US VOTERS GAME FOR FREE RIDES, FREE FOOD, FREE LIQUOR

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VIJAYAWADA, WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 4, 2020; PAGES 12 `3

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VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

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VIJAYAWADA

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Time to take fresh guard against CovidC PRADEEP KUMAR n VIJAYAWADA

For those people who havebegun to let their guard downand subconsciously or deliber-ately started ignoring Covid-19protocols, the death of fourmembers of one family shouldbe a stark reminder of howruthless the virus is.

The fact is that Covid-19 isa virus that does not discrim-inate between the rich andpoor or young and old.

Only utmost precautions asprescribed by the health

experts can contain the spreadof the virus, and this is the only

truth. Tragedy struck thehousehold of Sultan Moosavi,the Vice-president of the TableTennis Federation of India(TTFI) in early October whenhis mother, wife and son suc-cumbed to the infection.

Sultan Moosavi’s motherdied while undergoing Covid-19 treatment on October 8.Despite doctors advising himnot to attend the last rites of hismother, Sultan Moosavi tookpart in the ritual while he wasstill recovering from the dead-

ly virus. Soon after tragedystruck; he was tested withheavy virus load and had tobattle for life for about 20 daysbefore breathing his last onOctober 31, a day after his wifeLubana Moosavi died. OnNovember 1, Moosavi’s sonJaved Moosavi too succumbed.

In most of the occasions,negligence plays a vital role asmost of the people do not careto follow the SOPs of Covid-19prescribed by the WHO.

HC admonishes Govt fornot cooperating with SEC PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt on Tuesday took a seri-ous view of the state govern-ment’s alleged non-coopera-tion with the State ElectionCommissioner and told it thatit was not fair to create prob-lems in the functioning ofconstitutional bodies.

Earlier, State ElectionCommissioner NimmagaddaRamesh Kumar had filed a writin the High Court contendingthat the state government wasnot cooperating with his office.

The court heard the con-tention of the SEC and deliv-ered its verdict and also passedsome strictures on Tuesday.

The High Court observedthat the attitude of the StateGovernment in failing torespond to the various letters/

correspondence of RameshKumar reflects its irresponsi-ble and evasive nature.

The State Government isunable to digest the fact thatRamesh Kumar was reinstat-ed and has chosen not tocooperate with him, which isa poor sign of the State affairs,the High Court said.

The State Governmentshould realise that govern-ments come and go, butConstitutional institutions arepermanent and they require tobe protected; otherwise, thedemocracy may sufferimmensely, the HC benchadded.

BJP readies 1.75L‘army’ to build baseSNV SUDHIR n VIJAYAWADA

The BJP appears to have set itssights firmly on strengtheningits base in Andhra Pradesh. Todo so, the party has identifiedat least 1.75 lakh active mem-bers drawn from the175 Asse-mbly constituencies across AP.

This is for the first time inmore than two decades thatthe BJP has taken up such amammoth exercise in AndhraPradesh. These identifiedactive members will berequired to participate intraining programmes that willequip them with all skills,loaded with information toreach the general public.

Initially, the training pro-grammes for these ‘activemembers’ would be held inAssembly constituencies andwould be extended to districtand state level at a later stage.

The BJP central leadership

is of the opinion that the TDPis on a weak wicket due to var-ious factors and this is theright time for the nationalparty to occupy the spacevacated by the latter.

As part of long-term strat-egy, the party wants to firsttrain the active workers byinfusing the ideology of‘nationalism’. These workerswould in turn regularly con-duct outreach campaigns intheir respective areas.

The active members areimparted training on 10 points— including the achievementsof the NDA government overthe last six years, how Indiachanged during this period,enhancement of capabilitiesand esteem of India’s defencesector, effective usage of socialmedia, personality develop-ment, like minded organisa-tions, state politics and theBJP’s role in it.

AP leads economicrecovery with highestGST growth in Oct SUMIT ONKA n VISAKHAPATNAM

In good news for the economy,Andhra Pradesh along withChhattisgarh recorded a 26percent Goods and ServicesTax (GST) growth in October,highest among the mainlandstates in the country.

Andhra Pradesh collectedRs 2,480 crore in October,2020 compared to Rs 1,975crore in the correspondingperiod in 2019. Chhattisgarhrecorded a GST collection ofRs 1,974 crore in October2020 as compared to Rs 1,570crore in the same month in2019.

AP Industry MinisterMekapati Goutham Reddysaid that the State’s GST rev-enue increased by 26 percentand hoped that festive seasonwill continue to spur growthand both are positive signalsfor a full recovery soon.

Diwali and other festivalslike Christmas and the biggestfestival of Makar Sankrati mayfurther boost the economy forthe state, Goutham Reddysaid.

The gross GST revenue col-lected in the month ofOctober, 2020 was Rs 1,05,155crore of which CGST is Rs19,193 crore, SGST Rs 25,411crore, IGST Rs 52,540 crore(including Rs 23,375 crorecollected on import of goods)and cess is Rs 8,011crore(including Rs 932 crore col-lected on import of goods).

Aim for the best, CM tells officialsin charge of BR Ambedkar statue PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister Y S Jaganmo-han Reddy on Tuesday toldofficials in charge of the BRAmbedkar Statue works that

high standards should bemaintained in its constructionat Swaraj Maidan. “The struc-ture should have glow andspark,” the Chief Minister said.

He chaired a review meeting

on the proposed 125-ft tallAmbedkar statue at SwarajMaidan and the MemorialPark Development Master Planon Tuesday.

Acquire landfor Vja,Kadapaairports: CMPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS Jaganmo-han Reddy on Tuesday dir-ected the authorities to focuson the land acquisition forexpansion of the Gannav-aram and Kadapa airports.

At a review meeting on air-ports and aviation projects,Jagan told officials that theAirports Authority of Indiawas expressing interest inthe Water-Drome project.

With regard to Bhogap-uram International Airport,the officials informed that 98acres of land was yet to beacquired for construction ofairport, and similarly landacquisition has to be done forOrvakallu airport in Kurnooldistrict and Dagadarthi air-port in Nellore district.

n Most people have showing symptoms of ‘Covid fatigue’ and ignoring safety precautions

Miscreants damage idol ofLord Krishna in VijayawadaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Unidentified miscreantsdamaged an idol of LordKrishna at a temple atopSivagiri hill inMoghalrajapuram on Tuesday,leading to condemnation fromall quarters.

Shyvakshetra seerSivaswamy said that such anevil act was a disgrace. Theseer told reporters that 60temples have been attacked bymiscreants in the recent pastand the police was blaming

some mentally unstable peo-ple for the attacks. “If that istrue, why are they targetingonly temples,” Sivaswamyasked.

He demanded the ChiefMinister to initiate action andput an end to the attacks ontemples by ordering the policeto utilise the technology at thedisposal of the departmentand better policing.

The seer also appealed tothe people to celebrate Diwalifestival while taking care oftheir health.

An artist’s impression of the proposed 125-ft tall Ambedkar statue to come up in Vijayawada.

Andhra Pradeshcollected Rs 2,480crore in October, 2020compared to Rs 1,975crore in thecorresponding period in 2019

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GST borrowingquantum has to bereasonable: Fin Secy

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NDA has met people's needs, itwill meet their aspirations: PM

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Public interestgoes for a tosswhen politicalsafety becomespriority

US President DonaldTrump said he felt goodabout his chances for victo-ry as election day openedTuesday, predicting that hewould register big wins in keystates such as Florida andArizona.

"We feel very good," ahoarse-voiced Trump toldFox News in a phone inter-view.

‘Very good’chances forvictory : Trump

PARTIES TOOK CARE OF THE GASTRONOMICAL NEEDS OF THE VOTER FROM THE TIME HE STEPPED OUT TILL HE RETURNED HOME IN ‘HIGH SPIRITS’

US VOTERS GAME FOR FREE RIDES,FREE FOOD, FREE LIQUOR...Wooing voters with eleventh-hour inducements, such asmoney, food or liquor, is notsomething that works amongmarginalized sections likethose in India. Even in the US,indisputably the world's mostpowerful nation, there arelegions that fall for bothinducements and amusements.The close of US Presidentialelections 2020 have seen votersbeing offered generously freerides; free meals, pizzas,donuts, salads etc; education-al videos, and surprise give-aways, apart from parades ontrucks.

Communities, corporationsand caring citizens pooledresources to help make US vot-ers' experience feel-good andpositive. People were tasked todo everything in their power tohelp get every single votecounted. Someone or theother was there to take care ofthe gastronomical needs ofthe voter from the time he

stepped out till he returnedhome in 'high spirits'.

Hertz gave a free extra dayfor car rentals for those whohad reserved a car for two daysand picked it up on Monday orTuesday. Users could snag thedeal by using code 210350while making reservation onHertz.com. Lyft and Uberoffered free and discountedrides to the polls. Lyft offered50 per cent off one ride up to

$10 to any polling location ordrop box for those who usedthe code 2020VOTE. The offerapplied also to their network ofbikes and scooters in selectcities. Besides, the NationalAssociation for theAdvancement of ColoredPeople (NAACP) partneredwith Lyft to provide ride cred-it up to $25 for those who usedcode NAACPVOTE2020.Uber's in-app feature guided

voters to their locations forcasting votes and offered 50 percent off roundtrip rides via acredit worth up to $7 each trip.The offer also extended tobikes and scooters.

Many towns and cities alsooffered localized options tohelp people get to their votingsite for free or at discountedrates. DaBaby teamed up withan organization to transportvoters in North Carolina.Philadelphia had a voter trol-ley and offered discounts onthe city's bike shares. Souls tothe Polls in Milwaukee focusedon increasing Black voterturnout with free rideshares.These organizations also part-nered with disability advocacygroups to help transport thosewho may have had difficultymaking their own arrange-ments for transportation.

Some of America's largestcorporations did get memosthat election-season giveawaysrequiring proof of voting are

actually illegal under federallaw. Such prohibitions arerarely if ever enforced againstcorporations offering discountsor freebies to voters doingtheir civic duty, but theyremain on the books. Thisyear many national chains kepttheir giveaways on the rightside of the law by makingthem available to voters andnon-voters alike.

The Feed the Polls initiative,a partnership between MigrantKitchen, The Infatuation andZagat, offered free, healthy mealsto people waiting in line at thepolls. They aimed to distributeand serve 50,000 meals at pollingplaces across the country, partic-ularly in communities wherethere were concerns over possi-ble voter suppression and voterintimidation. Each meal cost upto $10 to make, with plannersseeking donations and volun-teers to help pull off their goals.

INDUCEMENTS AND AMUSEMENTS GALORE

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Continued from Page 1

Pizza to the Polls, a nonparti-san nonprofit, sent over 33,000pizzas to 40 states and 1,261polling places to keep people'sblood sugar up in long pollinglines. Donors were urged toreport a polling place's addressand contribute money to helpkeep polling places "a pleasantplace to be and to keep votersfed".

Chefs For the Polls servedmeals on early voting days andon Tuesday. The World CentralKitchen and its partners werestationed near polling loca-tions around the country thathave had historically long linesto help feed and alleviate thechallenges the day may have.

The Advancement ProjectNational Office, The LeadershipConference on Civil andHuman Rights, and theNAACP worked together tomake sure voters were "enter-tained, nourished and educat-ed" during early voting. TheParade to the Polls stops weremade in Cleveland, Ohio,Detroit, Michigan, FortLauderdale and Jacksonville,Florida and Milwaukee,

Wisconsin, featuring paradetrucks, musical talent, educa-tional videos, surprise give-aways, food trucks and more.

Many companies joinedhands to give employees timeoff to vote. Time to Voteexpressed its belief that people"shouldn't have to choosebetween earning a paycheckand voting." The initiative isasking companies to giveemployees paid time off, or aday without meetings, in orderto help foster a work cultureshift that will increase voter par-ticipation. More than 700 com-panies signed on to it, includ-ing Nike, Bank of America,Macy's and Gap, Inc.

Power the Polls assembledpoll workers to prevent staffingshortages that could result inthe closure of polling places;ensure all election technologiesfunctioned properly and effi-ciently; and helped voters nav-igate any issues while voting.Old Navy partnered with Powerthe Polls and the Civic Allianceto pay its store employees towork the polls on ElectionDay. Donut chain KrispyKreme, as part of its initiativeto encourage everyone to exer-cise their right to vote, gaveaway free donuts on ElectionDay.

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 4, 2020

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

As part of its clean energy andenergy efficiency objectives,Andhra Pradesh is preparingfor a major push for electricvehicles and has decided to setup 400 charging stations acrossthe state under the first phase.

The State government is alsoconsidering the proposal oftaking up a real-time perfor-mance study on providing elec-tric two-wheelers to the wardand village secretariat staff andestablishment of testing facili-ty to auto components andvehicles and ‘intelligent’ testingtracks for electric vehicles withan investment of Rs 250 crore.

In a webinar on ‘Go Electric’campaign organised with thesupport of AP State EnergyConservation Mission(APSECM), State Designatedagency of AP officials saidthat the State government was

taking steps to establish charg-ing infrastructure at intervalsof 25 km across national high-ways and wants to make morecharging stations available tocitizens in the coming days.

“Installing of charging sta-tions will boost the confidenceof users of electric vehicles andthis will also encourage thecompanies to launch new elec-tric vehicles. Lack of charginginfrastructure may be one ofthe reasons to launch electric

vehicles and use electric vehi-cles,” said Energy SecretarySrikant Nagulapalli.

He said that the state gov-ernment was taking construc-tive measures to promote elec-tric vehicles and establishcharging infrastructure whichwould help the state to takelead in the emerging electricvehicles industry, increaseenergy security in the State,control pollution and improveair quality.

The Bureau of EnergyEfficiency has launched the“Go Electric” campaign inthe state in coordination withAPSECM. The NREDCAP isnominated by the govern-ment as a state nodal agencyto establish charging stations.

During the webinar, NRED-CAP VC and MD S RamanaReddy said that an MOU wasentered with EESL for deploy-ment of electric cars anddeployed 300 of electric carswith various governmentorganisations.

Besides, MOUs were alsoentered between NREDCAPand NTPC and NREDCAPand RIEL for establishment ofcharging Infrastructure in thestate with 460 chargers whichwill be installed in 83 locationsacross the State under FasterAdoption and Manufacturingof (Hybrid &) Electric Vehiclesin India (FAME) II Scheme.

Minor fire atpopular eatery in VijayawadaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Panic prevailed for some timeat I-Town in Vijayawada aftera fire broke out at a populareatery late on Mondayevening. Fortunately, therewere no injuries.

According to eyewitnesses,customers enjoying biryanihad to run for safety whenthey saw flames in the kitchenof the Chand Hotel. The pack-ets of edible oil and gheeadded fuel to the fire thatspread all over within no time.

Fire personnel were sum-moned and they brought theflames under control. Thehotel management was carry-ing out the cooking activityon the first floor of thepremises while the diningarea is on the ground floor.

Fire officials said that thehotel management was primafacie found to be in violationof safety norms and was run-ning the hotel in the busy I-Town area.

Covid recoveries cross8 lakh mark in StatePNS n VIJAYAWADA

AP's Covid-19 tally rose to8.30 lakh even as the totalrecoveries crossed the eightlakh mark on Tuesday.

As 2,849 fresh cases wereadded in 24 hours ending 9 amon Tuesday, the gross con-firmed positives in the statetouched 8,30,731.

With 3,700 more patientsgetting cured of the infection,the overall recoveriesincreased to 8,02,325, accord-ing to the latest bulletin.

The state reported 15 fatal-ities, taking the tally to 6,734.

The overall infection posi-tivity rate slid to just 10 percent after a total of 82,66,800sample tests were conducted,the bulletin added.

The significant factor hasbeen that the growth rate ofcases has been just about 0.3 percent in the last week while thepercentage of active cases alsofell to 2.7 per cent with the recov-ery rate touching 97 per cent.

The state now has 21,672active Covid-19 cases, withSPS Nellore district having thelowest 191, Kurnool 277,Vizianagaram 295 andSrikakulam 631.

India's Covid caseload reaches 82.67 lakhPNS n NEW DELHI

The number of new coronaviruscases reported in India in a spanof 24 hours dropped below40,000, taking the country'sCovid-19 tally to 82.67 lakh,while the total recoveriescrossed the 76 lakh-mark,according to the Union HealthMinistry's data updated onTuesday.

India's Covid-19 caseloadmounted to 82,67,623 with38,310 fresh infections, whilethe death toll reached 1,23,097after 490 new fatalities werereported, the data updated at 8am showed.

A total of 76,03,121 peoplehave recuperated from the

infection so far, pushing thenational recovery rate to 91.96per cent, while the case fatalityrate stands at 1.49 per cent.

The number of active cases

remained below six lakh for thefifth consecutive day.

There are 5,41,405 activecases in the country as on datewhich comprise 6.55 per cent of

the total caseload, the data stat-ed.

India's Covid-19 tally hadcrossed the 20-lakh mark onAugust 7, 30 lakh on August 23and 40 lakh on September 5. Itwent past 50 lakh on September16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70lakh on October 11 and crossed80 lakh on October 29.

According to the ICMR, acumulative total of 11,17,89,350samples have been tested up sofar with 10,46,247 samplesbeing tested on Monday.

The 490 new fatalities include104 from Maharashtra, 58 fromChhattisgarh 57 from WestBengal, 42 from Delhi, 31 TamilNadu and 29 from Karnataka.

Total 1,23,097 deaths report-

ed so far in the country include44,128 from Maharashtra fol-lowed by 11,221 fromKarnataka, 11,183 from TamilNadu, 7,076 from UttarPradesh, 6,957 from WestBengal, 6,719 from AndhraPradesh, 6,604 from Delhi,4,227 from Punjab and 3,725from Gujarat.

The health ministry stressedthat more than 70 per cent ofthe deaths occurred due tocomorbidities.

"Our figures are being recon-ciled with the Indian Council ofMedical Research," the ministrysaid on its website, adding thatstate-wise distribution of figuresis subject to further verificationand reconciliation.

Trend is nothing butchange in attitude. Itcan be applicable to

every field, including pol-itics, and people's inter-ests generally take a backseat when leaders opt forpolitical safety andlongevity of their careerwithout facing even theslightest of challenges, think-ing it could be catastrophic fortheir political life. Gone are thedays when leaders' naturalchoice was to tilt towards peo-ple's interests, rather than bur-nish their bright politicalcareer!

What is the typical attitudeof ruling political figures? Arethey not eager to save their skinwhen ticklish people's issuescrop up and that too for pro-tecting their own interests?The answer is probably in theaffirmative and that naturallyirks the public as well as peo-

ple with progressivethinking.

At one point of time,when then chief minis-ter of Andhra PradeshN. Chandrababu Naidu,

following mount-ing pressure to shift the

administration of AP gov-ernment from Hyderabad (thejoint capital for the two Telugustates for 10 years as per the APReorganisation Act 2014), hadchallenged his Telangana coun-terpart; people of AP wereoverjoyed to see the commit-ment and courage shown byNaidu over the desirability ofutilizing the joint capital. Heenthusiastically declared thathe would stay put inHyderabad for 10 years and noone could drive him out of thecity. But a well-designed planexecuted by theK.Chandrasekhar Rao govern-ment put Naidu on the back

foot. The purported telephon-ic conversation he had withTRS MLC Stevenson to influ-ence him to vote for TDPsnowballed into a criminalcase that became notorious as'cash for vote' case. With a but-ton on this case, KCR playedwith the political career ofNaidu. In fact, the TRS govern-ment could have easily pinnedNaidu down in that case. But

KCR's unexpressed intentionwas to drive Naidu and com-pany away from Hyderabad,regardless of the joint capitaltag, as he wanted only theTelangana government to existin Hyderabad. He concentrat-ed on that 'drive away ' opera-tion and ultimately succeeded.In an effort to save his skin,Naidu threw the aspirations ofAP people, who had interests

in Hyderabad, to the windand walked out of Hyderabad.The KCR government appar-ently put the cash for vote caseon the back burner.

Such efforts made by politi-cians to save their skin even,when they have to disap-

point the public in generalover issues close to theirhearts, are evident in theaction of the present ChiefMinister of AP YSJaganmohan Reddy. Take forexample, the Special CategoryStatus (SCS) for AndhraPradesh, which was assuredby the Union government atthe time of bifurcation. Butthe Centre has been discour-aging AP in this regard, stat-ing that no major purposewill be served by SCS assome states in the NorthEastern region are gettingnothing extra with the sameSCS. All political parties wereliterally on the war path overthe issue of SCS before theAssembly and Lok Sabhaelections, including the thenruling TDP, which had flip-flopped on it and had to facesevere criticism. This alsocame in handy for YSRCP to

ride to power in AP by blam-ing Naidu for his 'unforget-table callousness' towardssecuring SCS for AP. At thefag end of his rule, Naidu toojoined the bandwagon of SCS.But due to the modifiedstance of the Government ofIndia, AP is still struggling toachieve SCS. Now,Jaganmohan Reddy alsoseems to have decided to goslow on SCS, courtesy PrimeMinister Modi's intervention.Given Modi's brute majorityin the Lok Sabha, no politicalparty is willing to ruffle hisfeathers.

Jaganmohan Reddy hasbeen accused of going slow alsoin bringing real pressure on theCentre for the completion ofthe prestigious Polavaram pro-ject. Actually he cannot affordto mount pressure on theCentre, considering the casesof corruption pending against

him with central investigativeagencies like CBI and ED. TheUnion government, however,has recently accepted therevised cost estimates of Rs.47,725 crore as of 2017-18 for thePolavaram project.

