rao on Fridaysought fulfilment of their justi-fiable demands.

The leaders said that theDirector of Medical Education,Vijayawada, has issued instruc-tions that all the State DME, DH& APVVP are requested not torelieve the head nurses andstaff nurses who are on deputa-tion and their services may becontinued until further ordersfrom the government due toincrease in Covid-19 cases in theState.

The leaders said that unfor-tunately the superintendentsagainst the continuation of dep-utation orders, decided to can-cel all the deputations.

They said that in view of apossible third way of Covid-19,the services of head and staffnurses might be needed in thecoming days.

Nursing staff forcontinuation of deputations

Executive Officer of Durga Temple in Vijayawada, D Bhramaramba, presents the portrait of the presiding deity to TokyoOlympics bronze medallist, PV Sindhu, after the latter had 'darshan' of the Goddess along with her family on Friday.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu on Fridayslammed the YSRCP govern-ment for turning AndhraPradesh into a 'debt-ridden'State by mortgaging the pub-lic properties in total violationof the rules and laws.

Addressing a meeting ofparty important leaders andTDLP here, the TDP chiefpointed out that there was nodevelopment at all even thoughthe government brought hugeloans by increasing taxes andby fixing meters on agricultur-al motors. Taxes were leviedand increased on garbage,municipal services, rationcards and so on. Salaries werenot paid to governmentemployees in time. Pensionershad to come out and protest in

the streets for their payments.Chandrababu Naidu said

the YSRCP government wascommitting contempt of courtby disregarding its orders forpayment of NREGS and‘Neeru Chettu’ bills to small

contractors. The financial sit-uation of the State was crisis-ridden. The R&B contractorsrefused to lay roads withoutgetting advance payments. Thenational highway was blockedwhen DevineniUmamaheswara Rao was com-ing home after getting releasedon bail.

Naidu deplored that the rul-ing YSRCP had underminedand pushed Polavaram intocrisis. The ruling party leadersboasted of the Pulichintalaproject as a dream that was ful-filled during the YSR rule.Now, the substandard con-struction works resulted inthe crest gate getting washedaway in the f loods.Jaganmohan Reddy's mindsetwas leading to a total deadlockin the process of irrigation pro-jects in the State.

YSRCP govt turned AP intodebt-ridden State: Naidu

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

YS R C o n g r e s s Pa r t y( YS R C P ) c o r o p o r at o rAv u t hu S a i l a j a R e d d yassumed charge as secondD e p u t y May o r o f t h eVi j ay aw a d a Mu n i c i p a lCorporation (VMC) duringa p r o g r a m m e h e r e o nFriday.

Minister for endowmentVellampalli Srinivasa Rao,Vijayawada Mayor RayanaBhagyalakshmi, MLC Md.K a r i mu n n i s a , C e nt r a lMLA, Malladi Vishnu, APFibernet Limited ChairmanP Gautam Reddy and oth-ers congratulated SailajaR e d d y u p o n a s s u m i n g

office in her chamber.Srinivasa Rao said that

the YSRCP government,led by Chief Minister YS

Jaganmohan Reddy, wasgiving priority to womenin politics and was offeringtop posts to them.

He said that three womengot top positions of Mayorand two Deputy Mayors inVMC which reflected theaim of CM JaganmohanReddy. The minister assuredfull cooperation of the Stategovernment towards devel-opment of Vijayawada cityin all respects.

Sailaja Reddy, thankingCM Jaganmohan Reddy,for g iv ing a chance towomen in politics, saidt h at s h e w o u l d w o r ktowards development ofVijayawada and ensure thatthe fruits of governmentwelfare schemes reachedall eligible people withoutfail.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In Andhra Pradesh, of the55,607 Anganwadi Centres(AWCs), about 26 percent, donot have toilet facilities whilealmost all centres have drink-ing water facilities. In AP,growth monitoring of 11,84,125children happens at AWC.

Of the total 13.87 lakhAWCs, 11.96 lakh have drink-ing water facilities and 10 lakhhave toilet facilities. The datawas shared by Minister ofWomen and ChildDevelopment Smriti ZubinIrani in Lok Sabha on Friday.

In contrast, more than 50percent of AWCs in Telanganado not have a toilet. Of the35,634 AWCs, only 17,617 havetoilet facilities.

Also, as many as 1,513 AWCsdo not have drinking waterfacilities in the State.

As on March 31, 2021 of the35,634 operational AWCsacross Telangana, 11,124 arefunctioning from governmentbuildings, 12,459 from rentedbuildings, 9,240 from schools,324 belong to various panchay-ats and 2,425 have been classi-fied as ‘other’. Another 66AWCs are non-operational.

Growth monitoring of1,47,783 children happens atthese AWCs in Telangana.

Across the country, out oftotal 13.87 lakh AWCs 6.54lakh AWCs are running fromgovernment buildings, 74,492AWCs are running from pan-chayat buildings and 2.28 lakhAWCs are located in Primary

Schools.Irani told the Lok Sabha:

“Under Swachhta Action Plan,Rs 10,000 per AWC was pro-vided for drinking water facil-ities and Rs 12,000 per AWCfor toilet facilities in govern-ment buildings. Grants havealso been sanctioned for pur-chase of water filter, furniture,equipment, etc. in AWCs”

The Union Minister added:“Under the AnganwadiServices Scheme, there is aprovision of providing growthmonitoring and home visit ser-vices on a regular basis to theregistered beneficiaries throughAnganwadi Workers. In orderto ensure growth monitoring ofchildren and home visits, anincentive of Rs 500 and Rs 250is provided per month toAnganwadi Workers (AWWs)and Anganwadi Helpers(AWHs)”.

26% Anganwadi centresin AP do not have toilets

VMC second Dy Mayor assumes charge

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Vijayawada MunicipalCorporation (VMC) authori-ties have started evacuating theresidents living in BhupeshGupta Nagar, Taraka RamaNagar and other colonies onthe banks of Krishna riverwith over 5 lakh cusecs of floodwater being released fromPulichintala reservoir due tobreak down of one crest gate.The VMC officials visited thecolonies on Thursday on thebanks of Krishna River andalerted the people to move tothe Indira Gandhi MunicipalCorporation (IGMC) where arehabilitation centre wasarranged.

A few families have reachedIGMC stadium as the floodwater has risen due to a hugevolume of water being releasedfrom Pulichintala project as thecrest gate of the project waswashed away in the wee hoursof Thursday. As per the infor-mation issued by the depart-ment, the surplus flood waterat Prakasam barrage was 4.44lakh cusecs and 12,349 cusecsin canals. All the 70 crest gatesof Prakasam barrage were lift-ed and 4.56 lakh cusecs floodwater was released down-stream.

The VMC officials havemade arrangements to provide

food, drinking water and otherfacilities to the displaced fam-ilies. VMC staff convinced thepeople to relocate to the stadi-um as a threat to their colonies.

VMC Commissioner VPrasanna Venkatesh and offi-cials of the medical andhealth, engineering and otherdepartments visited thecolonies on the banks ofKrishna river and asked thelatter to move the IGMC sta-dium because their housesmay be inundated with releaseof over 5 lakh cusecs waterfrom Pulichintala. Due to thebreakdown of one gate of thePulichintala reservoir, theIrrigation department isreleasing flood water. Thef lood water inf lows arealready increasing inPrakasam barrage. Bhupesh

Gupta Nagar, TarakaRamanagar and Balaji Nagarare located downstream ofVaradhi and will be inundat-ed with release of over 5 lakhcusecs flood water.

The VMC also arrangedtractors to evacuate people tothe IGMC stadium and staffwas appointed to create aware-ness among the residents onfloods threat. On the otherhand, the residents are not will-ing to move from their homesdue to fear of thefts. These res-idents are accustomed to thefloods problem and take shel-ter on the Karakatta for two tofour days till flood waterrecedes in the river and go backto their homes. They cannotmove to a safe place with alltheir belongings within a shortspan of time.

VMC evacuates riverbankcolony residents to safety

ML MELLY MAITREYI

n HYDERABAD

Chief Minister K ChandrasekharRao on Friday reiterated thatthere was no question of steppingback over the irrigation rights ofTelangana keeping in view thelong-term benefits of the agricul-ture and farming community.

He made it clear that the gov-ernment machinery should strivefor this with determination.

The Chief Minister chaired ahigh-level meeting over the strat-egy to be adopted by TelanganaState in the meetings of Krishnaand Godavari River ManagementBoards in the wake of Centre’sgazette notification fixing thejurisdiction of the Boards.

The meeting, held at PragathiBhavan here, discussed thorough-ly the Bachawat and Brijesh KumarTribunal awards related toTelangana’s rightful and fair shareof river waters. The meeting alsoexamined the gazette notificationin detail and reviewed it and alsothe share of both the Telugu Statesin Godavari and Krishna waters.

KCR suggested to the seniorofficials that the voice and stanceof Telangana should be conveyedloud and clear in the meeting ofRiver Management Boards.

The Telangana Chief Ministersaid another meeting would beheld again on Sunday to discuss thesame issue. It may be mentionedthat the Boards convened a jointmeeting on August 9 to discuss the

gazette notification and the actionplan for its implementation.

However, Telangana conveyedthat it would not be able to attendthe meeting as a case related toKrishna waters was coming up onthe same day in National GreenTribunal. The meeting was attend-ed by Chief Advisor to theGovernment Rajiv Sharma, ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar, CM’sPrincipal Secretary Narsing Rao,Irrigation Special Chief SecretaryRajat Kumar, Engineer-in-ChiefMuralidhar, CM OSD SridharRao Deshpande, former Advocate-General Ramakrishna Reddy,senior advocate Ravinder Rao,Irrigation Inter-State wing ChiefEngineer Mohan Kumar, SEKoteswara Rao and others.

No question of stepping backon TS irrigation rights: KCR

vijayawada 04VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | AUGUST 7, 2021

The presiding deity of the 1,000-year-old Chalukya Kumararama Bhimeswara Swamy temple at Samarlakota in East Godavari districtdecorated with 100 tonnes of vegetables as Sakambari Avatar on Friday. The shrine is one of the famed ‘Pancharama Kshetras'.

SAKAMBARI AAVATAR

The bust of the architect of the Indian Constitution vandalised by unidentifiedpersons on the Jagannadhapuram-Kovvur Road in Kakinada on Friday.

MUTE VVICTIM

PNS n GUNTUR

The police seized gutkasachets worth Rs 24 lakhwhile being transported in avehicle i l legally atReddypalem, near here, onFriday and arrested two per-sons in this connection.

Police said that on a tipoff, a team of SEB officials,led by Inspector T PNarayana Swamy, conduct-ed checking of vehicles andfound that the bannedtobacco products includinggutka sachets were beingtransported illegally in avehicle.

The police seized thegutka sachets, the vehicleand arrested two persons KRama Krishna and PSaidulu.

SEB Joint Director BinduMadhav and Guntur UrbanASP Arif Afeez appreciatedInspector Narayana Swamyfor seizure of the bannedtobacco products.

PNS n GUNTUR

A man, who was arrested bythe excise police for illegallytransporting liquor fromTelangana state, died whileundergoing treatment at theGovernment General Hospital(GGH) in the city. The familymembers alleged that he haddied due to torture by excisepolice.

The excise police held fourpersons, including thedeceased Shaik Alisha (27) atBhatrupalem village inDachepalli mandal, for alleged-ly bringing liquor illegally fromTelangana State and thrashedthem. As the condition ofShaik Alisha became critical, hewas admitted to the GGHwhere he died while undergo-ing treatment on Friday.

The police said that they hadarrested the four persons asthey tried to attack them.However, the death of Alishacreated a major controversy asthe family alleged that excise CIKonda Reddy severely beathim up and forcibly put a pes-ticide in his mouth, resulting inhis death.

Meanwhile, in a tragic inci-dent in the case, grandfather ofMiriyala Srikanth, one of thefour arrested persons by theexcise police, died of cardiacarrest at his house.

A large number of people

affiliated to various Minorityassociations, registered theirprotest at the GGH. Theyalleged that Alisha died due totorture by excise police.

The family members of thedeceased said that he had givenup the liquor business and hewas running a restaurant.

The CI, in a bid to implicatehim in a fake case, caused hisdeath, Muslim League Statepresident Bashir Ahmadalleged.

“If the deceased was reallyinvolved in illegal transport ofliquor, he should have beenbooked and sent to prison.Who has given the right to theCI to punish him?” he said.

Former MLA YarapathineniSrinivasa Rao said that lorrieswith loads of liquor were beingbrought illegally fromTelangana on the directions ofGurazala and Macharla MLAs

but nobody prevented them.“Only innocent people arebeing booked,” he said.

Janasena district presidentGade Venkateswarlu consoledthe family members of Alishain the GGH. He demandedthat the government announceRs1 crore compensation to thefamily of the deceased.

TDP national general secre-tary Nara Lokesh also con-demned the incident.

Meanwhile, Excise superin-tendent Chandrasekhar Reddydismissed allegations that theexcise police had tortured thefour persons.

He said that they wereescorting a liquor-laden vehi-cle.

When the excise officialsstopped them, they went totheir village and brought somevillagers.

Threatening the excise

police, the four consumed pes-ticide. The deceased consumedmore quantities of the pesticidewhich led to his death at theGGH, he said.

Man thrashed by excise copsdies, family alleges torture

Rs 24 lakhworth of gutkaseized, 2 held

Elderly woman, daughter murderedPNS n KADAPA

In a gruesome incident, awoman and her daughterwere hacked to death byunidentified miscreants attheir house atDiguvanelaturu nearBrahmamgari Matham hereon Friday.

Police said that miscreants

hacked to death Anjanamma(60) and her daughterLakshmidevi (40) at theirresidence.

The deceased wereaccused in a case related todowry harassment and mur-der of Anjanamma’s daugh-ter-in-law Charisma.

They were arrested in thecase and recently released

from the jail on bail. Twomotorcycle-borne miscre-ants hacked them and fledthe scene. Both died instan-taneously.

Anjanamma’s daughter-in-law Charisma was murderedand the body was buried intheir backyard in 2019.

The police suspect thatthe double murder was com-

mitted in retaliation toCharisma’s murder.

DSP B Vijay Kumar, CIBV C ha l ap at i and SISrinivasulu visited the sceneof offence and registered acase.

The bodies were shifted tothe Government GeneralHospital for a post-mortemexamination.

PNS n ONGOLE

The police arrested a workerof a jewellery shop forallegedly stealing gold worthRs 15 lakh and recovered thebooty.

Superintendent of policeMalika Garg told the mediathat the accused Anil Kumar,while working in

Durga Jewellery shop herehad stolen gold jewelleryweighing 337.803 gramsworth Rs 15,20,337.

The police arrested himand recovered the same.

The police arrested anoth-er person K Prasad andrecovered 15 stolen mobilephones and a bike.

Jewellery shopworker heldfor gold theft

Sindhu prays atDwaraka TirumalaPNS n ELURU

Badminton player P V Sindhuworshipped LordVenkateswara at hill shrine ofDwaraka Tirumala on Friday.

She offered a special pooja

to the deity. The priests of thetemple blessed her. MLATalari Venkata Rao presentedher with the Sudarshan Yagagold memento. Temple EO GV Subba Reddy gave her the'prasadam'.

PNS n AMARAVATI

The Congress party has beenrelegated to nominal status inAP and the activists are eager-ly waiting for a spurt in partyactivities to rejuvenate the spir-it of the cadre. The Grand OldParty has taken up a major taskto revitalise itself and strength-en its base.

According to a Congresssenior leader, former AICCpresident Rahul Gandhi ismaking efforts to convince

Chiranjeevi to play an activerole in the party. It is learnt thatRahul Gandhi has decided tosend a senior leader to talk toChiranjeevi.

