CID raids ex-IAS man's house as part of probe into APSSDC

VIJAYAWADA, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

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MONEY 8SENSEX, NIFTY END MARGINALLY LOWER AFTER CHOPPY SESSION

ANALYSIS 7TOURISM SECTOR CAN GOPLACES WITH NEW IDEAS

SPORTS 11ROOT’S RECORD HELPS LEAD AN

ENGLAND RALLY IN ASHES OPENER

}POOJA HEGDEFINISHES FILM-ING FOR BEAST

VVIIJJAAYYAAWWAADDAAWWEEAATTHHEERR

Updated DECEMBER 10, 2021 5:00 PM

FFoorreeccaasstt:: MOSTLY SUNNYTTeemmpp:: 332oc

HHuummiiddiittyy:: 68%SSuunnrriissee:: 6:26 AMSSuunnsseett:: 5:36 PM

AALLMMAANNAACC

TTOODDAAYY

Month & Paksham:

Margashirsha & Shukla Paksha

Tithi : Ashtami 19:12

Nakshatram : Purva Bhadrapada 22:32

Rahukalam : 9:24 am - 10:47 am

Yamagandam : 1:31 pm - 2:54 pm

Varjyam : Nil

Gulika : 6:39 am - 8:02 am

Amritakalam : 2:17 pm - 3:56 pm

Abhijit Muhurtham : 11:47 am - 12:31 pm

PNS n GUNTUR

In a tragic incident, six Vedic stu-dents were drowned in RiverKrishna at Madipadu village inAchampet mandal in the districton Friday. Police said that somestudents of Sweta SrungachalamVedic school went to the Krishnaon Friday evening. They venturedinto the river for a swim butdrowned in it.

The deceased were identified asShiva Sharma, Nitish KumarDikshit, Harshat Shukla,Anshuman Shukla and SubbamTrivedi. All the deceased werebelow 20 years of age. One moredeceased was yet to be identified.All the bodies were fished out ofthe river

The deceased belonged to UttarPradesh and Madhya Pradeshstates and they were pursuingVedic studies.

Create global norms for socialmedia and cryptocurrencies: ModiPNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi onFriday called for united efforts toshape global norms for emergingtechnologies like social media andcryptocurrencies so that theyare used to "empower" democ-racy and not to "undermine"it.

In a virtual address at theSummit for Democracy host-ed by US President Joe Biden,Modi said India would behappy to share its expert-ise in holding freeand fair electionsand in enhancingtransparency inall areas of gov-ernance.

Referringto AbrahamL i n c o l n ' sf a m o u squote ondemocracy, the prime ministeradded that democracy is also aboutbeing "with the people, within thepeople."

"The structural features likemulti-party elections, independentjudiciary, and free media areimportant instruments of democ-racy. However, the basic strength ofdemocracy is the spirit and ethosthat lie within our citizens and our

societies," he said."Democracy is not only of the

people, by the people, for the peo-ple but also with the people, with-in the people," Modi said.

The prime minister also calledfor joint efforts to shape globalnorms for emerging technologieslike social media and cryptocurren-cies. "We must also jointly shapeglobal norms for emerging tech-

nologies like social media andcryptocurrencies, so that they areused to empower democracy, notto undermine it," he said.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Criminal InvestigationDepartment (CID) sleuths onFriday conducted searches in theresidence of former IAS officer, KLakshminarayana, in Hyderabad.The searches were conducted aspart of the ongoing investigation byCID into the alleged APSSDCscam. Lakshminarayana acted asAPSSDC Director when the allegedscandal took place.

The CID sleuths seized somedocuments and computer harddisks from his residence. Theyalso served a notice toLakhshminarayana to appearbefore CID sleuths for questioningon December 13.

Meanwhile, Lakshminarayanahad fallen sick and he was shiftedto a corporate hospital for treat-ment. In July 2021, the governmenthad also ordered a CID probe into

alleged siphoning off of funds to thetune of Rs 240 crore by networkcompanies pertaining to theSiemens Project undertaken byAndhra Pradesh State SkillDevelopment Corporation(APSS-DC). The alleged funds' diversionwas found in a forensic audit

ordered by APSSDC.Forensic audit ordered by the

APSSDC into the Siemens Projectof providing skills to engineeringgraduates across the State hadfound that M/s Designtech and M/sSiemens reportedly diverted thefunds to the tune of Rs

241,78,61,508 through various shellcompanies. The said report alsorevealed that M/s Designtech andM/s Siemens have utilized only thegovernment contribution or Rs370.78 crore which is contrary tothe original scheme proposed bythe then TDP government.

It has also been brought to thenotice of the State government, bythe Government of India (GoI)agencies that a network of com-panies siphoned off funds fromAPSSDC through a bogus invoic-ing scheme pertaining to SiemensProject.

The then TDP government, inJune 2015, had cleared theSiemens Project to establish sixSiemens clusters each costing Rs546.84 crore with the governmentcontribution being limited to 10pc of the cost.

CID raids ex-IAS man’s house aspart of probe into APSSDC scam

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Taking serious objection to the‘baseless’ reports published in a sec-tion of media on the One-TimeSettlement (OTS) scheme,Government Advisor (PublicAffairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddyhas said that the stories were aimedat destabilising the StateGovernment.

Addressing a press conferencehere on Friday, he said that a sec-tion of the press that was in supportof the Opposition party had been

spinning baseless stories to misleadpeople on OTS. He said that therewas no compulsion to use thescheme and it was up to the peo-ple to take the decision. They can

use OTS to gain complete rights ontheir property which has beenpledged for availing of loans.

He urged the public to boycott allthose media houses that were upwith false propaganda and toldthem not to believe such stories.

He stated that the governmentwas bearing the registration cost ofRs 6,000 crore, without burdeningthe beneficiaries. He slammedOpposition Leader and TDP chiefN Chandrababu Naidu for trying to‘bluff ’ people once again by prom-ising to implement OTS free of cost.

He questioned why it wasshelved during the TDP rule.Recalling the scam related toTIDCO houses that were builtwithout any infrastructure facilities,Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy statedthat free-OTS was another fakepromise of Chandrababu Naidu,similar to ‘rythu runa mafi’.

He said that Chandrababu Naiduwas the person who did not evengive a single house to the poor dur-ing his regime and further object-ed to the government’s initiativesthat benefit the poor.

Sajjala rubbishes certain media reports on OTS

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

In a shot in the arm for the effortsof the State government to boostexports from Andhra Pradesh,Visakhapatnam and East Godavarihave made it to the list of India’s top30 districts in exports. WhileVisakhapatnam stood 14th, EastGodavari 18th for the first half ofthe current fiscal.

Regular compilation of district-wise export data has been startedby the Union Commerce Ministryfrom April 2021.

Under the ‘Districts as ExportHubs (DEH)’ initiative, launchedby the Department of Commerce,through the Director General ofForeign Trade (DGFT), productsand services with export potentialhave been identified for all districtsof the country and regular compi-

lation of district-wise export datahas been taken up.

The list of such identified prod-ucts and services is regularly updat-ed on the basis of inputs receivedfrom the states and Union territo-ries.

Under this initiative, districtexport action plans have been pre-pared for such identified products

and services for overseas markets,which include specific actionsrequired to support local exporters,manufacturers in producing, man-ufacturing identified products inadequate quantity and with the req-uisite quality, for reaching potentialbuyers outside India.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief KPawan Kalyan will observe‘Deeksha’ on December 12 in theparty office at Mangalagiri express-ing solidarity with the ongoingmovement initiated by the work-ers to protect the Visakha SteelPlant (VSP) from being privatised.

Pawan Kalyan will begin his‘Deeksha’ at 10 am and concludeit at 5 pm. Jana Sena Party PoliticalAffairs Committee (PAC)Chairman Nadendla Manohar willalso participate in the ‘Deeksha’along with Pawan Kalyan. PartyPAC members, State general sec-retaries, district presidents, stateexecutive members, and chair-men of affiliated wings will alsotake part in the programme

Workers of the steel plant and theevacuees are continuing their indef-inite struggle. As part of the contin-uation of moral support beingextended to them, the relay fast willbe observed at the party office at‘Mangalagiri’.

According to a press release by

the Jana Sena Party here on Friday,there is no proper response from theState government over the issue ofsteel plant protection. It may berecalled here that Pawan Kalyan hadmet top leaders in the Union gov-ernment initially and submitted amemorandum requesting them forreconsidering the decision on pri-vatisation of the Visakha Steel Plant.

He explained to them that theVSP was set up after sacrificesmade by many people and theTelugu people were sentimentallyattached to the plant.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Union Railway Minister AshwiniVaishnaw has assured YSRCP MPsV Vijayasai Reddy and PV MithunReddy to start the South CoastalRailway Zone activities inVisakhapatnam soon.

The YSRCP MPs met theRailway Minister in New Delhi onFriday. The MPs took to his noticethe announcement of establishinga railway zone in VisakhapatnamBut, so far the new railway zone hasnot been established inVisakhapatnam, they reminded theRailway Minister. Responding tothe YSRCP MPs' appeal, theRailway Minister promised that therailway zone office would be estab-lished in Visakhapatnam soon.

PNS n NEW DELHI

General Bipin Rawat and his wife,Madhulika Rawat, were crematedwith full military honours at Delhi'sBrar Square Crematorium onFriday evening. The cremationwas performed by their daughters,Kritika and Tarini. The bodies ofGen Rawat, India's first Chief ofDefence Staff, and his wife were laidside-by-side on the funeral pyre.Hours earlier, at the same crema-torium, the General's top aide,Brigadier LS Lidder, was also cre-mated. All three, and 10 others,died in a horrific chopper crash inTamil Nadu on Wednesday. As theflames rose, a 17-gun salute wasaccorded the Gen Rawat. The elab-orate funeral ceremony involved800 military personnel, in linewith established protocol. Earliertoday, after the bodies of theGeneral and his wife were brought

to the crematorium, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh stood insilent tribute as military buglessounded in the background. DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalalso paid his respects, as did high-

ranking officers from foreignfriendly nations.Gen Rawat andMadhulika Rawat's bodies werebrought to their final resting placein a gun carriage decked withflowers and draped with thenational flag, which wound itsway through the streets of thenational capital as part of a solemnprocession that included militarypersonnel marching alongside.

General Bipin Rawat cremated with full military honours,daughters perform last rites, a 17-gun salute was accorded

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) RajyaSabha member, V Vijayasai Reddy,has said that it is imperative in thepresent times for all legislative bod-ies to come together to find scientif-ic and sustainable solutions to air pol-lution immediately.

During a discussion in RajyaSabha on Friday over the privatemember resolution on air pollution,he said that air quality in India hasdeteriorated significantly over thepast two decades; today, air pollutionis the second largest risk factor con-tributing to the country’s disease bur-den after child and maternal under-nutrition.

Office of newrail zone to beset up in Vizag

Pawan Kalyan to sit on‘Deeksha’ tomorrow inprotest against VSP sale

6 Vedic studentsdrown in Krishna

Vijayasai callsfor concertedefforts to rein inair pollution

Visakhapatnam, EG among India’s top 30 districts in exports

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Under the ‘Districts as Export Hubs(DEH)’ initiative, launched by theDepartment of Commerce, throughthe Director-General of Foreign Trade(DGFT), District Export PromotionCommittees (DEPCs) have beenconstituted in each district.DEPCs are headed by the Collector ofthe district and co-chaired by thedesignated DGFT Regional Authority.All key officers related to agriculture,horticulture, livestock, fisheries,handicrafts, handlooms and industryin the district and the Lead BankManager along with key Export

Promotion Councils, Quality andTechnical Standards Bodies,Government of India departments likeMSME, Heavy Industry, Revenue andTextiles will be part of the DEPC.DEPC will focus on the specific

actions required to support localexporters, manufacturers inproducing exportable products inadequate quantity and with therequisite quality, and reachingpotential buyers outside India.The primary function of the DEPC is

to prepare and act on District SpecificExport Action Plans in collaborationwith all the relevant stakeholders fromthe Centre, State and the district.

Export promotion panelsformed in every district

The government has takenseveral steps to address the

challenges of user harm andhateful information available onsocial media platforms, Parliamentwas informed on Friday. Ministerof Electronics and IT AshwiniVaishnaw, in a written reply(starred question) in the RajyaSabha, also stated the ministryhas taken note of reports basedon a whistleblower's statementsabout Facebook and its allegedrole in circulation of hate speech,fake news and misinformation.He was responding to a questionon whether the government hasnoticed reports regarding"adversarial harmful networks -India case study" released by theFacebook whistleblower.

Taken steps to curbharmful content onsocial media, says Govt

The structural featureslike multi-party elections,

independent judiciary,and free media are

important instruments ofdemocracy. However, the

basic strength ofdemocracy is the spirit

and ethos that lie withinour citizens and our

societies— NARENDRA MODI

Prime Minister

NO IN-GAME PURCHASES SANSPARENTAL CONSENT: EDN MINISTRY

Not allowing in-game purchases without parental consent,avoiding credit or debit cards registration on apps forsubscriptions, using screen name (avatar) that does not

reveal their real name and installing internet gateway at homewith features like monitoring, logging and controlling the typesof content that the children can access, are among the do'sand don'ts listed in the Ministry of Education's advisory onsafe online gaming. The advisory noted that closure of schoolsdue to CVID-19 pandemic has increased the use of mobile andinternet by children and ultimately online gaming addiction.

INDIA HAS 21.03 JUDGES PERMILLION PEOPLE, LOK SABHA TOLD

India has 21.03 judges per million people, Lok Sabha wasinformed on Friday. In a written reply, Law Minister Kiren Rijijusaid, "The judge to population ratio (judge per million population)

with respect to sanctioned strength of judges is 21.03 as onOctober 31, 2021." In order to calculate the judge-population ratioper million population in a particular year, the Department ofJustice uses the criterion of using the population as per Census2011 and as per available information regarding sanctionedstrength of judges in Supreme Court, the high courts and districtand subordinate courts in the particular year, he explained.

ONLY 3-5% OF TOTAL HOSPITAL BEDSAVAILABLE FOR EMERGENCY CARE

The number of beds available at emergency departmentsaccounted for only 3-5 per cent of total hospital beds in thecountry, says a report that accessed the prevailing status of

100 emergency and injury care centres in government and privatehospital settings. The report titled 'Emergency and Injury Care atSecondary and Tertiary Level Centres in India', prepared by theDepartment of Emergency Medicine, AIIMS was submitted to NitiAayog. As per the report, most of the hospitals lacked presence ofgeneral doctors, specialists and nursing staff dedicated foremergency departments vis-à-vis the average footfall of patients.

US WINS APPEAL OVER EXTRADITIONOF WIKILEAKS FOUNDER JULIAN

The United States won an appeal in London's High Court tohave Wikileaks founder Julian Assange extradited to facecriminal charges, including breaking a spying law and

conspiring to hack government computers. "The court allowsthe appeal," Judge Timothy Holroyde said. The judge said hewas satisfied with a package of assurances given by the UnitedStates about the conditions of Assange's detention including apledge not to hold him in a so-called "ADX" maximum securityprison in Colorado and that he would be transferred toAustralia to serve his sentence if convicted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UnionHome Minister Amit Shah paying floraltributes to the mortal remains of GeneralBipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and othersin New Delhi on Friday.

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VIJAYAWADA 442

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RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..4422

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

Continued from Page 1

According to the original pro-posal, a cluster comprisingone Centre of Excellence(COE) and five Technical SkillDevelopment Institutions(TSDIs) and SkillDevelopment Centres (SDCs)were to be established at a costof Rs 546,84,18,908/- withSiemens and DesignTech pro-viding grant-in-aid of Rs.491,84,18,908 (90 pc) andgovernment share is Rs 55crore which is 10 pc of thetotal cost.

Later, the then governmentgave permission for enteringinto a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) andAP State Skill DevelopmentCorporation for an amount ofRs 370,78,80,000 towards 10pc of cost of the project with90 pc being met by the grantfrom technology partnersSiemens Tech in this project.

In this forensic audit, it wasfound that only the State gov-ernment’s 10 pc contributionwas utilised.

This is for the second time in thelast three weeks that Modi calledfor working together on theneed to regulate cryptocurren-cies.

In his virtual address at theSydney Dialogue on November18, Modi urged democraticnations to work together toensure that the cryptocurrencydoes not end up in the wronghands.In his remarks at theSummit for Democracy, Modisaid the democratic spirit isintegral to India's civilisationalethos and that the centuries ofthe colonial rule could not sup-press the democratic spirit of theIndian people.

"It again found full expressionwith India's independence, andled to an unparalleled story indemocratic nation-building overthe last 75 years," he said.

"It is a story of unprecedent-ed socio-economic inclusion inall spheres. It is a story of con-stant improvements in health,education, and human well-being at an un-imaginable scale,"he said. "The India story has oneclear message to the world. That

democracy can deliver, thatdemocracy has delivered, andthat democracy will continue todeliver," he added.

Modi said by working togeth-er, democracies can meet theaspirations of the citizens andcelebrate the democratic spirit ofhumanity. "India stands ready tojoin fellow democracies in thisnoble endeavour," he said.

Modi began by saying that heis proud to represent the world'slargest democracy at the summit.

"India would be happy toshare its expertise in holding freeand fair elections, and inenhancing transparency in allareas of governance throughinnovative digital solutions," hesaid. The prime minister saiddifferent parts of the world havefollowed different paths ofdemocratic development andthere is much to learn from eachother.

"We all need to constantlyimprove our democratic prac-tices and systems. And, we allneed to continuously enhanceinclusion, transparency, humandignity, responsive grievanceredressal and decentralisation ofpower," he said.

Create global norms for social mediaand cryptocurrencies: PM Modi

"The Ministry has taken noteof such news reports based ona whistle blower's statementsregarding Facebook. Thewhistle blower referred to insuch articles has attributedamplification of extreme viewsto algorithmic promotion," hesaid. The minister stated thatthese news reports also referto the apparent bias ofsignificant social mediaplatforms like Facebook foralleged circulation of hatespeech, fake news andmisinformation and Facebook'salleged negligence indeployment of adequatealgorithmic measures incontrolling these unwarrantedcirculations. There have beenallegations that Facebook'ssystem fuelled hate speech andfake news after FrancesHaugen, an employee of thecompany's integrity team untilMay 2021, leaked tens of

thousands of internaldocuments. On Friday,Vaishnaw said the governmenthas taken several steps toaddress the challenges of userharm and hateful informationon social media platforms. Inorder to ensure accountabilityof social media platforms tousers and enhanced usersafety, the government inFebruary notified theInformation Technology(Intermediary Guidelines andDigital Media Ethics Code)Rules, 2021 under the IT Act,2000. These rules require thatthe intermediaries followcertain due diligence asprescribed, he said. "MeitYthrough a program, namely,Information Security Educationand Awareness (ISEA), hasbeen creating awarenessamong users highlighting theimportance of following theethics while using Internet andadvising them not to sharerumours/fake news.

Taken steps to curb harmful content onsocial media, says Union Govt

Pawan Kalyan had participat-ed in the public meeting heldon the premises of the steelplant and echoed his voice

strongly for its protection.Pawan Kalyan had demand-ed that the Chief Ministershould take responsibility forthe VSP and initiate steps to

set up an all-party committeeand to take its members toDelhi.But there is no responsefrom the State government onthe issue. The steel plant

workers have been protestingfor the past more than 300days opposing the Centralgovernment's proposal of pri-vatising the steel plant.

He explained that the mainsources of air pollution includevehicle exhaust, heavy indus-try such as power generation,etc and get compounded dueto seasonal emissions fromdust storms, forest fires andwind conditions.

Extreme air pollution fromthese sources affects millionsof people in densely populat-ed regions who are exposed tothick, toxic smog for longperiods of time, he added.

He said that air pollution is

a global and borderless issue.Therefore the solutions too willhave to be all-encompassingand widespread.

“Each and every one of us,as citizens and representatives,need to uphold the responsibil-ity and do our best to containthis problem. I appreciate thecommitments made by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi at theCOP26 to cut the country’semissions to net-zero by 2070.With these announcements,India has shown its commit-ment to walk the talk and takea lead in mitigating climate

risk, despite having low percapita emissions,” he said.

Vijayasai Reddy further saidthat Andhra Pradesh has notonly been meticulously track-ing the air pollution levels inurban hubs but has also initi-ated multifaceted schemes totackle the problem. The stategovernment of AndhraPradesh will provide Rs 639crore as gap funding for theimplementation of the CleanAir Andhra Pradesh (CLAP)programme to reduce air pol-lution in the State over the nextfive years, he added.

Pawan Kalyan... to sit on ‘Deeksha’... tomorrow in protest against VSP sale

Vijayasai calls for concertedefforts to rein in air pollution

CID raids ex-IAS man’s house as

part of probe into APSSDC scam

ALL INDIA JUDICIAL SERVICES

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Union Government isengaged in a consultativeprocess with stakeholders toarrive at a common groundon the proposal for introduc-ing All India Judicial Services(AIJS), on the lines of CivilServices, for recruiting judges.