Jagan's recent support tofarm bills enacted by the Uniongovernment was also interpret-ed as an act of surrendering tothe Modi government becauseof the cases pending with cen-tral investigative agencies.

Therefore, one may con-clude that several key issuespertaining to AP are gettingsidelined due to the calculat-ed moves of prominent politi-cians, who are proclaimingthemselves as 'alternativeforces' in the state. As per theopinion of the commoner,however, such situation maychange if a person with aclean image occupies the hotseat!

M D RATNA KUMAR

Senior Journalist

PIN

POINT

Public interest goes for a toss when political safety becomes priority

State plans major EV pushwith 400 charging stations


“One has to respect coron-avirus by following SOPs tillsuch time the vaccine for thedeadly virus is developed andavailable. Even doctors are treat-ing patients infected fromCoronavirus on a trial anderror basis,” a heath expert said.

He said that most of thepatients are being treated withdrugs available for similar infec-tions and symptoms, as there isno specific medicine developedto treat Coronavirus.

One should make a note

that treatment is not the samefor every patient infected fromCoronavirus, as it depends onthe health condition of thepatient and the inbuilt immunesystem of the individual.

People with symptoms ofCoronavirus should rush fortesting and if tested positive theyshould undergo treatment with-out delay while the virus load ismild and before the infectionturns chronic. If the infection issevere it will be an uphill task forthe doctors to save the patients.

It is learnt that Sultan Moosavihad spent lakhs of rupees for the

treatment, despite this, nonecould survive.

As per the instructions of thestate government people shouldlearn to live with Coronavirus bywearing a mask/shield, maintaindistance and use sanitiser as thevaccine is still under trials.

One should try to avoidpublic gatherings, shoppingmalls, public transport, placesof worship attending publicfunctions where different peo-ple gather. There are chancesthat asymptomatic among thecrowd would spread the virusto others.

Time to take fresh guard...


The action of the StateGovernment in failing to renderproper assistance and coopera-tion to facilitate smooth conductof election process, is arbitraryand in abuse of power, positionand process of law as also ingross violation of the Article243K of Constitution of India.

It is to be noted that in thematter of the conduct of elec-tions, the government con-cerned shall have to render full

assistance and co-operation tothe State Election Commissionin order to ensure that free andfair elections are conducted.

The AP State ElectionCommission was also directedto submit detailed comprehen-sive representation to the StateGovernment putting forth theirrequests and requirements. TheState Government shall providethe same and file the compli-ance report in the High Court.

The State Government wasfurther advised to maintain a

healthy and positive attitudewith the SEC.

The High Court furtherobserved that the monies spentby the Commission for JusticeT Kanakaraj to defend hisappointment is highly unneces-sary and unwarranted, as it ispublic money and that Rs 50lakhs for advocate fees and Rs24 lakh and Rs 12 lakh for thehouse of Kanakaraj, all of thembeing footed by theCommission is waste of publicexchequer.

HC admonishes Govt for...


The total number of GSTR-3BReturns filed for the month ofOctober upto October 31,2020 is 80 lakh.

Other states likeMaharashtra and MadhyaPradesh recorded a spike of 5per cent at Rs 15,799 crore and17 per cent at Rs 2,403 crore,while Gujarat and West Bengalreported 15 per cent increasein the GST collection each atRs 6,787 crore and Rs 3,738crore respectively.

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar andKerala registered 7 per centincrease each at Rs 5,471 crore,Rs 1,010 crore, and Rs 1,665crore respectively.

The government has settledRs 25,091 crore to CGST andRs 19,427 crore to SGST fromIGST as regular settlement.

The total revenue earned byCentral Government and the

State Governments after reg-ular settlement in the monthof October, 2020 is Rs 44,285crore for CGST and Rs 44,839crore for the SGST.

The revenues for the monthare 10 percent higher than theGST revenues in the samemonth last year.

During the month, rev-enues from import of goodswas 9 percent higher and therevenues from domestic trans-actions (including import ofservices) are 11 percent high-er than the revenues fromthese sources during the samemonth last year.

The growth in GST revenueas compared to that in monthsof July, August and September,2020 of -14 percent, -8 percentand 5 percent respectivelyclearly shows the trajectory ofrecovery of the economy and,correspondingly, of the rev-enues.

AP leads economicrecovery with highestGST growth in Oct

What is the typical attitude of rulingpolitical figures? Are they not eagerto save their skin when ticklishpeople's issues crop up and that toofor protecting their own interests?The answer is probably in theaffirmative and that naturally irksthe public as well as people withprogressive thinking


“The ambience of the land-scape to be developed at theMemorial Park should bepleasant,” Jagan said.

The Chief Minister instruct-ed the officials to display thelife and times of Dr BRAmbedkar at Memorial Parkin addition to setting up of alibrary, museum and a gallery.He advised them to displayquotes of Ambedkar in thepark and also to widen theroad and develop the walkwayin an attractive manner.

The officials showed twoplans in their PowerPoint pre-sentation of Ambedkar statueand Memorial Park. They alsopresented countrywide mod-els, which include AmbedkarDeeksha Bhoomi (Nagpur),Chaitya Bhoomi (Mumbai),Ambedkar Memorial(Lakhanpur) and PreranaSthal (Noida).

The presentation focusedon the design of the galleryand auditorium. It is plannedto complete the works within14 months, the officials said.

Aim for thebest, CM...

BJP readies 1.75L ‘army’ to...Continued from Page 1

“Both the YSRCP and TDP aretwo faces of the same coin.Both are family-run partiesthat encourage dynastic poli-tics. The kind of corruptionthat took place during the fiveyear TDP rule between 2014and 2019, the present YSRCPled government had indulgedin just the last 17 months. TD{is unable to effectively exposethe misdeeds of the presentgovernment in AndhraPradesh,” BJP state generalsecretary, S VishnuvardhanReddy told The Pioneer.

He said that the TDP isunable to play an effectiverole as a responsible oppositiondue to which the BJP hastaken up the responsibility tobe the voice of people in thestate. “Whether it is TTD landauction issue, Antarvedi char-iot burning, non-availability ofsand and corruption in it, thestate government had takencourse correction only afterBJP raised the issues,”Vishnuvardhan Reddy said.

He said that in this scenario,the BJP needs a strong andactive base of workers who canidentify the issues at micro andmacro levels, take them up andbuild agitations for the bene-

fit of the general public. “Forthis, we need to train ourparty workers. These trainedparty workers who will bearound 1,000 in each con-stituency will motivate sever-al others in their respectiveconstituencies and work for theparty full-time,”Vishnuvardhan Reddy said.

The BJP state unit had alsoreshuffled its party panel ofspokespersons and other officebearers who can effectivelydrive the party’s message to themasses.

Though the national leader-ship of the saffron party hadbeen trying to gain a footholdin Andhra Pradesh, it hadbeen failing in its endeavour.

In a major embarrassment,the ruling national party couldgarner only 0.83 per cent votes— which is less than the 1.29pc votes that went to the‘NOTA’ option in 2019 polls. Inthe last polls, BJP in AndhraPradesh fought alone while itwas in alliance with TD in2014 polls.

After the drubbing in 2019polls, the national leadershiphad started focussing onAndhra Pradesh and as part ofpicking his new team the newBJP national president JPNadda had replaced the then-

existing party state unit pres-ident Kanna Lakshminarayanacutting short his tenure withanother senior leader of theparty who is termed a fire-brand, Somu Veerraju.

“It is how BJP works quiet-ly below the screen andexpands. It always has a longterm plan and that’s the successmantra of the party that gainedin many states in the north.From zero to capturing power,BJP had set such long termstrategies by strengthening atthe grassroots in the stateswhere it had found success. Weshould not be surprised if BJPbecomes a formidable force, ifnot capture power in AndhraPradesh in the future,” said apolitical analyst.

“BJP had sprung such sur-prises in many other states inthe north and also northeast.And it did not happenovernight — such long-termstrategies being implementedin AP are the reason,” he said.

After almost a year, theparty-state affairs in-chargepost fell vacant BJP centralleadership in 2018 appointedformer ABVP man VMuraleedharan of Kerala as APparty affairs in charge and alsoformer RSS Pracharak, Sunil VDeodhar as state co-in-charge.

US voters game...

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 4, 2020

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The additional glass-topVistadome coaches plannedfor Vizag-Araku route areunder manufacturing, dis-closed Union Railway MinisterPiyush Goyal assuring that thetourist-friendly coaches willbe made available as and whendone depending on thedemand of the tourists.

After examining the status ofthe project, he has replied to aquestion raised by V VijayasaiReddy, Parliamentary PartyLeader of the YSR CongressParty, in the Rajya Sabha ear-lier.

He had mentioned in theRajya Sabha about the need ofadditional Vistadome railwaycoaches between Visakhapa-tnam and Araku in addition to

the one already running on theroute.

During the peak tourist sea-son, most days, there exists along waiting list for its tickets.

Therefore there is a require-ment of plying at least five more

Vistadome coaches betweenVisakhapatnam (VSKP) andAraku (ARK) at the earliest."

Visakhapatnam, he hadexplained "is a major touristdestination and is particularlyknown for its beaches, caves

and ghats." Amongst its numerous

tourist attractions, Vistadomecoach is one. At present, thecoach is attached to the regu-

lar train between Visakhapa-tnam and Araku. The coach isspecially designed with a singlelarge window through whichtourists can get a panoramicview of the Eastern Ghats andits ecology. These coaches aretherefore very popular withthe European travellers due totheir ability to give a breath-tak-ing view."

Despite its popularity andhuge demand, unfortunatelythere exists just one Vistadomecoach for the whole ofVisakhapatnam.

Citing that these new coach-es would give a further boost tothe thriving tourism industry inVisakhapatnam as well as earnrevenue for the railways, he hadurged the government to takesteps towards fulfilling thisrequirement at the earliest.

Addl Vistadome coaches elude Vizagn Coaches, which are

planned for Vizag-Arakuroute, are still undermanufacturing, accordingto Union Railway MinisterPiyush Goyal

n Vijayasai Reddymentioned in the RajyaSabha about the needof additionalVistadome railwaycoaches betweenVisakhapatnam andAraku in addition to theone already running onthe route.

Notices served on restaurantfor serving stale food in VjaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The meat and provisionsstored beyond their date ofexpiry were seized by the FoodSafety Department officialsfrom a restaurant here onTuesday.

The Food Safety Depart-ment, along with the Vigilanceand Enforcement Departmentofficials, jointly conducted sur-prise checks on BarbequeNation restaurant and foundthat the owner was violatingthe food safety norms and notfollowing the Covid-19 guide-lines to run the restaurant.

On receiving complaintsfrom customers on violation offood safety rules, surprisechecks were conducted by theteam led by Vigilance andEnforcement Department SP TKanaka Raju and Food Safetycontroller N PoornachandraRao. On inspection, theynoticed many irregularities.

Assistant Food Controller N

Poornachandra Rao said thaton inspecting they found fun-gus on food. They also foundthat briyani with syntheticfood colour and samples werecollectedfor analysis.

He further stated that theyfound that the management ofthe restaurant were allowing 8to 10 customers in each tablethat was against the Covid-19Standard Operation Procedurerules. They found that cooked

rice was kept in refrigerators.As per their stock register,they observed that muttonwas stored in a deep frezeer formore than 15 days and seemsto be stale.

He said after receiving thereports on the samples sent fortests action will be initiated.Later, mutton was destroyedand notices were served on themanagement for using expirydate material.

Food Safety Department officials seized stale meat preserved in a deep freezer at Barbeque Nation restaurant in Vijayawada on Tuesday

Jagan more dangerous thanCoronavirus, alleges NaiduPNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu on Tuesday accused theYSRCP government of causingirreparable loss to people by fol-lowing thoughtless and illogicalpolicies in governance. Healleged that Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy is moredangerous than Coronavirusand the criticism against theTDP was only aimed at divert-ing the attention of people fromthe failures of the government.

Addressing party elected rep-resentatives and in charges of 175Assembly segments, Naidu saidthat Polavaram works werestopped in the name of reversetendering. He lamented that thegovernment was focusing onindulging in mud-slingingagainst the Opposition TDP butnot on continuing the works tocomplete the project at the ear-liest.

He claimed that JaganmohanReddy has surrounded the Statelike a Coronavirus and wasusing fake news to whip up divi-sive feelings among people along

caste and religious lines.He pointed out that even in

the YSRCP rule, just Rs 400 crorewas spent on Polavaram works.Whereas, when he was at thehelm, their government hadspent Rs 11,000 crore in its fiveyears rule and completed 71 percent works and overall, the TDPgovernment had spent Rs 64,000crore on irrigation projects dur-ing its tenure.

Naidu said that JaganmohanReddy committed a breach oftrust by not giving even the com-pleted houses to the beneficiariesconcerned. He demanded that

the government hand over thehouses to the already selectedbeneficiaries by Sankranti, or elsethe eligible families would takeforcible possession of their hous-es on their own, he warned.Naidu gave a call for an agitationwith the slogans 'My House MyRight' and 'My House Site MyRight' across the State.

‘Set up IT skillvarsity in Vizag'

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

With the temperature plungingand hovering around 12 degreeCelsius, the Eastern Ghat ofVizag Agency is witnessing aflow of tourists. Despite the fearof the Covid-19 pandemic, thelocals who were earlier reluctantto welcome tourists are alsoforced to engage in the ancillarybusiness tourism created there.

People of the hilly tribal andscheduled area, which lackadvanced healthcare facilities,were reluctant to welcome thevisitors fearing spread of theCoronavirus.

The hotels and restaurants inthe Agency opened on June 10after the lockdown, but touristswere hardly sighted due to fearof contracting Coronavirus.Dasara also failed to drawtourists, but for the last fourdays, tourists are flocking theAgency, according to APTourism DevelopmentCorporation officials.

The occupancy in the hotelshas jumped to around 60 per-

cent suddenly. "On an average1,000 tourists are visiting theAgency, which include BorraCaves, Ananthagiri, Tyda andAraku Valley. The real testingtime is Kartika Masam whichbegins next month duringwhich people visit on picnics,''said divisional manager GiriPrasada Reddy.

He said most of the touristsare day visitors and a few ofthem are preferring to stay inthe hotels which have slashedthe tariff abnormally.

Tour operators are expectingan increase in the traffic withthe onset of the winter when themercury dips to 6 degreesCelsius in the Valley and 2degrees at Lambasinghi. The 16cottages at Lambasinghi wouldbe ready by next summer

Former sarpanch and localleader at Lammasingi, KRaghunath said that tourismwould create some revenue forlocals. However, there is also ahigh chance of the virus gettingspread when visitors fromurban areas throng the places.

n Naidu said thatJaganmohan Reddycommitted a breach oftrust by not giving eventhe completed housesto the beneficiariesconcerned

n He demanded thatthe governmenthand over thehouses to thealready selectedbeneficiaries bySankranti, or else theeligible familieswould take forciblepossession of theirhouses on their own,he warned

Woman unableto repay loan, ends lifePNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

A 22-year-old woman hangedherself from a ceiling fan at herresidence in SanjeevayyaColony under Gajuwaka policestation on Tuesday after beingunable to repay the loan. Thedeceased was identified asMandava Ahalya, who was ona job hunt after completing herpost graduation in MBA.

Gajuwaka CI H MalleswaraRao said preliminary investiga-tion indicated that the womanborrowed some money andcould not repay them due tounemployment. She could havetaken the extreme step after get-ting harassed by the loaner.

The incident took placearound 10.30 am when herfather, working in Autonagararea, and mother were out ofhome for some work. She senther cousin away saying shewould take shower. When hermother in return found thedoor locked, she got it openedwith the help of neighbours. Shesaw the body hanging from thefan and immediately raised analarm.

TDP sees scam inpaddy procurement,lodges complaintPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The TDP has lodged a complaintwith the Ministry of ConsumerAffairs, Food and PublicDistribution alleging Rs 500 croreto 700 crore scam in paddy pro-curement and sought immediateinquiry into it by the nationalagency.

TDP MP Jayadev Galla saidthat paddy procurement by theGovernment of India throughFood Corporation of India (FCI)serves twin purposes of provid-ing minimum support price(MSP) to farmers and ensuringfood security.

In the complaint, the TDPMP stated that as a part of sec-ond crop, Nellore district haswitnessed a paddy production ofeight lakh tonnes under whichonly three lakh tonnes has beenprocured through various pro-curement centres in the district.He alleged that around 60 percent of the paddy procured was

done in collusion withmillers/middle men and localprocurement officials leading toa huge scam with connivancebetween local officials, millersand middle men, he alleged.

The MP alleged that onlyaround 40 per cent of paddywas procured directly fromfarmers and deplored that localprocurement centres, whilepaying minimum support price(MSP) to farmers have taken atleast 200 to 300 kgs morepaddy for every putti (around850 kgs).

He sought such farmers needto be compensated immediate-ly for the extra paddy taken bythe procurement centres.

He alleged that millers/middlemen approach farmers and pro-cure paddy for a far less price thanMSP and high quantity in thename of humidity, or bran andmiller/middle men in connivancewith the local procurementofficials.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for TourismMuttamsetti Srinivas Rao saidthat the State government willresume the boat operations inthe State and officials aredirected to restore all 195boats with fresh licences afterconducting a full-fledged fit-ness check.

The minister said that all theboats under the TourismDepartment will start theiroperations soon based on theflood levels in rivers.

Boating operations startedin Visakhapatnam and EastGodavari regions, and onceflood levels recede, boating inthe Bhavani Island,Nagarjunasagar and Srisailamshall resume. Of the total 195boats, 56 small 12-seater boatswere given licences and 112boats with higher capacity areyet to get the licence.

The minister stated thatnew boats will be purchasedeither by the department, orthrough Public-PrivatePartnership and will ply inpotential routes to boost therevenue. In addition to these as

a measure to curb boat acci-dents, nine Command ControlRooms have been set up, headded.

He further reviewed thepossibilities for increasing rev-enue generation in the tourismsector, especially in the com-ing four months. He stressedon introducing sea-planetourism connectingVisakhapatnam-Vijayawada,as Prime Minister NarendraModi inaugurated one suchproject in Gujarat.

There are 38 restaurantsrun by the department andduring the Covid lockdown, allthese restaurants supplied foodto Covid centres and earnedrevenue of Rs 22.5 crore. Anew ship restaurant in

Visakhapatnam and setting upof five and seven star hotels areat a proposal stage.

In regard to the sports, hesaid that a new stadium inPrakasam district and a shop-ping complex, which werebuilt with an expenditure of Rs2.2 crore and Rs 1 crore respec-tively, will be inaugurated onThursday. Also, the construc-tion of six more stadiums inEast Godavari, Guntur andPrakasam are underway.

He said that the State willreceive Rs 3 crore fundsthrough Centre's initiativeKhelo India for YSR SportsSchool in Kadapa. He said thatthe government has accordedpermission to run individualsports institutes of 10 sportslike archery, badminton, ten-nis and others under unlock5.0 from Thursday.

A statue of famous wrestlerKodi Rammurthy Naidu whobrought laurels to the State, willbe installed on the Beach Roadin Visakhapatnam. He saidthat the Chief Minister is giv-ing importance to sports andencouraging budding playersfrom rural areas.

Boating activity to resume soon

Op Muskan: 12,621 kids rescued in StatePNS n AMARAVATI

As part of its 'OperationMuskaan', police has rescued12,621 children living on thestreets, or forced by circum-stances to work to eke out a liv-ing across the State, reignitingtheir hopes of a better life infuture. These lucky childreninclude orphans, child labourers,and those just living on thestreets without any guardians.Among the rescued children,10,492 are boys and 2,129 girls.

Police personnel searched busstations, railway stations, shops,industries, major road intersec-tions and other public places toidentify and rescue such children,who are vulnerable to crime andcriminals. The initiative was takenup on the directions of DirectorGeneral of Police Gautam Sawang.In Prakasam district alone, policeidentified 322 such boys and 125girls, in coordination with the gov-ernment and non-governmentalbodies, The Labour Departmentand others. In East Godavari dis-

trict, police identified 177 vulner-able children -- 153 boys and 24girls -- on Monday at places likeKakinada, Ramachandrapuram,Peddapuram, Amalapuram,Rampachodvaram and Chinturu.

"Children are the future of ourcountry. They should not beforced to work by any organisa-tion, or individual; everyoneshould show humanity towardsthem," said Prakasam District

Superintendent of PoliceSiddharth Kaushal. He warnedthat cases would be registeredagainst those employing childrenas labourers.

Kaushal also called upon par-ents of children to support theireducation and not send them outto work for a living. Police hasalready conducted six phases of'Operation Muskaan', rescuinglost and runaway children.

DGP distributes gifts to rescued childrenVIJAYAWADA: As part ofthe ongoing 'OperationMuskaan' programme, DGPGautam D Sawang visitedan orphanage on Tuesdayand showered his kindnessover the inmates of theorphanage. On the occasion,he distributed gifts and studykits to the rescued boys andgirls, along with children ofTadepalli Good ShepherdKarunamayi Home. Onreceiving the gifts, the chil-dren thanked the DGP andperformed a skit on 'Save GirlChild'.

