WIFE, CHILDREN PITCH IN TOENSURE HAT-TRICK FOR KEJRIWALIt was in October 2019 that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's

daughter Harshita took leave from her job and decided to campaignfor her father. Now, wife Sunita and son Pulkit have also hit the streetsto campaign for the AAP national convener who is eyeing a hat-trick in elections. Kejriwal is contesting for the third timefrom the New Delhi Assembly constituency and is aiming tobecome the Delhi Chief Minister for the third time. Thefamily keeps a low profile and stays away from the limelight."It was my decision to take leave and campaign for myfather,” said Harshita.

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any important work)Rahukalam: 01:51 pm- 03:15 pmYamagandam: 06:53 am – 08:16 am

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AS PART OF GAGANYAAN, FIRSTUNMANNED MISSION THIS DECEMBERAhead of the launch of India's maiden human spaceflight venture

'Gaganyaan' in December 2021, the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation will undertake two unmanned missions in December 2020and June 2021, ISRO chairman K Sivan said on Wednesday.Addressing the inaugural session of a symposium on"Human Spaceflight and Exploration - Present Challengesand Future Trends," Sivan said the Gaganyaan missionnot only aims at India's maiden human flight to thespace but also setting up a new space station for‘continuous space human presence'.

KARNATAKA CRICKET BODY FINED RS 50,000 FOR USING PLASTIC CUPS

City civic body Bruhat BengaluruMahanagara Palike (BBMP) levied a

penalty of Rs 50,000 on KarnatakaState Cricket Association (KSCA) forusing single use plastic cups duringthe recent India-Australia one dayinternational match. "Despite many

awareness meetings, BBMP has found that single use plastic cups wereused during yesterday's cricket match and has fined KSCA Rs 50,000 aspenalty," tweeted the civic body commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesdayapproved an extension of six months

in the tenure of a commission set up toexamine the issue of sub-categorisationwithin Other Backward Classes in theCentral List. Now the term of the panelwill be till July 31 2020. This is the 8th

extension to the commission, whose term would otherwise have expiredon January 31. Approval was also granted to adding more ToR to studyvarious entries in the ‘Central List of OBCs’ and make recommendations.

CABINET NOD FOR EXTENSION TO OBC SUB-CATEGORISATION PANEL

PNS n HYDERABAD

The YSR Congress Party gov-ernment in Andhra Pradeshheaded by Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy hasengaged the services of seniorcounsel and former AttorneyGeneral of India MukulRohatgi to argue its case in theAP High Court on the capitalissue.

What is interesting is thatthe government would be pay-ing Rs 5 crore as fees to MukulRohatgi to argue its case.

An amount of Rs 1 crore isbeing paid to him as anadvance to take up the case. Agovernment order (GO MsNo. 1) was issued by the stateplanning department onWednesday.

According to the GO, awrit petition has been filed inthe High Court relating to thecapital issue against theCentral and the StateGovernments seeking a direc-tion to the Governments tocontinue developmental activ-ities and current plans in thenotified capital area ofAmaravati.

Advocate-General of thestate government SSubrahmanyam suggested tothe government to engageMukul Rohatgi, who is anexpert in Constitutional Lawas senior counsel to contest the case on behalf of the government.

Accordingly, the govern-ment decided to hire the ser-vices of Rohatgi to fight thecase relating to the capital issuefor a remuneration of Rs 5crore and pay him an amountof Rs 1 crore as advance for hisservices.

It remains to be seen howRohatgi would defend thegovernment's stand onAmaravati and also the threecapitals issue.

AP Govt engages MukulRohatgi, to pay Rs 5 cr

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In an unprecedented develop-ment, the ruling YSRCP andthe Opposition TDP onWednesday locked horns in theLegislative Council over thetwo key Bills - the APDecentralisation Bill andCRDA Bill, with neither sidewilling to give an inch.

The stand-off left theCouncil in the grip with ten-sion with the TDP finally suc-ceeding to have the bill referredto a Select Committee and theYSRCP determined to have itsway. The TDP left no stoneunturned to get the bill referredto the Select Committee underRule 143, aware that this wouldforce the government to put onhold its plans for another threemonths before they are consid-ered by the Council.

Council Chairman MASharrif briefly adjourned theHouse in the evening as pan-demonium broke out with theYSRC members and ministerstrooping into the Well and theopposition following suit short-ly thereafter. Earlier, noisy

scenes were witnessed in theHouse as the ruling and theopposition members wrangledover rules and proceduralissues and stormed theChairman's podium over theAP Decentralisation andInclusive Development of AllRegions Bill, 2020 and theconnected APCRDA (Repeal)Bill, which have been passed bythe state Assembly on Monday.

The Decentralisation Billseeks to pave the way for

establishment of executive cap-ital in Visakhapatnam, legisla-tive in Amaravati and judicialcapital in Kurnool, a movestrongly opposed by the TDP.

In an unprecedented specta-cle, Leader of the Oppositionin the Assembly NChandrababu Naidu and sev-eral TDP MLAs came rushinginto the Council officers gallerywhile Rajya Sabha member VVijaya Sai Reddy, TTDChairman Y V Subba Reddy

and other YSRC leaders filledthe VIP gallery to witness thetension-filled proceedings.

When the YSRCP membersobjected to the TDP chief 'spresence, an adamant Naiduretorted saying, "Who are youto say that I cannot come to theCouncil?"

Continued on Page 3

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Two minors, a boy and a girlaged 17 and 5 years wereburnt alive and other four per-sons sustained serious burninjuries in the early hours ofWednesday when a youth setfire to the house of a girl whospurned his advances. Theincident took place at Dullavillage of Kadiyam mandal inEast Godavari district.

It is learnt that the jiltedlover had an affair withSatyavathi's daughter and thegirl's family agreed to theirmarriage but suddenly wentback on their promise. They

came to know about theadamant and bad behaviour ofthe jilted lover. Meanwhile,Satyavathi performed the mar-riage of her daughter withanother man.

Continued on Page 3

Jilted lover sets fire tohouse, 2 dead, 4 injured

Oppn MLAs create chaos,rush to Speaker’s podium PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Assembly was plungedinto chaos on Tuesday whenthe Opposition Telugu DesamParty (TDP) members rushedto the Speaker's podium andraised slogans against the gov-ernment. The Oppositionmembers did not spare evenSpeaker Tammineni Sitaramand shouted slogans againsthim. After about two hours ofcommotion, the TDP mem-bers staged a walkout.

Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy and otherYSRCP members demandeddisciplinary action against theTDP members for their unrulybehaviour. He said the TDPMLAs, who were just 10 innumber, had provoked theYSRCP MLAs. "They had thetemerity to run up to theSpeaker's podium. It is aninsult to democracy," the ChiefMinister said.

He further said though therewere 151 members in theTreasury benches, theyremained calm only to respectthe rules of the House andmaintain decorum. "It wasastonishing to find that the

TDP members had utter disre-spect for the institution of theSpeaker," he said.

The Speaker said no one hadthe right to violate the rules ofthe House. "Do you think thisis your House or theAssembly?" the Chief Ministersaid.

Following the commotion,the Speaker ordered the mar-shals to take the TDP MLAsaway from the podium. Withthis, the marshals swung intoaction and removed the TDPmembers from the Speaker'spodium. However, a scuffleensued between them and theTDP legislators for some time.

Later, the TDP members

staged a walkout in theAssembly. The Speakerreferred the issue to theCommittee of Ethics.

11,158 Rythu Bharosa centres to be set up: CM PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In an initiative that is aimed athelping the farming commu-nity, the state government hasdecided to set up 11,158 'RythuBharosa Kendrams' (Farmerassistance centres) in the Stateby the next Kharif season.

Announcing this in theAssembly on Wednesday soonafter a debate on the subject,Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy said all problems relat-ed to the farmers would beresolved at the centres thatwould be set up next to the vil-lage secretariats.

The CM said every villagewith a minimum population of2,000 would have the 'RythuBharosa Kendram'. In all, 5,300

centres would be set up in theState, he said.

"These centres will give

advice and suggestions tofarmers on issues concerningthem," he said.

The CM said the centreswould be working in coordina-tion with the village secretari-ats and they would supplyquality seeds, fertilisers andpesticides to the farmers. Hesaid health cards would beissued for animals for the firsttime in the State. Awarenessprogrammes would bearranged at the centres oncrop and cattle insurance.

The centres would also havelabs to conduct soil tests andto test the quality of seeds.Paddy procurement wouldalso be taken up at the centresfrom the next kharif season."So far 60 per cent of the feed-ers have been free supply ofpower for agriculture for ninehours during daytime and by

the next kharif all the feederswould be involved in powersupply," the Chief Ministersaid.

The services of agriculture,horticulture, sericulture andveterinary assistants and a vet-erinary doctor would be madeavailable at the centres. Liveworkshops and interactive ses-sions on best agricultural prac-tices would be conducted anda direct call centre would be setup to coordinate with theRythu Bharosa centres.

Direct video screening withexperts from the field would beorganised at the centres to sug-gest best solutions to farmers,the CM said.

Continued on Page 3

TDP seeks disqualificationof its three MLCsHYDERABAD: The TeluguDesam Party has formallycomplained to LegislativeCouncil Chairman Shariefseeking disqualification ofthree of its MLCs for violatingthe party whip in the House.Initially 2 TDP MLCs, PothulaSuneetha and ShivanadhaReddy, voted against TDP andsupported YSRCPgovernment's Vizag Capitalshifting Bill in the Council. Thetwo MLCs clearly went againstthe whip. Later, another TDPMLC Satrucharla VijayaramaRaju also violated the partywhip.

Continued on Page 3

Speaker raps‘rude' TDPMLAs, says heis not weakVIJAYAWADA: AssemblySpeaker Tammineni Sitaramlashed out at the Telugu DesamParty (TDP) MLAs for creatinga ruckus in the House onWednesday, the third day of thesession. Sitaram said that TDPMLAs had violated the Houserules by reaching the Speaker'spodium. He asked the TDPMLAs to respect the sanctity ofthe House and said that if theywere not controlled, why wouldresort to physical violenceagainst him. "I give anopportunity to everyone toexpress their opinion. However,the TDP MLAs did not heed myadvice and raised 'JaiAmaravati slogans," he said.

Continued on Page 3

No stay on CAA, NPR: SC

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court made itclear on Wednesday that itwould not stay the operation ofCitizenship (Amendment) Actwithout hearing the Centreand said that a five-judgeConstitution bench woulddecide its validity.

Seeking response of the cen-tral government in four weekson a batch of pleas challengingthe CAA, the top court alsorestrained high courts in thecountry from proceedings withpending petitions on the issue.

"We are not going to passany ex-parte order withouthearing Centre on the aspectsof interim relief," a benchheaded by Chief Justice S ABobde said.

The observation assumessignificance as a battery ofsenior lawyers led by KapilSibal and A M Singhvi vehe-mently sought judicial inter-vention and demanded thatthe operation of the CAA andNational Population Register(NPR) processes be stoppedfor a couple of months till apexcourt decides the petitions.

Taking note of vehement

opposition of the Centre, rep-resented by Attorney GeneralK K Venugopal and SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta, thebench observed "according tothe government this relief isakin to granting stay on theAct". The bench, also compris-ing Justices S Abdul Nazeerand Sanjiv Khanna, said: "Thematter is uppermost in every-body's mind. We will form a

five-judge bench and then listthe case. Issue notice on allsuch petitions in which noticeswere not issued. AttorneyGeneral K K Venugopal seekstime to file reply in fourweeks."

It said the court would hearsome of the petitions in-cham-bers for deciding the modali-ties and thereafter a five-judgebench would be constitutedafter four weeks for day-to-dayhearing on a batch of 143petitions. Senior advocateKapil Sibal, appearing for somepetitioners challenging thevalidity of CAA, said the issuebe referred to a Constitutionbench and the NPR exercise bepostponed by a couple ofmonths. He also urged thebench to put on hold the oper-ation of the CAA.

Continued on Page 3

AMARAVATI CASE IN HIGH COURT

The Supreme Court would hear some of thepetitions in-chambers for deciding the modalitiesand thereafter a five-judge bench would beconstituted after four weeks for day-to-dayhearing on a batch of 143 petitions

The accused had anaffair with a girlwhose family agre-ed to their marr-iage but suddenlywent back on theirpromise.

{

5

Tharoorallegesfinancialirregularitiesby AAP govt

4

China virus outbreak maywallop economy,financialmarkets

8

Anti-CAAprotesterslathicharged bypolice in UP'sEtawah

TDP prevails, Capital Billsreferred to Select Panel

l Centre gets 4 weeks to respond; pleas may bereferred to larger Constitution bench

Council restored by DadYSR, haunts son JaganL VENKAT RAM REDDYn HYDERABAD

Late Chief Minister YSRajasekhar Reddy restoredAndhra Pradesh LegislativeCouncil after a gap of 22 yearsin 2007. Now, his son andincumbent Chief Minister ofAndhra Pradesh YSJaganmohan Reddy is nowmaking swift moves to abolishthe same Legislative Council,when it is set to complete 13years in March.

The council was abolishedby the previous Telugu Desamgovernment on May 31, 1985since the then chief minister NT Rama Rao felt that it wasredundant and caused a drainon the state exchequer.

However, it is widelybelieved that the real reasonwas that NTR found it difficultto push through controversiallegislations and policy deci-sions in the Upper Housewhich was at that time domi-nated by the Congress.

Incidentally, Jagan is alsofacing the same problem whichNTR had faced in 1985.

When NTR was CM, theOpposition Congress blockedimportant bills of TDP govern-

ment in Legislative Council asit had the majority. NTR hadabsolute majority in theAssembly.

Now, the opposition TDP,which has a majority inLegislative Council, is block-ing the important bills intro-duced by the YSRCP.Incidentally, YSRCP too enjoysabsolute majority in Assembly.

Incidentally, it was Congressgovernment at the Centreunder Rajiv Gandhi's steward-ship that enacted APLegislative Council (Abolition)Act, despite stiff oppositionfrom state Congress leaderswho argued that the scrappingthe council was against theparty's interests in the state.

Continued on Page 3

l His son Jagan attempts todissolve the same after 18yearsl NTR dissolved Council inMay 1985 to overcome OppnCongress hurdlel Jagan faces NTR situationnow as Oppn TDP blocking hiscrucial bills

CS reviews arrangementsfor Republic Day functionPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhneyon Wednesday directed officialsconcerned to make all necessaryarrangements for the 71stRepublic Day celebrations to beheld at the Indira GandhiMunicipal Corporation Stadiumin Vijayawada.

A review meeting in thisregard was held at the Secretariatwith officials of various depart-ments.

The Chief Secretary saidthat elaborate arrangementshould be made for the guests.The chief guest at the celebra-tions will be Governor BiswaBhusan Harichandan and theguests of honour would beHigh Court Chief JusticeJitendra Kumar Maheswari,Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy, judges, ministers, offi-cials, students and others. Allarrangements should be com-pleted by the evening ofJanuary 24, Sawhney said.

She instructed the VijayawadaMunicipal Corporation offi-cials to ensure proper drinkingwater facility, seating arrange-

ments, toilet facilities and oth-ers for the students.

She also said that governmentdevelopment welfare schemes,in particular, Navaratnalushould be reflected well in thevarious tableaux.

DGP Goutam Sawang saidthe departments concernedshould take the initiative tocomplete the rehearsals by the

evening of January 24. Keepingin view the time and place thetableau should be displayed ontime at the Republic Day cele-brations, he said.

Principal Secretary to theGovernment of AP, PraveenPrakash explained minute-to-minute programme at theRepublic Day celebrationthrough a PowerPoint presenta-

tion and said that the pro-gramme will start by 9 am.

District Collector Md Imtiazsaid all arrangements for thefunction are being made incoordination of the variousdepartments.

Vijayawada PoliceCommissioner Ch DwarakaTirumala Rao explained abouttraffic restrictions, parkingplaces, arrangements and others.

Commissioner StateInformation department TVijaya Kumar Reddy said thatthree LED screens would bearranged inside the stadiumpremises with state-of-the-artaudio systems.

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Chief Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

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VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 23, 2020 vijayawada 02

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Nanak's 550th anniversary, Guj's stepwell among R-Day tableaux PNS n NEW DELHI

The Walled City of Jaipur andGujarat's iconic stepwell inPatan, both UNESCO worldheritage, and the 550thanniversary of Sikhism founderGuru Nanak Dev will be the-matically showcased amongthe host of tableaux in theRepublic Day Parade this year,officials said on Wednesday.

Jammu & Kashmir will par-ticipate in the parade for thefirst time as a union territory.

Out of the total 22 tableaux,16 will be of various states andUTs and six of ministries,departments and the NationalDisaster Response Force(NDRF). They were unveiled atan event held at the DelhiCantonment on Wednesday.

Northeastern states will be

represented by Assam andMeghalaya.

The Walled City of Jaipur,which was accorded theUNESCO World Heritage tagin 2019, will be the overridingtheme of the Rajasthan tableauthat will depict the Pink City'sarchitectural grandeur and thestate's vibrant culture reflectedin its folk songs and dances.

The year 2019 was the 550thanniversary of Guru NanakDev and this will be theme ofPunjab's tableau in the parade.

Sikhism's architectural andcultural heritage will be por-trayed in its tableau, with mes-sages 'Kirat Karo', 'Naam Japo'and 'Vand Chhako', whichform the cornerstone ofSikhism, depicted in panels.

Gujarat's architectural won-der Rani Ki Vav will be the cen-

trepiece of the state's tableau,complemented with folk cul-ture and dances performed byartistes.

Rani Ki Vav or Queen'sStepwell initially built by RaniUdayamati as a memorial toher husband King Bhimdev I inthe 11th century in Patan dis-

trict of the state was inscribedinto the UNESCO WorldHeritage List in 2014.

The majestic architecture ofthe stepwell will be showcasedin the tableau that will befronted by a statue of a villagewoman wearing Patola saree ofPatan.

The J&K tableau showcasesthe rich sartorial and culturalheritage of the region with ashawl weaver being depicted inthe front. The flora and faunawill be shown in the middlecomplemented with the Dograand Kashmiri folk culture.

Other states which will take

part in the grand parade areChhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu,Telangana, Himachal Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh, Goa, AndhraPradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradeshand Karnataka.

The Defence Ministry hadreceived 32 tableau proposalsfrom states and union territo-

ries and 24 from central min-istries and departments.

Besides, the three wing of thearmed forces -- Army, AirForce and Navy -- will have th-eir own tableaux, officials said.

On West Bengal govern-ment's proposal for a tableaubeing rejected, a senior defenceministry official said, "It was allmerit-based and those tableauwhich were rejected by the co-mmittee were after some short-comings found by the panel".

An Expert Committee hadexamined it in two rounds ofmeeting.

The proposals are evaluatedby the Expert Committee com-prising eminent persons in thefields of art, culture, painting,sculpture, music, architecture,choreography, among others,the ministry had earlier said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Three youngsters from Keralahave decided to cheer theIndian contingent taking part inthe 2020 Olympics to be held inTokyo in July in a novel man-ner. They are planning to reachthe capital of Japan by pedallingall way on their bicycles.

These three youngsters -two men and a woman -Haseeb (32), Clifin (29) andDona (29) - who kick-startedtheir grueling pursuit fromKochi (on December 15 2019),reached Vijayawada onWednesday covering a dis-tance of 1,200 km on theirhigh-end long distance alu-minum-gravel bicycles -

Bergamont Grandurance 6.They were warmly wel-

comed by the members ofClub Pedal Zone, a unit whichpromotes cycling inVijayawada and they got theirbicycles overhauled at pedalZone on MG Road.

"After pedalling throughIndia, we will pass throughBangladesh, Myanmar,Thailand, Laos, Vietnam andChina and enter Japan toreach Tokyo in July 2020 tocheer Indian sportsmen takingpart in several sporting events"said Haseeb, a former Amazonemployee who is on a sabbat-ical. Dona is a former TCSemployee and Clifin is a part-time teacher.

Sikhism's architecturaland cultural heritage willbe portrayed in itstableau, with messages'Kirat Karo', 'Naam Japo'and 'Vand Chhako',which form thecornerstone of Sikhism,depicted in panels

APSCHE plans workshopon NAAC accreditationPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh StateCouncil of Higher Educationplans to organise a one-dayworkshop on 'QualityAssurance and Role of IQACin promoting quality andpreparation for NAACaccreditation' in associationwith Acharya NagarjunaUniversity.

The APSCHE will organisean interactive session with thestakeholders including stu-dents, faculty, parents, institu-tions and citizens, APSCHEVice-Chairman Prof K RamaMohana Rao said in a releaseon Wednesday.

He said the chief guest ofthe workshop will be Prof KHemachandra Reddy, chair-man APSCHE and the distin-guished guests will be Prof PRajasekhar Vice-ChancellorAchar ya NagarjunaUniversity and the guests ofhonour are Prof A RamaChandra Reddy, retired pro-fessor, University ofHyderabad and Former Vice-Chancellor for Yogi VemanaUniversity Prof G Appa RaoIIT Madras, Prof K Rosiah,Registrar, Acharya NagarjunaUniversity.