The senior Congress leadertold The Pioneer that RahulGandhi had convened a meet-ing with the party’s leaders inSouth India to review the partyposition recently. “During themeeting, Rahul Gandhi askedCongress AP affairs-in-chargeOommen Chandy why Chira-njeevi is maintaining a distance

with the Congress. He alsoasked Chandy why the servicesof Chiranjeevi were not beingused by the Congress in AP.”

According to the seniorleader, Chandy told RahulGandhi that he would person-ally speak to Chirnajeevi andbring him to Delhi. Chandyexplained to Rahul Gandhithat the media had distorted hiscomments on Chiranjeevi.

It may be mentioned thatChandy and APCC president SSailajanath made contradicto-ry statements on Chiranjeevi’smembership in the Congressparty.

Now, speculation is rife in

the Congress after Rahul Gan-dhi evinced interest inChiranjeevi's presence in theparty.

APCC SpokespersonGidugu Rudrama Raju saidthat Rahul Gandhi is formulat-ing a route map for strength-ening the Congress in AP. TheSC, ST and Minorities hadexuded confidence in the YSJaganmohan Reddy govern-ment but their hopes weredashed. “SC, ST and Minoritiesare now looking towards the

Congress,” Rudrama Raju felt. Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi, at

present, is focusing on acting infilms. He has not been attend-ing the party meetings for along time. Moreover,Chiranjeevi welcomed Jagan’sthree capitals concept.

Interestingly, Chiranjeevi’syounger brother Pawan Kalyanis leading the Janasena party. Inthese circumstances, it hasbecome interesting whetherChiranjeevi will take activepart in the Congress.

Rahul wants Chiru to play active role in Cong: Senior leader

PNS n ONGOLE

Prakasam District CollectorPravin Kumar has expressedanger over the Task ForceCommittee on indifferencesamong its members over tak-ing steps to check the spread ofCovid-19 pandemic.

The Collector made a sur-prise inspection of the Etham-ukkala village secretariat onFriday. He checked the atten-dance registered and enquiredthe staff about the maintenanceof fever survey and fever clin-ic.

He also went through therevenue records and reviewedthe Covid situation with theofficials there as more caseswere reported in the village.

The Collector said thatEthamukkala stood second inreporting the highest numberof Covid cases. He said thatdue to lack of awarenessamong people on the spread ofthe pandemic, the number ofcases was rising in the village.

He said that so far 120 caseswere reported in the village outof which 45 were active. Heinstructed the officials toimplement the containmentzones system effectively. Theofficials informed the Collectorthat Covid was spreadingthrough the migrant labourers.

The Collector directed therevenue and police officialsand village secretariat staff tovisit rural areas and imposefines on those who violateCovid norms.

He asked the officials atmandal and village levels togive up their indifferences andtake effective measures tocheck the spread of the pan-demic. The Collector said thatANM and Asha workers shou-ld play a vital role in checkingthe spread of the pandemic.

The Collector directed theofficials to take steps to com-plete the construction of villagesecretariat and Rythu BharosaKendra and BMC building atthe earliest.

Collector pulls up Task Force for failure to check Covid spread

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Two fertilizer shops in Krishnadistrict were sealed for sellingfertilisers at a higher pricethan the MRP on Friday.

Dressed like a farmer, Sub-Collector G Surya Sai PraveenChand inspected several fer-tiliser shops as per the direc-tions of the Krishna DistrictCollector J Nivas.

Praveen Chand, dressed asa farmer wearing a lungi anda shirt in tatters, went to a fer-tiliser shop in Kaikaluru man-dal and asked for urea andDAP fertilisers, but the shopowner did not answer.

The Sub-collector went toanother fertiliser shop andpaid Rs 1,250 for DAP whichwas priced at Rs 280 and with-out a bill.

The Sub-Collector immedi-ately called the AssistantDirector of Agriculture and theKaikaluru Tahsildar andinspected the godown of the

first shop he inspected in frontof everyone and noticed thatthere were stocks of fertiliser.

Later, he directed the ADAand Tahsildar to register casesagainst the two shops and put

a seal to them. The sub-collector directed

the Mudinepalli mandal agri-culture officer to inspect theshop and take strict actionagainst the dealer.

Sub-collector inspects fertilisershops in disguise, books two

PNS n GUNTUR

In a shocking incident, aman and a woman alleged-ly attempted suicide by slit-ting their throats in a hotelat Brodipet in the city onFriday. Police said that thewoman and the manchecked into the hotel at 10am. Sometime later, thehotel staff heard screamsfrom the room. They wentthere and found them in apool of blood.

The police identifiedthem as Bandi Vijay SagarBabu and Rahe. Police sus-pect that they might havebeen in an illicit relation-ship. They were shifted tothe Government GeneralHospital. A case was regis-tered in this regard.

Suicide bid byman, woman in hotel room

Suspect sheets opened against 16 in East GodavariPNS n KAKINADA

With the youth getting addict-ed to marijuana in the district,of late, the police have startedcracking the whip on ganjasmugglers. As part of thisexercise, district SPRavindranath Babu paid spe-cial attention to such cases andsuspect sheets were opened on16 people who were key to thecannabis smuggling, but rowdy

sheets were ordered to beopened if they did not mendtheir ways.

The suspect sheets wereopened at Pithapuram Town,Gollaprolu and Uppada Kottapallipolice stations under PithapuramCircle in East Godavari district tokeep a watch on 16 personsaccused in various cannabis cases.The SP warned that strict legalaction would be taken againstanyone found guilty.

Over 50 crore vax doses administered! PNS n NEW DELHI

The cumulative number ofCOVID-19 vaccine dosesadministered in the country hassurpassed 50 crore with morethan 43.29 lakh doses given onFriday, the Union health min-istry said.

"India soars high on#COVID19 vaccination, his-toric record of 50 crore dosesadministered to date!" HealthMinister Mansukh Mandaviyasaid in a tweet.

Elaborating on the increas-ing pace of vaccination, hesaid the country took 85 daysto touch the figure of 10 crore.It then took 45 days to cross the20-crore mark and 29 moredays to reach 30 crore. Indiatook another 24 days to reach40 crore and 20 more days tocross 50 crore vaccinations.

"In a significant achieve-ment, India's cumulativeCovid-19 vaccination coveragehas crossed the 50-crore land-mark milestone (50,03,48,866),"

the health ministry said.More than 43.29 lakh

(43,29,673) doses were admin-istered on Friday, according toa provisional report compliedat 7 pm.

The ministry said 22,93,781beneficiaries in the age groupof 18-44 years were adminis-tered the first dose, while4,32,281 received the seconddose of the vaccine on Friday.

Cumulatively, 17,23,20,394people in the said age grouphave received the first dose and

1,12,56,317 have received thesecond dose of the vaccineacross all states and Union ter-ritories since the start of thethird phase of the vaccinationdrive.

Andhra Pradesh, Assam,Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana,Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana,Himachal Pradesh, Odisha,Punjab, Uttarakhand and WestBengal have administered thefirst dose of the vaccine to morethan 10 lakh beneficiaries eachin the 18-44 age group.

PNS n KADAPA

The First Class JudicialMagistrate Court inPulivendula on Friday grantedthe CBI a 10-day custody ofSunil Yadav, who is the firstperson to be arrested in formerminister YS VivekanandaReddy case.

The CBI officials arrestedSunil Yadav in Goa on August3 in the sensational murder offormer minister Y SVivekananda Reddy and pro-duced him before thePulivendula court.

The court sent him to 14days judicial remand. He wasshifted to Kadapa centralprison.

The CBI urged the court togrant 15 days custody of SunilYadav as he is to be questionedin the case.

Official sources said that the

CBI officials would take SunilYadav into custody onSaturday.

Sunil Yadav used to work ina sand reach. He befriendedUma Shankar Reddy, whoused to look after the agricul-ture fields of slain VivekanandaReddy. Uma Shankar intro-

duced him to VivekanandaReddy and his family.

The SIT officials and theCBI officials grilled SunilYadav, his parents and broth-er Kiran Kumar several times.

The CBI kept Sunil in Delhifor one month and questionedhim. Then he approached theHigh Court complaining thatthe CBI was harassing him inthe name of questioning.

Later, Sunil Yadav shiftedhim to Goa and he did notcooperate with the CBI offi-cials. The CBI arrested him asan accused in the Viveka’smurder case.

Sources said that some morepersons could be arrested bythe CBI in the case in the com-ing days.

The CBI officials are ques-tioning Yerra Gangi Reddy,said to be a close associate anddriver of Dastagiri in the case.

Viveka murder case: Yadavin CBI custody for 10 days

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | AUGUST 7, 2021

1,058-km metro network underconstruction in 27 cities: Union minister

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said 1,058 kmof metro network is under construction in 27 cities to boost urban mobility across the

country. He was speaking after inaugurating a section of about 289 metres between theMayur Vihar Pocket 1 and the Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake stations on the Delhi Metro's Pink Linevia video-conference. The DMRC has been a trailblazer in urban mobility, and the missinglink at the Trilokpuri section of its Pink Line was bridged with least possible disruptions, the

minister said. He said 721 km of metroline was operational in 18 cities in thecountry at present, while a network of1,058 km was under construction in 27cities. Puri praised the DMRC on runningservices with due protocols amid thecoronavirus pandemic, and said that inthe pre-Covid period, its ridership wasabout 65 lakh per day, and the hope is toreclaim it gradually while ensuringcomfort and safety of people.

Govt always open to talks with protestingfarmers against farm laws: Tomar

Amid farmers protest against three contentious farm laws at Jantar Mantar here,Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday informed Parliament again the

government is always open for discussion to resolve the issue. For over seven months now,thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have beencamping at Delhi's borders in protest against the three laws that they say will end stateprocurement of crops at MSP. Out of them, a small group of 200 farmers are staging a

protest against the farm laws at Jantar Mantar -- only a fewhundred metres from the Parliament Complex -- in centralDelhi after getting a special permission from Delhigovernment. "Government is always open to discussion withfarmers unions and will remain open to discussion withagitating farmers to resolve the issue," Tomar said in a writtenreply to the Rajya Sabha. Asserting that the governmentengaged itself actively and constantly with the agitating farmerunions to end the protests, the minister said that 11 rounds ofnegotiating talks were held between the government andagitating farmers to resolve the issues.

Schools to reopen from Aug 23for classes 9-12: Karnataka CM

The Karnataka government has decided to reopen schools for students from class 9 to12 (II PUC) from August 23, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Friday. After

taking stock of the COVID-19 situation in the state, he said that the government hasdecided to impose weekend curfew in districts bordering Kerala and Maharashtra, andthat the existing night curfew across the state will begin from 9 PM instead of 10 PM. The Chief Minister on Friday chaired a meeting with health and education experts,

Ministers and senior officials of the state government to discussthe COVID-19 situation in the state. "We have discussed thecurrent COVID situation, also some directions have come at theall-India level about the possible increase or decrease in thepositivity rate in the days to come, based on that we have cometo certain decisions," Bommai said. Speaking to reporters here,he said, we have decided to impose weekend curfew in districtsbordering Kerala and Maharashtra and the night curfew in forceacross the state will begin from 9 PM itself instead of 10 PM (itwill be from 9 PM to 5 AM), and police have been asked toimplement it strictly.

INDIA

CORNER

PNS n NEW DELHI

Health Minister MansukhMandaviya on Friday lashedout at the opposition in LokSabha as it protested on thePegasus issue while juniorminister Bharti Pawar wasreplying to a question in theHouse.

This was Pawar's first oralresponse to a question in theLower House of Parliament.She was inducted in theNarendra Modi-led UnionCabinet last month after areshuffle in the Council of

Ministers. Just as an adivasi (tribal)

woman stood to reply, oppo-sition members did not allowher to do so and this is an"insult" to her, Mandaviyasaid as he came to the minis-ter of state (MoS) for health'sdefence.

When Lok Sabha convenedfor the day, questions for theMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare were first on the listduring the Question Hour.

Pawar started replying to aquestion, but members of theopposition raised the Pegasus

snooping and farm laws issuesand protested against the gov-ernment.

The MoS was replying to asupplementary question oninstitutional deliveries andmaternal mortality and shesaid the opposition does nothave the courage to listen tothe work done by PrimeMinister Modi for the protec-tion of women and children.

Slamming the oppositionfor not letting Pawar reply,Mandaviya said she hails froman adivasi community and hasan MBBS degree.

Mandaviya slams Oppn in LS for not allowing MoS to speak

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader Adhir RanjanChowdhury on Friday raisedthe Supreme Court'sreference to the Pegasusmatter as a "serious" issueamid a din in the Lok Sabhawhen it was set to pass a billto end all retrospectivetaxation imposed on indirecttransfer of Indian assets.The Leader of the Congressin the House claimed the billhas been brought following"directions" from theSupreme Court and alsoruling at internationalarbitrations, which has goneagainst the Indiangovernment. "The sameSupreme Court yesterdaysaid that Pegasus is also aserious issue," he said amidruckus in the House,prompting the Chair to switchoff his microphone. He couldnot be heard due to loudprotests in the House.The apex court on Thursdaysaid that allegations ofPegasus-related snooping are"serious in nature" if reportson them are correct.Speaking briefly during thepassage of another bill in theLok Sabha, Chowdhury saidthe opposition has beencalling for scrapping the three"black" farm laws.

Cong refers toSC's observationon Pegasus inLok Sabha

PNS n MUMBAI

Maharashtra Congress presi-dent Nana Patole on Fridayslammed the Modi govern-ment for its decision torename the Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna Award, saying the movereflects the BJP and RSS's"hatred" for members of theNehru-Gandhi family.

The country's highestsporting honour, which wasnamed after Congress leaderand former prime ministerRajiv Gandhi, was on Fridayrechristened in the honour ofhockey wizard Dhyan Chandfollowing the admirable per-formance of both men's andwomen's hockey teams in theTokyo Olympics.

Talking to reporters here,Patole said Major DhyanChand was a legend in hock-ey and the central governmentcould have instituted a newaward in his memory or start-ed a new sports policy in his

name.He said the BJP and the RSS

have "hatred" for Nehru-Gandhi name and this wasreflected in the Centre's deci-sion to rechristen the presti-gious award.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The government approvedRs 5.05 crore for granting Rs5 lakh each as assistance tothe families of 101 journalistswho died due to COVID-19,Minister of State for HealthBharati Pravin Pawarinformed Lok Sabha Friday.

Responding to a question,Pawar said in a written replythe Ministry of Informationand Broadcasting undertook aspecial drive for providingfinancial assistance to the fam-ilies of such journalists.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Over 1,000 claims have beensettled and paid till August 4under the Pradhan MantriGarib Kalyan Package:Insurance Scheme for HealthWorkers Fighting COVID-19,Union Minister Bharat iPravin Pawar told Lok Sabhaon Friday.

In a written reply, the min-ister of state for health saidthe scheme was launched onMarch 30 last year to providecomprehensive personal acci-dent cover of Rs 50 Lakh to22.12 lakh healthcare

providers, including com-munity and private healthworkers, who may have beenin direct contact and care ofCOVID-19 patients andcould be at risk of beingimpacted by this.

Further, on account of theunprecedented situation, pri-vate hospital staff, volun-teers, local urban bodies, andcontract, daily wage and ad-hoc outsourced staff requisi-tioned by state, central hos-pitals and autonomous hos-pitals of the centre, states,union territories, AIIMS,institutes of national impor-

tance, and hospitals of centralministries specifically draft-ed for care of COVID-19patients were also coveredunder the scheme, Pawarsaid.

The scheme is being imple-mented through an insurancepolicy from New IndiaAssurance Company Limited,a public sector companyunder the Union financeministry's department offinancial services, she said.

The minister added that"1,016 claims have been set-tled and paid as on August 4,2021".

1,016 insurance claims settled for health workers fighting Covid

Rs. 5.05 croreapproved forfamilies of 101Covid-hit journos

PNS n NEW DELHI

Shattered by the heartbreakingloss that saw them miss out on abronze medal, members of theIndian women's hockey teambroke down during a telephonicconversation with Prime MinsterNarendra Modi, who lauded theside for its inspirational displayat the Tokyo Olympics.