Telangana and AndhraPradesh are among the statesthat have not yet respondedto the proposal.

However, the AndhraPradesh High Court is not in

favour of AIJS. As far as HighCourts are concerned, two HighCourts are in favour of consti-tution of AIJS, 13 are not infavour, six want changes in theproposal, and two are yet to givetheir response.

In response to a question inthe Lok Sabha on Friday,Union Minister Kiren Rijijusaid:"The proposal of settingup of an All India Judicial ser-vice was discussed on pointsof eligibility, age, selection cri-teria, qualification, reserva-tions etc. in a meeting chaired

by Minister of Law and Justiceon 16th January 2017 in thepresence of Minister of Statefor Law and Justice, AttorneyGeneral for India, SolicitorGeneral of India, Secretariesof Department of Justice,Legal Affairs and LegislativeDepartment. Setting up AIJSwas also deliberated in ameeting of the ParliamentaryConsultative Committee inMarch, 2017 and theParliamentary Committee onthe Welfare of SCs/STs on22.02.2021"

Centre for common ground;AP, Telangana yet to respond

Timing of reforms also important: RangarajanPNS n HYDERABAD

Stressing that reforms are nec-essary to improve effeminacyand productivity of the system,former Reserve bank GovernorC Rangarajan on Friday saidthe timing of implementingthem is also important as theytend to attract criticism some-times.

His remarks came days afterthe NDA Government

repealed the three contentiousagricultural laws followingprotests by farmers for over ayear. Speaking on ThreeDecades of Economic Reformsin India as part of a special lec-ture series organized by IcfaiBusiness School (IBS)Rangarajan said severalreforms were introduced in1991 in the shadow of crisisthen. Reforms do attract criti-cism. It is not new. Even in

1991 there were critics. Therewere people in the Parliamentwho thought that we have soldourselves to IMF or some-thing like that Several of thosereforms could be introduced in1991 under the shadow of cri-sis, he said.

Now we can't do that.Therefore we need more dis-cussion. We need consensusbuilding. Therefore as wemove ahead with the reforms,

lot more consensus with all thestakeholders will be required.So timing and sequencing isalso important, the formerchairman of Prime Minister'sEconomic Advisory Council(PMEAC) said. Citing anexample on timing to introducereforms, he said labour reformsare best introduced at the timewhen economy is booming.

Noting that the Centre andstates must join hands in intro-

ducing reforms, Rangarajansaid all sectors including agri-cultural marketing also requirereforms and the governmentshould weigh how to introducethem with what degree of con-sent. Normally reforms createan atmosphere of good climatefor investments. The very pur-pose of reform is to improvethe productivity and efficien-cy of the system, he pointedout.

27 Omicron cases detected in India sofar, symptoms mostly mild: GovtPNS n NEW DELHI

The government on Fridaysaid 27 cases of the Omicronvariant of coronavirus havebeen detected in India so farand that mild symptoms havebeen noted in all the cases. Italso stated that clinically,Omicron is not posing a bur-den on the healthcare systemyet, but the vigil has to be main-tained.

At a press conference, JointSecretary in the Union HealthMinistry Lav Agarwal said 96international passengers havetested COVID-19 positive sinceDecember 1 and 83 of themwere from 'at-risk' countries.

Genomic sequencing isbeing carried out for these 96COVID-19 positive samples,he said, adding 59 countrieshave reported cases of theOmicron variant so far.

About cases of the newvariant of coronavirus in India,Agarwal said, "Twenty-fiveinstances of the Omicron vari-ant have been reported inIndia. Ten of them are inMaharashtra, nine inRajasthan, three in Gujarat,two in Karnataka, and one inDelhi."

"Omicron cases detectedcomprise less 0.04 per cent ofthe cases of different variantsdetected. All detectedOmicron cases have mildsymptoms," Agarwal said.

He asked citizens to strict-

ly follow Covid-appropriatebehaviour to prevent a surgein COVID-19 cases as beingseen in many European coun-tries.

Referring to a recent analy-sis by World HealthOrganisation (WHO) whichobserved that compliance topublic health and social mea-sures is declining with anincrease in vaccination rate,officials warned about thedeclining trend of wearingmasks.

NITI Aayog member(Health) Dr V K Paul said theusage of masks in the countryhas declined to pre-secondwave levels as he referred to anassessment by the Institute forHealth Metrics andEvaluation.

"In a way, we have againentered a danger zone. Fromthe point of view of protectioncapability, we are now operat-ing at a low level, at a risky andunacceptable level. We have toremember that both vaccinesand masks are important."

"We are witnessing clustersof Covid cases in one or tworegions. Over 70 such clustersare under our watch. By andlarge, the Delta variant isresponsible for it... Still, wehave to be vigilant. Gettingboth doses of vaccine andwearing masks is important,"Paul said.

He, however, said there hasbeen no recommendation yet

from the National TechnicalAdvisory Group onImmunization (NTAGI) onvaccinating children againstCOVID-19.

To a question whether theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) is conduct-ing any study on the effective-ness of Covishield andCovaxin against Omicron, itsDirector-General Dr BalramBhargava said samples of 25Omicron cases have been col-lected at the NIV Pune.

"We are trying to grow the

virus. Once we do so, we willbe able to test the efficacy ofboth these vaccines by takingblood from inoculated indi-viduals and see how effectivethat is in the laboratory," hesaid.

Asked how long immunitydue to vaccination lasts,Bhargava explained that forscientific data on vaccine effi-cacy, three things are impor-tant -- antibody response, cel-lular immunity and mucosalimmunity.

No idea!

Prevent children from gaming addiction

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Union Ministry ofEducation has issued an advi-sory to parents and teachersfor ensuring the safety ofchildren in online gamingand to prevent them fromgetting addicted to games.

DON’T’SChildren must not be

allowed in-game purchaseswithout parental consent. Toavoid in app purchases OTPbased payment methodsmust be adopted as per RBIguidelines.

Avoid credit/debit card reg-istration on apps for subscrip-tions. Place an upper limit onexpenditure per transaction.

Do not allow children tobuy directly using the laptopor mobile phone they use forgaming. Advise children notto download software andgames from unknown web-sites.

Tell kids to beware of click-ing links, images and pop-upson websites as they may con-tain viruses and harm thecomputer. It may also containage-inappropriate content.

Advise them not to givepersonal information overthe Internet while download-ing games. They should nevershare personal informationwith people in games and ongaming profiles.

Advise kids not to commu-nicate with strangers, includ-ing adults, through the web-cam, private messaging oronline chat, as it increases therisk of contact from onlineabusers, or bullying fromother players.

Advise them against engag-ing in online games for longhours without taking a break

as it harms health and leadsto addiction.

DOsWhile playing online

games, if something wronghappens, stop immediatelyand take a screenshot (usingthe ‘print screen’ button onthe keyboard) and report it.

Help your child to protecthis/her privacy online, makethem use a screen name(avatar) that does not revealtheir real name.

Use antivirus/spyware pro-grammes and configure webbrowsers securely using afirewall.Activate parental

controls and safety featureson the device or in the app orbrowser as it helps to restrictaccess to certain content andlimit spending on in-gamepurchases. Notify if a strangertries to start a conversationabout something inappro-priate or requests personalinformation.

Check the age rating of anygames your child is playing.

In case of bullying, encour-age not to respond and keepa record of the harassingmessages and report thebehaviour to the game siteadministrator/block, mute or‘unfriend’ that person fromtheir players list, or turn offthe in-game chat function.Play alongside your child toget a better sense of how theyare handling their personalinformation and who they arecommunicating with.

Help your child under-stand that some features inonline games are used toencourage more play andspending. Talk to them aboutgambling, what it is and itsconsequences both onlineand in the real world.

Centre issues advisory to parents, teachers

Two international passengerstest positive at RGIAPNS n HYDERABAD

Two international trav-ellers from ‘at risk’ coun-tries tested positive forCovid-19 at the RajivGandhi Internat ionalAirport on Thursday.

Their samples havebeen sent for genomesequencing to ascertain ifthey have the new vari-ant, Omicron, which hasbeen classified as a ‘vari-ant of concern’ by theWor l d He a l t hOrganization. If the vari-ant is not Omicron, theywill be sent for home

isolation.Thirteen international

passengers who testedpositive for Covid onarrival tested negative onDecember 6.

A total of 15 peoplefrom ‘at risk’ countrieshave tested positive forCovid-19 since stricternorms for internationalpassengers came intoeffect. The two covidpositive travellers havebeen admitted to TIMSHospital, where a dedi-cated ward has been setup for t re at ing suchpatients.

Visakhapatnam, EG among ...Continued from Page 1

These plans also includeidentifying and addressingchallenges for exports of suchidentified products, services,improving supply chains,market accessibility andhandholding for increasingexports.

According to the list pre-pared by the government ofIndia’s department of com-merce, exports from Vizagclocked 2755.02 million USDduring the period April-September in the current fis-cal 2021-22.

Of the total value ofexports from Vizag top fiveexported commodities val-ued at 2470.15 million USD.Engineering goods valued at845.96 million USD toppedthe exports list from Vizagfollowed by organic and inor-ganic chemicals valued777.27 million USD, drugsAnd pharmaceuticals at469.45 million USD, marineproducts of 239.71 millionUSD and petroleum productsvalued at 137.76 millionUSD.

DGFT also identifiedproducts having exportpotential from Vizag. Theseproducts include coconut-based, alloy wheels, cashew,black pepper, seafood,turmeric, honey, handicraftslike Etikoppakka toys, min-erals and mineral-basedproducts like Apatite,Crystalline Lime Stone,Quartz, Vermiculite, WhiteClay, Ruby, Mica, Calcite,

Red and Yellow Ochre, silveroak wood, Araku coffee, gin-ger powder.

Total exports in the sixmonths from East Godavaridistrict registered 2427.22million USD. Among thetotal exports, the value of thetop five commodities stood at2196.98 million USD.

The top five commoditiesfrom East Godavari includeengineering goods valued at1495.16 million USD, marineproducts of 342.89 millionUSD, rice 305.78 millionUSD, electronic goods 40.1million USD, meat, dairyand poultry products worth13.05 million USD.

Coir and coir products,rice, sugar, frozen shrimp,coir fibre and coir pith,Uppada Jamdani sarees havebeen identified as exportpotential from East Godavaridistrict.

In September, during theinaugural of a two-day‘Vanijya Utsav-2021’, organ-ised under Azadi ka AmritMahotsav, a central govern-ment initiative chief ministerYS Jaganmohan Reddy saidstate’s exports’ rankingamong other states gone upfrom 9th position in 2018-19to 7th position in 2019-20 to4th position in 2020-21. Itsshare in the total exports inthe country also increasedfrom 14.1 billion dollars to16.8 billion dollars. He saidthat the government is aim-ing to double the State con-tribution by 2030, which iscurrently at 5.8 percent.

Govt on ‘unlawful’

message interceptionPNS n NEW DELHI

The CommunicationsMinistry on Friday informedParliament that the govern-ment was not aware of anyunlawful interception of anyphone message of any indi-vidual. Minister of State forCommunications DevusinhChauhan replied "No" toquestions in Rajya Sabha,asking "whether Governmentis aware of any 'unlawfullearning of the contents ofany message'" and "whetherthe government is aware ofany authorised official unlaw-fully intercepting any mes-sage."

To another question onwhether reasons are invari-ably recorded in writing andorders taken from the com-petent authorities beforeintercepting any messageunder Section 5 of the IndianTelegraph Act, Chauhan, in awritten reply, stated that theorders for interception underthe said section are issued

with the approval of the"competent authority" as persub-rules and rules.

"As per sub-rule (2) ofthese Rules, these orders con-tain the reasons for suchdirection," Chauhan added.

In October, the SupremeCourt directed a panel ofexperts to investigate whetherthe government used mili-tary-grade private IsraeliPegasus spyware to surveilopposition leaders, activists,tycoons, judges and journal-ists.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2021

Naidu for Rs 1 crex gratia, job toLance Naik’s kinPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu onFriday urged the AP govern-ment to provide Rs. 1 Cr exgratia to the family membersof late Lance Naik Sai Tejawho died in the recent IAFchopper crash in Coonoor.Naidu said Sai Teja rose tojoin the personal securitystaff of the country's Chief ofDefence Staff within nineyears of joining the IndianArmy. He belonged toErraballi panchayat inKurabalakota mandal inChittoor district.

The TDP chief wrote a let-ter to AP Chief SecretarySameer Sarma, urging him toprovide a job to one of SaiTeja's family members. SaiTeja joined the army at theage of 20 and he was nowmartyred at 29 years.

Naidu said that Sai Tejawas born in a tribal familyand made a huge sacrifice inthe service of the country.With determination, hardwork and commitment, hecould get a place in the per-sonal security cover for thechief of the tri-services.

Naidu said the helicoptercrash led to the untimelydeath of Lance Naik Teja. Hestressed the need for theState Government to extendall possible help to thebereaved family.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State Government employ-ees took part in the lunch-break protest by wearing blackbadges on Friday, the final dayof the first phase of agitation.Speaking to media personshere on Friday, AP JACAmaravati chairmanBopparaju Venkateswarulu andAPNGOs president B SrinivasRao demanded that ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy should take the initiativeto repeal the ContributoryPension Scheme (CPS) andthat they would settle for noth-ing less.

The employees’ union lead-ers further said that the govern-ment should regularise all theoutsourced and part-timeemployees across the State,besides releasing the sevenpending DAs. They alsodemanded that PRC should beannounced for the teachersworking in model schoolsacross the State. The unionleaders said that salaries shouldbe increased for ASHA work-ers, ANMs and Anganwadiworkers. PRC should be imme-diately released for contract andoutsourced employees. CMJagan should take the initiativeto address the non-financial

demands along with the PRCimmediately, they said, andalso made it clear that even ifthe PRC was announced, theagitation would continue.

“The second phase of theagitation will be launchedsoon,” they said and added thatprotest rallies would be held inall talukas across the State onDecember 13 (Monday).

“We waited for three longyears out of respect for CMJagan and we will continue theprotest till all our demands areaddressed. We appeal to all theemployees to support the agi-tation till the demands are ful-filled,” they said.

Agitation will continue even ifPRC is announced: AP JAC

Restore cancelledpensions: LokeshPNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national general secretaryNara Lokesh on Friday urgedChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy to withdraw the deci-sion to cancel the welfare ben-efits of tribals in the name ofeKYC and update the benefi-ciaries' records. Lokesh wrotean open letter to the CM here,demanding that the cancelledpensions of the aged people,widows and the differently-abled tribals should be restoredimmediately.

Lokesh said the gramasachivalayas have become bighurdles in extending benefitsto the tribals. New conditionswere being brought in to denythese benefits. Lokesh strong-ly objected to the applicationof the rules being applied totribals of non-scheduled areasto those living in scheduledareas also. As a result, thou-sands of tribals living in agencyareas were losing theirGovernment benefits. Thiswas in violation of Clause 6 inSchedule 5 of the constitution,

which has laid down a clear cutdifference in the rights,

Lokesh slammed theGovernment for 'removing'benefits for some tribals bywrongly showing in recordsthat they had more than 10acres of land. In such instances,the government should handover such lands to the familiesconcerned if they were reallyowners of those land banks.

Nara Lokesh termed itunfortunate that the tribalfamilies were denied benefitseven if their members weredoing Government, contractand outsourcing jobs. Suchemployees were going to plainsand not caring about their fam-ilies which were living in thehills. As the government ben-efits were being removed, suchfamilies were facing a lot of suf-fering.

Lokesh said that the TDPregime provided 200 units offree power to tribals but thiswas cancelled now. Moreover,pensions and ration cards wereremoved for those using morethan 300 units.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The ongoing protest by thedoctors of Andhra PradeshJunior Doctors Association(AP JUDA) was called off onFriday after the assurance givenby the Director of MedicalEducation Dr. M RaghavendraRao. The DME visited GunturMedical College and con-firmed the arrest of the accusedbesides assuring the juniordoctors that the security will be

beefed with additional policeforces in and around the hos-pitals.

AP JUDA president Dr. JJeswanth and general secretaryDr. G Balaji informed that theongoing protest was called offwith the assurance given by theDME that more police forcewill be deployed at the hospi-tals for the security of the dutydoctors. They said that a DutyResident was physically assault-ed by the relatives of a patient

in Guntur General hospitalon December 6. The KothapetPolice Station stated that fourpersons out of the accusedwere arrested on December 8and the remaining two havebeen apprehended and arrest-ed on December 9 and appro-priate charges were filed.

They said that the DME hadvisited Guntur Medical Collegeand confirmed the arrest of theaccused besides assuring thejunior doctors that the securi-

ty will be increased with addi-tional police forces in andaround the hospitals.

The JUDAs thanked CMYS Jaganmohan Reddy, DGP DGautam D Sawang DME Dr. MRaghavendra Rao Vice-Chancellor NTRUHS, Dr. PSyama Prasad for the actiontaken and assurance given withregard to the safety and secu-rity of the doctors at all govern-ment hospitals across theAndhra Pradesh.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The National Institute ofTechnology-Andhra Pradesh isestablishing a CommonResearch and TechnologyDevelopment Hub (CRTDH)in the renewable energy sector.This will enhance the produc-tivity and competitiveness ofmicro and small enterprises(MSEs) by providing assis-tance in technological prob-lem-solving and capacity build-ing.

The research centre is spon-sored by the Department ofScientific and IndustrialResearch (DSIR), Ministry ofScience and Technology,Government of India. The

infrastructure and equipmentestablished at this researchcentre would facilitate microand small enterprises to con-duct research and develop-ment activities, including test-ing of innovative products andnew technologies.

DSIR will offer financialsupport of Rs 5 crore with NIT-Andhra Pradesh contributingRs 2.15 crore, including landand building for the researchcentre. The project will be ledby the Department of ElectricalEngineering, NIT-AndhraPradesh, in collaboration withother departments of the insti-tute.

“Our institute aims to estab-lish state-of-the-art Common

Research and TechnologyDevelopment Hub (CRTDH)in the renewable energy sec-tor and to provide researchand testing services to localMSEs. India has crossed themilestone of 100 GW inrenewable energy generationand moved towards a stronggreen and sustainable energy

transition,” said Prof. C.S.P.Rao, Director, NIT-AndhraPradesh, highlighting the keyaspects of this upcomingresearch centre.

He added: “This centre willbridge the gap between acad-emia and industries andstrengthen the relationship formutual benefits. I congratulate

the Department of ElectricalEngineering of the NIT for cre-ating such a Research andDevelopment Centre andthank DSIR for the sanction ofthe project.”

The aims of the CRTDHinclude delivering first-handresearch and developmenttechnological solutions to theMSEs in the renewable ener-gy sector, such as testing ser-vices, development of data-dri-ven simulation and designtools for assessment of renew-able resource potential, costassessment, operation-mainte-nance planning and riskassessment through testingand characterising of renew-able resources.

NIT-AP to set up renewable energy centre

VISAKHAPATNAM : Amid strong protests, the GreaterVisakhapatnam Municipal Corporation has passed the resolution toraise the garbage collection tax from Rs 60 to Rs 120 from the nextfinancial year. After a long gap, the GVMC council meeting was heldon Friday. The Opposition party members strongly objected to theproposed hike of the taxes and urged the board to drop the move. Asthe ruling party went ahead with the decision, the Opposition mem-bers staged a protest near the Speaker’s lobby. Telugu Desam Partymembers criticised the YSR Congress Party for the move.

GVMC hikes garbage tax ECoR to hold Adalatfor compassionateappointmentsPNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In order to resolve grievancesrelated to compassionateappointments, the Waltairdivision of the East CoastRailway will be holding anAdalat at the office of theSenior Divisional PersonnelOfficer, DRM Office,Dondaparthi, on December30, from 11 am. The familiesof railway employees of theWaltair division having griev-ances about compassionateappointments may submittheir applications in A-4 size

paper in the given format onor before December 24 to Sr.Divisional Personnel Officer,DRM Office Complex,Dondaparthy, Visakhapatnam,along with all relevant docu-ments.

It should be noted that thematters related to pendingcompassionate appointmentsat the divisional level only willbe dealt with during theAdalat. The cases which havebeen already resolved either atthe headquarters or at thedivisional level will not beentertained.

AP junior doctors call off strike

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Well-known retired Judge ofMadras High Court, JusticeChandru, during a meeting inVijayawada organised by theBezwada Bar Association onthe occasion of the WorldHuman Rights Day on Friday,supported the Andhra PradeshState government in variouscases.

The retired Judge said thatthe AP government had filedan application against the twojudges constituting the fullbench in the Amaravati capi-tal bill case which, accordingto him, was a genuine step. Hepointed out that the two judgeshearing the case have lands inAmaravati, so the AP govern-ment fears that it would not getjustice.