Prof Rama Mohana Raosaid that APSCHE values theopinions and suggestions ofthe stakeholders of highereducation. In order to havedirect interaction with stu-

dents, parents, faculty mem-bers, college managementsand citizens, the APSCHE isorganising the interactivemeet to discuss on 'HigherEducation Quality Skills andOpportunities'. "APSCHE isorganising this kind of a pro-gramme for the first time.Two eminent academic per-sonalities are invited to theprogramme," he said.

Bicycle-borne youthsTokyo-bound to cheerOlympians from India

Multispecialty health camp marks Namrata’s birthday PNS n VIJAYAWADA

As part of the birthday celebrations ofhis wife Namrata, superstar G MaheshBabu, in association with AndhraHospitals organised a multispecialtyhealth camp at Burripalem onWednesday.

The camp covered all specialties,including medicine, surgery, paedi-atrics, cardiology, dietetics and generalmedicine. Also, an awareness session wasconducted on common health problemswhich include hand hygiene, respirato-ry infections, asthma and nutrition.

All specialty consultations and inves-tigations were done and medicine dis-

tributed to patients.Dr PV Rama Rao, Chief of Children's

Services and Director, Andhra Hospitalssaid this was the 28th camp so far in thisvillage and they had been organizinghealth camps for the past five years.

He said that as many as 334 adultand children benefited from the camp.Dr Rama Rao said that AndhraHospitals organized this mega campon this special occasion in associationwith G Mahesh Babu.

Dr Amar, Dr Mahesh, Dr Veena, DrHarshith, Dr Swarupa, Dr Ramesh otherteam members including nurses, labtechnicians and pharmacists activelycontributed to this camp.

Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney chairs a review meeting on the arrangements for the Republic Day function to be held at theIndira Gandhi Stadium in Vijayawada.

Nilam Sawhney instructed the VijayawadaMunicipal Corporation officials to ensure properdrinking water facility, seating arrangements,toilet facilities and others for the students

Hyundai's new car‘Aura’ launched

Workshop held on sexdetermination testsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Hyundai's new compactsedan, Aura, was launched atSai Swarna Hyundai show-room by its chairman StalinBabu at Ramavarappadu hereon Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion,he said that the new Auracomes with 1.2-litre dieseland petrol engines, compliantwith BS-VI emission norms.

Hyundai will also offer thevehicle with the new 1-litreturbo petrol engine. Aura

compact sedan will be the sec-ond product of the companyin the segment after Accent.Aura is the first significantlaunch of the new decade.

"Aura will be India's onlysedan equipped with BS 6Diesel 1.2 litre Ecotorq engine,offering superior power, perfor-mance and fuel efficiency. Withclass-leading features and supe-rior performance, Aura will bea game-changer product creat-ing new excitement and estab-lish new benchmarks in theautomobile industry," he said.

Sai Swarna Hyundai showroom chairman Stalin Babu inaugurates new Aura atRamavarappadu here on Wednesday

Woman endslife inVijayawadaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

A woman committed sui-cide by hanging herself tothe cei l ing fan onWednesday. The deceasedwas identified as BattulaChinnammai aged about42 years.

She was casual labourerworking at VTPS office.

Ibrahimpatnam policesub-inspector G Rameshtold The Pioneer that histeam rushed to the spotafter receiving informationabout the incident.

Ramesh said that thewoman might have takenthe extreme step due topersonal problems. He saida case under Section 174CRPC was booked andinvestigation is on.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Dr NTR University of HealthScience Vice-Chancellor DrShyam Prasad on Wednesdaysaid that conducting genderdetermination tests was illegal.

Medical Termination ofPregnancy after gender deter-mination was a crime andawareness should be broughtamong the rural and urbanpeople on the law, Dr Prasadsaid.

In this regard, a workshopwas organised jointly by thestate Medical and Healthdepartment and Women andChild Welfare department hereon Wednesday.

The programme was attend-ed by officials of the judicialdepartment, medical andhealth department, womenand child welfare department,panchayat raj and NGOs.

Speaking on the occasion,Dr Prasad said pre-conceptionor pre-natal sex determinationis an offence in India under(PC-PNDT) Act 1994. He saidthat performing MTP after

determination of female is abrutal act and a punishableoffence. He said that doctorsand others who violate PC-PNDT are liable for threeyears imprisonment and a fineof Rs 10,000.

Medical and Health depart-ment director Dr ArunaKumari said that the law onPC-PNDT Act should bestrengthened and awarenessshould be created to all theofficials on the Act.

She appealed to officials of

the department concerned toimplement the Act strictly,and stern action should betaken on people who violate it.

Prosecution directorRamakoteswara Rao said thataction is being taken of peoplewho violate this law and werepunished as per law and thisAct is applicable to doctors,employees of diagnostic cen-tres and others also. The pun-ishment can be three yearsimprisonment and Rs 10,000fine, he added.

L&T Infra faces challenges in APprojects, customer revenue dipsPNS n HYDERABAD

Engineering and constructionmajor Larsen & Toubro onWednesday announced thatinfrastructure segment record-ed customer revenue of Rs17,249 crore for the quarterended December 31, 2019 lea-ding to a y-o-y decline of 5%. The company attributed thisdecline to Challenges faced inprojects in Andhra Pradeshand for a short duration in

Maharashtra and Delhi, cou-pled with lower fund allo-cation in some statesadversely impacted theexecution progress.

However, infrastruc-ture segment of L&Tsecured orders of Rs 28,115crore, during the quarterended December 31, 2019,registering growth of 28%compared to previous year.L&T announced that Devel-opmental Projects Segment

registered customer rev-enue of Rs 1,238 crore

during the quarterended December 31,2019, recording 4%growth over the cor-

responding quarter ofthe previous year, conse-

quent to progressive commis-sioning of Hyderabad Metro.

L&T posted a 15.2% year-on-year (YoY) rise in net prof-it at Rs 2,352 crore for thequarter ended December 2019.

IIT-H to host 3-day ISSCfrom March 25PNS n HYDERABAD

Indian Institute of TechnologyHyderabad will be hosting athree-day Indian StructuralSteel Conference (ISSC) 2020from March 25 to 27.

The ISSC is a unique inter-national conference coveringvarious fields of steel struc-tures, PEB buildings, sus-tainable materials, highstrength steel, cold-formedsteel structures, natural com-posites, renewable materials,structural assessment,Composite construction andrehabilitation of structures.

Interested participants canregister for this conference atwww.issc2020.com. The lastdate for the registration isMarch 7.

Highlighting its importance,organising secretary DrMahendrakumar Madhavansaid, "This conference isfocused on creating a forumwhere researchers and indus-trial experts having explicitbackgrounds but encounteringsimilar challenges on infra-structural development, join-ing together, to discuss anddisseminate the most recentadvances in the analysis,behavior, design, and con-struction of structural steel."

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 23, 2020 vijayawada 03

Continued from Page 1

He said that the operation ofCAA be stayed as it even vio-lated Assam Accord of 1985,which fixes cut of date forgrant of citizenship as March24, 1971.

"Assam is facing a peculiarsituation due to the migrantscoming from Bangladesh asearlier cut off date for grant ofcitizenship was 1950, then cutof date was extended to March24, 1971. This extension hasbeen challenged before theapex court and the matter ispending," he said.

Venugopal intervened andurged the Court to hear peti-tions relating to Assam sepa-rately from a batch of anti-CAA petitions and assuredthe court that the exercise ofAssam National Register ofCitizenship (NRC) will not becomplete until the nationallist is published by theRegistrar General of India.

To this, the bench said thatthe petitions concerning Assamand Tripura as well as the mat-ters related to Uttar Pradesh,which is going ahead with theimplementation of CAA with-out framing any rules, can bedealt with separately.

The top court observed thatAssam's problem is differentfrom rest of the country as theearlier cut off date for citizen-ship was March 24, 1971,which under the CAA hasbeen extended to December31, 2014.

Senior advocate K V

Vishwanathan, appearing forsome anti-CAA petitionerssaid, "The operation of the Actshould be postponed as theiris apprehension among theminority but their is alsoanguish among the majorityclass of the country."

Singhvi said that recently40,000 people have been rec-ommended by the UttarPradesh government to theCentre for grant of citizenship.

"People are being marked as'doubtful citizen' in 19 districtsof Uttar Pradesh, which iscreating panic among themasses that they will be disen-franchised and taken out of theelectoral rolls", he said.

Singhvi said, "They (UPgovernment) are proceedingsahead even when the rules andregulations under the Act havenot been notified. The processneeds to be postponed by cou-ple of months and it would notmake any difference. Things

which have not happened for70 years cannot be allowed tostart in 20 months".

The CAA seeks to grant cit-izenship to migrants belongingto the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist,Christian, Jain and Parsi com-munities who came to thecountry from Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistanon or before December 31,2014.

President Ram Nath Kovindgave his assent to theCitizenship (Amendment) Bill,2019 on December 12, last yearturning it into an Act.

Several petitions have beenfiled challenging the constitu-tional validity of the CAA.Among those who have filedpleas are the Indian UnionMuslim League (IUML),Congress leader JairamRamesh, RJD leader ManojJha, Trinamool Congress MPMahua Moitra and AIMIMleader Asaduddin Owaisi.

Speaker raps‘rude' TDPMLAs, says heis not weak

Continued from Page 1

Sitaram said, "I hail froma community belonging tothe weaker sections, but Iam not weak."

He further recommendedto the Ethics Committee toreview the behaviour ofTDP MLAs and submit areport with recommendedaction to be taken.

"Even af ter repeatedorders to calm down, TDPMLAs continued with theirunruly behaviour at theSpeaker's podium. I clearlysaid that time will be givento them to speak but theyrefused to calm down. Icalled marshals into theAssembly Hall just to getthem to sit in their allottedseats. They had come to thesession with a pre-meditat-ed intention to create a dis-turbance," he said.

He said he was pained atthe TDP MLAs' most disre-spectful comments againsthim, someone who hailedfrom a backward class com-munity.

"Such behaviour by TDPMLAs will not be toleratedand it should not be repeat-ed. There are certain rulesto be fol lowed in theAssembly and these rulesare meant for every mem-ber," the Speaker said.

Jilted loversets fire tohouse; 2 dead,4 injured

Continued from Page 1

After learning about themarriage, Srinu attackedSatyavathi on January 17. Acomplaint regarding theattack was lodged with theKadiyam police station, how-ever, no action was taken bythe police.

On knowing about theincident, Satyavathi's elderdaughter G. Durga Bhavanialong with her 5-year-olddaughter came fromBhimavaram to console hermother. On Tuesday latenight, the accused reported-ly poured petrol on the houseof Satyavathi and set it on fire.

In the incident, K Ramuand elder daughter's daugh-ter Vijaya Lakshmi wereburnt alive in flames.

Satyavathi and her elderdaughter Durga Bhavani sus-tained severe burn injuriesand were rushed to a govern-ment hospital atRajamahendravaram. A casewas registered by theKadiyam police and effortsare on to nab Srinu.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana, one of the largeststates in India, in terms of thedemographics, has lately seena substantial growth in theuptake of digital financial ser-vices. The growth has beenrecorded through Payworld,an assisted financial servicescompany, which provides adigital platform to semi-urbanand rural customers. Withclose to 2,00,897 retailers reg-istered in their system,Payworld covers 31 districts inTelangana with presence ofretailers across major cities inthe state.

Payworld data shows thatthere are over 450 Aadhaar-Enabled Payment (AEPS)transactions per day beingundertaken by people in thesemi-urban and rural pocketsof Telangana. This number hasbeen on the rise and is increas-ing constantly close to 70,000per month. Moreover, money

remittance services have beenthe biggest grosser throughPayworld, with an average of9500 transactions per day withan average ticket size of Rs2,900. This clearly indicatesthat the rising trend of adopt-ing digital financial services isdue to the increase in aware-ness of these services as well asthe simplicity of using themthrough assisted means.

Praveen Dhabhai, COO,Payworld said, "Our entirefocus since inception has beento provide complete access ofdigital financial services tosemi-urban and rural con-sumers. We are happy to wit-ness that the efforts have paidoff and there is a great uptakeof our services in one of thelargest States in India,Telangana." Overall, the growthand uptake of the digital finan-cial services through Payworldretailers have been on the risein the state of Telangana with agrowth of 46% year on year.

Continued from Page 1

Market InterventionScheme would be introducedfor the stabilisation of price offarm produce and to provideremunerative price. The ChiefMinister said he was proud tosay that though the govern-ment had announced earlierthat the farmers would begiven Rs 12,500 per year forfour years, the government hasenhanced the amount to Rs13,550 per year to be given forfive years and so far 46 lakhfarmers have been coveredunder the programme in thepast six months.

The Chief Minister said thatCalamity Relef Fund was set upwith a corpus fund of Rs 2,000crore and an AgricultureMisson was started for thewelfare of farmers in which therepresentatives ofSwaminatham ResearchFoundation and renowned

journalist Sainath are members.Earlier, intervening in the

debate on Rythu Bharosa, theChief Minister said unrulybehavior by the TDP mem-bers, who created a scene byrushing to the Speaker's podi-um, was uncalled for andrequested the Speaker to takestern action to see that suchincidents are not repeated.He said such acts amounted toridiculing democracy. Heasked why members with suchunethical values were presentin the House.

The Chief Minister said theOpposition members shouldmake constructive criticism orelse abstain from the Houseinstead of creating a ruckus.He asked the Speaker to keepmarshals ready near the podi-um and frisk away any mem-ber who tries to disturb theHouse. He said even street-side rowdies were better thanthese 10 TDP members.

11,158 Rythu bharosaCentres to be set up

Rise in uptake of digitalfinancial services in TS

TDP prevails, Capital Billsreferred to Select Panel

Continued from Page 1

Later, he went back to hischambers and watched theCouncil proceedings three.

Even the media gallerieswere overcrowded as curiouslegislature staff, police per-sonnel and several outsidersstormed them to witness thehappening in the House, wherethe TDP is in a majority.

Earlier, the Council, whichadjourned on Tuesday withouttaking up the Bills for consid-eration, discussed the APDecentralisation and InclusiveDevelopment of All RegionsBill wherein the TDP strong-ly opposed the YS JaganmohanReddy government's three cap-itals proposal.

The YSRC stuck to its scan-dal charges against the previousTDP government in relation tothe capital and maintained theincumbent government wasdetermined to develop allregions of the state equally.

At the end of the nearly five-hour debate, Leader of theOpposition in the CouncilYanamala Ramakrishnuduwanted the Bills to be referredto a Select Committee.

Contending that the Billstransgressed Parliamentarylaws and legal issues, he said adeeper examination wasrequired by the SelectCommittee.

"The Bills will have serious

implications for the state. Theywill affect the states image aswell as investments," Yanamalaclaimed.

Public opinion should betaken into account before suchbills were passed, he said,adding it should hence bereferred to a Select Committee.

Legislative Affairs MinisterBuggana Rajendranath object-ed to it, citing rules and pro-

cedures."Has the TDP moved a

motion, seeking reference ofthe Bill to a Select Committee,before it is taken up for consid-eration of the House? If not,the question of referring it toa Select Committee does notarise," Buggana contended.

When Council ChairmanSharrif said the TDP motionwas indeed moved before theBills were taken up for consid-eration, the YSRC raised astrong protest saying therewas no such record to prove it.

The ministers and YSRCMLCs trooped into the Well ofthe House and picked up anargument with the Chairman.

The Chairman and theLegislature Secretary tried toexplain things to the agitatedruling party members but tono avail, even as the TDP leg-islators too joined the protest.

MLC Nara Lokesh andMunicipal AdministrationMinister Botsa Satyanarayanahad an argument right in frontof the Chairman's podium.

At one stage, an angryConsumer Affairs MinisterKodali Nani rushed towardsthe TDP MLCs and the lattershouted at him.

Both TDP and YSRCP lead-ers raised slogans and counterslogans against each other.With chaos refusing to diedown, the Chairman adjournedthe Council for 10 minutes.

TDP seeksdisqualification of itsthree MLCs

Continued from Page 1

Satrucharla sat throughthe Rule 71 debate but hewent out of the House justbefore the voting. Violationof party whip attracts actionas per the House rules. Thishappened despite the TDP'scaution to protect its MLCs.Though the TDP success-fully blocked 3 Capitals Billfrom being tabled in APCouncil on Tuesday, three ofits MLCs slipped away at thelast minute. The TDP got 34MLCs strength but it couldget just 27 votes in its favour.

No stay on CAA, NPR: SC

PNS n AMARAVATI

Tightening the noose on thepersons involved in the allegedinsider trading in purchase oflands in the Amaravati capitalregion, the state governmenton Wednesday passed a reso-lution in the Assembly to con-duct a comprehensive inquiryinto the shady deals and ensurestringent action is meted out tothe culprits.

Soon after Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy concludedhis speech during the discus-sion on the 'Rythu Bharosa'centres on Wednesday, HomeMinister Mekathoti Sucharitatabled the resolution on insid-er trading.

After TDP member sug-gested an amendment, theHouse approved the resolution.

Interestingly, contradictoryto expectations that the issue

would be referred to theLokayukta, the resolution didnot mention the name of anyparticular investigating agency.

The resolution mentionedthat a Cabinet subcommitteewas constituted to study thedecisions of the previous gov-

ernment's policy and adminis-trative decisions since the TDPgovernment came to powerafter bifurcation of the State in2014.

The subcommittee wasformed vide GO No. 1411 onJune 26, 2019.

The subcommittee hadfound that insider trading hadtaken place in respect of pur-chase of lands even beforeAmaravati was declared as theCapital.

The resolution said that thesubcommittee had found thatthe then chief minister NChandrababu Naidu breachedthe oath of secrecy anddivulged the Capital plans tohis close aides, helping thempurchase lands in Amaravati.

YSRCP MLA G SrikanthReddy said as discussion on thesubject had already held earli-er, only four members from theTreasury benches would speakon the issue.

Chief Whip KapuRamachandra Reddy,Agriculture Minister KurasalaKanna Babu, Sirkanth Reddyand another MLA spoke on theissue.

Resolution to probe insidertrading adopted by Assembly

BJP-Jana Sena combineto fight for people's issuesPNS n AMARAVATI

BJP state unit president KannaLakshminarayana onWednesday issued a statementthat the BJP and its politicalally Jana Sena will work togeth-er hereafter and implementvarious activities jointly.

Releasing a joint statementby the BJP and Jana Sena,Kanna said that a coordinationcommittee meeting of thealliance would be held inVijayawada on January 28.

Jana Sena leader NadendlaManohar said that the BJP-Jana Sena combine took adecision to stand by the farm-ers of the Amaravati capitalregion and maintained that along-march would be heldfrom Tadepalli to Vijayawadaon February 2. He vowed thatthe combine would fight tilljustice is done to the people ofthe state.

Earlier, leaders of the com-bine had a meeting with UnionFinance Minister Nirmala

Sitaraman and discussed withher the financial position of thestate. Discussion on imple-mentation of developmentprogrammes also figured at themeeting.

Rajya Sabha member GVLNarasimha Rao, KannaLakshminarayana, SunilDiyodhara and DPurandeswari represented theBJP, while Pawan Kalyan andNadendla Manohar repre-sented the Jana Sena at themeeting.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana state Pavilion atDavos has become a centre ofattraction for political and busi-ness leaders and media repre-sentatives attending the WEF.The Pavilion is set up on themain road of Davos calledPromenade.

Only three States from India- Telangana, Karnataka andMadhya Pradesh have set upexclusive pavilions at Davos.Industries, IT and MunicipalAdministration Minister KTRama Rao is leading a delega-tion from Telangana to WorldEconomic Forum, Davos. Thedelegation comprises of IT &Industries Principal SecretaryJayesh Ranjan, T Hub CEO RaviNarayan, and Director DigitalMedia Dileep Konatham, alongwith a few other officials.

The Telangana Pavilion has areception area, a waiting lounge,

and two meeting lounges, anexclusive state-of-the-art VRlounge, where visitors can watcha Virtual Reality presentation onTS. The Telangana Pavilion alsohas been stocked with all rele-vant collaterals like newsletters,industrial and IT Policy book-lets and also Annual Reports ofIT & Industries departments.

A branded photography areais set up where the delegates can

take a photograph. The pavilionwalls have nicely designedgraphics with interesting titbitsof information about achieve-ments of Hyderabad city andTelangana state. A separatepantry serves snacks, coffee,juices and other refreshments tothe visitors. Head honchos ofseveral global corporations arevisiting the Telangana Pavilionhere in Davos.

Telangana Pavilion grabseyeballs at WEF-2020

Medaram Jatara: Jaggery traders jack up pricesPNS n WARANGAL

Jaggery traders have formedinto a syndicate and allegedlyjacked up the prices of thecommodity to exploit the devo-tees, attending the biggest bi-ennial tribal fair Sammakka-Saralakka festival to be held atMedaram from February 5 to8. They have increased the pri-ces of the commodity by at le-ast Rs 10 a kg. This would helptraders earn huge profits.

It is a customary practice ofdevotees to offer jaggery equalto their weight to the deities. At

least nine jaggery tradersformed into a syndicate claim-ing to have the support of anexcise official. It has created

sensation among the businesscircles in the area.