The DGP and senior offi-cers encouraged the girl chil-dren Bindhu of the orphanageand appreciated the work doneby stakeholders towards shel-tering and taking care of theneeds of the children, includ-ing their studies. Speaking onthe occasion, he said that

'Operation Muskan' wasorganised by the police aspart of the Martyrs' Day cele-brations. Thirteen thousandboys and girls have been iden-tified across the State. Thestreet children and childlabourers were evacuated toChild Welfare Homes. Policesaid that parents will be givencounselling will hand overthe children to them.

He said that the governmenthas set up special schemes forthe education of the poorchildren and appealed to themto take advantage and sendtheir children to schools.

'Operation Muskaan' waslaunched in July to trace themissing and destitute chil-dren and reunite them withtheir parents and the children,who have no parents, would beprovided shelter in the ChildCare Institutions (CCIs).

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

An IT high-end Skill Universityshould be set up inVisakhapatnam and training inadvanced subjects like ArtificialIntelligence (AI) and Roboticsshould be given with job orien-tation, said Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy

Addressing a review meetingon IT policy at the camp officehere on Tuesday, he directedofficials to tie up with theIndian and Foreign companiesfor training students and tohone their skills and preparethe required human resourcesto suit the requirements of ITcompanies.

At least 2,000 studentsshould be trained at the univer-sity in Vishakapatnam and thecertificates of training pro-grammes should get interna-tional recognition, he told offi-cials.

He said to start degree ordiploma courses in tune withdemand of the IT industry anddirected officials to start theworks of IT high-end SkillUniversity in Visakhapatnam atthe earliest.

Accord priority for pollution-freeindustries, CM tells officialsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy said priority should begiven to setting up of pollu-tion- free green industries inVishakapatnam.

He held a review meetingon State Investment PromotionBoard (SIPB) proposals onmega projects in the State atthe camp office here onTuesday.

During the meeting, officialsinformed the Chief Ministerthat Intelligent SEZ Ltd(Footwear Manufacturing) wasplanning to invest Rs 700 crorein two phases at Inagaluru inSrikalahasti mandal ofChittoor district, which wouldemploy 10,000. ATC AP PvtLtd (Off- Highway Tires) com-pany at Achuthapuram SEZwould invest Rs 980 crore andprovide employment to 2000people.

The proposal of AdaniEnterprises Limited regard-ing setting up of Integrated

Data Centre Park, IntegratedIT and Business Park,Recreation Centre, along withproposals to set up a SkillUniversity at Madhurawadain Vishakapatnam, was alsodiscussed. The company willinvest Rs 14,634 crore andwill employ a total of 24,990people.

Officials explained the sub-sidies sought by the companiesand the assistance expectedfrom the government and theemployment opportunities

available through these compa-nies.

Ministers PeddireddyRamachandra Reddy, BotsaSatyanarayana, BugganaRajendranath Reddy, MekapatiGoutam Reddy, GummanurJayaram, Chief Secretary NilamSawhney, Industries SpecialChief Secretary KarikalValaven, Director of Industriesand Commerce J Subramaniam and severalsenior officials from variousdepartments were present .

Tourists throng VizagAgency despite Covid

Sex workersdemand Covidrelief fromgovernmentPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Sex workers' forums Vimuktiand Me and My World, whichare striving for the rights of sexworkers and their welfare inthe State have demanded thatthe government distributeCovid relief without asking forany identity cards, as directedby the Supreme Court. Theyalso demanded distribution ofthe relief not only amongthose who are registeredunder State AIDS ControlSociety but also among thosewho are not registered withAPSACS.

State Convener of Vimukti,Haseena and State Secretary ofMe and My World P Devi,said that the sex workers hadopted for sex work as therewas no other alternative forthem and were facing manychallenges including thoserelated to their health, educa-tion for their children, stigmaand discrimination in society.

MMU launchedin Tirupati PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A Mobile Medical Unit (MMU)was launched by Tata Trusts onTuesday at Sri VenkateswaraInstitute of Cancer Care andAdvanced Research (SVIC-CAR), Tirupati.

The MMU will offer free ofcost screening for Non-Communicable Diseases(NCDs), hypertension, dia-betes and oral, breast and cer-vical cancers, along with gen-eral health check-ups, to peo-ple living in Tirupati, Chittoor,and adjoining remote areas.

The MMU is equippedwith a mammographymachine, which will bedeployed for high risk indi-viduals, for clinical breastexamination.

DGP Gautam D Sawang distributes gifts to rescued kids at Good ShepherdKarunamayi Home in Tadepalli on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

K Ramakrishna Prasad, for-mer Managing Director ofthe sensational Telugu DailyUdayam and right hand of lateTollywood director DasariNarayana Rao, passed awaydue to illness at his residencehere on Tuesday, according torelatives of Ramakrishna.

He left no stone unturned toresume the Telugu daily after itwas closed down in 1995. Aspart of the efforts to revive theHyderabad edition, he went toBombay and bought a printingmachine.

But his efforts of reviving thedaily did not bear fruit onaccount of some unavoidablereasons. Eminent editor ABKPrasad, Advisor to theGovernment of AndhraPradesh Sajjala RamakrishnaReddy, renowned editor KRamachandra Murthy and oth-ers condoled the death ofRamakrishna Prasad.Ramakrishna Prasad was cre-mated at Maha Prasthanam inJubilee Hills.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana's Covid caseloadreached 2,42,506 with the stateregistering 1,536 fresh cases onMonday.

After a dip in cases onSunday when the state report-ed less than 1,000 cases, thenumber of positive cases againsurged by more than 1,000 inthe last 24 hours.

With three more patientssuccumbing to Covid in thepast 24 hours, the overallCovid related deaths in thestate has risen to 1,451 so far,translating into a case fatalityrate of 0.55 per cent as againstthe countrywide mortality rateof 1.5 per cent, a state healthdepartment bulletin said onTuesday.

A total of 1,421 patients haverecuperated from coronavirus

in the last 24 hours pushing thetotal number recoveries in thestate to 2,23,413, taking therecovery rate in the state to92.12 per cent as against thenational recovery rate is 91.7per cent.

The number of active casesnow in the state stands at17,742 including 14,915 indi-

viduals in home or institution-al isolation. Between Sundayand Monday, 45,021 sampleswere tested to detect the con-tagious virus of which resultsfor 617 are awaited.

So far, 43,04,330 Covid testshave been carried out in thestate since the outbreak of thepandemic.

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 4, 2020 telangana 04

A roadside vendor sells Diwali earthen diyas of various colours and other goods on their street shop ahead of Diwali festival.The clay lamps are in high demand during the festivities.

DIWALI SSPIRIT

As part of theefforts to revivethe Hyderabadedition, he wentto Bombay andbought aprintingmachine. Buthis efforts didnot bear fruit

GHMC poll preparations pick pacePNS n HYDERABAD

The preparations for GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) pollshave started to gain momen-tum.

Based on the latest voters' listfor the 24 Assembly con-stituencies under GHMC, atotal of 150 division-wise voterlists will be prepared and thedraft lists will be published onNovember 7.

State Election Commission(SEC) has asked the GHMCofficials and staff not to includedetails of any voter's caste orreligion in the ward-wise voterlists in the wake of the finalvoter lists being published onNovember 13 after the comple-tion of other processes.

To ensure that there are noclerical or publication errors inthe ward-wise voter lists,GHMC DeputyCommissioners are advised tocorrect such errors in theAssembly constituency list and

then in the ward voter lists. The SEC has directed the

municipal authorities to supplyhard and soft copies of ward-wise voter lists to the recog-nised political parties as well asto the political parties allottedat the reserve mark at the ECat free of cost and to receivereceipts from them.

Copies of these lists may beprovided to others in the formof hard and soft copies at anactual cost. It is suggested that

the required voter list beassessed in advance and print-ed in accordance with theprinting of copies. Ward-wisevoter lists should be kept onGHMC and SEC web portalswithout photos. The SEC hasclarified various issues relatedto the conduct of GreaterHyderabad elections, such ascompiling ward-wise voter listsand setting up of polling sta-tions.

Meanwhile, the SEC has

advised the officials to set uppolling stations in buildingswith spacious rooms and halls.As far as possible, the pollingstations should be selected ashalls and rooms where voterscan enter and exit through onegate. One polling stationshould be allotted for every onethousand people.

The officials were told to setup polling stations in govern-ment-run institution build-ings. If government buildingsare not available, polling sta-tions should be set up in tem-porary structures as a lastresort. Do not set up in privateindividuals or corporate build-ings under any circumstances.Do not choose police stations,hospitals, or places of reli-gious significance, the SECsaid.

The preparation of the draftvoter lists will start onNovember 7 and the final listwill be published on theNovember 13. Eligible voterswill have to verify their names

in the Assembly lists. If they donot have the names, they haveto submit the registration formthrough the NVSP in portal orthe application form to theAssembly Voter RegistrationOfficer in the prescribed form-6.

After examining them, thenames of eligible voters are firstadded to the assembly lists andadded to the respective wardvoter lists accordingly. This ispossible until the date ofissuance of the SEC electionnotification. The applicationform should be submitted tothe Assembly VoterRegistration Officer throughthe registration portal or in theprescribed form-6 through theportal.

After examining them, thenames of eligible voters are firstadded to the assembly lists andadded to the respective wardvoter lists accordingly. This ispossible until the date ofissuance of the SEC ElectionNotification.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Considering the increase indemand for coal in the post-shutdown scenario in thecountry, the SingareniCollieries Company Ltd(SCCL) has set a target of 300lakh tons of coal productionand transport in the last fivemonths of the current financialyear.

The government-ownedSCCL has set mine-wise targetsto achieve this goal.

Chairman and ManagingDirector of SCCL N Sridhar,addressing area general man-agers and directors throughvideo conference here onTuesday, said that coal produc-tion had to increase while

ensuring Covid-19 protocols."From this month onwards,every day we must achieve 1.85

lakh tons of coal productionand we must transport thesame quantity every day. In

addition, 13.5 lakh cubicmetres of Over Burden (OB)must be removed every singleday," the CMD said.

The meeting also took stockof area-wise targets achievedduring October and targetsfor each area were fixed anddiscussed.

It was also decided to startcoal production fromBhupalpally and AdriyalaLongwall underground projectfrom December, to launch pro-duction in GDK 5 opencastmine under Ramagundam-Ithis financial year and to speedup removal of OB from open-cast mines in Sattupalli andManuguru.

The Singareni managementalso reviewed the Covid-19

situation in the coal belt. TheCMD expressed satisfactionover the steps initiated so far tocontain the pandemic and saidthat all the precautionary mea-sures will have to continue andmedical services for workersmust also continue till furthernotice.

Director operations SChandrasekhar, adviser miningDN Prasad, adviser forestry KSurender Pandey , executivedirector coal movement JAlwyn, general managersRavishankar, K NagabhushanReddy, Swami Naidu, directorfinance N Balaram and direc-tor electrical and mechanical DSatyanarayana Rao and gener-al managers of all areas partic-ipated in the meeting.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar on Tuesday reviewedthe progress of Haritha Haramprogramme implementationon the Osmania University(OU) campus.

Along with MunicipalAdministration and UrbanDevelopment principal secre-tary and OU in-charge Vice-Chancellor, Arvind Kumarand GHMC Commissioner,Lokesh Kumar and other uni-versity officials, SomeshKumar visited various placesof the university and expressedhis happiness over the massiveplantation drive undertakenon the campus.

Later, they planted saplingsat the Vice-Chancellor's resi-dence and directed the univer-

sity officials to ensure propermaintenance of the greenery.

OU Registrar Prof.ChGopal Reddy said for the firsttime such a massive plantationdrive was undertaken on thecampus in the history of theuniversity. OSD to VC, Prof.Krishna Rao, Arts CollegePrincipal, Prof. Ravinder, OUGreen Belt Director, ProfChandru and other officialswere also present.

CS reviews TKHHin Osmania Varsity

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana AgricultureMinister Singireddy NiranjanReddy has said that the CottonCorporation of India (CCI)Chairman and ManagingDirector Pradeep KumarAgarwal assured that the CCIwould purchase 100 per centcotton with the MSP of Rs5,825 in Telangana.

The assurance was given byPradeep Kumar whenNiranjan Reddy who is on afour-day tour in Mumbai fromTuesday met him at Mumbai.

During the meeting theMinister urged the CCI CMDto increase the moisture per-centage (12 per cent) in thepurchase of cotton.

Niranjan Reddy informed

that the CCI had purchasedand stocked 49.56 lakh bales in2019-20. Of them 9,28 lakhbales were moved. He asked tomove remaining cotton balesfor stocking new stock of cot-ton. Stating that Telangana isproducing quality cotton,Niranjan Reddy said the stategovernment was ready to setup a Cotton Research Centre

at Adilabad. Niranjan Reddy said that the

total production of cotton inIndia was 105.11akh bales. Ofthe 41.8 lakh bales (40 percent) from Telangana alone.

Warehousing CorporationChairman Mandula Samueland Marketing DirectorLakshmibai also accompaniedhim.

CCI will purchase 100 per centcotton at MSP in state: Minister

PNS n HYDERABAD

Gandhi Hospital, which isturned into a facility treatingonly Covid patients, willresume treatment in otherdepartments earmarking somesections exclusively for theCoronavirus patients' treat-ment.

A meeting of the heads ofdepartment of the hospital,chaired by hospital superinten-dent Dr Raja Rao, held here onMonday is understood to havetaken a decision in this regard.

A committee comprising 17heads of department in thehospital, appointed one monthago, studied various aspectsincluding resuming normalmedical and health services inthe hospital among otherthings submitted a report tothe hospital superintendent.

The report is going to be for-warded to the state govern-ment.

As the Gandhi Hospital isexclusively devoted to treat-ment of the patients who test-ed positive for the virus, theOsmania General Hospital isburdened with the treatment ofother patients. The PG medicalstudents under training inGandhi Hospital have beenfacing many problems.Services of PG students of alldepartments are being used fortreatment of Covid patients.Recently the junior doctorshave called on Health MinisterEatala Rajendar and apprisedhim of their problems.

The Minister who respond-ed to their problems favourablyordered the Gandhi Hospital toresume the normal medicalservices in the hospital.

Meanwhile, the number ofCoronavirus cases is increasingin districts and in the GHMClimits too, the number of pos-itive cases are on the rise.Moreover, the people are alsoapparently throwing the pre-cautions to winds. Under theseconditions, what if the Covidcases increase, some medicalofficers raise doubts.

The meeting opined thatsome of the beds and buildingsshould be devoted exclusivelyfor treatment of the Covidpatients besides resuming thenormal medical and health ser-vices in the government hos-pital. Dr Raja Rao has said thatefforts are under way to restoretreatment of other diseases inGandhi Hospital fromDecember 1 onwards.

TS records 1,536 new Covid cases

SCCL targets 300L tons of coal in 5 months

PNS n HYDERABAD

Former Guntur MLAMasthan Vali's son, SKHasan Ali, 22, was killed onthe spot and his friendFayaz, 22, was injured onTuesday when a speedingcar hit their the stationarybike at a spot nearThangadpally village ofChoutuppal mandal. Fayazwas unscathed in the acci-dent.

Residents of Guntur, thefriends were going toHyderabad. The car hitthem near Dharmonigu-dem X Road underChoutuppal PS Limits.

The car, driven byKetharaju Lingaswamy, res-ident of Thangadpally vil-lage of Choutuppal Mandal,was reportedly speedingwhen the mishap took place.Hasan's body was shifted toChoutuppal Govt Hospitalfor post-mortem.

A case has been regis-tered.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Former Minister and formerleader of Opposition inTelangana State LegislativeCouncil Mohammed AliShabbir has been appointed asthe Election Coordinator forSeemanchal region for theBihar Assembly elections.

The appointment was madeby All India CongressCommittee (AICC) InchargeElection War Room & ex-MPDr Ajay Kumar on Tuesday.

Dr Ajay Kumar said that theBihar Assembly election wasfull of challenges and theCongress party and its allieswere confident of winningthe polls. He said that theCongress party wants to utilizethe experience, cooperationand support of Shabbir Ali inthis need of the hour.

Therefore, he has been askedto take charge of ElectionCoordinator of Seemanchalregion with immediate effect.

Reacting on this develop-ment, Shabbir Ali said that hewas honoured on beingappointed as ElectionCoordinator and he wouldimmediately proceed toSeemanchal to participate inthe Congress campaign as perthe directions of Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi andex-President Rahul Gandhi.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In an aftermath of the floodsand to prevent spread of Covid,the seven-day intensive sanita-tion drive will commence onWednesday in the city.

Principal Secretary ArvindKumar asked people to tag thelocations where garbage hasbeen accumulated so that

GHMC can take action. He said, "As directed by the

Minister KT Rama Rao, anintensive sanitation drive isplanned by the GHMC fromNovember 4 to 10 and accu-mulated garbage will becleaned from all localities.Share such locations by taggingthe zonal commissioners."

It may be mentioned here

that as part of the sanitationdrive the civic body will cleanup garbage points, removeconstruction and demolitionwaste, spray disinfectants andundertake anti-larval and vec-tor control operations in alllocalities. People can also lodgetheir grievances with theGHMC through the helplinenumber 040-21111111.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Stating that one can see newCongress in Telangana stateand achieve power in 2023,Telangana Congress Affairsin-charge Manickam Tagorehas thrown a challenge at theChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao to opposecentre's Farm Acts by conven-ing Assembly if KCR is reallya pro-farmer. He alleged thatKCR is scared of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andhence KCR extended his sup-port to the bills introduced bythe BJP led Central govern-ment.

He criticised that NarendraModi led BJP government atCentre is trying hard to protect

the assets of Ambani andAdhani.

While launching a signaturecampaign on Tuesday atMahabubnagar town opposingcentral government's FarmActs, Manickam Tagore allegedthat KCR is deceiving the peo-ple of Telangana in the nameof 'Golden Telangana'.However, golden days are

being enjoyed only by theKCR family, he ridiculed.

Manickam stated thatCongress is the party thatstands by the side of farmers,youth and backward andweaker sections. He said thatthe anti-farmer Farm Acts willhelp Adhani and Ambani butnot the farmers, who feed thenation. He said that the Modigovernment raised curtains tothe conspiracy to transformthe farmers as laborers to workin their own fields by bringingnew Farm Acts. While launch-ing a signature campaign atMadhira, CLP leader MalluBhatti Vikramarka alleged thatthe farmers would experiencelosses with BJP's anti-farmerlaws.

Former MLA'sson dies inroad mishap

Manickam: TS will see new Cong

Gandhi Hospital mulls resuminghealth services from December 1

GHMC seeks suggestions to implement sanitation drive

Shabbir appointedas poll coordinator

PNS n PEDDAPALLI

Welfare Minister KoppulaEashwar said on Tuesday thatChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao wouldtake a decision on extendingbenefits to farmers who culti-vated fine variety paddy.

The Minister along with

local MP B VenkateshNethakani conduct-ed a review meet-ing here with offi-cials to discusspaddy procure-ment.

Eashwar assuredthat every grainfrom farmers would

be purchased at theMinimum Support

Price (MSP)through 293paddy purchas-ing centresestablished to

procure 4.05 lakhquintals of paddy

expected to arrive

this season.He instructed officials to

provide basic facilities in PPCsand take steps to make pay-ments as early as possible.Instructing officials to appointan officer for every purchas-ing center, he wanted toarrange tarpaulins, paddycleaners and other facilities.

55% of paddy procured by FCI was from TS15 candidates

for SA-MathsHyderabad: TSPSC onTuesday said out of 16 PHvacancies, 15 candidates wereprovisionally selected forappointment to the posts ofSchool Assistant-Maths-Telugu medium in the schooleducation department.

Ex-MD of Udayamdaily passes away

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 4, 2020 nation 05

INDIA CORNER

NCP chief Sharad Pawar metGoa Congress presidentGirish Chodankar and

Leader of Opposition in theAssembly Digambar Kamatduring his visit to the state.Afterthe meeting on Monday,Chodankar dismissedspeculations of a pre-poll alliancewith the NCP for the 2022Goa Assembly elections. "It was a courtesy visit. We did not discusspolitics during the meeting," the Congress leader said.Pawar wasaccompanied by his daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Suleduring the meeting held at a hotel in Goa.Last week, senior NCPleader Praful Patel ruled out a pre-poll alliance with the Congress inGoa.Patel said the NCP will be in a position to form the nextgovernment in Goa with like-minded parties, providing an alternativeto the Congress and the BJP.

Sharad Pawar meets seniorGoa Congress leaders

ANaxal was killed in agunfight with police inChhattisgarhs Bijapur

district on Tuesday, police said.The encounter took place around9:30 am in a forest nearKamalpur village under theUsoor police station area whena team of the District ReserveGuard (DRG) was out on ananti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police Sundarraj P toldPTI.Acting on inputs about the movement of ultras in the area, theDRG, a frontline anti-Naxal force of the state police, launched theoperation in the wee hours, he said.When the patrolling team wascordoning off the forest near Kamalpur, located around 450km fromstate capital Raipur, ultras opened fire at police personnel, triggeringretaliation, the IPS officer said. The Naxals soon escaped from thespot taking cover of dense forests along a hill, Sundarraj said.

