c m y k c m y k

COUNTER POINT

Max: 26.5OCMin: 18.9OC RH: 66%Rainfall: Nil

Forecast: Cloudy sky.Misty morning. Max/Min

temp. 28/19ºC

WEATHER

ASTROGUIDEVikari; Uttarayana

Tithi: Magha Bahula Tadiya till2.53 am (Wednesday)

Star: Purvaphalguni till 2.23 pmVarjyam: 8.48 pm to 10.14 pm

Durmuhurtam: 9.05 am to 9.50 am; 11.14 pm to 12.05 am

Rahukalam: 3 pm to 4.30 pmHIJRI CALENDAR

Jumada al-Sani 16,1441 AHPRAYERS

Fajar: 5.43 amZohar: 12.40 pm

Asar: 4.40 pmMaghrib: 6.21 pm

Isha: 7.30 pmSUNSET TODAY 6.15 PM

SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.44 AMMOONRISE TODAY 8.32 PMMOONSET TODAY 8.24 AM

Delhi Assemblypoll results todayNew Delhi: Tight securityarrangements have been

put in place at variouscentres across the

national capital wherethe counting of votes

polled in the high-stakesFebruary 8 Delhi

Assembly elections willtake place on Tuesday.

The election, largely seenas a battle between theruling Aam Aadmi Party

and the BJP, which wentaggressive during the

campaign. — PTI

Petition against hanging at SC

New Delhi: An 88-year-old Kerala-based free-

dom fighter, S. Parames-waran Nampoothiri, has

moved the SupremeCourt seeking quashing

of a provision in theCode of Criminal Proce-dure which provides forexecution of death rowconvict by hanging himby the neck saying it a

“colonial hangover” andviolative of fundamental

rights. — PTI

Vol. 83 No. 41 Established 1938 | 32 PAGES | `6.00deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle

TABLOIDSPORTS|16When ads go madfor marketing

Inter too hot for AC in Milan Derby

Protesters, police clash at JamiaDC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, FEB. 10

Hundreds of Jamia Milliastudents and residents ofJamia Nagar, on Monday,were allegedly beaten bythe police after they refu-sed to end their protestand insisted on carryingan anti-CAA (CitizenshipAmendment Act) marchtowards Parliament.

Despite repeated appealsfrom the police and thevarsity administration,

the protesters refused toend their agitation, whichstarted following a call bythe Jamia CoordinationCommittee (JCC), anorganisation of Jamia stu-dents and alumni.

The protesters, includingseveral women, begantheir march from Jamia’sgate no. 7 around noonamid heavy deployment ofsecurity personnel in andaround the university.

The altercation intensi-fied by 6 pm as the stu-

dents refused to budge anda group of protestersgheraoed the SukhdevVihar police station. Someprotesters jumped overbarricades as the police, inriot gear, thrashed them.

As the number of peoplejoining the protest swelledby the evening, theSukhdev Vihar Metro sta-tion near the universitywas closed.

Men formed a humanchain on either side of theroad as women walked

ahead, waving the tri-colour and raising slogansof “Halla Bol.”

Despite repeated appealsfrom the police and thevarsity authorities, theprotesters refused to endtheir agitation. Theyraised slogans like “kagaznahi dikhayenge” (we willnot show documents) and“jab nahi dare hum goronse toh kyun dare humauron se” (When we didnot fear the British, whyshould we fear others).

“It has been two monthssince we are protesting.No one from the govern-ment has come to talk tous. So we want to go to talkto them,” said Zeba Anhad,a protester.

Jamia Millia Islamiaproctor Waseem AhmedKhan appealed to the stu-dents to disperse and notmeddle with the police.“The message has beensent. I request students inthe crowd to go back to theuniversity,” he urged.

A woman protester shouts as police stop her and several others during their march against the amended Citizenship Act, NRC and NPR, near JamiaNagar in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI

Protesterscan’t blockroads: SCSC says Shaheen Bagh stircan’t continue indefinitelyDC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, FEB. 10

The Supreme Court onMonday said that a“protest cannot go onindefinitely” and thoseprotesting against theCAA at Shaheen Baghcan’t block the road andcause inconvenience tothe public.

“Protest has gone on formany days. It can’t be foran indefinite period.There must be an areaidentified for protest,” abench of Justice SanjayKishan Kaul and JusticeK.M Joseph said, andissued a notice to the cen-tre and Delhi governmenton two petitions seekingeviction of the protesters.

“There is a law and peo-ple have grievances again-st it. The matter is pend-ing in court. Despite that,some people are protest-ing. They are entitled toprotest,” the SupremeCourt bench said.

The apex court said thatprotest at Shaheen Baghhas been going on for longbut it cannot create incon-venience for others.

“Can you block a publicroad? You cannot block it.Suppose there is a publicpark, you cannot holdprotest there,” the benchsaid.

The court observationscame in the course ofhearing of two petitions —one by Amit Sahni andanother by Nand KishoreGarg, a BJP leader — bothseeking directions for theremoval of protesters,who have been protestingsince December 15, 2019.

The court declined topass any interim order asurged by advocates for thepetitioners. The courtsaid that it can’t pass anyex-parte order withoutissuing notice to the gov-ernment on the notice.

As lawyer for the peti-

tioner pressed for someorder, Justice Kaul said,“If you have waited for 58days, you can wait forsome more.”

ADITYA CCHUNDURU || DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

For several years, a num-ber of Indian techies work-ing in the US have fakedtheir way through jobapplications, interviewsand day-to-day work. Theyare enabled by an ecosys-tem of “recruiting consul-tancies”, many located inHyderabad, that offer ser-vices like hiring someoneto do a job interview ontheir behalf and even per-forming their job while theUS-based techie makes bigbucks.

According to engineer-ing graduates who movedto the US for an MS degree,they are incapable of find-ing a job on their own.Placements being rare,they associate with a con-sultancy. Mahesh (namechanged), working inDallas, said “Most Indianconsultancies own or rentproperties across America— called guest houses —where people like me areasked to move. Here theyteach us a little in the

domain we want a job in,like databases or webdesign. All this is free ofcost. We pay them 20 to 30per cent of our take-homesalary once we get a job.”

This is where it getsshady. Naresh (namechanged), who works nearKavuri Hills in a “staffingagency”, explains themodus operandi: the grad-uates are “marketed” to ITfirms. “Eventually compa-nies show interest andinvite for interviews. If it’sa one-on-one interview, wecan’t help. But when it is

done via video-call, we geta domain expert fromIndia to take the interviewfor him. The candidatejust has to move his lips.The off-screen proxyspeaks the whole time,” hesaid.

The proxy interview,said a graduate from Rale-igh, North Carolina, beco-mes necessary since mostconsultancies fake resu-mes to an astonishing deg-ree. “Our resumes show 7-8 years experience. Theinterviewer expects us tobe well-versed with our

jobs. Since we aren’t, wehave no choice,” he said.

But once they get the job,how do they survive?“Once a person reports forwork, we arrange someonefrom India who can do hiswork,” Naresh says. “Theperson enables remoteaccess to his computer,brief the proxy about thework, and then relax. Theproxy does the rest.”Depending on the work’scomplexity, proxies makebetween `30,000 and`60,000 a month, which isjust a fraction of what thenew recruit is making inAmerica.

Of course, some getcaught. Mahesh fromDallas, said: “One day Iwas sitting in my cubicle,watching a movie onNetflix while the proxywas connected. My super-visor walked in and sawthe mouse moving on thescreen without any inputfrom me. She understoodimmediately.”

■ Page 22: PProxy ssays rremotehelp iis ffor llimited ttime

City proxies work to ‘help’ NRIsTechies make money by working remotely for US employees

RAJESWARI PARASA || DCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

After the Disha rape-mu-rder case, women safetyapps are on the rise.Some of these apps sendthe current location ofthe smartphone userusing a long touch of thepower button or withother simple gestures.

Crimes against womenhave not shown a down-ward trend despite theencounter deaths of theDisha case accused.Since January 1, in a

span of 40 days, therewere 1,950 crimes agai-nst women, includingattempts to rape, acidattacks, stalking, etc,registered by the Nati-onal Commission forWomen. In 2019, 19,730crimes against womenwere recorded by thecommission. Withwomen’s increasing rolein society, developershave been offering appswith features to helpthem in emergencies.

■ Page 22: IInfographic oontop wwomen ssafety aapps

Women safety appsrise after Disha rape

CAN 4-MONTH-OLDCHILD TAKE PART INPROTEST, ASKS SCNew Delhi, Feb. 10:“Can a 4-month-old childbe taking part in such(Shaheen Bagh) prot-ests?”, the Supreme Courtasked on Monday whilewarning some womenlawyers for making“explosive submissions”that children participat-ing in these anti-CAAdemonstrations are beingcalled names, ‘terrorist’,‘gaddar’ (traitor),‘Pakistani’, in school.

“Don’t make explosivesubmissions. Please donot make such state-ments. We do not wantpeople to use this platformto further create prob-lems,” said a bench, com-prising Chief Justice S.A.Bobde and Justices B.R.Gavai and Surya Kant,when two women advo-cates instantly startedmaking submissions.

When the bench said itwas taking suo motu cog-nizance of the letter writ-ten by a national braveryaward winner Zen Gunr-atan Sadavarte, seekingthat minors be barredfrom participating in anytype of protest and agita-tion, the advocates inter-rupted claiming that chil-dren participating in theprotest are being callednames, ‘terrorist’, ‘gad-dar’ (traitor), ‘Pakistani’,in schools.

■ Page 88: SSC jjudges reprimand aadvocates

BALU PPULIPAKA || DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

With reports of another66 passengers on boardthe cruise ship DiamondPrincess testing positivefor coronavirus onMonday, taking the totalto 136, Indian crew mem-bers issued an urgentappeal to the Centre torescue them.

In a video shared onMonday, Binay KumarSarkar, a crew memberwho first took toFacebook days agoexplaining the fear thathas gripped the ship,said “we are scared.There are more than 60positive cases today”.

“I appeal to the PrimeMinister of India to inter-vene. I urge the UnitedNations for help. Urgentsegregation is needed ofthose who are healthy,”he said in the video thatalso showed some of hisIndian crew colleagues.

■ Page 77: JJapan tto ttest aallon bboard sstranded sship

INDIAN CREW ONSTRANDED SHIPSENDS SOS TO PM

VUJJINI VVAMSHIDHARA || DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The Telangana High Courtsought an explanation fromthe state government onappointing IAS officers asvice-chancellors to universi-ties in the state.