At least 150-200 lorries ofjaggery, each with a capacity of

17 tonnes or 22 tonnes, are soldduring the festival period.Traders and officials becominghand-in-glove with each otherhad created a controversy. Incase of a 17 tonne lorry (10-tyre lorry), the profit margin ofthe trader would be at least Rs1.70 lakh even if the price ofjaggery happened to be hikedby Rs 10 a kg. The devoteeshave been urging the govern-ment officials to take steps toensure that the traders wouldnot hike the jaggery price byforming into a syndicate.

During the Jatara, devotees

will offer white jaggery, popu-larly known in the Telugu-speaking states as 'Bangaram',to the presiding deities.Therefore, traders are makingbeelines to Karnataka andMaharashtra where the pro-duce is cultivated in largequantities.

The traders hope that scoresof devotees will arrive thistime as well which would helpthem get high profit. In erst-while Warangal district, whole-sale jaggery traders areequipped with all necessaryequipment.

In one week,Vemulavadatemple hundinets Rs 1.51 cr PNS nYADADRI/VEMULAVADA

The Vemulavada Rajaraje-swara Swamy temple receivedunprecedented hundi earningsof Rs 1.51 crore during the pastone week up to Tuesday, whenthe hundi offerings werecounted.

The hundi offerings includ-ed 179 grams of gold, 10.5 kgof silver articles, temple EOKrishnaveni said. The recordlevel temple hundi earnings areattributed to large turnout ofdevotees at the temple onaccount of the Medaram festi-val. Meanwhile, a temple staffmember was caught redhand-ed while stealing Rs 9,000 ofthe hundi offerings concealingthe money in his lungi. Thisapart, the Yadadri LakshmiNarasimha Swamy temple alsoearned Rs 1.04 crore in 29 days.The temple hundi offeringsinclude cash, 49 grams of goldand 1.9 kg of silver.

Council restoredby Dad YSR,haunts son Jagan

Continued from Page 1

Later, in 1990, the thenCongress government madean attempt for revival of thecouncil but in vain.Subsequently, the Congressagain promised revival of thecouncil in its manifesto for 2004assembly polls. After snatchingpower from the Telugu Desam,YSR made fresh efforts torevive the council.

Basing on a resolution passedby the state legislative assembly,the UPA government enactedthe AP Legislative Council Billin December 2005 for revival ofthe council. The Bill receivedthe President's assent in January2006 but it took almost a yearfor the Election Commission tocomplete the formalities forconstitution of the council andfor conduct of elections to fillthe seats under various cate-gories in the reconstitutedUpper House.

Event the dissolution ofLegislative Assembly is alsoexpected to take over a yearconsidering the proceduralnorms, it involves.

The MLCs enjoy the sameprivileges and perks as themembers of the legislativeassembly. The legislative coun-cil will have five special commit-tees of its own relating to priv-ileges, ethics, rules, papers laidand assurances, while the othercommittees will be common forboth the Houses.

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 23, 2020 nation 04SHORT READS

UP: 3 killed, 1 injuredas car rams into truckdue to dense fogSITAPUR (UP): A carcarrying four passengersrammed into a truck in theearly hours of Wednesdaydue to dense fog here, killingthree people and injuringone, officials said. VimalBerry (60), Vinodini Gupta(80) and car driver Ansar(40) died on the spot, policesaid. Hari Prasad Gupta, 60,who sustained head injuries,was admitted to a hospitalhere. Vimal Berry and hisfriend Gupta were returningfrom a marriage in Lucknowwhen the accident occurredunder the Ataria policestation. The bodies havebeen sent for post-mortem,the police added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Ishan Sharma who saved aRussian tourist from two rob-bers, Omkar Singh who holdsthe world record for theyoungest theoretical authorand youngest pianist in IndiaGauri Mishra were amongthose who were given the BalShakti Puraskar 2020 byPresident Ram Nath Kovindon Wednesday.

Kovind conferred theawards to 49 children in theage group of 5-18 years at aceremony at RashtrapatiBhawan here. The Bal ShaktiPuraskar is given to childrenin the fields of innovation,social service, scholastic,

sports, art and culture andbravery and carries a medal, acash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a cer-tificate and a citation.

The 49 awardees alsoincluded 12-year-old DarshMalani, who has performedover 50 magic shows world-wide and 11-year-old ManojKumar Lohar has been award-ed for his mastery in "tablavadan".

Gauri Mishra, who has the"Youngest pianist of India"record in her name and KorokBiswas, an exceptional dancerdespite being diagnosed withdown syndrome and 50 percent intellectual disability arealso among the awardees inthe Art and Culture category.

Prez confers BalShakti Puraskar on49 braveheart kids

Tribal womangangraped inChhattisgarh; 3 held

Woman injured afterneighbours throw acidon her in UP

KORBA: A 23-year-old tribalwoman was allegedly raped bythree men at a forest inChhattisgarh's Korba district,a police official said onWednesday. All the accusedhave been arrested, he said.The incident took place lateSunday evening when thewoman went to relieve herselfin a forest area under BalcoNagar police station limits, theofficial said. The woman, whois separated from herhusband, was staying at herparents' home in a village heresince the past few days. Whenshe went into the forest, theaccused suddenly grabbed herand dragged her near a rivuletwhere they allegedly tookturns to rape her, the officialsaid. They tied the woman'shands with a scarf and alsogagged her so that she couldnot scream for help, he said,adding that when she fellunconscious, the accusedfled. After the woman regainedconsciousness, she somehowmanaged to reach home andnarrated the ordeal to herparents who lodged a policecomplaint on Monday.

Groom's dad and bride's momelope; family calls off marriage PNS n SURAT

Old longing for each otherseems to have prevailed oversocietal norms for Gujarat res-idents Himmat Patel andShobhna Raval when theyapparently decided to rekindletheir young love and 'eloped',shattering the marriage plansof their respective son anddaughter.

While Patel is a resident ofKatargam area of Surat, Ravalhails from Vejalpore in Navsaridistrict.

Patel (43) and Raval (42)have been "missing" sinceJanuary 10 and a police com-plaint has been lodged to tracethem, a family relative hassaid.

The relative claimed thatboth Patel and Raval kneweach other since their child-hood.

Both of them used to live inthe same society in Katargamearlier before Raval shifted toNavsari after her marriage.

"Since they knew each other,it is possible that they mighthave decided to rekindle their

old love and eventually elopedtogether. They came into con-tact once again after Patelsought the hand of Raval'sdaughter for his son. Whenboth the families were busy inthe preparations for the mar-riage, which was scheduled forthe second week of February,both of them eloped onJanuary 10," he claimed.

Raval's husband said thefamily was put in an embar-rassing situation due to her act.

"The wedding, which wassupposed to be held in the sec-ond week of February, has

been called off now," he said.Both the families have

informed local police stationsabout the disappearance.

"Since Navsari police is alsoinvestigating the case, we arealso kept in the loop. Both ofthem are yet to be traced," saidpolice inspector, Katargam, BD Gohil.

Gohil said the investigationrevealed that the duo had vis-ited Mahakaleshwar temple inUjjain in Madhya Pradesh onTuesday.

"We are trying to talk tothem," he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The CBI has taken over theprobe into an attempt to kill aveteran journalist in 1997 andthree other fresh cases alleged-ly involving jailed gangsterChhota Rajan, officials said onWednesday.

Baljeet Shersingh Parmar, anoted crime reporter inMumbai, was severely injuredafter motorcycle borne shoot-ers of Rajan allegedly attackedhim outside a building atAntop Hill on June 12, 1997,they said.

The agency has taken overthe Mumbai police FIR in thecase filed under IPC sectionsrelated to attempt to murder,they said.

The agency has registeredtwo more cases of extortion byalleged gang members of Rajanand one case related to issuingthreats to life, the officialssaid.

The agency has bookedRajan and his henchmen GuruSatam and Suresh for alleged-ly demanding Rs 20 lakh asextortion money from busi-nessman Devang Bipin Parikh

in 1995, they said.The other case pertains to

alleged demand of Rs 25 lakhin 1998 from a man namedGhisulal Jain by Hemant, whois believed to be a member ofRajan gang, they said.

The Mumbai police hadfiled charge sheets in both thecases but Rajan remainedabsconding, they said.

The last case is related tothreats issued to the life ofbuilder Shabbir N Patel and hisson in 1996, they said.

In November last year, theCBI had taken over 10 cases,including those of extortionand murder, in which Rajan

was allegedly involved. Thesecases were registered in a 14-year period since 1992, theysaid.

These cases include killingof trade union leader DattaSamant in 1997 in Mumbai inwhich Rajan's role is suspect-ed, they said.

Rajan was arrested at Baliairport in Indonesia onOctober 25, 2015, and deport-ed to India. He is an accusedin around 70 cases inMaharashtra, including the JDey murder case in 2011.

The Maharashtra govern-ment has handed over all thesecases to CBI.

JNU: All FIRs in line with Jan 3incidents, no deviation from factsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU) onWednesday said all FIRs andother complaints filed withpolice are in-line with the inci-dents that took place onJanuary 3 and do not deviatefrom facts after an RTI suggest-ed discrepancies in the varsityadministration's claims aboutvandalism in its server room.

The university said its replyto the RTI was related to thespecific location and questionssought by the applicant. It alsoclarified that the servers weredamaged by "a group of mis-creants" on January 4.

"As per the complaint filedby administration on January3, 2020 about the incident inCentre for Information System(CIS) Data Centre, JNU hasnot claimed about damage toservers on that day. The RTIanswers are correct and specif-ic to the questions asked," thevarsity said.

The RTI response also clear-ly states that servers are locat-ed at CIS Data Centre not in

CIS office, which seems to be"conspicuously ignored whilehighlighting the matter in themedia", it said.

"All FIRs and other com-plaints filed with police are in-line with the actual incidentsthat took place on January 3and do not deviate from actu-al facts," it said.

The JNU administrationreiterates that a group ofmasked students came to CISData Centre premises onJanuary 3 and forcibly evicted

the technical staff, switched offthe power supply, locked thepremises and squatted in frontof the main entrance to the CISData Centre without providingany access to the centre, thevarsity said.

Before evicting the technicalstaff out of CIS Data Centre,the masked students forced thetechnical staff to shutdownthe systems, it said.

"This led to the discontinu-ation of the winter semesterregistration affecting thou-

sands of students of the univer-sity. When CIS technical staffgot an access to CIS DataCentre on the morning ofJanuary 4 with the help of secu-rity, it took more than fourhours to restore the entire sys-tem of CIS," it said.

Damage to the CIS DataCentre server room was causedon January 4 by "a group ofmiscreants" who broke openone of the door-windows of theCIS premises and entered theserver room, it said.

Once inside, they turnedoff the servers and severelydamaged the fibre optic cables,power supplies, broke the bio-metric systems inside theroom, it added.

"The miscreants then start-ed sloganeering and intimidat-ed the technical staff fromentering the server room," thevarsity said.

Biometric systems andCCTV cameras at the serverroom were not vandalised inthe first week of January, con-trary to the claims made by theJawaharlal Nehru Universityadministration that studentshad destroyed them onJanuary 3, the varsity has saidin a RTI reply.

The reply to the RTI filedby Saurav Das, a member ofthe National Campaign forPeople's Right to Information(NCPRI), under "life and lib-erty" clause, said the mainserver of JNU at the Centrefor Information System (CIS)was shut down on January 3and had gone down the nextday "due to power supply dis-ruption".

PNS n SRINAGAR

A militant was killed in anencounter with security forcesin Pulwama district of Jammuand Kashmir as the operation toflush out ultras in Khrew areaentered the second day onWednesday, police said. AnArmy jawan and a special policeofficer (SPO) were killed in agunbattle in the area of Tuesday.

The gunbattle had startedafter cordon and search opera-tion were launched by securityforces in the district on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP) DilbagSingh had told reporters thatthere were reports of presenceof two militants in the area.

"The Khrew operationresumed this (Wednesday)morning after being suspendedon Tuesday night. So far, thereis no confirmation of any mil-itant being killed there... Wehave reports of presence of twomilitants there and the search ison,” Singh had said on the side-lines of a wreath-laying ceremo-ny of the slain SPO ShahbazAhmad. The DGP said opera-tions against militants in the val-

ley have been intensified.“Counter-terrorist operations

in the valley have been intensi-fied, which has created a stir insouth Kashmir. There havebeen half-a-dozen successfuloperations and they will contin-ue in the same manner. We willwork harder for the people andfor establishing peace in Jammuand Kashmir,” he said.

Asked about preparations forthe Republic Day functions inthe Kashmir Valley, Singh saidall arrangements are in place.

“We have done all prepara-tions on the ground.Preparations have been done inall districts of the valley. Allsecurity arrangements havebeen put in place in Srinagar as

well. I think all other arrange-ments have also been done forthe January 26 function and thisfunction will take place smooth-ly,” the DGP said.

On a question about thepolice using drones for surveil-lance in Srinagar city, Singh saidthey are technical aids that helppolice. “Drones are a normaltechnical aid which every policeforce uses in this age. Jammuand Kashmir Police also usesthem to cover law and order sit-uations. I think this is a verygood help and drones show uswhat happens in lanes andbylanes which otherwise is notpossible. They tell us about anymischievous activity takingplace there,” he said.

Militant killed in encounterin J&K’s Pulwama district

Anti-CAA protesters lathicharged by police in UP's EtawahPNS n ETAWAH (UP)

People protesting against theCitizenship (Amendment)Act were allegedly lath-icharged by police in aMuslim-dominated area inUttar Pradesh's Etawah dis-trict.

A video of the incident,where policemen can be seenusing batons and chasingaway protesters in the area on

late Tuesday night, has alsogone viral on social media.

Violence broke out whenpolice tried to disperse theprotesters who were on a sit-in since Tuesday morning inPachraha area, defying pro-hibitory orders imposedthere.

"The police indulged inforce against us while wewere holding a peacefulprotest. Our brothers and

cousins were beaten up andwe were abused. We werephysically tortured. We havea right to protest," one of thewomen protesters said.

Responding to the allega-tions, police said the protest-ers had staged dharna defy-ing prohibitory orderimposed in the area andwere pelting stones. Policesaid they had to use mildforce to chase the protesters

away. In the video, policemencan be seen entering housesand shops.

The sit-in was organised insolidarity with womenprotesting at Shaheen Baghin Delhi against the newlegislation. "Police are citingprohibitory orders to end outprotest. What about the largepublic meetings being heldby ministers," another pro-tester said.

NGT asks CPCB to give reporton railway engine emissionsPNS n NEW DELHI

The National Green Tribunalasked the Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) onWednesday to submit compli-ance report on its order onguidelines enumerating loco-motive standards for Railways.

A bench headed by NGTChairperson Justice AdarshKumar Goel directed the apexpollution monitoring body tosubmit report in a month.

"This tribunal on considera-tion of pollution by operation oflocomotive engines by theRailways, directed that the guide-lines, containing locomotivestandards, be put up on the web-site of CPCB and expeditiousefforts be made by all the stake-holders including MoEF, CPCBto approve the final parametersfor locomotive engines, aftercompleting the study and thento notify the same.

"Let the CPCB file a reportabout the compliance of theabove directions within onemonth by e-mail," the benchsaid.

The tribunal in 2017 haddirected that the guidelines con-taining locomotive standardswill be put up on the CPCB web-site and expeditious efforts are tobe made by all the stakeholdersto approve the final parametersfor locomotive engines,

The CPCB's interim reporttitled "Exhaust EmissionBenchmarks for DieselLocomotives on Indian

Railways" aims to fix standardsand protocols for the sector toachieve the targets submitted byIndia under the Paris climatechange agreement.

The Railways contributed 9.7per cent of this figure (24.7 mil-lion tonne). Globally, however,only 3.5 per cent of the emissionsfrom the transport sector areattributed to the rail sector, thereport said.

The directions came whilehearing a petition filed byDwarka resident S K Goyalabout harmful emissions fromdiesel locomotives.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A Delhi court Wednesdaydirected the police to file anaction taken report on theplea of Jamia Millia IslamiaUniversity seeking registrationof FIR against police action onstudents at the varsity lastmonth. MetropolitanMagistrate Rajat Goyal soughtreport from Delhi police byMarch 16. JMIU students andlocals had protested at JamiaNagar in Delhi on December15, 2019 against theCitizenship (Amendment) Act.

Protesters torched four busesand two police vehicles as theyclashed with the police in NewFriends Colony. Police batoncharged the protesters andused tear gas shells to dispersethe mob before entering thevarsity campus, detaining sev-eral persons allegedly involvedin the violence.

Delhi courtseeks report onJamia violenceby police

SITAPUR (UP): A 32-year-oldwoman was injured after herneighbours threw acid on herfollowing an argument here,police said on Wednesday.The acid was from a carbattery, they said. Anita, whosuffered minor injuries, wassent home after primarymedical aid at the districthospital, the police said,adding a case was registeredagainst four people. They saidthe accused were at large andwill be nabbed soon.

The RTI responsealso clearly statesthat servers arelocated at CISData Centre not inCIS office, whichseems to be"conspicuouslyignored whilehighlighting thematter in themedia", it said

Shabana Azmi ‘stable',‘recovering': SourcesPNS n MUMBAI

Veteran actor Shabana Azmi,who was injured in an accidentlast week, is "stable and recover-ing" in a Mumbai hospital,sources close to her family saidon Wednesday. Azmi sufferedhead injuries when her car metwith an accident on the Mumbai-

Pune Expressway on January 18.The 69-year-old actor and herdriver Kamlesh Kamath wererushed to the MGM hospital inNavi Mumbai and were shiftedto the Kokilaben DhirubhaiAmbani Hospital in suburbanAndheri the same day. "She is sta-ble and recovering," a source closeto the family told.

Special needs kidscan use calculatorsduring exams: CBSEPNS n NEW DELHI

Children with special needsappearing for the Central Boardof Secondary Examination(CBSE) in class 10 or 12 will beable to use basic calculatorsfrom this year, officials said. "Theboard has decided to facilitatestudents under Children withSpecial Needs (CSWN) catego-ry by permitting use of simplebasic calculator during Class Xand Class XII board examina-tion," CBSE Controller forExamination Sanyam Bhardwaj

said in a letter sent to schools. "Calculator will only be

allowed to those students whohave already been registeredunder CWSN category for the2020 examination," he added.

To avail the facility, the stu-dents have to give a request tothe schools by January 28 andprincipals will have to forwardit to concerned regional office ofCBSE. "Candidates who willrequest without appropriate cer-tificate will not be allowed to usecalculator during examinations,"Bhardwaj said.

CBI registers four freshcases against Chhota Rajan

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 23, 2020 nation 05SHORT READS

Maha govt to scrapdirect election ofvillage sarpanchsMUMBAI: The MaharashtraVikas Aghadi government is setto overturn the previousDevendra Fadnavis regime'sdecision of electing sarpanchs(village heads) directly fromamong the people. State RuralDevelopment Minister and NCPleader Hasan Mushrif onWednesday said an ordinancewill soon be placed before thestate Cabinet to pave way forelecting sarpanchs from amongvillage panchayat members.The Fadnavis government in2017 brought an ordinanceto ensure the sarpanchs wereelected directly from among thepeople. "People electedsarpanchs directly in the lastgram panchayat elections. TheMVA has decided that thesarpanch will now be electedfrom (gram panchayat)members. We will soon bringordinance before the Cabinet to ensure there is no directelection," Mushrif told reporters here.

4 killed in head-oncollision between twotrucks in RajasthanJAIPUR: Four people werekilled in a head-on collisionbetween two trucks inRajasthan's Sikar district onWednesday, police said. Theaccident took place near Khudivillage on the NH-58 when atruck going to Gujarat fromKarnal in Haryana collided withanother truck coming from theopposite direction due to poorvisibility, they said.The accidentled to a traffic jam. Trafficmovement resumed after thedamaged vehicles wereremoved from the highway,said Hari Ram, head constableposted at Fatehpur Sadar policestation. He said both the driverand helper died on the spot dueto the massive collision.

AHMEDABAD: The Interpol hasissued a Blue Corner Notice tolocate self-styled godmanNithyananda, who fled Indialast year after a rape case wasregistered against him inKarnataka, Gujarat Police saidon Wednesday. The state policerevealed the move in a chargesheet filed in a local court inconnection with an FIR lodgedagainst Nithyananda inNovember last year, after twogirls went missing from hisashram here. "The Interpolissued the Blue Corner noticeagainst the controversialgodman this month," DeputySuperintendent of Police K TKamariya said. The police saidthey were working that a RedCorner Notice be issued by theInterpol against him now.Nithyananda was earlierdeclared wanted by the GujaratPolice. A Blue Corner notice isissued to locate or obtaininformation about a person in acriminal investigation, whilea Red Corner notice is issuedto seek arrest of a wantedperson.

Unmanned Gaganyaan to carryISRO’s ‘lady’ robot ‘Vyomamitra'PNS n BENGALURU

Even before orbiting astro-nauts on India's first mannedmission to the space inDecember 2021, the IndianSpace Research Organisationwill send 'Vyomamitra', a 'ladyrobot', in unmannedGaganyaan spacecraft.

The robot was the centre ofattraction at the inaugural ses-sion of the "Human Spaceflightand Exploration - PresentChallenges and Future Trends"here on Wednesday.