Naxal killed in encounter withpolice in Chhattisgarh

Aspecial court here onTuesday granted bail to fourpersons including a man

and his two sons in the Palgharmob lynching case. DistrictJudge P P Jadhav ordered thatthe four accused by released ona bail of Rs 15,000 each.Laxman Ramaji Jadhav (58),Nitin Laxman Jadhav (26),Manoj Laxman Jadhav (25) and Tukaram Rupji Sath (40), allresidentsof Hedpada of Gadchinchale village, were among nearly 200 personswho were arrested in the case. They are the first to get bail. On April16, 2020, a mob lynched two sadhus -- Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70) and Sushilgiri Maharaj (35) --and their driver NileshTelgade (30) at Gadchinchale in Palghar district, 140km north ofMumbai. While the two monks were heading for Gujarat in a car toattend a funeral, the mob suspected that they were thieves.

PNS n FORBESGANJ/SAHARSA(BIHAR)

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Tuesday dismissed sugges-tions of anti-incumbencyagainst the Nitish Kumar gov-ernment in Bihar, assertingthat the NDA had spent the lastdecade meeting the people's"needs" and was now focusedon taking care of their "aspira-tions.

Addressing a rally in thisnorth Bihar town of Arariadistrict, Modi also assertedthat trends of the first phase ofassembly elections, and thesecond that was under way,suggested that voters of thestate had rejected "doubleyuvraaj", an expression he hascoined for Congress leaderRahul Gandhi and RJD'sTejashwi Yadav.

"In Bihar, rangbaazi (rowdy-ism) and rangdaari (extortion)are losing and vikas (develop-

ment) and kanoon kaa raaj(rule of law) is winning, pari-varvaad (dynasty rule) is beingdefeated by janatantra (democ-racy)," he asserted.

Recalling the state's notori-ety for booth capturing in the1990s, the prime minister said"They (NDA's predecessors ingovernment) had deprived the

poor of even their right to vote.It is the NDA which empow-ered the downtrodden in thestate again."

Calling the 15 years of Lalu-Rabri rule "jungle raj", he saidits proponents did not want thepeople of Bihar to chant 'BharatMata Ki Jai' and 'Jai Shri Ram'.

"It they have trouble with

those who chant 'Bharat MataKi Jai', Bihar also has troublewith them," he told anotherrally in Saharsa.

The prime minister saidunder Chief Minister NitishKumar, Bihar had left behindthe darkness of "insecurity andanarchy" of the RJD rule.

"Roads and markets todaybustle with people even late inthe night under Nitish Kumar,"he said.

In the backdrop of youngvoters' much talked about dis-satisfaction with what has beenachieved by the government

in the last 15 years, Modisaid, "The last decade was

spent in fulfilling avashyak-taaein (needs). The currentone shall be devoted to meet-ing the aspirations (aakank-shaaein)". "We succeeded inbringing gas cylinders to everyhousehold. Now we shall begraduating to gas pipelines. Inthe decade that went by, webuilt roads, now we are build-ing airports and giving a faceliftto the existing ones," he said.

Training his guns at theCongress, Modi accused theopposition party of havingalways made false promises ofpoverty eradication, farm loanwaiver and one rank-one pen-sion for retired servicemen.

NDA has met people's needs, itwill meet their aspirations: PM

PNS n NEW DELHI

Delhi Environment MinisterGopal Rai on Tuesday urgedDelhiites to avoid burstingfirecrackers as much as possi-ble this Diwali in the interestsof public health and environ-ment.

The minister launched an"anti-cracker" campaign andinspected various places toensure that only "green" fire-crackers are manufactured andsold in the city.

"Only 'green' firecrackerscan be manufactured, sold andused in Delhi this Diwali as pera Supreme Court order issuedin 2018. However, I appeal toeveryone to avoid bursting

firecrackers as much as possi-ble," Rai told reporters.

The Delhi Pollution Control

Committee (DPCC), all dis-trict magistrates and the DelhiPolice have been asked to

ensure that only "green" crack-ers are sold, Rai told reporters.

Enforcement teams willalso ensure that traders pro-cure green firecrackers fromauthorised manufacturers.

In 2018, the Supreme Courthad banned the use of pollut-ing firecrackers and allowedthe sale of "green" firecrackersin a bid to control air pollution.

The "green crackers" arenot as polluting as the conven-tional types of firecrackersand they contain at least 30 percent less particulate mattersuch as sulphur dioxide andnitrogen oxide.

The CSIR-National Environmental Engineering ResearchInstitute was tasked with the

job of developing "green crack-ers". But only a few varietieswere available in the marketlast year due to licensingrequirements.

Earlier, the DPCC had saidthat people can burst fire-crackers between 8 pm and 10pm only on festivals like Diwaliand Gurpurab, he said.

On Christmas eve and NewYear eve, it would be from11:55 pm till 12:30 am only.

"Only licensed traders cansell firecrackers compliant withPESO (Petroleum andExplosives SafetyOrganisation) prescribed stan-dards. No e-commerce web-sites can accept any onlineorders," it had said.

Avoid firecrackers this Diwali: Delhi minister

Awild elephant has died ofasphyxiation after its trunkgot trapped in a snare in

jharkha nd's Giridih district,forest officials said on Tuesday.The snare was set up in Pirtandforest to trap small wild animals,Giridih Divisional Forest OfficerRajkumar said. The trunk of the40-year-old male wild elephant,which had wandered from Dhanbad district, accidentally got trappedin the snare on Saturday night, he said. The pachyderm got severelyinjured while trying to free itself and died near Gulikeri village onSunday, the forest officer said. During the post-mortem examinationof the elephant, it was found that the pachyderm had not eatenanything in the last 24 hours and died due to dehydration and lack ofoxygen, he said. This is the first such incident in the state, Rajkumarsaid, adding a probe has been ordered and the person found guilty ofsetting up the trap may face a punishment of up to 10 years in prison,the forest officer said.

Elephant dies of asphyxiationafter trunk gets trapped in snare

PNS n KATIHAR (BIHAR)

Hitting out at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar,Congress leader Rahul Gandhion Tuesday alleged they have"looted" Bihar, and claimed thatpeople have decided to votethem out of power.

Addressing a poll rally here,the former Congress presi-dent criticised the NDA gov-ernment over demonetisation,

migrant crisis, GST, han-dling of the coronavirus pan-demic and the three new farmlaws. He said neither Modi norKumar did anything to help

migrant labourers when theywere walking thousands of

kilometres to return homesduring the coronavirus lock-down. "The Congress hadarranged buses for the move-ment of migrant workers. Weare not in power so we could

not do it for millions, but wehelped as many people as wecould," he said.

Gandhi also claimed thePM and the Bihar CM have

failed to fulfil promises ondevelopment and job creation.

"I want to ask all the youthwho are here that Modi ji hadsaid he will give two crore jobsevery year, Nitish ji said thesame, but where are the jobs?Why are the youth unem-ployed today?" he said.

He also alleged that farmersare angry with Modi over thethree recently enacted agricul-tural laws.

"And that is why farmers inPunjab burnt the effigies ofNarendra Modi, Ambani and

Adani on Dusshera. The truth(of these laws) has come out inPunjab. It has come out inBihar as well."

He said demonetisation hurtthe poor but benefited the big"chosen" corporate and GSThas harmed small shopkeepers.The Congress leader furtherstated that at least 20 per centof the maize produced in thecountry comes from Bihar,but "do you get the right price?What did Modi ji and Nitish jido to get you the right price?"

"Every youth knows thatModi and Nitishji have togeth-er looted Bihar. And now theyouth and the farmer of Biharhave decided to vote for GrandAlliance," he added.

‘Youths know Modi, Nitish looted Bihar’

PNS n MUMBAI

Mumbai Police have issued asecond notice to Bollywoodactor Kangana Ranaut andher sister Rangoli Chandel inconnection with a case ofallegedly promoting enmitybetween communities throughtheir remarks, an official saidon Tuesday.

Earlier, the Bandra policehere on October 21 issued anotice to the actress and hersister to record their state-ments in the case last month.

However, Ranaut's lawyerhad then sent a reply to thepolice station, saying she wasin Himachal Pradesh and busy

with wedding preparationsof her cousin brother.

The Bandra police havenow sent a second notice toboth of them to remain pre-

sent at the police station onNovember 10 to record theirstatements in the case, the offi-cial said.

The Bandra MetropolitanMagistrate's court last monthordered the police to investi-gate a complaint filed byBollywood casting directorand fitness trainer MunawwarAli Sayyed, referring to tweetsand other statements ofRanaut and her sister.

Kangana asked toappear before cops

PNS n CHANDIGARH

Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh will lead a“relay dharna” of CongressMLAs at Delhi's Rajghat onWednesday after PresidentRam Nath Kovind's refusal tomeet a delegation led by himover the Centre's farm laws.

Singh had sought anappointment with thePresident on Wednesday toseek assent to the bills recent-ly passed by the state assem-bly in a bid to negate theCentre's new farm laws.

But Rashtrapati Bhavanhas declined his request forappointment, the state gov-ernment said. The CM saidthe protest in Delhi will high-light the situation in the statebecause of the suspension ofgoods trains by the Centre.The Railways has stoppedrunning trains to Punjab,saying the farmers protestingagainst the farm laws arestill blocking some tracks.

After Prez declinesmeeting request,Punjab CM to leaddharna at Rajghat

PNS n BENGALURU

The Karnataka High Courton Tuesday declined to grantbail to Kannada film actress-es Ragini Dwivedi andSanjjanaa Galrani in thedrugs case.

Justice Sreenivas HarishKumar also dismissed the bail

plea of four others, includ-ing the anticipatory bailapplication of film producerShivaprakash, in the case.

The Central CrimeBranch, probing the drugcase arrested Ragini Dwivediand Sanjjanaa Galrani inSeptember. Shivaprakash isstill at large, the police said.The two actresses and thedrug supplier Prashant Rankawere in the CCB custody tillSeptember 13 and were later

remanded to judicial cus-tody on September 14.

Prashant was also deniedbail. Since then they werelodged in the ParappanaAgrahara Central jail here.

Drugs case: HCrejects bail pleaof actors Ragini,Sanjjanna

PNS n MUMBAI

A victim of the 2008 Malegaonblast case has approached theBombay High Court for per-mission to intervene in a pleafiled by accused Lt Col PrasadShrikant Purohit wherein hehas sought quashing of chargesagainst him.

A bench of Justices S SShinde and M S Karnik heardvictim Nisar Ahmed Bilal'sadvocate B A Desai onTuesday and posted the appli-cation for a detailed hearingon November 25.

Former Attorney GeneralMukul Rohatgi, who appeared

for Purohit, opposed Bilal'sapplication.

Rohatgi argued that Purohithad sought for quashing ofcharges against him as theNational Investigation Agency(NIA) failed to get a priorsanction under Section 197 ofthe Criminal Procedure Code(CrPC) to prosecute him.

Since the plea was on theprocedural ground of the sanc-tion, it did not warrant anyintervention by the victims,Rohatgi told the bench.

Section 197 of the CrPC laysdown the procedure for pros-ecution of public servants andmandates that a prior

sanction be sought from the

government. Advocate Desai,however, urged the bench toimplead his client as a party tothe case and admit the inter-vention application since thevictim had a right to be heard.

In his plea, Bilal said he hadlost his son in the Malegaonblast and therefore, he was an"aggrieved party" in the casewho deserved to be heard. Healso said he was an intervenorin the trial in the case that isgoing on before a special NIAcourt in the city.

In September this year,Purohit filed a pleain the HCseeking that all charges in thecase against him be quashed.

He said the NIA, the pros-ecuting agency in the case, didnot seek prior sanction underthe CrPC to prosecute him.

Therefore, the court could-n't have taken cognisance ofthe charges against him, hesaid in his plea.

Malegaon victim movesHC to intervene in plea

PNS n NEW DELHI

Expressing displeasure withprison authorities, after sev-eral accused in a case relatedto the February riots innorth-east Delhi said theywere not being given evenbasic things like warm cloth-ing, a Delhi court Tuesdaywarned that the judge wouldgo and inspect the situationphysically if things do notimprove.

The court directedDirector General (DG) ofDelhi Prisons to look into thegrievances of all the 15accused, booked under theUnlawful Activities Act in thecase, and order that some-body who can take a callinspect the situation atMandoli and Tihar prisons.

Judge to go forinspection in jailif grievances ofaccused persist

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Tuesdaydeferred to November 5 thehearing on a batch of pleasrelating to charging of intereston interest by banks on EMIswhich were not paid by theborrowers who availed of theRBI loan moratorium schemein view of the COVID-19pandemic.

The Reserve Bank of Indiaand the Finance Ministry havealready filed separate addition-al affidavits in the apex courtsaying that the banks, financialand non-banking financialinstitutions will credit intothe accounts of eligible bor-rowers by November 5 the dif-ference between compoundand simple interest collectedon loans of up to Rs 2 croreduring the moratoriumscheme period.

A bench of Justices AshokBhushan, R Subhash Reddyand M R Shah was requestedby Solicitor General TusharMehta that the hearing in theloan moratorium case bedeferred as he would be busyarguing on behalf of theCentre in other matter relatingto the Central Vista project.

"These moratorium mat-ters were listed yesterday butthey came up today. I amrequesting for an adjourn-ment considering I have acase (Central Vista) where Iwill be arguing" the law offi-

cer said. A letter seeking defer-ment of the hearing in the casewas also circulated by advo-cate-on-record Anil Katiyarfor the Centre to the partiesand the bench.

The top court acceded tothe request and adjournedthe hearing on pleas includingthe one filed by GajendraSharma on November 5.

The pleas pertained tocharging of interest on inter-est by banks on EMIs whichhave not been paid by borrow-ers after availing the loanmoratorium scheme of RBIduring March 1 to August 31.

The pleas pertainedto charging ofinterest on interestby banks on EMIswhich have not beenpaid by borrowersafter availing theloan moratoriumscheme duringMarch 1 to Aug 31

PNS n BENGALURU

Karnataka Tourism Ministerand BJP national general sec-retary C T Ravi on Tuesdaysaid a law banning religiousconversions for the sake ofmarriage will be enacted in thestate.

He said the governmentwill not remain silent when'Jihadis' strip the dignity ofwomen in the state.

The statement comes daysafter the Allahabad HighCourt held that conversion ofreligion for the purpose ofmarriage was illegal.

Earlier, BJP-ruled states UP,Haryana and Madhya Pradeshhad announced their inten-tion to introduce legal provi-sions against 'love jihad'.

"On the lines of AllahabadHigh Court 's order,Karnataka will enact a law

banning religious conversionsfor the sake of marriage. Wewill not remain silent whenJihadis strip the dignity of oursisters," Ravi tweeted.

He said any one involved inany act of conversion shallface severe and swift punish-ment. The Allahabad HighCourt in its order on October31 said that religious conver-sion just for the sake of mar-riage was not valid.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The High Court Tuesday dis-missed former Jammu andKashmir chief minister OmarAbdullah's plea challengingits circular of April mandatingthat both parties in a case haveto agree for the final hearingto be taken up early via videoconferencing mode.

Omar had contended thathis matrimonial appeal againsta 2016 trial court order, whichdismissed his divorce peti-tion, has been listed for finalhearing since February 2017.

It was not taken up duringthe restricted functioning ofthe courts in view of COVID-19 pandemic as his estrangedwife, Payal Abdullah, did notgive consent to virtual pro-ceedings. Due to the lack ofcooperation by his estrangedwife the matter was gettingdelayed, Abdullah contended.A bench of Justices Kohli andSubramonium Prasad, decli-ned to grant any relief sayinglack of cooperation of his est-ranged wife was not a groundfor challenging the high court'sApril 26 office order.

HC dismisses Omar Abdullah plea

Karnataka to enact law banningreligious conversions for marriage

PNS n SRINAGAR

The Peoples’ Alliance forGupkar Declaration (PAGD)on Tuesday rejected theJammu and Kashmir govern-ment's assertion that the bulkof the agricultural land willnot be transferred to peoplefrom outside the UnionTerritory.

The PAGD termed the ear-lier land laws of Jammu andKashmir the most progres-sive, pro-people and pro-farmer in the entire Indiansubcontinent.

It said the real object of therepeal of the basic land lawsand the massive amendmentsto the other laws is to push inand implement the agenda ofeffecting "demographicchange and disempowering"the people of Jammu andKashmir.

J-K partiesreject govtassertion

SC defers hearing to Nov5 on pleas related toloan moratorium heme

Palghar lynching case: Bail for four accused

Modi also asserted that trends of the firstphase of assembly elections, and the secondthat was under way, suggested that voters ofthe state had rejected "double yuvraaj", anexpression he has coined for Congress leaderRahul Gandhi and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav

The chief of Army Staff,General MMNaravane’s visit toNepal, starting today, isbeing seen as a clear

attempt by both countries torevive bilateral relations, which areat a new low due to the map androad rows and their repudiationas Kathmandu printed its ownmap, incorporating disputed areasof Kalapani, Lipulekh andLimpiyadhura. General Naravane’svisit is a part of the unique tradi-tion that began in 1972, when theArmy chiefs of both countrieswere ceremonially appointedchiefs of each other’s armies. It wasField Marshal Sam Manekshaw,the legendary Sam Bahadur, whoinstitutionalised the unique mil-itary relation that had both polit-ical and strategic ramifications.“When a soldier says he is notafraid of death, he is either lyingor a Gorkha,” Sam would say. Notwo countries are privileged withsimilar bonding as the Gorkhas ofNepal, who serve and even dieprotecting India’s territorialintegrity and sovereignty. Thestrategic military relations are attwo levels — between the two sov-ereign armies and the IndianArmy’s Gorkha connect.

For India, Nepal is geo-strate-gically the most important neigh-bour, dominating avenues to theIndo-Gangetic heartland. Thesecurity concerns emanate fromthe north of the Himalayas andhave constituted the core worry.In 1959, the then Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru had said that anattack on Nepal and Bhutan willbe deemed as an attack on India.The Chinese have made equiva-lent remarks.

Nepal faces only an internalthreat as the Maoists posed twodecades ago. The hijack of IC-814demonstrated Nepal’s fragile inter-nal security system. Fortunately,it has no external threat.

In 1952, King Tribhuvan invit-ed India to establish a militarytraining mission, which includedoccupying 22 border posts alongwith Nepal Army but Kalapaniwas not one of them. By 1970,under pressure from theCommunist lobby in the palace,the training facilities were with-drawn. In 1965, King Mahendra,and in 1990, King Birendrarequested India to modernise theNepal Army, which is equipped 80per cent with Indian military

hardware provided at friend-ship prices — 70 per cent aidand 30 per cent payment,which over time has becomenear gratis. According to treatyarrangements, Nepal acquiresmilitary equipment fromabroad only when India isunable to provide them. Butthis is not sacrosanct as the US,the UK and east Europe haveprovisioned the Army.

The Nepal Army was testedduring the counter-insurgencycampaign against the Maoists,when it initially failed to meetthe challenge. The Indian Armyprovided tactical advice andmilitary equipment in stavingoff the threat which ended ina stalemate. As part of tacticalconsultations in September2003, the Bilateral SecurityCooperation Mechanism wasestablished, which is supposedto meet twice a year. After KingGyanendra staged the royalcoup in February 2005, militarysupplies were suspended,resulting in a rift betweenArmy chief General JJ Singhand the Foreign Office asGeneral Singh pointed out thatblocking the flow of weaponsand equipment would under-mine Nepal Army’s counter-insurgency operations. Thoughoverruled, he defended themilitary ties zealously.

The bulk of Nepal Army’sspecialised training is held inIndia and it bags maximumtraining slots. Joint training hasreached the battalion level

under the Surya Kiran seriesand military exercises are heldin both the countries. TheIndian military has become thefirst responder during crisis orcalamity in Nepal. In the 1990s,there was a horrible aviationtragedy at the TribhuvanInternational Airport. The IAFrushed in several helicopters tohelp trace victims of the acci-dent. Similarly, in 2015, afterthe earthquake, the Indianmilitary’s immediate responsewas acknowledged by NepalArmy chief, General GauravRana.

The second strand of bilat-eral relations is the recruitmentof Gorkhas from Nepal in theIndian Army, which is a con-tinuation of the British inher-itance through the TripartiteAgreement of 1947, wherebyNepalese get into British,Indian and their own armies.The British had insulated theGorkhas from the rest of theIndian Army by not allowingIndian officers to lead them. Atthe end of World War II, therewere 51 Gorkha battalionswhich were divided betweenthe British and Indian Armies.Today, the 43 Gorkha battal-ions, which are larger than theentire British infantry, whichhas two Gorkha battalions,make up the largest infantryregiment of the Indian Army.While initially all were recruit-ed from Nepal, gradually theNepali Gorkha content reducedto 70 per cent and currently is

60 per cent while the remain-ing comes from Indian domi-ciled Gorkhas fromDharamshala to Darjeeling. In2015, a Gorkha battalion com-posed entirely of IndianGorkhas was formed.

On an average, India recruitsannually 1,500 to 2,000 NepaliGorkhas with unending queuesof aspirants. Indians have offi-cered the Gorkhas withpanache and passion thatBritish Gorkha veterans nowenvy. These battalions havewon gallantry awards that out-match other Indian regimentsand those Indians who doubttheir loyalty should have theirheads examined.

The Indian embassy has cre-ated a wealth of facilities for the1.25 lakh ex-servicemen (10lakh if you add families) inNepal, who are exceptionallyorganised, disciplined, lately,affluent after One Rank OnePension (OROP) and behold-en to India. A special Gorkhacell in Army Headquartersmonitors their welfare. Payand pensions account for thethird-largest remittance aftertrade and tourism, and this hasremained unaffected by thepandemic or other crises.