While dealing with a PILthat challenged the state’saction in appointing eightIAS officers as in-chargevice-chancellors, the divi-sion bench comprising ChiefJustice Raghavendra SinghChauhan and Justice A.

Abhishek Reddy on Mondayissued notices to the govern-ment to submit its explana-tion within four weeks.

Dr S. Karunakar Reddy,assistant professor in thedepartment of botany,Osmania University, filedthe PIL seeking a direction tosuspend the circular issuedby the Chief Minister’s Officemaking appointments.

But the state failed to followthe rules, he contended.

■ Page 66: SState vviolated UUGCnorms, cclaims ppetitioner

HC: Why post IASofficials as V-Cs?

BJP leader seeks ban on burqa

Aligarh: A BJP leaderfrom Uttar Pradesh

Monday demanded a banon burqa, calling it a

security threat andprovocatively linking it todemon king Ravana’s sis-

ter Surpanakha. “Burqashould be banned in the

country as has been donein several other coun-tries,” Raghuraj Singh,

who holds a rank equiva-lent to a minister of state

in Uttar Pradesh. — PTI

● Indian graduates passedout from US universities seekthe help of recruitingconsultants to secure a job inAmerica.

● Consultants support thegraduates by providingproxies to attend online jobinterviews and workremotely during initialperiod.

28.43 LIndians stay in

the UnitedStates (0.9% ofUS population)

4.15 lakh or14.5 per cent of

Indians in theUS are Telugu-

speakers.

WORLD|12Parasite makes

Oscar history

Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Y.S. Jagan MohanReddy on Monday hinted

that the executive capital would beshifted to Visakhapatnam withinthree to four months.

In an informal chat with a selectgroup of mediapersons, includingDeccan Chronicle principal corre-spondent G. Sampat Samaritan,Chief Minister Reddy justified thedecentralisation of administration,saying decentralisation would leadto greater development.

In a freewheeling chat on aplethora of issues for the first timeafter he took over as Chief Minis-ter, Mr Reddy shared his views on

a plethora of subjects. Excerpts.

When is the executive capitalmoving to Visakhapatnam? Howprudent is idea of shifting thecapital?

The setting up of an executive capi-tal in Visakhapatnam would bedone in another three to fourmonths. The tier II city ofVisakhapatnam would quickly tobecome a tier I city, after which, itcan compete with Hyderabad. It isa well thought of decision to ensureequal growth of all regions.

What would be the fate of Amar-

avati after this shifting? Farm-ers who gave away their landsfor an integrated capital thereare in arms against the move?

We will retain Amaravati as thelegislative capital. All Assemblysessions would be held here, so itwill witness a natural economicgrowth in due course of time. Noinjustice would be done to farmersas we have enhanced the annuitypayment to 15 years and farmlabourers are being paid `5,000 permonth against present `2,000.

■ Page 55: CCM is llike aa ffather figure tto tthe sstate, ssays JJagan

‘I visualised the future of youth for 20 years’Jagan confident of revenue growth and implementing Navaratnalu unhinderedCANDID | TALK

THE CCHIEF Ministeris like a father figureto the state and thepeople. Failing todevelop a state evenafter havingauthority to do so isa sin.”

Y.S. JAGAN MOHANREDDY, CM

THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIAHYDERABAD I TUESDAY I 11 FEBRUARY 2020

b e g a nl e a r n i n g

karate. Seeingthe way I am shap-

ing up, I now get myfriends to learn self-

defence techniques.” Meanwhile, pepper

sprays have also emergedas a secret weapon formany women.

Despite residents’ attempt to save the Ramanthapur Lake, the nearly-dried up lake has become a new spot to dumpgarbage for nearby traders — GANDHI

Drying up

IN BRIEFS

2-YR-OLD GIRLDROWNS IN

WATER SUMPDC CCORRESPONDENTNIZAMABAD, FEB.10

In a tragic incident, a two-year-old girl drowned in a sump ofwater at GK Thanda inIndalwai mandal on Monday.

According to information,Vasuki accidentally drownedin the sump while playing infront of her house. She was oneof the three daughters ofVasanth and Mala. Vasanth hasgone to the Gulf in search oflivelihood. Mala was thus look-ing after her three daughters.

On Monday, two of the olderdaughters had gone to school.The third, Vasuki accidentallydrowned in the water sumpwhile playing. Family mem-bers rushed her to theIndalwai primary health cen-tre and then a private hospital.However, doctors declared thatthe girl had been brought dead.Indalwai police have regis-tered a case.

2 YOUTH FROMTS STRANDED

IN DUBAIDC CCORRESPONDENTNIZAMABAD, FEB.10

Two youth from Nizamabaddistrict have been stranded inDubai for the last few days.Palem Gangadhar and KatkuriGangadhar of Morthad man-dal went to Dubai in search ofemployment last December.

A travel agent of Metpallyhad sent them there by collect-ing `3.20 lakh from them. Theagent assured them a suitablejob in the Gulf and sent themon a visitor’s visa, familymembers of the victims said.

Palem Gangadhar andKatkuri Gangadhar foundwork only for two days inDubai and then lost theiremployment. They tried tocontact the agent, but he wasnot available. The victims andtheir family members haveurged the state government toensure their safe return fromDubai.

Teacher arrestedfor harassment

Adilabad: Police arrested agovernment teacher on

charges of sexually harassinga 28-year-old Adivasi widowthat lead to her committing

suicide. The accused JadhavSakaram works as a teacherin the government school in

Andhoor. Boath police regis-tered a case against JadhavSakaram, under section 306and shifted him for remand.

Villagers of Andhoor stageda massive protest at the

Boath road two days agoalleging that the victim

Naitham Lalitha committedsuicide as she was unable tobear the sexual harassment

by the accused.

Inter studentcommits suicide

Nirmal: An intermediate first-year student committed sui-

cide by hanging himself froma tree in the premises of the

Social Welfare Residentialcollege in Mudhole on

Monday morning. The stu-dent was identified as

Gangadhar. Relatives andfamily members staged a

protest at the Mudhole mainroad and held the college

principal Shivaram responsi-ble. They said that Ganga-

dhar would be alive if theprincipal had reacted early.The family said that Ganga-

dhar had an affair aboutwhich he wrote in his diarythat today was the last day

of his life.

ATHER MMOIN II DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10:

Ms Sara Mathews, city con-vener of Alliance againstCAA, NPR and NRC, said,“we have to prepare for aprotracted battle to protectthe constitutional rights ofcitizens. We should adoptvarious ways and means toprolong the ongoing battleagainst CAA, NPR andNRC.”

She made this observa-tion while addressing stu-dents of Maulana AzadNational Urdu University(MANUU).

Ms Mathews said foreignkingdoms invaded Indiamany times and mostly“we failed to defend ourboundaries due to wrongstrategic approachesadopted by our forces.Likewise, we neverattacked any dynasty,because India was richwith full of resources andour people did not want tostep out of the comfortzone. If we do not leaveour comfort zone and failto adopt a wise strategy,then we will lose our fightagainst criminal ideolo-gists. We need to explorechanging methods.”

She said the fight againstCAA, NPR and NRC is nota struggle of onlyMuslims as other commu-nities will also be affectedonce NRC is implemented.

The most affected commu-nities will Muslims,minorities and dalits.

She pointed out that ini-tially Mr Amit Shahexcluded Muslims andnow he does not mentionabout Christians whiledetailing about the com-munities who will get citi-zenships, which meansthey will deprive the com-munities one after anoth-er community. Womanactivist Ms Khalida

Parveen said that this wasa struggle of minorities,dalits, poor and women.Women and students haveshown a direction for amovement against CAA,NPR and NRC. She con-demned the fresh policebrutal attack against stu-dents of Jamia MilliaIslamia in which dozens ofstudents have been severe-ly injured.

She said “we are apolo-getic that in Telangana we

could not demonstrate likeShaheen Bagh. We alsoaspire to demonstratehere. We try daily toexpress our feelings, butthe police do not allow usto conduct even peacefulprotests. We are not afraidof criminal cases.”

Mr Shaik Umer FarooqQuadri, President StudentsUnion MANUU, welcomedthe gathering. Studentsstaged a drama, read poet-ry and sang songs.

NPR will affect other communities too, says JAC convener

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The consulting firms’ecosystem is well developedin USA, with robust supportstructures in India.However, very little has beenwritten about them in popu-lar and mainstream mediaoutlets. Currently, suchfirms boldly advertise theirwork on social media web-sites such as Facebook.

The search term “Proxyinterview support” returnsmultiple pages/businesseson Facebook.

Each of them has a differ-ent specialisation. One ofthem offers “proxy and jobsupport” on QA (qualityassurance), QTP and

Selenium (testing tools).“Reach 96401***34 forenquiries,” reads one page.Another page says,“Interview support availablefor both male and femaleproxies.”

When this reporter pre-

tended to be in need of proxyinterview support for afriend in America, he wastold that the services areoffered in a “package”.

Shaik Basha, a middlemanof sorts in the city, hadadvertised his services onmany Facebook posts. Hesaid, “We charge $800 for fiveproxy interviews.”

He assured the reporterthat the deal wouldn’t befinal before the customer ishappy with the proxy’sknowledge.

Basha said he was a soft-ware engineer working in afirm in the city, and he con-nected clueless techies inAmerica and experts prox-ies in India for the extramoney.

Firms boldly advertise on social media

Maulana Azad National Urdu University students organise a protest against CAA, NRCand NPR inside the campus — DC

Protesters asked togear up for long battle

Consumer forum fines SpiceJet

GEETA VVALABOJU II DDCHYDERABAD FEB. 10

Although most women havenever showed much interestin learning any form of mar-tial arts for self-defence tech-niques, the Disha gang-rapeand murder that shook thenation has forced a change ofmindset.

Today, learning self-defencetechniques and gettingtrained in the martial artslike karate is a priority formany women, both in urbanand rural.

Martial arts instructorsfrom Hyderabad are report-edly being flooded with callsfrom women, including col-lege girls, to take them onboard.

Many are willing to joinclasses over the weekends.

On their part, theCyberabad, Rachakonda andHyderabad police commis-sionerates are organisingspecial drives in school, col-leges, and other institutionsto urge women to learn self-defence techniques.