Modi called the team after itsagonising 3-4 loss to Great Britainin the bronze medal play-off onFriday and consoled the dis-traught players, who were seensobbing.

"All of you have played reallywell. You left everything in thepast five years, sweating it out forthe sport. Your hard work and

sweat didn't get a medal but it hasbecome the inspiration for croresof girls in the country. I congrat-ulate the coach and all of you,"said Modi as the team gatheredaround the phone.

After a disappointing start tothe campaign that saw themlose the first three games, theIndian women's team put up asplendid display to enter itsmaiden Olympic semifinal.

The Rani Rampal-led sidedefeated the mighty Australiansin quarterfinals but couldn't getpast Argentina in the semifinalsand Great Britain in the play-offgame, signing off with a fourthplace finish. The players could-n't fight back tears as Modipraised their efforts.

Women’s hockey team membersbreak down while talking to PM

PNS n MUMBAI

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rauton Friday accused the Modigovernment of weakening thefour pillars of democracythrough alleged snoopingusing Israeli spyware Pegasus.

Talking to reporters inDelhi, Raut expressed surprisethat the central governmentwas not even paying heed tothe Supreme Court's observa-tion that the Pegasus case, iftrue, was a serious matter.

On Thursday, the apex courthad said that allegations ofPegasus-related snooping are"serious in nature" if reports onthem are correct. It also askedthe petitioners seeking probe

into the Israeli spyware matterwhether they have made anyefforts to file a criminal com-plaint on this.

"The Centre is weakeningthe four pillars of democracywith Pegasus spyware. Theopposition's demand for adebate on Pegasus is beingrejected by the government.

The Centre doesn't want todiscuss this issue as well as thatof the farmers' agitation,” hesaid.

An international media con-sortium had earlier reportedthat several verified mobilephone numbers, including oftwo serving ministers, variousjournalists, some oppositionleaders and a sitting judgebesides scores of business per-sons and activists in Indiacould have been targeted forhacking through the Israelispyware sold only to govern-ment agencies. The govern-ment, however, dismissed alle-gations of any kind of surveil-lance on its part on specificpeople.

Centre weakening four pillars ofdemocracy: Raut on Pegasus row

Police seizedrugs worthRs six crorePNS n BENGALURU

The Central Crime Branch ofBengaluru nabbed five drugpeddlers including a Nigerianwith contraband worth Rs sixcrore on Friday. Acting on a tip-off, police personnel raided anapartment in Hennur in the cityand caught the drug peddlersand seized Hashish oil, marijua-na, Charas balls and hydroweed saplings from their posses-sion, police said.

Police also seized a car, a bikeand mobile phones from theirpossession. According to police,Nabaran Chakma, one of thosearrested, is a native of Assam,who has been selling drugs tostudents at prominent educa-tional institutions of the city andsoftware engineers for the pastthree years.

PNS n LUCKNOW

In a bid to break the backs ofgangsters and the mafia and dis-courage their activities, the UttarPradesh Police has attached ordemolished their ill-gotten prop-erties worth over Rs 1,800 croresin the state.

In a special campaign fromApril 2017 till July 2021, 13,801cases were lodged under theGangster Act and 43,294 accusedarrested, while the NationalSecurity Act (NSA) was invokedagainst 630 people, AdditionalDirector General of Police (ADG),Law and Order, Prashant Kumartold PTI.

"In the special campaignagainst mafia and gangsters tobreak their backbone and discour-age criminal activities, we haveattached or demolished their ill-gotten properties worth Rs 1,848crores. This is a record as suchaction has never been taken

before," he said.According to section 14 of the

Gangster Act, a district magistratecan order the attachment of aproperty, movable or immov-able, if there is reason to believethat it has been acquired by agangster as commission for anoffence triable under this law.

Under the provisions, thebooked persons will be requiredto prove to the administration thattheir attached properties are notill-gotten, and they need to pre-sent evidence for their claims.

Asked about the opposition'sallegation that biased action wastaken targeting a particular caste,the ADG asserted that the actionwas "unbiased and without anydiscrimination".

"In the state, 25 mafia wereidentified and action is beingtaken against them and theirgang members to deter themfrom criminal activities and alsogive a message to those in the

crime world," he said.Top among those against

whom action was taken includesformer MP Atiq Ahmad, BSPMLA Mukhtar Ansari, SundarBhati, Dhruv Kumar Singh, aliasKuntu Singh, Kumar said.

Acting against Ahmad, who islodged in Gujarat's Sabarmatiprison, police have arrested 89members of his gang, and prop-erties worth Rs 325 crore wereseized, demolished and freed

from his grab.Arms licences of 60 members

of his gang were also cancelled, theofficer said.

In BSP legislator Ansari's case,who is lodged in Banda prison,the police attached propertiesworth Rs 194 crore, and actionwas taken against 244 gang mem-bers, the officer said.

Arms licences of 122 gangmembers were cancelled, while158 were arrested, he added.

Similarly, in the action againstBhati, a gangster of western UPcurrently lodged in Sonbhadraprison, the police attached prop-erties worth over Rs 63 crores andfour arms licences of his gangmembers were cancelled, Kumarsaid.

In the case of Kuntu Singh, whois lodged in Ballia prison, thepolice attached or demolishedproperties worth over Rs 17.91crores, he said. The ADG said thepolice were also trying to effective-ly pursue the cases against suchelements in courts.

Many hardened criminals,including Lucknow's Om PrakashSrivastava, alias Babloo Srivastava,Muzaffarnagar's SanjeevMaheshwari, alias Jeeva, andGautam Buddh Nagar's SunderBhati and Singhraj Bhati wereawarded life imprisonment bycourts due to effective pursual oftheir case by the police, the offi-cer said.

Assets of mafia worth over Rs 1,800 cr attached

RENAMING KHEL RATNA AWARD

‘Reflects BJP’s hatred for Nehru-Gandhi family’

RS ADJOURNED FOR THE DAYAMID OPPOSITION PROTESTSPNS n NEW DELHI

The Rajya Sabha was adjournedfor the day on Friday after oppo-sition members continued to cre-ate uproar over the Pegasussnooping row and farmers' issues.

The upper house witnessed oneadjournment a few minutes afterit met for the day and was thenadjourned for the day a few min-utes after it met again at 12 PM.

The Congress, TMC and othermembers continued to raise slo-gans in the well soon after it metfor Question Hour.

Surendra Singh Nagar, whowas in the chair, announced thatthe meeting of the business advi-sory committee of Rajya Sabhawould be prepped to 12.15 PM onthe request of some oppositionparties. It was to be held at 1.10

PM earlier.The chair continued with the

Question Hour amid the din butadjourned the House for the dayafter opposition members contin-ued to create noisy scenes by rais-ing slogans in the well.

The House will now meet at 11

AM on Monday, August 9, 2021.Earlier soon after the House

met for the day, it was adjournedwithin minutes after the laying ofpapers, as opposition membersstormed the well and startedraising slogans against the govern-ment.

Deputy chairman Harivanshfirst urged members to allow theHouse to function but adjournedthe House till 12 PM amid the din.

Earlier when the House met,Harnath Singh Yadav (BJP)demanded the governmentrestore the medium of educationin mother tongue, while RamNath Thakur (JDU) urged thegovernment to fill up vacancies ofjudges in the Supreme Court.

Sasmit Patra (BJD) sought theratio of Centre-State assistance bechanged from 60:40 to 90:10 fordevelopment of Odisha keepingin mind the state always getsaffected by floods and other nat-ural disasters.

Patra even urged the govern-ment to declare Odisha as a 'spe-cial focus state of infrastructuredevelopment.

PNS n KOCHI

The Kerala High Court onFriday said that setting upfeeding centres for stray dogswould ensure they do notbecome aggressive and attackcolony residents and wouldalso remove fear regarding thecanines from people's minds.

"If you identify the feedingcentres/ areas, all these prob-lems would be addressed," abench of Justices A KJayasankaran Nambiar andPGopinath said whiledealing with theissue of poisoningof street dogs inThrikkakkaramunicipalityarea ofE r n a ku l a mdistrict.

The courtalso said thatonly those organ-isations or volunteerswho are registered withthe Animal Welfare Board ofIndia (AWBI) can carry outfeeding or birth control activ-ities.

The high court also direct-ed the state government toissue, without any further delay,a circular with regard to regis-tration of pets by their ownerswith the local bodies andobtaining a licence.

The court on July 14 haddirected the state governmentto "immediately" order thelocal authorities to forthwithissue public notices requiringowners of animals -- cattle,pets, etc -- to register them with

the local authority concernedand obtain a licence as mandat-ed under theMunicipal ity/PanchayatAct/Rules.

"The government may, iffound necessary, also prescribethe forms of licences and fix thefee that can be collected for theregistration/ licensing proce-dure, and ensure that as a firststep, the registration/ licensingof all such animals presentlykept by owners is completedwithin six months from today.

"The instructionsissued by the gov-

ernment shall alsorequire thefuture ownersof animals toregister theiranimals withthe local

authority con-cerned within

three months ofacquiring the animal,"

the bench had said.The lawyer for the state gov-

ernment assured the court thatthe circular would be issuedimmediately.

Meanwhile, court appointedamicus curiae -- advocateSuresh Menon -- told the benchthat presently there are only 7animal welfare organisations inthe state which are registeredwith AWBI and four privateshelters.

Besides that, there are 17shelters run by private peopleat their residences, but these arefacing harassment from localresidents and municipalauthorities, he said.

‘Feeding centresfor dogs wouldmake them docile’

who have been detained by themilitary in the last few days.”

On the very day of thecoup, the UN secretary-gener-al, Antonio Guterres, said thatit represented “a serious blowto democratic reforms inMyanmar.” President JoeBiden’s press secretary, JenPsaki, said the US opposed“any attempt to alter the out-come of recent elections orimpede Myanmar’s democra-tic transition, and will takeaction against those responsi-ble if these steps are notreversed”.

Criticism grew harsherwith time. On February 11, USPresident Joe Biden called onthe junta to release detainedprotesters and civilian leaders,including Aung San Suu Kyiand Win Myint, and ceasetheir crackdowns on demon-strators. He added, “The mil-itary must relinquish powerthey’ve seized and demon-strate respect for the will of thepeople as expressed in theirNovember 8 election….”

Going beyond words, theBiden Administrationannounced on February 11the suspension of the 2013Trade and InvestmentFramework Agreement,meant to boost bilateral busi-ness between the US andMyanmar, until the restora-

tion of democracy there. Italso imposed sanctions on 10Generals and three commer-cial entities. Besides imposingrestrictions on strategicexports, it has prevented theGenerals associated with thejunta from improperly access-ing the MyanmarGovernment’s funds of over$1 billion lying in the US.

The US CommerceDepartment placed under sus-pension on March 4, 2021,four military-controlledMinistries and conglomeratesand, on March 22, the USDepartment of Treasuryimposed sanctions onMyanmar’s police chief, a mil-itary commander, and twomilitary units for their role inrepressing demonstrators.Britain, Canada and NewZealand have also imposedsanctions and travel bans, andfrozen assets. Australia hadannounced the suspension ofits limited cooperation withthe Tatmadaw and said itwould re-direct the aidmarked for the Governmentto aid groups.

Clearly, limiting the stateof emergency to a year did notfool the democraticGovernments. Nor has thejunta’s possible belief in theshort life of protest move-ments against the coup, mate-

rialised. Rather, the move-ment for restoring democra-cy, honouring the outcome ofthe November 8, 2020, elec-tion, and the release of Suu Kyiand all arrested leaders andactivists ,continues despitethe escalating savagery of theTatmadaw’s repression whichis clearly reflected in HannahBeech’s recent dispatch in TheNew York Times, which states,“Since the Feb 1 putsch, atleast 940 people have died atthe hands of Myanmar’s secu-rity forces, according to atally kept by a monitoringgroup that closely tracks thekillings. More than 5,400 peo-ple are in detention, includingall of Myanmar’s senior elect-ed leadership.”

Apart from its power lust,the extension of the durationof the state of emergency indi-cates the junta’s realisationthat the protests are not goinganywhere soon. Will thesesucceed in ousting the junta?One does not know. It is,however, a lesson of historythat no regime can sustainitself indefinitely if the entirepopulation of a countryopposes it actively. This isprecisely what is happening inMyanmar.

(The author is ConsultingEditor, The Pioneer. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

RENAMING AWARDS FOR OPTICSSir — It’s plain politics and bias towardsthe Nehru-Gandhi family that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi announced thatthe Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna will now beknown as Major Dhyan Chand KhelRatna Award, “respecting the sentimentsof citizens across the country”. But I total-ly disagree with Modi because millions ofsports lovers like me believe that if the greatMajor Dhyan Chand were alive today, hewill not accept it. Agree, there are hundredsof roads, hospitals, colleges, universities andstadiums in the Nehru-Gandhi family’sname. It seems that the Congress and the‘first family’ took the nation for a ride, justlike Modi renamed Ahmedabad’s SardarPatel Stadium in his name.

People wonder when the country’shighest award for lifetime achievement insports is known as the Dhyan ChandAward, what is the necessity for Modi torename the Rajiv Khel Ratna award? Isn’tit diverting the attention from the use ofIsraeli spyware? Sports lovers have noobjection to honour Dhyan Chand, evenwith the country’s highest civilian award‘Bharat Ratna’.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

TREAT EVERYONE EQUALLY AND FAIRLYSir — When we talk about “gender dis-crimination”, most people tend to misun-derstand the word. The first thought thatcomes to mind is about females being dis-criminated against because of their gender.But if we try to delve deeper into the sub-ject, we get a different insight into howmales also have a share of problems asso-ciated with the issue. We should raise aquestion as to why gender discriminationis still prevailing and why must it be putto an end?

In my perspective, the society is toblame because right from childhood, itdecides how men and women should act.It draws certain lines, boundaries whichmen and women are not supposed to cross.Gender discrimination is noticed every-where. Recently, a video went viral show-ing a woman slapping a cab driver in pub-lic. The man was sent to the lockup for the

night. His statement was not taken, whichindicates the gender inequality.

Although the girls have equal rights,that doesn’t mean they can misuse them.Gender equality is not only a fundamen-tal human right but a necessary founda-tion for a peaceful, prosperous and sustain-able future. Let’s say “Yes” to genderequality. Let’s treat everyone equally.

Princy Carol Gonsalves | Goa

SPORTING LESSONS FROM TOKYO GAMESSir — The Tokyo Olympic games and thefinal of men’s high jump have taught theworld a sporting lesson. Italian JeanMarco Tamberi and Qatar’s Mutaz EesaBarshim were vying for the gold medal.Both jumped 2.37 metres and the resultwas tied. The Olympics officials gave threemore attempts to each but due to a seri-

ous leg injury, Tamberi had to withdrawfrom his third attempt. Now Barshim hadit easy as there was no competition.

But Barshim asked the officialswhether he could also withdraw so that thegold medal would be shared, for which hegot confirmation in affirmative. Once theofficials affirmed this, Barshim withdrewfrom his final jump and the gold medal wasshared, much to the delight and surpriseof the sporting fraternity. True sportsman-ship was revealed in the field of play, whichis far above the religious and political arenaor country or colour. The moral of the storyis “Live and let others also live”, even incompetition. Kudos to Barshim; well doneTamberi!

Gundu K Mani Ramani | Chennai

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

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Prolonging of Myanmar’s state of emergency until 2023, and it could be

extended indefinitely, shows the junta’s miscalculations

APART FROM ITS POWER LUST,

THE EXTENSION OFTHE DURATION OF

THE STATE OF EMERGENCY

INDICATES THE JUNTA’S

REALISATION THATTHE PROTESTS

ARE NOT GOINGANYWHERE SOON.