Nepali politicians withLeftist leanings, especiallyMaoists, have invariably raisedthe question of stoppingrecruitment in foreign armies,especially the Indian Army.The Chinese influence in Nepalhas grown dramatically since

the Communist Government isin place. It has been seekingparity with India, includingjoint military training whichstarted in 2017. China mayobject to the use of Nepalitroops of the Indian Armyagainst a friendly ChinesePeople’s Liberation Army. Anecho was heard duringDoklam.

With the Nepal CommunistParty in power, the recruitmentissue keeps popping up. Onesuspects there would be amini-revolt in the countrysidefor contemplating a sacrilege asheinous as stopping Gorkhasfrom showing off their valour.A proposal that had emanatedfrom the Kathmandu Embassyin 1974, recommending thisinfamy, was axed in New Delhiwith alacrity for its potential torob India of a vital strategicasset. The serving Gorkhasand the ex-servicemen com-munity together constitute theone reliable pro-India con-stituency in Nepal that NewDelhi can count on, especial-ly when India-Nepal relationshave hit rock-bottom. It is thisGorkha asset and magic thatGeneral Naravane’s visit willnurture and preserve besidescreating an ambience for nor-malising ties.

(The writer, a retired MajorGeneral, was Commander IPKFSouth, Sri Lanka and foundermember of the Defence PlanningStaff, currently the IntegratedDefence Staff)

Even as Delhiites continue to suffer from a thicksmog, Punjab farmers continue to burn their ricecrop residue. This despite the Punjab Government

banning stubble burning, appointing 8,000 nodal offi-cers to douse the blaze and deploying over 70,000 extramachines for residue management. In fact, stubble burn-ing cases have been the highest this year in Punjab ascompared to the previous three years. So, why do thefarmers seem indifferent? The fact is they are in a fix.Already overburdened, the present problem of a shortgap between harvesting and sowing two different cropswas thrust upon them by well-meaning environmental-

ists crying hoarse over the need for water conservation. So, now they have to remove thepaddy straw instead of letting it lie and decompose. If they wish to remove stubble man-ually, they will need at least ̀ 6,000-7,000 per acre. This is economically unviable for smalland marginal farmers. Even if an equipment like the happy seeder is given to them to cutthe stubble and sow wheat seeds simultaneously at a subsidised rate by the State Government,the additional per acre cost of rent and diesel needed to run these machines means thisoption is also uneconomical. Then there is the issue of low germination of wheat seedssown with happy seeders, something our farmers cannot afford.

But a solution has to be found which is viable for everyone. A united and shared approachmay yet solve matters as envisaged in the just declared commission on air managementprovided there is political will. State Governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradeshcould buy the rice straw from the farmers and then sell it to biomass factories, powerplants, paper mills and cardboard factories. Then there is the paddy straw chopper-cum-spreader which can be operated by a tractor with 45-50 HP or more. It will not only chopthe straw and spread it in the field, thus maintaining the fertility of the soil, but ease sow-ing of the next crop too. Plus, the accelerated straw decomposition process or Pusa cap-sule developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute is something that can be lookedat as it costs less than `1,000 per acre and is good for increasing nutrients in the soil.Converting stubble into biochar is another option. All stakeholders have to come togeth-er in mission mode. Simply coming down on the growers will not help.

Can the Rajya Sabha be the conscience of the nationand uphold democratic traditions with fiercedebates, dialogue, checks and balances? Can it

still be representative of the federal character of India?If the passing of the farm Acts was any indication, thenthe BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) hasalready become over-confident about subverting par-liamentary fairplay and justifying its authoritative weightby managing numbers. Worse, it is using the Parliamentto tick off the boxes in its manifesto, prioritising partyover governance and trampling any opposing view asredundant, even if reasoned. Controversial Bills have

always been open for discussion in the House, often moved to relevant parliamentary com-mittees for careful perusal and closing deficiencies. But the voice vote — which is noth-ing more than a shouting match of who gets heard louder and which has so far been usedto pass Bills that are consensual — for farm Bills changed all that. Though the legisla-tions split the House down the middle, a “friendly” Chair ensured that the voice vote couldbe resorted to as a bypass. And now that the NDA has further consolidated its positionin the Rajya Sabha, crossing the 100-mark after nine BJP candidates were elected unop-posed, co-option has a possibility of becoming more a rule than the exception. On theother hand, the Congress, which dominated the Upper House, is now down to 38 seats— its lowest ever tally — in the 242-member House after it lost two more seats to theBJP in the current elections. Out of the 11 Rajya Sabha seats that were vacant, nine werewon by BJP candidates, taking the party’s tally to 92 seats. While it is still some distanceaway from the halfway mark of 121 to have a say on its own, it has its allies and issue-based supportive parties to count on. The Janata Dal (United) has five seats. The small-er parties like RPI-Athawale, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Mizo National Front (MNF), NationalPeople’s Party (NPP), Naga People’s Front (NPF), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and BodolandPeople’s Front (BPF) have a seat each besides four nominated members. Meanwhile, theAIADMK with nine MPs, BJD with nine MPs, TRS with seven MPs and YSRCP with sixMPs have been crucial in ensuring the passage of controversial Bills.

The Opposition has anyway been emaciated since the big Lok Sabha verdict last year,the biggest loser being the Congress. And now with the grand old party’s dismal pres-ence in the Upper House, it has never looked so exhausted and beaten. In the absence ofa counter-agenda, particularly a convincing economic one, or a strident approach, it hasfrankly ceded its responsibility as the main Opposition party, leave alone leading others.Besides, its intra-party stasis means that it continues to be visionless. And reactive poli-tics is certainly not working for it. Of course, with these numbers, the BJP will now claima high efficiency in the Parliament, which will be measured by the swiftness with whichit pushes legislation, some of it being agenda-driven rather than being qualitatively rele-vant. The 16th Lok Sabha passed 133 Bills. The Government also promulgated 45 Ordinances,which were subsequently legislated without too much obstruction. A single-party domi-nance means a frightful shrinkage of deliberative discussions and the conversion of ill-conceived ideas into State policy. According to a report by PRS, which tracked the BJPGovernment’s passage of Bills, the time spent on the Question Hour, discussions and call-ing attention motions had dipped significantly in the pre-COVID session. Many demandsfor a discussion were guillotined too. Add to that protests and adjournments, which theOpposition had to resort to in the absence of being allowed to be heard as per conven-tion, and the Parliament has anyway been reduced to being a tool of the ruling party ratherthan being a nation’s watchdog. The Rajya Sabha, so far, has been responsible for ensur-ing scrutiny, prizing governance over party-driven point-scoring and protecting federalism.Not for nothing did Justice DY Chandrachud, while registering his dissent in the case onthe Aadhaar Act of 2016, say, “As a revising chamber, the Constitution makers envisionedthat it will protect the values of the Constitution, even if it is against the popular will. TheRajya Sabha is a symbol against majoritarianism.” But looks like bicameralism is a shellfor what is for all practical purposes becoming a monolithic institution. There are fewerand fewer democratic tools left to hold the Government to account. If anything, the bal-ance of power intended by our founding fathers has been overturned for sure. Dissenthas anyway been a casualty in the Modi regime. Now, the House, that at least was a plat-form for alternative perspectives, is in danger of losing its essence to the brute force ofmathematics. As it is, the Government in its last term had bypassed the Rajya Sabha bypassing crucial amendments through the Money Bill route that disallows amendments there.Then the farm Bill fiasco happened. And now with increasing strength, the NDA can verywell design approaches to get its way and reduce the rulebook to a mere tokenism. Asfor the Opposition, particularly the Congress, it has no option but to at least unite on devis-ing joint parliamentary strategies and make the most of the time allotted to it for legisla-tive business and interventions. All non-BJP parties have to be present at all times andadopt more constructive means of getting themselves heard as disruptions like walkoutsonly help the ruling combine in the end. Otherwise, we are staring at the possibility of majori-tarianism bulldozing the greatest of our institutions.

NDA muscle in RS

Next US PresidentSir — Elections in the US haveoften surprised people. In 2016,Hillary Clinton had more pop-ular votes than Donald Trump.Nonetheless, she lost. The USPresident is not elected based onpopular votes cast in his/herfavour. Rather, when the peopleexercise their ballot, they areactually voting for a group ofpeople called electors, who formthe electoral college. This has 538electoral votes in aggregate. Eachelector is entitled to cast one votefollowing the general election,and the candidate who getsmore than half (270), wins.Hence, in 2016, Clinton lost toTrump.

The 2020 US election isunique in many ways for India,too. An Indian-Americanwoman leader, Kamala Harris, is the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee and has afair drawing power, according tothe opinion polls. On the otherhand, Prime Minister NarendraModi has been rooting for theRepublican President DonaldTrump and his deputy. In boththe “Howdy, Modi!” mega eventin Houston and “NamasteTrump” extravaganza inAhmedabad, Modi had can-

vassed rather openly for Trump.Then again, the failure toapplaud Harris, a person ofIndian origin, wholeheartedly isnot lost on the observers.However, India can easily reachout to the Democratic Presidentand the Vice President if they arevoted to power. The fact remains,Democrat or Republican, the USPresidents are always driven bytheir national interests and per-

manence has never been theirstrong suit.

Haridasan RajanKozhikode

Poverty graphSir — It is a matter of grave con-cern that two-third of India’spopulation lives in poverty with68.8 per cent surviving on lessthan $2 a day. And over 30 per

cent even have less than $1.25 perday available. Around 800 mil-lion people are considered poor,making the Indian subconti-nent one of the poorest countriesin the world. Most of them livein the countryside and keepafloat with odd jobs.

Poverty has indeed been oneof the biggest challenges for theGovernment. And the nation-wide lockdown to slow the

spread of the Coronavirus hasmade things even worse. TheGovernment needs to target spe-cific areas such as acceleratingeconomic and agriculturalgrowth, ensuring speedy devel-opment of infrastructure, growthof non-farm employment, accessto assets and credit, and reform-ing the public distribution systemand special employment schemesfor the poor.

B Ahsanullah Delhi

Ban on firecrackersSir — On November 2, theNational Green Tribunal issuednotices to the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests andfour State Governments — Delhi,Haryana, Uttar Pradesh andRajasthan — on banning fire-crackers from November 7 toNovember 30 in the interest ofpublic health and environment.This comes as a welcome step asthe quality of air continues todeteriorate, especially in Delhi,which may, in turn, lead to a risein COVID-19 cases.

Khushboo VedUjjain

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| WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 4, 2020

06

More than a routine affairIt is the Gorkha connect and magic that General MM Naravane’s visit to Nepal will

nurture and preserve besides creating an ambience for normalising ties

Education is the tool for liberation and people shouldgive priority to educating theirchildren. The Government policies must help in the uplift of the downtrodden.

Retired High Court judge—Kemal Pasha

GST inflows cross `1 lakh crore

Revenues from the Goods and Services Tax (GST)surpassed `1.05 lakh crore in October, the firsttime in this financial year. The Government cited

the GST inflows as a clear sign of recovery in the econ-omy after its 23.9 per cent contraction in the first quar-ter of this year. Economists are terming the surge inthe GST kitty as “enthusing” as this was in line withthe expectation of a build-up of inventories in antici-pation of a robust festive season. However, not manyare convinced about the persistence of this trend, espe-cially once the festive season is over and the pent-updemand is fulfilled.

The uptick in October's GST inflows can be attrib-uted to the festive demand and input tax credits as wellas other reconciliations that were due for in September.If this level of revenue is maintained through the restof 2020-21, we may see a reduction in the shortfall inthe GST compensation for the States. However, we can-not consider the GST inflows as a return to normalcyfor businesses as these revenues normally relate to sales

that occurred in September, when a big part of the econ-omy, including public transport, was unlocked. It alsodepends on the potential second COVID wave, whichis already resulting in a second lockdown in Europe.We need to await data for December before we can con-fidently say the economy has bounced back.

Yash Pal RalhanJalandhar

Send yyour ffeedback tto:[email protected]

Stubborn stubble

An emaciated Opposition has to unitedly fight the Government on the floor of the House than stage walkouts

Unless all stakeholders are strong-willed and opt for aunited response, cracking down on farmers won’t help

ASHOK K MEHTA

It is necessary to activelyuse the instruments ofpublic-private partnership,to attract, where possible,extra-budgetary and borrowed funds, carefully.

Russian President—Vladimir Putin

The Government of the GrandAlliance, which will be formed,won't be the Government of anyparticular caste, religion orclass. It will be the Governmentfor the entire Bihar.

Congress leader—Rahul Gandhi

The game has become faster but is it getting safer?Be it a spinner or pacer,wearing a helmet should be mandatory for batsmen atthe professional level.

Former cricketer—Sachin Tendulkar

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

Crime and fitting punishment

THE JOB OF A WOMAN IS TO TAKE CARE OF THE

HOUSE. THE PROBLEM OF #METOO BEGAN WHEN

WOMEN STARTED WORKING.

—ACTOR

MUKESH KHANNA

HOW REGRESSIVE AND OUTDATED. MISOGYNY MAY

BE A RESULT OF A TRAUMATIC MEMORY. THAT’S

THE ONLY BENEFIT OF DOUBT I CAN THINK OF.

—ACTOR

DIVYANKA TRIPATHI DAHIYA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Issuing of post-dated cheques or signing ofirrevocable mandates to banks to debit theagreed Equated Monthly Installment (EMI)

on a fixed date every month is a common prac-tice when loans or goods purchased on credit arerepaid on a regular basis. If the cheque or auto-matic electronic debit is dishonoured by the bankfor want of funds/mandate and the debtor failsto clear the dues within 15 days of a written noticeby the bank (to be given within 30 days of dis-honour), the creditor can file a criminal com-plaint. This is because the debtor commits anoffence punishable with up to two years in jailor fine up to two times the amount of the chequeissued or both. The criminal case can bedropped in case of a compromise or settlement.This is provided under Section 138 of theNegotiable Instruments Act, 1881. The objectiveof all this is to promote the efficiency of bank-ing operations and to ensure credibility intransacting business through cheques. The 1881Act was amended in 1989 to introduce a one-yearjail term that was enhanced to two years in 2003.But the offence was made “compoundable”, mean-ing that the criminal proceedings can now bedropped if some compromise is reached betweenthe two parties.

India, with its huge population, has problemsthat are unique to it and the overburdening ofresources or institutions is one of them. So, it isnot surprising then, that a total of 346 lakh courtcases were pending in the country on October29 this year. Out of this, there were over 251 lakhcriminal and over 95 lakh civil cases, of whichover 199 lakh criminal cases were more than ayear old. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filedby the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) in 2013had highlighted that out of the pending 270 lakhcourt cases, about 40 lakh were cheque bouncecases, involving about ̀ 1,200 crore. These cases,estimated to be about 20 per cent of the total case-load (2018), are clogging the already overbur-dened criminal courts. Do we have enough jailsand judges to convict every offender? Shouldn’twe have a hierarchy or priority list of offences tobe targetted by the prosecution and adjudicat-ing systems? Should the debtors, who havealready mortgaged movable and immovableproperties, be further subjected to criminal lia-bility?

The Government is considering decriminal-ising cheque bounce cases and some other “civilwrongs.” On June 8, the Finance Ministry soughtstakeholder comments on its proposal to decrim-inalise 39 “minor economic offences” createdunder 19 Acts, including non-repayment of loansand dishonour of a cheque or automatic electron-ic debit for “improving the ease of doing busi-ness and helping unclog the court system andprisons.” However, the decriminalisation propos-al has been opposed by the IBA, theConfederation of All-India Traders, the FinanceIndustry Development Council, the Federationof Industrial and Commercial Organisationand some Bar Councils.

The Bar Council of Delhi has highlighted theeffect of the pandemic on lawyers in the coun-try and how every advocate is facing a financialcrisis. The Bar Councils of Maharashtra and Goa,too, have opposed the proposal to decriminaliseSection 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act.They contended that the offence of chequebounce should not be termed as a “minor” infrac-tion by the Government in its bid to decriminalisethe same. For lawyers, decriminalisation clear-

ly means an adverse impact on theirlivelihoods. For traders selling on cred-it, there is a genuine problem of hav-ing no security against customerdefault. Instalment purchase of goodson EMI is supported by post-datedcheques, and no one will accept chequesif their bouncing is decriminalised.Trade will be left at the mercy of civillitigation that takes several years for jus-tice to be delivered. Even after the cur-rent stringent Section 138, more than20 per cent of all pendency of casesacross the country is only pertaining tocheque bounce.

The bankers’ opposition to decrim-inalisation can also be understood forcheque bounce against unsecured loans.However, there is absolutely no justi-fication for continuing with this addi-tional protection in case of securedloans. While sanctioning EMI-basedloans, banks insist on mortgage ofimmovable property or shares, deben-tures, fixed deposits and so on. Or theyobtain guarantees from employers fordeduction from the borrowers’ salary.In such cases, cheque bounce should beconsidered for decriminalisation tobegin with. Borrowers — distressed bythe Coronavirus pandemic — havebeen provided some relief by way ofmoratorium and deferral of fresh appli-cations for insolvency proceedings butthe criminal liability under theNegotiable Instruments Act, 1881, asamended in 1989, 2003 and 2018,remains. Normally, for criminal liabil-ity to be pinned to a person, presenceof mens rea, malafide intention is amust. However, in cheque bouncecases, malafide intention may or maynot be there and need not be proved.A strict liability has been created with-out going into a cheque issuer’s inten-tions as a measure to build trust andcredibility in cheque transactions.

The objective of amending Section138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act

in 1989 was to add credibility in trans-acting business through cheques.Current realities are so very differentfrom 1989 when cheque bounce wasfirst criminalised.

Provision of criminal liability —prosecution and imprisonment — onstrict liability basis, without the need toprove malafide intention, is an identi-fied deterrent for attracting new invest-ment. It is in larger public interest todeclog our criminal courts and jails.

In Kaushalya Devi Massand vsRoopkishore Khore case, the SupremeCourt held that the offence committedunder Section 138 of the NegotiableInstruments Act cloaks a civil wrongas a criminal act and the gravity ofoffence under Section 138 of the Actcannot be equated with a crime underthe provisions of the Indian Penal Codeor other criminal offences.

In Makwana Mangaldas Tulsidasvs. State of Gujarat and others case, theSupreme Court recently favoureddecriminalisation of dishonour of smallvalue cheques. The court suggested var-ious ways to deal with the situation ofoverflowing cheque bounce cases pend-ing adjudication across the country. Theapex court suggested developing amechanism for pre-litigation settlementin these cases.

The Centre, while decriminalisingsome defaults, has to balance the inter-ests of lawyers, the business communi-ty and the welfare of the public at large,especially those who are not wilfuldefaulters. In cheque bounce cases, weneed to find a balance so that malafideintent is punished while other, less seri-ous offences are compounded. As theworking of the SARFESAI Act (TheSecuritisation and Reconstruction ofFinancial Assets and Enforcement ofSecurities Interest Act) and theInsolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)have shown, the cases of wilful defaultsare very few and such offenders con-

tinue to dodge the law while a largenumber of non-wilful defaulters con-tinue to suffer harassment in courts.Public policy is all about balancing con-flicting requirements and expecta-tions. Creditors would want to have asmany solutions as possible and pursueall those remedies simultaneously.However, such an approach has a dele-terious effect on business sentiment. Itmay end up having a chilling effect onpotential borrowers and consumerdemand. If fear of imprisonment andlitigation charges along with a fine trulyhad a deterrent effect and resulted intimely payment of cheques, the courtswould not have such a big pendingcaseload. And it is this huge backlog ofcheque bounce cases that delays thetrial of more serious crimes and at thesame time erodes public faith in thejudicial system.

Hence, decriminalisation ofbounced cheques should be seriouslypursued. Secured creditors have reme-dies available under the Securitisationand Reconstruction of Financial Assetsand Enforcement of Securities InterestAct, 2002 and the IBC, 2016. Casesinvolving secured lenders should bedecriminalised except for borrowersdeclared “wilful defaulters” or “fugitiveeconomic offenders.” Even in casesinvolving unsecured creditors, thecriminal cases should be continuedagainst repeat offenders and a morelenient view may be taken of first-timedefaults and offenders. There should bevery clear articulation of legislativeintent as to its retrospective or prospec-tive operation. To eliminate a large pen-dency of court cases, retrospectiveapplication based on a differentiatingcriterion like secured/unsecured cred-itor and wilful/non-wilful defaulterswould be necessary and desirable.

(The writer is former SpecialSecretary, Ministry of Commerce andIndustry)

In cheque bounce cases, we need to find a balance so that malafide intent ispunished while other, less serious offences are open to negotiation

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

Parks must fightclimate change

VK BAHUGUNA

The management of Kanha National Park needsto evolve ways to adapt to climatic vagaries and

prepare a plan for long-term sustainability

SUBHASH CHANDRA PANDEY

A PUBLICINTEREST

LITIGATION FILED BY THE

INDIAN BANKS’ASSOCIATION IN

2013 HADHIGHLIGHTED THAT

OUT OF PENDING270 LAKH COURTCASES, ABOUT 40

LAKH WERECHEQUE BOUNCE

CASES INVOLVINGABOUT

`1,200 CRORE.THESE CASES,

ESTIMATED TO BEABOUT

20 PER CENT OFTHE TOTAL

CASELOAD (2018),ARE CLOGGING

THE ALREADYOVERBURDENED

CRIMINALCOURTS. DO WE

HAVE ENOUGHJAILS AND JUDGESTO CONVICT EVERY

OFFENDER?SHOULDN’T WE

HAVE AHIERARCHY OR

PRIORITY LIST OFOFFENCES TO BE

TARGETTED BY THEPROSECUTION AND

ADJUDICATINGSYSTEMS?