Dr G.S. Gopal Reddy, whohas 14 world records in mar-tial arts, has started trainingsessions at the MadapatiHanumantha Rao School inNarayanguda. He says thatwomen of every age groupare keen to enroll them-selves.

Cyberabad DCP SHE Teamin-charge C. Anusuya said,“we conduct special sessionsfor the IT sector. The numberof sessions, and women’senrolment, have increasedafter the Disha incident.When girls become capable ofdefending themselves andfend off physical assaults, itchanges the mindset of peopleand promotes gender equali-ty.”

Malleswari, a Class 12 stu-dent said, “When I first sawthe horrific incident on TVchannels, I began thinking ofmy safety I now believe thatself-defence skills are some-thing every woman musthave.”

Radhika, pursuing anundergraduate degree said,“when something wrong hap-pens, we find we are notequipped adequately todefend ourselves or to avertan assault. I felt karate issomething that will protectme without any weapon. Ischedule my time everydayfor karate after my classes.”

Two other college students,Priya Diya and Anuroopa, areamong the many who havedecided to take self-defencecourses. It is not just studentsshowing an inclination tolearn karate. A 47-year-olddoctor who is also on thesame path, said, “I havebeen attending classes forthe last two years. It’salways frightening to goout late in the evenings,especially because I needto attend meetings. Ilearnt about pressurepoints and other tech-niques that are basicand simple to prac-tice. This has bol-stered my confi-dence. I wishevery womanlearns itbecause wedon’t knowwhen an inci-dent occurs andin what form.This techniquewill help us beprepared.”

Saujanya, a col-lege student, toldD e c c a nChronicle, “weare targetedwhen we leastexpected it. Ithas beenalmost 18m o n t h ssince I

Following the dip in temperatures over the weekend, children are seen with warmclothes their to school on Monday morning. — P. SURENDRA

DURGA PPRASAD SUNKU || DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

Hyderabad DistrictConsumer DisputesRedressal Forum has finedSpiceJet Limited for defi-ciency in services.

According to a com-plaint filed with theforum, Mr Jay PrakashMinda, 42, booked threetickets from Hyderabad toChennai and back.

A day prior to their jour-ney on July 15, 2017, theyreceived a message fromSpiceJet informing themthat due to terminal con-gestion at Hyderabad,they would have to reportfor check-in 120 minutesprior to the departure

time. After two hours ofreceiving the message,they got a message fromSpiceJet informing thatthe scheduled flight fromHyderabad to Chennaiwas cancelled due to oper-ational reasons.

Even for their returnjourney, they did the samedue to delay in the arrivalof the scheduled flight.The complainant addedthat they were forced tobook tickets with anotherairline due to such defi-ciency in service.

SpiceJet contended thatflights were cancelledbecause of operationalreasons which werebeyond their control. Theyinformed the complainantwell in advance about the

developments. As regardsto the refund of amountfor tickets booked, theydirected the complainantsto contact the help desk,which they did not do.

SpiceJet stated that theclaim of complainants forpayment of differenceamount spent for theirflight journeys with otherairlines is untenable asthey are contrary toProvisions of theCarriage by Air Act 1972,Rules and Regulations.The airline contended thatthere is no deficiency inservice on their part.

The Hyderabad DistrictConsumer DisputesRedressal Forum opinedthat in view of this find-ing, SpiceJet is not liable

to pay the differenceamount as claimed bycomplainant. However, inregard to refund ofamount related to thebooked tickets, the compa-ny is liable to pay theamount, which it has notdone so far.

SpiceJet also did notevince any interest or initi-ate any action in refundingthe amount for ticketsbooked, which allegedlycaused mental agony. Thisshows deficiency in serviceon their part.

The forum orderedSpiceJet to refund `4,818towards the amount fortickets booked, `7,000 ascompensation for mentalagony and sufferance, and`3,000 as costs of litigation.

POPULAR WOMEN’S SAFETY APPS

MOST OF THE APPS MENTIONEDBELOW HAVE HAD MORE THAN

ONE LAKH DOWNLOADSB SAFE | Allows emergency con-tacts to follow you through a liveGPS trail; set a timed alarm thatgoes off if you haven’t checkedin; the app makes your phonering with a fake call; the alertnotifies emergency contactswith location, video; and alsosounds a siren.VITH U | It is activated using thephone’s power button, andsends the message: “I am indanger, need help. Please followmy location” to emergency con-tacts every two minutes with anupdated location.EMERGENCY SOS SAFETY ALERTAPP | Sends an SMS alert withGPS location with a long press ofa pre-set button to preset emer-gency contacts at regular inter-vals. This app makes sure thatthe phone screen goes dim todraw less attention towards themobile.RAKSHA | Can be used by multi-ple persons; tracks the user andchecks the location. GPS is usedto track the location and ifsomeone clicks the ‘Are you introuble?’ button, it sends mes-sages on registered numberswith the current location of theapp user.I GO SAFELY | Sends an alert toregistered contacts on shaking itvigorously or after unpluggingthe earphones. Emails and textmessages are sent along withthe GPS location. Updates goevery minute till the app is dis-armed. This app also sends anaudio recording of 30 seconds.BEING SAFE | Sends locationalerts to contacts, but the differ-ence is that one can add asmany contacts as required with-out limit, (other apps have alimit of five to six contacts).Besides the contacts, the appusers in that particular area alsoget a notification about some-one else being in possible trou-ble.NIRBHAYA BE FEARLESS | Sendsan alert to pre-added contactswith the user’s location. One canset to send an alert through aphone call, or a Facebook postor a message by simply shakingthe phone.HAWK EYE | This app has anoption of an SOS button, throughwhich the police can beinformed in case of emergenciesand they would reach the loca-tion. The alert message wouldalso go to the preset five con-tacts as well.WOMEN SAFETY SECURED |Recognises shouting and cryingas distress signals and transmitstext messages to emergencycontacts with the phone’s loca-tion.SAFETIPIN | Along with the GPSlocation, shows directions tosafe locations and pins showingsafe and unsafe areas on themap along with the feature ofSOS to send an emergency alertto preset contacts.

Chilly morning

Women show growinginterest in martial arts

CITY pg 2DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | 11 FEBRUARY 2020

PROXY SAYS REMOTE HELP IS FOR LIMITED TIME

Deal wouldn’t be final before customer is happy with proxy’s knowledge

From Page 1

“I was fired the next day,after a lengthy talk onethics. Fortunately, she did-n’t report me to the police,”Mahesh said, recalling theincident of his supervisorcatching him take the helpof proxies.

Mahesh was making $9,000a month and paying hisproxy $500 when he wasfired. Naresh from the firmin Kavuri Hills said, “Proxywork can only be supportedfor a few months. By then weexpect the graduates to pick

up and be self-sufficient.”What is the end game?

Once the optional practicaltraining (OPT) periodexpires, consultancies kickthe graduates out and stopsupporting them, since theywill likely have to returnhome.

“We look for those fortu-nate enough to be picked inthe H1B visa lottery. Oncethis happens, we know wehave guaranteed revenuesince he can legally stay inAmerica for the next fewyears and will eventuallyfind a job,” he said.

BIG | FRAUD

■■ The ssearch term “Proxyinterview support” returnsmultiple pages/businesseson Facebook.

■■ SHAIK BBASHA, a middle-man of sorts in the city, hadadvertised his services onmany Facebook posts. Hesaid, “We charge $800 forfive proxy interviews.”

Hyder abad/War ang al :Telangana InformationTechnology Association(TITA) organised a 24-hourhackathon on Monday andinaugurated the TelanganaInnovation and IncubationCentre (TIIC) at KITS,Warangal. Rajya Sabha mem-ber Banda Prakash asked thestudents to take advantage ofthe facility to enhance theiremployability skills. — INN

TITA HOLDS 24-HRHACKATHON

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) that has admittedthat it does have not detailsabout the actual number ofproperties in the city hasdecided to issue red noticesto property tax defaultersand seize all movable prop-erties if they fail to pay up.

Corporation staff said thatit would first serve noticesand issue warrants seekingclearance of dues withinthree days. Surprisingly, the

civic body claimed that ithas been issuing notices torepeated defaulters but itdoes not have accurate num-bers.With about 45 daysremaining for conclusion ofthe financial year, the corpo-ration has set a target of`680 crore against the annu-al target of `1,800 crore per-taining to property tax. Tilldate, it has collected `1,120crore. The estimated duesfrom repeat defaulters arenearly `400 crore. The listincludes star hotels, restau-rants, malls, hospitals andeven educational institu-

tions. A red notice is a dis-tress warrant that is execut-ed for recovering movableproperties under Section269 (2) according to theGHMC Act. After seizing themovable properties, thecivic body will also sharethe defaulter data with theelectricity department andHyderabad MetropolitanWater Supply and SewerageBoard (HMWSSB) for dis-connection.

Officials said that thoughdata related to repeateddefaulters was not availablein the headquarters, notices

have been served at the cir-cle level from the availablelist. Officials said the corpo-ration is yet to receive thepurified data, which is afterdeleting duplicate propertytax identification numbers,structures affected in roadwidening and other majorinfrastructure projects.They claimed that the cor-poration had prepared a listof seven categories, wherethe duplicate data has to beremoved to make the accu-rate list of defaulters.

Emphasis will be laid oncircle offices that have the

most commercial outlets,such as Abids, Khairatabad,Serilin-gampally andKukatpally. It has formedteams to identify defaultingmalls and stores. Withregard to governmentoffices, a majority hasassured payment in a week.The government has agreedto pay `20 crore annualproperty tax. Officials alsohinted that the governmentoffices did not clear theirproperty tax dues for twofinancial years, whichamounts to `60 crore,including the current fiscal.

No data of defaulters, yet GHMC fines

9 am to 10 am: Dargah,Riyasathnagar, crossroadsarea, Indiranagar, Habee-bna-gar, Moin Bagh, JawaharColony, Fateshanagar, DargahBharalisha, Rawoofnagar,Kanchanbagh road, JamalColony, Rajunagar, Abu Bakrmosque; Old and NewSantoshnagar, Owaisinagar,Hasnabad, Royal Sea Hotel,Sana Tea Point, Saraladevina-gar, Canara Bank, Tarkari PT,Crystal Bar lane, IS Sadanmain road; Lalitabagh,Rakshapura, Timber Depot,Akthar PT; Kanchanbagr,Rajanarsimha Nagar Colony,Ghousenagar, Indiranagar,Riyasathnagar, Ghulam Must-afa Nagar, Owaisi ground,Midani depot, Hayath Hotelarea, Pisalbanda road.10 am to 2 pm: NoorkhanBazaar, United Bakery, NoorCafé, Komatwadi, CentralBank, Girls School, DarulshifaChaman, Alisha Kidiki, GolKhabar, Lal Mitti ki Dargah,GHMC office.3 pm to 5 pm: AlmariKarkhana, Santoshnagar,MIGH, 2 Number Galli,Santoshnagar colony, policestation area.