WILL THESESUCCEED IN

OUSTING THEJUNTA?

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

The Supreme Court’s observation that“truth has to come out” in the Pegasussnooping issue vindicates the demand

for a probe by a JPC or a sitting SC judgeas a credible probe is necessary for the truthto come out. How is it possible to test thetruth or falsehood of the media reports alleg-ing snooping without a probe?

It will be now hard for the Governmentto dismiss the alleged use of Pegasus forsnooping as a non-issue when the SupremeCourt has termed it a “serious issue”. It isindeed a serious issue with far-reachingimplications. Pegasus turns mobile phonesinto surveillance devices by tracking itsusers, reading messages, copying pictures

and transmitting them. That the apex courthas directed the petitioners to serve copiesof their petitions to the Attorney General andthe Solicitor General and the Governmentto ensure that “somebody appears on behalfof it” on the next date of hearing to answerqueries has shown the seriousness withwhich it views the issue.

Implicit in the Government’s equivoca-tion and inability to issue a categorical denialis an admission of Pegasus targetingIndian phone users. The Government isclearly in the dock since the Pegasus spy-ware is “only sold to Governments orGovernment agencies”. The NSO Group saysthat Pegasus is used for fighting terror andcrime. The activists, journalists, lawyers,politicians and constitutional functionarieswhose phones were infected with Pegasuscannot, by any stretch of imagination, beregarded as terrorists or criminals. TheGovernment can at best run away, but can-not hide by saying that the matter is subjudice. There is general perception that theGovernment is not innocent of electronicsurveillance.

G David Milton | Kanyakumari

SC’s wake-up call on Pegasus

Implications of theemergency extension

It is hardly surprising thatMyanmar’s military dictator,Senior General Min AungHlaing, has extended the

duration of the country’s nation-al state of emergency by twoyears. Nor should one be sur-prised if it is extended indefinite-ly as 2023 gets under way. Earlier,the army had staged a coup onFebruary 1, 2021, and proclaimeda state of emergency for a year.The fact is that the Tatmadaw, asMyanmar’s rogue army is official-ly called, has no intention of giv-ing up power. A huge straw in thewind is General Hlaing’s designa-tion as Prime Minister in a newcaretaker Governmentannounced by the StateAdministration, as the junta callsitself, last Sunday.

In retrospect, the junta hadinitially said that the national stateof emergency would last for ayear, presumably to minimiseglobal condemnation of the coupand because of the belief that itcould easily subdue such protestsas might occur. Neither has hap-pened. Except China, whichclearly stands with the junta,and several others which remainperched on the fence, most coun-tries, particularly democracies,have been searing in their con-demnation of the coup and thearrest and incarceration of AungSan Suu Kyi and other leaders ofthe National League forDemocracy (NLD) she leads.

Reaction has been sharp toSuu Kyi being charged withimporting walkie-talkies andother foreign equipment, alleged-ly found in the compound of herhome in the capital city ofNaypyitaw, illegally and usingthem without permission. She hasalso been charged with breachingthe natural disaster managementlaw by interacting with a crowdduring the COVID-19 pandem-ic, a law that President WinMyint has also been chargedwith violating.

United Nations spokesmanStephane Dujarric told reportersshortly thereafter that the chargesagainst Suu Kyi “just compoundthe undermining of the rule oflaw in Myanmar and the demo-cratic process”. He added: “Wecontinue to call for her immedi-ate release and the President’simmediate release and all others

SOUNDBITEMet@AdarPoonawalla,CEO of@SerumInstIndia,and had a produc-tive discussion on the supply of Covishield vaccine.

Union Health Minister— Mansukh Mandaviya

I am deeply concerned by thelack of progresstoward the goal of anuclear-free world.

UN Secretary-General

— Antonio Guterres

This is surreal, cele-brating 20 years ofDil Chahta Hai. I’mso proud of the filmwe made.

Actor— Preity Zinta

The evils of climatechange are beingfelt by the societyevery day…Administrators andpolicymakers have to take upthis issue with sincerity.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister— MK Stalin

We all are still emotional at themoment. Losingmatches hurt forathletes.

Indian women’s hockey coach— Sjoerd Marijne

The AIADMK, which was in power in Tamil Nadu for two successive terms from2011 to 2021, is at a crossroads after the last Assembly election. The party,founded by late MG Ramachandran and nurtured by late J Jayalalithaa, resem-

bles a rudderless ship after the demise of the latter in December 2016. The partynow has no charismatic leader with the stature of Amma, as Jayalalithaa was addressed

by people. The turmoil in the AIADMK was revealedwhen the party leadership fielded two sitting RajyaSabha members as candidates for the 2021Assembly election. Though both the MPs won theelection, the AIADMK lost the bout, squandering awayits two seats in the Rajya Sabha. Had the party select-ed someone other than the two MPs, it could haveretained its numbers in the Upper House for the nextthree-four years. It is sure that the DMK would seizeboth the seats when the bypolls are held to fill theRajya Sabha vacancies. The AIADMK is divided oncaste, communal and regional basis. O

Panneerselvan, the coordinator of the steering committee and former Chief Minister,is not on good terms with Opposition leader E Palaniswamy.

Panneerselvan is yet to recover from the shock of denial of the post of LoP to himwhich, he believes, belongs to him only. VK Sasikala, Amma’s trusted aide who wasappointed the party’s acting general secretary in December 2016 and expelled byPanneerselvan and Palaniswamy in August 2017, is also out to grab the party. Shehas made many overtures to Panneerselvam, whom she herself ousted as the ChiefMinister in February 2017. What Tamil Nadu is seeing is nauseating casteism underthe garb of political realignment. Panneerselvam and Sasikala belong to the Thevar com-munity, a dominant section in the AIADMK, while Palaniswamy heads the Gounder fac-tion. How the shadow-boxing in the AIADMK develops is anybody’s guess. This news-paper had forecast in 2015 itself that the AIADMK would disintegrate into many fac-tions and that is unfolding now. Palaniswamy and Panneerselvan would not be able tosalvage the political entity launched by MGR. Sasikala is likely to end up as a wheel-er-dealer. Tamil Nadu needs a strong politician with commitment to the State to takeon DMK’s MK Stalin, who is the monarch of all he surveys, at least for now.

Among the first actions by India after taking over the presidency of the United NationsSecurity Council is to convene a meeting to discuss the worsening situation inAfghanistan. The meeting comes in the wake of Afghan Foreign Minister Mohamad

Haneef Atmar calling on his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar and seeking an urgentsession of the Council to discuss ways to halt the Taliban’s violence in the country.There is a huge escalation in violence as the Taliban have gone on an offensive to cap-ture as much territory as they can to use as leverage for power negotiations after thewithdrawal of the US forces is complete this month-end. India has repeatedly expressedits concern and is in favour of a two-pronged approach for Afghanistan: Encouragethe warring sides to agree to total ceasefire and bring them to the negotiating table forthem to draw up a political agreement on their own. The Indian initiative comes at a

time when India itself has been kept away from a sec-ond meeting on Afghanistan convened by Russia inQatar on August 11. The Russians have invited theUnited States, Pakistan and China to the meeting.Russia has been holding what is called the “Moscowformat” of talks for bringing about a political recon-ciliation in Afghanistan. Russia has given no expla-nation for keeping India away. It did welcome the Indiandecision for a Security Council meeting but has in therecent past also commented that it supports India hav-ing contacts with the Taliban on the ground that theyare a reality in Afghanistan.

Simultaneously, the CSTO alliance in Eurasia comprising Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan,Tajikistan, Belorussia and Kyrgyzstan is separately assessing the Afghan situation par-ticularly along the borders of its member countries. In July, Tajikistan, alarmed by theTaliban’s offensive in Afghan towns close to its borders, appealed to the CSTO to comeup with an appropriate response but the organisation at that time felt the situation didnot warrant an intervention. A third initiative on Afghanistan will also be in the form ofa meeting in Qatar between Afghanistan and its “regional and international” partnerssometime later in August. China, on the other hand, is making its independent effortsfor a settlement in Afghanistan with Pakistan as its ally. China’s Foreign Minister hasalso formally met a Taliban delegation recently, where Beijing appears to have receivedassurances from the Taliban to respect China’s concerns in the region. As Pakistan,China, the US and Russia begin their moves to see who influences Afghanistan themost, India needs to decide on what its role will be. Others seem to think that Indiamust have communication links open with the Taliban to be able to closely monitorthe intra-Afghan affairs. India needs to decide if it prefers a direct involvement or a dis-tant one. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy minced no words when he tweeted, “Thisis the last chance to become relevant”.

Afghan turmoil

Falling apart?The AIADMK today resembles a rudderless ship

without an able captain to take on the DMK’s Stalin

PICTALK

People wade through a street after heavy rains at Assi Ghat in Varanasi PTI

India must stand with the world to ensure thatpeace returns to the violence-ravaged country

N-proliferation andregional security

DOORS OF OUR PARTY ARE OPEN FOR ALL

SMALL PARTIES. MANY SMALLER PARTIES ARE

ALREADY WITH US.

— SAMAJWADI PARTY PRESIDENT

AKHILESH YADAV

THE SP NOW REMEMBERS JANESHWAR MISHRA AND

HIS COMMUNITY, WHICH HAS FACED HARASSMENT

AT THE HANDS OF THE BJP GOVERNMENT.

— BSP CHIEF

MAYAWATI

China’s military and nuclear linkswith North Korea and Pakistanare well established. Interestingly,by encouraging Pakistan against

India by supplying average payload capac-ity nuclear missiles and other military sup-plies, China tried to avoid being noticedas the first order nuclear threat in SouthAsia. It also served the purpose of keep-ing India engaged with Pakistan to ensurethat New Delhi’s strategic outreach remainslimited.

In the last three decades, Beijing pre-sented before the world its “peaceful rise”and non-belligerent face. Simultaneously,China used its foreign aid and its partic-ipation in the nuclear non-proliferationregime as tools to convince the world thatit is a serious partner in the developmentin various regions.

The recent discovery of two newnuclear bases in China has caused a lot offlutter in the national and internationalmedia. One has to analyse China’s strate-gic behaviour from close quarters to gaina comprehensive understanding.

Currently, China is only shedding itscamouflage. Beijing’s ‘wolf warrior’ diplo-macy and its nuclear proliferation are relat-ed to its tactical vulnerabilities rather thana position of strength. The world has wit-nessed a complete rejection of theInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) deci-sion on the South China Sea issue, the pres-ence of its nuclear submarines in the IndianOcean Region, debt trap policies, belittlingof its neighbours, and other regionalpowers. Its insecurity viz- a- viz the Quadand its trade wars with the US have ledBeijing to adopt the path of nuclear pro-liferation.

In 2018, China’s nuclear scientist QianHu received the ‘State Supreme Science andTechnology Award’ for successfully build-ing an ‘underground steel wall’ nuclear shel-ter that could stop the hypersonic missilesand overcome its tactical weakness. In hisconversations with the media that are avail-able in the public domain, he spoke of theseshelters as “shields” and also mentioned theprofound importance of the nuclear mis-siles which he termed as “spears”. Theworld might have guessed that to overcomeits weaknesses, China is occupied withnuclear proliferation. In order to divertattention, China brought out its 2019Defence White Paper that aimed to keepits nuclear capabilities at a “minimum levelrequired for national security” which citedits commitments towards the Treaty ofNon-proliferation of Nuclear Weaponsapart from listing all the treaties in thisdomain that it supposedly agreed to. Somecountries were swayed by this argumentwhile others probably thought that Chinais constructively engaged. Contrary to theChinese assertion, the Pentagon in its 2020report that assessed Beijing’s militarycapabilities estimated that Beijing waslikely to “at least double its warhead stock-pile” from the then existing “low 200s”.Later, as the world was hit by the pandem-

As China seeks to find a ‘just’ world order based on its principles, its N-proliferation is to showcase its status as a supreme nuclear power

EXPERTS PUTFORTH THE VIEW

THAT IT CAN BE A TACTIC TO

CONFUSE THE USAND INDIA ABOUT

THE STRATEGICLOCATIONS OF ITS NUCLEAR

MISSILES.ANOTHER ASPECT

OF THISDISCOVERY

COULD BE THATPROBABLY

CHINA ISSTRATEGICALLYCONDITIONING

THE COUNTRIES,ESPECIALLY INDIA

AND THE US, TOACCEPT AN

ONGOING ORFUTURE NUCLEAR

PROLIFERATION

The provision of innovative Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) in theNew Education Policy,a multi-disciplinary, skills-based, and flexiblecurricular structure, a Multiple-Entry-Multiple-Exit option, and expe-

riential learning pedagogies will help actualize new opportunities for moti-vated learning. Now that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rolled out ABCfor implementation from the coming academic session, it has becomeimperative to understand how it will work and democratise our learningsystem. ABC will digitally store essential academic credits earned fromselect institutions for the award of a degree or a diploma It will ensureseamless mobility of learners among various disciplines and institutionsfor earning credits through courses or a combination of courses of theirchoice.As such, ABC will create opportunities for students’ mobility betweeninstitutions. The ABC system will perform the functions of a commercialbank with the facility for students to hold accounts. The bank will be respon-sible for the opening, validation, and closure of these accounts. It will

facilitate verification, accumulation, transfer, or redemption of credits,andverify the credits required for the authentication of degrees.

Higher education institutions with A Grade certification from NAACor the top 100 institutions in NIRF, or institutions with a minimum scoreof 675 from NBA for at least three programmes shall be eligible for reg-istration in ABC. The credits earned by the students may be verified bythe bank's educational transcripts that will be recognised by all institu-tions included in the consortium on ABC. The ABC may allow non-sci-ence students, say from arts and commerce streams, to take up cours-es in the science stream after pursuing a bridge course. It will offer Multiple-Entry-Multiple-Exit options to needy students and help integrate skills intoa choice-based credit system. The ABC makes the higher education sys-tem completely student-centric, and it enables students to choose cours-es and institutions facilitating learning from a wide range of course coor-dinators and institutions. For instance, a student can be enrolled for a pro-gram in one institution (parent institution) and simultaneously be enrolledfor courses of choice in multiple institutions(sister institutions) for earn-ing credits in physical or online mode or both. This ensures enhancedintegration of institutions for conducting academic activities and facili-tates life-long learning opportunities. The learners have the option of study-ing full-time or part-time. ABC will promote quality, flexibility, and collab-oration alongside access and equity to improve the efficacy of the high-er education system.I am of the opinion that the responsibility of imple-menting ABC can be entrusted to the General Education Council - thefourth vertical under the Higher Education Commission of India.The UGCmakes it mandatory for students to necesarily earn 50 per cent of cred-its assigned to the programme from their institutions.This implies that cred-its assigned for the core courses have to be necessarily earned manda-torily earned from the parent institutions. This ceiling may vary in the futureupon bridging the digital divide.Another point is the seven-year maximumvalidity period for credit redemption. This is essential as the curricularframework and course modules will undergo drastic changes after sevenyears.They need to be regularly updated to ensure dynamism in the pro-gram and infuse newer concepts and developments in the domain knowl-edge. It is a year since the NEP was announced and it is the prime respon-sibility of eligible higher education institutions to help actualize the ABCso that the students enjoy its optimal benefits. The very concept of edu-cational institutions is founded on the premise of satisfying the ever-evolv-ing learning needs of the youth and empowering them with global com-petencies and skills to make them socially and economically relevant.This is the only road that will lead us to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

(The writer is Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda.The views expressed are personal.)

India today stands at the cuspof another telecom revolu-tion. On one hand, we have

the 5G technology all set totransform the mobile worldwhile, on the other hand, theambitious BharatNet projectcan revolutionise the economyin rural India through a robustbroadband infrastructure.