Justice Chandru said thatthe AP High Court dismissedthe petition filed by the Stategovernment on the land scamin Amaravati where the judgeshad received the benefit ofhouse sites from the previousgovernment.

Justice Chandru said thatthe Andhra Pradesh govern-ment was fighting a battle forits survival or to prove its exis-tence in the present circum-stances and said that its warwas not against the political

rivals, but against the judicia-ry.

He also took exception tothe AP High Court judges forasking the police to registercases against those who madecomments on the judiciary,handed over the case to theCBI which is now trying to go

to the US to arrest one of theaccused. He found fault withthe style of functioning of theAP High Court which isputting the elected govern-ment to test in every case.

He said that the electedgovernment had finally with-drawn the three capitals bill

thinking that it would not getjustice till the ‘so-called’ judgesretire.

Justice Chandru said thatthe judges in AP were threat-ening the elected governmentby seeking the President’s Rulein the State and this is veryunfortunate.

Justice Chandru defends APgovt's fight against judiciary

Guv expressesgrief over deathof studentsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh GovernorBiswabhusan Harichandanexpressed profound grief andsadness over the death of sixstudents of SwethaSringachalam Veda Patasalain Guntur district, when theywent for a bath in theKrishna River nearMadipadu in Achampetmandal of Guntur district.

The Governor wasinformed that the studentswent for a bath in theKrishna River, after com-pleting their studies as adaily routine and weredrowned and swept away inthe river by accident.Students from all over thecountry come for studies inVeda Patasala and the stu-dents who lost their lives inaccidents were identified asHarshit Shukla, SubhamTrivedi, Anshuman Shukla,Siva Sharma, Nitesh KumarDikshit.

Governor Harichandanexpressed his heartfelt con-dolences to the bereavedfamily members.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Vijayawada Central MLAMalladi Vishnu has saidinfrastructure facilities willbe developed under theVi j a y a w a d a - C e n t r a lAssembly constituency lim-its.

The MLA along with thecity mayor RayanaBhagyalakshmi, municipalcorporators and others laidthe foundation stone forlaying the approach road tothe Ajit Singh Nagar flyoverbridge.

He said the VMC hastaken up the side railingworks to the Budamerubridge, repairs to the roadsand approach road.

City mayor RBhagyalakshmi said infra-structure facilities will bedeveloped in Ajit SinghNagar and RamakrishnaPuram areas.

Deputy mayors A SailajaReddy, Bellam Durga, YSPcorporators Md ShaheenSultana, P Sirisha and oth-ers participated in the pro-gramme.

Foundation stone laid for road works

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Women secretaries and pro-moters of the village dairy co-operative societies play a veryimportant role in the success-ful implementation of the'Jagananna Pala Velluva'scheme in Krishna district,said Krishna district collectorJ Nivas on Friday. Collectorparticipated in the trainingprogrammes conducted forthe village dairy co-operativesociety secretaries, assistantsecretaries in Reddigudem andMylavaram mandals on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion,the Collector said the'Jagananna Pala Velluva'scheme will be implemented in300 villages in the first phasein the Krishna district. Hesaid 89 villages under theNandigama cluster and 90 vil-lages in the Nuzvid cluster arein the first phase. He said the'Jagananna Pala Velluva 'will bevery beneficial to women dairyfarmers and strengthen themfinancially. He said the scien-tific method will be followed inmeasuring cheese in the milk

and there is no scope to cheatthe farmers. He underlined theneed to create awarenessamong the women farmerson the sale of milk. He said thewomen farmers may get Rs.5to 7 more under the JaganannaPalavelluva scheme comparedto other dairies. He said thewomen dairy farmers mayearn Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000every month by procuring 200liters of milk. He said every vil-lage dairy has 11 promotersand financial assistance will be

given to the villagers to buy thecattle. Dairy DevelopmentFederation Joint Registrar TPraveena and other officialsand farmers participated in thetraining programme. He saidChief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy would launchJagananna Palavelluva schemein Krishna district very soon.

Earlier, the Collector visitedVissannapet andChandarlapadu mandals tocreate awareness among thewomen dairy farmers.

‘90 villages selected for milkscheme in Nuzvid cluster’

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Durga temple Executive Officer DBhramaramba on Friday inaugurated the queuelines barricading works near the Vinayaka tem-ple on Canal road for the Bhavani DeekshaViramana to be held at the Durga temple fromDecember 25 to 29.

As part of the massive arrangements for theBhavani Deeksha Viramana, barricades will bearranged from Canal road to the temple pass-ing via Ghat road. Lakhs of devotees attend theBhavani Deeksha Viramana programme everyyear. Durga temple administration will arrangefour 'Homa Gundams' for performing the'Homams'.

On the other hand, the district administra-tion will take up elaborate arrangements nearthe bathing ghats and other places for theDeekha relinquishment, tonsure and other

works. Arrangements will be made for the sup-ply of drinking water and distribution ofPrasadams to the devotees. Darshanam timingsare from 3 am to 10.30 pm every day and fivequeue lines will be arranged for free darshan.Besides, Rs 300 ticket darshan will be provid-ed for the convenience of devotees.

Arrangements in full swingfor ‘Deeksha Viramana'

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Anticipating Covid third wavedue to the much-talked-aboutOmicron variant, the State gov-ernment has issued new guide-lines to be followed strictly. TheState government on Friday hasissued fresh guidelines for theprevention of Covid third waveoutbreak in Andhra Pradesh asthe central government hasdecided to strictly enforce theWorld Health Organisation(WHO) guidelines.

As per the new guidelines,those who do not wear a maskin public will be imposed a fineof Rs 100. The owners of busi-ness establishments will befined if they allow people to theshops without a mask. The gov-ernment said that fines betweenRs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 will beimposed on shops, commercialcomplexes and businessesagainst violating Covid guide-lines.

Apart from imposing fines,the shops, commercial com-plexes and businesses will beforced to close for two days. Thegovernment has said it will reg-ister cases under Section 188 ofthe Disaster Management IPCin case of intentional violationof Covid guidelines. Peoplecan complain about violationsof Covid rules via Whatsapp at80109 68295.

The government has direct-ed the District Collectors,Superintendent of Police, andCommissioner of Police toensure that the Covid guidelinesare implemented strictly acrossthe State.

Govt issuesnew Covidguidelines

04VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2021

Balineni attends get-togetherorganised at Sidda’s houseONGOLE: Former minister and YSRCP leader Sidda Raghava Raohosted a get- together or which minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy,MLA K Sanjiv Rao, MLC Mahava Rao and Mayor Sujata attended.The get-together was held in the residence of Sidda Raghava Rao.Raghava Rao’s son Sidda Sudheer Kumar welcomed the minister bypresenting a bouquet. Later Sidda Raghava Rao felicitated theminister by wrapping a shawl. YSRCP leaders Challa Srinivasa Rao,city president Singaraju Venkata Rao and other leaders were amongthose who attended the party.

Devotee donates ornamentsworth Rs 3 cr to Lord BalajiTIRUMALA: In a munificent offering, an anonymous devotee onFriday donated about Rs three crore worth pair of Varada-katiHastas made of gold studded with diamonds and rubies to the LordVenkateswara temple here. A TTD statement here on Friday said thatthe devotee, who wished to remain anonymous, handed over theornaments weighing around 5.3 kg to TTD Additional ExecutiveOfficer AV Dharma Reddy at Ranganayakula Mandapam inside thetemple complex.

Obscene recording dancersarrested during Shasti festKAKINADA: The police conducted a raid on obscene recordingdance programme being held during the Sri SubrahmanyeswaraSwamy Shasti festival, behind the temple in Kurada village of KarapaMandal last night and arrested Ravula Satyanarayana alias Prasad,the chief organizer. On noticing the police the other organisers fledthe scene. A case was registered and a hunt is for the otheraccused, deploying a special team, the SDPO said.

Ration rice seized at toll gateNELLURU: The vigilance officials seized ration rice being transportedn two lorries at Kalaparru toll gate on Friday. The rice which wasdistributed under the Public Distribution System was beingtransported illegally from Piduguralla in Guntur district to Kakinadain two lorries. The officials led by Pedapadu Tahasildar PramodKumar and vigilance officials seized the rice and the lorries.

PNS n ELURU

West Godavari DistrictCollector Kartikeya Mishrahas directed the officials to takeall precautionary measures toface the predicted threat of theOmicron variant ofCoronavirus.

The Collector held a videoconference with RDOs, munic-ipal commissioners,Tahasildars, MPDOs, andhealth officials here on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion,the Collector said that since theOmicron variant ofCoronavirus is prevalent insome states, all precautionary

measures should be taken inthe district to check the infec-tion and face the challenge.

He asked the officials not tocompromise in implementingthe Covid norms in the district.He directed the officials totake steps to prepare the gov-ernment hospitals and notifiedprivate hospitals to treat thepatients if needed.

“Special drives should beconducted in all municipalareas to ensure that all shouldwear masks in shopping malls,shops, and open places. Rs 100fine should be imposed onthose who do not wear masks”,he said.

“The students in all collegesand schools should also wearmasks and the management ofeducational institutions shouldtake steps to ensure that all fol-low the covid norms in thecampus”, the Collector stated.

He instructed the officials toimpose a fine of Rs 10,000 toRs 25,000 to the managementof shops and shopping mallsfor violation of Ccovid restric-tions. The Collector told theofficials that the shops and

commercial establishmentscould be closed for one or twodays for violation of Covidnorms.

The market committee asso-ciations should be on alert onthe Omicron threat. Theyshould take steps to ensure thata large number of peopleshould not assemble in oneplace.

Mr.Kartikeya Misha askedthe officials to take steps tomake the testing labs ready byDecember 25th in the newlyconstructed area hospital inJangareddygudem. All Oxygenplants in the hospitals shouldbe brought into utilization by

December 20 asked to keepready the needed medicines.

“The Coronavirus testsshould be enhanced in thewake of the Omicron threat.Nodal officers should be pre-pared to implement the Covidguidelines laid down by thegovernment”, he said.

The Collector instructed theofficials concerned to expeditethe vaccination process andensure that the targets wereachieved in this regard. JointCollectors Himanshu Shukla,Padmavati, DHMO Dr.B Ravi,and GGH superintendentDr.AVR Mohan were amongthose who attended the meet-

PNS n GUNTUR

Internal squabbles in the YSRCongress Party (YSRCP) havesurfaced once again in thedistrict as the followers of for-mer MLA and senior partyleader Marri Rajasekhar open-ly expressed anger over theleadership for not giving theMLC ticket to him.

The tussle betweenChilakaluripet MLA VidadalaRajani and Narasaraopet MPLavu Sri Krishnadevayalu wasexposed once again as theMP's name was found missingin the invitation for theAgriculture market yard com-mittee members swearing-inceremony.

The YSRCP got divided intotwo groups in the district.MLA Vidudala Rajani is lead-ing a group while MP SriKrishnadevaralu is leadinganother group. MarriRajasekhar is enjoying thepatronage of the MP. The dis-content within the ruling partyexposed as Marri Rajasekhar’sclose relative openly expressedanger over the YSRCP leader-

ship for ignoring Rajasekhar bynot allotting an MLC ticket.

Addressing former ChiefMinister K Rosaiah's memor-ial meeting two days ago, for-mer MLA SomepalliSambaiah’s son VenkataSubbiah questioned the YSRCPleadership as to why it ignoredMarri Rajasekhar. He said thatMarri Rajasekhar was assuredof giving MLC ticket if hestrove hard and ensured thevictory of Vidudala Rajani inthe Chilakaluripet constituen-cy for which Rajasekhar agreedand worked hard for her vic-tory.

However, the YSRCP high

command failed to fulfill itspromise of giving the MLCticket to Marri Rajasekhar.Rajasekhar’s close associatessaid that Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy himselfassured Marri Rajasekhar togive MLC ticket but hedeceived Rajasekar. Theyclaimed that the Rajasekharfamily spent huge money forthe strengthening of YSDRCPin the Guntur district.

Marri Rajasekhar’s followerssaid that MLA Vidudala Rajaniinfluenced the YSRCP highcommand in not allotting anMLC ticket to Rajasekhar.Meanwhile, Venkata Subbiah’s

comments caused a commo-tion in the YSRCP.

Moreover, the violation ofprotocol in the market yardcommittee oath-taking pro-gramme also caused a flutter inthe ruling YSRCP. MP SriKrishnadevarayalu was notinvited to the programme andhis name was not even figuredin the invitation card whichexposed the bitter rivalrybetween the MP and MLAVidudala Rajani. Interestinglyminister Balineni SrinivasaReddy and other YSRCP lead-ers attended the meeting butthe MP's name did not figurein the list of invitees.

Internal squabbles in YSRCPto the fore in Guntur district

PNS n GUNTUR

Contractors under the aegis ofthe Andhra Pradesh BuildingContractors Associationstaged a dharna holding emptyplates demanding the gov-ernment to clear their pendingbills at the Collector’s officehere on Friday.

The contractors raised slo-gans against the government’sindifference in clearing theirbills. They demanded that allthe pending bills should becleared. AP ContractorsAssociation State secretaryPrasad told the media that thebills for the works they haddone, had been kept pending.

The contracting system hadcome to a halt since the gov-ernment is not disbursingmoney for the works done bythem, he flayed.

“We have got the worksthrough the tenders. We bor-rowed money from banks tocomplete the works. However,after completing the works, thegovernment did not pay themoney. The contractors are ina bad position financially asthey had spent huge money tocomplete the constructionworks”, he said. He urgedChief Minister Y S JaganMohan Reddy to resolve theissue and take steps to clear allthe pending bills.

Novel protest by contractors

Gear up to face Omicron threat, WG Collector directs officials

Prakasam SP forspeedy disposal ofSC/ST atrocity casesPNS n ONGOLE

Superintendent of Police MalikaGarg has directed the policeofficials to take steps for thespeedy resolution of the SC/STatrocity cases.

The SP held a review meet-ing with the DSPs of all the sub-divisions in the Prakasam dis-trict via video conference hereon Friday. Speaking on theoccasion, the SP enquired withthe officers about the details ofthe cases registered so far in thedistrict under the SC and STAtrocities Act, their progress,and the steps taken by them toresolve the respective cases.

The SP said that 79 SC/STatrocity cases and 29 DSP's per-sonal investigation cases arepending at various levels in thedistrict and directed the author-ities to take special attention tocomplete them. DSPs havebeen directed to complete theinvestigation within 7 days andprovide prompt justice to thevictims, especially women-related cases and POCSO cases.

The SP reviewed the UIcases in Ongole, Chirala, Darsi,Markapuram, Kandukur sub-

divisions, Disha PS, and SC/STcell and gave key instructionsand suggestions to the officerson the investigation into thecases, arrest of the respon-dents, and on the filing ofcharge sheets.

The top brass directed themto behave amicably with thevictims during the probe, to acttransparently and impartiallyin the investigation of thecases, to reach the scene assoon as the SC/ST atrocitycomplaints are received, tocomplete the investigationwithin the stipulated time andfile the charge sheets in theconcerned court.

The SP said that the SCs, STs,and other people should bemade aware of the SC/STAtrocities Act so that atrocitiesagainst the SCs and STs couldbe controlled. The SP warnedthat officers should not be laxin registering and investigatingthe SC/ST cases and depart-mental action would be takenagainst the negligent officers.DSB DSP B.Maryadasu, DCRBCI Bala Murali, and IT Corestaff participated in this pro-gramme.

PNS n ONGOLE

Government employees stageda dharna during the lunchhour at Collector’s office hereon Friday demanding that thegovernment concede theirlegitimate demands.

The government employ-ees under the aegis of AP JACand Amaravati JAC staged adharna raising slogans againstthe government’s indifferenceto resolve the issue.

They demanded that thegovernment negotiate with the

employees’ unions on the PRC.APJAC Amaravati general sec-retary Venkateswara Reddysaid that they would continuetheir stir till the governmentconceded their demand ofnegotiating with them on thePRC.

Govt staff stage dharna

PNS n ONGOLE

The Jana Sena Party (JSP) hereon Friday demanded that thegovernment modernise thePothuraju canal at the earliest.

Jana Sena district presidentSheik Riaz, along with theparty leaders, inspected thecanal on Friday. Speaking onthe occasion, he said that thePothuraju canal is flowing 7.3KMs to the east of Ongole citywith 150 feet in width. Thecanal had been occupied byencroachers. Garbage dumpedin the canal inhibits the freeflow of floodwater which caus-es inundation of colonies in thelow-lying areas.

As many as 25 colonies onthe outskirts submerged inabout 10 feet of floodwaterduring the Laila cyclone, herecalled. Earlier, MinisterBalineni Srinivasa Reddy whowas the then MLA promised tomodernise the canal and

remove the encroachments ifvoted to power.

The Pothuraju canal wasused by all political party lead-ers during elections as theyassured modernisation of thecanal but nothing happened.The erstwhile TDP govern-

ment invited tenders for themodernisation of the Pothurajucanal at a cost of Rs 120 crore.Now, the YSRCP governmentinvited tenders again under thereverse tendering concept andreduced the modernisationcost to Rs 90 crore. The mod-ernisation works began andcame to a halt after a few days.It has been six months since themodernisation works came toa halt but no initiative wastaken to resume the same, heregretted.

“Minister Balineni SrinivasaReddy, for his political mileage,reduced the canal’s width to 40,30 and 20 feet at various places.The construction of a road on

the bank of the canal was alsoignored. The protection wall ofthe canal was reduced from 18feet in height to 8 feet. The 8feet protection wall is unable toprotect the colonies from theheavy floods,” the Jana Senaleader said.

Keeping in view the delugewhich the Tirupati city facedduring the heavy rains recent-ly, the Pothuraju canal mod-ernisation works should beresumed at the earliest, thewidth of the canal should bewidened and encroachers ofthe canal should be removed.The height of the protectionwall should be increased, theJana Sena leader demanded.

Modernise Pothuraju canal in Ongole, demands Jana Sena

SHORT TAKES Remandprisoner dieson way tohospitalPNS n KAKINADA

A remand prisoner inRamachandrapuram sub-jaildied on Friday. Police who reg-istered a case identified thedeceased as Karri Achireddy(51) native of Arthamuru vil-lage of Mandapet mandal.

He was arrested by Excisepolice on December 7 and theadditional judicial first-classcourt has remanded him for 15days of judicial custody.

Since then he had been inthe Ramachandrapuram sub-jail. He suddenly took ill in theearly hours and while beingrushed to Area hospital died enroute, police said. However, thefamily members have allegedthat the death took place dueto severe physical torture sub-jected to by the Excise police.

They further alleged thatthere were injuries all over thebody. TheRamachandrapuram RDO P.Sindhu Subrahmanyam hasconducted the preliminaryenquiry into the suspiciousdeath.

The RDO made enquirieswith the sub-jail officers , otherremand prisoners besides Areahospital doctors.

The RDO who visited thebody of Achireddy in theMortuary said that preliminaryinvestigation was completedand until the postmortemreport was received nothingcan be said on the incident.

Man beheadswife, carriesher head to PSand surrenders

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a blood-curdling inci-dent, a man named Parwezbeheaded his wife at homeon Friday morning aftertaking ganja, carried herhead to the RajendranagarPolice Station, and surren-dered.

This chilling sequence ofevents happened at dawn atImad Nagar under theRajendra Nagar PS limits inHyderabad.

Parwez and the deceased,Samreena Begum, got mar-ried 14 years back. He usedto suspect her fidelity andthe couple quarreled on thisquite often. They eventual-ly got divorced; however,subsequently the familymembers convinced them togo for remarriage.

Par wez continued toexpress his doubts over hiswife's character.

On Friday, whileSamreena Begum was asleep,Parwez cut her head with aknife and went to theRajender Nagar PoliceStation with her choppedhead in a horrific manner.He surrendered to the police.

Family members are ofthe view that he killed hiswife suspecting her fidelity.

The Police have regis-tered a murder case.Investigation is on.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The owner of ‘Heal My FamilyCare Home Service’ has alleged-ly sexually assaulted a nurseworking in the organization.

Mallela Sai, the owner of thehome care services, called upthe victim on November 7 andinformed her that there was anemergency case. She thenrushed to the hospital, police

said.But the accused who had

given her false information toget her to the office attacked hersexually. Later, he threatened hernot to tell anybody and sent heron a bus to Vijayawada.

She was married in 2012 andwas divorced. She is livingalong with her six-year-old sonat Panjagutta and is working inthe family home care service.