CITY pg 3DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | 11 FEBRUARY 2020

IN BRIEFHC asks govt onwaste disposal

Hyderabad: The TelanganaHigh Court on Monday

enquired about the constitu-tion of state level monitoring

committee for effectiveimplementation of solid

waste management. Whiledealing with the PIL regard-

ing suffering of the peopledue to the stench from the

Jawaharnagar dumpyard, thedivision bench, comprisingChief Justice RaghavendraSingh Chauhan and JusticeA. Abhishek Reddy, asked

the state whether it hadappointed the board to mon-itor the solid waste manage-

ment, as per the rulesframed by the Union ministry

in 2016. The court alsosought a reply from the

state, if it had not constitut-ed the Board so far, when it

will be constituted.

Actress Anasuyalodges complaint Hyderabad: Popular actress

and TV anchor AnasuyaBharadwaj took to Twitter to

request Hyderabad cybercrime police to take action

against miscreants whoabused her. Following this,Anasuya took up the issue

with Twitter through E-mail.The Twitter support replied

that ‘After reviewing theavailable information we did-

n’t find a violation of ourrules in the content you

reported.’ Ms Bharadwaj thenmade the request to the

police through Twitter. In aswift response the cybercrime police assured her

action would be takenagainst that profile. Whencontacted, a police official

from Hyderabad cyber crimesaid, “We are taking legal

opinion on this after whichwe will lodge a complaint.”

New GHMC Act to givemore powers to chiefPlans to make elected representatives more accountableMADDY DDEEKSHITH || DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The state governmenthas asked the GHMC tosend proposals to amendthe GHMC Act to bring itin line with the newMunicipal Act that iscurrently valid in otherurban civic bodies in thestate.

The amendmentsshould fill the lacunae inthe GHMC Act and makeelected representativesmore accountable.

The new Municipal Actwill reduce human inter-face between citizens andthe bureaucracy by pro-viding facilities such asself-certification anddeemed approval forbuilding permissions.

The amendment willenable the government toimplement uniform serv-ice rules (USR) for munic-ipal staff in all urbanlocal bodies.

It will make corporatorsresponsible for maintain-ing 85 per cent greeneryin their wards, improvesanitation, and ensureroads and streetlightingis provided, among oth-ers.

The amendments wouldgive absolute powers tothe municipal commis-sioner who can sack cor-porators at any time ifthey are found to be fail-ing to implement the newlaw.

According to highly

placed sources, munici-pal administration andurban development prin-cipal secretary ArvindKumar, at a recent inter-action with GHMC com-missioner D.S. Lokesh,asked him to send the list

of amendments. urbandevelopment principalsecretary has asked MrKumar to mention thelacunae in the existingGHMC Act and give sug-gestions to rectify them.

The government after

vetting the amendmentswill either amend themthrough an ordinance orget them passed in theLegislative Assembly.

The corporation hasbegun listing the pro-posed amendments.

Big blow

Illegal building constructed on the premises of City Light hotel on the RP road being demolished by GHMC officials on Monday. — S. SURENDER REDDY

Accolades for3 city schools DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

Three schools inTelangana state feature inthe top ten nationwide inthe category of ‘budgetprivate schools (BPS)’ in asurvey conducted by C-Fore.

Mukarram Jah Schoolsecured the second posi-tion while Sri Vijaya SaiHigh School, Bodhan,Nizamabad, was rankedeighth and Vasavi HighSchool, Divyanagar atNirmal was in the ninthplace. These ‘affordableschools’ have been votedby a mix of parents, teach-ers, senior students, andeducationists on 11parameters of excellence,such as competence of

faculty, academic reputa-tion, co-curricular educa-tion, sports education,value for money, and lead-ership.

“For parents from low-income households whooften make great sacri-fices to enrol their chil-dren even in affordableprivate schools, makingthe right choice of schoolis even more importantthan in middle class andelite homes,” said MrPremchand Palety,founder CEO of C-Forewhich conducted theinaugural EducationWorlds BPS Ranking 2020.

TOUGH PROVISIONS

POWER | SHUTDOWN

Hyderabad: Governor DrTamilisai Soundararajanattended NationalDeworming Day pro-gramme at Raj BhavanHigh School here onMonday. Speaking on theoccasion, the Governorasked the students to main-tain cleanliness and keeptheir surroundings neatand tidy. She announced`1.5 lakh financial assis-tance to the school formaintenance of sanitaryinfrastructure. — INN

GUV ASKS KIDSTO MAINTAINCLEANLINESS

The GHMC Act will be brought in line with the new MunicipalAct, which has several tough provisioans.FOR CCORPORATORS

Commissioner can can-cel any resolution passedby a civic body and evensuspend chairpersonsand take control of theGHMC.

Even Cabinet ministersdo not have the powersto stay the commission-er’s orders.

10 per cent green budg-et is given from themunicipal budget toimprove plantation.Corporators are responsi-ble to ensure survival ofthese plants or could besacked.

Commissioner willcheck sanitation,hygiene, effectivegarbage disposal, green-ery, maintenance ofroads and drainage.Corporators can faceaction if these are notmaintained well.

FOR BBUILDERSBuilders to have to upload con-

struction progress reports on theprescribed website so thatinvestors have detailed informationof the project.

Builders who fail to furnish thecorrect information have to pay ahuge penalty.

FOR IINDIVIDUALSIndividuals who have plots of land

less than 500 square metres can getself-certification and pay propertytax online.

Governmentwill undertakerandom audit andany individualfound deviatingfrom the plangiven to the gov-ernment wouldbe fined heavily.

Individuals canconstruct ahouse on a plotof land less than75 square metreswithout applyingfor permissionfrom the munici-pality.

Such beneficiaries have to pay ahouse tax of `100 per year and canregister their property at a nominalcharge of `1 to get civic facilities.

■■ C-FFORE conductedthe ‘Budget PrivateSchools’ Ranking 2020.

CITY pg 4DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | 11 FEBRUARY 2020

SHORT TAKESCITY YOUTH

MISSING OFFPUDUCHERRY

TWO KILLEDAS BIKE

HITS DIVIDERDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

A railway employee and a stu-dent, both relatives, werekilled when the bike they weretravelling met with a roadaccident. One of the bikerswas flung into the air and gotstuck in the gap between anelectricity poll and the wall ofthe sub-station under theimpact of the crash, said aGachibowli police officer.

According to the police, ataround 9.15 pm on Sunday, G.Santhosh, 26, a railwayemployee from Akkanapallyin Siddipet district and A.Rehan, 21, of Akkanappally inKarimnagar, were proceedingfrom Nanakramguda towardsDLF Building, when the acci-dent took place.

When the bike (TS07 BD TR6202) reached the main road atthe Gachibowli sub-station, itrammed into the road dividerand the duo flung into the air.Rehan, who was flung from thebike, died on the spot, whileSanthosh who suffered criticalinjuries was shifted to a near-by hospital where doctorsdeclared brought dead,.

The police found a helmet onthe road but was unsure whowas riding the bike. A case hasbeen registered for the investi-gation.

ELEPHANTSDESTROY

CROPS IN APDC CCORRESPONDENTTIRUPATI, FEB. 10

Marauding tuskers went on arampage and destroyed cropson many agricultural farmssituated near the Nalla-madugu forest in Gudipalamandal of Chittoor district.

According to reports, two tothree elephants which hadstrayed from the herd that hasmoved into the AndhraPradesh reserve forests fromthe Tamil Nadu-Karnatakaborder were spotted in thearea late on Sunday.

Villagers said that the ele-phants had continued rampag-ing in the farms even onMonday. Paddy crop and veg-etable plantations were des-oyed

After being informed aboutthe movement of the ele-phants, the local forest depart-ment officials roped in drum-beaters to drive away themback into the reserve forests. Itis said that the situation wasbrought under control byMonday evening by drivingaway the wild elephants intothe nearby forest.

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

A 22-year-old youth fromKushaiguda went missing inthe Bay of Bengal atPuducherry beach on Mondayevening. On learning the news,the family members of themissing boy, N. Nikhil Reddy,left for Pudhcherry.

Nikhil Reddy, 22, is a residentof Sainagar Colony inKushaiguda and works at aninterior designing company atGachibowli.

Nikhil along with eightfriends went to Puducherry. Ataround 6 pm on Monday,Nikhil went into the watersand is said to have disap-peared.

FIRST DEATH ANNIVERSARY“Whoever hears my word, and believeshim that sent me, has life everlasting;and comes not into judgement, but ispassed from death to life.” John 5:24

MATHEW PAPPACHANDOB: 19-01-1941 DOD: 11-02-2019Prayer Service at Mother MaryMalankara Catholic Church, Picket at8.00 a.m. Ph: 9989819088

Wife, Children and Grand Children

FUNERAL SERVICE

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE (Flary)We deeply regret on the sad demise ofour Mother on 9.2.2020. The body willbe kept at Om Nagar Light House till11.00 a.m. Funeral Services would betoday at Kukatpally near Railway Station(Christian Graveyard) at 12.30 p.m.

For further details contact:8919048480, 8886330932.

Inserted by: Son & Daughters

(S/1920/D01829)

MEMORIAL SERVICEWhat man is he that liveth, and shall notsee death? Shall he deliver his soul fromthe hand of the grave? Selah. Psalms 89:48

GURNOOR DEVAMMAW/o Late Gurnoor Obed

DOB: 25-07-1919 DOD: 01-02-2020Ceremony held on today at 11.00 am atresidence.

Inserted by: Son G. Jayaprakash,Daughters: Flarance, Pushpa &

Grand Children(A/1920/D00125)

12th DAY CEREMONY

Smt. S.M. SESHU RANGAPATIDOD: 1st Feb. 2020

12th Day Ceremony on 12th Feb. 2020at Jal Vayu Towers, Community Hall,Lower Tankbund at 12.30 pm onwards.