India today is the world'ssecond-largest mobile market.We are also the second biggestmarket in terms of broadbandusers. Our teledensity in ruralareas has crossed the 60 percent mark. India is one of theworld's largest data con-sumers. We are fast movingtowards a total digital econo-my. These facts showcase theIndian telecom market'ssplendid journey in morethan the last two decades.

The Government has once

again renewed its focus on thetelecom market. The latest buzzis the introduction of theProduction-Linked Incentive(PLI) scheme for the telecomsector which the Union Cabinetrecently approved with a bud-getary outlay of ̀ 12,195 croresto promote manufacturing oftelecom and networking prod-ucts in India.

Through this policy, Indiawill move towards self-reliancein telecom manufacturing. Byincentivizing large-scale man-ufacturing in India, domesticvalue addition will increasegradually. The provision of ahigher incentive to MSME willencourage domestic telecommanufacturers to become partof the global supply chain.

However, the industry feelsthat the Government shouldensure reservation for pro-

curement of ‘Made In India’products for domestic con-sumption, besides granting anextension of tax benefits fortelecom industries covered bythe PLI scheme. What is alsoneeded is the inclusion of spe-cialised service sectors likesubmarine cable-laying andmaintenance under the PLI. Allthis will make India self-reliantin the manufacturing of tele-com gears.

One area of concern whichthe government has failed toaddress over the years is the

establishment of the semicon-ductor industry which is thebackbone of the microelec-tronics industry. There are sev-eral huge gaps that need to beplugged in to ensure India'ssmooth entry into the big man-ufacturing league, which todayis controlled by the westernnations and China.

In the past, the governmenttook some half-hearted initia-tives for chip manufacturing. Asemiconductor laboratory wasset up long back, but this couldnot meet the demand andrequirements of the Indianindustry due to a lack of prop-er vision and planning. Tochart the success story in chipmanufacturing, the govern-ment needs to set up at least afew industries in India direct-ly or under the PPP model withthe assurance that the manufac-

tured products are to be con-sumed in India itself.

One important aspect ofthe telecom revolution is thefast growth of rural telephonywith a special emphasis on ruralbroadband. Under theBharatNet, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has set up anambitious target of taking fibreto six lakh villages in 1000 days.The Union Cabinet recentlyapproved a public private-part-nership model for the rollout ofBharatNet project for broad-band services in villages in 16States with a viability gap fund-ing of `19,041 crore. TheTelecom Ministry has alsofloated a global tender to speedup the entire process.

To make this a success, thegovernment should providefree right-of-way for laying thecable. Wherever possible, sep-

arate dedicated corridorsshould be earmarked forBharatNet. Once all the villagesare connected with a robustbroadband network, it wouldadd to India’s GDP and makethe villages prosperous.

And to make this happen,domestic companies need toproduce optical fibre cablesand the related telecom equip-ment to decrease dependencyon imports. The core transmis-sion network also needs to beupgraded.

One area of concern is theChinese dominance in theIndian telecom market.Chinese telecom equipmentmanufacturers today rule theglobal market. In India too wesee the Chinese dominance notjust in the equipment marketbut also in the mobile handsetsmarket. All this has happened

in less than a decade becauseChinese products are cheaperthan European products.

Recently the Indian gov-ernment has defined policychanges to restrict Chinesefirms from participating ingovernment tenders. Theserestrictions need to be extend-ed to other foreign players tooto safeguard the interests of thedomestic industry.

India must follow an inclu-sive and strategic approach toprotect its telecom ecosystem,without compromising on thegrowth of markets, or theenthusiasm for flagshipschemes that can give impetusto private investments. To thisend, India can do well byobtaining technology trans-fers from friendly countriesinstead of going for researchand development work.

India must follow an inclusive and strategic approach to protect its telecom ecosystem, without compromising on the growth of markets

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | AUGUST 7, 2021

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNTHE ACADEMIC

BANK OF CREDITS

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

(The writer is anAssistant Professor at

Central University of Punjab, Bathinda. The views expressed

are personal.)

Incentivising domestic telecom gear manufacturers

SANDEEP AGGARWAL

(The writer is the Chairmanof the Telecom Equipment

and Services ExportPromotion Council (TEPC). The views

expressed are personal.)

RAGHAVENDRA P TIWARI

ic, enough attention could not bepaid to its expanding arsenals.

Today, as China seeks to find foritself a “just” world order based onits own principles and philoso-phies, and perceives itself as an estab-lished power, its nuclear proliferationis an attempt to showcase its statusas a supreme nuclear power.

The relative availability of tac-tical mobility and military technol-ogy are the major determinants ofoffensive dominance. In this con-text, China’s building up of villageson the Indo-China border, movingof sophisticated artillery, and nowthe discovery of the silo dumpspoint out to the direction of China’spreparedness to launch surpriseoffensive actions which may be ofshorter duration and relativelybloodless. In a second scenario,apart from nuclear proliferation, aSino-Pak collaborative threat can-not be ruled out.

As a counter approach, India’smovement has been appropriatelyon the offensive side that includesheavy military and artillery deploy-ment including the induction of theRafale jets at Hasimara Air Base inWest Bengal. However, the discov-ery of the nuclear silos near the bor-der presents an unpredictable situ-ation before India concerning thepossibility of the nuclear factor infuture Chinese offensive launches.It may also be just a threat of usingnuclear coercion with an intentionto capture Indian territories.

The traditional understandingof the presence of nuclear silos canbe easily related to both deterrenceand military deception. China hasadopted a three-pronged strategy

that involves the use of militarydeception, propaganda, and legalwarfare without resorting to the ICJ.A significant question that arises iswhy would a country build twonuclear bases with silos to accom-modate 100 nuclear missiles at asingle place in a desert and inviteits discovery and subsequent inter-national attention?

Experts put forth the view thatit can be a tactic to confuse the USand India about the strategic loca-tions of its nuclear missiles andshould be treated as a part of mili-tary deception. Another aspect ofthis discovery could be that proba-bly China is strategically condition-ing the countries, especially Indiaand the US, to accept an ongoing orfuture nuclear proliferation. Ormaybe it is a safe place for its ally,Pakistan, to keep its missiles in caseit is declared a ‘failed state’ in theeventuality of being blacklisted byFATF and a subsequent fundamen-talist takeover or as a sovereign assetstakeover in case it goes ‘bankrupt’with the Chinese Debt.

Experts suggest that Chinaadopts a salami-slicing tactic where-in it gradually erodes the internation-al norms by violating the internation-al law and frames its own domesticrules which are in sharp contradic-tion with the former. Is nuclear pro-liferation another example of this?The world can see it in the SouthChina Sea, the Himalayas, and theIndian Ocean. This is heavily accom-panied by the creation of Grey Zonetactics implemented through disin-formation campaigns and activepropaganda warfare which includesfake news and forgery.

In any case, given the primaryunderstanding that since any of thesilos can accommodate missiles anda rough estimate of the distancebetween Xinjiang and Ladakh isaround 1200-1300 kilometres, it isquite a possibility that in the future,it may resort to nuclear coercion inits open hostilities. The possiblefuture deployment of Chinese inter-mediate-range missiles such as DF21 D compounds the threat toIndian security.

China may shift to a launch-on-warning posture since it isbuilding a space-based early warn-ing system with the help of Russia.Once completed, it would meanthat China’s nuclear missiles andwarheads would always be in an‘alerting state’, i.e., in a position ofeternal operational readiness. Alongwith this, the reports of its forth-coming hypersonic vehicle-mount-ed laser gun which can be used toclear the path of its missiles and jetsto make them swifter and lethalmake the Indo-Pacific region high-ly vulnerable and susceptible to theChinese hegemony. Already Chinahas launched a diplomatic offensiveagainst countries like Vietnam,The Philippines, Japan, andAustralia apart from India. Absolutepower without any democratic val-ues or counterchecks threatens theentire international community.

Having realized the Chinesethreat, nations are coming togeth-er to help one another in order tosecure the democratic world order.The arrival of the German FrigateBayern and the British HMSQueen Elizabeth points to theevolving scenario.

NISHTHA KAUSHIKI

ABC will promote quality, flexibility, access andequity to improve the higher education system

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | AUGUST 7, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Goa State InnovationCouncil (GSIC), astate-run autonomous

body, has approved 19project ideas forprototyping grants and sixfor provisional patents in2020-21, a top officialsaid.The council in itsreport tabled during therecently held GoaLegislative Assembly session also said the Virtual InnovationRegister (VIR) has successfully supported several innovative startupideas."Out of the total 285 ideas registered on VIR, 48 are startupsand 237 are new ideas," GSIC chairman Jose Manuel Noronhasaid.He said that out of the total 33 applications for prototypinggrants received during fiscal 2020-21, 19 of them were approved bythe selection committee of the council.For the provisional patent ofthe ideas, a total of 148 applications were received during the fiscal,of which six were granted provisional patent, while 69 other projectideas are under process for filing patents, the report said.

Global healthcaremajor Johnson &Johnson on Friday

said it has applied forEmergency UseAuthorization (EUA) ofits single-dose COVID-19 vaccine inIndia.Earlier on Monday,the company had saidthat it remainedcommitted to bringing its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to Indiaand looks forward to ongoing discussions with the Indiangovernment."On August 5, 2021 Johnson & Johnson Pvt Ltdapplied for EUA of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to thegovernment of India," a Johnson & Johnson India spokespersonsaid in a statement. This is an important milestone that paves theway for bringing the company's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine tothe people of India, and the rest of the world, through acollaboration with Biological E Limited, the statement added.

Johnson & Johnson appliesfor single-dose Covid vax

Air conditioning andengineering servicesprovider Voltas Ltd on

Friday reported a 49.73 percent increase in itsconsolidated net profit at Rs122.44 crore in the firstquarter ended June2021.The Tata group firmhad posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 81.77 crore in the April-June quarter last fiscal, Voltas said in a regulatory filing.Its totalincome was up 36.34 per cent to Rs 1,860.17 crore during theperiod under review, as against Rs 1,364.34 crore in thecorresponding period of the previous fiscal."The Group's operationsand financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, havebeen impacted due to outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19pandemic during the peak season because of lockdowns andrestricted operational hours even after easing of state-widelockdowns," Voltas said in a post earnings statement.

Voltas Q1 net up nearly 50 pc toRs 122 cr; revenue up 36 pc

Tractor maker Sonalika onFriday reported a 5 per centincrease in total sales at

10,756 units in July.Thecompany had sold 10,223 unitsin the same month last year."Themonsoon has registered a goodshow across the country andwith dynamically changing agri-requirements of farmers, there is a surge in demand for advancedtractors with customised crop centric solutions," Sonalika GroupExecutive Director Raman Mittal said in a statement.Sonalika saidfor the second year in a row, the monsoon has been good andbrought respite for the rural economy that largely depends on rainsfor healthy agri-sector performance. The company has alsolaunched an interactive, infotainment-based YouTube channel –'Sonalika E-Gurukul' targetting children of rural areas as well asspeed up their learning about different aspects of this world."Ourinsights state that in rural areas, children often don't have access tonewer tools of education compared to their urban counterparts.

Sonalika Group sales rise by5 pc to 10,756 units in July

GSIC receives 285 innovativeideas, approves 19 projects

PNS n MUMBAI

Reserve Bank GovernorShaktikanta Das on Fridaymade a strong case for contin-ued fiscal, monetary and sec-toral support to nurture the"nascent and hesitant" eco-nomic recovery while retainingthe growth projection for thecurrent fiscal at 9.5 per cent.

While unveiling the bi-monthly monetary policyreview, Das said that domesticeconomic activity has startednormalising with the ebbing ofthe second wave of the coron-avirus pandemic and thephased reopening of the econ-omy.

High-frequency indicatorssuggest that consumption(both private and government),investment and externaldemand are all on the path ofregaining traction, he said.

However, he added that atthis stage "continued policysupport from all sides – fiscal,monetary and sectoral – isrequired to nurture the nascent

and hesitant recovery."The governor said

the conduct of mone-tary policy during thepandemic has beengeared to main-tain conge-n i a l

f i n a n c i a lconditionsthat nurture

and rejuve-nate

growth. Taking various factorsinto consideration, the RBIdecided to retain the GDPgrowth forecast for the currentfinancial year at 9.5 per cent in2021-22.

It is expected to at 21.4 percent in first quarter of the fis-cal; 7.3 per cent in second quar-ter; 6.3 per cent in third and 6.1

per cent in the January-Marchperiod.

Real GDP growth for firstquarter of the next fiscal begin-ning April 1, 2022, is project-ed at 17.2 per cent.

Das further said after theonset of the pandemic, the cen-tral bank has announced morethan 100 measures to mitigateits impact.

"Going forward, our endeav-our would be to continue themonitoring of measures whichare still in operation to ensurethat the benefit of all our mea-sures percolate down to target-ed stakeholders," he said.

He stressed that the efficacyof RBI's monetary policy mea-sures and actions is reflected inthe significant improvement intransmission during the cur-rent easing cycle.

The reduction in repo rateby 250 basis points sinceFebruary 2019 has resulted ina cumulative decline by 217basis points in the weightedaverage lending rate (WALR)on fresh rupee loans.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Leading investors includingTiger Global, Sequoia Capitaland Lightspeed have called onIndia's Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to spur rules toallow companies to list overseasfor better access to capital,according to a letter seen byReuters.

India in September allowedcompanies to list directly onforeign exchanges like the NewYork Stock Exchange orNasdaq, but the governmenthas yet to announce rulesrequired to govern such listings.

Calling it an "unfinished

reform agenda", some 22investors and top Indian star-tups such as food-delivery appSwiggy and online tutoringfirm Byju's wrote to Modi urg-

ing him to expedite the policy."The current inability of

unlisted companies to tapinternational markets for rais-ing capital is ... an impediment

to the growth ambitions ofIndian startups," they said inthe July 29 letter.

Swiggy and Sequoia declinedto comment. Other entities, aswell as Modi's office, did notimmediately respond torequests for comment.

The new policy is seen as ashot in the arm for Indian uni-corn start-ups valued at morethan $1 billion and the digitalunit of conglomerate Reliance,which is eyeing a U.S. listingafter raising more than $20 bil-lion from investors last year.

But the letter comes whenmany are choosing to list inIndia.

China's Ant Group-backedIndian food delivery firmZomato had a stellar debut onIndian bourses recently, valu-ing the firm at $13 billion,while others includingSoftBank-backed ride-hailingfirm Ola are also eyeing locallistings. "Even as some compa-nies are gearing up to list inIndia, many others are keen toevaluate the option of an inter-national listing," the letter said,highlighting how companies inother markets like the UnitedStates have a much bigger mar-ket capitalization than in India.

The London StockExchange, which is tracking

India's policy change closely,told Reuters last year it hadbeen in talks with severalIndian tech firms on overseaslistings. Such listings will pre-sent an opportunity for someof the world's leadingexchanges to vie for India'srapidly growing startup com-panies.

The Indian governmenthowever had been concernedthat overseas listing couldmean that companies huntingfor higher valuations throughaccess to a wider group ofinvestors would choose to onlylist abroad, hurting prospects ofIndian markets.

RBI retains growth at 9.5pc, sayssupport key to economic recovery

PNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve of India (RBI)does not have a specific tar-get for the yield curve but andfocuses on the orderly evolu-tion of it, GovernorShaktikanta Das said onFriday. “We are focusing onorderly evolution of the yieldcurve. We do not have a spe-cific target of a yield curve,”Das told reporters after thepost monetary policy confer-ence. He said the centralbank does timely interven-tion in the market as andwhen required.

RBI does nothave specifictarget of yieldcurve: Das

PNS n MUMBAI

The Reserve Bank of India onFriday raised the retail infla-tion forecast for 2021-22 to 5.7per cent due to supply sideconstraints, high crude oiland raw materials cost.

The RBI in June had peggedthe retail inflation estimate at5.1 per cent for the currentfinancial year. The RBI has themandate to keep inflation in aband of 2-4 per cent, with atolerance level of 2 per cent oneither side.