Vyomamitra, a combina-tion of two Sanskrit wordsVyoma (Space) and Mitra(Friend), took everyone bysurprise when she introducedherself to the audience gathered there.

"Hello everyone. I amVyomamitra, the prototype ofthe half-humanoid, been madefor the first unmannedGaganyaan mission," the robot

said. Explaining about the rolein the mission, she said, "I canmonitor though module para-meters, alert you and performlife support operations. I canperform activities like switchpanel operations..."

The robot said she can alsobe a companion and conversewith the astronauts, recognisethem and can also respond to

their queries. ISRO chairmanK Sivan told reporters thehumanoid will simulate humanfunctions in space and alsointeract with the environmentcontrol life support system.

"It will be simulating exact-ly the human functions there(in space). It will checkwhether the system is right.

This will be very useful to

simulate, as if a human is fly-ing," said Sivan. Earlier,addressing the inaugural func-tion, Sivan said ahead of thelaunch of India's maidenhuman spaceflight venture'Gaganyaan' in December2021, ISRO will undertaketwo unmanned missions in December 2020 and June 2021.

Vyomamitra, acombination oftwo Sanskritwords Vyoma(Space) and Mitra(Friend), tookeveryone bysurprise when sheintroduced herselfto the audience

Mumbai to remain open 24x7 from Jan 27: Aaditya ThackerayPNS n MUMBAI

The Maharashtra Cabinet onWednesday approved its'Mumbai 24 hours' policy allow-ing malls, multiplexes and shopsto remain open round-the-clock in the city from January27.

Noting that London's 'nighteconomy' was five billionpounds, state Tourism MinisterAaditya Thackeray toldreporters here after the Cabinetmeeting that the government'sdecision could help generatemore revenue and jobs, in addi-tion to the existing five lakhpeople working in the servicesector.

He also said keeping shops,

malls and eateries open in thenight was not mandatory.

"Only those who feel they cando good business can keeptheir establishments open

throughout the night," he said. In the first phase, shops,

eateries and theatres in mallsand mill compounds situated innon-residential areas will be

allowed to remain open. "In theBandra-Kurla Complex andNariman Point near NCPA, alane will be opened for foodtrucks. Food inspectors willkeep a watch on them. If ruleson solid waste management,decibel limits and law and orderare violated, there is provisionof lifetime ban," the Shiv Sena

leader said. He said the policeforce will not be under stressbecause after 1.30 am, their jobtill now was to check if shopsand establishments were shutdown. "But, now they will beable to focus on law and orderonly," said the minister, who isson of Chief Minister UddhavThackeray.

He also said that while takingthe decision, Excise rules havenot been touched and pubs andbars will close as usual at1.30am.

"People can eat food, shopand watch movies even duringthe night," he said.

He said Mumbai is a "24x7functional city". "There are peo-ple who work in night shifts.

There are tourists, too, in tran-sit. Where do they go if they arehungry after 10 pm?" he asked.

Thackeray also said thereare provisions for security andCCTVs in malls and mill com-pounds and they have all thelicenses. If these establishmentsneed additional police security,they will have to pay for it, headded.

Asked about criticism fromthe BJP over this move, the min-ister said the Maharashtra VikasAghadi government was work-ing to fulfil people's aspirations.

"The BJP is against the youth,seeing the way they are handlingstudents," he said, referring tothe recent violence in Delhi'sJNU and Jamia Millia Islamia.

Only those whofeel they can dogood business can

keep their establishmentsopen throughout the night

— AADITYA THACKERAYMaharastra TTourism MMinister

Interpol issues BlueCorner notice againstgodman Nithyananda

‘Kanyashree' to raisebreast cancer awarenessPNS n BALURGHAT (WB)

Beneficiaries of West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee's UN award-winningpet project 'Kanyashree' willmake people aware aboutbreast cancer and worktowards early detection of thedisease in South Dinajpur dis-trict, officials said onWednesday.

District Chief MedicalOfficer of Health (CMOH), DrSukumar Dey said that 180students of classes 11 and 12— who have benefitted fromthe conditional cash transferscheme — from various blockswill spread awareness on the disease under the 'Pragya'project.

The district administrationwill soon conduct a workshopto train the volunteers for

early detection of breast can-cer. "Only 10 per cent of breastcancer cases are detected in theearly stages. We hope toincrease the percentage to 30per cent after the drive. TheKanyashree girls had earlierplayed an effective role in cre-ating awareness on dengue," hesaid. Mahadyuti Adhikary,nodal officer of 'Kanyashree' inthe district, said that 'Pragyaproject' is being implementedonly in South Dinajpur.

"Rural women will open upmore to the health workerswhen they are accompanied byyoung local volunteers," he said.

Kanyashree scheme, whichis aimed at reducing drop-outrates of girls and delayingtheir marriage till they attainadulthood, has been awardedby the United Nations.

DELHI POLLS

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader ShashiTharoor on Wednesdayraised questions over theconstruction of classroomsand purchase of anti-pollu-tion masks in Delhi by theAAP government anddemanded answers for alleged financial irregu-larities.

Another Congress leaderSharmistha Mukherjeeal leged that Delhi hadbecome the "rape capital"under the Modi and Kejriwalgovernments.

"The Aam Aadmi Partystarted off claiming to com-bat corruption. Would theycare to explain where thismoney went?" Tharoor askedon Twitter. He said the Delhigovernmet undertook a con-struction of 12,782 class-rooms for a total expenditureof Rs 2,892 crore and soughtto know how much did a

classroom cost. "Our peoplehave estimated that all ofthis could have been donecomfortably for a maximumspending of Rs 800 crore,whereas Rs 2,892 crore have

been spent. Do we have a Rs2,000-crore scam on ourhands here?" he asked in avideo posted on Twitter.

Tharoor also alleged finan-cial irregularities in theAAP's procurement of anti-pollution masks for schoolchildren. "Did they charge thetaxpayer all that they spent?Did they charge the taxpay-er more than they shouldhave spent?" he asked. "Didthey give the children anti-pollution masks that couldactually protect the children?These financial irregularitiesmust be addressed forth-with."

PNS n NEW DELHI

Japan has huge investment ininfrastructure projects in theNortheast and is collaboratingwith several states in the regionin areas like forest, sewerageand disaster management, theCentre said on Wednesday.

The issue was discussedthreadbare when a delegationled by Japanese AmbassadorSatoshi Suzuki called on UnionMinister for Development ofNorth Eastern Region(DoNER) Jitendra Singh hereon Wednesday, an officialstatement said. During themeeting, various issues relatedto mutual collaboration andcooperation between the twocountries were discussed."There is huge Japanese invest-ment in infrastructure projectsin the North Eastern region ofthe country," the DoNERMinistry statement said.

In the area of forest manage-ment, Japan has been collabo-rating with the governments ofTripura, Sikkim and Nagalandand soon it will tie up withMeghalaya. Mutual collabora-tion in the areas of bamboo,disaster management, roadinfrastructure and GuwahatiSewerage Project were some ofthe issues that came up for dis-

cussion at the meeting, it said.The upgradation of Aizwal-

Tuipang Section of NH-54with a length of 372 km isbeing done with the assis-tance of the JapanInternational CooperationAgency (JICA) at a cost of Rs

6,168 crore. The road wouldprovide seamless connectivityto Sittwe port in Mayanmar aspart of the government's 'ActEast Policy'. Singh said Indiashares traditional relationswith Japan and under the lead-ership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, new areas ofmutual collaboration are beingadded to it. The minister men-tioned about the bullet trainproject in this regard. Singhsaid during the last five years,Japanese engagement in India'sinfrastructure projects hasincreased. Recently 12 nursingcaregivers from Jammu andKashmir, and Ladakh havebeen taken up for jobs inJapan through initiative of pri-vate agencies, the ministersaid.

Japan aiding NE states inmanagement of forest, sewerage

In the area of forestmanagement,Japan has beencollaborating withthe governments ofTripura, Sikkim andNagaland and soonit will tie up withMeghalaya

Revised costestimate forcampusesof NITsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved theRevised Cost Estimates (RCE)of over Rs 4371 crore forestablishment of permanentcampuses of new NationalInstitutes of Technology(NITs) till 2022. "Cabinet hasapproved the Revised CostEstimates (RCE) for establish-ment of permanent campusesof new NITs at a total cost ofRs 4371.90 crore for the peri-od till 2021-22," UnionMinister Prakash Javadekarsaid at a press conference.

"NITs were established inthe year 2009 and startedfunctioning from academicyear 2010-2011 in their respec-tive temporary campus withvery limited space and infra-structure. These NITs will befully functional from theirrespective permanent cam-puses by March 31, 2022," headded.

43 flights, over9K passengersscreened forcoronavirusPNS n NEW DELHI

A total of 43 flights and 9,156passengers were screened fornovel coronavirus till Tuesdayat the seven identified airportsincluding Delhi, Mumbai,Chennai and Kolkata, UnionHealth Secretary Preeti Sudansaid on Wednesday.

Till now, no cases havebeen detected through thesescreening efforts, she said.

Sudan further said theIndian Embassy in China hasbeen regularly providing thehealth ministry with updateson the status of the infectedcases in that country.

The Embassy has informedthat a total of 440 cases ofpneumonia with novel coron-avirus were confirmed inChina and nine people havedied till Wednesday.

"Cases have been reportedin 14 provinces (includingTaiwan) and municiplalities aswell," the health secretary said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The JNU administration onWednesday said it has "the rel-evant information" on thenationality of all the 301 for-eign students enrolled in thevarsity, contrary to the claimsmade by an RTI.

Filed by Kota-based activistSujeet Swami, the Right toInformation (RTI) applicationhad claimed that the JawaharlalNehru University (JNU) didnot have information on thenationality of 82 of its foreignstudents.

The varsity said it "has all therelevant information regardingthe foreign students who haveregistered in the various aca-demic programmes in the uni-versity".

"When an RTI comes, atime limit is given to provide

the answers of the asked ques-tions. The RTI has a set of dif-ferent questions pertaining tothe different branches of theuniversity," the varsity said.

The RTI question was relat-ed to the varsity's admission,evaluation and CIS branch. "Different branches of the uni-versity keep their data in dif-ferent formats. The CentralPublic Information Officedirectly sends the data availablein their respective branch tothe applicant," the varsity said.

Varsity has ‘all relevantinformation' on itsforeign students: JNU

Govt allocates Rs 232 crorefor infra development

CENTRAL ARMED POLICE FORCES

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre has approved Rs 232crore for the development ofinfrastructure for jawans of theCentral Armed Police Forces(CAPFs) like the CRPF and BSF,officials said.

The CAPFs, which are thebackbone of internal security,are pressed into service in anti-naxal, anti-terror and anti-insurgency operations acrossthe country in addition to lawand order duties in states andwork in difficult circumstancesaway from their families.

A total of Rs 216.46 crore hasbeen sanctioned by the UnionHome ministry recently for thedevelopment of infrastructure ofthe CAPFs and Rs 16.03 crorehas been sanctioned for acqui-sition of land, a Home ministryofficial said on Wednesday.

Apart from the CentralReserve Police Force (CRPF)and the Border Security Force(BSF), the other CAPFs includethe Central Industrial SecurityForce (CISF), Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP), SashastraSeema Bal (SSB), NationalSecurity Guard (NSG) and theAssam Rifles.

The fund will be spent main-

ly for construction of residen-tial quarters, barracks, officebuildings among others, theofficial said. In the Union bud-get for 2019-20, a total of Rs5,117 crore has been allocatedfor development of police infra-structure, including construc-tions of barracks, residentialquarters, purchase of vehiclesand arms and ammunition.

Centre designates Damanas HQs of 2 merged UTsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre on Wednesdaydesignated Daman as the head-quarters of the merged UnionTerritories of Daman & Diu,and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. TheCentral government has alsoapproved amendments orextension or repeal in the leg-islations and regulations deal-ing with Goods and ServicesTax (GST), Value Added Tax(VAT) and State Excise. Thedecisions were taken at a meet-ing of the Union Cabinet,chaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, an officialstatement said.

These amendments will leadto 'Minimum Government,Maximum Governance' by wayof having common taxationauthorities, better delivery ofservices to the citizens byreducing duplication of workand improving administrativeefficiency, it said. These willhelp in bringing more unifor-

mity in laws relating to GST,VAT and State Excise and it willalso help to avoid any legalcomplications in the levy andcollection of GST Tax, VAT,State Excise, including recoveryof arrears, it said. Moreover, thesaid amendments not onlybring uniformity in taxationlaws but also strengthen thesystem of laws, it said.

The statement said Damanhas been designated as theHeadquarters of UT of Dadraand Nagar Haveli and Damanand Diu in view of the mergerof the two UTs on January 26,2020.

Speeding car mows downfive women workersPNS n ROURKELA

At least five women labourerswere killed and six othersinjured after a speeding carmowed them down inOdisha's Sundargarh districton Wednesday, police said.

The accident took placewhen, at a sharp turn inRamabahal, the car jumpedthe road divider and ran overa group of women engaged insome work before ramminginto an SUV.

While two women died onthe spot, doctors declaredthree others dead on arrivalwhen all the injured weretaken to Rourkela

Government Hospital, itsChief Medical Officer S KabiSatpathy said.

The car, which was goingtowards Rourkela fromSundargarh, and the SUVwere carrying three occupantseach.

These six injured personswere sent to a hospital atRajgangpur, Satpathy said.

Both the vehicles were badlydamaged.

Sub-Divisional PoliceOfficer, Rajgangpur, BKNanda said a board informingpeople about the ongoingwork on the road had been putup at the spot where the acci-dent occurred.

Tharoor said the Delhi governmetundertook a construction of 12,782classrooms for a total expenditure ofRs 2,892 crore and sought to knowhow much did a classroom cost

Tharoor alleges financialirregularities by AAP govt

Boeing’s internal documents, whichrevealed that executives mockedaviation regulators and airlinesacross the world, including India’sDirectorate General of Civil

Aviation (DGCA), were hugely damaging forthe American planemaker and marked a tor-rid start to 2020 after a horrific 2019. Theyear began in the aftermath of the Lion Air737 MAX crash in Indonesia. Using “friend-ly” media sources, Boeing executives said thatpoor pilot training (and the lack of it) wasthe primary cause of the crash. While theremay have been an element of truth to that,the second 737 MAX crash of an EthiopianAirlines jet, seconds after takeoff fromAddis Ababa, dealt the final blow.

As a result, Boeing’s 737 MAX fleetwas grounded worldwide, some regulatorsdoing it sooner than others, but the air-craft manufacturer kept on producingplanes, even though they could not fly.Planes kept coming off the production lineat over 20 a month, leading to over 200aircraft being parked at Boeing’s plant inRenton, Washington. However, with lit-tle space to keep so many airplanes —Boeing was also forced to park planes inemployee car parking lots — the Americanmanufacturer decided to suspend produc-tion a few weeks ago.

It is extremely fortuitous that thegrounding of the Boeing 737 MAX has notcollapsed the global aviation industry. Itis noteworthy here that the MAX was stilla new aircraft and had not been fully inte-grated with fleets across the world. Thegrounding is now beginning to impactgrowth opportunities for airlines. Withlarge American carriers like AmericanAirlines and Southwest Airlines, which arethe largest operators of MAX, now delay-ing the re-introduction of the plane all theway till the middle of this year, this cri-sis is not going to end anytime soon.Boeing’s nose has been grounded to thetarmac, its reputation ruined.

In most other industries, such a crisismight have been fatal for a company but theglobal airliner manufacturers’ duopolybetween the American Boeing and theEuropean Airbus, where the latter hassmartly and carefully not uttered a word oreven celebrated the former’s woes, makes theCoke-Pepsi duel look like a violent conflictin comparison. While the Chinese and theRussians are trying to up their game in thecivilian airliner market — some could evenargue that Boeing’s fall has given them anopportunity — they are far from being aneffective contender. It takes several billionsof dollars and an army of engineers to devel-op a new aircraft. Right now nothing can beatthe entrenched players.

But at the end of the day, the entire MAXcrisis that has engulfed Boeing comes downto the fact that the manufacturer did not wantto spend a huge sum of money on develop-ing a new plane. The Boeing 737 is a design

that dates back to the early1960s, the airworthiness certifi-cate given to the aircraft is onethat was issued almost sevendecades ago. The Boeing 737 hasbeen an immensely successfulplane. During 2018, Boeingdelivered its 10,000th 737 witha backlog of close to 5,000 air-craft remaining in its books. Ithas been off the competitionover the years as well. TheMcDonnell Douglas DC-9 andDouglas MD80 family could notkeep up with the success of theBoeing and eventually Boeingacquired McDonnell-Douglas.

However, the Airbus A320family, developed by theEuropean planemaker in theearly 1980s, was a different ket-tle of fish. With its highlyadvanced wing and comput-erised fly-by-wire technology,Boeing had to develop newtechnology to keep the 737competitive. So when Airbusdecided to refresh the A320 withmodern new high-bypass ratioengines, which would reducefuel consumption, it got a lot ofinterest from airlines. WhileAirbus has had its share ofproblems over the years, partic-ularly around the A380 super-jumbo, the A320 has been amoney-spinner. With modifica-tions in new engines — the NewEngine Option (Neo) — itwould become even more attrac-

tive. Despite the problems thatIndia’s low-cost carrier IndiGohas suffered with Neo aircraft,nearly a thousand such planesare in service currently. Boeinghad to do something to keep upwith the rising competition.Neo’s efficiency gains over theexisting generation 737 weremassive.

But Boeing had a problem.When it started developingthe 737 in the 1960s, it did nothave to face much in terms ofground clearance and kept rid-ing low to the ground. Thismade it easier for planes to ser-vice at smaller and less pre-pared airports, which were allbut common in the 1960s andthe 1970s. In fact, it was thisvery ability, coupled with it hav-ing lower engines, that made itattractive to the airlines. Evenwhen the 737 was improved,few changes were made to thisend. The problem with high-bypass ratio turbofan enginestoday is that to gain a perfectratio, the front fan has to bemassive. The 737’s basic archi-tecture made fitting such a newengine nearly impossible. Andwhile Boeing should have ide-ally developed a new aircraftaltogether, market realitiesmade that an impossibility. Ittook it over a decade to devel-op the 787 Dreamliner with anoverly optimistic entry into

service schedules. The subse-quent delays left the companywith a bloody nose.

The 787 is an immenselysuccessful aircraft today, hun-dreds of them forming thebackbone of airline fleets acrossthe world. But Boeing did nothave the time and its manage-ment thought of developing anew aircraft. A better option,no matter what the physics,would have been to re-enginethe current airframe withminor modifications.

Well, the modifications werenot simple. In order to fit a larg-er fan, Boeing engineers had tomove the engine further forwardand above the wing. This causedsome major problems to theaerodynamic properties of the737 but these could be solved.Pilots could be trained to dealwith the changes. Then cameanother problem. One majorselling point for airlines is to cal-culate the number of addition-al training pilots needed whenthey move to a new type of air-craft. Pilots trained on the reg-ular Airbus A320 could fly thenew A320 Neo with just a cou-ple of hours of orientation.Boeing promised pretty muchthe same even though it wasobvious — something that thestash of internal emails revealed— that pilots should have takenmany more hours of training for

the MAX, even some hoursinside the simulator.

The issue, as many peopleknow now, is that Boeing decid-ed to integrate much more soft-ware into the MAX to augmentflying characteristics. One ofthose pieces of software was theManeuvering CharacteristicsAugmentation System (MCAS),which in low-speed conditions,usually after take-off, wouldkeep the plane from stalling.With the engines of the 737MAX being shifted so much fur-ther forward, the centre of grav-ity of the plane, too, being farforward, only software couldresolve it. As we know now, theMCAS system depended ongood data from the sensorsoutside the aircraft. Sensors canfail and usually those failuresshould be notified, as on cars, tocite an example. But Boeing justmade an alert system for a sen-sor data mismatch, an optionalextra on the 737 MAX, eventhough it was but a softwareswitch. The MCAS system madesome sudden changes to theplanes flightpath and withoutproper training to recognisethe software intervention, pilotsonboard had no clue how to dealwith the issue. With little alti-tude, the pilots of the Lion Airand Ethiopian Airlines aircraftslammed to the ground.

At the end of the day, a com-pany, once known to beextremely fastidious on the engi-neering front, made a stupidmistake. A firm that almostbankrupted itself while develop-ing the Boeing 707 and thenalmost did so again with theBoeing 747 — which has proventhat it can redefine the marketeven in contemporary timeswith the Boeing 777 and Boeing787 — has ruined its reputation,thanks to the unnecessary short-cuts it took. As is being madeclear in the emails for the pub-lic to see, sheer arrogance of itsexecutives made matters worse.

It is being made apparentthat the Boeing 737 MAX willnot make it back into the servicebefore mid-year. A freshlyempowered Federal AviationAdministration (FAA), the civilaviation regulator in the US, willnot be in the pocket of Boeingas it was once. It is unlikely thata company so vital to America’strading interests and its defenceindustry will be allowed to col-lapse. But the arrogance ondisplay at the company was lit-tle different from that displayedby the bankers before the finan-cial industry collapse of 2008.Boeing has to do a lot to repairits reputation and salvage theimage of Boeing 737. Beinghumble shall make for a verygood start.