Ph: 7893920892(S/1920/D01826)

JAYENDRACHAITHANYA TT. II DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

A young software engi-neer from the city lostaround `50 lakh tocricket bookiesthrough online betting.His family memberslodged a complaintwith the Cyberabadpolice and preliminaryinvestigation revealedthat he bookies arelocated in Delhi.

During the first weekof February, when theBalanagar policereceived a complaintabout the bookies, itwas suspected thatthere could be more

victims. The case hasbeen transferred to thespecialized EconomicOffences Wing at theheadquarters for an in-depth investigation.

The techie, who is inhis early 20’s had beenpaying money online tothe bookies. He waslured of betting moneyon runs scored onevery ball, player’sindividual perform-ance and match-win-ning probability.

For about two years,the techie had been bet-ting the money whichwas always sentthrough mobile e-wal-let applications. In all,he lost about `50 lakh.

The family members ofthe techie, who noticedhim becoming finan-cially burdened,learned about the bet-ting and warned himagainst it. They alsotried to clear off thedebts but finallyapproached the police.

Sources close to theCyberabad police toldDeccan Chronicle,“The investigatorsidentified that thebookies have beenchanging their mobilenumbers for everymatch and the techie issaid to have received anew link for a newmatch to deposit themoney.”

Techie loses `45Lon cricket bettingPolice launches probe to nab bookies

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

In two separate cases,three people who wereinvolved in robbingpassengers and fooddelivery executiveswere arrested by theCyberabad police onMonday.

On February 3, theJagadgirigutta policereceived a complaintfrom food deliveryexecutive Naveen(name changed) ataround 10 pm. Naveengot an order for adelivery at Jeedimetla.While he was on hisway, a stranger calledhim on the phone andasked him to reach aplace other than theone mentioned whileordering the food.

After Naveenreached the said place,he was manhandledand his mobile wasstolen. The policeanalysed the call datarecords of the accusedand identified them asK. Manideep, 20, ofIndiranagar in Jubilee

Hills, Vinay ofBorabanda and Vee-resh of Jeedimetla.

The police teams onMonday arrestedManideep while theother two are still atlarge and the stolenmobile is not recov-ered yet.

In another instance,the Jeedimetla policeof Cyberabad commis-sionerate arrestedOsman, 35, anautorickshaw driver,and Mohd Jaffar, 20,who were involved instealing mobiles frompassengers.

The duo stole amobile and `500 froma passenger whoboarded the autorick-shaw at Gajulara-maram on February 6.The duo was alsoinvolved in three simi-lar thefts at Bora-banda and was earlierarrested by the SRNagar police in 2017.The police recoveredfour mobile phones,and the owners ofthree of the phonesare to be identified.

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

An autorickshaw driv-er was sentenced toseven years rigorousimprisonment for out-raging the modesty of aseven-year-old girl lastyear. First AdditionalMetropolitan SessionsJudge Suneetha Kun-chala pronounced thejudgment on Monday.

The sentence wasdelivered in about fourand a half months fromthe date the complaintwas filed in Septemberlast year.

The accused, MohdNayeem, 35, was hiredto take a seven-year-old-girl to school anddrop her back regular-ly. On September 29,2019, when he came topick up the child, herfather told Nayeem todrop her at a relative'shouse in the evening,where his family was toattend a function.

Nayeem did as instru-ucted. After he left, thegirl started weeping.

When asked about thereason she narratedher ordeal to her par-ents. After dropping allother schoolmates, theauto driver made hersit on his lap, forcedher to hold his privatepart and pressed her allover th body.

Afterwards hewarned her not to dis-close the matter to any-one in her family anddropped her asinstructed at her rela-tives’ house.

The parents filed acomplaint at theNampally police sta-tion and the policeinvestigation startedand soon a chargesheetwas filed.

During the trial in achild-friendly court,which specificallydeals with cases triedunder the Protection ofChildren from SexualOffences (POCSO) Act,the accused was foundguilty under Section9(m) and Section 10(d)of the POCSO Act, andunder Section 354 ofthe Indian Penal Codeand was convictedunder Section 235(2) ofthe Criminal Proce-dure Code, the policesaid on Monday.

DRIVER GETS7-YR RI FORMOLESTATION

Delivery execrobbed, 3 held

PULI SSHARAT KKUMAR II DDCKARIMNAGAR, FEB. 10

A first year intermediatestudent was killed by anunidentified person in broaddaylight in Vidhyanagar ofKarimnagar city on Monday.

Mutta Radhika, studying

in Sahasra Junior College inthe city, had her throat slitwhen she was in her housesituated near thePadmavathi function hall inVidhyanagar.

Radhika’s parents who aredaily wage labourers wereshocked to see their daugh-

ter lying in a pool of bloodwhen they returned homefrom work in the evening.They immediately informedtheir neighbours whoinformed the police.

The police rushed to thehouse with a dog squad andstarted investigating under

the supervision of DeputyCommissioner of Police(Law and Order) Srinivas.

The role of some studentsliving on the top floor of thebuilding have come undersuspicion. Police teams havestarted looking for the mur-derer.

Teen found murdered in her house

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

Television actor R.Ravi Kiran has lodgeda complaint with theKukatpally police ofcheating and allegedlybeing threatened by afriend who borrowedmoney from him.

Kiran, a resident ofGreen Hills road inMoosapet, lodged thecomplaint on Sundaystating that he hadlent `45 lakh to oneSandeep, a resident ofRamnagar, a friend inthe film industry.Sandeep had askedRavi for help as he wasrunning short ofmoney for film distri-bution in September2018.

After a few days,Sandeep returnedabout `3.75 lakh butfailed to clear theremaining debt, Kiran

told the police. Whenhe pressurisedSandeep to repay theremaining amount,Kiran was allegedlythreatened. Ravi alsotold the police that agroup of people hasbeen following him toshooting locations andis threatening him notto ask Sandeep forrepayment.

The actor allegedthat he learned aboutSandeep having cheat-ed several others bycollecting money onthe pretext of moviedistribution businessand failed to repay theamounts.

Following his com-plaint, the Kukatpallypolice booked a caseagainst Sandeep onthe charges of cheat-ing, criminal intimi-dation and breach oftrust and have takenup the investigation.

Facing threats,says TV actor

IREDDY SSRINIVAS RREDDYI DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The police has come underthe scanner in the wake oftheir failure to achieve abreakthrough, leave alonenailing the culprit, withthe regard to the sensa-tional disappearance of anAK-47 in 2017.

That incident is back inthe news after police per-sonnel recovered the AK-47 and a 9mm carbine froma shepherd living atAkkannapet in Siddipetdistrict. They could neverfind out where the weaponthat went missing was.The laxity drew condem-nation because the miss-ing weapon was used bythe gunman of a circleinspector.

A case was registeredinto the incident. Pointedquestions related to howan assault rifle went miss-ing from the police station,

how one could walk awayso easily with an AK-47and, most importantly,who had dared to do it.

It was quirk of fate that itwas traced when the shep-herd D. Sadanandamopened two rounds of fireat his neighbour.

In 2014, a Greyhoundspolice constable was heldby the Hyderabad policeafter he opened fire at thebusy KBR Park in BanjaraHills in an attempt toescape after a vain bid tokidnap a pharma companyowner.

The constable, Obulesu,had stolen the AK-47 in2013, and it was only aftera year, and on his arrest,that the weapon was recov-ered from his possession.

Apparently, the depart-ment has not lessons fromthis experience. Safeguar-ding arms and ammuni-tion is a fundamental dutyof the department. Itwould prove disastrous if

they go into the hands ofcriminals and those withsuch a bent of mind.

A similar incident hadtaken place at Siddipet dis-trict.

Meanwhile, the shepherdusing the weapon has putin more fear among thepublic. They are con-cerned over safety aspectsand wonder what couldhave happened if the fir-ing had taken place at acrowded place or if theaccused had opened fireindiscriminately.

Weapons are allotted toeach police station fromthe Bell of Arms at the dis-trict police headquartersand details would benoted. At the police stationlevel, the allotment ofweapons would be notedby a station writer or bythe in-charge of Bell ofArms.

In the Husnabad inci-dent, it was said that thedetails of weapons and live

rounds issue were report-edly not noted. Once ortwice in a year, an inspec-tion has to be done by sen-ior officials to check thecondition of the weaponsissued and the count oflive rounds, which wasalso reportedly not done inthis case.

The reasons for thepolice officials not disclos-ing full details aboutHusnabad firing and alsoon how the weapons land-ed in the hands of a com-mon man have also raisedseveral doubts.

Meanwhile, the inspectorof the police station at thetime the weapon wentmissing is now retired andthe then superintendent ofpolice has since been ele-vated and posted in anoth-er wing. Senior officials atthe headquarters are tight-lipped on who has to beheld responsible for thisincident. And that is a big-ger tragedy.

Cops lax in guarding rifles

CITY pg 5DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | 11 FEBRUARY 2020

IN BRIEF

TS names 5 infocommissioners

New film institute for State soon

Hyderabad: The Telanganagovernment on Monday

appointed five informationcommissioners. Orders

announcing the appoint-ments were issued by Chief

Secretary Somesh Kumar.The orders were issued once

the Governor accepted theproposal for the appoint-

ments from the state govern-ment. Mr K. Shekar Reddy,

Mr M. Narayana Reddy, Mr G.Shankar Naik, Mr Syed

Khaleelullah and DrMohammed Ameer Hussainwill be the new state infor-

mation commissioners.The order said that the State

Information Commissionerswill hold office for three

years from the date ofassuming office or till theyattain the age of 65 years

whichever is earlier.

Hyderabad: The Telanganagovernment has decided todevelop a film institute with

international standards inHyderabad near Shams-

habad, said Minister of Filmand Cinematography,

Talasani Srininvas Yadav.The minister held a meetingwith prominent film actors,officials of revenue depart-

ment, home department, lawdepartment officials andother concerned depart-

ments at Annapurna Studiosin Banjara Hills on Monday.

Th minister said that thestate government is willing

to provide the necessary support for the

development of the Telugu film industry and its

workers.

No more jointcollectors in TSKCR initiates additional collector’s system DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

Ahead of the district col-lectors’ conference, ChiefMinister K. Chandra-sekhar Rao has initiatedreforms in the adminis-tration and revenuedepartments. Mr Rao hasremoved the age old jointcollector’s system andreplaced it with the addi-tional collector’s system.There will be no joint col-lectors in the districtadministration now.