Nurse alleges sexual assault by employer

CCS arrests man for cheating 11 people of Rs 1.41 croreG. RAVI KIRAN

n HYDERABAD

The CCS of Hyderabad hasarrested a person involved in acheating case involving Rs 1.41

crore on Thursday.As per the complaint of one

Mohammed Hyder Ali, a casewas registered againstMohammed Usman Kareemfor collecting huge amounts

from the public as investmentsin the second-hand auto/car salebusiness by promising goodreturns. Police said that Kareemcheated the complainant and 11other people of Rs 1,41,20,000

and escaped with the money.Mohd. Usman Kareem, hailsfrom Bareli in UP. The case isbeing investigated by InspectorP. Rajashekar, under the super-vision of CCS Hyderabad.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Shilpa Chowdary, an accused ina white collar crime case, wasbrought to the Narsingi Policestation on Friday fromChanchalguda Jail as per courtorders. The court has given per-mission to the police to keepher in custody for three days.

On November 3 and 4, thepolice had inquired about themoney taken by her and relat-ed transactions. As the policefailed to get clarity, they againapproached the court for her

further custody.On Friday, the police ques-

tioned her about her transac-tions. The police are trying toget details about whom she gavethe money and on whatterms.Sources said ShilpaChowdary is not giving cleardetails and is trying to confusethe police.

Earlier, she had said thatmany people had given hermoney to convert it from blackto white. She used to take onlya minimum of Rs 1 crore fromthose who approached her.

Narsingi Police grill Shilpa about her financial deals

PNS n HYDERABAD

The elections to six MLC seatsin five erstwhile districts underthe local authorities' constituen-cies' quota were held peaceful-ly on Friday, with the overallpolling percentage pegged atover 90 per cent.

The polling was held from8.00 am to 4.00 pm. Althoughthe ruling Telangana RashtraSamiti has maximum numberof local bodies' representativeselected on its ticket, who are thevoters for the MLC elections;

the run-up to the polling wasmarked by camp and resort pol-itics. TRS leaders kept an eagleeye on their voters to preventcross-voting since some inde-pendents and Congress candi-dates were in the fray.

Elections were held to twoMLC seats in Karimnagar dis-trict, one each in Adilabad,

Nalgonda, Medak andKhammam districts. A total of26 candidates were in the frayfor the six seats.

Of 5,326 voters comprisingcorporators, councillors, mem-bers of ZPTCs, members ofMPTCs, besides MPs, MLAsand MLCs of respective dis-tricts, who are the ex-officio

members, over 90 per cent ofthem exercised their franchise.

The Chief Electoral Officerset up 37 polling stations andpolling was held with Covid-19protocols in place. Counting willbe taken up on December 14.

According to informationavailable, at 99.6 %, the high-est polling percentage wasrecorded in Karimnagar,where, of the 1,324 voters,1,320 votes were polled andabout 1,000 of the voters werelocal bodies' representativeselected on TRS symbol.

Polling for MLC seats peacefulo @ 99.6%,

Karimnagar registers

highest polling

o TRS leaders

confident of

sweeping MLC polls

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2021

Deepa, niece of late chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa, officially received thekeys to the Poes Garden residence of her aunt on Friday, bringing to close aprotracted legal battle to obtain the custody of the palatial building. Chennai

Collector J Vijaya Rani officially handed over the keys to Jayalalithaa's residence after asingle-judge bench of the Madras High Court on November 24 paved the way by settingaside the order to acquire VedaNilayam, the residence of Jayalalithaa,and ordering that it be handed over tothe legal heirs. “It's a big victory. Itcan't be considered as an ordinaryvictory. I am very happy… I feel veryemotional as I am stepping into myaunt's house for the first time afterher demise,” Deepa reacted.Accompanied by her husbandMadhavan and well-wishers, Deepagarlanded the portrait of the late chiefminister and paid floral tributes.

Adaily average of 13,555 trains are operating in India currently, and 37 per centof these are being hauled by diesel locomotives, Railway Minister AshwiniVaishnaw said on Friday. The remaining 63 per cent are hauled by electric

engines, he stated in a written response to a question in Rajya Sabha. As per annualstatistical statements for the year 2019-20, total diesel and electricity consumed forrunning trains were 2,370.55 millionlitres and 13,854.73 million KWHrespectively, which work out to 6.49million litres per day of diesel and37.96 million KWH per day ofelectricity, he mentioned. "On anaverage, 13,555 trains/day (bothfreight and passenger) are runningover Indian Railways, out of whichabout 63 pc & 37 pc of trains areoperated/hauled by electric anddiesel locomotives, respectively," henoted.

Veteran Odia actor Mihir Das has been hospitalised after suffering a mild heartattack, sources in the medical establishment said. The 55-year-old actor, a chronicrenal patient who has been undergoing dialysis for the last few years, is on

ventilator support in a hospital in Cuttack, a treating doctor said. The actor's son Amlansaid that Das is recovering fast and urged everyone to pray for his well-being. "The heartattack was very mild in nature, andthere is absolutely no problem.Blood pressure fluctuation is prettycommon among kidney patients," hesaid.Prominent members of theOdia film and television industrywished for his speedy recovery. In acareer spanning over three decades,Das has won the Best Actor Awardfrom the state government for hisperformance in 'Laxmi Protima' in1998 and 'Pheria Mo Suna Bhauni'in 2005.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

Civil rights activists on Fridaylauded the Gujarat High Courtfor pulling up the AhmedabadMunicipal Corporation over itsrecent drive against stalls sell-ing non-vegetarian food, whilea civic body functionary ruledout discrimination in removalof the food carts.

The court on Thursdayquestioned how people couldbe stopped from "eating whatthey want" outside their house,

and slammed the civic body forits drive against handcarts sell-ing non-vegetarian food itemson streets.

Civil rights activist andlawyer K R Koshti welcomedthe court's observation sayingno one has the right to infringeupon fundamental right topersonal liberty.

"Even the Gujarat govern-ment had earlier clarified thatpeople are free to eat whatev-er they want. Article 21 of theConstitution guarantees peo-

ple's fundamental right to per-sonal liberty, such as what toeat and what to wear. No gov-ernment has the right toinfringe upon people's right,"

Koshti said.Mujahid Nafees, convener of

the Minority CoordinationCommittee, said the drive ofremoving handcarts sellingonly non-veg food items wasanother tactic by the BJP-ledgovernment to divide the soci-ety based on the food they eat.“I am glad that the court madesome scathing remarks on it.Eventually, the AMC had toannounce that there was nodiscrimination," he added.

Devang Dani, chairman of

AMC's town planning andestate committee, last monthsaid carts selling non-veg andegg dishes along the majorroads and in a 100-metreradius from schools, colleges,gardens and religious placeswill be removed. However,after Chief Minister BhupendraPatel intervened, Dani clarifiedthat veg food vendors will alsoface action.

"That was an anti-encroach-ment drive only. There is noquestion of discrimination.

Non-veg food row: Activists welcome HC ruling

PNS n NEW DELHI

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) TheNational Expert Group onVaccine Administration forCOVID-19 (NEGVAC) andthe National TechnicalAdvisory Group onImmunisation (NTAGI) areconsidering scientific evi-dences related to justificationfor booster doses against thecoronavirus, Lok Sabha wastold on Friday.

As per information avail-able onwww.ourworldindata.org,more than 60 countries areproviding booster doses ofCOVID-19 vaccines, Ministerof State for Health Bharati

Pravin Pawar said in a writtenreply in the House.

She was responding to aquestion on whether the gov-ernment has announced anypolicy for booster doses forCOVID-19 vaccines.

On whether the govern-ment has conducted surveys orstudies to assess the necessityand effectiveness of the dose,Pawar said the national regu-lator, the Central DrugsStandard Control Orga nisa-

tion, has granted permissionsto two firms for conduct ofclinical trials for administra-tion of booster doses.

Bharat Biotech has beengiven permission for adminis-tration of booster doses inphase II part of ongoing phaseI/II clinical trial of the WholeVirion Inactivated CoronaVirus Vaccine.

Biological E has also beengiven permission for conductof phase II/III clinical trial ofits COVID-19 vaccine contain-ing Receptor Binding Domainof SARS-CoV-2 (RBD antigenof SARS CoV-2 (Covid-19)(CORBEVAX), which alsoincludes a study of administra-tion of booster doses.

Experts examining scientific

evidence on booster dosePNS n NEW DELHI

A declining trend in COVID-19 cases and deaths has beennoted in the last few months,but as the virus is continuous-ly evolving, the same mayhave an impact on transmis-sion and surge in cases cannotbe ruled out, Lok Sabha wasinformed on Friday.

Minister of State for HealthBharati Pravin Pawar said theobservation on the trend wasbased on data reported bystates and union territories(UTs).

States and UTs have accord-ingly been urged repeatedlythrough formal communica-tions as well as during regularvideo conferences to continueto focus on the five-fold strat-

egy of test-track-treat, Covid-appropriate behaviour and vac-cination, she said in a writtenreply.

Given the emergence ofmutated variants with variableimpact on transmissibility, vir-ulence and effectiveness ofvaccines, likelihood of resur-gence of the COVID-19 trajec-

tory in the country is beingexamined by various expertcommittees under the IndianCouncil of Medical Research,the Directorate General ofHealth Services and other rel-evant ministries and depart-ments, Pawar said.

The health ministry contin-ues to keep a close watch onthe COVID-19 situation inthe country and globally, sheadded.

"At present, a decliningtrend in COVID-19 cases isnoted in the country since lastfew months. However, as thecausative virus is continuous-ly evolving, the same mayhave an impact on COVID-19transmission and surge incases cannot be ruled out," theminister said.

‘Coronavirus continuouslyevolving, surge possible’

PNS n NEW DELHI

Ladders, tarpaulin, poles andropes lay scattered at theSinghu border protest site onFriday as farmers dismantledtents, bundled up their belong-ings and loaded them ontotrucks.

Time and again, they chant'Bole So Nihaal' to pumpthemselves up.

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha(SKM), an umbrella body of40 farmers' unions, had onThursday announced the sus-pension of the protest thatbegan over a year ago to seek

the repeal of the Centre's farmlaws.

Weeks after the govern-ment withdrew the con-tentious laws, the farmers willhead home on Saturday morn-ing. The young and elderlyjoined hands to dismantle thesturdy temporary structuresthey had erected on a longdusty stretch of the Delhi-Karnal road over the pastyear. Jassa Singh, 69, a farmerfrom Punjab's Faridkot said,"More men means it will beover quickly. We had ampletime to build them, but weleave tomorrow.

PNS n NEW DELHI

President Ram Nath Kovindon Friday said India has beenable to save millions of lives byadopting a policy of free anduniversal availability ofCOVID-19 vaccine.

Addressing a Human RightsDay event organised by theNational Human RightsCommission, Kovind said thehumanity is grappling with theworst pandemic in the histo-ry.

"While the pandemic is notyet over, and the virus seemsto be one step ahead ofhumankind, the world has sofar responded to it by placingour trust in science and inglobal partnership," he said.

He said that though thepandemic affects the human-ity universally, it is also seenthat it has disproportionately

devastating impact on the vul-nerable sections of society.

"In this context, India,despite the obvious challenges,has been able to save millionsof lives by adopting a policy offree and universal availabilityof vaccine. With the biggestvaccination exercise in histo-ry, the Government has alsobeen able to provide protectionagainst the virus to nearly a bil-

lion people," he added.He praised doctors, scien-

tists and all other 'corona war-riors' for their heroic efforts touphold people's right to lifeand right to health.

The president said that inthis battle with this invisibleenemy, there have been multi-ple setbacks.

"During some of the moredifficult times, institutions ofthe government tried theirbest to respond to a situationfor which no amount of prepa-ration could have been suffi-cient," he said.

He noted that the NationalHuman Rights Commission,"with its deep concern for therights of the vulnerable andmarginalised sections of soci-ety affected by the pandemic",issued several advisories,which helped in improving theresponse.

‘India could save millions oflives through free vax’

PNS n NEW DELHI

India was in 17th position in terms

of proportion of population fully vac-

cinated against COVID-19 as on

October 31, Union Minister of State

for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told

the Lok Sabha on Friday. In a writ-

ten reply to a query in the Lower

House, she said that as of December

8, around 13.3 crore beneficiaries

against an estimated adult population

of 93.9 crore are yet to get the first

dose of Covid vaccine. Of those who

got the first dose, 33.6 crore -- 17.2

crore male, 16.4 crore female and

90,000 of 'other gender' -- are yet to

receive the second jab, Pawar said.

The top 10 major countries (with an

estimated population of more than

five crore) by the share of fully vac-

cinated people were South Korea,

Japan, Italy, France, the UK, Germany,

the USA, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico,

the minister said quoting data from

www.ourworldindata.

13.3 cr yet toget 1st jab

PNSnTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM

A leader of the IndianUnion Muslim League(IUML) has made allegeddistasteful remarks on themarriage between KeralaPWD Minister P AMuhammed Riyas andVeena Vijayan, daughter ofChief Minister PinarayiVijayan, describing it as"illegitimate."

Addressing a massiverally organised by theMuslim League inKozhikode on Thursdayevening in protest againstthe stand of the state's rul-ing LDF on Waqf boardappointments, party statesecretary AbdurahmanKallayi urged the Leagueworkers to show the audac-ity to say loudly that Riyas'smarriage with Veena lastyear was 'illegitimate.'

Veena and Riyas tied theknot here in June last year.

The marriage was heldwhen Riyas was the nation-al president of DYFI(Democratic YouthFederation of India). Riyaswas elected as MLA fromBeypore Assembly seat inKozhikode in the Assemblypolls held in April this year.

He was inducted in thestate Cabinet headed byVijayan, his father-in-law.

In his speech highlightingthe importance of Islamicprinciples in the life ofMuslims, AbdurahmanKallayi said the former allIndia president of the DYFIbelongs to his locality. "Whois his wife? Is this a mar-riage? It is an illegitimaterelationship," he said andurged the IUML workers todisplay the courage to say it.

He called for the MuslimLeague workers to followthe path shown by lateleader C H MuhammadKoya on such matters.

IUML leader calls Minister'smarriage ‘illegitimate'

PNS n MUMBAI

BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkaron Friday demanded a judicialinquiry into the alleged paperleak during the MaharashtraHealth Department's recruit-ment exams. As many as 12 peo-ple have been arrested so far inconnection with the allegedpaper leak during the statehealth department's recruitmentexamination. In a recordedvideo message, Padalkar said,“The investigation into allegedpaper leak has revealed linkswith some officials in theMantralaya. Some officials fromJalna district (home district ofthe state health minister) are alsobeing probed. The matter needsa judicial inquiry, which shouldalso include the state healthminister, as we are not satisfiedwith the current investigation.”

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Union government onFriday said that no farmer dieddue to police action during theyear-long protests by farmers.

Various farmer groups wereprotesting against three newfarm laws, which have nowbeen scrapped. The year-longprotest at the Delhi borderswas suspended by theSamyukta Kisan Morcha(SKM) on Thursday after theUnion government acceptedtheir key pending demands,including withdrawal of policecases against the protesters andon Minimum Support Price(MSP).

In a written reply to theRajya Sabha, AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar on Friday said, "thesubject of compensation, etc.to the families of the deceased

farmers in the farmers move-ment is with the concernedstate governments".

"No farmer died as a resultof police action during thefarmers' agitation," he said.

Tomar was responding to ajoint question by Congressleader Dhiraj Prasad Sahuand AAP leader Sanjay Singh.

The members had askedwhether the government isplanning to provide or madeany provision towards liveli-hood monetary compensa-tion to the families of thefarmers who died duringfarmers' protests.

PNS n GHAZIABAD

Farmers at the Ghazipur bor-der on Friday organised a'havan' to pray for Chief ofDefence Staff General BipinRawat, his wife and 11 otherdefence personnel who werekilled in a helicopter crash inTamil Nadu.

Besides farmers, nationalspokesperson of the BharatiyaKisan Union (BKU) RakeshTikait, BKU Uttar Pradeshpresident Rajbir Singh Jadaunand other office-bearersattended the 'havan', accordingto the state vice president of thefarmers' group Rajbir Singh.

A Mi-17V5 helicopter car-rying Gen Rawat, his wife and11 other defence personnelcrashed near Coonoor inTamil Nadu on Wednesday.

As India's first Chief ofDefence Staff, Gen Rawat wastasked with bringing in theatrecommand and jointnessamong the three services, andhe was pushing it with a toughapproach and specific time-lines over the last two years.

Known to be forthright,fearless, and blunt at times, the63-year-old strongly backed apolicy of hot pursuit in deal-ing with cross-border terror-

ism and militancy in Jammuand Kashmir when he was theArmy Chief between 2016 and2019.

Farmers were also busy dis-mantling the encampmentsthey set up at the protest siteover the past year as they gotready to head back home.

Singh said the communitykitchens will be operational tillthe protest site is completelycleared.

PNS n COIMBATORE

A city-based wedding photog-rapher who had recorded avideo of what he claims to bethat of the ill-fated Indian AirForce (IAF) helicopter whichcrashed in nearby Coonoor,killing Chief of Defence StaffGeneral Bipin Rawat and 12others, on Friday said badweather and poor visibilitycould have resulted in the chop-per meeting with the accident.General Rawat, his wife and 11others were killed when the Mi-17VH helicopter crashed in awooded valley at Katteri-Nanjappanchathram area inCoonoor in the hilly Nilgirisdistrict on Wednesday. OneIAF personnel survived thecrash and is undergoing treat-ment in Bengaluru.

Jaya's niece takes possession of Poes Garden residence

37 pc of trains in India being hauledby diesel locomotives, rest by electric

Veteran Odia actor Mihir Das hospitalisedafter suffering mild heart attack

PNS n NEW DELHI

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) TheDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) on Fridaylaunched an investigationinto Thursday's incidentwherein SpiceJet's Max air-craft conducted an emer-gency landing at the Mumbaiairport after one of its enginesfaced a technical issue. Theplane -- which has registra-tion number VT-MXE -- willremain grounded till it iscleared by the DGCA, itschief Arun Kumar told PTI.

Moreover, the regulatorhas asked the airline, aircraftmanufacturer Boeing andengine maker CFM to jointhe probe and provide allinformation regarding theengine snag that happened onThursday, Kumar mentioned.

DGCA startsprobe intoemergencylanding of flight

Farmers hold 'havan' topray for Gen Rawat, others

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian Air Force on Fridaycalled for avoiding "unin-formed" speculation on thechopper crash near Coonoorthat killed CDS Gen BipinRawat, his wife and 11 armedforces personnel.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh said in Parliament onThursday that a tri-services

inquiry has been ordered intothe crash and it is being head-ed by Marshal Manavendra

Singh, the Air OfficerCommanding-in-Chief of theIAF's Training Command.

In a tweet, the IAF said theinquiry would be completedexpeditiously and the factswill be brought out.

"IAF has constituted a tri-service Court of Inquiry toinvestigate the cause of thetragic helicopter accident on 08Dec 21," it said.

IAF calls for avoiding uninformedspeculation on helicopter crash

Copter crash:Poor weatherto blame?

Govt says no farmer dieddue to police action

BJP leader seeksjudicial inquiryinto paper leak

PNS n NEW DELHI

Brigadier L S Lidder, whodied along with 12 others inthe chopper crash in TamilNadu, was cremated withfull military honours at theBrar Square crematoriumhere on Friday. DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh,National Security AdvisorAjit Doval and Haryana ChiefMinister M L Khattar earlierin the morning laid wreathson Lidder's mortal remains,which were kept at BrarSquare in Delhi cantonmentbefore the cremation. Manysenior defence personnel alsopaid their last respects toLidder. Geetika Lidder, wifeof Brigadier Lidder, toldreporters after the crema-tion that she is feeling morepain than any pride.

Brigadier Liddercremated with fullmilitary honours

Pack up: Long day forfarmers at Singhu

Bengali led to the historic lan-guage movement, whichturned the swelling anger ofpeople in the direction of a lib-eration struggle spearheadedby the Awami League underthe leadership of SheikhMujibur Rahman, whoannounced his historic six-point programme, outlining afar-reaching blueprint forautonomy and parliamentarydemocracy, on February 12,1966.

The Government’sresponse was intensifiedrepression. It arrested Rahmanunder the Public Safety Act inMay 1967, and, in June 1968,initiated the AgartalaConspiracy Case against 35people, including him, forconspiring to engineer EastPakistan’s secession fromPakistan with India’s help. Amassive wave of public angerswept East Pakistan andassumed tidal proportionsafter a devastating cyclonehit the province’s southerncoastline on November 11,1970. One of the most severenatural disasters ever, it swept500,000 people into the seaand caused widespread devas-tation and misery. TheGovernment, slow in issuingwarnings about the cyclone,deliberately dragged its feet inproviding relief. Referring tothe consequences, Ghoshwrites: “Never in the recenthistory of liberation wars did

a natural disaster trigger sucha popular upheaval as it did inEast Pakistan. The upheavalsnowballed into Bangladesh’sLiberation War, leading tothe breakup of Pakistan.”