Climate change has started impacting the wildlife reserves ofIndia. During 2019, as against the average annual rainfall of1,200 to 1,300 mm, the Kanha National Park recorded 1,800

mm rainfall, 300 mm in a single day. This resulted in damage tothe soil and water bodies that were filled with sand and debris. Manybridges were damaged in the deluge as was the vegetation. Themanagement of Kanha National Park needs to evolve ways to adaptto climatic vagaries and prepare a plan of action for long-term sus-tainability of the park, which is one of the oldest wildlife reservesof India.

One of the finest tiger habitats in the country and a haven forprey species like the barasingha, gaur and cheetal, Kanha com-prises a large area of 1,949 sq km in the well-forested Mandla andBalaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh. It has a core area of 940 sqkm and a 1,009 sq km buffer zone. It was notified as a reservedforest in 1879, as a sanctuary in 1933 and finally, a national parkin 1955. Like other wildlife reserves, Kanha too got a tremendousmanagement boost with the introduction of Project Tiger in 1973.The adjacent Phen Wild Life Sanctuary spread over 110 sq km ispart of its additional core area.

It is endowed with fabulously rich biodiversity of plant and ani-mal genetic resources. Meadows full of grasses make it a perfecthabitat both for the herbivorous animals as well as for the tiger andother carnivores. As a result it has plenty of tigers, leopards, gaurs,wild dogs, jackals, wild boar, langurs, pythons and a host of otherwildlife. The national bird, the peacock, is seen all over the park inabundance.

The prey base for now more than 125 tigers is more than ade-quate with 40,000 cheetals, 11,000 sambhars and 800 barasing-has. Kanha has 139 families of birds, including migratory ones fromthe Himalayas, Central Asia and Europe like the golden oriel, green-ish warbler, rosy starling, brown shriek, common stonechat, north-ern pintail ducks, barn starling, Malabar pied horn, Indian grey horn,wagles, white-backed vultures and so on.

The climatic and geological conditions, like undulating land massand a network of water streams, ponds and lakes, are favourablefor sustaining the rich biodiversity. The range of temperature from43 to 44 degrees in summer and minus two degrees in winter andan annual rainfall of around 1,400 mm bring a wide range of bio-diversity to this park.

The authorities deserve a lot of kudos for managing the parkso well. They have created adequate infrastructural and logistic facil-ities like housing, schooling for their children and an innovative med-ical scheme along with other excellent workers’ welfare measureslike soft loans. The souvenir shops and canteens are run by theworkers’ society and the profit is shared as bonus annually. Theturnover last year was `95 lakh and this year so far it is around`66 lakh despite the lockdown that saw a reduced footfall. Theseinnovative steps are the cornerstone of the park’s management pol-icy.

The scientific management of biodiversity is focussed on inter-dependence of species and non-living components. The park isknown for some innovative measurers like focussing on other speciesthan the tiger. The conservation programme of the barasingha, athreatened species, is now doing very well and animals are get-ting translocated to other wildlife reserves. The park managementhad made a few novel efforts like a “School for Rewilding OrphanedTiger Cubs” in which they are rescued, reared, trained and releasedback in the wild. A “Kanha Vikas Nidhi” had been created to sup-port the infrastructure and livelihoods of the 27 villages that wereshifted from the core area.

The State Eco-Development Board is also active in the wildlifereserves in these activities and creating a win-win situation for boththe people and wildlife. However, while interacting with the staff,one thing became clear. The State Government must look into thegenuine grievances of the Range Officers and other field staff ontheir salary structures which need to be brought at par with policeand forest staff of other States. The least the Shivraj Singh ChouhanGovernment must do is to accede to their demands as it is theirefforts that are making the forest rich in flora and fauna. This, inturn, is conserving water and helping agriculture in the area. Aboveall, they have made Madhya Pradesh a tiger State of India and result-ed in boosting its economy through bio-tourism.

(The writer is a former civil servant)

It is a sad fact that 53 people lost theirlives in the riots in north-east Delhiin February this year. Nearly 600

people were injured and propertyworth several crores was destroyed.Countless families had their sources oflivelihood destroyed and some unfor-tunate ones lost their sole bread-win-ners. The Delhi Police, too, had its shareof dead and injured, and I have nodoubt that it has been analysing thecause of the tragic course of events andhow it reacted and responded to the sit-

uation in the national Capital as itunfolded. Disconcertingly, there havebeen allegations that Delhi Police actedunder political pressure during the riots.But after an initial delay/dithering, itacted swiftly and controlled the situa-tion. The National Security Advisor andthe present Commissioner of Police,who was specially brought in from theCentral Reserve Police Force (CRPF),visited the worst-hit areas of the Capitalfor a few days, restored order andinstilled a sense of security and safetyamong the public.

While the embers of the riotswere still burning, criticism from var-ious quarters started pouring in regard-ing lack of transparency and impartial-ity in the conduct of the police. Severalarticles have appeared in the media car-rying allegations of one-sided probes.Motives are being attributed for both,arresting or not arresting people. It isindeed sad to see respectable namesbeing lent to write-ups castigating thepolice investigation with hardly any

attempt to access authentic material.It has been my experience in over

three decades of policing in Delhi andsome other AGMU-cadre States andUnion Territories that there is hardlyany political interference in policefunctioning in these jurisdictions, be itin handling of law and order situations,crime control or investigation of crimes.The police are usually free to act pro-fessionally in such matters barringindividual aberrations.

After the inept and biased handlingof the 1984 riots, which badly impact-ed its image, the Delhi Police, under theable leadership of the legendary VedMarwah and subsequent illustriousCommissioners of Police, has been act-ing professionally and competently. Ithas handled grave law and order situ-ations and various communal riots,including widespread unrest after theimplementation of the MandalCommission report. It appears that alle-gations of biased investigation in therecent riots are based more on percep-

tions than facts. Now that the DelhiPolice has filed several chargesheets,including a comprehensive 1,800 pageone in an important case related to theconspiracy behind the riots, a consid-erable amount of material relating tothis investigation has come into thepublic domain. The investigators havemade extensive use of modern technol-ogy in collecting evidence and havebeen able to get statements of key wit-nesses recorded before magistrates.Also, it emerges that the Delhi Policehas filed chargesheets against theaccused belonging to both the commu-nities, based on the quantum of evi-dence adduced during the course ofinvestigations.

Recently, the police filed a supple-mentary chargesheet against nine peo-ple, who were part of a WhatsAppgroup called Kattar Hindu Ekta, byadding Sections 153 A and 505 of theIndian Penal Code for promotingenmity between different groups in thename of religion. This has exposed the

allegations and conspiracy theoriesregarding favouritism and biased inves-tigation to be based on presumptionsand hearsay. It appears that those lev-elling such charges were either spread-ing much misinformation or weresimply jumping the gun. In fact, in casesof pre-planned caste or communal riots,it will be highly undesirable and unfairto arrest an equal number of peoplefrom both the groups/communities.Rather the police investigations, arrestsand chargesheets have to be basedstrictly on the evidence collected andthe facts of the case.

The competent court has alreadytaken cognisance of the matter and therelevant courts will hear both theprosecution and the defence. The evi-dence adduced by the prosecutionwill be subjected to rigorous scrutinyand witnesses will be examined andcross-examined. The accused and theirattorneys will get every opportunity topunch holes in the prosecution’s ver-sion.

As a former police officer and aconcerned citizen, I am hopeful andconfident that the rule of law will pre-vail and truth will eventually triumphin the probe in the Delhi riots.

Delhi Police did a commendablejob during the initial three months ofthe lockdown necessitated by theCOVID-19 outbreak and earnedimmense public goodwill. Police per-sonnel served and helped citizens in allpossible ways without even caring fortheir own lives or the welfare of theirown families. The lives of 20 police per-sonnel were also lost to COVID. Thepolice leadership would be well-advisedto step up efforts to improve public per-ception and project a people-friendlyimage by earning the trust and good-will of the masses.

(The writer is former SpecialCommissioner of Police, Delhi Police andMember, Public Grievances Commissionand Police Complaints Authority, Delhi.He is also an Advocate and Consultantin criminal matters)

Criticism based on perception rather than factsIt emerges that the Delhi Police has filed chargesheets against the accused belonging to both the communities in the February riots cases

SK JAIN

VIJAYAWADA| WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 4, 2020

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

Should the Vienna attacksend up being proven to bewhat they appear to be, itwould be a bloody hallmarkof the severity of Islamicterror in Europe. The recent tragedies linkedto religious extremists mustalert us to the terroristpotential such elementsconstitute and the need forresolute actions to havethem neutralised.

(China Daily editorial)

NO ROOM FORTERROR

analysis

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 4, 2020 money 08

MONEY MATTERS

German luxury carmakerMercedes-Benz onTuesday said it has

commenced the localproduction of its AMG portfolioin India, and rolled out its first-ever locally made GLC 434MATIC Coupe. The companyrolled out AMG GLC 434MATIC Coupe, tagged at Rs 76.7 lakh (ex-showroom), from itsPune facility on Tuesday. "Rolling out the first-ever locallymanufactured AMG from India's largest installed luxury carproduction facility is an important achievement for us. Thisreiterates our strong commitment for the Indian market and ourcontinuous effort towards creating value for our customers,"Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director & CEO Martin Schwenksaid in a statement. The company is confident that the localproduction of the AMG will further increase the popularity of theperformance brand in India and cater to the increasing demand ofperformance motoring enthusiasts, he added.

PNSn NEW DELHI

The quantum of borrowing tomeet states' GST revenue short-fall has to be "reasonable" con-sidering its economic impactand the Centre will continue torequest the opposition-ruledstates to opt for the proposedborrowing plan, FinanceSecretary Ajay BhushanPandey has said.

He said while extending theloan, the Centre would takeauthorisation from states thatrepayment would be madeonly from the GST compensa-tion cess which is being collect-ed and repayment schedule willbe set in such a manner that thecollections in cess pool postJune 2022 would be enough torepay the interest arising out ofborrowing.

So far, 21 states and 3 UnionTerritories have opted for theborrowing plan proposed bythe Centre to meet the Rs 1.83lakh crore shortfall in Goodsand Services Tax (GST) collec-tion of states.

Under the borrowing plan,the Centre would borrow frommarket Rs 1.10 lakh crore

which is the revenue shortfallon account of GST implemen-tation.

However, states like Kerala,Punjab, West Bengal,Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand are yet to opt for theproposed borrowing plan say-ing the Centre should borrowthe entire Rs 1.83 lakh croreshortfall and such classificationdue to "GST implementationand COVID-19 impact" is ille-gal and unconstitutional.

Pandey said in the GSTCouncil the Centre and stategovernments have all support-ed extension of the cess beyond

June 2022 and hence the com-pensation is fully secure.

"So far the compensation isconcerned, the entire com-pensation amount is payable.GST Council, the central andstate governments, all sup-ported extension of cess. So, thestates' compensation whichthey are entitled to is fullysecure.

"Compensation cess hasbeen extended beyond June2022. So far as the borrowingis concerned as to how muchone should borrow and what isthe optimum level of borrow-ing, that gets decided within

the parameters of Articles 292and 293," he told PTI.

Article 292 of the IndianConstitution states that theGovernment of India can bor-row amounts specified byParliament from time to time,while Article 293 mandatesthat state governments canborrow only from internalsources.

Pandey said there has to bea "reasonable level" of borrow-ing because if a balancedapproach is not taken theninterest burden will increasewhich would impact the econ-omy.

"That's why there is a 3 percent limit under FRBM whichhas been hiked to 5 per centsubject to certain conditions. Ifthere were no reasons for those

limits, then those limits should-n't have been there at the firstplace. But because the consti-tution requires that a balancedapproach be taken, henceArticles 292-293 are there.

"That is the reason while fullcompensation will be given, apart of that could be borrowedat this point of time. That hasbeen kept at Rs 1.10 lakh crore.So far, 21 states and 3 UTs havefound it reasonable and accept-able, that's why both the cen-tral and state governmentshave gone ahead with borrow-ing," he said.

The Centre has released Rs12,000 crore in two tranches to16 states and 3 UTs as back-to-back loan after borrowing fromthe market under the specialwindow facilitated by the RBI.

GST borrowing quantum hasto be reasonable: Fin Secy

Pandey said while extending the loan, theCentre would take authorisation fromstates that repayment would be made onlyfrom the GST cess which is being collectedand repayment schedule will be set in sucha manner that the collections in cess poolpost June 2022 would be enough to repay

PNSn NEW DELHI

In a significant verdict, theSupreme Court on Mondayheld that despite the enactmentof a special 2016 law, RERA, todeal with real estate firms,home buyers can still approachthe consumer forum to seekremedies including refund andcompensation from such com-panies for delay in handing overpossession of their dreamhomes.

The top court rejected thecontention of real estate firmM/s Imperia Structures Ltdthat once the Real Estate(Regulation and Development)Act (RERA) came into force, allquestions relating to construc-tion and completion have to bedealt with under this law andthe National ConsumerDisputes RedressalCommission (NCDRC) oughtnot to have entertained theconsumers' complaints.

Dealing with various provi-sions of the RERA and theConsumer Protection (CP) Act,a bench of Justices U U Lalitand Vineet Saran referred tovarious judgements and said ithas been held that though theproceedings before the NCDRCare judicial proceedings, thecommission “at the same time,is not a civil court within themeaning of the provisions of theCode of Civil Procedure”.

“It may have all the trappingsof the civil court but yet it can-not be called a civil court...On

the strength of the law sodeclared, Section 79 of theRERA Act does not in any waybar the (Consumer)Commission or Forum underthe provisions of the CP Act toentertain any complaint,” JusticeLalit said in the 45-page judge-ment.

After the enactment ofRERA, real estate firms havebeen taking stands that theconsumer fora have no right todeal with the complaints ofhome buyers against them.

The apex court settled the

issue and said though the spe-cial 2016 legislation has manyfeatures to the advantage ofhome buyers, still the con-sumer fora have the authority tokeep entertaining the com-plaints of home buyers if theyfall under the definition ofconsumer under the law.

The RERA “does not statuto-rily force” a person to withdrawany such complaint “nor do theprovisions of the RERA Act cre-ate any mechanism for transferof such pending proceedings toauthorities under the RERAAct,” the judgement said.“Again, insofar as cases wheresuch proceedings under theCP Act are initiated after theprovisions of the RERA Actcame into force, there is noth-ing in the RERA Act which barssuch initiation. The absence ofbar under Section 79 to the ini-tiation of proceedings before afora which cannot be called aCivil Court and express saving

under Section 88 of the RERAAct, make the position quiteclear... "Thus, the parliamentaryintent is clear that a choice ordiscretion is given to the allot-tee whether he wishes to initi-ate appropriate proceedingsunder the CP Act or file anapplication under the RERAAct,” it said.

The verdict came on anappeal of the M/s ImperiaStructures Ltd against thejudgement of the NCDRC onthe complaint of ten homebuyers of its housing schemecalled 'the ESFERA” in Sector13C, Gurgaon, Haryana. TheProject was launched in 2011and the complainants hadbooked their apartments in2011-12 by paying the bookingamounts and later approachedthe NCDRC alleging thatdespite the lapse of 42 monthsthere was no chance for themto get the possession of theirdream homes.

‘Home buyers can still approach consumer forum’

PNSn NEW DELHI

Market regulator Securitiesand Exchange Board of India(Sebi) has introduced a code ofconduct for fund managersand dealers of AMCs in orderto make them more account-able.

In addition, asset manage-ment companies (AMCs) havebeen allowed to become self-clearing members to clear andsettle trades in the debt seg-ment on behalf of its mutualfund schemes.

The move comes after Sebiboard approved a proposal inthis regard in September.

In a notification datedOctober 29, Sebi said thatchief executive officer (CEO)of the AMC will be responsi-ble to ensure that the code ofconduct is followed by fundmanagers and dealers.

It, further, said any breach ofthe code of conduct will bebrought to the attention of theboard of directors of the AMCand trustees.

Currently, mutual fundnorms require AMCs andtrustees to follow a code ofconduct. Also, the CEO isentrusted with several respon-sibilities.

The fund managers anddealers will abide by the codeof conduct and submit a quar-terly self-certification to thetrustees that they have com-plied with the code of conductor list exceptions, if any.

Fund managers will have anappropriate and adequate basis

for investment decision andwill be responsible for invest-ment in the funds managed bythem.

Further, fund managerswill record in writing, thedecision of buying or sellingsecurities together with thedetailed justifications for suchdecisions and not indulge inany act which results in artifi-cial window dressing of the netasset value (NAV).

Sebi said dealers will have toensure that orders are execut-ed on the best available terms,taking into account the rele-vant market at the time fortransactions of the kind and

size concerned to achieve theobjectives of the scheme and inthe best interest of all the unitholders.

Fund managers and dealerswill have to ensure that invest-ments are made in the interestof the unit holders; and will actfairly and deal with marketparticipants in a consistentand transparent manner.

Also, they will have toidentify existing or potentialconflicts of interest as pertheir institutions policies andaddress the same and discloseall interests in securities asrequired by statutory require-ments.

Sebi said dealers will have to ensure thatorders are executed on the best availableterms, taking into account the relevantmarket at the time for transactions of thekind and size concerned to achieve theobjectives of the scheme and in the bestinterest of all the unit holders

Mercedes rolls out first locallymanufactured AMG model in India

SME-focused supply chainfintech player LivFin onTuesday said it has raised

Rs 35 crore in equityinvestment from Germandevelopment lender DEG for anundisclosed shareholding. TheNew Delhi-based NBFC,promoted by the SAR Group, started operations in 2018 and plansto break even next year. It offers invoice finance solutions to smalland medium enterprises (SMEs) through tailor-made supply chainfinancing loans. "The equity investment of DEG underlines theresilience of our business model apart from signalling emergenceof supply chain finance as a potent financial sector investmentoption for investors," said LivFin founder Rakesh Malhotra. As perthe statement, DEG Vice-President Said Felix Schneider said, "Weare convinced that LivFin has the potential to catalyse theadvancement of the SME sector in this country." LivFin has anactive loan book of Rs 175 crore and cumulatively disbursed overRs 1,500 crore till date.

German lender DEG invests Rs 35crore in supply chain fintech LivFin

Media firm New DelhiTelevision Ltd (NDTV)on Tuesday said it has

ended the pay cuts of itsemployees, introduced afterthe outbreak of the COVID-19pandemic, with effect fromOctober 1.NDTV hadimplemented pay cuts of between 10-40 per cent on a graded scalebased on different salary slabs with effect from April 1, 2020.Employees earning Rs 50,000 per month or less were exempt fromany pay cut. "...Effective October 1, 2020, New Delhi Television Ltdhas ended all pay cuts for employees. These pay cuts wereintroduced on April 1, 2020, on account of the economicuncertainty caused by the pandemic," NDTV said in a regulatoryfiling. NDTV said effective August 1, 2020, pay cuts up to 20 percent were reversed. "After a careful review of its business, thecompany has decided that effective October 1, 2020, pay cuts willend for those employees who were impacted by a 20-40 per centcut. So, all pay cuts stand reversed, effective October 1, 2020.

NDTV ends salary pay cutsannounced post Covid outbreak

PNSn NEW DELHI

The government has releasedRs 2,200 crore as the firstinstalment to 15 states forundertaking measurestowards improvement of airquality. "The government,based on the recommenda-tions of the 15th FinanceCommission, has released Rs2,200 crore as the first install-ment to 15 states for theimprovement of air qualitymeasures in their million-plus cities," the NirmalaSitharaman tweeted. This willhelp the beneficiary states toundertake air quality mea-sures, including capacity-building of the local bodieswithin their million-pluscities, it added.

Govt releasesRs 2,200 croreto 15 states

PNSn NEW DELHI

The rupee on Tuesday settledalmost flat at 74.41 against theUS dollar after its initial gainswere erased despite strongequity markets.

Despite the early bounce,the home unit appeared tostruggle, even as the dollarremained broadly weak.

The rupee opened sharplyhigher at 74.34 amid heavybuying in local stock markets.The domestic currency rushedto hit the day's high of 74.25.

It gave up initial gains to

finally settle at 74.41, showinggain of just 1 paisa over theprevious close.

Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges the green-back's strength against a bas-ket of six currencies, fell 0.42per cent to 93.75. Foreigninstitutional investors emergedas net buyers in the capitalmarket as they purchasedshares worth Rs 740.61 croreon Monday, according to pro-visional exchange data. Brentcrude futures, the global oilbenchmark, rose 1.72 per centto USD 39.64 per barrel.

Rupee trims early gains to endflat at 74.41 against US dollar

PNSn MUMBAI

Equity benchmark Sensexrallied 504 points on Tuesday,tracking a strong uptick inindex majors ICICI Bank,HDFC twins and SBI amidpositive cues from globalmarkets ahead of the USpresidential election.

The 30-share BSE indexended 503.55 points or 1.27per cent higher at 40,261.13.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty jumped 144.35 pointsor 1.24 per cent to 11,813.50.

ICICI Bank was the topgainer in the Sensex pack,soaring over 6 per cent, fol-lowed by SBI, HDFC,PowerGrid, Sun Pharma,IndusInd Bank, Titan, BajajAuto and HDFC Bank.