The Telangana govern-ment has appointed 47additional collectors tothe districts. In some dis-tricts the existing jointcollectors have been re-designated as additionalcollectors. In some dis-tricts the state govern-ment has posted two addi-tional collectors, one to

look after revenue mattersand the other to look afterlocal bodies.

Two additional collec-tors have been appointedin 10 districts. IAS officersand non cadre officershave been appointed asadditional collectors insome districts. Theremoval of the joint col-lector’s post and creationof additional collectors ispart of the proposed rev-enue reforms of the ChiefMinister.

The collectors’ confer-ence will be held on

Tuesday. The CM isexpected to explain theproposed revenue reformsand the new revenue billto be introduced in theAssembly in the ensuingBudget session.

At the district level,mandal revenue officersand revenue divisionalofficers are likely to losesome powers as per newRevenue Act. Thoughsome revenue employees’associations have opposedthe reforms, the CM isvery keen on the reformsand will explain theirimportance to the districtcollectors.

In any government, therevenue department is themost corrupt, as severalsurveys have shown, andthe CM hopes to make thisdepartment corruptionfree by introducing thereforms.

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

Union finance ministerNirmala Sitharaman onMonday said that the Centrehas released `1,15,799 croreto Telangana state under various heads in thelast six years. However, TRSleaders say that the state didnot get anything in addi-tion when compared toother states. They say allthese are statutory allot-ments.

Replying to a question byCongress MP KomatireddyVenkat Reddy in the LokSabha, Ms Sitharaman saidthat state Budget docu-ments show that Telanganastate is a revenue surplusstate since 2014-15. She saidthat the debt-GSDP (Gross

State Domestic Product)ratio from 2014-15 to 2019-20the Budget estimates, thou-gh on a rising trend, is with-in the envelope prescribedby the 14th Finance Comm-ission for its award periodand also in line with themedium-term fiscal policystatements of Telanganastate.

Ms Sitharaman said that the grants in aid to the states are released basedon the applicable guidelinesby the Union government.She said that the utilisationcertificates submitted bythe state government ofTelangana against theCentral assistance released,wherever applicable, arecarried out by the con-cerned ministries anddepartments.

S.N.C.N. ACHARYULU II DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The Telangana RashtraSamithi has created arecord by having partyoffices in all districts inthe state. Construction ofoffices remains to becompleted only in twodistricts — Peddapalliand Suryapet.

The offices will be inau-gurated as soon as ChiefMinister K. Chandrashe-khar Rao has the time todo so. The TRS has spent

`19.20 crore on theseparty offices at the rate of`60 lakh for each office.

The state governmentallotted one acre of landto the TRS in each dis-trict to construct theparty headquarters. Theland was allotted at themarket rate of `100 persquare yard, whichworks out to `4.84 lakhper acre. The projectbegan on June 24, 2019and the CM wanted allthe offices to be ready byDasara last year. But theconstruction in some dis-

tricts was delayed. Now that all the offices

bar two are ready, inau-gurating them dependson the CM. With thebudget session of thestate assembly comingup in the last week ofthis month or first weekof March, the inaugura-tion cannot be held then,so if it is not done before,then March 25, the eve ofUgadi (Telugu New Year)is the likeliest date forthe inauguration.

No other political partyhas offices in all dis-

tricts. The decades oldCongress party does nothave a party office in thestate capital, Hyderabad– the Telangana Congressparty office is run fromthe Gandhi Bhavan Trustin Hyderabad for which anominal rent is paid.When Y.S. RajasekharReddy was CM of theundivided state, his gov-ernment allotted land tothe party for construc-tion of an office atAmbedkar Basthi nearNampally, but it wasstuck in a legal dispute.

Nirmala says TSgot `1.5tr in 6 yrs

TRS isn’t present in 2 TS districts

DC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The All India KisanSangharsh Coordi-nation Committee onMonday announced anationwide protestagainst the UnionBudget, which, thegroup said, has dece-ived farmers and imp-osed significant cuts insupport to agricultureand the rural economy.

The AIKSCC’s stateunit will organiseprotests in all districtsand explain to peoplehow the Budget hasshort-changed farmersand failed to declareany measures to imp-rove their incomes, and the purchasingpower of rural house-holds.

The AIKSCC accusedthe Narendra Modi gov-ernment of reducingthe share of the ruraleconomy in the Budgetfrom 9.83 per cent of

the total budget in 2019-20 to 9.30 per cent forthe forthcoming year.

“It is mostly a rehashof existing schemesincluding failed sche-mes, and a couple offlashy announcementssuch as Kisan Rail andKrishi Udaan, all ofwhich are not expectedto increase real incom-es of small and margin-al farmers,” AIKSSC’snational working groupmember Kiran KumarVissa told reporters.

The Modi governmentis yet again communi-cating to farmers thatthey do not matter tothem, he said.

The budget also disap-pointed with no provi-sions for tenant farm-ers/land lessees despiteground level evidencepointing to high levelsof land leasing for cul-tivation, and acute dis-tress of such farmerswho cultivate on leasedlands.

Farmers tostage protests

MLA ASKEDTO PROVE

CITIZENSHIPDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The Telangana High Courtdirected TRS Vemulavada leg-islator Dr Ch. Ramesh to pro-duce an official and authenticdocument issued by theGerman authorities whichsays that he was not a citizenof Germany.

Dealing with the plea of DrRamesh for staying a Unionhome ministry’s order whichcancelled his Indian citizen-ship, Justice Abhinand KumarShavili on Monday directedthe petitioner to submit theaffidavit and evidence that hehas relinquished the GermanCitizenship and which wasalso approved by the Germangovernment.The judge extend-ed the interim stay, issued ear-lier by Justice Challa Kodan-daram, on the citizenship sus-pension order of the homeministry against Dr Rameshby another two weeks.

The Centre informed thecourt that Dr Ramesh had theGerman citizenship and hadsubmitted that he had travelledto other countries on theGerman passport. With that,the judge directed the petition-er to submit the evidence. RaviKiran Rao, counsel for Mr AdiSrinivas, petitioner before theUnion home ministry,informed the court that DrRamesh had concealed crucialinformation pertaining to hisstay in India prior the to elec-tions and that he is still a citi-zen of Germany though he hascontested elections.

BJP leader stepsdown from postDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

State BJP spokesperson M.Raghunandhan Rao hasdecided to stay away fromparty activities followingthe allegations madeagainst him. He faces a caseof alleged rape and extor-tion filed against him as anadvocate by a woman.

Sources in the party saidthat Mr Rao wrote to BJPstate president Dr K.

Laxman and in-chargeKrishnadas that he ismorally responsible for theallegations made againsthim.

The letter stated that hehas decided to stay away fr-om party activities until thecase is decided by the court.

A senior leader from theBJP said that MrRaghunandhan Rao alsostated that he is quitting thepost of official spokesper-son.

CM is like a father figure to the state: JaganFrom Page 1

Visakhapatnam, the oppositionsays, is prone to cyclones?

All nine coastal districts, includingGuntur and Krishna where the cap-ital city Amaravati was proposed tobe developed, are vulnerable to nat-ural calamities, like cyclonicstorms. We had witnessed one inDiviseema in Krishna district andthe Hudhud in Visakhapatnam – nodistrict is completely immune.

As per the TD government’s ownestimates, it would cost more than`1 lakh crore to develop Amaravati.With only around 10 per cent ofthat amount, we can developVisakhapatnam into a ready capi-tal for our state. We are alreadypaying an annual interest of `500crore on funds spent on Amaravatiso far. Besides, it is the prerogativeof the CM and government tolocate the capital, keeping adminis-trative convenience in mind. Let usalso not forget that BJP had alsopromised to locate the High Courtin Kurnool in its manifesto.

You seem to be on a path of ‘cre-ative destruction’ as can be seenfrom the way you have initiatedsteps to revolutionise education

by making English the mandato-ry medium of instruction in pri-mary education, and opting forreverse tendering of several proj-ects initiated by the previous TDregime, the “navaratnalu” wel-fare measures, or the drasticmeasures to reduce alcohol con-sumption?

The CM is like a father figure to thestate and the people. Failing to devel-op a state even after having authori-ty to do so is a sin. A CM’s vision canmake or break a state. I have visu-alised the future of our young gen-eration for the next 20 years. If ourchildren have to pursue higher stud-ies and find more employmentopportunities globally, they need tobe thorough with English. We allknow that only poor families sendtheir children to governmentschools and we are determined toteach them English at zero cost.Similarly, health is of paramountimportance to our government. Wewill increase teaching hospitalsfrom the present 11 to 27 in the nextfive years. We will supply 510 vari-eties of medicines having WHO andgood manufacturing practice stan-dards to all government hospitals byend of April. Our government willfill all vacant posts in hospitals to

provide better healthcare to people.We have already demonstrated thatwe can save thousands of crores ofrupees by opting for reverse tender-ing of contracts awarded by the pre-vious TD regime, which weremarred by corruption. In Polavaramalone, we saved `830 crore.

The opposition says the govern-ment is delaying Polavaram inthe guise of reverse tendering.

The Polavaram project got stalledbecause the previous TD regimemishandled its execution. Withoutconstructing a spillway, they rushedto build a coffer dam, which resultedin the rise of water levels leading toinundation of more villages. Ourgovernment has issued orders totake up construction of spillwayimmediately and works are going onin full swing. We are going to com-plete the Polavaram irrigation proj-ect by June, 2021. There may be somedelay in the execution of Polavarampower project, maybe by a year or so.Relief and resettlement is estimatedto cost us around `33,000 crore butwe will implement it as per statute.

How confident are you of imple-menting your flagship welfareprogramme of Navaratnalu

(nine gems) given the precariousfinancial position of the state?

You have all been witnessing howcommitted we are to implementingour poll promises. Some schemeswere launched well ahead of sched-ule of promise made in the mani-festo. They will generate economicactivity. It is true our financialresources are not good but they areexpected to improve, year on year.We will be able to implement allwelfare schemes.

The Special Category Status(SCS) would have been of greathelp to the state. The BJP hastime and again said that it is aclosed chapter. What is yourstand?