(The writer is ManagingEditor, The Pioneer)

It looks like every second year, a new dead-ly contagion emerges in China. First, it wasSARS, then Avian Flu, which was followed

by Swine Flu and now, a new coronavirus hastaken over the Chinese city of Wuhan. This newvirus is estimated to have infected over 400people, nine of whom have died. Thanks in nosmall part to the boom in international air trav-el within and outside China, which connectseven secondary cities such as Wuhan, caseshave spread in several countries now, includ-ing across the Pacific in the US. Earlier virus-

es like Avian Flu or Bird Flu were thought to have originated in illegal poultry farmswhere animals were kept in unhygienic conditions. In the case of Swine Flu, too,the emergence of the virus was in pig farms. Avian Flu led to the killing of mil-lions of birds at poultry farms as they were culled. With the emergence of SwineFlu, where the virus was thought to have passed from domesticated pigs to humans,thousands of pigs were eliminated as well. And now, this latest virus, which doesnot have a moniker as yet, appears to have emerged from the illegal trade inmarine wildlife in that Chinese city.

All of this does raise questions about hygiene standards and food quality issuesthat many towns and villages in China face behind the new glass and concreteskyscrapers. In this part of the world, illegal trading of animals and bird farmsis common, often next to human dwellings. It should not be a surprise then thatwhen pathogens do the dreaded inter-species skip, such an environment becomesan enabler. It is, therefore, contingent upon the Chinese authorities to get to thebottom as to why these new pathogens are emerging. This should be done onan urgent basis because the next outbreak may not be as contained or worsebut more virulent and deadlier. Public health officials have been warning aboutthe potential of a next global pandemic to rival the Spanish Influenza of exactlya century ago when an estimated 50-100 million people died, including around17 million people in India. This is one reason why Indian authorities must be vig-ilant. During the Avian Flu crisis, authorities pre-emptively culled millions of chick-en in poultry farms across the country. It is good to know that passengers arriv-ing from China are being scanned at Indian airports. However, we have to stayon our toes and urge the Chinese to clean up their act.

The allies are proving to be an itch againfor the BJP in the run-up to the DelhiAssembly elections and though it may

not be betting big on them, the mutual differ-ences are worsening its arrogant and abrasiveimage. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), its long-time ally, which was hoping to context six seats,has now decided to withdraw from the racealtogether, citing irreconcilable differences onseveral issues, primary among them being theCitizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The SADis dead against the religion-based condition-

ality in the new law and wants all minority communities (some Ahmadiyyas arein Punjab) to be included. Besides, the BJP was pushing it to contest under thelotus symbol, clearly intended to subsume federal parties under its umbrella thanthat of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Ever since the Akali leadershiphas passed into the hands of Sukhbir Singh Badal and the SAD has been pusheddown the ladder of political dominance in Punjab, it has slowly and steadily beenasserting its independence. By choosing to end the alliance in Delhi, it hopes todouse the fire of criticism in Punjab that it is now being guided by the Hindutvaideology and supporting contentious issues like the abrogation of Article 370and CAA without looking at the bigger picture. Its core constituency feels theseissues serve a predominantly Hindu voterbase and do not find much resonanceamong Sikhs, who have been shortchanged. This has become more pronouncedafter the Akal Takht jathedar, Giani Harpreet Singh, publicly lambasted Hindutva,going so far out as to seeking a ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

Already Congress Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, by passing an Assemblyresolution against the CAA, has pushed the Akalis into a corner. As for Delhi,there are around 10 lakh Sikh voters, who could potentially affect the results inabout 10 of the 70 Assembly seats. Question is whether this slippage wouldimpact the BJP vote share. Rifts between the Akali Dal and the BJP have beenwidening ever since the seat-sharing fiasco in the Haryana Assembly elections,with the latter attempting to poach some of its candidates. While all of these movesmay seem hurtful to the coalition dharma, fact is the emaciated SAD needs theBJP’s majoritarian weight to have a stake in both Central and State politics. TheBJP, post the mammoth Lok Sabha verdict of last year, is not looking to be overt-ly dependent on the Punjabi vote in the city. In fact, it doesn’t see too much ofa community drift, arguing that the presence of the Akalis could have led to anideology-based split. It claims the neutral Sikh vote would come its way and is,in fact, hoping to divide the Sikhs as those with Panthic loyalties and those thatare non-aligned. In that sense, it is trying to undercut the Akalis. Besides, theDelhi BJP, which once thrived on the anti-Sikh riots sentiment to draw the Sikhvote towards it from the Congress and had the Punjabi Hindu vote with nego-tiators like Madan Lal Khurana, is now much more dependent on other com-munity votes like the Purvanchalis while consolidating its hold among Baniyas.The shift in the power axis is apparent from the fact that the BJP has accom-modated both the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), allo-cating three seats between them, clearly with an eye to the Bihar elections. However,both these allies are not with their fair share of troubles. JD(U) senior leader PavanK Varma has sought “ideological clarity” over the seat-sharing with BJP in Delhiwhile colleague Prashant Kishor continues asking questions on CAA. Other thanthe SAD, the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), the BJP’s newest ally in Haryana,will also not be contesting the Delhi elections. Led by the fiery young descen-dant of the Chautala clan, Dushyant Chautala, it claims it didn’t get the electoralsymbols of its choice and is, therefore, withdrawing from the race. But therewere murmurs of the party wanting to contest at least 12 seats. There is a size-able Jat population that can swing the results in Najafgarh, Mundka, Mahipalpur,Mehrauli, Nangloi, Badarpur, Devli and Chhattarpur. And while Dushyant may notopenly challenge the CAA, fact is he is finding it hard to justify a relationship ofconvenience politically. The BJP may not need the allies numerically now becauseit has stepped out of the pretend politics of Modi 1.0 and is gung-ho about itssolo majority status. But it cannot consolidate its India map without its federalpartners given its recent drubbing at the State polls. And with its oldest ideolog-ically-friendly ally, Shiv Sena, walking out, it certainly could do without more friendsturning foes and eroding popular trust in the process.

Miffed allies

Righting the wrong

Sir — A peaceful protest byKashmiri Pandits to mark the30th anniversary of their massexodus from the Kashmir Valleygrabbed some attention. Throughit, they appealed to theGovernment to take plausibleand sincere steps to rehabilitatethem in the Valley. SuccessiveGovernments have only paradedtheir cause. Largely, they haveeither ignored the Pandits orused them for their selfish end.Left liberals, rights activists andsecularists, too, have turned ablind eye to their rightful griev-ances though they have beencampaigning for the rights ofminority communities in gener-al. Are Kashmir Pandits not aminority in the Valley? After thenullification of Article 370 and therevocation of special status to theformer State of Jammu & Kashmir,it is the responsibility of the UnionGovernment to restore normalcyin the Valley and rehabilitate thedisplaced Pandits willing to return.Even after the Supreme Court’sdirective, little action has beentaken.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

Growth trouble

Sir — Once again, theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF) has slashed India’s growthestimate to 4.8 per cent for thisfiscal year and 5.8 per cent for2020-21. Observers attributesuch grim forecasts to an eco-nomic slowdown.

In the Indian context, thecurrent growth projection fol-lows a downward trend from 7.5per cent last year to 6.1 per centin October. It is dishearteningthat while growth projectionshave continued to decline in therecent past, the Governmenthas taken little cohesive actionfor revival and has instead beendemanding rate cuts from the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI).Yet India is projected to be

the second-fastest growingmajor economy in the worldafter China. There are miles togo for that to happen. TheGovernment has to come upwith a big bang strategy torevive growth.

Srishti MathurUjjain

The clock is ticking

Sir — At a time when the coun-try is faced with severe econom-ic slowdown and given the seri-ousness of the problem of unem-ployment with agrarian crisis,too, at its peak, the common manis expecting relief and progressivemeasures in the Budget that is tobe presented on February 1.

However, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman is busyattending various forums andmeetings to defend theGovernment’s decision to imple-ment the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA). Withjust a few days left for the Budget,one would have expected theFinance Minister to be giving fin-ishing touches to it. Despite thefact that Sitharaman has takenseveral measures to revive theeconomy, the situation isn’t show-ing any signs of improving. TheBudget must focus on revivingdemand, investment and growth.All of this must be done in atransparent manner.

Anna Mary YvonneChennai

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

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

op nionVIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 23, 2020

06

A never-ending crisis

KUSHAN MITRA

As more details about the Boeing 737 MAX emerge, it is becoming clearerthat a fair dose of arrogance pushed the American plane-maker

With no development onits agenda, the ruling partyis making a completeexposition of its agenda tocreate a Hindu rashtra.

Congress MP—Shashi Tharoor

Growing up in a country likeIndia, you see wealth andpoverty live together in such asymbiotic way…seeing thatyou become desensitised to it.

Actor— Priyanka Chopra

What's going on betweenPakistan and India … if wecan help, we certainly will be willing to. We have beenwatching it very closely.

US President—Donald Trump

S O U N D B I T E

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

Crash barriers will make roads safer

This refers to the report, “Crash barriers planned toslash NH fatalities” (January 22). The Centre’s planto install crash barriers along its existing National

Highways (NH) and make them mandatory for all futurehighway projects is welcome. This step is bound to bringdown the number of crashes and fatalities. Coming close-ly on the heels of the enactment of the Motor Vehicles(Amendment) Act, 2019, that calls for stricter punish-ments for traffic violators, the installation of crash bar-riers will require a big push from the powers that be tomake it a reality.

Crash barriers are designed to withstand the impactof even high speed vehicles and are expected to slideand roll the vehicles back on the road while keeping thelevel of damage to them as well as the barriers withinacceptable limits. As per statistics, less than five per centof the total network of about 1.50 lakh km of highwayshave installed crash barriers. India accounts for the high-est number of road deaths in the world. The total num-ber of accident-related deaths in 2018 stood at

1,51,417, indicating an increase of 2.3 per cent over 2017figures. About 85 per cent of accident-related deaths hap-pen in the most productive age group of 18-60. Costeffective solutions for crash barriers are available world-wide. All we need are implementation and adoption.

ShubhamVia email

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Another deadly virusNormalcy acrobatics is infull swing even as Kashmircontinues to reel under acrippling internet shutdownand leaders remain detained.

PDP president—Mehbooba Mufti

Slighted by the BJP over seats, the Akali Dal and Dushyant Chautala refuse to contest Delhi polls

With complex strains emerging in China, we should ask whythis is happening at all when dealing with public health risks

The changemakers

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS DIALOGUE (IN KASHMIR) ISTO GO CLOSE TO THE PEOPLE, LISTEN TO THEIR

PROBLEMS AND FIND SOLUTIONS TO THEM.—UNION MINISTER

MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI

THE VISIT OF MINISTERS’ BRIGADE IS TO HIGHLIGHTTHE AGENDA OF THE BJP AT THE EXPENSE OF PUBLICEXCHEQUER BY USE OF ENTIRE OFFICIAL MACHINERY.— J&K CONGRESS COMMITTEE CHIEFRAVINDER SHARMA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

One of the dispiriting features of the moderndevelopment model is that despite oceans ofresearch and studies, there has not been a

substantive transformative impact on marginalisedcommunities. Much of the outcomes have beenpurely academic and we need more dedicated, coura-geous and purpose-driven champions who can cre-atively apply their core competencies and newknowledge to enhance people’s well-being. Similarly,we need to design tools and techniques that can helptranslate these insights into effective public policiesand professional practices that can sustainably deliv-er quality outcomes on an exponential scale.

There is now a tribe of passionate entrepreneurswho are collaborating with like-minded allies andwith those with different perspectives, to build a col-leagueship of expertise to address pressing humanchallenges and accelerate the transition of the under-privileged from subsistence to sustainability inemerging economies. Some of them are bright peo-ple working to uncover and scale breakthrough dis-ruptive solutions for leapfrogging meaningful socialchange. They have the vision to see the world theway it should be and create what is missing. Theyare combining business acumen with their con-science to solve problems in the community and fos-ter a fairer society in an efficient and sustainable way.

A brother-sister duo, Manav Subodh and SwatiSubodh, with diverse backgrounds and with careerson the cusp of steady and promising trajectories,decided to change track and pursue something thathad relevance and meaning to the wider world, andin particular to the underserved communities.Manav was Global Manager, Marketing,Entrepreneurship and Corporate Affairs at Intel butfound the canvas dimming his social horizon. Swatiobtained her post-graduate in biotechnology and didher doctoral research in genomics at AIIMS. It washere that she had her moment of epiphany. Her lab-oratory was opposite the outpatients departmentwhere the daily sight of struggling patients stirredher and fired the imagination to furrow a path ofconcrete action. Manav and Swati realised that theirpath was never going to lead to the right level of ful-fillment, because they were not doing something thatexactly fitted the values they had cultivated over time.

Since it wasn’t possible to change their values,they knew they needed to switch their careers.Manav was the first to take the plunge when he con-ceptualised the 1M1B (1 Million for 1 Billion)Foundation, an initiative to inspire a million youngleaders, educators and entrepreneurs to generate jobsthat will create better lives for a billion people in theunderserved communities. The idea was to empow-er entrepreneurs who would undertake socialinnovations, job creation and meaningful develop-ment in their communities so that each in turnwould create jobs and more stable economic livesfor a thousand more.

With Swati’s expertise in healthcare and Manav’sexpertise in entrepreneurship education and ecosys-tems, a social entrepreneurship model was concep-tualised. They visualised that a million entrepreneurs— spanning different geographies and sectors — cancome up with the right solutions that can impactone billion people. Everyone, according to them, isa natural entrepreneur and can play a vital role inpromoting resilience in their communities. Theybelieve that with relatively simple and inexpensivetools we can put the needle on tough problems butinterventions fail to reach the right person at the righttime. Sharing them equitably across the world tomaximise the impact is a big challenge. Addressingthese and other burning social problems requiresunderstanding and reframing them with a fresh view.It is here that entrepreneurs like Manav and Swati

are stepping in and filling the vacuum.With a team of like-minded people whoshare this passion 1M1B started takingshape.

Manav and Swati understand thatinterventions for rural regeneration can-not be played out in the same way thatsociety perceives the poor: Desperate cit-izens who need to be rescued by the elite.“We have to understand the local chal-lenges to improve their composite liveli-hoods. You can’t solve the problems of thelast mile from the headquarters,” explainsManav. According to him, it takes localentrepreneurs, empowered to adapt eas-ily to the nuances of local culture, to cre-ate and drive change sustainably on theground. The 1M1B Foundation is servingas a micro-accelerator for grassrootsentrepreneurs by giving them skill train-ing, access to technologies, finance andthen helping them launch their ownmicro-enterprise. “We scan the localenvironment to get better assessment ofneeds of the area and prospective inter-ventional aspects and partner with theseentities to provide our know-how and exe-cution pipeline to enable last mile accessto maximise impact”, he adds.

There are several interventions beingpromoted by 1M1B across segments.The Skills Accelerator programme helpsindividuals develop relevant skills toensure that they are in line with the mar-ket needs. Fifty per cent of the participantsget formal jobs and 15 per cent of themland up starting their own business.1M1B is honing the leadership skills ofmicro-entrepreneurs along with buildingrural co-innovation labs. It helps acceler-ate the access of indigenous technologiesto rural markets by pairing these entre-preneurs with mentors who help them indeveloping their ideas. It also connectsglobal start-ups to rural markets. Thisaccess and exposure allows them to testtheir solution on the specific populationsthrough other village-level players. Theprogramme provides training in comput-er skills, communication, accounting,

finance, access to technologies and hands-on growth support to help them launchtheir own micro-enterprises. 1M1Bbelieves that communities of artisans, par-ticularly women, deserve economicopportunities and aims to keep alive therich tradition of their craftsmanship. Thefoundation is working with Kalamkariweavers to provide a more robust econom-ic base to the weaver community. It is alsoan implementation partner on providingtraining in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to5,000 schoolchildren in New Delhi,Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Students areencouraged to come up with project ideason how AI can be applied for societalgood. Those selected are given access tothe AI Youth Lab to advance their projectsand create prototypes.

The Future Leaders programme isdedicated to identifying and nurturing thenext generation of leaders committed topositive change. The target group compris-es high school students and undergrad-uates who have the potential to have ameaningful influence on topics of rele-vance. During the course of the pro-gramme, they are imparted high-impactleadership development skills to developthe knowledge, resources and networkneeded to become an inclusive and social-ly-minded changemaker. These skillsinclude thinking critically and from mul-tiple perspectives, collaborating inclusive-ly, communicating effectively and becom-ing empathetic leaders. The coaching alsoexposes them to an array of educationalexperiences that broaden their worldview.

The latest batch participated in thefifth annual 1M1B Activate ImpactSummit at the United Nations (UN)Headquarters in New York. The summitprovided them the opportunity to learnabout leadership through the lens of theexperiences of leaders of civil society, gov-ernment, industry, non-government bod-ies, private entities, venture funds, entre-preneurs and influencers.

The foundation is a UN-accredited

non-profit organisation with special con-sultative status to the UN Economic andSocial Council and associated with the UNDepartment of Global Communications.

The foundation has a very innovativebusiness development programme, calledBusiness Raja (king). An AI-enabledchatbot, it is guiding aspiring entrepre-neurs in rural India to grow their nascentideas, raise funds and run their business-es successfully. It is simple in design. Forthe user, it is just another contact onWhatsApp they talk to about their ideasin three languages — Telugu, Hindi, andKannada — as of now.

The chatbot asks a user about theirideas, how they came up with it, measuresthe person’s personality and attains a com-plete profile. It also assesses their respons-es to tough questions — a sort of psycho-metric test.

An aspiring entrepreneur needs to fol-low a three-step process: First, share a busi-ness idea. The chatbot will provide refer-ence resources that need to be complet-ed. Then, the candidate will have to designa financial plan such as product pricing.Finally, if the idea works well, the chatbotwill help in raising funds. A final score ofinvestment readiness is then sent to thelending institution.

“The idea of Business Raja emergedwhile our team was working with grass-roots innovators and helping them navi-gates the challenging entrepreneuriallandscape. The AI chatbot and theresources associated with it help to do this,at scale so we can enable more entrepre-neurs faster”, explains Swati.

It doesn’t require a flash of genius orinvention of any radical idea to change thestory line. What is ultimately needed ispractical compassion. Most revolutionarysolutions have been evolved by people likeManav and Swati who looked at the famil-iar landscape with fresh eyes. They sawpromise where others saw hopelessness.

(The writer is Member, NITI Aayog’sNational Committee on Financial Literacyand Inclusion for Women)

Young innovators Manav and Swati Subodh are empowering entrepreneurs to undertakesocial experiments, job creation and meaningful development in their communities

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

The tech-savvyroad to health

Technology has not been a disruptive force insenior healthcare but that story is

set to change over the next six years, says Sushant Reddy

MOIN QAZI

IT TAKES LOCAL

ENTREPRENEURS,EMPOWERED

TO ADAPT EASILY TO THE

NUANCES OFLOCAL CULTURE,TO CREATE ANDDRIVE CHANGE

SUSTAINABLY ON THE GROUND.

THE 1M1BFOUNDATION IS

SERVING AS A MICRO-

ACCELERATOR FORGRASSROOTS

ENTREPRENEURSBY GIVING

THEM SKILLTRAINING, ACCESSTO TECHNOLOGIES,

FINANCEAND THEN HELPING

THEM LAUNCHTHEIR OWN

MICRO-ENTERPRISE

We have just celebrated our entry into a new decade. The defin-ing theme of the first two decades of this century was the riseof technology start-ups and their transformative change in our

lives. Just 10 years ago, none of us could have imagined the lifestylechanges created by internet-enabled platforms and aggregators like Uber,Amazon, Swiggy, Zomato, Hotstar or Netflix. However, there are somesectors where technology hasn’t had such a transformative effect, yet.One such is healthcare and more specifically, healthcare for senior cit-izens. What is senior healthcare? This in itself is a very generic term;in fact, the term is so generic that everything, from an Out PatientDepartment to in-hospital care to the pharmacy can be grouped intothis category.

Broadly speaking, senior healthcare can be classified into four areas:Hospital care, preventive care, home care and healthy living.

Hospital care: This is what everyone easily relates to as tradition-al healthcare. Episodic events such as emergencies, illness, injury treat-ments at a hospital come under hospital care.

Preventive care: All aspects of healthcare that are preventive innature such as diagnostic tests, pharmacy, doctor consultations, dis-ease management (diabetes, hypertension), health insurance and soon fall in the category of preventive care.

Home care: Healthcare services delivered at home such as nurs-ing, physiotherapy, home Intensive Care Unit (ICU), dialysis and chemo-therapy services, medical devices and so on come under this.

Healthy living: Services that enable a healthy lifestyle for seniorssuch as custom-designed senior homes, smart tracking devices, com-panionship services and so on come under this tag.

The fact remains that senior healthcare is a massive challenge.India is in the middle of a rapid demographic and cultural transition —senior citizens above 60 years are over a 100 million today and con-stitute eight per cent of the total population. This figure is expected togrow to 350 million, an estimated 20 per cent of the total populationby 2050, a dramatic rise in the older population, both in size and pro-portion.