Events moved towards ahead after the elections toPakistan’s National Parliamenton December 7, 1970. TheAwami League swept the pollsin East Pakistan, winning 160of the 162 seats for which elec-tions were held, thus gainingan absolute majority in the300-seat strong House.Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s PakistanPeople’s Party won 81 of the138 seats in West Pakistan. AsRahman remained firm on thedemand for autonomy and hisright to form Government,and President Yahya Khanappeared accommodating as aploy, Pakistan’s ruling junta, inalliance with Bhutto, planneda crackdown. Launched inthe night of March 25, 1971,and codenamed ‘OperationSearchlight’, its sheer savagery,which has few parallels in his-tory, led to resistance, whichturned into a liberation warwith India’s assistance. Anincensed Pakistan attackedIndia on December 3, 1971.The rest is history.

Manash Ghosh’s booknarrates, lucidly and coherent-ly, the unfolding of the entirechain of events from the ori-gins of the Bangladeshis’ alien-ation to the struggles leading

to the crackdown, the libera-tion war waged by the MuktiBahini, trained and equippedby India, Indira Gandhi’sefforts to mobilise global sup-port against the PakistaniGovernment and military’sreign of terror that led to thearrival of 10 million refugees(nearly double the number,according to unofficial esti-mates) in India and, finally, theliberation of Bangladesh.Information ferreted out fromsources and daring directreportage from the ground,both during the pre-war peri-od of resistance to Pakistaniforces and the war, combine toportray in vivid detail a goryas well as heroic chapter ofcontemporary history. Somedetails in this unputdownablebook are chilling. Ghosh citesYahya Khan remindingPakistan’s Dhaka comman-ders on the eve of the launchof ‘Operation Searchlight’ ofwhat he had told them inFebruary when the plan for itwas being conceptualised: “Atleast three million Bengalismust die such a terrible andviolent death that the rest ofthe population would beforced to eat out of our hands.”

Pakistan’s military did killthree million Bangladeshisbut could not prevent the lib-eration of Bangladesh.

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

FARMERS’ PROTEST REAPS HARVESTSir — After braving scorching heat, a bit-ter cold winter and even a deadly secondwave of COVID-19 for 378 days, theprotesting farmers reached a deal on a raftof demands that had sparked year longagitation by farmers. People wonder whyPrime Minister Narendra Modi softenedhis stance and apologised to the nationthat his Government would repeal thelaws. Interestingly, the Government alsoagreed to provide compensation to thefamilies of the farmers who died duringthe protest, while the Government hadearlier told Parliament that it had norecord of the number of farmers who diedduring the protests.

This change of stance by theGovernment is nothing but an attempt towoo the voters ahead of the upcomingAssembly elections in Punjab and UttarPradesh. After the Government assurance,the SKM suspended the agitation but theywill hold a review meeting on January 15.If the Government doesn't fulfill itspromises, they may resume the protest.Interestingly, for our Opposition leaders,particularly for Mamata Banerjee, tobecome the face of Opposition, theyshould open their eyes to learn from theSKM’s powerful move which led to thevictory for farmers and successfully chal-lenged the arrogant Government.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee | Faridabad

EXAMS SHOULD BE FAIR AND LIBERALSir — The Central Board of SecondaryEducation is known for its rich educationand innovation in teaching process and itsstudent-friendly approach when it comesto academic and co-curricular matters.During the Coronavirus pandemic, theCBSE truly cared for lakhs of its studentsgiving priority to the safety of students bytaking measures like cancelling examina-tions and going for alternative methods toaward marks to students. The board's fore-sightedness was much appreciated whenit came out with the plan of two terms forclasses tenth and twelfth this year.

However, the board's current objectivetype exams have brought in a lot of crit-icism from students as these were very

tricky, confusing and stress-inducing.Students of class twelfth got the shock oftheir lives when the English exam hadthem bewildered because of its confusingnature. Mathematics also had them tenseas it was lengthy. The problem was evenraised in Parliament and a request wasmade to the Education Ministry to makeevaluation liberal. The MP who raised avery genuine issue also urged the educa-tion ministry to consider making the eval-uation process a little more “liberal”. Healso expressed anguish as students weretotally depressed and mentally down andthis could affect their future prospects also.

M Pradyu | Kannur

RBI TO GO WITH THE FLOW, FOR NOWSir — The Reserve Bank of India'sMonetary Policy Committee (MPC) hasdecided to leave key interest ratesuntouched and continue with its accom-modative stance for now in order to sus-tain growth which is not showing signs

of picking up strength and momentum.The MPC continues to be optimistic onthe growth front, pegging it at 9.5 per centin the ongoing fiscal. While the expec-tation is supported by most early indica-tors, its sanguineness on the inflation per-haps is not.

Although transmission from policyinterest rate signals to the retail consumerlevel has been quite sluggish in the past,a sharp tightening could have a dispro-portionately larger impact on retail bor-rowers who have been bailing out thebanking sector on the credit growth frontafter the easing of lockdown restrictions.With a future COVID-19 wave notruled, the timing could prove awkwardfor lay consumers. Anyway, it is a rightstep in the direction in the present cir-cumstances.

Gundu K Mani | Ghaziabad

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

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VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2021

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The Bangladesh Liberation War was a turning point in history; the causewas supported by India after Pakistan unleashed intensified repression

BESIDES ECONOMICEXPLOITATION,THERE WAS ASYSTEMATIC

EFFORT TO ERASETHE EASTERN

WING'S CULTURALAND LINGUISTIC

HERITAGE ANDIDENTITY, AND KEEP

IT IN A STATE OFPOLITICAL

SUBJUGATION

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

HIRANMAY KARLEKAR

It is ironic that despite being one of theleading developing economies in theworld, the recently released World

Inequality Report has put India into the cat-egory of the poorest and the most unequalcountries in the world. In fact, India's wide-spread poverty is not caused by shortageof resources but by the most unequal waysof distribution of wealth among people. One-third of the country's wealth is accumulat-ed in the hands of 1 per cent of the popu-lation. The wealthiest 10 per cent of the pop-

ulation holds two-thirds (65 per cent) of thetotal wealth of the nation. It is worrisomethat 90 per cent of Indians are forced tomanage with just 35 per cent of the totalwealth.

We can draw reasonable inferencesfrom this. One, there is a wide gap betweenwealthy and deprived sections of the pop-ulation. Two, as years go by, the gap iswidening. Substantial inequality that existsin Indian society calls for critical analysisby policy makers and experts. Diversity, oneof the distinctive features of Indian society,could be one of the reasons behind this greatinequality. Faulty economic model thatIndia follows is another reason for this.Instead of focusing on overall growth, Indiamust focus on the welfare of individual peo-ple. It must follow the best economic mod-els. The Report must make us analyse thesituation and improve. Our leaders mustrecognise the reality and transform the country into an equitable one.

Venu GS | Kollam

Diversity also means inequality

A war for liberationfrom Pak repression

The publication ofManash Ghosh’s book,Bangladesh War: Reportfrom Ground Zero

(Neogi), could not have beentimed better — shortly beforeDecember 16, 1971, when thePakistani military in what isnow Bangladesh, surrenderedto their Indian counterparts inDhaka. Thus ended a war whichhad begun on December 3, 1971,with Pakistan attacking India,and which was one of the turn-ing points in the history of the20th century, which has seen sev-eral momentous developments.

The list is formidable. Itincludes World War I and II; therise of Nazism and Fascism; theBolshevik and Chinese revolu-tions; the emergence of weaponsof mass destruction and thedropping of atom bombs onHiroshima and Nagasaki; India’sIndependence and the process ofdecolonisation that followedglobally; the beginning, waxingand end of the Cold War; the riseof non-alignment as a globalphenomenon; the dissolution ofthe Soviet Union and human for-ays into space and landing onmoon.

The India-Pakistan wardeserves to be in the list becauseIndia’s comprehensive victoryled to the emergence of a newnation, Bangladesh, and the endof one of the most monstrousperiods of repression in history,during which the Pakistani occu-pation regime and its militarykilled three million Bangladeshisand raped over 400,000 women,besides devastating vast stretch-es of the country.

The emergence ofBangladesh, about to celebrate 50years of its existence, came as theculmination of developmentsthat began immediately afterthe creation of Pakistan andstemmed from the sustainedexploitation of the eastern wing,called East Bengal until 1955,when it was christened EastPakistan. Besides economicexploitation, there was a system-atic effort to erase the easternwing’s cultural and linguisticheritage and identity, and keep itin a state of political subjugation.The attempt to impose Urdu asthe sole official language ofPakistan at the expense of

SOUNDBITEThe Opposition

demanded 1-2

minutes for each

MP to pay tribute

to Gen Bipin Rawat

but we were not

allowed. It is unfortunate.

Congress leader

—Mallikarjun Kharge

Congressman JohnLewis was a cham-pion of democracyand civil rights andtook inspirationfrom great leaders

like Gandhi and Mandela.

US President—Joe Biden

If your son wantsto become an IASofficer, I shall bethere to help you as your familymember.

Delhi Chief Minister

—Arvind Kejriwal

Domestic cricket in India is a greatplace to play in; itchallenges you inevery sense.

Indian batsman—Mayank Agarwal

Prevention is better than cure. More so when you have little idea what you’refighting against. And with the emergence of the Omicron variant — which hasmarked its frightening presence in at least 59 countries already — caution

becomes even more critical. India has registered nearly 32 cases of Omicron butthat’s not the cause of worry because the bigger threat still remains to be our lousybehaviour towards the virus. People continue to flout the COVID protocols with impuni-ty and that only sets the seal on the onset of another deadly wave. The NITI Aayoghas warned that people are operating at a “very risky and unacceptable” level. According

to it, mask usage is declining in India. It stressesthat both vaccines and masks are important andwe should learn from the global situation. Pointingto the speed of the Omicron spread, Lav Agarwal,Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare, said that only two countries had reportedOmicron cases till November 24 but the number hassurged to 59 in just two weeks.

A similar trend was witnessed when the Deltavariant — which wreaked havoc during the secondwave — was emerging in India. People neglectedrepeated warnings from the Government and world

health bodies, which led to an unprecedented explosion in the COVID-19 cases tally.An IIT Kanpur professor had a few days ago claimed that a third wave could peak inIndia between January and February next year. While some experts had predicted thatthe third wave could be avoided, the new mutations and our irresponsible behaviouronly spell danger. Though the majority of the Indian population has now developedsome sort of resistance against the virus either through vaccination or their own immuneresponse, it does not provide guaranteed protection from Omicron or other mutationsthat might appear in the future. Even fully vaccinated people have been found COVID-positive with Omicron. Therefore, face masks and social distancing norms along withthe vaccination become our best bet. The Government should now ramp up the vac-cination drive and, in a stern way, deal with vaccine hesitancy. The citizens must realisethat it’s not just the Government’s responsibility to deal with the virus but theirs, too.Any further lapses would only hamper the country’s health, education, economy andemployment which had barely begun to pick up.

Not many in the media picked up an interesting situation that developed dur-ing Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Out of the blue, Speaker OmBirla specifically asked the women members to raise their issues. He would

allow as many or all of them to speak. The DMK’s Kanimozhi took the lead, ques-tioning the delay in the women’s reservation Bill becoming a law. The Speaker agreedthat it was a serious issue. Several women MPs addressed the House on mattersof their concern. The Speaker never explained the rationale for his sudden decisionto encourage the women members to speak, but the incident reminds us of a bit-ter reality that vexes Indian Parliament since 1996: The inability of the constitution-al body to institutionalise a quota for women in the Lower House. Interestingly, onlya few days earlier, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in a written response in the Lok

Sabha that the Government was toyingwith the idea of consulting political par-ties to build a consensus on bringing thewomen’s Bill before Parliament. Shouldthe two incidents raise hopes of womenafter 25 years of continuous disappoint-ment? It was in 1996 that Parliament hadits first brush with the Bill, brought bythe Deve Gowda Government, to reserve

one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The Rajya Sabhapassed it in 2010, but the Lok Sabha never did. The regional parties and criticswithin the BJP and Congress stalled its passage for various reasons that women’srights groups attribute, among others, to the clout of patriarchy.

At the extreme right is the patriarchal argument that bringing more women intopolitics might destroy the age-old concept of the ideal family that revolves aroundwomen whose main job is to rear children and take care of the house. A patronis-ing argument is that women entering Parliament with the help of a quota would notbe perceived to be competing on merit. A third argument defending patriarchy isthat the principle of seat rotation in the women’s reservation Bill would not incen-tivise men to work for their constituencies because they may not be around for re-election the next time. On the other hand, women have not justified being satisfiedwith only a 33 per cent reservation when they are breaking glass ceilings even with-out quotas and on merit in all spheres. Why settle for a third when the constitution-al amendments in 1993 to increase women’s participation in decision-making atthe panchayat level provided a 50 per cent reservation? Yes, the patriarchy opposedthe amendments at that time, saying they would only promote proxy politics, thatis elected women being rubber stamps of their husbands. True, but in all these years,we have seen women’s awareness and their representation in the local bodies onlygrow in the rural areas. It is for women, not the will of patriarchy, to decide howthey will break the country’s biggest glass ceiling: Parliament.

Glass ceiling

Caution aheadHoping to defeat Omicron or the third

wave is futile without suitable body armour

PICTALK

A fisherman sails his boat across the Hooghly during sunset, in Nadia PTI

There are reasons for renewed hope for women’squota in Parliament, an issue pending since 1996

You can also helpthe poor by being adancer. Being a doc-tor isn’t important.Become who youreally want to be.

Actor—Asha Parekh

Tourism sector can goplaces with new ideas

MAMATA BANERJEE’S STANCE HAS SENT DISTURBING

SIGNALS AND IS POTENTIALLY ALARMING FOR FEDERAL

POLITY AND NATIONAL SECURITY.

—WEST BENGAL GOVERNOR

JAGDEEP DHANKHAR

THE BSF WILL DO WHAT IT IS MANDATED TO DO.

LAW AND ORDER IS A STATE SUBJECT AND IS

IN THE DOMAIN OF THE POLICE.

—WEST BENGAL CHIEF MINISTER

MAMATA BANERJEE

Contrary to popular perception that international tourists bring in all thelucre, it’s actually domestic travellers who set the cash registers ringing

We reviewed the proposals ... carefully and thoroughly and con-cluded that Iran violated almost all compromises found pre-viously in months of hard negotiations,” said the German

Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Sunday. As a funeral oration, it lackedin elegance, but it did the job: the 2015 treaty curbing Iran’s nuclearambitions is dead. It was last week’s meeting in Vienna that dealt itthe death blow. Officially Iran and the six guarantors of the treaty (China,France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States)were there to revive the deal that Donald Trump tried to kill when heunilaterally pulled the US out in 2018, but the new Iranian governmentoverplayed its hand. When Joe Biden replaced Trump last January itlooked like reviving the deal would be simple. Washington would dropall the sanctions Trump had slapped on Iran, Tehran would undo allthe cautious steps it had taken on enriching uranium beyond the treaty’s

limits to bring pressure on America and its allies, and everybody wouldlive happily ever after. But the government of President Hassan Rouhani,which originally negotiated the treaty, wanted Biden to cancel the sanc-tions first, since it was the US that had reneged on the deal. Bidenwouldn’t do that, and wanted Iran to roll back the uranium enrichmentfirst. A typical bazaar haggle, but the clock was ticking.

Rouhani had reached the two-term limit, and in this May’s presi-dential election in Iran he was replaced by a hard-line nationalist, EbrahimRaisi. The new president can see that Iran has survived the renewedAmerican sanctions for three years, and he clearly believes that fur-ther US sanctions would hit diminishing returns. He may well be right.When Raisi’s representatives returned to the table in Vienna last week,they brought his new demands: all the compromises that had beenagreed in the talks last spring, when Rouhani was still president, werecancelled, and Iran wanted a promise (impossible for a US presidentto make) that sanctions would never be reimposed. Game over. Irangoes nuclear. So what should everybody else do now? We may assumethat the people who guide Israel’s nuclear strategy know that a fewIranian nuclear weapons are not a mortal threat to Israel. Ten nuclearweapons could wipe out half the Israeli population if they hit the majorpopulation centres, but this is not some special problem Israel facesbecause it is small. The United States has 330 million people and spansa continent, but it could also lose half its population in an all-out Russiannuclear attack. This is not great, but it is also not fatal because theUnited States can strike back and kill half the Russians (or the Chineseor whoever it was that attacked). It’s called nuclear deterrence, andit’s not absolutely foolproof, but it has protected us all from nuclearwar for 75 years. Iran has 80 million people, but it could lose half ofthem in an Israeli nuclear attack. The majority of the world’s peoplehave to live this way, and quite a lot of them (including the Iranians)have done so for two or three generations by now. The only way Israelcould claim exemption from this aspect of the human condition wasto claim that the Iranians were murderous lunatics who could not bedeterred by the threat of massive nuclear retaliation. That was nevertrue, and now Israelis may have to get used to living under the nuclearthreat too. Or maybe the Iranians will stop at ‘threshold status’, whichwould be nice. But I wouldn’t count on it.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘The Shortest History of War’. Theviews expressed are personal.)

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2021

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FIRSTCOLUMNNUCLEAR DEAL IS DEAD,LONG LIVE DETERRENCE!

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

GWYNNE DYER

POONAMMUNJAL

ANUPMAMEHTA

Iran survived American sanctions for three years,and believes further sanctions won’t matter much

Tourism, along with travel, is oneof the largest service industries inIndia, estimated to be worth over$200 billion in 2018. However,

being one of the most contact-intensiveand socially active sectors, tourism hasbeen among the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The consistent rise in thenumber of infections and mortalities andconsequent protection measures like lock-downs, quarantines, and curtailment oftravel through most of 2020 and the firsthalf of 2021 wrought havoc on the indus-try.

The criticality of the tourism sector forIndia’s economy is evident from the factthat it directly contributed an estimated 2.7per cent to GDP and 6.7 per cent to theemployment of the country in 2019-20.And if the indirect shares of related ser-vices were to be included in these estimates,the corresponding shares would go up to5.2 per cent and 15.3 per cent, respective-ly. These numbers are also substantiatedby international assessments of the vasteconomic potential of one of India’s sun-rise industries. And we are talking of real-ly large numbers.According to the esti-mates based on the structure of India’sThird Tourism Satellite Account pre-pared by the National Council of AppliedEconomic Research (NCAER), tourism isexpected to have exclusively generatedGross Value Added to the tune of Rs. 5.18lakh crore (or $70 billion) and supportednearly 34.83 million jobs in India in 2019-20.

The latest Travel and TourismCompetitiveness Report (TTCR), releasedin 2019,also ranked India 34th out of 140countries overall. As per this report, Indiaimproved its ranking in tourism compet-itiveness by six places in just two years,which was the greatest improvementamong the top 25 per cent of the countriesranked. The TTCR, which is published bythe World Economic Forum, ranks select-ed nations according to the Travel andTourism Competitiveness Index, whichscores from 1 to 6 the tourism-related per-formance of a given country in three sub-indices, viz., regulatory framework; busi-ness environment and infrastructure; andhuman, cultural, and natural resources.

In view of these remarkable growth fig-ures achieved by the tourism industry inrecent years, Covid-19 has undeniablyacted as a huge dampener. Althoughtourism has seen a marginal revival postthe decline in Coronavirus cases after theebbing of the second wave during April-June 2021, the emergence of the latest vari-ant of the virus, Omicron, again threatensto neutralise the gains of the last fewmonths for the industry. In this context,it is important to take stock of the currentsituation and examine the potential gainsand losses for the tourism industry toenable it to chart a roadmap for recoveryand renewed profitability in the long run.

Another recent study by NCAERshows that the overall economy saw a

TODAY, THEGOVERNMENT’S

PRIORITIES HAVECHANGED

SIGNIFICANTLY.THE CURRENT

TOURISM POLICY,IN LINE WITH THE

‘ATMANIRBHAR’INITIATIVE,

FOCUSESPRIMARILY ON

PROMOTINGDOMESTIC

TOURISM TOREVITALISE THE

SECTOR THROUGHMEASURES SUCH

AS THE ‘DEKHOAPNA DESH’

CAMPAIGN AFTERTHE SUSPENSION

OF INTERNATIONALTRAVEL DUE TO

COVID-19

decline of 20.1 per cent in the firstquarter of the fiscal year 2021, andof 5.1 per cent in the second quar-ter, but rebounded to record agrowth of 4.3 per cent in the thirdquarter, all in nominal terms.Incontrast, the tourism economy orTourism Direct Gross Value Added(TDGVA) saw correspondinglymuch greater declines of 42.8 percent and 15.5 per cent in the firstand second quarters, and continuednegative growth even in the thirdquarter of 2021, recording a fall of1.1 per cent. Commissioned by theMinistry of Tourism to assess theactual impact of the pandemic onIndia’s tourism sector in terms ofloss of incomes and employment,the NCAER study also outlines theneed for key policy measures torestore growth in the industry andoffers recommendations for itsrenaissance, as it were.