NTPC, Reliance Industries,Nestle India, HCL Tech andInfosys were among the lag-gards. Domestic equities fol-lowed the positive trend inglobal markets ahead of theUS presidential election.

Sensex rallies504 pts; Niftyreclaims11,800 PNSn NEW DELHI

Leading stock exchange BSEon Tuesday said it has com-pleted physical deliveries ofgold under the India GoodDelivery standard in the'options in good' contracts.

The exchange executeddelivery of gold to the tune ofRs 1.5 crore in the 'options ingoods' framework, markingthe fifth consecutive month ofdeliveries at it's designatedvault in Ahmedabad, Gujarat,BSE said in a statement.

The 'options in goods' con-tracts on gold mini and silverkg based on spot prices waslaunched from June 1, 2020.These contracts are convertedinto physical delivery onexpiry.

The refined gold deliveredon the exchange platform wasproduced by AugmontEnterprises Pvt Ltd and ParkerPrecious Metals LLP. Inaddition to these refineries, MD Overseas Pvt Ltd andSovereign Metals Ltd are also

empanelled by BSE to deliverserial-numbered gold bars onits platform.

BSE said it has becomeIndia's first exchange to "com-plete deliveries of gold underBSE-BIS India Good Deliverystandard on its commodityplatform."

Also, the exchange said ithas executed deliveries of sil-ver based on LBMA stan-dards under the 'Options inGoods' segment. Earlier, BSEused to accept only serial-numbered gold bars approvedby the LBMA for the settle-ment of gold contractsexchanged on its commodityderivatives segment.

PNSn NEW DELHI

The Indian government hastime till the last week ofDecember to appeal against theverdict of an arbitration panelthat scrapped levy of Rs 22,100crore tax on the UK-based tele-com firm Vodafone Group Plcusing a retrospective law.

Finance Secretary AjayBhushan Pandey, refusing to bedrawn into discussion on for-mer Finance Minister ArunJaitley's promise to honourawards in retrospective taxcases, said the government isexamining all aspects to arriveat a decision on whether toappeal against the Voda award.

"We are still examining var-

ious aspects and a decisionwould be taken in due course,"Pandey told PTI.

Asked if there is a timelimit on the decision to file anappeal, Pandey said, "All arbi-tration orders if at all have tobe appealed, have a time limit

of 90 days. So, we have time todecide, so will decide."

Jaitley as the FinanceMinister of Modi-1.0 govern-ment on several occasions hadstated that the BJP governmentwill not raise any new demandusing the retrospective tax leg-islation and will honour arbi-tration awards in cases wherecompanies had challenged taxdemands raised by the previ-ous regime using the contro-versial retrospective tax legis-lation.

Vodafone had challengedbefore the arbitration tribunalIndia's usage of a 2012 legisla-tion that gave the governmentpowers to retrospectively taxdeals like Vodafone's USD 11-

billion acquisition of 67 percent stake in the mobile phonebusiness owned by HutchisonWhampoa in 2007.

It challenged the demand ofRs 7,990 crore in capital gainstaxes (Rs 22,100 crore afterincluding interest and penalty)under the Netherlands-IndiaBilateral Investment Treaty(BIT).

The arbitration tribunal hadsaid India's "conduct in respectof the imposition" of taxdemand on Vodafone"notwithstanding the SupremeCourt judgement is in breachof the guarantee of fair andequitable treatment" in thebilateral investment protec-tion treaty.

India has time to appeal against Voda arbitration

BSE delivers gold :Good Delivery standard

PNSn NEW DELHI

Investments of nearly Rs 1,000crore on the NationalMonsoon Mission and theHigh Performance Computingprogramme of the MoES overthe past five years have gener-ated economic benefits worthRs 50,000 crore for farmers,livestock rearers and fisher-men, a survey has shown.

The study conducted bythe National Council ofApplied Economic Research(NCAER) was based on aface-to-face survey of 6,098respondents -- 3,965 cropfarmers, 757 marine fishermenand 1,376 livestock owners.

Responses from over 2 lakhfarmers were also collectedfrom through interactive voiceresponse system. "The reportprovides an estimated incomegain of nearly Rs 13,000 croreper year for agricultural andlivestock farmers and an incre-mental benefit of nearly Rs48,000 cr," the ministry said.

The report was launched byEarth Sciences Minister HarshVardhan at an event here onTuesday. A total of Rs 551crore was spent on theNational Monsoon Missionwhile Rs 990 crore wasincurred on the High Perfor-mance Computing program-me to better weather forecast.

50-fold gains frominvestments onMonsoon Mission

PNSn NEW DELHI

The Finance Ministry onTuesday said that there hasbeen no increase in servicecharges by any public sectorbank even as Bank of Barodadecided to withdraw changesmade with regard to thenumber of free cash deposittransactions in a bankaccount per month.

The number of free cashdeposits and withdrawals,have been reduced from fiveeach per month to threeeach per month, with nochange in the charges fortransactions in excess ofthese free transactions, itsaid.

No increase inservice chargesby any publicsector bank

PNSn NEW DELHI

HMD Global (Nokia Mobiles)Global Vice President AjeyMehta on Monday said he ismoving out of the company tostart his own internet of things(IoT) venture, ikiva, that willfocus on the healthcaredomain.

Mehta was also responsiblefor overseeing Nokia Mobiles'business in India.

"After 16 incredible years,I have decided to bid farewellto my favourite Nokia Brandand explore the exciting worldof entrepreneurship. From

Nokia to Microsoft to HMD,I have worked in multipleroles across the world along-side brilliant people," Mehtasaid in a social media post.

Once a dominant player inthe Indian market, Nokiabegan to lose ground around2012, hurt by its slow responseto changing trends like dualSIM and touchscreen smart-phones. This was also thetime when homegrown firmslike Micromax and others likeSamsung began to eat intoNokia's market share, leavingit with under 10 per centshare at the end of 2012.

Nokia Global VP quits to start own venture

AIR QUALITY

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Complementing RERA

Sebi introduces code of conductfor mutual fund managers, dealers

WednesdayNovember 4, 2020

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facebook.com/dailypioneer

Actress Anjali,who played a

cop inNishabdham, arole she hadn’tdonned before,

is over themoon for theresponse hercharacter has

been receiving.In an exclusive

conversationwith The

Pioneer, theactress tells K RAMYA

SREE abouther first OTT

release, Teluguvs. Tamil films,

and more

he actress,who made herdebut withJourney androse to famewithin no

time, says thriller filmsare her favourite. “I per-sonally love thriller films.I chose Nishabdhambecause of the characterMaha. I have neverplayed an Americancop/an investigating offi-cer. The role and the waythe character wasdesigned is what mademe take up the project.”

“The story and screen-play is the standout ofthe film that gave it suchsuccess. People are smartand are now able to pre-dict what’s going to hap-pen next. We have to beahead of them in ourthought processes while

making a film, especiallya thriller and that iswhere Nishabdham madeits mark,” she says.

Anjali is known to theTelugu and Tamil audi-ence for playing realisticand girl-next-door char-acters. In an age whereplaying a cop hasbecome an obsession,how did Anjali feel play-ing such a strong charac-ter? The actress explains,“I did not accept the pro-ject just because she is acop. Maha carries a cer-tain weight. I feel happyand privileged to havepulled off the character,and more because I wasable to do something dif-ferent from what I haddone previously.”

For Anjali,Nishabdham is her firstOTT release. Sharing her

OTT release experience,she says, “OTT gives usan opportunity to reachout to more people. Noteveryone would go to thetheatre. I have manyfriends who host a movienight/popcorn night andwatch the latest releaseson OTT. I’m glad that Iam able to reach extraaudiences.”

The SeethammaVakitlo… actress is notto be seen much inTelugu films, the reason,she says, is because shehas been extremely busywith Tamil projects. Sheshares, “I cannot do mul-tiple language projects atonce. If I have allottedmy dates for a Tamilfilm, I cannot do aTelugu film and vice-versa. And Tamil filmskept me really occupied

lately because of which Icouldn’t take up manyTelugu projects.”

The debate aroundnepotism has beenplaguing the Bollywoodindustry for a long timenow and has slowlyentered the Tollywoodindustry as well. Anjali,being an outsider, tellsus, “I don’t think nepo-tism exists down south.It may exist inBollywood, but I didnot experience such athing in the souththat I can debateabout. I am a self-made star withabsolutely nobackground infilms and thesouth industryhas been sup-portive of every-one.”

FROM GIRL NEXTDOOR TO A COPT

Celebrating the sparklet’s festive sea-son and whatbetter time tosport a littlesparkle in theform of jew-

ellery? Sprinkle onto it alittle self-love and youhave Swarovski’s latestcurated selection ofsparkling styles that areperfect for this festive sea-son. The collection as wellas the campaign#CelebrateTheSparkle is allabout self-discovery andloving oneself.

For the very first time,Swarovski has associatedwith Bollywood’s leadingactress Bhumi Pednekar tousher in the Diwali fervour.She is among the leadactresses who is not only cel-ebrated for her work in theindustry but also for beingvocal towards the bettermentof the society, whether it isthrough her social worktowards climate change, orthe kind of roles she takes upthat challenge societal

norms. Her multifacetedpersonality, Swarovskibelieves, matches thesparkling woman who repre-sents modernity.

Highlighting the impor-tance of self-love and self-discovery, Bhumi says, “Ihave always felt very close toSwarovski as a brand as thiswas one of the very first giftsthat my sister and I got fromour parents. Not only do I

hold it very dear but it alsomade me feel special. It isthis remarkable feeling that Ihope everyone is able toexperience this festive sea-son. My association with thebrand for Diwali is us play-ing our part together tomotivate everyone to cele-brate themselves, love oneselfand indulge themselves aswell as their friends and fam-ily.”

Ideal for wearing or giftingthis Diwali, each design car-ries the message of together-ness. Elegant, refined andeasy-to-wear styles shinebrightly, and they can beworn alone or layeredtogether enabling women toexperiment with their look.Complimenting the jew-ellery, this Diwali Swarovskialso has to offer gleaming,clear crystals selection, time-pieces, accessories and homedécor. [The Swarovski DiwaliCollection is available forpurchase at every Swarovskistore near you, Myntra andTata CLiQ Luxury.]

I

Likitha Murthy behindthe roles she portrays

A lot has changed in the past 10 years in regards to the format of soap operas,but one thing that remains constant is the love for storylines that revolve around afemale protagonist, believes telly actress Likitha Murthy. Talking exclusively to The

Pioneer's SHIKHA DUGGAL, the social media star opens up about her role inBangaru Panjaram, OTT v/s Cinema, her first role, among others..

he popularity ofTelugu televisionclearly shows theprogress of tellywoodin the southern states.“Strong female-centric

stories are being welcomed bet-ter by the audiences. Anothertrendy plotline that’s giving writ-ers a good run for their money isstories being adapted from eitherliterature or real-life events,” saysTelugu television actress LikithaMurthy, who tasted major suc-cess with her most recent showBangaru Panjaram.

Currently being telecasted onStar Maa, with good andincreasing viewership, the serialhas also managed to complete ahundred episodes recently,marking an onset of celebrationsfor the cast and crew. Expressingimmense delight on beginningher career in a naive and emo-tional character calledMahalaxmi, she says she’s ever-grateful to the serial’s producerLambodhar and director Ramufor presenting her with suchvaluable opportunities to set footin the showbiz industry, thatturned a simple girl into anactress.

On considering cinema to bethe likelier choice when asked ifshe prefers OTT or Cinema, shesays, “Nothing can beat thebuzzing trend of breaking boxoffice records, it woos peoplewith its vibrancy and larger-than-life visuals. I, as acinephile, will definitely switchback to the big-screen viewing ofthe latest movies once the pan-demic ends, hence OTTs can’tsteal the spotlight.”

The saying ‘Some friendshipsare created at the most unex-pected moments,’ holds true tothe dynamic group of BangaruPanjaram, who are entertainingviewers with their power-packedperformances, that are a result oftheir thick friendship. Likithafinds all her co-actors to beextremely supportive and inter-active in nature —“there’s anatmosphere of endless conversa-

tions that gave me deepinsight into so many thingsaround me — especially intothe profession of acting,” theactress tells us.

About the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on theindustry and her sets, the actressshares, “Shoots came to a sudden

halt, we never saw this coming.The uncertainty about being ableto get back on set troubled

everyone, more so for the tech-nicians than us actors. Mediaconsumption took a shift andthe digital approach took over.Basically, for an industry thatworks on tight schedules, thelockdown came as a hiccup. Wecan’t thank our Corona warriorsenough for ensuring we’re safeand I hope things will get evenbetter soon,” she signs off.

T

The common saying ‘Somefriendships are created at themost unexpected moments,’holds true to the dynamicgroup of Bangaru Panjaram’scast and crew, who areentertaining viewers with theirpower-packed performances,that are all a result of theirthick friendship. Likitha findsall her co-actors to beextremely supportive andinteractive in nature. There’san atmosphere of endlessconversations that gave herdeep insight into so manythings around her, especiallyinto the profession of acting.

I have always feltvery close toSwarovski as this

was one of the very firstgifts that my sister and I gotfrom our parents. Not onlydo I hold it very dear but italso made me feel veryspecial. It is this feeling thatI hope everyone is able toexperience this festiveseason.

— BHUMI PEDNEKAR

out of the

BOX

ctressGabrielleUnion feelsthe post-Covid era willmake

Hollywood a safer placefor women, adding thatthe focus will not only beon how to stop thespread of the virus butalso on stopping thespread of misogyny,patriarchy and whitesupremacy.

“When we go back towork, the focus is goingto be on safety and well-ness, and keeping every-one safe. Because we’recoming out of theMeToo movementand Time’s Upmovement, we arenot going to sacri-fice personal safetyin any regard,”Gabrielle saidwhile talkingabout how theindustry willchange after thevirus crisis, andthe place ofwomen in thenew reality.

“This is cer-tainly not thetime to be com-ing with

misogynistic,patriarchal

(atti-

tude) (or) sexual harass-ment, when we’re all justtrying to get through awork day healthy andsafe,” she added.

The actress continued:“Because there will besuch a focus on makingsure that there arehealthy distances andproper protocols in place,I think that it will hope-fully snuff out those badcharacters who not onlywere putting women'slives and careers (but)wellbeing in danger. It isjust going to be so obvi-ous that you cannot

ignore it. Youwill not

be ableto

sweep it under the rug,because our focus will beso much on how we keepeveryone safe andhealthy.”

The actress, who hadfiled a complaint againstproducers and the net-work behind America’sGot Talent for racism onthe set of the realityshow, feels since “every-thing will be under sucha microscope it’s going tobe hard to make sense ofall male productions” aswell.

“First, I think a lot ofthose things will beaddressed just solelybecause we are paying somuch more attention tokeeping each other safe. Idon't think we are goingto stop at how to stop thevirus, but also how do westop the spread of misog-yny, patriarchy and white

supremacy and allthese other ‘isms’,”

she added.

10

Vijayawada Wednesday November 4 2020 what’s brewing?

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

A

Pankaj Tripathi: I don't worry if Ilose out onendorsements orfilm projects

ctor PankajTripathi does notworry if he losesout on endorse-ments or filmprojects.

“I am content with what-ever I have. I am satisfiedand I have conditioned

myself such that my needsare limited. Hence, I don’tworry if I lose out onendorsements or film pro-jects,” said the Mirzapuractor.

He feels that one shouldprimarily work for love.

“I often let go of lucrativeoffers if they don’t matchmy value system. I am asentimental man whodecides from his heartand works for the sheerjoy of art. I am thankfullypast that phase where Iworked for survival,” saidTripathi.

“Quality is important tome and I want my workto create a rich legacy thatwill inspire many moreartistes like me. At thispoint in my life, if I workfor anything except forthe power of the storiesthat appeal to me, I’d beinauthentic to myself. Iam happy with workcoming my way. I amassociating with collabo-rators who are making mebetter. And that's enoughto ensure I get a goodnight’s sleep,” he added.

A

ollywood actorAyushmannKhurrana, who isbusy shooting hisnext film inhometown

Chandigarh, is not stayingwith his family. Rather, hehas checked into a hotel.

Ayushmann, who is shoot-ing for Abhishek Kapoor’sChandigarh Kare Aashiqui,co-starring Vaani Kapoor, inhis hometown, cites COVIDpandemic as the reason forhis decision.

“I have been extremelycautious through the pan-demic and taken every possi-ble step not to catch thevirus and protect my family.My wife and my two youngkids can never come inharm’s way because of me,”Ayushmann said.

He added: “With me start-ing to work, our parents inChandigarh too should besafe at all times. I want tocontribute to restart theindustry but I also want tosafeguard my family fromthe virus.”

The actor along with theentire production team haschecked into a hotel.

“We are all staying theretill the end of the shoot.Whenever I go to meet myfamily now, we are maintain-ing social distance and alsowearing masks. It feels oddbut it is an important securi-ty step,” Ayushmann said.

Ayushmann creditsAbhishek Kapoor and hiswife, besides the productioncrew’s supervision for keep-ing the virus at bay on thesets.

B

Ayu

shm

ann

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sin

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otel

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in h

omet

own

akistani actressMadiha Imamrecalls fondly herexperience ofmaking her fea-ture film debut in

India, in a film co-starringher favourite actressManisha Koirala.

The film was Dear Maya,which released in 2017.Madiha played Anna, ateenage girl studying at aconvent school in Shimla.

“I remember arriving inIndia to shoot my first-ever

feature film and that too withour all-time favouriteManisha Koirala. It was hercomeback, and the name ofthe film was Dear Maya. Weshot the film in Delhi,Shimla and Mumbai. It wassuch a lovely experience.This was in 2017. My familymembers are also from therebut during my visit, we couldnot meet,” Madiha said.

“In fact, through thisinterview, I would like to tellManisha ma’am that I missher. It was lovely working

with her. She is such a greatactor! She is so gracious andevery time I look at her Iwould think, ‘why is she sobeautiful? why?’” Madihagiggled.

She currently appears inthe Pakistani web series EkJhooti Lovestory, whichstreams in India on Zee5.Does Madiha come to Indiaoften? “Whenever I get achance to work, and when-ever life has a plan for me!”promptly replied theactress.

P

Pak actress Madiha Imam recallsmaking her film debut in India

Gabrielle: Post Covid era not

the time for misogynistic,

patriarchal attitude

KL Rahul 670 runs

Kagiso Rabada 25 wickets

VIJAYAWADA | WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 4, 2020

11

MOTION PICTURE

DUGOUTIt wasn't the perfect game butit was a really good, solidperformance that we neededto put up. They (RCB) are areally good side, and we wonwith an over to spare

It was phenomenal to see theintensity and the energy thatthe boys showed on the field.What I require as a captain onthe field is to see everybodyputting 100 per cent effort

I am very happy that we haveended the league stage at thesecond spot. And nowhopefully we will take thetrophy winning the final matchon November 10

Finally, I got a chance to play.I was disappointed when Ididn't get to play. However, itfelt good after contributing tothe team's win and enjoyedbatting with Dhawan

POINTS TABLEP W L NRR PTS

1 MI (Q) 13 9 4 +1.296 18

2 DC (Q) 14 8 6 -0.109 16

3 SRH (Q)14 7 7 +0.608 14

4 RCB(Q) 14 7 7 -0.172 14

5 KKR 14 7 7 -0.214 14

6 KXIP 14 6 8 -0.162 12

7 CSK 14 6 8 -0.455 12

8 RR 14 6 8 -0.569 12

Chennai Super Kings tweets picture of former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson with caption “When he broke the news tothe Super Kings after our endgame...” @ChennaiIPL

WATSON RETIRES FROM CRICKETTop Australian all-rounder Shane Watson on Tuesdayretired from competitive cricket following his team ChennaiSuper Kings' exit from the IPL, calling himself “ridiculouslyfortunate” to have enjoyed a career spanning 20 years. The39-year-old retired from international cricket in 2016 andbid adieu to the Big Bash league last year. “It all started asa dream as a young kid saying to my Mum, as I watched aTest match, that I want to play for Australia. Now as Iofficially announce my retirement from all cricket I feelcrazily lucky to live out my dream,” Watson said on hisYouTube channel, a link of which was posted on his Twitterhandle. “It really does feel like the right time. Knowing thatI've played my last game of cricket ever, for my belovedCSK, who've been so incredibly good to me over the lastthree years. “To think that I'm finishing up my playing daysas a 39-year-old after all of my injury setbacks that I've hadalong the way, I feel so ridiculously fortunate.”

PTI n SHARJAH

The best of Indian women’s crick-et will combine with and also go

up against stars from countries likeEngland, South Africa, and the WestIndies when the third edition of theWomen’s T20 Challenge gets under-way here on Wednesday.

The four-match tournament willhave three teams — defending cham-pions Supernovas, last year’s runners-up Velocity and Trailblazers — com-peting against each other once beforethe summit clash on November 9.Cricketers from Sri Lanka,Bangladesh and New Zealand willalso participate.

The Supernovas, led byHarmanpreet Kaur, have been invin-cible so far winning all the previoustwo editions. They will kickstart thetournament taking on Mithali Raj’sVelocity in a repeat of last year’s finaleyeing a third title on the trot.

Harmanpreet was in top form inthe last edition scoring two half-cen-turies in three matches and in thefinal, her blisteriing 37-ball 51 sealeda second win for them.

India’s T20 captain will look toreturn to her majestic form, overcom-ing a patchy show in the World T20in Australia earlier this year.