Another massive factor driving this transition is a mass migra-tion, both domestic and international, of educated, urban youth that hap-pened during the 80s, 90s and the first decade of the 21st century.The country recorded over 30 million international migrants and 139million domestic migrants as of 2017.

These challenges have increased India’s senior healthcare burdenexponentially and the problem is compounded by the fact that despitemassive technological advances in this century, it has not yet createda disruptive impact in the senior healthcare industry. This is becauseof three main reasons, fragmented and localised service providers, lowtech savviness of seniors and language barriers.

Fragmented and localised service providers: Traditionallysenior healthcare services have been very human-intensive. The roleof care provider was and still remains extremely critical and everythingelse was not a deal breaker.

Low tech savviness of seniors: All things equal, technology adop-tion of millennials is much higher than that of senior citizens. While seniorsare comfortable with popular apps like WhatsApp and YouTube, adop-tion of other technology in general has been less than spectacular.

Language barriers: English is not a preferred conversational medi-um for most senior citizens and as most technology platforms aredesigned for urban, English-speaking customers, this becomes a majormental obstacle not only for senior citizens but also for care providers.

So, the big question is, how can technology transform senior health-care? There are multiple areas where technology can become a realforce-multiplier.

Smart medical alert system: India does not have a reliable 911emergency service that can be accessed by senior citizens. Havingsmart medical alert systems that can provide emergency support atthe push of a button will be a great value addition for seniors.

Doctor-on-call services: Senior citizens usually avoid visiting adoctor for minor health issues because of mobility and logistic issues.A “doctor-on-call” service where general physicians and specialist doc-tors can talk over a voice/video call will be a great value propositionfor senior citizens.

Internet of Things devices and smart tracking: Senior citizenshave a higher risk of falls, rapid heart rate, breathlessness, low bloodpressure and so on. Smart Internet of Things (IoT) devices that cantrack regular health vitals, detect abnormal patterns and alert careproviders is another major opportunity in this space.

Smart senior living homes: The concept of senior living was asocial taboo until recently. With realty developers revisiting the conceptof “senior living”, a lot of Indians are taking a fresh look at this con-cept.

Intelligent voice platforms: Voice is a major breakthrough whenit comes to senior citizens. Easy, intelligent voice-based platforms toorder medicines, schedule doctor appointments or health check-upswill be a major opportunity in future.

Technology has not been a disruptive force in senior healthcarebut that story is set to change over the next five-six years. With rapidadvances in voice-enabled platforms, artificial intelligence and IoT devices,start-ups are burning the midnight oil to come up with smart, easy-to-use technological solutions that create an impact in the senior health-care industry. It is not a question of “if” anymore, it’s just the “when”that needs to be answered.

(The writer is CEO and founder of a leading insurance aggregating platform)

Delhi is heading for polls onFebruary 8 to elect 70 membersto the Legislative Assembly and

needless to say, campaigning by polit-ical parties across the national Capitalis expected to reach a fever pitch soon.Like always, this election, too, will wit-ness a plethora of populist issuesbeing made a poll plank by the candi-dates and their star campaigners as theydo the rounds of the city. Populism hasbecome an integral aspect of electionsmainly due to the fact that the peopleof one of the world’s largest democra-

cies have become used to being wooedwith sops and benefits. Whether it isregularisation of illegal colonies andstructures or subsidised electricity andso on, we just lap it up.

However, do we ever stop to thinkwhat the cost of these sops is and whois footing the bill? The answer is thatwe the people or the electorate are even-tually going to pay for the sops, collec-tively. The sole beneficiary in this willbe the political party we elect, who willbe laughing all the way to the seat ofpower, for the next five years.

We, as voters, must critically eval-uate the promises being made by theGovernment in power and all the othercontending parties and see what theircommitment is for pressing issuessuch as climate change and the envi-ronment. And, we also need to look atthe environmental cost of an election.This also needs to be audited and madepublic in order to ensure that the peo-ple realise the environmental costs of

this democratic exercise and which par-ties have had the smallest carbonfootprint. This will usher in a positivechange in the thinking of the voterwhich will in turn compel the partiesto shun anti-environmental activitiesin the form of excess use of fuel, plas-tic and paper during campaigning. Thepeople of Delhi need to question theGovernment and ask it what it has doneto safeguard the environment and

also asses what the environment-relat-ed promises and assurances othercontesting parties are bringing to thetable. The subject of pollution in Delhihas been a hotly debated matter, withthe ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)claiming tremendous success in rein-ing in the same with the help of thevehicle rationing initiative the Odd-Even Scheme. However, as is the normin politics, these initiatives have been

heavily criticised by the CentralGovernment.

Both the Centre and the DelhiGovernment have been trading chargesover this key issue and blaming eachother for the sad state of affairs in theCapital.

As the common man continued tosuffer the impact of the pollutionshrouding the city in a pall of smog, thejudiciary took it upon itself to expressreservations on the efficacy of thescheme in controlling the spiraling pol-lution levels in Delhi-NCR and pulledup the Centre, the Delhi Governmentand even the neighbouring States ofPunjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh onthe environmental crisis caused bycrop residue burning by farmers.

The Supreme Court also directedthe Central Government to assess thefeasibility of the use of hydrogen-basedfuel technology in the Capital to mit-igate air pollution.

However, the fact remains that

things should not have come to sucha pass. We need clear, tangible andmore-importantly quantifiable resultsagainst efforts undertaken to protectthe environment by all stakeholders.The city is what we will leave to thefuture generations and it cannot beinhospitable due to pollution that hasreached unmanagable levels and turnedit into a “gas chamber”, choking andkilling the people that reside in it.

The spectre of climate change islooming large and pollution cannot bestopped by turning a blind eye to it.Combatting pollution and climatechange need a concentrated and sin-cere effort by the Government inpower that has the resolve and the firmmandate of the people behind it. So thistime let us elect the environment. AGovernment that makes environmen-tal policies its priority will then auto-matically get elected.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

Vote for the environment The spectre of climate change is looming large and pollution cannot be stopped by turning a blind eye to it.

In the February 8 Assembly polls, Delhiites need to elect a Government that makes environmental policies its priority

SRIRAJ KOTA

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 23, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

Sounding the alarmunnecessarily has dangersof its own. People may fail topay heed next time, or mayoverreact this time. Equally,muting discussions canbackfire, especially in aworld where information, orunfounded rumours, can beshared so quickly. It isessential that Chineseauthorities at all levels areopen about the coronavirusoutbreak, as well asassiduous in tackling it.

(The Guardian editorial)

BE ALERT, NOTAFRAID

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 23, 2020 money 08

CAPSULE

Trump calls Boeinga ‘big, bigdisappointment'NEW DELHI: PresidentDonald Trump on Wednesdaycriticized Boeing as a "verydisappointing company"because of the aerospacegiant's recent problems, whichhe said had a knock-on effectfor the US economy. "This isone of the great companies ofthe world, let's say as of ayear ago, and then all of asudden things happen," Trumpsaid in an interview on CNBCfrom the Davos economicforum in Switzerland. This"had a tremendous impact.You know, when you talkabout growth, it's so big thatsome people say it's morethan a half a point of GDP. SoBoeing -- big, bigdisappointment to me," hesaid.

We will do wellonly if others withus do well: PichaiNEW DELHI: Google CEOSundar Pichai on Wednesdaysaid the company will do wellonly if others alongside it dowell as he dismissed any risksfrom the tech giant becomingtoo powerful. "With our scalerightly comes scrutiny. Yes,we've bought start-ups, but wealso invest every year inhundreds of start-ups throughour venture arms," he said atthe WEF 2020 in aconversation with WorldEconomic Forum Founder andExecutive Chairman KlausSchwab. Schwab asked himwhether there is a risk thatGoogle may become toopowerful. "We will do well onlyif others do well alongside us,"Pichai answered.

SBI Life Q3 profit up47 pc at Rs 390 crNEW DELHI: SBI LifeInsurance on Wednesdayreported a 47.4 per cent growthin profit after tax (PAT) at Rs389.44 crore for the thirdquarter ended December 2019.The private insurer's PAT stoodat Rs 264.28 crore during theOctober-December period lastyear, the insurer said in aregulatory filing. Assets undermanagement (AUM) increasedto Rs 1,64,190 crore ascompared to Rs 1,34,150 croreat the end December 31, 2018.Established in 2001, SBI LifeInsurance is a joint venturebetween the State Bank of Indiaand BNP Paribas Cardif SA, andis one of the leading lifeinsurance companies in India.During the period endedDecember 31, 2019, thecompany classified itsinvestment in Dewan HousingFinance Ltd (DHFL) bonds asNPA on account of default ininterest and principalrepayment of non-convertibledebenture (NCDs) held in UnitLinked Funds, it said.

India falls to 51st positionin EIU's Democracy IndexPNS n NEW DELHI

India slipped 10 places to 51stposition in the 2019Democracy Index's globalranking, according to TheEconomist Intelligence Unit,which cited "erosion of civil lib-erties" in the country as the pri-mary cause for the downtrend.

India's overall score fell from7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in theIndex that provides a snapshotof the current state of democ-racy worldwide for 165 inde-pendent states and two terri-tories.

On India, the report said, thecountry dropped ten places inthe Democracy Index's globalranking to 51st. The primarycause of the democratic regres-sion was an erosion of civil lib-erties in the country.

The index is based on fivecategories -- electoral processand pluralism; the functioningof government; political par-ticipation; political culture;and civil liberties.

Based on their total score,the countries are classified as

one of four types of regime:"full democracy" (scoresgreater than 8); flawed democ-racy — scores greater than 6and less than or equal to 8;hybrid regime — scores greaterthan 4 and less than or equalto 6; authoritarian regime —

scores less than or equal to 4".India was included in the

"flawed democracy" category.Meanwhile, China's score

fell to 2.26 in the 2019 index,and the country is now ranked153rd, close to the bottom ofthe global rankings.

"Over the past year discrim-ination against minorities, espe-cially in the north-westernregion of Xinjiang, has inten-sified. Digital surveillance ofthe population continued apacein 2019, representing a furtherconstraint on individual free-doms," the report said.

Among other emergingeconomies, Brazil was ranked52nd with a score of 6.86,Russia stood at 134th with ascore of 3.11.

Meanwhile, Pakistan wasranked 108th on the overall listwith a score of 4.25, while SriLanka was at 69th place witha score of 6.27, Bangladesh (at80th with 5.88 score).

The overall list was toppedby Norway, followed by Icelandand Sweden. Other countriesin the top 10 include NewZealand at the fourth place,Finland (5th), Ireland (6th),Denmark (7th), Canada (8th),Australia (9th) and Switzerland(10th).

North Korea was at the bot-tom of the global ranking at167th place.

Pakistan was ranked 108th on theoverall list with a score of 4.25, whileSri Lanka was at 69th place with ascore of 6.27, Bangladesh (at 80thwith 5.88 score).

GDP to grow by 5.5 pc inFY21, but risks persistsPNS n HYDERABAD

India's growth rate is expect-ed to be marginally higher at5.5 per cent in 2020-21 againstthe estimated 5 per cent for thecurrent fiscal on the back ofstrong policy push coupledwith revival in demand, areport said.

Citing an NSO report, IndiaRatings and Research (Ind-Ra)said said the slowdown is acombination of several factorsincluding an abrupt and sig-nificant fall in lending by non-banking financial companiesclose on the heels of a slow-down in bank lending andreduced income growth ofhouseholds coupled with a fallin savings and higher leverage.

Although some improve-ment in FY2020-21 is expect-ed, these risks are going to per-sist, India Ratings andResearch principal economistSunil Sinha said.

As a result, the Indian econ-omy is stuck in a phase of lowconsumption as well as lowinvestment demand, it said.

"A strong policy push cou-pled with some heavy lifting(even if this requires using theescape clause as suggested bythe FRBM Review Committeeheaded by N K Singh) by thegovernment is required torevive the domestic demandcycle and catapult the econo-my back into ahigh growthphase," it said.

The govern-ment hasannounced aslew of mea-sures recently to prop-up theeconomy, but Ind-Ra believesthey will come to aid only inthe medium term.

The shortfall in the tax plusnon-tax revenue to result in the

fiscal deficit slipping to 3.6 percent of GDP (budgeted 3.3 percent) in FY2020, even after

accounting forthe surplustransferred bythe RBI, it said.

"A continu-ance of lowGDP growth

even in FY'21 means subduedtax revenue and limited roomfor stepping-up expenditure.Ind-Ra believes the govern-ment will have to construct theFY21 budget in a way that

expenditure is rationalised andprioritised and all avenues ofrevenue generation aretapped," it said.

While rationalising, thefocus of expenditure has to beon creating direct employ-ment and putting more moneyin the pockets of the people atthe bottom of the pyramid, itsaid, adding since their mar-ginal propensity to consume isclose to one, they are likely tospend what they receive.

"This will support the con-sumption demand. Therefore,budgetary allocation to headssuch as rural infrastructure,road construction, affordablehousing and MNREGA mustbe prioritised and allocationfor non-merit subsidy/expen-diture less critical for growthbe rationalised," it said.

Also, gross fixed capital for-mation (GFCF) has becomegovernment dependent, asincremental private capex hasbeen down and out, it said,adding, despite the fiscal con-straints, the government has notshied away from infrastructurespending in the past and evenresorted to fund them throughextra budgetary resources.

The governmentannounced aslew ofmeasuresrecently to prop-up the economy,but Ind-Rabelieves theywill come to aidonly in themedium term

China virus outbreak may wallop economy, financial marketsAP n BANGKOK

News that a new virus that hasafflicted hundreds of people incentral China can spreadbetween humans has rattledfinancial markets and raisedconcern it might wallop theeconomy just as it might beregaining momentum.

Health authorities across Asiahave been stepping up surveil-lance and other precautions toprevent a repeat of the disrup-tions and deaths during the 2003SARS crisis, which caused $40billion-$50 billion in losses fromreduced travel and spending.

The first cases of what hasbeen identified as a novel coro-navirus were linked to a seafoodmarket in Wuhan, suggesting

animal-to-human transmission,but it now is also thought to bespread between people. As ofWednesday, some 440 people

were confirmed infected andnine had died from the illness,which can cause pneumoniaand other severe respiratory

symptoms. A retreat in financialmarkets on Tuesday was fol-lowed by a rebound onWednesday, as investors snappedup bargains. Share benchmarkswere mostly higher, with HongKong's Hang Seng gaining 1.1%and the Shanghai Compositeindex advancing 0.4%. Japan's

Nikkei 225 jumped 0.7%.While the new virus appears

much less dangerous thanSARS, “the most significantAsia risk could lie ahead as theregional peak travel seasontakes hold, which could multi-ply the disease diffusion," saidStephen Innes, chief Asian

strategist for AxiCorp. “So, while the risk is returningto the market, the lights mightnot turn green until we movethrough the Lunar New Yeartravel season to better gauge thecoronavirus dispersion." The2003 outbreak of Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome inChina, along with cases of adeadly form of bird flu, result-ed in widespread quarantinemeasures in many Chinesecities and in Hong Kong. Morethan 8,000 people fell sick andjust under 800 people died, amortality rate of under 10%.

While the ordinary flu killshundreds of thousands of peo-ple each year, such new diseasesraise alarm due to the uncer-tainties over how deadly they

might be and how they mightspread. That's especially trueduring the annual mass travelof the Lunar New Year festival,which begins this week.

“The cost to the global econ-omy can be quite staggering innegative GDP terms if thisoutbreak reaches epidemic pro-portions as until this week, themarket was underestimatingthe potential of the flu spread-ing," Innes said in a report.

In China, health officialsstepped up screening for fevers.“We ask the public to avoidcrowds and minimize the pub-lic gatherings to reduce thepossibility of cross infection,"Li Bin, deputy director of theNational Health Commission,said Wednesday.

Health authorities across Asia havebeen stepping up surveillance andother precautions to prevent a repeatof the disruptions and deaths duringthe 2003 SARS crisis, which caused$40 billion-$50 billion in losses fromreduced travel and spending.

‘AFT Mill in Puducherrywill never be closed’PNS n PUDUCHERRY

Revenue and IndustriesMinister M O H F Shah Jahanon Wednesday said the centu-ry-old Anglo-French TextileMill, a government ofPuducherry undertaking,would never be closed at anycost. He told PTI in the wakeof a proposal issued on January21 by the managing director ofthe Pondicherry TextilesCorporation P Priyatarshnyrunning the AFT Mill, popu-larly known as Rodier Mill,since it was taken over in1985 from the private sector.

The proposal was that `thegovernment is totally in favourof implementing VRS (volun-tary retirement scheme) anddoes not want to close thenow-defunct mill, he said.

The cabinet headed byChief Minister VNarayanasamy decided recent-ly that the mill should makeVRS facility available for theworkers opting for the scheme,Shah Jahan said. "We neverintended to close the mill," hesaid and added that the cabi-net decision was sent to theLieutenant Governor KiranBedi for approval.

The Minister said the Lt

Governor had, however, disap-proved of the cabinet decision.

"The Lieutenant Governortook the stand that the millshould be closed on theground that the mill is in thered," the Minister said. Withthe difference of opinionbetween the cabinet and the LtGovernor on the future of themill the issue was referred tothe Central government.

"Normally, when differencesarise between the governmentand the Lt Governor the issueconcerned should be sent to theCentre for its decision as isenvisaged in the Business Rulesof Puducherry government`, hesaid.

The issue relating to theAFT Mill was thus now pend-

ing clearance from the Centreand hence no decision hadbeen taken by the cabinet toclose the mill, Shah Jahansaid.

Shah Jahan said he wouldagain write to Bedi informingher of the stand of the gov-ernment that the VRS schemealone should be introducedand any decision to close themill should be scrapped.

Earlier, the oppositionAIADMK legislature wingleader A Anbalagan released ata press conference a copy of thenotice issued on January 21 bythe managing director of themill P Priyatarshny under theIndustrial Disputes Act 1947proposing the closure of themillwith effect from April 30.

Normally, whendifferences arisebetween the

government and the LtGovernor the issue concernedshould be sent to the Centrefor its decision as is envisagedin the Business Rules ofPuducherry government

—SHAH JAHAN Revenue and Industries Minister M O H F

AlembicPharma Q3 netprofit up 38%to Rs 234.19 crPNS n NEW DELHI

Drug firm AlembicPharmaceuticals onWednesday reported a 37.89per cent rise in consolidatednet profit to Rs 234.19 crorefor the quarter endedDecember 31, 2019 mainlyon account of robust growthin international markets.

The company had posted anet of Rs 169.83 crore for thecorresponding period of theprevious fiscal, AlembicPharmaceuticals said in aBSE filing.

Consolidated revenue fromoperations of the companyrose to Rs 1,209.13 crore forthe quarter under consider-ation as against Rs 1,018.15crore for the same period yearago.

"It was a good quarter forthe company led by stronggrowth in the Internationalmarkets. We launched 7products in the US marketduring the quarter," AlembicPharmaceuticals MD PranavAmin said.

International formulationsgrew by 48 per cent to Rs 664crore in the December endedquarter, the company said.

PNS n BENGALURU

Despite low consumer spend-ing in recent times, mall devel-opers remain bullish on thegrowth potential of organisedretail as 100 new malls span-ning over 49 mn sq.ft. arescheduled to come up acrossthe country by 2022-end, prop-erty consultant Anarock said.

Of the total new mall supply,the top seven cities alone willsee 69 new malls spread over35.5 mn sq.ft. area.

The remaining 31 malls over13.5 mn sq.ft. will come up intier 2 & 3 cities such asAhmedabad, Lucknow, Indore,Surat and Nagpur, it said in astatement. Region-wise, westand south Indian cities will seealmost equal new supply.

West India will get 36 newmalls over 17.5 mn sq. ft. area,

followed closely by South Indiawith 35 new malls over nearly17 mn sq. ft.

The north region will see asupply of 22 new malls span-ning over 11 mn sq. ft. area.

East India will see a muchmore modest supply of sevennew malls spread over approx-

imately 3.5 mn sq. ft."2019 was defined by sig-

nificantly lower retail leasing,so this generous new upcom-ing mall supply over the nextthree years testifies to the con-fidence of private equityinvestors in Indian retail'spent-up potential," MD & CEO

of Anarock Retail, AnujKejriwal said.

"The retail sector drew overUSD 2.8 bn PE inflows from2015-2019-end, 59 per cent byforeign investors alone.

Despite overall weak con-sumer spends, F&B, familyentertainment centres, cinemasand beauty/wellness serviceoutlets continue to flourishand demand new retail spaces.

PNS n CHENNAI

Digital payments firm Paytm,promoted by One97Communications Ltd, has seta target to achieve more thandouble its business growth inTamil Nadu and Kerala, anofficial said here onWednesday.

The move by the companyfollows the launch of all-in-oneQR Code facility enabling mer-chants to accept unlimited pay-ments through the company'swallet, Rupay Cards and UPI(unified payments interface).

The company has set a tar-get to achieve more than dou-ble business growth in Tamil

Nadu and Kerala within ayear, company senior vice-president Saurabh Sharmasaid. "Tamil Nadu andKerala have witnessed a 50 percent business growth in lastyear and we expect significantgrowth in digital adoptionfrom this region in 2020", hetold reporters.