"The current assessment isthat the inflationary pressuresduring Q1:2021-22 are large-ly driven by adverse supplyshocks which are expected tobe transitory," RBI Governor

Shaktikanta Das said whileannouncing the outcome ofthe Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) meeting.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) has decided to keep therepo rate -- at which it lendsshort-term money to banks -- unchanged at 4 per cent butmaintained an accommoda-tive stance as the economy isyet to recover from the impactof the second COVID wave.

"Inflation may remainclose to the upper toleranceband for the second quarterof 2020-21. But this pressureshould ebb in the thirdquar ter of 2021-22 onaccount of kharif harvestarrivals and supply sidemeasures," Das said.

RBI raises retail inflationforecast to 5.7pc for FY22

Rate cut on housing loans augurs well for economyPNS n MUMBAI

The significant reduction inlending rate on personal hous-ing and commercial real estatesector augurs well for the econ-omy, as these segments are alsoemployment intensive, RBIGovernor Shaktikanta Das said

on Friday. While announcingthe third bi-monthly monetarypolicy review, he said, theinterest rate transmission hasimproved."The efficacy of RBI's mone-

tary policy measures andactions is reflected in the sig-nificant improvement in trans-

mission during the currenteasing cycle. The reduction inrepo rate by 250 basis pointssince February 2019, hasresulted in a cumulativedecline by 217 basis points inthe weighted average lendingrate (WALR) on fresh rupeeloans," he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Reserve Bank of India'sdecision to keep key interestrates unchanged and maintainan accommodative monetarypolicy stance will boost theconfidence of businessesand consumers, IndiaInc said on Friday.

The central bank onFriday expectedly keptinterest ratesunchanged at a recordlow of 4 per cent, as itchose to support eco-nomic revival over infla-tion. It also maintainedan accommodativestance as the economy isyet to recover from theimpact of the secondCOVID wave.

PHDCCI President SanjayAggarwal said the central bankmaintained the status quo,despite the high inflationstoked by a few products.

"Continuation of an accom-modative stance to revive andsustain the economic growthtrajectory amid the impact ofCOVID-19 will boost the con-fidence of business and con-

sumers. It is encouraging thatRBI has retained the projectionfor GDP growth at 9.5 per centfor FY2022 in the difficulttime caused by the pandemic,"Aggarwal said.

Going ahead,

h esaid, there is an

expectation of a continuation ofaccommodative policy stance bythe RBI to rejuvenate the aggre-gate demand in the economy.

"We urge the banking sector totransmit all the cuts in the repo

rate by the RBI during the lastfinancial year to percolate thebenefits to trade, industry andconsumers for rejuvenating thedemand and

e c o n o m i cgrowth trajectory,

going forward,"Aggarwal added. Assocham

said the full credit must begiven to the RBI for prioritising

growth and retaining the accom-modative stance on policy rates.“Its expectations that inflationshould moderate from the thirdquarter of the current fiscal yearare realistic as various supply-sideissues would be resolved by then.Besides, with the monsoon pick-ing up pace, a positive impact onfood inflation should be seen," thechamber said in a statement.

RBI's move to keep interest rates lowto boost business confidence: India Inc

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gold in the national capital onFriday dipped by Rs 283 to Rs46,570 per 10 gram amidweak international trends,according to HDFC Securities.The precious metal had in theprevious trade closed at Rs46,853 per 10 gram. Silveralso tumbled Rs 661 to Rs65,514 per kilogram from Rs66,175 per kilogram in theprevious trade. In the inter-national market, gold wastrading lower at USD 1,799per ounce and silver was flatat USD 25.15 per ounce."Gold prices witnessed sellingwith rise in US bond yields,"according to HDFC Securities,senior analyst (Commodities),Tapan Patel.

Gold tumblesRs 283; silverdeclines byRs 661

‘Glad we have putan end to retro tax’ PNS n NEW DELHI

With Lok Sabha passing a billthat aims to end all retrospec-tive taxation, senior Congressleader and former financeminister P ChidambaramFriday said he is glad that anissue that had been troublingIndia for eight years has beenput to an end.

'The Taxation Laws(Amendment) Bill, 2021' waspassed by the Lok SabhaFriday. When it is also passedby Rajya Sabha, all taxdemands made on compa-nies like Cairn Energy andVodafone using a 2012 legis-lation on indirect transfer ofIndian assets prior to May 28,2012 will be withdrawn.

"On the withdrawal of theRetrospective Tax (Vodafone),I am glad that we have put anend to an issue that has beentroubling us for 8 years,"Chidambaram said in a tweet.

The Finance Act 2012,which amended various pro-visions of the Income TaxAct, 1961 with retrospectiveeffect, contained provisionsintended to tax any gain ontransfer of shares in a non-Indian company, whichderives substantial value fromunderlying Indian assets, suchas Vodafone's transaction withHutchison in 2007 or theinternal reorganisation of theIndia business that CairnEnergy did in 2006-07 beforelisting it on local bourses.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Shares of Tata Chemicals onFriday jumped nearly 10 percent after the companyreported a multi-fold jump inconsolidated net profit for theJune quarter.

The stock gained 9.70 percent to its 52-week high of Rs844 on BSE. On NSE, itjumped 9.71 per cent to its52-week high of Rs 844.

Tata Chemicals onThursday reported a multi-fold jump in consolidatednet profit at Rs 342.33 crorefor the June quarter, helpedby a rebound in soda ash vol-umes in the US and India.

The company's consoli-dated net profit stood at Rs74.15 crore during the corre-sponding quarter of 2020-21,Tata Chemicals said in a BSEfiling.

Income from operationsgrew by 27 per cent to Rs2,977 crore from Rs 2,348crore in the year-ago period.

Tata Chemicalsshares zoomnearly 10 pc; hit52-week highPNS n NEW DELHI

Cooperative major IFFCO,which has developed nano-urea, has sought permissionfrom the Department ofFertilisers for the export of thisnutrient in liquid form from itsfacility at Kalol in Gujarat,Parliament was informed onFriday.

In a written reply to theRajya Sabha, Chemicals &Fertilisers Minister MansukhMandaviya said the nano-fer-tiliser holds great promise forapplication in plant nourish-ment because of the size-dependent qualities, high sur-face-volume ratio, and uniqueproperties.

Nano-fertilisers releasesplant nutrients in a controlledmanner contributing to high-er nutrient use efficiency, headded. "IFFCO has sought per-mission from the Departmentof Fertilizers for export of nanourea (liquid) manufacturedfrom its nano fertilizer plantfacility set up at Kalol, Gujarat,"Mandaviya said.

National Fertilizers Ltd

(NFL) and Rashtriya Chemicalsand Fertilizers Ltd (RCF) signeda Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withIndian Farmers FertilizersCooperative Ltd (IFFCO) forthe technology transfer for pro-duction of nano urea, he said.

Mandaviya said the experi-mental trials of nano nitrogenundertaken during Rabi/Zaid2019-20 through NationalAgriculture Research System(NARS) at 7 ICAR researchinstitute/state agriculturalUniversities on different cropswere found agronomically suit-able indicating that nano nitro-

gen can enhance farmer's cropyields beside nitrogen saving tothe extent of 50 per cent.

The crops on which exper-iments were undertakeninclude paddy, wheat, mustard,maize, tomato, cabbage,cucumber, capsicum andonion. In late May this year,IFFCO introduced the world'sfirst 'Nano Urea' for farmers.The indigenously developed'Nano Urea' is in liquid formand is priced at Rs 240 per 500ml bottle, which is 10 per centcheaper than the cost of a bagof conventional urea, IFFCOhad said in a statement.

PNS n MUMBAI

Sebi on Friday approved a raftof measures, including relax-ing sweat equity norms fornew-age technology compa-nies and doing away with var-ious disclosure requirements,as the watchdog seeks to pro-vide a fillip to startups, easecompliance burden and facil-itate ease of doing business.

In a significant move, themarkets watchdog's board hasin-principle agreed to moveaway from the concept of'promoters' in listed companiesto that of 'controlling share-holders' apart from a reduc-tion in the minimum lock-inperiod for promoters post aninitial share sale.

Also, at its meeting onFriday, Sebi board clearedamendments to regulationsgoverning alternative invest-ment funds. At a time whenmany startups are attractingsignificant investments,including from overseas, Sebihas decided to provide relax-ations on the quantum ofsweat equity that can be issued

new-age technology compa-nies listed on the InnovatorsGrowth Platform.

In the case of IGP-listedcompanies, the yearly limit forsweat equity shares will be 15per cent while the overalllimit will be 50 per cent of thepaid-up capital at any time,according to a press release.

This enhanced overall limitwill be applicable for 10 yearsfrom the date of the company'sincorporation. For companiestrading on the main board, theannual sweat equity ceilingwill also be 15 per cent but theoverall limit will be capped at25 per cent. The marketswatchdog will merge two setsof regulations into one -- Sebi(Share Based EmployeeBenefits and Sweat Equity)Regulations, 2021.

Sebi clears proposals tofacilitate ease of doing biz

IFFCO seeks permission toexport nano urea from Kalol plant

Indian startups press Modi for overseas listings

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

9

what’s brewing?Vijayawada Saturday August 7, 2021

ccording to datapublished by theWorld HealthOrganizationand theInternational

Labour Organization thisyear, long working hours,that is working 55 or morehours per week, is associat-ed with a 17 per cent higherrisk of dying from ischemicheart disease, compared toworking 35-40 hours aweek. Your lifestyle, there-fore, has a direct bearing onyour heart health and quali-ty of life.

According to RahulSinghal, Senior

Electrophysiologist andCardiologist in Jaipur, rest-ing heart rate (RHR) is avital indicator of your pre-sent and future health, andif mapped properly andoften, can detect abnormali-ties early on. The process tocheck your resting heartrate, the doctor explains, isvery simple. Put two fingerson your pulse for 60 sec-onds and count the heart-beats. The pulse rate can beread any day of the week,but at that time of the read-ing, you should not be instress or anxiety because inthis situation the heart ratebecomes high. Make sure

you wait for at least five toten after strenuous activity.It is best to check it firstthing in the morning.

“Normally the heart rateis between 60 and 100. Butif the heart rate is above 80in a pulse reading of 60 sec-onds, then your risk of highblood pressure, high choles-terol, and cardiovasculardisease increases twice. If itis above 90, the risk of allthese hazards increases bythree times. Experts consid-er a beat between 70 and 80as the ideal resting heartrate.” High resting heart ratemeans low physical fitness,says Singhal.

A heart rate between 60and 100 is normal, but aheart rate above 80 is con-sidered a high resting heartrate. It indicates your lowphysical fitness, overweightor fat or blood pressure.The higher the patient’sresting heart rate, thegreater the risk of heart dis-ease or premature death.This is because the higherthe heart rate, the morepumping the heart has todo. “While it is good to getyour heart rate up duringexercising, it is not the samething as a high resting heartrate. When at rest, the pulsereading should not be toohigh, or it is an indicationthat your heart muscles areunder duress.”

Due to the high pressure,the muscles of the heart getstressed, which can cause allthese problems to thepatient. One can stabilise ahigh resting heart rate byimproving lifestyle, medita-tion, and yoga. Moreover,stress is a silent killer thatcan take your heart rateshooting through the roof.There have also been stud-ies in which patients havenormalised their high rest-ing heart rate in just oneweek with lifestyle modifi-cation.

Resting heart rate isimportant health indicator

he sudden fluc-tuation of tem-perature dur-ing the mon-soon seasonmakes us more

susceptible to commoncold and fever. The mon-soon season is known forinviting disease spreadinggerms and viruses whichcan take a toll on ourhealth. Indians anywaylove tea, and the mon-soons are a perfect timefor many of us to have acup (or two) of hotmasala herb chai.Traditionally herbs havebeen our go to for curingand preventing flu, andan herb infused tea hasalways been our firstchoice for combattingseasonal ills. Herbsadvised by our grandpar-ents, have inculcated inour minds the medicinalvalues of herb infusedbeverages.

Kavita Devgan,

Nutritionist, Tata TeaGold Care lists the herbsthat are perfect to add toyour cups to make itmore wholesome and tobid adieu to the monsooninduced flu.

Mulethi

Mulethi also known asliquorice has traditionallybeen used to aid cold,cough, boost immunityand strengthen the liver.It helps to loosen up thephlegm which is the rootcause for chest conges-tion, cold and cough. Theherb also protects ourbody from foreignmicrobes, pollutants andallergies by boosting ourimmunity system.Mulethi has active com-pounds which helprelieve constipation,improve the digestionand help us score ahealthy gut.

Brahmi

Brahmi is one of themost popular Ayurvedicingredient. It is alsoknown as water hyssop orIndian pennywort andhelps create a protectiveshield of vital nutrientsand antioxidants in thebody that helps in fight-ing infection and dis-eases. Brahmi is benefi-cial in relieving stress andanxiety as well

Tulsi

Almost every house-hold has this herb plant.It is rich in vitamin C andzinc. Plus it is anti-viral,anti-bacterial and anti-fungal and its combina-tion of phytochemicals,bioflavonoids and anti-oxidants compounds,such as rosmarinic acid(a very good anti-micro-bial agent) helps combatrespiratory illnesses rang-ing from a simple coldand cough to severebronchitis and asthma.

Ginger

Ginger is an evergreenspice and is luckily aprominent ingredient inIndian cooking. The herbis loaded with vitamin B6and has various medici-nal values due to themultiple antioxidants itdelivers. It is an effectiveimmunity booster toodue to the presence ofcompound Gingerol.

Cardamom

Cardamom is one ofthe most expensive spicein the world and its dis-tinctive flavor comple-ments both sweet andsavoury dishes equallywell. It delivers man-ganese, which is knownto help boost virus-fight-ing cells in the body andis rich in multiple antiox-idants and minerals too.Plus it is a gut strength-ener and helps relievedigestive problems.

Beat Monsoon blues withancient herb remedies

t

a

SHIKHA DUGGAL

umanity has alwaysbeen on the move.Throughout history,we have migrated insearch of new oppor-tunities, as well as to

escape persecution, conflictand poverty. Although migra-tion is a global phenomenon,Subhajit Saha, Director andHead of CII Telangana, hailingfrom Kolkata, feels it’s amarathon of time that he hasbeen building with Hyderabaduntil now and there hasn’t beena moment where he hadn’t hada beautiful feeling up untilnow.

“I share a dazzling connectof 42 years here in Hyderabad.A breathtaking place to settlein, we can see the changingdemographics here andadvancing technology. Anyonethinking of establishing ahome for themselves inHyderabad should just packtheir bags as soon as possibleand begin wonderful life here!It’s not easy to leave one’shomeland and start a new lifebut Hyderabad offers you thatmultifariousness that one can’tstop themselves.”

He who has also lived in thecity of Chennai, famous for itsBritish military roots, he tellsus, despite the lifestyle there,Hyderabad is truly ‘hum sab kacity’ (everyone’s city). Movingfrom a fractured perspective ofa city he has lived in, when itcomes to Hyderabad, he hasshared a beautiful understand-ing of it and a commitment todo better things for it, till thetime he’s here.

“It’s always carried the auraof being a sophisticated-cum-cosmopolitan city that knows ithospitality roots very well. Youcannot find national prejudiceshere! A group of people cometogether here from differentethnicities, beliefs and culturebut accepted as a whole. That’sthe beauty of this city. Built onthe foundation of culture,makes this city even greater,along with its moderate climatechanges,” he adds. Helping himbig time in order to expand his

eco-system, Subhajit Sahaasserts that hyderabad offersthe best networking systemand work arena for profession-als. You deliver and learn at the

same time, he says! Companyenvironment and suitability isan important thing for anemployee to have better pro-duction and work, and that’swhat Hyderabad is alwaysready to offer.