She had a forgettable outingaveraging a dismal 6.00 from fivematches that cost India quite dearlyin the tournament where they fin-ished runners-up, after being bowledout for 99, chasing 185.

There will also be JemimahRodrigues to watch out for.

The Mumbai cricketer was thetop run-getter (123 runs at an aver-age of 61.50) in their triumphantcampaign last season. She wasadjudged the ‘Player of the Series’.

The opposition camp featuresMithali, who will be keen to lead fromthe front and avenge their 2019defeat when they lost by four wick-ets in a last over thriller.

Velocity will rely heavily on 16-year-old Indian sensation ShafaliVerma who grabbed eyeballs by hit-ting most sixes (nine) in the World

T20 and finished as the fifth highestrun-scorer.

All the International players willmaking a return to the field after theCovid-19 break that followed theWomen’s WT20 in February-March.It will be interesting to see their fit-ness levels, coming back after endur-ing a lockdown.

The tournament will also featureThailand’s opening batter NatthakanChantham, who scored her country’sfirst Women’s WT20 half-century.She became the first Associate crick-eter to play in the tournament whichis seen as a precursor to a full-fledgedWomen’s IPL.

Natthakan will representTrailblazers captained by Indianopener Smriti Mandhana.

Trailblazers will also feature vet-eran pacer Jhulan Ghoswami, Englishspinner Sophie Ecclestone, and WestIndian star Deandra Dottin.

All matches will be held inSharjah.

TEAMSSupernovas: Harmanpreet Kaur (c),Jemimah Rodrigues (vc), ChamariAtapattu, Priya Punia, Anuja Patil,Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (wk),Shashikala Siriwardene, PoonamYadav, Shakera Selman, ArundhatiReddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Ayushi Soni,Ayabonga Khaka and Muskan Malik.Velocity: Mithali Raj (c), VedaKrishnamurthy (vc), Shafali Verma,Sushma Verma (wk), Ekta Bisht,Mansi Joshi, Shikha Pandey, DevikaVaidya, Sushree Dibyadarshini,Manali Dakshini, Leigh Kasperek,Danielle Wyatt, Sune Luus, JahanaraAlam and M Anagha.

PTI n NEW DELHI

BCCI presidentSourav Ganguly

wants injuredsenior openerRohit Sharma totread cautiouslywhile deciding oncompeting for hisIPL team MumbaiIndians in theplay-offs as herisks aggravating

the hamstring tearthat led to hisexclusion from theAustralia-boundIndia squad.

Rohit has beenout of action since

the second leg fixture againstKings XI Punjab due to a lefthamstring tear and has beenleft out of the Indian squad forAustralia tour starting laterthis month.

The BCCI president saidthat the board will do every-thing possible to get an “assetlike Rohit” back in the park asthat’s their job.

“Rohit is injured at themoment. Otherwise, whywould we leave out a playerlike him. He is the vice-captainof the national (limited-overs)team,” Ganguly told PTI.

“We will have to assesshim. I don’t know (when hecan come back). He hasn’tplayed so far since the time he

has got injured. We want himto recover. It’s the BCCI’s jobto get their best players on thepark. If he recovers, he plays,”said the former captain.

When asked about thevideos put out by MumbaiIndians where Rohit is seenbatting at the nets, Gangulystruck a note of caution for thesenior player.

“Yeah, you don’t want himto get injured again. He has ahamstring tear and it will getruptured again. It will then getlonger for him to come back.But yes, there are people work-ing with him.

“The Mumbai Indiansphysio is working with him.The Indian physio (Nitin

Patel) is there. Rohit himselfknows that he has got a longcareer ahead and its not justthis IPL or next series for him.

“I am sure he is matureenough to do what is best forhim,” said the man, whoplayed 424 internationalmatches for India.

For someone who hasplayed 113 Tests and 311ODIs, Ganguly feels that whatlooks good during trainingmight not hold up in a matchsituation.

“...I can tell you that thingsyou do easily at the practicemight be a bit of struggle dur-ing match situation. The mus-cles react differently to pres-sure situations.”

However on a positivenote, the BCCI president saidthat Ishant Sharma’s recoveryfrom a side strain is going welland he “expects” the seniorspeedster to be available forthe Tests against Australia,starting mid-December.

“Yes, we are expectingIshant to be back for the Testmatches. He has already start-ed bowling from shorter run-ups and short spells. He hasbowled at NCA. But as thereis a BCCI protocol for fastbowlers, Ishant will be playingthe two first-class games inAustralia.”

Ganguly also backed theyoung Rishabh Pant, who hasbeen under fire for not play-

ing his natural game and scor-ing at a strike-rate below 115.

“Don’t worry. His batswing will come back. He is ayoung guy and all of us needto guide him. He’s got tremen-dous talent. Rishabh will befine. He and WriddhimanSaha are our two best wicket-keeper-batsmen in the coun-try.”

Asked if Pant, who hasalready been dropped fromtwo white-ball squads, will getto play Test matches given thatSaha is a better keeper and isin good batting form as well,Ganguly was non-committal.

“Only one can play, sowhoever is in best form willplay.”

PTI n ABU DHABI

Delhi Capitals’ skipperShreyas Iyer is quite

“chuffed” about the way histeam bounced back from fourconsecutive losses to make theIPL playoffs and insists that the“fearless” bunch has what ittakes to upstage defendingchampions Mumbai Indians upnext.

Delhi Capitals earned a top-two finish with an easy six-wick-

et win over Royal ChallengersBangalore on Monday. Theywill take on the defending cham-pions on Thursday for a place inthe IPL title clash.

“Mumbai Indians are one ofthe best teams. Having saidthat, I feel we are also a fearlessand amazing bunch of boys,”Iyer said at the post-match pressconference.

“It really depends on theday. They are pretty experi-enced in such (finals) stages butthe team has a good attitude andgood composure on that givenday is going to make it through.”

With Prithvi Shaw, Iyerhimself, Rishabh Pant and SouthAfrican paceman KagisoRabada, Delhi is packed with tal-ented youngsters.

Iyer said the key to gettingpast holders Mumbai onThursday in Dubai would behandling pressure with ease.

“We need to keep thingssimple and not complicate inpressure situations. The way wehave been going, this was a real-ly good win and it’s going to bea really good booster as well forus.”

The four-match losing

string snapped, Iyer was a reliv-ed man.

“This win was very essentialand it has put smiles on our facesafter four consecutive losses.Today the way we played, it wasa comprehensive win. All thedepartments were covered upwell by the players.

“I am really chuffed by theirperformance, the way they cameup and delivered at the righttime. The second place obvious-ly makes you feel good after theseason you had, with all the upsand downs,” he said.

“The IPL is always a roller-coaster journey.”

Iyer also hoped that AjinkyaRahane will continue to play asignificant role. Rahane scored60 runs in the win against theRCB.

“He (Rahane) carries a lot ofexperience in the IPL and theway he paced his innings, it wasamazing to see. It was greatexample and he peaked at theright time, just when we need-ed him.

“With a few importantmatches coming up, he willdefinitely play an importantrole.”

AFP n LEEDS

Leicester swept into secondplace in the Premier League

with an impressive 4-1 victoryat Leeds, while Fulham beatWest Bromwich Albion 2-0 tofinally clinch their first win ofthe season on Monday.

Brendan Rodgers’ side arejust one point behind leadersLiverpool after winning five oftheir first seven games in a top-flight season for the first time intheir history.

Harvey Barnes and YouriTielemans put Leicester twoup before half-time at EllandRoad.

Stuart Dallas got one backfor Leeds but Jamie Vardy’seighth goal of the seasonand a late Tielemans penal-ty wrapped up Leicester’sfourth successive awayleague win.

After the disappointment ofmissing out on a place in theChampions League last term,Leicester have shown they arecapable of mounting anothertop-four challenge.

Even a title push might notbe impossible given they have

already thrashed ManchesterCity 5-2.

“We were technically bril-liant. We had the quality to playwhen we had the opportunities.

I thought we were amazingright across the team,”Rodgers said. “This teamhas got an amazing men-tality with lots of young,hungry players. It’s still

very early and most of ourgames have been away but we’vehad brilliant performances.”

At Craven Cottage, Fulhamavoided their worst start to aseason since 1951 thanks to firsthalf goals from BobbyDecordova-Reid and Ola Aina.

PTI n SHARJAH

Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlersplayed their part in a must-

win game by restricting MumbaiIndians to 149 for eight in IPL'sfinal league fixture here onTuesday.

MI would have ended upwith much less if it wasn't forKieron Pollard, who ensured histeam put up a fighting total ona slow surface with an entertain-ing 41 off 25 balls. The defend-ing champions collected 51 runsoff the last five overs.

Needing a victory to makethe play-offs, SRH bowlers mademerry on a helping surface aftertheir skipper David Warnerdecided to put the opposition into bat.

MI skipper Rohit Sharma(4), who missed the last fourgames due to a hamstring injury,made a surprise return in histeam's last game ahead of theplay-offs. However, he lasted foronly seven balls as pacerSandeep Sharma (3/34) hadhim caught at mid-off with awell-disguised knuckle ball.

Sandeep also found thestumps of Rohit's opening part-ner Quinton de Kock (36 off 29)who played on after smashingthe SRH pacer for couple of sixesand a boundary.

It was the turn of spinnersRashid Khan (1/32) andShahbaz Nadeem (2/19) to pro-vide wickets in the middle-overs.

Nadeem got rid of the in-form Suryakumar Yadav (36)and Krunal Pandya (0) in the12th over and then Rashidremoved Saurabh Tiwary in thefollowing to reduce MI to 82 forfive. Just when the partnershipbetween Ishan Kishan (33 of 30)and Pollard was looking danger-ous, Sandeep removed thesouthpaw to tighten the screws

on the opposition.However, Pollard came to

his team's rescue yet again with

a valuable cameo.Pollard hammered four

sixes, three of those came in the

penultimate over bowled bydeath overs specialist TNatarajan.

Rajasthan Royals’ English all-rounder Ben Stokes signs matchjerseys before leaving team’s bio bubble @rajasthanroyals

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s IPL 2020 contingent pose for photoafter final league game @RCBTweets

PTI n RAWALPINDI

Speedster BlessingMuzarabani grabbed a five-

for in the regulation play andscalped two more wickets in theSuper Over to help Zimbabwestun Pakistan in the third andfinal ODI here on Tuesday.

It was Zimbabwe’s first winover Pakistan since 2015. Thehome team has already clinchedthe three-match ODI series,having won the earlier twomatches.

Pakistan and Zimbabwenow play a three-match T20Iseries, starting on Saturdayhere.

In a high-scoring match,

the 24-year old Muzarabaniovershadowed centuries fromhis team-mate Sean Williams(118 not out from 135 balls)and Pakistan captain BabarAzam (125 off 125 balls) and afive-for from 20-year-old fastbowler Muhammad Hasnain (5for 26).

Muzarabani returned withfigures of 5 for 49 in the homeside’s run-chase and then tooktwo more wickets in the superover in which Pakistan couldonly manage two runs.

Requiring just three runs towin in the Super Over,Zimbabwe wrapped up thematch in three balls.

Chasing 279 for a win,

Babar Azam produced a cap-tain’s innings to score his 12thODI century but was dismissedin the 49th over by a sharp ris-ing ball from Muzarabani to setup a thrilling finish.

Pakistan appeared to haverecovered from 3 for 20 and 6for 151 when Babar featured ina century stand with WahabRiaz (52 from 56 balls). ButWahab fell at 251 in the 47thover and Pakistan lost twowickets in the penultimate overto give Zimbabwe a rare win.

The Pakistan captain faced125 balls from which he hit 13fours and a six.

Earlier, Zimbabwe made agreat recovery after being threedown for 22 runs as Hasnainran amok, dismissing captainChamu Chibhabha, CraigErvine and Brian Chari inquick succession.

The experienced duo ofBrendon Taylor (56) andWilliams then teamed up for a84-runs partnership. Later,Wesley Madhevere (33 from 31balls) and Sikander Raza (45from 36 balls) also providedgood support as the left-hand-ed Williams resurrected theZimbabwe innings.

Williams remained unbeat-en on 118, hitting 13 fours andone six.

Warner, Saha take SRH into theplayoffs with a 10-wicket win

Sandeep Sharma celebrates with his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammates after taking wicket of Quinton de Kock IPLT20.com

PTI n SHARJAH

Skipper Rohit Sharma onTuesday returned to the

Mumbai Indians’ playingeleven for the team’s last leaguegame against Sunrisers

Hyderabad despite concernsover his fitness.

According to MumbaiIndians’ team management,Rohit suffered a hamstringstrain in his left leg in the gameagainst Kings XI Punjab on

October 18. He ended up miss-ing the next four games beforemaking a comeback on a daywhen BCCI president SouravGanguly advised not to rush hiscomeback from what he calleda “hamstring tear”.

When asked about his fit-ness status at the toss, Rohitsaid: “Looks like I’m fit andfine”.

With his team already inthe play-offs, Rohit could havetaken more rest beforeQualifier 1 on Thursday but thestar batsman decided to spendsome valuable time in themiddle after a two-week injurylay-off.

Like Ganguly, India headcoach Ravi Shastri had alsoadvised Rohit to not rush hisreturn.

Ro-fit returns

David Warner shake hands with Rohit Sharma during toss IPLT20.com

Women’s T20 challenge: ‘Invincible’

Supernovas eye third straight title

Rohit knows he has long career & not just this IPL: Ganguly

Iyer has faith in his fearlessbunch of boys to go past MI

Zimbabwe beat Pak via Super Over Vardy scores, creates2 in Leicester win

t looks like AishwaryaRajesh is on her way to baga big-ticket project inTelugu. According to thebuzz, she is in contention tobe cast opposite Pawan

Kalyan in the Telugu remake of thisyear’s Malayalam super hitAyyappanum Koshiyum.

In the original, Ayyappanum’s fire-brand wife role carried a lot ofweight and it is in this context, theTelugu makers seem to have settheir sights on a powerhouse of aperformer like Aishwarya.

When we contacted a sourceclose to the project on this devel-opment, he told us, “The makershaven’t firmed up on their plans yetconcretely but yes, Aishwarya’s namedid feature in their discussions.”

Aishwarya, who started her Telugucareer with World Famous Lover, hasprojects like Tuck Jagadish and DevaKatta’s next with Sai Tej in her kitty

right now.Ayyappanum Koshiyumremake, directed by

Saagar K Chandra,will roll mostly afterSankranti inPollachi, with themakers looking atwrapping up theshooting in less

than 50 days.Thaman is compos-

ing music for the pro-ject.

12

Vijayawada Wednesday November 4 2020tollywood

OTT or not,the pressureis still there:KeerthyKeerthy Suresh talks to NAGARAJGOUD about her second OTT release,Miss India, featuring in female-centricfilms, cutting a lean frame to don multiplecostumes, among others

iss India isnationalaward winnerKeerthySuresh’s sec-ond film that

will stream on an OTTplatform after Penguinand she is pleased aboutit in view of the presentcircumstances. “In thelockdown to have onerelease is something big,but to have two releasesis bigger. I’m just happyabout it,” she says in azoom session, flashingher million-dollar smile.

Debutant NarendraNath, who is a goldmedalist from SatyajitRay Film Institute, hasdirected the feel-goodentertainer, whose sup-porting cast is stacked upwith the likes of RajendraPrasad, Naresh, JagapathiBabu, Nadiya, NaveenChandra, KamalKamaraju and PoojithaPonnada. The film nar-rates the tale of an ambi-tious middle-class girlSamyuktha who has a“thing for tea”. “She wantsto be an entrepreneurand at the same time ispassionate about tea.How she establishes a teajoint in a coffee sippingcountry like the US andthe struggles she enduresis the film’s premise. Sheinherits tea making fromher grandfather (playedby Rajendra Prasad) whois a tea aficionado,” she

points out, adding thatshe found the coffee-teawar conflict in the storyinteresting. “I think everywoman will feel ambi-tious after they watch thefilm. And also, peoplewho have not been ableto do something in theirlife might feel the need todo it now.”

Courtesy Mahanati,Keerthy has become ahousehold name in thetwo Telugu states and sheadmits that it wasn’tdeliberate from her endto green-lit a slew offemale-centric films afterMahanati. “In fact, Iwanted to concentrate oncommercial films afterMahanati but I wasoffered female-centricfilms like Miss India,Penguin and Good LuckSakhi. So, I thought thisis the time to experi-ment,” she clarifies.

Effusive in her praisefor Narendra Nath, shementions that she wasgiven two narrations byhim and the script spoketo her. “My role’s relationwith her grandfather andher efforts to take tea toUS shores were some-thing I found differentand interesting.Narendra was very par-ticular about howSamyuktha’s journeyshould be, from her cos-tumes to hair to her char-acteristics. He was veryclear with his vision,” she

notes, crediting the filmto be one of the reasonsfor her to lose oodles ofweight. “After Mahanati,there was a break in mycareer and I wanted touse it to workout. MissIndia was also anotherreason as the director toldme that I had to cut alean frame to don multi-ple costumes.”

She admits to havelearnt a lot in the pasttwo years, having associ-ated chiefly with woman-centric films. “Myresponsibility hasincreased immensely assuch films take differentkinds of effort. As anactor, you need to makesure everything is perfectand that is a task. It’s aprocess and requires a lotof patience. It’s been diffi-cult but I’ve learnt a lot ofthings. Now, when I signa female-centric film, Iknow what to do andwhat not to,” she asserts.

With box-office out ofthe equation due to anOTT release, sure there must be no butter-flies-in-her-stomach feel-ing as the film drops onNetflix today? She begsto differ; saying sleeplessnights are common as itis a film at the end of theday, right? “You want itto do well and the word-of-mouth stillholds its value. The pres-sure is there,” she signsoff.

M

I

The story idea isunique: Santo on hisfilm with Raj Tarun

ctress VarshaBollamma, who isawaiting therelease of AmazonPrime’s MiddleClass Melodies,

has been roped in toromance Raj Tarun in hisforthcoming film withSantosh Mohan Veeranki, aformer aerospace engineer,who has made a dozen shortfilms. Produced byNandkumar Abhineni andBharath Maguluri under

Dream Town Productions,the untitled film waslaunched in Hyderabad onTuesday.

Speaking about Varsha’scasting, Santo aka Santoshtold us, “I wanted someonewho is a natural performerand at the same time a girl-next-door. Glad that she fitthe bill perfectly.”

Dubbing the film as a feel-good coming-of-age comedy,Santo said the principal pho-tography will begin from

November 30 in Hyderabad.“Raj Tarun’s characterisationwill be interesting. It’s differ-ent from what he had playedearlier. It is the reason whywe are taking a schedule at atime. He also is prepping forit. It will be completed inthree-four schedules. It is nota regular concept as the ideais unique,” he pointed out.

A Sweekar Agasthi musi-cal, the film also featuresVennela Kishore in a sup-porting role. — NG

A

KothiKommachi

to be wrapped

up Dec-endhe filming ofShatamanam Bhavathidirector Satish Vegesna’sKothi Kommachi, featur-ing Meghamsh Srihari,Sameer Vegesna, Riddhi

Kumar and Megha Chowdhury,commenced in Amalapuram,Andhra Pradesh on Monday, themakers said.

“We’ve begun the shoot ofKothi Kommachi on Monday.Several sequences featuring thelead actors, veteran actorsRajendra Prasad, Naresh will beshot in the vicinity ofAmalapuram for a couple ofweeks before we proceed to Vizagto shoot the remaining portions.I’m confident of entertaining theaudiences with this fun-filledentertainer,” Vegesna said.

Film’s producer M L VSatyanarayana said, “We’re sure ofcoming up with a film that will beliked by youngsters and familyaudiences alike. Vegesna Sathishhas penned a very good story witha strong emotional hook and we’releaving no stone unturned tomount it on a lavish scale. Thefilm will be a visual treat.”

A confusion comedy betweentwo couples, with focus on familyties and emotions, the film will bewrapped up by December-end.Anup Rubens is the tunesmith.

T

eaturing HarshKanumilli and SimranChoudary in the leadroles, a new film,Sehari, was launchedin Hyderabad on

Tuesday. Advaya Jishnu Reddy,who is the nephew of formerchief minister of united AP KiranKumar Reddy, in partnershipwith Shilpa Chowdary is produc-ing the film, a new-age love story,while ad filmmaker GnanasagarDwaraka is debuting as afeature film director.Music composerKoti will be seenas Harsh’sfather in thefilm.

For themuhurthamshot, AlluBobby switchedon the camera,while Dil Rajusounded theclapboard.Asian CinemasBharathNarang handed overthe scriptto the

makers.Extending his thanks to Koti

for accepting to play the role ofhis father, Harsh said he alsopenned the story inspired by theturn of events in his friends' lives.

Gnanasagar pointed out thatregular shooting will commencefrom next week. “Koti has agreedto do the film 20 minutes into thenarration. Harsh and Simran’s

roles will be differentand entertain-

ing,” he

said. Koti said that he will be seenin a full-length father role.

“I’m expecting to get a break asan artist with this film. It’s anentertaining and a feel-good lovestory. Sehari means celebration,”he informed.

The likes of AbhinavGomatam, Praneeth Reddy,Anisha Alla, Akshitha Harish andBalakrishna are on board for sup-

porting roles in thefilm, a Prasanth

Vihari musical.

SimranChoudary

in a new-age

love story

F

Aishwarya Rajeshopposite Pawan?

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