Getting SCS to a state can never bea closed chapter. We have beeninsisting on getting the status per-sistently. Whenever we meet thePrime Minister, we are raising thisissue. Perhaps, I believe that whenCentre requires support of MPsfrom AP in the Parliament on someissues, then we will put more pres-sure on the centre and use everychance to get such status. We areconfident that in due course oftime AP will get SCS.

■ ■ THE TTELANGANA gov-ernment has appointed 47additional collectors tothe districts. In some dis-tricts the existing jointcollectors have been re-designated as additionalcollectors

FUNDS RELEASED IN SIX YEARSHead Amount

Tax devolutions 85,013

Disaster Management Fund 1,289.04

Assistance to backward districts 1,916

Rural development 3,853

Centrally sponsored schemes 51,298. 84

Women and child development 1,500.54

Local bodies 6,511

(Figures in ` crore)

Welcoming Lankan PM

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is received on his arrival at the Sri Padmavathi guest house in Tirumala on Monday. Mr Mahinda, who is on a five-day visit to India, will offer worship at the Lord Balaji temple on Tuesday. — DC

ANDHRA PRADESH

CITY pg 6DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | 11 FEBRUARY 2020

IN BRIEF

Kaleshwaramcovers Chennur

Hyderabad: The state gov-ernment has issued an order

to initiate a survey in orderto provide Kaleshwaram Lift

Irrigation project water toChennur constituency of

Mancherial district. With this,the government’s ambition

to provide water to the agri-cultural lands of the neigh-

boring areas of Kaleshwaramwill become a reality. The

water will irrigate about 1.35lakh in the constituency.

During the 2018 Assemblyelections, Chief Minister K.

Chandrasekhar Rao hadpromised the people of

Chennur that the govern-ment would provide

Godavari water to theirregion. Chennur TRS MLABalka Suman thanked Mr

Chandrasekhar Rao and TRSworking president and minis-

ter K.T. Rama Rao for keep-ing up their promise. — INN

HC takes up DLF land deal Revanth claims 31.35 acre govt land allotted to realty firms illegallyVUJJINI VVAMSHIDHARA IIDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The Telangana High Courton Monday directed thestate government and cer-tain real estate companiesto respond to a publicinterest litigation filedagainst them by CongressMP A. Revanth Reddy whosought a direction to thestate government to takeback about 31.35 acres ofland at Rayadurg inSerilingampally, RangaReddy district, from DLFRayadurg DevelopersPrivate Limited.

A division bench com-prising Chief JusticeRaghavendra SinghChauhan and Justice A.Abhishek Reddy onMonday issued notices to

the Chief Secretary, prin-cipal secretaries of indus-tries and commerce andmunicipal administrationdepartments, vice-chair-man of the TelanganaState IndustrialInfrastructure Corpor-ation Ltd, DLF Ltd, DLFRayadurg Developers,Acqua Space Developers,and My HomeConstructions represent-ed by its managing direc-tor Jupalli RameshwarRao. All these officials andrespondents have to filetheir response within fourweeks.

Mr Revanth Reddy saidthat the authorities hadacted arbitrarily and ille-gally in parting with thegovernment land in favourof private entities andallowed them to make

huge profits at the cost ofthe state exchequer. If theland parcel was auctionedin the open market, it

would have fetched `2,926crore for the state excheq-uer. Mr Revanth Reddysaid Acqua SpaceDevelopers was a wholly-owned entity of My HomeConstructions. “Rather, itis a shell company of MyHome Constructions,” thePIL said.

The ultimate beneficiaryof the land is My HomeConstructions belongingto a person close to rulingparty leaders of the state,Mr Revanth Reddy added.

According to theCongress MP, the erst-while undivided AndhraPradesh government hadallotted about 424 acres ofland to set up an integrat-ed IT Park at Rayadurg infavour of Andhra PradeshIndustrial InfrastructureCorporation (subsequent-

ly Telangana StateIndustrial InfrastructureCorporation).

Later, a part of this land,or 31.35 acres, was offeredby the TSIIC to developersas per the state’s informa-tion technology policy.One of the applicants wasDLF Limited.

In 2014, Aqua SpaceDevelopers made a repre-sentation to TSIIC forexchange of land trans-ferred in its favour whichwas given in the name ofDLF.

Mr Revanth Reddy hasalleged that the authori-ties acted in violation ofthe relevant statutory pro-visions, rules and regula-tions to benefit privateparties.

The hearing wasadjourned for four weeks.

State violated UGCnorms: PetitionerFrom Page 1

Contending that it was aviolation of UGC regula-tions and the UniversitiesAct, the petitioner sub-mitted that regular V-Csand members of execu-tive councils (ECs) haveto be appointed withoutdelay. Further, the statehad not bothered to fillthe EC positions meantfor Class- II members thepast five years.

“As per the UniversitiesAct, an EC panel with 11members has to decide onelevating the V-C to thatparticular university andvice-chancellor shouldhave worked as aProfessor. This rule wasupheld by the SupremeCourt several times,” thepetitioner submitted.

The petitioner sought adirection to the state toappoint the seniormostfaculty of the respectiveuniversities as in-chargevice-chancellors till thenew regular vice-chancel-lors are appointed.

The bench directed thestate to file its counter. Italso issued notices to alluniversities in the state tosubmit their contentionon the issues raised in thePIL.

■■ THE PPETITIONERsought a direction tothe state to appointthe seniormost facultyof the respective uni-versities as in-chargevice-chancellors till thenew regular vice-chan-cellors are appointed.

■■ MR RREVANTHReddy said that theauthorities had actedarbitrarily and ille-gally in parting withthe government landin favour of privateentities and allowedthem to make hugeprofits at the cost ofthe state exchequer.■■ IF TTHE land parcelwas auctioned in theopen market, itwould have fetched`2,926 crore for thestate exchequer, hesaid.

JEWELLERS

FURNITURES

ELECTRONICS

A golden opportunityfor retailers,

showrooms & businessestablishments to increase

foot fallsin your stores

and get lucky draw couponsfor your customers.

To participate in this GoldHungama

please contact:

990866224490521341239849998024

BEAUTY & HEALTH CARE,

FURNITURES

CITY pg 7DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | 11 FEBRUARY 2020

SHORT TAKES

DURGA PPRASAD SSUNKU II DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

Five days after the hoax bombthreat on Thursday, theRailway police is yet to nab themiscreant who made the callwhich threw passengers into apanic and delayed theVijayawada intercity expressfor two hours.

On Thursday at about 5.30am, the police received a callsaying a bomb had been plant-ed near the battery of C1 andC2 compartments of the Train12796 Vijayawada IntercityExpress.

GRP inspector K. Adi Reddytold Deccan Chronicle, “a spe-cial team has been formed totrace the miscreant and inves-tigation is going on. Call datashows the call was made fromHayathnagar and after sometime the phone was switchedoff at Nizampet. The addressproof shows that the caller isfrom West Godavari district.”

The train which started fromLingampally at around 4.30 amwas stopped at Secunderabadstation. GRP and RPF person-nel with the help of the bombsquad and sniffer dogslaunched a search for theexplosive. After two hours ofsearching and confirming thatit was only a hoax call, thetrain resumed its journey toVijayawada at 7.30 am.

The police has booked a casefor giving false information,obstructing a public servant indischarging duty, statementsconducive to public mischief,and criminal intimidation.

State continues toremain free of nCovTotal 74 individuals who were tested, found free of virusDC CCORRESPONDENTHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

The State health depart-ment on Monday saidthat Telangana state con-tinues to remain free ofnovel coronavirus cases.All samples from possiblesuspect cases tested so farhave been found to benegative.

With four samples test-ed Sunday returning neg-ative for the disease, thetotal number of individu-als tested for the diseaseand found to be free fromit, is 74.

On Monday, two personschecked into GandhiGeneral Hospital forscreening for the disease,the health departmentsaid. Their test resultsare expected on Tuesday.

The department againappealed to people to call

the 24-hour telephonehelpline, 040-24651119 set

up by the government ifthey have any questions

or concerns related to thecoronavirus.

Patients at Gandhi hospital face severe problems at the entrance due to lack ofwheel chairs and stretchers. Attendants carry the patients on chairs.

— S. SURENDER REDDY

Japan to test all on board stranded shipFrom Page 1

“What is the use of com-ing to rescue after thingsget out of hand?” heasked.

“Please save us. Life ismore important than ajob,” he told DeccanChronicle via a phonemessage.

Meanwhile, First Secr-etary Anil Kumar Kalraof the Indian Embassy’sconsular wing at Tokyotold Deccan Chronicle onMonday that there wereno Indian passengersthat tested positive.

“We are in touch withthe Indians on boardthrough the ForeignMinistry and theJapanese HealthMinistry. Some of thepassengers are in touchwith us directly throughemail,” Mr Kalra said.

Reports in Japanesemedia quoting HealthMinister Katsunobu Kato

said the government wasconsidering testing allcrew members and pas-sengers. The ship hasabout 3,700 passengersand crew.

“So far only 500 peoplehave been tested,” Sarkarsaid. “Right now, onlythose who are reportingmore than 37.5 degrees ofbody temperature arebeing tested,” he said.

In an update, PrincessCruises confirmed anadditional 66 cases ofCoronavirus fromAustralia (four), Canada(one), England (one),

Japan (45), Philippines(three), Ukraine (one)and USA (eleven).

“We are following guid-ance from the JapanMinistry of Health onplans for disembarkationprotocols to provide med-ical care for these newcases. Since it is early inthe quarantine period of14-days, it was not unex-pected that additionalcases would be reportedinvolving individualswho were exposed priorto the start of the quar-antine,” the companysaid.

FURNITURES & FURNISHINGS

ELECTRICALS

ANIMAL PET

TOURS & TRAVELS

DAIRY PRODUCTS

SHOP & WIN

■ ■ FIRST SSECRETARY ofthe Indian Embassy’sconsular wing at Tokyotold that there were noIndian passengers thattested positive

MADDY DDEEKSHITH II DDCHYDERABAD, FEB. 10

While the state governmentmentions the system ofhawkers with pride, theEnforcement, Vigilance andDisaster Management(EVDM) wing of the GHMCis busy evicting them fromthe streets.

The state government hadin a report submitted to theUnited NationsEducational, Scientific andCultural Organisation(UNESCO), India, statedthat the hawker system inHyderabad was the back-bone of the city’s economywith nearly two lakh peopleengaged in this activity.However, the EVDM hasallegedly kicked out about50,000 hawkers from theirspots as part of its enforce-ment drives.