PayTm looks to double itsgrowth rate in TN, Kerala

Sensex sheds 208 pts;ONGC tanks 5 per centPNS n MUMBAI

Market benchmark Sensexsurrendered early gains to end208 points lower onWednesday as energy, power,auto and financial stocks cameunder selling pressure.

After plunging 473 pointsfrom the day's high in a chop-py session, the 30-share BSEindex settled 208.43 points, or0.50 per cent, lower at41,115.38. It hit an intra-dayhigh of 41,532.29 and a low of41,059.04.

Likewise, the broader NSENifty closed 62.95 points, or0.52 per cent, down at12,106.90.

ONGC was the top loser inthe Sensex pack, tumbling5.13 per cent, followed by

NTPC, Maruti, Kotak Bank,HDFC, Asian Paints, ICICIBank and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, NestleIndia, TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech,SBI and Bharti Airtel endedwith gains of up to 1.86 per cent.

According to experts, majorstocks are in the process of cor-recting to their support levelsahead of the Union Budget.

The remaining 31malls over 13.5 mnsq.ft. will come upin tier 2 & 3 citiessuch asAhmedabad,Lucknow, Indore,Surat and Nagpur, itsaid in a statement

Indian cities to add 100 new malls by 2022

ICICI Lombardgets Irdai nodto pilot 5projectsPNS n NEW DELHI

ICICI Lombard onWednesday said it hasreceived Irdai's approval topilot five innovative applica-tions and programs in itshealth and motor portfoliounder the Sandbox Project.

Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority ofIndia's (Irdai) RegulatorySandbox Project has provid-ed the insurance industrywith the flexibility to explorenew products and servicesthat suit today's technologyand data driven world.

"This is the highest num-ber given to any companyunder the Irdai-introducedproject. ICICI Lombard is topilot the five proposals fromFebruary 1, 2020 to July 31,2020," ICICI Lombard said ina statement.

Adani Groupaims for world'slargest solarpower player tag PNS n NEW DELHI

Billionaire Gautam Adani onWednesday said his group isaiming to become the world'slargest solar power companyby 2025 and the biggest renew-able energy firm by 2030.

In a Linkedin post, theAdani Group chairman saidthe age of renewable energyhas dawned upon the worldfaster than most could haveanticipated.

"Our vision isto becomet h eworld'slargests o l a rpowercompa-ny by2025 andthe largest renewable powercompany by 2030," he wrote.

In 2019, the Adani Groupwas ranked as the sixth largestsolar player globally and as apart of this journey, "we arewell within reach to be India'slargest renewable energycompany by 2020 and one ofthe top three global solarenergy companies by 2021."

igital educationgives students abetter understand-ing of subjectswhen compared toplain reading of

textbooks. Many privateschools have already startedusing digital education. Atthe same time, students ingovernment schools find ittough to get a standard learn-ing experience and basicfacilities. Through our 100Smiles Foundation, we pro-vide digital education for thegovernment school students.We also provide the hardwarefor computer labs and set uplibraries for schools in ruralareas of Telangana,” saidManoj Kumar Chittimalla,founder of 100 Smiles.

Manoj Kumar comes froman agricultural backgroundand did his schooling in gov-ernment schools. Hence,Manoj knows the difficultiesthat students face in theseschools. He shares, “I havealways wanted to bringchange in the quality of edu-cation in government schoolsand contribute towards mak-ing quality education accessi-ble to rural areas in the coun-try. I completed my gradua-tion to become an engineerand made it into a privatefirm. I started the 100 Smilescharity foundation with thesupport of like-minded peo-ple in 2016.”

Manoj said that the mainobjective of 100 Smiles is toimprove the quality of educa-

tion in government schoolsand bring it on par with pri-vate schools. This will makesure every child can fulfiltheir potential, irrespective ofhis or her circumstances andbackground.

He shares, “It all startedwith a monthly donation ofRs 100 from each person inour organisation. Soon hun-dreds joined us. With thesefunds, we set up digital class-rooms that give wider expo-sure to children in variousfields. We have connected theschools to the world with thesupport of digital classroomand converted all school sub-jects into digital format thatcan be displayed to childrenthrough audio-video equip-ment.”

“Soon, we observed thatthe number of studentsincreased and the results alsoimproved. With digital class-rooms, we taught studentsnot just academics but alsoother things like technology,history, yoga, human valuesand many more. Soon, we

applied this other schoolsand witnessed improvementthere as well. We did all theseactivities in the rural areas ofTelangana.”

Till date, more than 6,000students in Telangana bene-fited through these pro-gramme by 100 Smiles, saysManoj Kumar.

Apart from digital class-rooms, they have providedcomputer and science labs to24 government schools ineight districts of Telanganaincluding Warangal,Mahbubabad, Mahbubnagar,Sangareddy, Rangareddy,Medak, Nalgonda andAdilabad.

He shares, “We have doneresearch on the current stateof government schools in thestate and prepared our planto help them out. We target-ed award-winning teachers ina particular district, who canvoluntarily help us in the bet-terment of our cause. Wemotivate children and helpthem know the importanceof education and create a

passion for learning throughmodern learning facilitieslike virtual classrooms.”

Manoj said that they con-duct counselling for parentsabout the importance of edu-cation for their children. Headded that Loksatta founderJ.P. Narayan is the chief advi-sor for their NGO.

He added, “We decided totarget a single school at atime, adopt it for a certainperiod (for six months ormore based on the supportthat is needed) and focus allour energy and resources onthat one school. After all thepromises are fulfilled, we willrun a sustainable mainte-nance model and move ontothe next school.”

Apart from these activitiesand programmes, Manoj andhis team also organise otheractivities such as the SwachhBharat campaign, workshopson the importance of takingcare of health and hygiene,rebuilding school infrastruc-ture, providing sports materi-als and more.

D

Speaking to V SATEESH

REDDY,television actor

AkarshByramudi opens

up aboutstruggles hefaced as an

actor, seekingdifferent roles,

learning Telugu,people's

perceptionabout TV actors,

and more

engaluru-basedtelevision actorAkarshByramudi hasbecome familiarwith Telugu

audience for his role inAttarintlo Akka Chellellu.He made his acting debutwith Kannada serial LaxmiBaramma in 2015. Later heentered the Telugu televi-sion industry with the seri-al Punnaga in 2016.

In the limelightAkarsh said that his

friends, relatives and well-wishers have always toldhim that he is good look-ing and encouraged him toget into modelling. He saidthat, “I was always toldthat I was born for thelimelight. After my B.Com,my sister’s friend advisedme to attend auditions forTV serials. I got selectedfor the Kannada serialLaxmi Baramma in 2015.”

Tough times He said that his debut

into the television industrygot him into trouble. Oncehe found himself in apredicament where he hadto replace a well-estab-lished character in a serial.He explained, “In theLaxmi Baramma serial, Ihad to fill the shoes of arole which was played by awell-established actor upuntil then. But my actingskills were not at par thenand the role didn’t workout for me. Disappointedwith the experience, Ishifted my attention tocompleting my MBA.Later, I got a call fromAnnapurna Studios inHyderabad and they askedme for attend an audition.Even the experience ofworking on my first serialleft a bad taste for me, Iagreed to star in my firstTelugu serial, Punnaga.”

He added, “Once you getinto acting then it is notpossible to get rid of it.With the Punnaga, I creat-ed my own name in theTelugu TV industry. Iworked hard and learnedacting skills from my co-stars.”

Unpredictable role After Punnaga, Akarsh

got into Attarintlo AkkaChellellu serial on ZeeTelugu. About his role inthe serial, Akarsh says, “Inthe serial, I play a high-spi-tited youth called Adityawho doesn’t have controlover his emotions. Whenhe was young, he was bul-lied a lot due to which hewas traumatised. He getsangry or happy for no rea-son and is very unpre-dictable. I have never

played this kind of rolein my life and it was

challenging.”

Learning Telugu Even though he comes

from a Kannada speakingfamily, he can speakTelugu very well. Whenasked about the difficultieshe faced in learning a newlanguage, Akarsh adds,“When I came here, I did-n’t know anything aboutthe Telugu language. Ilearned the language with-in three months. Manypeople said that learningTelugu would not an easybut I did it with ease.Mainly because most ofthe words in Kannada andTelugu are similar in scriptand in meaning.”

Where is your Taylor? About the response for

his roles and stardom thatfollowed, Akarsh informs,“When I go out, peoplecome up to me to talkabout my role and it feelsgreat to be recognised likethat. In the serial, I call the

lead actress Taylor andwhen I go out peopleask me ‘where is yourTaylor?’. At the sametime, she calls meSaaruu in the serialand people tease herby asking her ‘where isyour Saaruu?’ I am

grateful to my audience forthe tremendous reception.”

He informed that hedoesn’t have any dreamroles and added that hewants to give his best toevery role he gets. He alsoinformed that he loves theacting of Mahesh Babu andSamantha.

Change perception He said the serial actors

are not given the samerespect as cinema stars. Heshares, “In Kannada, serialactors get the same nameand fame as cinemaartistes. But, in Telugu it isdifferent. I don’t know thereason for it but peopleperception has to changeabout serial actors.Whatever the field is, everyactor deserves respect.”

OTT impactSpeaking about the OTT

(over-the-top) platforms,Akarsh said, “Every fieldhas its own audience and Ibelieve that the OTT ser-vices don’t have any impacton serials. Digital serialswon’t last long and don’treach every village.Whereas through TV, wereach out to every familyand audience gets to be apart of the journey.”

‘OTT services have noimpact on TV serials’

B

When I came here (Hyderabad), I didn’t know anything about theTelugu language. I learned the language within three months.Many people said that learning Telugu would not an easy but Idid it with ease. Mainly because most of the words in Kannadaand Telugu are similar in script and in meaning.

AKARSH BYRAMUDI, ACTOR

out of the

BOX

Manoj KumarChittimalla

from the cityprovides digital

education forgovernmentstudents in

rural areas ofthe state

through hisNGO, 100

Smiles, writesV SATEESH

REDDY

It started with amonthly donation

of Rs 100 fromeach person in our group.Soon hundreds joined.With these funds, we setup digital classrooms thatgive wider exposure tochildren in various fields.MANOJ KUMAR CHITTIMALLA

FOUNDER, 100 SMILES

Raising the standards of

EDUCATION

ThursdayJanuary 23, 2020

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@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/

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10

Vijayawada Thursday January 23, 2020 what’s brewing?Ayushmannthanks fansfor response

he trailer of AyushmannKhurrana’s new movie ShubhMangal Zyada Saavdhan is defi-nitely the new fun of Bollywoodthat managed to grab manyeyeballs. The star on

Wednesday extended his thanks to themovie enthusiasts for the love bombardedfor the trailer. The fiery trailer that gotdropped on Monday saw a progressiveturn towards the concept of same-sex cou-ples.

The 35-year-old actor shared a dashingpicture of himself, on Instagram andwrote: “We just teased you with the trailerof #ShubhMangalZyadaSaavdhan Thanksfor your love.”

The shared post had a dashing photo ofthe actor himself, posing for the camerawith a wink and a tongue out, and sport ina vibrant neon green bomber jacket.

The makers of the movie have createdan immense buzz around the moviealready, by sharing posters and trailers,that have Ayushmann playing the loveinterest of the Kota-Factory fame, JitendraKumar.

Helmed by Hitesh Kewalya, the forth-coming movie narrates the story of thecentral duo and their journey into con-vincing their parents, the society andthemselves to stay together.

Bankrolled by Bhushan Kumar, the newouting is the second instalment of the pre-viously acclaimed 2017 film ShubhMangal Saavdhan.

Besides the lead duo, the film witha powerful message also featuresactors Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao,Manurishi Chaddha and MaanviGagroo in significant roles.

The light-hearted comedy flickis set to hit the big screens onFebruary 21.

Tctor AbhishekBanerjee, who hasearlier wooed audi-ence with his comicroles in films likeStree and Bala, is

currently preparing for directorUmesh Shukla’s upcomingcomedy film. “Umesh sir is agreat director, he has given hitslike OMG - Oh My God! and102 Not Out and I really lovehis work. His next is a familyentertainer and has an amazingstoryline. Talking about myrole, all I can say is that it maybe the funniest part I haveplayed till date and I am reallylooking forward to the same,”Abhishek said.

The yet to be titled projectalso features Mrunal Thakur,Paresh Rawal, AbhimanyuDasani, Arshad Warsi, DivyaDutta and Seema Pahwa. Thefirst leg of the film was shot inSwitzerland.

A

Abhishekexcitedto be partof Oh MyGod!director'snext ctress

ShwetaTripathistarted theyear bysigning her

next project whichshe will be announc-ing soon. She is alsoworking on develop-ing her own conceptand stories.

According tosources, a couple ofmonths ago, theMasaan actress cameup with two indepen-dent feature ideas andshe has persuadedher ideas by collabo-rating with one of herfavourite writers,Ashish Mehta, to

develop the script.“As an actor who is

constantly surround-ed by stories, goodwriting and storyideas keep poppingout every now andthen. I came up withtwo ideas which Ibelieve in and Ithought it’s time toinvest some energyand heart into themand see these ideasbloom into full-fledged stories,” saidShweta.

“I am aware that itwill be a time-con-suming process but Iwant to put in thateffort into developingthese stories because

I believe in them. Iwill actively partici-pate in conceivingthe story ideas withthe help of Ashishand I am hoping bymid-2020 I am in aposition to speakmore about them,”she added.Meanwhile, she isawaiting the releaseof second season ofher web seriesMirzapur. Shweta isbest known for play-ing the role of ZeniaKhan in the DisneyChannel OriginalSeries Kya Mast HaiLife, besides starringin Masaan andHaraamkhor.

Shweta Tripathiworking on herown storiesA

FUN

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK SPEED BUMP CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

ureshProductions onTuesday eveningannounced thetitle of VictoryVenkatesh’s next,

which is a remake of Tamilsuper hit Asuran, asNaarappa.

The famed productionhouse originally planned tounveil the posters and titleas the clock rung 12 am onWednesday but with sud-den leaks releasing the titleon Tuesday evening itself,they’ve changed their plans.The posters, however,received a thumbs-up fromcinephiles and celebs.

The film’s principal shootbegan on Wednesday at

PaalturuVillage,

Uravakonda in Anantapur.The first schedule will beshot mostly in Rayalaseemapost which the unit willfilm some scenes atRamanaidu cine village,Nanakramguda. DirectorSreekanth Addala got astrong technical team inplace for the project, whichwill narrate the tale of afarmer Narappa and hisfight to save his land andson from the most affluentfamily in the village.

He has roped in ManiSharma for the music,while Sam K. Naidu will becinematographer. PeterHeins will choreographstunts.

Speaking about his deci-sion to remake Asuran lastmonth, Venkatesh had said,“The film’s emotions makeit a hardcore commercialfilm. I was following it upwhen it was under produc-tion as its producerKalaipuli Thanu madeGharshana earlier with me.I took the decision ofremaking it 30 minutesinto watching the film. Itwill be a challenge for me.We are making it on a tightbudget and we will wrap itup in four months for a

summer release.”

ilmmaker ViAnand followedEkkadiki PothavuChinnavada,which braveddemonetisation

and went to register impres-sive numbers, with OkkaKshanam, starring AlluSirish. Although it opened topositive reviews, it failed tolight up the box-office.Anand says he still does-n’t understand whatwent wrong. “I’vemade my mark withthe film and I wascontent with theoverall product.However, I don’tknow why it didn’tperform well. Post therelease, the team was ofthe opinion that therelease date (December28) wasn’t the right oneand I too felt the same,” heshrugs.

Despite Okka Kshanam’sfailure, Anand got Ravi Tejaon board for his next, DiscoRaja. The film is a scientific-thriller which oscillatesbetween the past and the pre-sent, and is set to open incinemas this Friday. It isAnand’s third sci-fi dramaafter his maiden Tamil filmAppuchi Gramam and OkkaKshanam. He is secretiveabout the film’s plotline butadmits to have a thing forsci-fi stories. “It’s myfavourite genre. From ExtraTerrestrial and Abyss toChristopher Nolan’s films, Ilike the world of sci-fi. I hada thin storyline of Disco Raja

ten years ago and I’ve workedon it whenever I got time.But I needed more researchmaterial for a comprehensivescreenplay. This is when Icame across a news, one-and-half years ago, about a exper-iment gone wrong in a bio-chemical lab. Disco Raja isabout what if that experiment

had been suc-cessful,” he

explains.

The film’s storyline itselfhas paved way for humour,twists and turns within itsoffbeat screenplay, making ita packaged commercialentertainer with a new con-cept, he informs. “I’ve writtenit keeping Ravi Teja in mind.He will be seen as a music-loving gangster who hasheroic elevations. He is sar-castic and full of swag. Hetook the film to the next levelwith his performance. In fact,at times he even came upwith one-liners for the filmthat were not on paper. Hewas fully immersed with hisrole. I’ve approached himwith the story when he wason the lookout for a concept-driven film,” he shares.

Anandis

quick to mention that theactor didn’t force him toadd humor, which is usuallyis a given in Teja’s movies,to the story. “‘If the enter-tainment comes organicallywith the story, let be it. Else,no point adding it’”, he hadtold me. He was sure not todisturb the flow of the story.Disco Raja will be one of histop five characters of hiscareer. The film will have allthe elements that one usual-ly expects from his film butthey will be presented in adifferent manner,” he states.

The architect-turned-director, who has a goldmedal from the MadrasUniversity, has filmed anaction sequence in Icelandlast September with thehelp of the stuntmen fromFast and Furious 7. Termingit as the film’s most chal-lenging schedule, he adds,“The temperature at thelocation would vary drasti-cally from morning toevening. It would be freez-ing in the morning but whenthe temperature rose to 0 °C,

the ice would melt. We hadspecial cars to navigate

through

crevices filled with waterwhile returning to hotel. Itwas risky but at the sametime, it was the film’s mostimportant sequence. We shotat the same place

where Christopher Nolanshot Interstellar and thatmade us a happy bunch. Thesequence will last for 10 to12minutes but is important forthe narrative.”

At the film’s pre-releaseevent recently in Hyderabad,Ravi Teja had dropped hintsat the film’s sequel. Anandadmits that he has shared thesequel storyline to his actorwho is “very interested in it”.“But he is a practical manand told me that it will

depend upon how wellDisco Raja fares at the box-office,” the director main-tains.

He is open to helm webseries but believes thatwatching a film in a theatreis irreplaceable.

“Watching web shows is apersonal activity, whilewatching film is a commu-nity activity. Yes, digital isthe way forward but watch-ing it in a theatre cannot bereplaced,” Anand, who willdirect Nikhil next forGeetha Arts, signs off.

Vijayawada Thursday January 23, 2020

I’ve written it (Disco Raja)keeping Ravi Teja inmind. He will be seen asa music-loving gangsterwho has heroicelevations. He is sarcasticand full of swag. He tookthe film to the next level

with hisperformance.

In fact, attimes duringshooting he

even came upwith one-liners forthe film that werenot on paper.

VI ANANDDIRECTOR

S

F

11

tollywood

Making sci-fi movies is noteveryone's cup of tea. Vi Anand

speaks about his dive intofantasy world with the much

anticipated Disco Raja, writesNAGARAJ GOUD

I like the world of sci-fi:

VI ANAND

ASURANremake rolls inUravakonda

fter Aditya Musicforayed into produc-tion recently withEntha ManchiVaadavuraa, anothersouth music compa-

ny Lahari Music has decided tofollow suit.

The reputed music label willbe producing Kannada actorNikhil Kumar’s next flick withTelugu director Vijay Kumar

Konda. Although the duo wassupposed to team up in 2018,the actor’s sudden foray intopolitics meant that Konda hadto get back to Telugu and do afilm Orey Bujji with Raj Tarun.The director has wrapped upthe shooting of Orey Bujji lastmonth and is now in Bengaluruto monitor the pre-productionactivities of his yet-to-be-titlednext film.

A Kannada-Telugu bilingual,the film, we hear, will be a lovestory which revolves aroundbasketball.

Nikhil will be playing a bas-ketball player in the film and hehas been prepping for his role inBengaluru.

“The shoot will begin towardsthe month-end in Bengaluruand it will be shot later inMysore, Hyderabad and in the

US as well. The makers areextremely happy with theresponse the first look posterhas garnered. The leadinglady and other supportingartistes will predominantly befrom Kannada,” said a source.

Kannada’s top music directorArjun Janya is on board to com-pose tunes, while Konda hashanded over the editing job toPrawin Pudi.

Nikhil basketball player in Konda's next

A

alentine’s Day willarrive a little early forTelugu movie buffs.The much anticipatedJaanu — officialTelugu remake of

Tamil super hit ’96 — will releaseon February 7, production houseSri Venkateswara Creationsannounced on Wednesday.Although the Prem Kumar-

directed film, spearheaded bySharwanand and Samantha, waswrapped up long back, producerRaju was waiting for a rightrelease date. He had consideredreleasing the movie on February21 but he advanced it now. Aheart-touching love story, Jaanurevolves around two childhoodsweethearts who meet 20 yearslater in a school reunion. The

original was raved for its repre-sentation of love and its music byGovind Vasantha, who has beenretained for the remake as well.