The decline in tourist activity islargely driven by the near-completehalt in arrival of internationaltourists that caused the TDGVA toplummet by as much as 61.7 percent in the first quarter of 2020-21from the corresponding level of theprevious year. However, NCAERfinds that the fall in TDGVA result-ing from a slump in domestictourist arrivals has been muchmore conspicuous and 20-30 per-centage points higher than thedecline in foreign tourist numbers.

It is thus obvious that contraryto the perception that internation-al tourists bring in all the lucre, itis actually domestic travellers whoset the cash registers ringing for theindustry. NCAER projects thatdomestic tourism, through sheervolumes, will primarily drive therecovery in the tourism economy,

enabling it to regain its pre-pan-demic level by 2024-25. However,given its huge volume in terms ofthe number of trips, the totaltourism expenditure incurred bydomestic tourists is well over 70 percent higher than the total interna-tional tourism expenditure.

It seems that we have come along way from the genesis oftourism as a global industry in 1937when the League of Nations, theprecursor of the United Nations,defined the term ‘tourist’ as ‘onewho goes to another country forpleasure or business or for reasonsof health’. The Government ofIndia too accepted the definition,categorising a ‘tourist’as ‘a foreign-er who comes to India for reasonsof pleasure or sightseeing or in arepresentative capacity to attend aconference of an international char-acter.’ This was reflected in India’sfirst tourism policy in October 1956when the Estimates Committee ofthe Ministry of Tourism andTransport tabled a report before theLok Sabha Secretariat, highlightingthe need to promote India as a glob-al tourist destination as the annu-al foreign exchange earningsbrought into the country by inter-national travellers had gone upfrom `7.1 crores in 1951 to `10.1crores in 1955.

Today, however, theGovernment’s priorities havechanged significantly. The currenttourism policy, in line with the‘Atmanirbhar’ initiative, focuses onprimarily promoting domestictourism to revitalise the sectorthrough measures such as the‘Dekho Apna Desh’ campaign afterthe suspension of internationaltravel due to COVID-19. Prime

Minister Narendra Modi too hasurged all Indians to visit at least 15destinations within India by 2022 tokeep the spirits of the industry alive.

Speaking at the recent Travel,Tourism and Hospitality e-Conclave organised by FICCI, theSecretary, Tourism, Government ofIndia, Arvind Singh, revealed plansto promote unknown tourist spotsand lesser-known facets of populartourist destinations in the country.A uniform policy engaging with allStates to lift travel restrictions andboost domestic travel while follow-ing Covid-related protocols is onthe anvil. This would be part of anew national Tourism Policy focus-ing on promoting sustainable andresponsible travel for MICE (meet-ings, incentives, conferences andexhibitions) tourism as well as forwellness and eco-tourism.Accordingly, massive vaccinationdrives are reportedly being under-taken in tourist hotspots through-out the country, where travel andhospitality staffers are being treat-ed as frontline workers.

The NCAER study also recom-mends the introduction of innov-ative measures in pandemic timesto entice potential outboundtourists to visit ‘Swadeshi’ localesinstead, and furthering the conceptof ‘working holidays’ or ‘work fromhome by travelling to an interest-ing destination’, engendered bylockdowns and office shutdowns.As they say, every adversity nurturesa hidden opportunity. It remains tobe seen if India’s tourism industrywill rise to the occasion by uncov-ering this opportunity to rejuvenateitself while successfully deflectingthe challenges posed by the virusand its mutations.

(Poonam Munjal is SeniorFellow and AnupmaMehta is Editor at

NCAER. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Adecorated soldier anda strategist par excel-lence, General Bipin

Rawat, the first CDS and a"go-getter" in his words andby his actions, is no more. Idid not share camaraderiewith Gen Rawat but I had thepleasure of meeting him ona number of occasions; onesuch being on August 2 thisyear at his South Block officein New Delhi. Khadi andVillage IndustriesCommission (KVIC), whichI head as its Chairman, hadconceptualized making theworld’s largest National Flagmade of Khadi fabric.Making the flag of a hugedimension — 225 feet long,150 feet wide and weighing1400 KG — was not a chal-lenge for KVIC artisans, butdisplaying it with full honour

and dignity definitely was. Ireached out to Gen Rawatseeking his advice and armysupport to display the flag inall its glory.

Upon reaching his office,I was received by Brig LSLidder, the Defence Advisorto the CDS who also lost hislife by the side of the CDSyesterday, who took me toGen Rawat. In no time, BrigLidder impressed me with hisdeep knowledge and love forKhadi.

The meeting with GenRawat started by introducingthe concept of theMonumental National Flag,its dimensions and signifi-cance in the celebrations ofthe 75 years of Independence.I gave him a few ideas. GenRawat appreciated the ideasand quickly said "You just

prepare the Flag and give itto us; I take the responsibil-ity of displaying the flagacross the country with fullhonour". The sheer hardwork of the artisans that hadgone into making this flagand its symbolism in the75th year of Independencewas deeply appreciated byGen Rawat, who instantlyoffered to become the custo-

dian of the monumentalNational Flag. Gen Rawatfully understood this flagwould play an essential rolein instilling the feeling ofnationalism in the youthsand boosting the morale ofthe defence forces.

In the same meeting, itwas decided that the flagwould drape a hilltop in theborderlands of Leh. He alsopromised to display the flagon Air Force Day, Navy Dayand Army Day. Gen Rawatalso suggested displaying theflag in Arunachal Pradeshalong the Indo-China borderand also cruising it all alongthe Indian coastal stretchusing naval ships. KVIChanded over the flag to theIndian Army on September19, at Mumbai.

In my other meeting with

Gen Rawat, I was surprisedto know that in just 15 days,he got examined all my sug-gestions for displaying theflag and explained to me atlength the feasibility of dis-playing the flag at SignatureBridge in Delhi, Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai,and flying it over Rajpath.Trials of displaying theMonumental National Flagwere conducted in the air aswell as on the sea. He knewthe significance of this largenational asset and exudedunparalleled commitmentand dedication to the cause.The flag was airlifted fromMumbai to Leh where it wasunveiled on October 2 tocommemorate GandhiJayanti. The flag was latertaken to the Hindon Airbaseat Ghaziabad on October 8,

to mark the celebration of AirForce Day.

I requested him to dis-play the flag at the Red Fortin New Delhi on completionof 100 crore vaccinations inthe country, which he read-ily accepted. The next desti-nation was the Western Coastin Mumbai, where the IndianNavy displayed the flag on4th December to celebratethe Navy Day.

All through this, I wasconstantly in touch with GenRawat over phone and everytime I spoke to him, I discov-ered the depth of his patrio-tism.

I can say with full author-ity that without the person-al vision and support of GenRawat, thousands of peopleof the country would nothave watched their flag com-

mand some coveted nation-al spaces in Delhi, Mumbaiand on several other proudmonumental locations. Theworld’s largest national flagwill continue to fly and drapemany more national monu-ments across the countryduring this year. And everytime we display it to theworld, we are reminded of adistinguished servant of thenation in whose mind noth-ing stood higher to the causeof our collective security.

KVIC joins me inexpressing deep condolenceson the passing away ofGeneral Rawat, his wife andall other defence personnelwho lost their lives by hisside. We wish peace to a soulthat helped the citizens of thisnation for four decades to livein peace.

We are reminded of a distinguished soldier of the nation in whose mind nothing stood higher to the cause of our collective security

The passing away of Gen Rawat is India’s shared grief

VK SAXENA

The writer is Chairman,Khadi & Village Industries

Commission. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2021 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Electric mobility solutionsand services provider ETOMotors on Friday said it

plans to deploy over 350electric vehicles in the nextfour to six months at Kevadiain Gujarat, the home of theStatue of Unity.The company has commencedoperations of over 50 of its'TriLux' electric three-wheelers at Kevadia in partnership with theStatue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Authority(SOUADTGA). The entire fleet of the 50 electric three-Wheelers isbeing operated by women and will cover all of Kevadia, the companysaid in a statement."The company would further look at deploying over350 electric vehicles in the next four to six months," it added.ETOMotors Managing Director & CEO N K Rawal said the company iscontributing towards making Kevadia India's first electric vehicle city.The company's EVs have been deployed in the form of passengerand logistics mobility solutions across the country through severalother projects, Rawal added.

MG Motor to commenceexports of Hector to Nepal

Automaker MG Motor India onFriday said it is all set tocommence exports from its

Halol-based manufacturing plantin Gujarat.The company will startexporting its SUV model Hector toNepal as the first step towards itsexpansion plan for other southAsian countries.MG Motor began commercial

production in India on May 6, 2019, and launched its first model inJune 2019. The company has so far sold over 72,500 units of Hector tilldate in the country."The automaker is constantly progressing itsoperations, expanding the market reach, stakeholder base, and addingnew customers and partners to the MG family. Taking this spiritforward, MG is geared up to expand its footprint across the other southAsian countries, starting with Nepal," MG Motor India President andManaging Director Rajeev Chaba said in a statement.Hector has playeda vital role in establishing the company's prowess in an auto industry asdynamic and aggressive as the Indian Auto space, he added.

ETO Motors to deploy over 350EVs at Kevadia in 6 months

Star Health andAllied InsuranceCompany Ltd

listed with a discounton Friday, with thescrip slumping over 6per cent.The sharesof the company,which were sold at aprice of Rs 900apiece in the initial public offering (IPO), opened at Rs 848.80 onthe BSE, reflecting a fall of 5.69 per cent.In early trade on the NSE, the scrip opened at Rs 845 apiece, adecline of over 6 per cent compared to the issue price of Rs 900apiece.On the BSE, the company's market capitalisation stood at Rs48,850.32 crore.Star Health, a leading private health insurer, isowned by a consortium of investors such as Westbridge Capital andRakesh Jhunjhunwala. It received a subscription of 79 per cent onthe last day of the IPO, which closed on December 2.The insurer's offer went through as portions set aside for bothQualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) and retail investors were fullysubscribed.

Jaipur airport takes additionalmeasures to contain Covid

The JaipurInternationalAirport has put

up additional facilitiesand arrangements toensure strictimplementation of thelatest COVID-19guidelines."Fourregistration countersand four samplingbooths have becomeoperational.Moreover, the

number of Rapid PCR machines has also been increased. Adedicated waiting area sufficient for 150 passengers has also beenset up" a senior official of the airport said.The officer informed thatthe waiting area is equipped with facilities such as washrooms,Wi-Fi service, online payment facility and service executives toassist the passengers.

Star Health shares list at discount;falls 6 pc in early trade

PNS nMUMBAI

Equity benchmarks Sensex andNifty ended marginally loweron Friday, led by losses in indexmajors HDFC twins, Infosysand Kotak Bank amid negativeglobal cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensexdeclined 20.46 points or 0.03per cent to end at 58,786.67.Similarly, the broader NSENifty slipped 5.55 points or0.03 per cent to 17,511.30.

Titan was the top loser in theSensex pack, shedding over 1per cent, followed by HDFC,Axis Bank, Kotak Bank andTech Mahindra.

On the other hand, AsianPaints, SBI, M&M, TCS andBajaj Finserv were among thegainers.

Domestic equities gave pos-itive returns this week amideasing concerns pertaining to

the potential severity of theOmicron variant of COVID-

19, said Shrikant Chouhan,Head of Equity Research

(Retail), Kotak Securities. Sensex and Nifty gave pos-

itive returns of around 1.7 percent this week. BSE Midcapand BSE Smallcap index out-performed the larger indiceswith gains ranging between 2-3 per cent this week. Themajority of the sectoral indicessaw positive returns.

"Markets in the immediateterm will keenly watch out forthe actions on asset taperingand key policy rates in theupcoming US Federal Reservemeet," he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, boursesin Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul andHong Kong ended with losses.

Stock exchanges in Europewere also trading in the red inmid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oilbenchmark Brent crude rose0.39 per cent to USD 74.71 perbarrel.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Economic Offences Wingof Delhi Police has arrested aformer Group CEO of ReligareEnterprises Limited in connec-tion with siphoning off publicmoney of over Rs 2,300 crore,officials said.

The accused has been iden-tified as KrishnanSubramanian, a resident ofRohini in north west Delhi,they said.

According to police,Manpreet Singh Suri, AR ofReligare Finvest Ltd (RFL),filed a complaint againstMalvinder Mohan Singh,Shivinder Mohan Singh, SunilGodhwani and others holdingkey managerial posts, allegingthat these people havingabsolute control on ReligareEnterprises Limited (REL) andits subsidiaries put RFL inpoor financial condition byway of disbursing loans tocompanies having no financialstandings.

These companies willfullydefaulted in repayments andcaused wrongful loss to RFL tothe tune of Rs 2,397 crore. Thiswas also pointed out andflagged during their indepen-dent audit by RBI and SEBI,police said.

Subramanian was the GroupCEO of REL during 2017-

2018. A loan against propertyworth Rs 115 crore was sanc-tioned as secured loans tothree entities -- Best HealthManagement Pvt Ltd, M/sVitoba Realtors Pvt Ltd andDevera Developers Pvt Ltd -- vide three separate loan facil-ity agreements, and propertydocuments of Asola land waskept as security with RFL,they said.Subsequently, theseloans were converted to unse-cured loans under the corpo-rate loan book portfolio as titledeeds of these lands werenever submitted to RFL. Lateron, it was found that the landwhich was kept as security withRFL had been exchanged with-out any permission or intima-tion to RFL, a senior police

officer said."It was also found that the

property documents werereleased to the borrower afterexecution of share pledgeagreement on January 10, 2018with RHC and Elive underwhich the shares of Elive werepledged and the trade markcertificates with respect toReligare brand were depositedwith RFL. The said SPA andsubsequent release of proper-ty papers were done bySubramanian," AdditionalCommissioner of Police(EOW) R K Singh said.

Malvinder and Shivinderalong with three others havealready been arrested in thecase. Subramanian was held onWedneday, he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Passenger vehicle wholesales inthe country declined by 19 pc inNovember as the semiconduc-tor shortage continued toimpact vehicle production andsubsequent deliveries to dealerpartners, auto industry bodySIAM said on Friday.

The passenger vehicle (PV)dispatches last month stood at2,15,626 units, down 19 per centfrom 2,64,898 units inNovember 2020.

Similarly, total two-wheelersales declined sharply by 34 per

cent to 10,50,616 units lastmonth from 16,00,379 units inthe year-ago period.

Total three-wheeler dispatch-es stood at 22,471 units, down

7 per cent from 24,071 units inNovember 2020.

Total automobile sales acrosscategories drooped to 12,88,759units last month compared to

18,89,348 units in the year-agoperiod.

"Industry continues to faceheadwinds due to global semi-conductor shortage. In the fes-tive season, industry was hop-ing to make up for the lostground, but the sales in themonth of November 2021, werethe lowest in seven years for pas-senger vehicles, the lowest in 11years for two-wheelers and thelowest in 19 years for three-wheelers," Society of IndianAutomobile Manufacturers(SIAM) Director General RajeshMenon said in a statement.

Sales of passenger vehicles dip19 pc in Nov

Sensex, Nifty end marginallylower after choppy session

Delhi Police arrests former ReligareCEO in Rs 2,300 crore RFL scam

PNS n NEW DELHI

Private bank IndusInd Bankon Friday said the RBI hasgiven approval to LifeInsurance Corporation toincrease stake in the bank tonearly 10 per cent.

The bank has received anintimation from the RBI onDecember 9, 2021, that it hasgranted its approval to LifeInsurance Corporation (LIC),shareholder of the bank toacquire up to 9.99 per cent ofthe total issued and paid upcapital of the bank, the banksaid in a regulatory filing onstock exchanges.

The state-run insurer holds4.95 per cent of the totalissued and paid-up capital ofthe bank.

The RBI approval is subjectto the compliance with thedirection on 'Prior Approvalfor Acquisition of Shares and

Voting Private Sector Banks' aswell as regulations of the Sebiand any guidelines or regula-tions.

The Reserve Bank lastmonth had accepted most ofthe recommendations of itsworking group on corporateownership of private sectorbanks, by allowing unre-strained promoter sharehold-ing in the first five years ofoperations. It recommendedhiking the same to 26 per centafter 15 years from the extant15 per cent and also the newcapital requirements.

This was deemed beneficialfor banks like Kotak MahindraBank and IndusInd Bank.

The said approval is validfor a period of one year i.e., upto December 8, 2022, the banksaid.

IndusInd Bank shares weremarginally up at Rs 947 onBSE in afternoon trade.

RBI grants approval to LICto up stake in IndusInd Bank

PNS n NEW DELHI

A central team has alreadyvisited Tamil Nadu for aspot assessment of damagecaused by heavy rain andfloods during the October-November period,Parliament was informed onFriday.

Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar in a written reply tothe Rajya Sabha said, theTamil Nadu government hasrequested for a central assis-tance of Rs 549.63 crore forthe damage caused by heavyrain and floods.

The Centre constituted anInter-Ministerial CentralTeam (IMCT) for on thespot assessment of damagedue to heavy rain/floods inOctober-November, 2021, hesaid.

The IMCT visited theaffected areas duringNovember 21-24 this year.

The minister further saidRs 1,088 crore has been allo-cated under State DisasterResponse Fund (SDRF) for2021-22 fiscal year to theTamil Nadu government,which includes Rs 816 croreas central share.

The central share hasbeen released in advance,he added.

Central teamvisited TN toassess damage

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian Space ResearchOrganisation has signed anagreement with Chinesesmart devices maker Oppo'sIndian arm to strengthen theresearch and development ofthe NavIC messaging ser-vice.

The NavIC system pro-vides regional navigation ser-vices covering the Indianmainland and an area up to1,500 km beyond the Indianmainland. In addition to its

primary function of provid-ing PNT (position, navigationand timing) services, NavICis also capable of broadcast-ing short messages.

Under the agreement ISROand Oppo India wil lexchange technical informa-tion of NavIC messaging ser-vices to build rapid, ready touse, end-to-end application-specific solutions by inte-grating NavIC messaging ser-vice with the mobile handsetplatform keeping in mindthe need of Indian users.

ISRO, Oppo collaborate tostrengthen R&D of NavIC

PNS n NEW DELHI

Competition Commission ofIndia will be setting upregional offices in easternand western regions as thewatchdog continues withefforts to strengthen advoca-cy activities as well as provideeasier accessibility to stake-holders.

In 2020-21, the regulatoroperationalised its f irstregional office in Chennaiand it caters to the Southern

states.Competition Commission

of India (CCI) ChairpersonAshok Kumar Gupta onFriday said the regulator is inthe process of setting upregional offices in the easternand western regions.Theregional office in Chennai,which helps to enable easyaccessibility to stakeholders,caters to Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Kerala, TamilNadu, Telangana, Puducherryand Lakshadweep.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Google on Friday said it isdeferring the deadline fordevelopers in India to integratewith its Play billing systemfrom March 2022 to Octobernext year.

In October last year, thecompany had announcedMarch 31, 2022 as the deadlinefor developers in India to inte-grate with Play's billing system.

A Google spokesperson onFriday said the extension hasbeen done in view of thechanges to India's recurringdigital payments guidelines.

"We are extending this to31st October 2022 to providedevelopers in India therequired product support forrecurring payments throughconvenient user payment sys-tems, including UPI and wal-lets, and also provide themmore time in light of thechanges to India's recurringdigital payments guidelines,"the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson addedthat Google recognises theunique needs of the developerecosystem in India andremains committed to partner-

ing with developers in India ontheir growth journey.

In the past, Indian develop-ers and startups have raisedconcerns around Google's Playbilling system, saying the techgiant cannot force Indian appdevelopers/owners to sell dig-ital services by compulsorilyusing its billing system.

Google had previously stat-ed that apps that choose to selldigital content through its PlayStore have to use Google Playbilling system and pay a per-centage of the in-app pur-chase as a fee. It had given timeuntil September 30, 2021 tocomplete the necessary

updates.However, it extended the

deadline to March 31, 2022after concerns were raised bythe developer community inIndia.

The tech giant has empha-sised that its payments policyis not new and it has alwaysrequired developers who dis-tribute their apps on Play, touse Google Play's billing sys-tem if they offer in-app pur-chases of digital goods.

The policy only applies if adeveloper charges users todownload their app or they sellin-app digital items, which isless than 3 per cent of develop-

ers with apps on Google Play,it had said.

Concerns have also beenraised by developers globally atthe steep commissions chargedby app stores owned by techgiants Google and Apple.

Earlier this year, Google hadslashed the commission feefrom 30 per cent to 15 per cent.

The Alliance of Digital IndiaFoundation (ADIF), in a state-ment, said Google's decision toextend the deadline to October2022 certainly gives developersa short-term relief for theiranxiety.

"We, however, disagree andmark our strong objectionwith the reasoning given forthe extension. The core issuefor the developers is the gate-keeper tax of 15-30 per cent ona select category of apps andrestrictions on the use of otherpayment options and Googlefails to admit that in theirannouncement," it said.

ADIF said app developers,especially those selling digitalgoods and services, have beenunhappy and vocal about theirobjections to the policy eversince it was announced back inSeptember 2020.