As a member ofConfederation of IndianIndustry, he is playing a keyrole in the IT industries ofTelangana. From setting up ofultra modern EV manufactur-ing unit to newer policies ofgrowth — he didn’t let the his-toric fusion slip away. Thearchitecture of this city, is afantastic source of remarkablestories, adventure, and legends.

“The city of Hyderabad tapsinto the old legacy keepingmodernism in mind. A histori-cal pearl trading centre and amulti-cultural hub, Hyderabadhas earned monikers such as‘The city of pearls’ and ‘Thecity of Nizams’. I am a bona-fide Hyderabadi now and thereare some really grand master-pieces from here that’s dottingthe city! The only drawbackthat I can witness is the trafficwoes and a laid-back civicsense from the locals, other-wise this Deccani kingdom istopping the charts of most live-able city across the country,” heconcludes.

h

PASSIONATE ABOUT ART THAT GOES TO HEART

K RAMYA SREE

rom what started off asa schoolboy paintingstructures and takinginstruments from acarpenter in his neigh-borhood, to carve

sculptures, Marri Gopal Reddy,fondly called Gopanna by hisadmirers, has reached places withhis art. The artist has beensculpting since middle school.For Gopanna, carving beautifulstructures out of any wood hesees is his ultimate goal.

Gopanna has so far createdsculptures from 20 differentkinds of wood. A recognisednational craftsman, Gopannasays, “Sculpting needs patience asit needs intricate details to becarved. I use various kinds ofinstruments to get perfect detailson my wood. The art, work, time,patience that goes into sculptinginvolves newness in every prod-uct. If we put these into practice,one can churn themselves into anexpert artist.”

For Gopanna, sculpting came

naturally. “When I see driftwoodor a broken tree trunk, I see a lotof potential to build create anyinteresting sculptures out ofthem. The moment I see them, Ivisualise the sculpture. Thebeginning of my creative processis to visualise a sculpture out ofthe material in front me,” heshares. Broken pieces of wood,farms, trees, greenery is whatinspires the artist.

To be an artist, one needs toadore art. The 78-year-old artistsays, “The advice I give to bud-ding artists is to first start likingtheir art form. If one is passion-ate about the work they do, thereis no stopping them.”

Upset about the fact that youththese days pay no heed to artistsand sculpting, Gopanna shares,“No importance is being given toart in today’s society. Youth areturning towards engineering,medicine and so are their par-ents. Despite all kinds of artshaving their own advantages,youth is still hesitant to take uparts as their career choice. I heldvarious kinds of workshops forbudding artists, but the response

was meager.”When asked how defines art

and what is art to him, the popu-lar sculptor shares, “For me, art istherapeutic and is connected tomy heart. Art makes the hearthappy and gives people happi-ness, confidence, and self-satis-faction. Only art has the powerto do this.”

He further goes on to explain,“In the modern era, people aregiving into stress for various rea-sons. To come out of this, societyhas to fall in love with art,encourage artists. One has to bepassionate about art. For this, thegovernment has to inculcate BFAand MFA in every district. And Irequest the biggies and art loversto come forward and contributefor the development of Art exhi-bitions and keep the art alive.”

Sixty five years into sculpting,the artist is still waiting for sup-port from the government.“There is no support from thegovernment for artists like me.For 46 years, I held a key posi-tion in Warangal Art Society. Iconducted art shows with myown money. Even today, there is

no platform for artists to displaytheir work, nor there is a plat-form for budding artists to learnnew skills,” says the craftsmanrequesting the state governmentto allow some space to build anart gallery.

“As the president of WarangalArt Society, I held exhibitions.With no art gallery to display thework of artists like me, for thelast 30 years, we could not holdany art exhibitions. I encourageda few of my students to displaytheir artwork at Lalitha KalaPradarsanam in Hyderabad,Delhi, Mumbai, Aurangabad, andmore,” he adds.

Some of the awards he woninclude: AP Lalitha KalaAcademy in 1978, 79, and 81, AllIndia Art Exhibition, UgadiPuraskar from the then chiefminister YS Rajasekhara Reddyin 2005, Visista Puraskar in 2010by the then CM K Rosaiah, PottiSriramulu Telugu University in2000, INTACH in 1989, PTReddy Memorial in 1999 andother awards. This apart, twicehe won ‘Best Teacher’ in 1988and 97.

f

yderabad is the meatconsuming city andtops the country. Meatworth Rs 3,500 crore isconsumed every year inthe city! The city boasts

of conventional shops. The city ishome to four thousand chicken,two thousand mutton, and twothousand fish shops. But most ofthem are untidy and unhygienic.

Thanks to Proteins HygienicNon-Veg Mart, a Hyderabad-basedbootstrapped phygital startup thatis soon going to have a meat acade-my that will teach lessons of butch-ery! It is probably the first city inIndia to think in this direction ofprofessionalising butcher craft.

“We are planning to invest in theacademy because we are seeing ahuge potential for the space. Whatwas known in 2010 for generalretail and e-commerce, these fewyears will be the same for the meatindustry,” said Manchala VamshiRai, alumni of Bits Pilani and

Director of Proteins Hygienic Non-Veg Mart.

“It plans to train five hundredbutchers in the next eight months.Tenth pass or failures will beabsorbed for the training too!Upon completing the three-monthtraining they will be absorbed intofull-time employment. Butchers arethe meat cutters who prepare themeat for the purpose of sale. Thetraining will be a short term coursethat offers skills and training onhow to expertly perform butchery,”informed Vijay ChowdaryTripuraneni, founder of ProteinsHygienic Non-Veg Mart and thebrain behind this novel academy.

Many hotel management col-leges have this subject as theircourse curriculum. But, there is noexclusive butcher craft traininginstitute! Also, there is no informa-tion available on the internet aboutsuch an exclusive training institute.That is why it is going to be thefirst in India.

HYDERABAD MIRRORS DISTINCTCONFLUENCE OF CULTURES

H

India's first butcheryschool in Hyderabad

ctor Neil Patrick Harrisis set to lead Emily inParis creator DarrenStar’s upcom-ing Netflixcomedy

series Uncoupled.According to

Deadline, the storycentres on Michael(Harris), whothought his life wasperfect until his hus-band blindsides him bywalking out the door after

17 years. “Overnight, Michael hasto confront two nightmares —losing what he thought was hissoulmate and suddenly finding

himself a single gay man in hismid-40s in New York City,”the plotline reads.Harris willalso be serving as executiveproducer on the show alongwith Star and JeffreyRichman.

The show from MTVEntertainment Studios and Jax

Media will start filming in NewYork later this year.

A

Neil Patrick Harris to lead Netflixcomedy series Uncoupled

He who has also lived in the city of Chennai, famous for its British militaryroots, he tells us, despite the lifestyle there, Hyderabad is truly ‘hum sab kacity’ (everyone’s city). Moving from a fractured perspective of a city he haslived in, when it comes to Hyderabad, he has shared a beautiful understandingof it and a commitment to do better things for it, till the time he’s here.

SaturdayAugust 7, 2021

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sport 11VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | AUGUST 7, 2021

TOKYO TIMELINE

FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS

lAthletics: PriyankaGoswami and Bhawna Jatfinished 17th and 32ndrespectively in the women’s20km race walk event.Gurpreet Singh did not fin-ish the men’s 50km racewalk event.Indian team of MuhammedAnas Yahiya, Tom NoahNirmal, Rajiv Arokia andAmoj Jacob finished fourthin Heat 2 and ninth overallin men’s 4x400 relay race;failed to qualify for final.lGolf: Aditi Ashok andDiksha Dagar at second andtied 51st respectively at theend of women’s individualstroke play round 3.lHockey: India lost to GreatBritain 3-4 in women’sBronze medal match.lWrestling: Bajrang Puniabeat Ernazar Akmataliev(Kyrgyzstan) 3-3 in openinground, beat Morteza ChekaGhiasi (Iran) 2-1 in quarter-finals, lost to Haji Aliyev(Azerbaijan) 5-12 in semifi-nals of men’s 65kg freestyleevent; will play for theBronze medal.Seema Bisla lost to SarraHamdi (Tunisia) 1-3 in firstround of women’s 50kgfreestyle event.

IN ACTION TODAYlAthletics: Neeraj Choprain the final of men’s javelinthrow. (04:30pm)lGolf: Aditi Ashok andDiksha Dagar in women’sindividual stroke playround 4. (03:00am)lWrestling: Bajrang Puniain men’s 65kg freestylebronze medal match; eithersecond or third bout after03:15pm start)

Live on SONY TEN& SIX Network

Tokyo: Indian golfer AditiAshok carded a three-under 68in the third round to hold on tothe second position and remainin strong contention for thecountry’s maiden Olympicmedal in the sport on Friday.

The Bengalurean, who hasher mother, Maheshwari, on thebag, shot five birdies against twobogeys and moved to 12-under,three strokes adrift of leaderNelly Korda of USA who card-ed a two-under 69 in the penul-timate round.

Four players — NewZealand’s Lydia Ko (66),Australia’s Hannah Green (67),Denmark’s Kristine Pederson(70) and Japan’s Mone Inami(68) — shared the third spotwith totals of 10-under 203.

Aditi fired five birdies andtwo bogeys on the day. She wasthree-under after picking upshots on fourth, sixth and sev-

enth holes before bogeys onninth and 11th pulled her back.

However, she made amendswith birdies on the 15th and

17th to keep herself in the huntfor a historic medal.

The other Indian golfer infray, Diksha Dagar, remained in

the lower half of the leaderboardafter an erratic one-over 72, herthird successive over-par card ofthe week.

This is Aditi’s secondOlympic appearance. She hadfinished tied 41st in the 2016 Riode Janeiro edition.

The tournament faces pos-sible interruption and the finalround could even be cancelledbecause of the forecast of a trop-ical storm on Saturday andmaybe even Sunday.

The organisers have broughtforward the tee times for thefinal round and have the optionof playing on Sunday morningif weather permits.

They are hopeful of com-pleting 72 holes, but if 72 holescannot be completed, the tour-nament will revert to being a 54holes tournament. That wouldmean Aditi will have Silverbehind Nelly Korda’s Gold. PTI

Chiba: Bajrang Punia’s perenni-al leg-defence weakness came tohaunt him at the big stage as helost the men’s freestyle 65kgsemifinal to three-time worldchampion Haji Aliyev here onFriday and he will now fight forBronze medal at the OlympicGames.

Rio Olympics Bronze-win-ner Aliyev of Azerbaijan consis-tently attacked Bajrang’s legs andtwice got himself into positionfrom where he could roll theIndian comfortably for easytwo-point throws.

Trailing 1-4 after the firstperiod, Bajrang looked for a bigattack but Aliyev very smartlyeffected a counter take down,placing his shoulder close to thethighs of Bajrang and threw theIndian for a huge 8-1 lead.

The Azerbaijani was losingsteam and Bajrang got two take-downs to reduce the deficit butthe required big move nevercame. Under 30 seconds left inthe bout, Bajrang desperatelylooked for an attack but Aliyevdid not let him do that by grip-ping him in strong body-lock.

A dejected and helplessBajrang fell on the mat, awarethat he had lost battle to asuperior wrestler.

Bajrang will now fight forBronze. If he manages to win,India will match its best result atthe Olympics. Sushil Kumarand Yogeshwar Dutt had won aSilver and a Bronze at the 2012London Games.

Ravi Dahiya on Thursdayhad won a Silver in the 57kg.

Bajrang began the day byedging past Kyrgyzstan’s ErnazarAkmataliev and then pinnedIran’s Morteza Cheka Ghiasi toreach the semifinals.

Elsewhere, debutant Indianwrestler Seema Bisla could notfind a way to get out of thedefensive trap of Tunisia’s SarraHamdi and lost her 50kg open-ing round 1-3.

The 27-year-old could notmake her moves as Hamdiapplied the body lock to greateffect, never allowing Seema toinitiate a strong attack.

The Tunisian later lost hernext bout, which drew curtainson Seema’s campaign. PTI

Tokyo: The WrestlingFederation of India (WFI) onFriday terminated the services ofDeepak Punia’s Russian coachMurad Gaidarov after itemerged that he had assaulted areferee during the ongoingOlympics. The incident also ledto his expulsion from theGames.

Deepak lost his 86kg Bronzeplay-off to San Marino’s MylesNazim Amine on Thursday,after which Gaidarov went to theroom of the referee, who hadofficiated in the bout, andassaulted him.

“Indian wrestling team’s for-eign assistant coach Mr MuradGaidarov who was involved inan uncalled incident of assaulton one of the match referees, is

being withdrawn from theTokyo Olympic Village immedi-ately and is being called back toIndia on the latest flight,” IndianOlympic Association SecretaryGeneral Rajeev Mehta stated.

The United WorldWrestling (UWW), the worldgoverning body of the gamesummoned the WFI for a disci-plinary hearing, in which thenational federation faced anembarrassing situation as a banon them was being considered.

“We told them that theIndian coaches are well-behavedand although Gaidarov trainsthe Indian wrestler, his actionsshould not affect the WFI. Weassured them that Gaidarov willbe terminated immediately. Webarely survived a ban,” WFI

assistant secretary Vinod Tomarsaid.

“Gaidarov is being sent backto India so that he can collect allhis belongings. Then he willleave for his country,” Tomaradded.

Gaidarov’s accreditation wascancelled after the hearing.

The Russian has been guid-ing Deepak since last year afterthe WFI assigned him to trainthe 2018 junior world champi-on.

Gaidarov, 42, had won aSilver medal at the 2008 BeijingOlympics, representing Belarus.

He was disqualified fromthe 2004 Olympic Games whenhe assaulted his opponent out-side the arena after losing hisquarterfinal bout. PTI

WFI sacks Deepak Punia’s coachGaidarov for assaulting referee

Tokyo: The Indian men’s4x400m relay quartet shatteredthe Asian record during theOlympics heat race but missedqualifying for the final roundby a whisker here on Friday.

The quartet of MuhammedAnas Yahiya, Tom NoahNirmal, Rajiv Arokia and AmojJacob completed the race in3:00.25sec to finish fourth inthe second heat.

India missed out the eight-team final as they ended atninth spot overall.

The first three in each ofthe two heats and the next twofastest qualify for the final.

The earlier Asian recordwas in the name of Qatarwhich had clocked 3:00.56while winning the Gold in the2018 Asian Games.

Jacob, who ran the lastleg, was the best among thefour Indian runners with 44.68seconds as he overtook tworivals after the team was placedat sixth when he took thebaton from Rajiv Arokia(44.84).

National record holderYahiya understandably clockedthe slowest (45.60) time as he

had to run the longest distanceafter starting the race in lanenumber 2.

Yahiya said he’s happy thatthe team broke the Asianrecord but gutted to miss thefinal.

“Really happy with theteam’s performance and thenew records but gutted to havenot make it to the finals. Thankyou everyone for your wishesand messages,” he tweeted.

RACE WALKERS FAILEarlier in the day, the race

walkers failed to impress withbelow-par performances atSapporo.

National record holderPriyanka Goswami was amongthe leading pack around thehalfway mark but eventuallyfinished 17th while compatri-ot Bhawna Jat ended at 32nd inthe women’s 20km race walkevent.

In the men’s 50km event,Gurpreet Singh pulled out afterthe 35km mark due to crampsunder hot and humid condi-tions as the Indian race walk-ers ended their disappointingcampaign. PTI

Indian 4x400m relay teambreaks Asian record butfails to qualify for final

Tokyo: All eyes will be onNeeraj Chopra to deliver India’selusive Olympic medal in ath-letics and end a wait of 100years when he competes in themen’s javelin throw final hereon Saturday.

A pre-tournament medalcontender, the 23-year-oldChopra fuelled country’sexpectations by toppingthe qualification roundwith a stunning first roundthrow of 86.59m.

A farmer’s sonfrom Khandra vil-lage near Panipatin Haryana canscript history bywinning theelusive medal,which the likesof late MilkhaSingh and P TUsha let it slipfrom their

grasp in 1964 and 1984 edi-tions.