The film’s first single wasreleased on Tuesday and Raju isplanning to amp up the promo-tional activity from next week.Jaanu will be followed by anotherromantic drama, World FamousLover, on February 14.

V

JAANU BOOKS ITSRELEASE DATE

New scenesto be addedto Sarileru…

he makers ofSuperstar MaheshBabu-starrerSarileruNeekevarru, whichset the box-office

on fire, will be adding a cou-ple of new scenes to the film’sprints starting from thisweekend. Announcing this ata press meet in Hyderabadon Wednesday, the film’sdirector Anil Ravipudi saidone particular comedy scenebetween Mahesh Babu andRao Ramesh running into thelength of one-and-half min-utes will be added from the

weekend. He also clarifiedthey are not removing anyscenes as reported by somemedia outlets recently.

Film’s producer AnilSunkara said that the film isbest grosser in Mahesh’scareer and that the distribu-tors and exhibitors got morethan what they wished forfrom the film’s collections.“One particular distributortold me it’s the best Sankrantiof the Telugu industry,”Sunkara added.

Meanwhile, Mahesh is cel-ebrating the film’s success inthe US with his family.

T

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 23, 2020 sport 12

PTI n LINCOLN

The in-form Prithvi Shaw flourishedyet again as India A notched up a con-

vincing five-wicket victory over NewZealand A in the first unofficial ODI hereon Wednesday.

A day after being picked as theinjured Shikhar Dhawan’s replacement inIndia’s ODI squad for the assignmentagainst New Zealand’s senior team, the20-year-old Shaw smashed 48 off 35 ballsto lay the foundation for the visitingteam’s chase.

Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, whoreplaced Dhawan in India’s T20 squad,blazed away to a 21-ball 39, whileSuryakumar Yadav hammered 35 off amere 19 deliveries.

Chasing 231 after opting to field,India completed the task with more than20 overs to spare at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval.

With the ball, Mohammed Siraj wasthe most successful bowler for India A,picking up three wickets for 33 runs in6.3 overs, while there were two wicketsapiece for Khaleel Ahmed and Axar Patel.

Their efforts helped India A bowl outNew Zealand A for 230 with nine ballsto spare in the 50-over match.

Quite a few home team players gotoff the blocks easily but could not go onto make substantial contributions. RachinRavindra top-scored with 49 off 58 ballsand skipper Tom Bruce made 47 off 55.

India A got their chase off to a briskstart with Shaw and his opening partnerMayank Agarwal (29) picking the gapsat will.

The visitors had raced to 79 in 9.1overs when Shaw fell to James Neesham.The 20-year-old Shaw, who came into thematch after a 100-ball 150 in a practicegame, hit five fours and three sixes.

Captain Shubman Gill (30) got outafter getting his eye in and after that,Samson showed his prowess, smokingtwo maximums and three boundaries.

Mumbai player Suryakumar, whocan also use the big handle to good effect,struck three fours and two sixes to takehis team close to victory.

Vijay Shankar (20) and KrunalPandya (13) then got the job done asIndia A took lead in the three-matchseries.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Nitish Rana played the “bestknock” of his first-classcareer as Delhi shocked

defending champions Vidarbhaby six wickets in an incrediblefinal day run chase in the RanjiTrophy here on Wednesday.

With this memorable runchase on day four, Delhi handedVidarbha their first outrightdefeat in a first class game afterthree years.

Chasing 347, Rana, who hasmade a name with his big-hittingexploits in the IPL, smashed anunbeaten 105 off only 68 balls asDelhi reached the target in 73overs, leaving Vidarbha gutted.

Delhi now have 16 pointsand stay in hunt for a quarterfi-nal berth while Vidarbha stay puton 17 points.

The chase was set up byopeners Kunal Chandela (75 off146) and Hiten Dalal (82 off 146)with a steady stand of 163 inunder 49 overs.

The left-handed Rana thentook charge and sent theVidarbha bowlers including fan-cied Umesh Yadav (0/85 in 19overs) on a leather hunt witheight fours and seven sixes.

“I had promised our coach(KP) Bhaskar sir that if its 75overs and around 320 runs, wewill win. This is the best first classknock that I have played. I haven’tforgotten the 2017 final in Indore,which Vidarbha won withoutplaying outstanding cricket.

“I knew I can hit their spin-ners out of the ground,” Rana toldreporters having ripped opposi-tion off-spinner Akshay Wakhare(64 off 9 overs) with slog sweeps,cuts and drives.

Vidarbha coach ChandrakantPandit took a gamble with asporting declaration but it back-fired as a side with its back to thewall produced the best perfor-mance of the season.

Openers Kunal and Hitenplayed confidently without tak-ing pressure on an eased outtrack.

Once Rana came in,Vidarbha sensing danger,deployed a negative field ‘7-2’(seven on the off side) field.

Their pacers Rajneesh

Gurbani (0/64 in 12 overs) start-ed bowling on an imaginary sev-enth off stump line.

The umpires started callingno ball and then Delhi started

attacking as they were forced tochange the line.

“I knew they would bowlnegative line but what I didn’t likewas time wasting tactic. Once

they started bowling within thestumps, I knew I will blast themif it’s in my arc,” said KKR’sdependable middle-order bats-man.

“This is my natural game andI don’t like advise if people comeand tell me to change my mind-set. I only welcome advise whenI need them,” he said.

MAIDEN TTRIPLE HHUNDREDMUMBAI: Staying true to hiswords, young Sarfaraz Khanstuck his maiden triple hundredto single-handedly give Mumbaithe crucial first-innings lead andgrab three points on the last dayof their Elite Group B matchagainst Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh had posted ahumongous 625/8 declared in

their first-essay courtesy wicket-keeper Upendra Yadav’s unbeat-en maiden double-ton.

But Sarfaraz’s (301 not out off391 balls; 30x4; 8x6) herculeantask overshadowed Yadav’sdouble-ton on a flattrack, which hadabsolutely nothing forthe bowlers even onthe final day.

R i g h t - h a n d e dSarfaraz was the cyno-sure of all eyes at theWankhede Stadium, as he battedfor as long as 633 minutes andhammered 30 fours and eightsixes.

What is more special abouthis knock is that the pint-sizedbatsman was suffering from fevertwo nights ago, but he came out

to bat and did the job for histeam.

Sarfaraz, who had played forUttar Pradesh and returned toMumbai, had all shots in thebook.

But more importantly, con-trary to his style, he showedrestraint and respected the goodballs.

Sarfaraz, in the process,became the seventh Mumbaibatsman to score a triple ton infirst-class cricket and joined theillustrious list comprising WasimJaffer (301 and 314 not out),Rohit Sharma (309 not out), AjitWadekar (323), Sunil Gavaskar(340), Vijay Merchant (359 notout) and Sanjay Manjrekar (377).

The hosts resumed the finalday on overnight score of 353/5needing 273 more runs to over-haul Uttar Pradesh’s first inningstotal, with 22-year-old Sarfarazunbeaten on 132 in company ofhis skipper Aditya Tare, who wasunbeaten on 9.

Sarfaraz first got able supportfrom Tare (97 off 144 balls, 14x4)and then Shams Mulani (65 off 82balls; 5x3; 1x6), as they took thegame away from Uttar Pradesh.

While Sarfaraz and Tareadded 179 runs for the sixth wick-et, he and Mulani added 150 runsfor the seventh wicket and it was

their partnership that ensuredMumbai crossed Uttar

Pradesh’s first-inningstotal.

Sarfaraz, who hadcompleted his individual

250, took a single, asMumbai surpassed Uttar

Pradesh’s mammoth total andcelebrated like the team had wonthe match.

Then Mumbai allowedSarfaraz to complete a well-deserved 300.

He completed his triple tonwith a six over wide long on, afterwhich the match was called off.

TOP FFIELD FFOR BB'LURU AATP CCHALLENGERBengaluru: The third edition of the Bengaluru Openfrom February 10 to 16 will see one of the best fields inthe ATP Challenger Tour event with four players fromthe top-100 world rankings taking part in it. LithuanianRicardas Berankis, ranked 69th in the ATP rankings,followed by 74th ranked Stefano Travaglia will lead thetop field. Japanese journeyman Yuichi Sugita (91) andAustralian James Duckworth (94) are the other playersin the top-100 who will be vying for honours in thebiggest ATP Challenge Tour event in Asia which offers atotal prize purse of $ 162,000. Defending championPrajnesh Gunneswaran, currently the highest rankedIndian at 123, will lead the home challenge in companyof 2017 winner Sumit Nagal (131).

NIKHAT, SSHIVA EENTER SSTRANDJA QQUARTERSNew Delhi: Four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa(63kg) and defending champion Nikhat Zareen (51kg)on Wednesday sailed into the quarterfinals of theStrandja Memorial Boxing Tournament with resoundingvictories in their second-round bouts in Sofia. Alsomaking the quarters was national medallist DuryodhanSingh Negi (69kg) after a comprehensive 5-0 triumphover Ireland's Kieran Molloy. Zareen was declared thewinner after local favourite Sevda Asenova forfeitedduring the opening round of the contest.Former worldBronze-medallist Thapa defeated Poland's PavelPolakovic 5-0 in his last 16 stage clash.

MEXICAN SSTRIKER HHERNANDEZ JJOINS GGALAXYLos Angeles: Javier Hernandez completed his long-awaited transfer to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Tuesday,saying the lure of playing regular football had promptedhis move to Major League Soccer. The Mexicaninternational striker, who will reportedly become thehighest paid player in MLS, with Sports Illustratedsaying he will earn $6 million (5.41 million euros) a year,joins the Galaxy after a frustrating spell at Spanish sideSevilla. The Mexican star heads to the MLS after asuccessful career in European club football whichincluded stints with Manchester United, Real Madrid,Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham, as well as Sevilla.Hernandez has scored more than 200 goals for club andcountry throughout his career.

AUSTRALIA TTO HHOST IINDOOR CCRICKET WWCMelbourne: Australia is set to host the 11th edition ofthe Indoor Cricket World Cup from October 10 to 17.The tournament will be held at the state-of-the-artindoor cricket venues in Melbourne — Casey Stadium& CitiPower Centre. Last held in 2017, Australia are thereigning men's and women's champions and the hostwill be seeking to continue the run of never losing aWorld Cup in either division in the 25-year history of thetournament. Cricketers from up to 10 countries willcompete in the tournament in four divisions: under-21men and women and open men and women.

GIBSON IIS BB'DESH NNEW PPACE BBOWLING CCOACHDhaka: Bangladesh have appointed Ottis Gibson astheir new pace bowling coach, replacing South AfricanCharl Langeveldt who resigned in December. The 50-year old former West Indies fast bowler signed a two-year agreement. Gibson, who has enjoyed twosuccessful stints as bowling coach with England andhas served as head coach of the West Indies and SouthAfrica, will join the squad for the Pakistan tour whichbegins in Lahore on Friday.

IRAN TTEAMS' AAFC CCL MMATCHES MMOVED TTO UUAEKuala Lumpur: Two Iranian football clubs' AFCChampions League preliminary round matches havebeen moved to a neutral country because of securityfears. The Asian Football Confederation said the ties —Shahr Khodro FC of Iran v Riffa of Bahrain and Iran'sEsteghlal FC v Kuwait SC will now be played in theUnited Arab Emirates on Jan 25. Both the matches werescheduled to be played in Iran on Tuesday but werepostponed and “moved to neutral venues because ofongoing security concerns and the decision of severalgovernments to issue travel warnings to the IslamicRepublic of Iran,” said an AFC statement. AGENCIES

SINGLES

MUMBAI: Playing in a tri-nationtournament before the Women’sWorld T20 will help in strategis-ing and team composition, seniorIndia player Smriti Mandhanasaid on Wednesday.

The marquee event will startin Australia next month butbefore that, the country is host-ing India and England in a tri-series. “Most of them have playedin Australia, I think India A tour-ing Australia last month is alsogoing to be a big help (as) four-

five players were part of that teamas well,” Mandhana told reporters.

She added, “The tri-series isgoing to be a really importanttournament, thinking about theteam composition or what isneeded or what target we need toaim at on Australian wickets.”

The left-handed batswomansaid the tri-series matches couldtell them a lot about what will bea safe target during the WorldCup. “How can our bowlers planbetter, all those things we are

going to understand once we landin Australia and play the tri-series.

“Specially the targets, tri-series will define the targets, likewhat the scoreline will be for theWorld Cup.

“England, Australia andIndia is always going (to be chal-lenging). We are going to aim atgood targets so I think that (tri-series) is an important tourna-ment leading up to the WorldCup,” the 23-year-old said.

According to Mandhana, theteam has been thinking about theWorldT20 for the past one year.

“Last one year, whatever wewere doing during the matches,we were thinking about theWorld Cup, so finally we are leav-ing for the World Cup, it is quiteexciting.

“I’m looking forward to play-ing this World Cup with this teamas it is a new team with a mixtureof experienced and new players,”she said. PTI

DUBAI (PTI): To make up for “lack ofstrength”, India opener JemimahRodrigues is working on increasingher bat speed, which, she hopes, willaid in hitting big shots in the upcom-ing Women’s T20 World Cup.

The lively 19-year-old is alsostriving to hone her backfoot skillsahead of the marquee event, startingin Australia next month.

“I’m working more on my backfoot, developing my back foot moreand trying to increase my bat speed.Because looking at my size, you can

make out I don’t have that muchstrength to hit the sixes ... But I’ve beenworking on that for quite some time,”said Jemimah in a Road To The T20World Cup podcast.

Since making her internationaldebut in 2018, she has consistently putin commendable performances toestablished herself as a key memberof the team.

India take on defending champi-ons Australia in the opening game ofthe tournament in Sydney onFebruary 21, and the youngsterbelieves her side will have to be men-tally strong against the hosts.

“I think when it comes toAustralia, you got to be the best or youcan’t play. That’s the kind of team theyare. My favourite team to play againstis also Australia. It’s more of a mindgame than just skills (when you playthem on the field),” Jemimah said.

Jemimah, who will be playing herfirst World Cup, is looking forward toplay in the final of the tournament,which will mark an important mile-stone in her life.

“I can’t put it in words, howimportant it will be for me to be a partof the Indian team that plays in aWorld Cup final. It’s quite exciting. I’mreally looking forward to it,” she said.

AFP n HARARE

Angelo Mathews struck his highest Testscore with an unbeaten double century

on Wednesday as Sri Lanka left Zimbabwebattling to save the series opener going intothe final day at Harare.

Former skipper Mathews eclipsed hisprevious Test best of 160 and finished 200not out after a marathon knock spanning 468balls, as Sri Lanka declared their firstinnings on 515 for nine.

Zimbabwe, playing their first Test sinceNovember 2018, ended the fourth day on 30without loss and trailing by 127 runs afterBrian Mudzinganyama was drafted in as aconcussion substitute for opener KevinKasuza.

Debutant Kasuza, who made 63 in thefirst innings, suffered a delayed concussionafter he took a blow to the helmet while field-ing at short leg on Tuesday.

Mudzinganyama became the fourthZimbabwean to make his Test debut in thismatch. He was unbeaten on 14 with PrinceMasvaure 15 not out at stumps.

The 32-year-old Mathews brought up his10th Test century, his first since December2018, in the morning session and steadilyadded to his total with considerable supportfrom Dhananjaya de Silva and NiroshanDickwella.

De Silva and Dickwella both scored 63but two quick wickets for Sikandar Raza,who finished with three for 62, hastened thedeclaration as Mathews reached 200 with asweep to the square leg boundary.

With one day remaining, the visitorsappear the only team capable of victoryalthough the pitch looks likely to have thefinal say.

PTI n AUCKLAND

New Zealand’s veter-an seamer Tim

Southee is “looking for-ward” to the India chal-lenge, leaving behindthe disappointment ofbeing dropped for thefinal Test of Australiaseries earlier thismonth.

“It’s about makingthat adjustment. What’sgone is gone and it wasvery disappointing, theguys would have learnt

from it, and now we’vegot to look forward tothe Indian series,”Southee was quoted assaying by stuff.Co.Nz.

Then, coach GaryStead had said it wasfelt Henry would offermore pace thanSouthee.

But the 31-year-oldis expected to lead theNew Zealand attackwhen the five-matchTwenty20 series againstIndia starts at EdenPark on Friday.

He admitted hewas disappointed not tohave played in Sydneybut said he has movedon.

“It’s disappointing.You’re gutted everytime you’re left out. It’san absolute dream toplay for NZ and everytime you do miss out ithurts, but you’ve got torespect the decisionsand try to help out andgive back to the team,even when you’re notplaying.”

IANS n NEW DELHI

It's the year of the World T20and it isn't just Virat Kohli

and the Indian boys who arelooking to take every opportu-nity to prepare for the show-piece event slated to be heldlater in the year. Run-machineSteve Smith is already excitedat the prospect of playinganother ICC event at homeafter the 2015 World Cup. Infact, he believes that his stintin the IPL with RajasthanRoyals will have a major roleto play in the build-up to themega event Down Under.

Speaking to IANS, Smithspoke about the much-debat-ed proposal to have four-dayTests, India skipper Kohli'sgesture to ask fans to supporthim during the 2019 WorldCup, the Indian PremierLeague and how Tim Paine hasdone a brilliant job leadingAustralia in Test cricket.

For a man who has domi-nated batting charts in thelast few years, Smith's numbersin the shortest format of thegame definitely has room forimprovement. But the formerAustralia skipper wants tokeep playing and improving onthe go rather than changing hisstyle of training going into theWorld T20.

"No real specific training,but just playing a lot more T20cricket and just getting theright tempo I guess for thegame is the most importantthing for me. I would love tobe a part of the World Cup, it'sobviously at home in Australia.I was involved in the ODIWorld Cup here in 2015 andhad the most amazing six-weeks of my cricketing careerand loved every minute of it.So yeah would love to be

involved in another WorldCup at home for sure!" hesmiled.

Asked if he was looking athis time with Rajasthan Royalsto try some new stuff as it willbe the perfect training groundfor the World T20, Smith does-n't sound the sort who likes totinker much with his trainingritual. But he does have it on hismind to give his leg-spin skillsa thought.

"Ah, don't want to try toomuch different. I don't reallyknow, maybe a bit more bowl-ing perhaps, but then thattakes time away from my bat-ting. So yeah, it's a difficult onebut we'll wait and see," hereveals.

A chat with Smith cannever move forward withoutdiscussing Kohli. It looks likethese two will go ahead andshare all the records betweenthem when they hang theirboots. The greatness of Smiththough is in his humility. Themoment the talks movetowards the comparison, hedecides to highlight how bril-liant Kohli has been both asbatsman and leader.

"Yeah, he is terrific. His bat-ting numbers just speak forthemselves. I think he's anincredible player in all threeformats and I think we will seehim break many records. He'salready broken plenty of themand I see him breaking manymore over the years. He has gotthe hunger for runs and does-n't stop getting them. Hopefullyhe can stop getting themagainst Australia, that'll benice.

"As a captain he's alreadymade India the number oneside in the world in Test crick-et. From what I have seen hesets really good standards for

them. He is a lot about fitnessand is health conscious andthings like that. He's got theIndian side into a really goodplace and leads them excep-tionally well," the 30-year-oldpointed.

Asked about Kohli's ges-ture to ask fans to show himsupport during the 2019 WorldCup, Smith feels it was reallynice of the India skipper. "In theWorld Cup it was really nice ofVirat to do what he did. He didnot have to do that and yeah itwas a lovely gesture and reallyappreciated that," he smiled.

Kohli, in fact, won the'Spirit of Cricket' award for hisgesture in England.

There have been talks thatSmith is a natural leader andthat the national captaincycould well return to him in thenear future. But for the bats-man, Paine is the captain andsomeone who is doing a goodjob with the boys.

"Yeah, Tim's done a terrif-ic job. He has led the troopsreally well. Obviously retainingthe Ashes in England in twen-ty-odd years was an exception-al effort and yeah he has led theteam exceptionally well," hesaid.

From the Ashes to theICC's proposal to have four-dayTest matches on a regular basisfrom 2023, Smith is a tradition-alist in the matter and wantsthe format to stay as it is.

"I am comfortable withfive days. I like the challenge ofa five-day Test match.Obviously, there has been a lotof talk of the four-day Tests, butmy personal opinion is I likefive days. I don't make the deci-sions obviously of how it allworks out but my opinion isfive-days Tests is what it is allabout," he signed off.

LIGHTNING QUICKRana’s unbeaten 68-ball 105 helps Delhi beat Vidarbha by 6 wickets in 347 run chase

Sarfaraz Khan celebrates after completing his maiden triple hundred during Ranji Trophygame against Uttar Pradesh at Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday PTI

Maharashtra players pose after win against Assam during Ranji Trophy game PTI

HIGHEST SUCCESSFUL CHASES IN RANJIScore Team Opponent Venue Season

372-4 Saurashtra Uttar Pradesh Lucknow 2018-19

371-4 Assam Services Delhi 2008-09

360-4 Rajasthan Vidarbha Jaipur 1989-90

357-5 Rajasthan Services Jaipur 2018-19

348-4 Delhi Vidarbha Delhi 2019-20

344-4 Punjab Bengal Ludhiana 1992-93FAISEL FFEATURES

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