Google extends deadline for developers in India

PNS nMUMBAI

The rupee dropped by 18paise to an over 16-monthlow of 75.78 on Friday amidconsistent foreign fund out-flows and growing con-cerns about inflation.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the rupeeopened lower at 75.65 a dol-lar and later tanked to theday's low of 75.85 in linewith a lacklustre trend inequity markets.

The local unit paredsome of the losses in theclosing session to end at75.78 (provisional), its low-est closing level since June22, 2020.

The rupee also declinedfor a third straight weekwith a weekly loss of 66paise or 0.88 per centagainst the dollar.

Rupee drops by18 paise to75.78 againstdollar

PNS n NEW DELHI

Homegrown pharma majorLupin on Friday announcedits foray into the diagnosticsbusiness and plans to havearound 100 laboratories aswell as 1,000 collection centresacross the country over thenext five years.

The laboratories would becompany-owned, while thecollection centres would be amix of company-owned andfranchise outlets.

Lupin Diagnostics, a whol-ly-owned subsidiary of thecompany, plans to enter theeastern and western parts ofthe country to begin withand then move on to otherlocations.

The company aims to have11 laboratories in the currentfiscal.

"We want to give the con-sumers the best experiencewhen it comes to diagnostics.Our focus would be on qual-ity in every aspect from sam-ple collection to the deliveryof reports," Lupin President(India Region Formulations)Rajeev Sibal told reporters in

an online press conference.The company is going to

focus on quality, starting fromtemperature-controlled move-ment of samples to delivery ofinsightful reports, he added.

"Consumers would be ableto track and trace their reportsall along the process. Besides,all our laboratories would beNABL accredited," Sibalnoted.

When asked about invest-ments the company plans tomake on the new vertical,Sibal noted: "We would have

the funding that is required...whatever needs would bethere so that we are among thetop five diagnostics firms inthe country in the next fiveyears."There would be nodearth of resources for build-ing the diagnostics business,he added without sharingdetails.

On revenue targets fromthe new vertical, he declinedto share details and added thatthe current focus of the com-pany is to establish the busi-ness.

Lupin forays into diagnostics business

CCI to set up offices ineastern, western regions

Vijayawada | Saturday December 11, 2021 what’s brewing?

ctress Sarah Jessica Parkersays it was a challenge resur-recting her Sex and the Citycharacter for And Just LikeThat. The 56-year-oldactress reprises her role as

Carrie Bradshaw in the revival of thecomedy drama. She said: “I think, actu-ally, every day figuring out who Carrieis, who is Charlotte, who is Miranda?Putting that back together is probablynot quite as simple as some mightthink. You may recall how they soundand walk and talk, but more so who arethey now, and what has time giventhem? How do you reveal that? Andwhat do they dress like, and what mat-ters to them?” Jessica Parker insistedfans of the show will get a feel for thedifferences in the characters, and theirworld, as the 10-episode series getsunderway, reports said. She added: “Itwill become abundantly clear that, likefor many people, time and experiencesand cities and environment and cir-cumstances tend to dictate who you arewhen you walk out the door.” And when it comes to the timing of therevival, the star said it wasn’t a case offinding the “right or wrong” moment,but instead it was about an “appropri-ate” reason to make a new series. Shesaid: “I don’t know that there is a rightor wrong time. I think for us... we feltexcited about the kind of stories that wewere interested in telling.”“We found that home again at HBO, so

we were encouraged that this year ornext year, it just felt appropriate some-how.” She continued by saying, “We hadleft these women, and we were curiousabout where they were, and who theywere, and what was their life like, andwho they were surrounded by. It gaveus a lot of opportunities to make thefamily larger and start telling new sto-ries.”

Travis Scott says he didn't know fans wereinjured until after Astroworld concert

apper Travis Scott spoke out for the firsttime about the Astroworld tragedy whenradio personality Charlamagne tha Godreleased a nearly hour-long discussion. Inthe discussion released on Thursday, Scottwas asked early on in the interview when

he knew that there were fan injuries, and ultimatelydeaths, at the November 5 festival that left 10 peopledead and scores injured, reports divulged. “I didn’tknow the exact details until minutes before the pressconference (after my set). And even at that momentyou’re like, ‘Wait, what?’,” he said. “People pass out,things happen at concerts, but something like that,” hecontinued, trailing off. The rapper also denied hearingany distress from the crowd that would have causedhim to stop the show. “It’s so crazy because I’m thatartist too, anytime you can hear something like that,you want to stop the show,” he said. “You want tomake sure fans get the proper attention they need.Anytime I could see anything like that, I did. Istopped it a couple times to just make sure everybodywas OK. And I really just go off the fans’ energy as acollective call and response. I just didn’t hear that.”Scott also said that from his vantage on the stage, thecombination of music, the band, lights, pyro andother elements makes it difficult for him to have a fullgrasp of what’s going on in the crowd, or be able toperceive the difference between fans in danger versusenjoying the show.“You can only help what you can see and whateveryou’re told, whenever they tell you to stop, you stop,”he said. Charlamagne also pressed Scott on the “rag-ing” culture his shows are known for, and if that con-tributed to the deaths. “That’s something I’ve beenworking on for a while, is creating these experiencesand trying to show these experiences are happening ina safe environment,” he said. “Us as artists, we trustprofessionals for when things happen that people canleave safely. And this night was just like a regularshow, it felt like to me, as far as the energy. It didn’t

feel like, you know people didn’t show up there just tobe harmful.”“People just showed up to have a good time and then

something unfortunate happened and I think we real-ly just got to figure out what that was. ‘Raging’ there’s

not a textbook definition, but in concerts we’ve grownit to be just the experience of fun. It’s not about justharm. It’s not about that. It’s about letting go and hav-ing fun, helping others and love each other,” the rap-per added.

ctress Jennifer Aniston, who shot toglobal fame as Rachel Green inFriends, believes the industry haschanged dramatically over recentyears. She told a media outlet, “Idon’t know what the industry is any-

more. It’s not the same industry that it used tobe. It’s not that glamorous anymore. It’s slowlybecoming about TikTok and Instagram follow-ers. It’s like, we’re hiring now based on follow-ers, not talent? Oh, dear. And I’m losing touch.I’m not great at going, ‘I’m going to stay rele-vant and join TikTok.’”Aniston joined Instagram in October 2019,and became the fastest user to reach one mil-lion followers. Discussing her relationship withsocial media, she said: “I used to say, can’t I justjoin Twitter for a day and say ‘Debunk’ or

‘That’s b******t’? The answer was no, becausethen people respond and you have to followup, and I was like, ‘Well, that sounds terrible. Idon’t want to do that.’” Despite this, theactress previously shared that she generallyenjoys interacting with her fans. She said:“Most of the time I genuinely enjoy theexchange. Ninety percent of the people arehappy and excited. Every now and then you’llencounter someone who is rude or entitled,with a ‘Well, you asked for it’ attitude. If I’m inthe middle of dinner, no, I don’t want you totake my picture. “I try to have a rule: I onlytake photos with kids. It was a hard boundaryfor me to create because people get reallypissed off at you. But you have to have limits.Otherwise you’ll just be standing there doingselfies on a corner for decades.”

Jennifer Aniston: Film businessisn't as glamorous as it once was

Vicky Kaushal andKatrina Kaif, who tied theknot on Thursday inRajasthan, will soon shiftin to a new plush apart-ment in Mumbai’s Juhu

area, where actress Anushka Sharmaand former team India skipper, ViratKohli will be their neighbours. Asall of Bollywood poured their bestwishes in for the newly wed couple,Anushka too, congratulated the cou-ple and confirmed that they willindeed be the neighbours. Anushka,who has worked with Katrina in JabTak Hai Jaan, took to her Instagramstory and shared Katrina’s Insta post

with the picture of the couple.Anushka wrote in the caption:“Congratulations to both you beau-tiful people! Wishing you guys alifetime of togetherness, love andunderstanding.” She continued inthe caption: “Also glad you are final-ly married so that now you canmove into your house soon and wecan stop hearing constructionsounds,” as she tagged both Vickyand Katrina in the story. Vicky andKatrina have rented a sea-facingapartment, the security deposit ofwhich as per sources is close to Rs1.75 crore and the rent is around Rs8 lakhs per month.

Sarah Jessica Parker on

challenges reviving Sex and the

City role in And Just Like That

Anushka Sharma confirms Vicky,Katrina will be her new neighbours

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

PoweringHyd biz scene

SHIKHA DUGGAL

yderabad is now becoming a hub for newbusiness people over the recent years dueto high growth rates and other factors.Many entrepreneurs like to invest in infor-mation technology, finance, software, and

other sectors to earn more money. The number is likelyto increase in the future due to the availability of highmanpower and government policies! One suchHyderabadi man named Venkat Rao is the Founderand Managing Director of Flash Solutions Pvt Ltd.While handling overall strategy and financial manage-ment, he is introducing something newer to this citynow. Guess what? Mr. Venkat Rao’s talents and skillsresulted in the ideation of two B2B applications: F 360and Minte. Flashgard is based on a similar process tothe other two applications, but with considerably moreadvanced technical and user-friendly features. He talksa little about himself, saying his hometown holds manymemories for as it is where he grew up— Hyderabad.“When I was young, most of us dreamt of moving to abig city and working for a reputable company. Butwhen I grew up and started earning, I realize what myhometown meant to me. Hyderabad is a place whereyou get to see yourself growing and hold all the unfor-

gettable memories of your childhood. I gave birth toall my business ventures here and then it expanded tothe whole country. Name a metropolitan town and ourbusiness will be running there,” says he, who is also thefounder of Ikon Technologies! Flashgard was foundedwith the goal of providing mobile phone users with on-demand screen protection films that protect theirscreens from scratches and breaking. “This is donewith the use of a machine that is controlled by a tech-nological application that contains designs for practi-cally all items with display panels. It is an on-demandfilm cut application for electronic devices ideated withan objective to help the retailers to minimize thewastage where the retailers won’t be left with the end oflife and non-sellable stocks. This in turn will help theretailer not to lose a customer who comes for screensfor very old devices in the market,” adds the entrepre-neur. “There’s a certain vibe in here, it is a city that hasno illusions. It really forged who I am in a major way. Itis the right place for comfort, for good food andwarmth, for the touch of a friendly hand, and for a talkbeside the fire, it is the place known as my home,”explains the entrepreneur who has more than twodecades of experience in sales management and mar-keting for a variety of innovative product categories inIndia and overseas. The theme of entrepreneurship ismultifaceted and nuanced in Hyderabad too. Venkat

believes it is important to recognise that the role ofentrepreneurship is also to foster social change andenhance the quality of how people live on a daily basis.This can only be done by effectively addressing the bigchallenges that transform societies, transform countriesand transform our plane, he says! “The way forward forentrepreneurship is to work towards an inclusionaryecosystem that prioritises the generation of real valueand real jobs. For the old business houses, success hadcome from the close-knit joint family structure thatfosters family values, teamwork, tenacity, and continu-ity. But then liberalization changed the very nature ofdoing business. If large businesses were to succeed, onemust re-orient itself to compete in a global, competitiveenvironment,” says the mind behind an innovativesolution whose model became so popular that it wasdesignated as a Guinness World Record for inventive-ness! Venkat grew up in a business family and hasalways aspired to be a successful entrepreneur. Heattended a prestigious convent school in Vizag andearned a Bachelor of Engineering degree from one ofthe top colleges in Bangalore. He is a loving father of ateenage daughter and enjoys spending his free timewith her. He is also a fitness fanatic and a vehicle afi-cionado. Venkat hopes to take a break after a few yearsand devote his time to charity while infusing it withfresh technical innovation. He’s a mix of both worlds.

he old adage “toomuch of every-thing is bad” istrue of your invest-ments as well. It isnecessary to diver-

sify investments to reduce therisks and ensure steady returns,

but if you over-diversify yourinvestments, it will start to hurt you

financially and mentally. The ques-tion arises here: what is over-diversifyand how do we know when we are

over-diversifying our investment? Luckilywe have answers for both.

What is over-diversification?

When an investor spreads his investments toomuch across instruments or sectors or fund types

with the aim of balancing his returns, it is calledover-diversification. If his investments are within

range, it can be of great help as it will balance thevolatility of the market and help him ensure better risk-

adjusted and stable returns. However, if he spreads hisinvestments too low, he will lose out on the benefits of diversi-

fication.Investment experts also use the term ‘diworsification’ for the same;

Which essentially means that your extra diversification is taking a tollon your investments. The sad thing about over-diversification is that most

investors don’t realize it. They continue to believe that their diversified invest-ment portfolio is the most appropriate way to invest. It is important for all

investors to understand the meaning of over-diversification and when they need totake relevant corrective measures to keep their wealth creation journey on track. Here weare with 5 signs that you are diversifying your investments, to help you know whether youare over-diversifying or not.

SHIKHA DUGGAL

ove is a focal point in everyone’slife and a wedding coalesces the rela-tionship to a new life phase. Let it be acommon man or a billionaire, who doesn’twant their wedding to be newsworthy?Over the next several hundred years dating

back from before Christ, marriages evolved into awidespread institution! According to Catholicrecords, Adam and Eve were the very first couple.And then who can forget ‘Corona’ in 2021! It was thereal bummer for weddings, yet there were someunique weddings with limited guests that still madeit to news for their individuality. We are sure afterreading this year-ender, you won’t want to push yourwedding to next year!

WEDDING IN SKY

A Tamil couple got mar-ried as the SpiceJetplane flew over theMeenakshi Ammantemple on its way fromMadurai to Bengaluru.However, it got them tointo fishy trouble! Asthe couple chartered apassenger jet to stage amid-air wedding, it wenton to violate the thenCoronavirus rules. As

the aircraft flew over the temple, spread overabout 14 acres on the southern bank ofMadurai, the bride and groom stoodalong with other passengers. A videoshared on social media showed thegroom placing a traditional ornamentaround the bride’s neck while passen-gers cheered and took photos.

THE ‘SHERWANI' BRIDE

This bride fromRajasthan com-pletely changed thenarrative of tradi-tional weddings bywearing a sherwani,pagdi and riding ahorse at her wed-ding. Initially reluc-tant, her familydecided to go aheadwith the dulhan’sidea of equality. Sheis a fashion design-er and a resident of a village named Ranoli in Sikardistrict. Mahavir Saini, father of the bride, said inthe news that he has 6 children of whom Kritika isthe youngest daughter, and has always taken care ofthe family as a son.

A ZERO-WASTE WEDDING

During the recentmarriage function ofIndore MunicipalCorporationemployee Siddharth,all environment-friendly items wereused includingwares used for serv-ing food and wel-come banners forguests. CEOGupta

alsogifted awall clockto the couplewhich was madewith 3R conceptand compost manurewas given to the atten-dees in the wedding!

CANINE JODI

A familyfromThrissurorganised awedding oftheir pet dog.Acid, a Beagleowned by Shelly PK and family, gotmarried to Jaanvi in aceremony held atKunnathurmana at

Punnayurkkulam in the Malayalam month ofKanni. The wedding had all the associated cus-toms like the accompaniment of nadaswaram &

kurvayidal. Their pics went viral; the weddingwas completed with their favorite chicken

meal & cake-cutting with close familymembers.

UNDERWATER WEDDING

A cou-ple liter-

ally tookthe plunge

& dived 60feet underwater for

a unique weddingceremony inChennai. VChinnadurai and SSwetha got marriedin what was calledthe first traditionalHindu underwaterwedding. The brideand groom reported-ly woke up at thecrack of dawn to diveoff the coast of Neelankarai dressedin their traditional wedding finery.After finishing the initial ritualson the shore, the couple, clad insari and dhothi, took the boatto a spot 4.5 km off thecoast along Neelankarai,to dive and completethe thaali ceremonyand exchange gar-lands.

‘Ek vivah aisa bhi'

1. Lack of Clarity

Since you have spread your investments too much,there will be a lot of investments going on at thesame time, and this situation will be difficult tohandle. Thus, there will be confusion and lack ofclarity about your objective as well as your invest-ment portfolio. You can’t manage everything atthe same efficiency. You will also find it difficultto manage your investments and you will also beunaware sometimes of what is happening withthe holding or money you have invested.

2. Multiple ways leading to the same particular asset class

The terms concentration and diversification are dif-ferent from each other but too much of both canhurt your portfolio. If you have invested in a par-ticular instrument, let’s say equities, in manyways, it may sound like concentration but in real-ity, it could be another sign of over-diversifica-tion. The concentration of investment instru-ments in a particular asset class is a sign that theinvestor is highly diversified. Another example isif you have a lot of fixed deposits or recurringdeposits in your portfolio, it will be also consid-ered over-diversification.

3. Making multi-asset investments all the time

If you always prefer to invest in multiple assets atthe same time, it is a sign of over-diversification.You need to understand that when one needs todeduct investments from underperforming assetsto outperforming assets. Failure to do so makes

the path of growth of returns a bit rough.

4. Choosing Similar Mutual Fund Schemes

If your portfolio does have multiple mutual fundschemes of the same nature, you have over-diver-sified your investment. For example, if there aremultiple small-cap or mid-cap, or large-capschemes from different investment firms, it is asign of over-diversification and you need to thinkabout it.

5.Too many individual stocks

If you are holding 15-20 individual stocks then it isenough to offer you the benefits of diversification,but if you go beyond this limit, it will be consid-ered as over-diversification. Holding beyond 15-20 individual stocks will be considered an over-diversified investment and it is not as healthy as itseems. There is a very thin line between diversifi-cation and over-diversification, and understand-ing the difference can make or break your finan-cial goals. Diversification is important and mustbe followed for stable and risk-free long-termreturns, but over-diversification can cause youfinancial and mental harm. You should reviewyour portfolio from time to time, and it is advis-able to consult your financial advisor if you feelthe need for some expert advice. According to theresult, you can work on your portfolio.

(THE WRITER, AMIT GUPTA,

IS THE MD AT SAG INFOTECH)

5 signs you are over diversifying your investments

SaturdayDecember 11, 2021

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sports 11VIJAYAWADA | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 11, 2021

PTI n NEW DELHI

Delhi batter Yash Dhull will lead a 20-member India squad in the upcom-

ing Under-19 Asia Cup scheduled to beheld in the UAE from December 23, theBCCI announced on Friday.

There will be a preparatory camp inBengaluru ahead of the tournament andthe governing body also named a 25-member squad for the same, whichincludes five standby players.

“The All-India Junior SelectionCommittee has picked a 20-memberIndia U19 squad for the upcomingACC U19 Asia Cup to be played in theUAE from 23rd December,” the govern-ing body said in a statement.

“The selectors have also announceda 25-member squad for a preparatorycamp at the National Cricket Academyin Bengaluru from December 11th-19thahead of the ACC event.”

Dhull was a leading run-getter inthe Vinoo Mankad Trophy earlier thisyear. He averaged 75.50 for his 302 runsfor the DDCA in the five matches thatthe team played during the tournament.

The Board, however, said that India’ssquad for the U-19 World Cup slated forJanuary-February next year in the WestIndies will be announced later.

Two-time defending championsIndia have won the ACC U-19 Asia Cupsix times in the last eight editions, whilesharing the trophy with Pakistan in 2012.

India U-19 Asia Cup squad:Harnoor Singh Pannu, AngkrishRaghuvanshi, Ansh Gosai, S K Rasheed,Yash Dhull (Captain), AnneshwarGautam, Siddharth Yadav, KaushalTambe, Nishant Sindhu, Dinnesh Bana(wk), Aaradhya Yadav (wk), RajangadBawa, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, GarvSangwan, Ravi Kumar, Rishith Reddy,Manav Parakh, Amrit Raj Upadhyay,Vicky Ostwal, Vasu Vats (subject to fit-ness clearance).

Standby players who will attendpreparatory camp at NCA: Ayush SinghThakur, Uday Saharan, ShashwatDangwal, Dhanush Gowda, PM SinghRathore.

AP n BRISBANE

Joe Root set a record for mostruns in a calendar year by anEngland test batter and shared

an unbroken 159-run stand withDawid Malan on Friday to lead arally in the Ashes series openeragainst Australia.

Root was ubeaten on 86 andMalan was 80 not out whenEngland reached 220-2 at stumpson Day 3.

The England skipper has 1,541runs so far in 2021, beating MichaelVaughan’s record of 1,481 runs in2002. Mohammad Yousuf holdsthe test record with his 1,788 runsin 11 matches for Pakistan in 2006.

England is still 58 runs behind.But after being dismissed for 147 onDay 1 and conceding a 278-runfirst-innings deficit, the third-wick-et pair finally gave England a ses-sion of dominance.

Root faced 158 deliveries, hit 10boundaries and was one run shy ofhis highest previous score in anAshes test Down Under. Malanfaced 177 deliveries as the pair gotthrough almost two full sessions.