Chopra’s performance onWednesday was one of thebest performances by an Indianin the Olympics, as he finishedahead of Gold medal favouriteand 2017 world champion

Johannes Vetter ofGermany.

The Indian camphere is hoping that

Saturday shouldturn out the finestday of Indianathletics.

“I have alwayswanted an Olympicmedal since I first becameAFI president (in 2012)

and I am hoping thedream will be realisedbefore the end of myterm,” Athletics Federationof India President AdilleSumariwalla said. PTI

All eyes on Neeraj today

PTI n NOTTINGHAM

And the sword came outagain, this time meaning

Ravindra Jadeja has justifiedhis selection in the team,which gave India a pricelessfirst-innings lead of 95 runsover England in the first Testhere on Friday.

The chatter around all-rounder Jadeja being pre-ferred over specialist off-spin-ner Ravichandran Ashwinwould stop for the time beingas the optimistic visitors focuson things more important totake them closer to victoryand a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

By the time the two teamstook tea break on the third

day, England were 11 for noloss in their second innings.

While opener K L Rahullaid the foundation for the vis-

itors with an 84 off 214 balls,Jadeja snatched the initiativewith his characteristic enter-prise, hitting eight fours and

a six in his 56 off 86 deliver-ies at Trent Bridge.

With it, the lively cricketerhas paid in full the faith theteam management showed inhim while making the bigmove to leave out the seasonedAshwin from the playing XI atthe expense of a man who canbat a little better than the off-spinner, who himself is nomug with the bat in cricket’stop-flight.

For England, mediumpacer Ollie Robinson emergedas the most successful bowleras he bagged an impressive5/85, leading the team out inthe presence of legends such asJames Anderson, who finishedwith figures of 4/54 from 23overs, not bad for a 39-year-

old. Actually, too good as he isnow third in all-time bowlers’list behind MuttiahMuralitharan and ShaneWarne with 621 wickets.

Among his wickets werethe team’s top scorer Rahul andthe top batsman Virat Kohli.

The Indians were up to

the task, especially the likes ofRahul and Jadeja, whileRishabh Pant and JaspritBumrah contributed usefulruns, something that will notsuffice for the flamboyantwicketkeeper-batsman, whofell prey to a trap laid byRobinson.

PTI n TOKYO

The history-making Indianwomen’s hockey team’sdream of securing its

maiden Olympic medalremained unfulfilled as it lost 3-4 to Great Britain in a hard-fought Bronze play-off but thestout-hearted side managed torecord its best ever finish at theGames here on Friday.

The team had already cre-ated history and surpassed allexpectations by entering thesemifinals for the first time.

But the maiden Olympicmedal remained out of boundsas world No 4 Great Britain, whowere Gold-winners in the 2016Rio Games, came out on top inthe pulsating encounter.

India’s best performance inthe Olympics before this was afourth-place finish in the 1980Moscow Games but there wereno semifinals in that edition asonly six teams competed in around-robin format and thetop two featured in the final.

The heartbreak came a dayafter the Indian men’s teamended a 41-year-old medaldrought by clinching Bronzewith a 5-4 win over Germany.

The Indians played theirhearts out and overcame a two-goal deficit to lead 3-2 at halftime. But a desperate GreatBritain gave their everything inthe second half and scored twogoals to snatch the match fromIndia’s hands.

India scored three goals ina span of five minutes throughGurjit Kaur (25th, 26th minutes)and Vandana Katariya (29th) tostun Great Britain. But the

Britishers found the net fourtimes through Elena Rayer(16th), Sarah Robertson (24th),skipper Hollie Pearne-Webb(35th) and Grace Baldson (48th)to emerge winners.

NETHERLANDS WIN GOLDThe Netherlands won their

fourth Olympic women’s hock-ey title by defeating Argentina 3-1 in the final. All the action camein the second quarter, when theNetherlands struck three timesin the space of six minutes tobuild a commanding 3-0 lead.

Argentina did grab one goalback from a penalty corner.

KL, Jadeja help India take leadNottingham: Veteran Englandpacer James Anderson onFriday surpassed Indian spinlegend Anil Kumble’s tally of619 Test wickets.

The right-arm fast bowler,achieved the feat during thethird day of the first Testagainst India at Trent Bridgewhen he removed a well-setKL Rahul on 84, caught by

wicket-keeper Jos Buttler.Only Sri Lankan spin great

Muttiah Muralitharan (800),and Australian wizard ShaneWarne (708) are now ahead ofAnderson, who is playing inhis 163rd Test.

Anderson made his debutway back in 2003 and is themost successful pacer in Testsin terms of wickets. PTI

Anderson surpasses Kumble’stally of 619 Test wickets

New Delhi: Doubles expo-nent Rohan Bopanna onFriday retained his place in theIndian Davis Cup team despitehis recent run-in with thenational federation, whichnamed a five-member squadfor the upcoming WorldGroup I away tie againstFinland.

Expectedly, all top threesingles players of the country— Prajnesh Gunneswaran(ranked 158), Sumit Nagal(159) and RamkumarRamanathan (204) — havebeen picked for the September17-18 tie, which will be held onindoor courts in Espoo MetroAreena in Espoo city.

Bopnna, ranked 40, willhave his doubles partner inDivij Sharan, ranked 82. PTI

Bopanna retainsplace in IndianDavis Cup team

Nelly Korda, left, and Aditi Ashok speak during the third round on Friday AP

Bajrang loses in SF,to fight for Bronze

KL Rahul fist bumps with Ravindra Jadeja as they wait for umpire's decision AP

Tokyo: The Indian women’shockey team’s chief coachSjoerd Marijne on Fridayrevealed that the Bronze medalmatch against Great Britain inthe ongoing Olympics was hislast assignment with the side.

The 47-year-old coachedthe Indian women’s hockeyteam to its best ever perfor-mance in the Olympic Gamesand hours after this feat,Marijne announced that it washis last assignment with theIndian team.

“I don’t have any plansbecause this was my last matchwith Indian women. It’s uptoJanneka (Schopman) now,” theDutchman told media in a vir-tual press conference.

It has been learnt that bothMarijne and team’s analyticalcoach Janneka Schopman wereoffered an extension by theSports Authority of India (SAI)but the former refused theoffer due to personal reasons.

Sources in the know ofdevelopments said thatSchopman is expected to takeover Marine’s position on a full-time basis now.

Marijne, a former Dutchplayer, took over the reins ofthe Indian women’s team firstin 2017 but was appointed thecoach of the men’s side laterthat year. However, in 2018, hewas re-designated thewomen’s coach in a rejiggingof roles. PTI

MARIJNE QUITS

India's Bajrang Punia (blue) competes against Azerbaijan's Haji Aliyev (red) duringtheir men's freestyle 65kg wrestling semifinal match on Friday PTI

Indian players react after defeat against Great Britain in the women’s hockey third place play-off match in Tokyo on Friday PTI

New Delhi: Shattered by theheartbreaking loss that sawthem miss out on a Bronzemedal, members of the Indianwomen’s hockey team brokedown during a telephonic con-versation with Prime MinsterNarendra Modi, who lauded theside for its inspirational displayat the Tokyo Olympics.

Modi called the team afterits agonising 3-4 loss and con-soled the distraught players,who were seen sobbing.

“All of you have playedreally well. You left everythingin the past five years, sweatingit out for the sport. Your hardwork and sweat didn’t get amedal but it has become theinspiration for crores of girls inthe country. I congratulate thecoach and all of you,” saidModi as the team gatheredaround the phone.

The players couldn’t fightback tears as Modi praisedtheir efforts.

Modi praised VandanaKatariya and Salima Tete fortheir performances. Katariya,whose family was subjected toallegedly casteist slurs after thesemifinal match, scored fourgoals in the entire competition.

“Vandana and everyoneplayed well. And everyonethough Salima was brilliant.”

After a brief silence Modiurged the players to stop crying.

“Please everyone, stop cry-ing the entire country is taking

pride in you. After so manyyears hockey, India’s identity, hasbeen reborn. This is all becauseof your efforts,” Modi said.

The 70-year-old alsoenquired about Navneet Kaur,who was seen with bandages onher face to stop the bleedingfrom an injury during thematch.

Skipper Rani informed himthat the forward had to get fourstitches while thanking the PMfor his encouragement.

Modi also applauded headcoach Sjoerd Marijne for hisefforts.

“You have tried your levelbest, I am seeing how you haveencouraged them. I am thank-ful to you, I wish you all the bestfor the future,” Modi said.

Marijne responded, “Thankyou for your encouragement sir.The girls are a bit emotionalright now, but I have told themto take pride in what they haveachieved.” PTI

Players break down while talking to PM Modi

Golfer Aditi holds 2nd spot

IT ALL ENDS IN TEARSIndian women’s hockey team lose 3-4 in third place play-off to miss out on historic Bronze

“We are feeling so disappointed because we were so close.We were 2-0 down and then we equalised and we were 3-2 up. I don’t know what to say, but yeah it hurts a lotbecause we couldn’t win the Bronze medal.”

—RANI RAMPAL

“It was a very tough loss but we put in a lot of effort. It was a tough loss, but every single player gave their 100per cent.”

—GURJIT KAUR

1st Test. Day 4Live from 3:30pm IST

SONY SIX NETWORK

12

Vijayawada Saturday August 7, 2021 tollywood

Mahesh Babu urgesfans to promote HarithaHaram on his birthday

uperstar MaheshBabu hasappealed to hisfans to plantsaplings on hisbirthday on

August 9.As a part of Green India

Challenge, the actor tookto his Instagram accountto urge his fans to plantsaplings on his birthday ina way to demonstrate theirlove and affection towardshim.

“It always humbles me...All the things you do tocelebrate the love you havefor me. This year, I have aspecial request. I urge youall to plant 3 saplings eachon my birthday to supportthe #GreenIndiaChallenge.Tag me in your posts so I

can see them too! :)#HaraHaiTohBharahai@santoshkumarjoginipally(sic),” he posted with abeautiful picture on hisInstagram page.

Thanking Mahesh Babu,MP Santosh Kumar, thefounder of GIC, wrote,“This is so nice@urstrulyMahesh garu! It’sso moving gesture to askyour huge fan base toplant three saplings toshow their love for you onyour birthday as part of#GreenIndiaChallenge. It’sall because of the massivesupport from personalitieslike yours, we have comethis far.”

Earlier in May, the actorlaunched a vaccinationdrive in the village he

adopted in AndhraPradesh on May 31, thebirthday of his fatheractor Krishna.“Vaccination is our ray ofhope for a normal lifeagain! Doing my bit toensure everyone inBurripalem is vaccinatedand safe. Extremely grate-ful to #AndhraHospitalsfor helping us arrange thisvaccination drive (sic),”the star had tweeted earli-er.

On the workfront,Mahesh Babu has startedshooting for Sarkaru Vaari Paata, directed byParasuram. If everythinggoes according to plan,the filmmakers hope torelease the film in January2022.

JR NTR PIC FROM UKRAINE GOES VIRAL

few days ago SS Rajamouli and his RRR team including Ram Charan, and Jr NTR flewto Ukraine for the final schedule of the film.While a picture taken by Upasana in the flight along with her hubby Ram Charan,

enroute Ukraine, went viral on social media, on Friday. Jr NTR’s pic from the sets of RRR

started to do rounds on social media. Cinematographer KK Senthilkumar took to Instagram toshare the photo that was taken inside the flight.The actor will be seen wearing an ID card in the picture.Jr NTR is playing the role of tribal freedom warrior Komaram Bheem in RRR. Irish actress OliviaMorris is playing the lead opposite him. DVV Danayya is producing it under the banner of DVVEntertainment. The much hyped big budget film has music by MM Keeravani.The multilingual film also has Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, Samuthirakani, Ray Stevenson,Alison Doody, Shriya Saran and others in pivotal roles. The pan-India film is set in the pre-independence era and it will be released on October 13, 2021 worldwide in a very grandmanner.

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Khushboo'sfitter avatar

ver since shestopped takingup lead rolesafter her mar-riage, seniorTamil actress

Khushboo Sundar hadput on a lot of weight.The actress, who wenton to play various rolesas a sister, and mother,was seen in a healthyavatar in most of thefilms she acted in, inthe recent past. But theveteran heroine decidedto shed all the extrakilos and has becomefit.

Recently, theKaliyuga Pandavuluheroine stunned every-one when she sharedher latest selfie. Shelooked stunning with alean and slim look,

after she shed a lot ofweight. “When hard-work finally startsshowing results!!#weightlossgoal #fitness-motivation,” she cap-tioned the picture.

With this incredibletransformation,Khushboo lookscharming than ever.With this, she hasinspired many and has

given fitness goals tomany youngsters outthere.

The actress’ picture isnow going viral all overthe internet.

Kushboo will be nextseen in Rajinikanth’sAnnaatthe. She is alsoacting in Sharwanand’supcoming filmAadavallu MeekuJohaarlu.

fter Leader, director SekharKammula is finally going todo another story based onpolitics. His next film afterLove Story, is with Tamilactor Dhanush. For this

film, Sekhar Kammula has taken apolitical subject. All of SekharKammula’s film were with love andemotional drama, except Leader andAnamika. Leader has gotten greatapplause, but was not a commercialhit. Anamika too disappointed SekharKammula.

Sekhar Kammula’s political filmwith Dhanush is the actor’s straight

film in Tollywood for the first time.This movie will be a multilingual, apan-India movie. As Dhanush has agood market in the entire southIndian film industries and also inHindi, the makers decided to make ita pan-India movie.

Buzz is that actress Sai Pallavi isgoing to play the female lead role inthis movie too.

The last two films of SekharKammula had Sai Pallavi play thelead actress: Fida and the forthcom-ing movie Love Story. Dhanush andSai Pallavi too did work togetherbefore, in Maari 2.

arlier it wasDrushyam and F2,and now Narappa— actor Venkateshis rocking with hitfilms, despite his

age and long career. It’s nowtime for his 75th film in hiscareer. Drushyam 2 is going toreleased this month. F3,sequel to F2 is on sets now.After these two projects,Venkatesh will begin workingfor the film in the direction ofTrivikram Srinivas, this willbe his 75th.

This combination ofVenkatesh and Trivikram wasplanned way back in 2017.But it could not be materi-alised until now. But finally,the film is now going to cometrue. Venkatesh has done afilm Nuvvu Naaku Nacchavwith Vijay Bhaskar as a direc-tor. But the kind of impactthat movie had was a result ofTrivikram Srinivas’ writing.We cannot forget the comedyand punches in that film andthe timing of Venkatesh play-ing those episodes.

Later on, Trivikram haswent on to give hits and is abig director today. Now,everybody is curious aboutthis Venkatesh andTrivikram’s combination —the story, the cast, conceptand more.

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Sekhar Kammula's politicalsubject with Dhanush

S

E

E

Venky's 75th film with Trivikram

irector Ajay Bhupathi impressedone and all with his debut film,RX 100. The way he showcasedPayal Rajput in a negative rolebecame a rage. He had to waitclose to two years to start his

new film, Maha Samudram with actorsSharwanand and Siddharth.

Maha Samundram is almost nearingcompletion and we hear that AjayBhupathi has alreasy readied a solid scriptfor his third film and will not wait longbefore he starts working on it.

Sources tell us that Ajay prepared thisscript during the lockdown time and willapproach some noted stars soon. Like histwo films, Ajay’s third film too will be astrong content-based drama.

Meanwhile, Maha Samudram is donewith its shoot, and those who have seenthe rushes of the film cannot stop ravingabout it. Ajay is busy with the post-pro-duction of the film as of now.

The first song from Maha Samudram,Hey Rambha Rambha..., composed byChaitan Bhardwaj was released on Fridaythat clocked close to three lakh views atthe time time of writing this article.

AJAYBHUPATHI'S

NEXT A SOLIDSCRIPT

d