Malan said the only way forEngland to go forward was to for-

get the first innings, not be “sittingducks” and just take the attack backto the Australian bowlers. But hesaid the job was only half done, andEngland needed at least another250-300 runs to pressure Australia.

With Root still there, it’s possi-ble.

“He seems to somehow find away of putting the pressure back onthe bowlers,” Malan said. “It’s greatsigns for us as a team that Joe isplaying well out here and leadingfrom the front.”

Australia resumed Friday at343-7 and added 82 for the lossthree wickets in the morning ses-sion, with Travis Head bowled for152 by Mark Wood to end theinnings at 425.

England’s openers survived toreach 23 without loss at the firstinterval but both were out early inthe afternoon session and the totalwas 61-2 when Root joined Malanat the crease.

Opener Rory Burns narrowlyavoided an unwanted pair, gettinga reprieve after being given out lbwto Mitchell Starc without scoring inthe first over of England’s secondinnings two days after being bowledout by the Australian left-arm pace-

man on the first ball of the series.This time, a successful review

showed the ball may have gone overthe stumps.

But he was out in the first overafter lunch without addition to hisscore or the England total when hewas caught behind of Australiacaptain Pat Cummins for 13.

Haseeb Hameed compiled 27from 58 deliveries before he gloveda legside catch off Starc to wicket-keeper Alex Carey in the only otherEngland wicket to fall on Day 3.

Conditions were perfect forbatting on the middle day at theGabba, which started with Headmarshalling Australia’s lower order.

He put on 85 for the eighthwicket with Starc (35) and 29 for theninth with Nathan Lyon (15) to pro-long Australia’s innings and keepEngland in the field in subtropicalhumidity.

Lyon was out to Mark Woodwhen Head was on 147 andAustralia was on 420, leaving No. 11Josh Hazlewood to hang aroundlong enough to help his teammatecross 150.

Head reached the milestonewith a boundary against left-armspinner Jack Leach, his innings

including 15 fours and four sixes. Italso took Leach beyond 100 runsconceded in 12.1 overs.

But with the batters trying tokeep the run-rate up, pacemanWood bowled Head to finish theinnings and return 3-85. OllieRobinson had figures of 3-58 andWoakes had 2-76. Stokes, playinghis first test match since March, had0-65 off 12 overs and appeared tobe struggling with his fitness.

Veteran Australian openerDavid Warner didn’t field on Fridayafter being hit in the ribs while post-ing his 94 in the home team’s firstinnings of 425. Team officials saidhis absence was because of bruising.

Marnus Labuschagne, whoscored 74 in Australia’s innings, saidit was important for the hometeam to keep building pressureand get wickets with the new ball,due after 10 overs on Saturday.

England hasn’t won a test inAustralia in a decade and hasn’t wona test at the Gabba since 1986, whileAustralia’s loss to India here inJanuary was its first at the Brisbanevenue since 1988.

“We know the Gabba,”Labuschagne said. “We know thetemplate here.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

Indonesia’s Mulyo Handoyo and Malaysia’s Tan KimHer are set to return as India’s singles and dou-

bles badminton coaches with the national federationhoping to finalise their appointments by the end ofthis month.

Tough taskmaster Mulyo, who has coachedAthens Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat, hada brief stint in India and is credited for the successof men’s singles players like Kidambi Srikanth, B SaiPraneeth and HS Prannoy in 2017.

Tan Kim Her, on the other hand, is the manresponsible for forging India’s best doubles pair ofChirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, who underhis guidance won the Commonwealth Games silver,played a vital role in the team gold in 2018 and alsobroke into world’s top 20. “Mulyo and Tan Kim Herare among the few top names who applied for the postsafter we advertised for it and BAI (BadmintonAssociation of India) wants to avail their services asthey have prior experience of working with our Indianplayers,” BAI secretary Ajay Singhania told PTI.

BAI had advertised for the coaches’ posts onNovember 18 after men’s singles coach Agus DwiSantoso departed last month, few weeks before thecompletion of his contract.”Mulyo and Tan have beenin the Indian set up so we are favouring them andwe are hoping to get their services from the IndiaOpen in January. Of course, it is yet to be finalisedas we are still discussing the details,” Singhania said.

Under Mulyo, Indian male shuttlers secured anunprecedented five Super Series titles in 2017, whichincluded four titles by Srikanth and one by Praneeth.

“The contracts of all the coaches expire inDecember end, so we will have to seal the appoint-ments by this month.”

PTI n BHUBANESWAR

The upcoming AsianChampions Trophy in

Dhaka will be a perfect plat-form for the fringe players toshowcase their talent andstake a claim in the first team,said Indian men’s hockeyteam captain ManpreetSingh.

The tournament, origi-nally scheduled to be heldlast year, has been postponedmultiple times due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, andwill now be played fromDecember 14 to 22.

This will be India’s firstouting after the team’s his-toric Olympics bronze medalwinning campaign earlierthis year. The ManpreetSingh-led side will be with-out eight players from theTokyo Games squad, includ-ing the likes of veteran goal-keeper PR Sreejesh who has

been rested, “With nearly 10 players

who were part of the TokyoOlympic squad being rested,this is a fantastic opportuni-ty for the players who hadbeen waiting on the sidelinesto get a chance to perform ina major international tourna-ment. This will be a goodplatform for them to show-case their talent and tempera-ment,” said Manpeet beforeleaving for Dhaka on Friday.

Defending championsIndia would begin their cam-

paign on the opening dayagainst Korea before lockinghorns against Japan,Malaysia, Pakistan and hostsBangladesh in the single-pool tournament for tophonours.

“This is our first outingafter the Tokyo Olympics sonaturally there is a lot ofexcitement among the play-ers. We have had a goodtraining camp inBhubaneswar and I feel sincethe weather here is quitesimilar to that of Dhaka, wewon’t take long to acclima-tise,” the skipper said.

“It will be a good tourna-ment not just in terms ofcompetition but also tounderstand about otherteam’s capabilities. We assessthe progress of other Asiancountries ahead of the all-important Asian Games andAsia Cup next year,’ the acemid-fielder added.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Three-time champion shuttlerCarolina Marin’s much-awaited

return to competitive action got fur-ther delayed as she pulled out of theWorld Championship after failing toregain fitness following a knee injury.

The Rio Olympics gold medallisthad withdrawn from the All EnglandChampionships this year after suffer-ing the injury during the Swiss Open.

The 28-year-old had announcedher plans of making a comeback at thehome World Championships begin-

ning in Huelva, Spain.“I was having a really good sea-

son start, I had won four tournamentsout of five. I was feeing very confident,strong and in a really good physicaland psychological condition untiljust one bad movement broke myknee completely,” Marin said in avideo posted in her twitter handle.

“Mentally it has been really hardto keep myself up, my priorities havebeen always health and well being.Therefore my team and myself havedecided not to play the Huelva WorldChampionship.”

Marin, considered as one of themost dominating players in interna-tional badminton, said she might be

back in February next year but would-n’t want to put a date on her return.

“We have also taken the decisionof not having a formal date of come-back to competitions until we are 100sure my knee is fully recovered.

“So we will be evaluating slowlyknee progress and the sensations.

I am daily having it, so we believeI might be officially playing again inthe month of February and March.”

Marin, who had missed the TokyoOlympics, had sustained a knee injuryin the Indonesia Masters final inJanuary 2019 and had missed the

World Championships that year evenas India’s P V Sindhu claimed hermaiden title.

The Spaniard had returned atVietnam Open in September, 2019and went on to win the China Open,Syed Modi tournament and a runners-up finish at the French Open that year.

After a second-best finish atIndonesia Masters, Spain Mastersand Denmark Open in 2020, Marinreturned to claim back-to-back titlesat Thailand and a final finish at theseason-ending World Tour Finals inBangkok.

PTI n FATORDA

Heavyweights ATK MohunBagan would be eyeing to

plug holes in its defence to avoidthe ignominy of a hat-trick ofdefeats when it takes on an unbeat-en Chennaiyin FC in an IndianSuper League match here onSaturday.

After starting off in style withthumping wins over KeralaBlasters FC and arch-rivals SC EastBengal, the Mariners haveslumped to back-to-back lossesagainst nemesis Mumbai City FCand Jamshedpur FC to slip out oftop-five. Against quality opposi-

tion in MCFC and JFC, the green-and-maroon brigade’s defence hasbeen terribly out of shape, leakingseven goals in two matches.

Their two national defendersPritam Kotal and Subhasish Bosehave failed to live up to the expec-tations in the absence of injuredTiri and Sandesh Jhingan, who hasleft for Croatian club Sibenik.

Habas would hope Tiri, thestar Spanish central defender,plays the full 90 minutes, even asit seems a far-fetched reality as heis yet to gain full fitness.

Chennayin FC have been themost resolute in their defence thisseason, letting in the least numberof goals — two — from threematches. In such a scenario, Habaswould look to rearrange his forma-tion and may ring in a few changeswith Michael Soosairaj a possibil-ity in the left wing.

While trying to bolster thedefence, ATK Mohun Bagan hassuffered in its attacking play,something that was seen in its 1-2 loss to the Red Miners.

PTI n MUMBAI

The Cricket Club of India (CCI) felicitat-ed young shuttler Taarini Suri, who won

twin triple crowns in the European circuitlast month.

In recognition of her achievements, theCCI Executive Committee headed by itssporting president Premal Udani and thebadminton sub-committee honouredTaarini, coach Hufrish Nariman and theyoungster’s parents.

Udani presented Taarini with a plaque,a cash award and gift vouchers.

The talented 14-year-old Taarini, whotrains under renowned coach and former acebadminton player Hufrish Nariman at thePrakash Padukone Badminton Academy atthe CCI courts, had clinched the girls’ sin-gles

Under-15, girls’ doubles Under-17, andthe mixed doubles Under-17 titles at the FZFORZA Finnish Youth 2021 BadmintonChampionship in Finland in early November.

A fortnight later, Taarini repeated the featwinning the girls Under-15 singles and dou-bles title and the girls’ Under-15 mixed dou-bles event at the Swedish Youth Games 2021at Malmo.

AP n MADRID

Villarreal clinched the final placein the last 16 of the Champions

League on Thursday, while Leicesterfailed to advance in the EuropaLeague.

Villarreal beat Atalanta 3-2away in a game postponed fromWednesday because of heavy snowin northern Italy.

The Spanish side only neededa draw to advance as runner-upfrom Group F but jumped out to a3-0 lead by the 51st minute, withArnaut Danjuma scoring twice.Atalanta answered with goals fromDuván Zapata and substitute RuslanMalinovskyi but it was too late toturn things around.

Atalanta finished third in thegroup and will enter a playoff to getinto the last 16 of the second-tier

Europa League, the competitionVillarreal won last season.

Leicester faced a must-wingame at Napoli to advance in theEuropa League but lost 3-2. Spartak

Moscow secured top spot of GroupC with a 1-0 away victory at LegiaWarsaw.

Also, Eintracht Frankfurt,Galatasaray and Red Star Belgrade

made the next round while BayerLeverkusen, Lyon, Monaco andWest Ham had already qualifiedwith a game to spare.

Only the eight group winnersgo straight into the round of 16 —the runners-up enter a playoff withthe eight teams who finish in thirdplace in the Champions Leaguegroups.

In the inaugural EuropaConference League, JoseMourinho’s Roma reached the nextround after a 3-2 win at CSKA Sofiaand Basel was the last to reach theround of 16.

Another big team in the com-petition, Tottenham, had its gameagainst Rennes postponed after acoronavirus outbreak at the Englishclub that would have deprivedmanager Antonio Conte of at leasteight players who have tested pos-

itive. A new date for the match hasnot been announced.

AZ Alkmaar, Copenhagen,Feyenoord, Gent, LASK, andRennes had already won theirgroups in the third-tier competi-tion.

The draw for the next stage isscheduled for Monday.

EUROPA LEAGUEIn the tightly contested Group

C, all four teams could still qualifyfor the round of 16 ahead of thefinal round.

Leicester had a disastrous startto the game at Napoli.

Forward Adam Ounas gaveNapoli early lead four minutes intothe game with a low shot. Twentyminutes later, Eljif Elmas doubledthe advantage.

Leicester pulled one back three

minutes later when defender JonnyEvans found himself at the rightspot in the area to reduce the leadand Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall equal-ized in the 33rd after a rebound.

But Napoli recovered withElmas scoring again in the secondhalf.

A 1-1 away draw againstFenerbahçe was enough forEintracht Frankfurt to claim GroupD. Olympiakos finished secondafter a 1-0 loss to host Antwerp.

Galatasaray held Lazio to a 0-0 draw in Rome to advance fromGroup E, leaving its Italian oppo-nent in second.

Red Star drew 1-1 with Bragaafter Aleksandar Katai converted apenalty kick to equalize after thePortuguese club took the leadthrough Galeno’s spot kick. Theresult meant Red Star stayed one

point ahead of Braga atop Group F.

EUROPA CONFERENCELEAGUE

Roma leapfrogged previousleader Bodø/Glimt of Norway,which was held 1-1 at ZoryaLuhansk in Group C. Roma was 3-0 up after Tammy Abraham nettedhis second goal in the 53rd, beforeCSKA netted two consolation goals.

In Group G, Vitesse beat Mura3-1 to sit second, leading Tottenhamby three points.Arthur Cabralscored twice for Basel in a 3-0 vic-tory against Qarabag to advance aswinner in Group H.

Denmark’s Randers placed sec-ond in Group D despite a 1-0 lossto Alkmaar while a 1-1 home drawagainst Anorthosis Famagustasecured second place in Group B forPartizan Belgrade.

Sao Paulo: Brazilian soccergreat Pelé said he will remainin a hospital in Sao Paulo “fora few days” to undergo newexams on his colon tumor.The 81-year-old Edson Arantesdo Nascimento was brought tothe Albert Einstein hospital thisweek for chemotherapy ses-sions to treat the tumor foundduring routine exams at theend of August. Pelé was hospi-talised for almost one month

due to the surgery to remove it.Pelé said on Instagram he

has been “having smallchemotherapy sessions as partof my treatment.” He added hehad just finished the last sessionof 2021. “I wanted to share thisachievement with you. After all,every little victory is a reasonto celebrate, don’t you think?”he wrote, with a picture show-ing him in a hospital gown anda clenched right fist. AP

Root’s record helps lead an England rally in Ashes opener

Mulyo Handoyo, Tan KimHer set to return as India’sbadminton coaches

Delhi’s Yash Dhull to lead India U-19 squad in Asia Cup

ACT will be great platform for fringe

players: Hockey captain Manpreet Singh

CI felicitates youngshuttler Taarini

ATK Mohun Bagan hope to plugdefence, avoid hat-trick of defeats

Villarreal makes last 16 in CL, Leicester falls in Europa

Pelé to remain in hospitalfor ‘a few days’ for exams

Carolina Marin pulls out of World Championships

hani, the sports drama starring Varun Tej has onceagain been postponed. Themakers released anannouncement on socialmedia with the movie’srelease being rescheduledon grounds of wanting to

avoid any clashes with other movies slated forrelease in the coming month. The makers’ state-

ment read, “From exotic locations to expensivesets, we have not compromised on anything and

made this film on a grand scale to give the best visualexperience for the audience.” before going on to assure

the eager fans that the theatrical release of the film will be amemorable experience for all. The film is directed by Kiran

Korrapati and has Saiee Manjrekar in the female lead role, withUpendra as the antagonist.

Ghani releasepostponed yet again

Vijayawada Saturday December 11, 2021 tollywood

nduvadana, the movie that brings Varun Sandesh back on tothe main screens is all set to usher in the new year with arelease date fixed as January 1st, 2022! Confirmed to bereleased with a U/A certificate, this Horror romance film hasbeen directed by MSR, with screenplay written by Satish Aketi.Farnaz Shetty plays the leading lady, while music is composedby Shiva Kakani. The film will release under the Sri Balaji

Pictures banner and also stars Raghubabu, Ali, Nagineedu, Surekha Vani,Thagubotu Ramesh and Dhanaraj in supporting roles.

rithi Shetty, theactress who shot tofame with BuchiBabu Sana’s Uppenais all set to do awoman-orientedfilm! The young star

is busy with a lot of projectson her plate- she has abouthalf a dozen movies in theworks, and now the buzzabout a new movie hasmade the rounds. The

movie is to be helmed byVirinchi Varma of Uyyala

Jampala and Majnu fame, andbankrolled by Sushmita

Konidela- The very own daughterof Megastar Chiranjeevi! The 19 year

old is reportedly all up for this chal-lenge. An official announcement about the

project is expected to be made soon. Krithi is currentlyawaiting the release of her upcoming film Shyam SinghaRoy- which stars Nani as the lead hero and will hit thescreens on December 24.

ayeem Diaries, the

biopic of gangster

Nayeem, hit big

screens yesterday.

Directed by Daamu

Balaji, the film has

Vasishta N Simha

playing the male

lead. Interacting with the

media, the director said, “I was

entrusted with the responsibility

of writing the story of Nayeem

for Ram Gopal Varma.

Unfortunately, he didn’t take up

the film. Later, when the script

was ready, I was thrilled and

had an urge to bring the film to

big-screens. With the help of

CA Varadha Raju garu, and a

friend of mine, I could bring

this film to the audience.”

Speaking of why he chose

Vasishta to play Nayeem, he

said, “We wanted someone who

doesn't just mimic Nayeem and

lives his character in the film in

the finest way. So we

approached actor Vasishta N

Simha, as we felt he’s suitable

for the lead role. Vasishta did

great justice to the role with his

calibre. The film talks about

how Naxalites, Police officers,

Government officials derelic-

tion of duty coerced Nayeem to

be a criminal.” The film had

too much of information that a

few of the director’s friends sug-

gested him to make the film in

three parts. “Nayeem is such a

character which can be shot in a

thousand different scenes, in

thousand different angles.

Amidst the deadly war between

government and naxalites, the

police force compelled and used

him as a messenger to gain a

source of information. Nayeem

turned into a blood-curdling

gangster, when his sister had

been done wrong. After his

encounter, the media was biased

and telecasted only the version of cops, but the reality was

divergent. So through this film I am going to convey to the

audience the other side of the story. Even now I’ve been get-

ting threat calls for releasing this cinema. Yet, after Nayeem

diaries I want to screen some more naxalite stories,” he

concluded.

“Wrote Nayeem

Diaries for RGV”

S Rajamouli and hisRRR team seem to bedizzy after the stomp-ing reaction theyreceived for the the-atrical trailer of RRR.The trailer, which was

unveiled on Thursday, was evenshown at the theaters in AndhraPradesh and Telangana. The RRRteam, who liaised with the mediain Mumbai during the trailerlaunch event, really enjoyed shar-ing their experiences with the film.In its latest interaction with themedia, the Hindi language versiondistributor of RRR, Jayanti LalGada has revealed details aboutthe OTT release of the magnumopus.When asked about the film’sOTT / Digital release, Jayanti LalGada said: “RRR will only be avail-able on the OTT platform after atleast 90 days from the theatricalrelease.” It should be noted that ZEE5 andNetflix own the post-theatricaldigital streaming rights of RamCharan and NTR star RRR.Themanufacturers are currentlyengaged in the promotional activi-ties. Rajamouli and his entire teamwill travel to major cities in Indiato promote the visual wonder-RRR.

RRR to hit OTT after 90days from theater release

Induvadana gets aNew Year's welcome

ctor Pooja Hegde on Friday said she hasconcluded the shooting for her nextfilm Beast, featuring South starThalapathy Vijay. Sun Pictures, who isbacking Beast took to social media toshare the news of Hegde wrapping

up the shoot, alongside a video message fromthe actor. “It’s a wrap for @hegdepooja! Hearwhat she has to say about shooting for#Beast with #Thalapathy @actorvijay anddirector @Nelsondilipkumar,'” the tweetread.Hegde, who returns to Tamil films after agap of nine years, said she thoroughlyenjoyed working on Beast.“It’s been great working on Beast becauseeveryone is so lively and it felt like a vaca-tion while we were shooting. It has been anabsolute pleasure to be on the sets, we haveloved so much making the film. And I hopeyou guys will laugh as well. In typical Nelsonand Vijay sir’s style, this film is going to beentertainment. Sadly, today is my last day forBeast, it’s a shoot wrap for my portion,” the 31-year-old actor said in the 46-second videoclip. Beast, which is Hegde’s first filmwith Vijay, went on floors earlier thisyear. Last week, the director hadrevealed via social media thatthe team has completed 100days of shooting. The film isscheduled to release in 2022.Hegde has exciting anddiverse slate of projectslined up that includesmultilingual filmRadheShyam withPrabhas, Telugu actiondrama Acharya withChiranjeevi and RamCharan, RohitShetty-directedHindi film Cirkusopposite RanveerSingh andSalman Khan-starrer KabhiEid KabhiDiwali.

Pooja Hegde finishes

filming for Beasta

Krithi to star inSushmita Konidela’swoman-oriented film

CID raids ex-IAS man's house as part of probe into APSSDC

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