According to highlyplaced sources, Hyderabadcity, which was awarded thetitle of ‘Creative City ofGastronomy’ from Unescorecently, had explained theimportance of hawkers andtheir effort in strengthen-ing the economy of the city.

The government, in itsreport to Unesco had saidthat apart from selling cre-ative food at affordableprices, the hawker commu-

nity also provided employ-ment for 2 lakh individualsin the unorganised sector. Ithad pointed out that theinformation technologycommunity has generatedfour lakh jobs, but this isonly restricted to one partof the city.

However, public represen-tatives in the GHMC coun-cil meeting held onSaturday alleged that thefootpath encroachmentremoval drive and deface-ment drive taken up byEVDM has displaced 50,000hawkers. The allegationswere made by MIM MLAMeraj Hussain, MIM MLC

Syed Amin Jafri and corpo-rators cutting across partylines.

Members present in thecouncil unanimouslyagreed that this was a greatloss to the city’s economy.They demanded that MayorBonthu Rammohan explainunder what provisions theEVDM wing was set up.

The members said thatthey were not againstpenalising violators, butthe harassment and heftypenalties that are beingslapped on people wereunjustified. The electedrepresentatives also saidthat the as many as 50,000hawkers lost their liveli-hood, which was againstthe interest of the city'seconomy.

Though the council didnot make any effort to rein-state the 50,000 hawkers,the objections did convincethe council to rethink thehefty penalties, and a reso-lution was passed for a com-mittee to be constituted todecide the penal amounts.

But the million dollarquestion which was notanswered was how theGHMC would provideemployment to the largenumber of hawkers who have lost their liveli-hood.

GHMC goes against stategovt, evicts 50K hawkers

■ ■ THE GGOVERNMENT, inits report to Unesco hadsaid that apart from sellingcreative food at affordableprices, the hawker commu-nity also provided employ-ment for 2 lakh individualsin the unorganised sector

■ ■ ON TTHE on the hand,public representatives inthe GHMC council meetingheld on Saturday allegedthat the footpath encroach-ment removal drive anddefacement drive taken upby EVDM has displaced50,000 hawkers

SEARCH FORHOAX CALLER

CONTINUES

■ ■ ON TTHURSDAY at about 5.30am, the police received a callsaying a bomb had been plant-ed near the battery of C1 andC2 compartments of theVijayawada Intercity Express

PARMOD KKUMAR || DDCwith agency inputsNEW DELHI, FEB. 10

The Supreme Court onMonday upheld theamendment to the SC/ST(Prevention of Atrocities)Act by which Parliamenthad restored the stringentprovisions of the lawwhich were watered downby the court by its March2018 judgment.

Upholding the amend-ments to the SC/ST(Prevention of Atrocities)Act brought in to neu-tralise the dilution of thestringent provisions bythe Supreme Court’s 2018ruling, a bench of JusticesArun Mishra and VineetSaran said that “in caseswhere no prima faciematerials exist warranti-ng arrest in a complaint,the court has the inherentpower to direct pre-arrestbail”.

Speaking for the bench,Justice Mishra said that a“preliminary inquiry ispermissible” only in cer-tain circumstances and “ifthe complaint does notmake out a prima faciecase for applicability ofthe act, the bar created bySection 18 and Section18A(i) shall not apply”.

Justice Mishra addedthat a court can, “inexceptional cases, exer-cise powers under Section482 of the Code ofCriminal Procedure forquashing cases to preventmisuse of provisions onsettled parameters....”

Justice S. RavindraBhat, while agreeing withJustice Mishra, said: “Anyinterference with the pro-visions of the Act, partic-ularly with respect to theamendments precludingpreliminary enquiry, orprovisions which removethe bar against arrest ofpublic servants accused ofoffences punishable underthe Act, would not be apositive step.”

On the issue of theSC/ST law being used tolevel false allegations,Justice Bhat said: “It isimportant to keep oneselfreminded that whilesometimes (perhaps most-ly in urban areas) falseaccusations are made,those are not necessarilyreflective of the prevail-ing and widespread social

prejudices against mem-bers of these oppressedclasses.”

Recalling the journeythe law has undertakenover the years and thefears of its misuse,Justice Bhat said: “Allthese considerations faroutweigh the petitioners’concern that innocentindividuals would be sub-jected to what aredescribed as arbitraryprocesses of investigationand legal proceedings,without adequate safe-guards.” He said that theright to a trial with allsafeguards are availableto those accused of com-mitting offences under theAct and they remainunchanged by the amend-ment.

The court said this whiledeclining a challenge tothe amendment to theSC/ST (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act, by whichParliament had restoredthe stringent provisions ofthe law, including bar onanticipatory bail, whichwere watered down by thecourt by its March 2018judgment. The 2018 judg-ment had led to wide-spread protests across thecountry, which had turnedviolent in some places.

The verdict came on abatch of PILs challengingthe validity of the SC/STAmendment Act of 2018,which was brought to nul-lify the effect of the apexcourt’ s 2018 ruling, whichhad diluted the provisionsof the stringent Act.

Centre to blamefor order: OppnDC CCORRESPONDENTSNEW DELHI, FEB. 10

Even before the Delhiassembly poll resultscould be announced, thebattle for Bihar beganwith Opposition led byCongress attacking theBJP-led NDA governmenton the SC, ST reservationissue both in parliamentand outside.

Former Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhialleged there is a big con-spiracy underway to takeaway rights of deprivedsections following Sup-reme Court ruling thatstates are not bound toprovide quota in appoin-tments and promotions.

The Congress anno-unced launch of a nation-

wide agitation on theissue. The SC, ST issuealso forced NDA ally LokJanshakti Party to take astand.

Party chief ChiragPaswan said the govern-ment should immediatelyinterfere into the matterand put reservations forSCs and STs in the NinthSchedule. This would pre-vent people from appro-aching the SupremeCourt on these issues.

Reservation is likely tobe a poll plank for theBihar assembly pollslater this year. It might berecalled that MohanBhagwat’s statement onreservation was said to beone of the reasons forNDA losing in Bihar in2015.

Govt says it wasnot party to caseNew Delhi, Feb. 10: Thegovernment on Mondayinformed Lok Sabha thatit was not a party to thecase in which theSupreme Court ruled thatstates are not bound toprovide quota in appoint-ments and promotions,after the Oppositionaccused it of failing todefend the reservationsystem.

Making a statement inLok Sabha, Social Justiceand EmpowermentMinister ThaawarchandGehlot said the Supremecourt order pertains to a

2012 decision of theprevious Congress gov-ernment in Uttarakhandand asserted that the cen-tral government is “com-mitted” and “dedicated”to reservation forScheduled Castes (SCs),Scheduled Tribes (STs)and OBCs.

Gehlot made it clearthat the Centre was notasked to file an affidavitin the matter and said theissue is being discussedin the government at the“highest level” and it willtake “appropriate steps”in the matter. — PTI

Gargi students demand stern actionDC CCORRESPONDENTwith agency inputsNEW DELHI, FEB. 10

Scores of students of theall-woman Gargi Collegeon Monday held a protestagainst the allegedmolestation of girls by agroup of men who hadgatecrashed a culturalfestival, demanding strictaction against the intrud-ers.

The Delhi Police said ithas launched a probe intothe incident and is scan-ning CCTV footage togather evidence.

Police, however, havenot received a complaintin this regard, a seniorofficer said.

The incident came tolight after some studentstook to Instagram to nar-rate their unpleasantexperiences during theFebruary 6 college fest.

Over 100 students held aprotest outside the gate ofGargi College.

They alleged that thecollege management didnot take any action evenafter the students took upthe matter with it.

They also alleged thatRapid Action Force andDelhi Police personnelwere deployed close tothe gate from where themen entered the college,but they did nothing tocontrol the unruly crowd.

“There was a completelapse of security. The stu-dents were groped,molested and evenassaulted by the men who

appeared to be in theirmid-30s. The college hadclaimed to have madesecurity arrangements. Idon’t think such an inci-dent has taken place onany college campusacross the country,” a stu-dent said on the condi-tion of anonymity.

A political science stu-

dent, who also did notwish to be named, said,“Some men jumped overthe gates, some brokeopen the gates and somejumped over walls. Theywere drunk and wentberserk.”

The men groped anddragged girls and per-formed obscene acts,

Some girls ran towardswashrooms, she said.

Delhi Commission forWomen Swati Maliwalalso reached the college,in the Siri Fort area inthe heart of south Delhi,to take stock of the situa-tion. The DCW issued anotice to the college andthe Delhi Police for “inac-

tion.” Meanwhile, Delhi Chief

Minister Arvind Kejriwaltweeted, “The misbehav-iour with our daughtersat Gargi College isextremely unfortunate.This cannot be toleratedat all. The culprits shouldbe given stringent pun-ishment.”

NATION pg 8DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | TUESDAY | 11 FEBRUARY 2020

SHORT TAKES

Delhi Commission For Women chief Swati Maliwal (in green sweater) addresses students during a protest atGargi College in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI

SC/ST Act valid,rules apex court

MAHA TEACHERSET ON FIRE BYSTALKER DIES

DC CCORRESPONDENTMUMBAI, FEB. 10

The 25-year-old woman lectur-er, who was allegedly setablaze by a stalker atHinganghat in Wardha districtlast week, died Monday morn-ing. Expressing grief, chiefminister Uddhav Thackeraysaid the case would be tried ina fast-track court.

Vikesh Nagrale (27) hadallegedly set afire AnkitaPisudde on February 3. Shesuffered 35 to 40 per cent burnsand was undergoing treatmentat the Orange City Hospitaland Research Centre.

Pisudde sustained deep burninjuries on the scalp, face,right upper limb, left hand,upper back, neck and eyesalong with severe inhalationinjuries. She died of “sep-ticemic shock” after sufferingfrom deep dermal burns alongwith severe inhalationinjuries, respiratory distressand related complications, thehospital said in a medical bul-letin. “Doctors at the hospitaldeclared her dead at 6.55 amtoday,” Hinganghat policeinspector Satyaveer Bandiwarsaid. Pisudde was cremated inthe presence of thousands inDaroda village Mondayevening.

B’LURU CAASTIR ATTRACTS

POLICE IREM.K. AASHOKA || DDCBENGALURU, FEB. 10

Hundreds of men and womenalong with their children saton an indefinite dharnaagainst the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) andthe proposed NRC near BilalMasjid on Tannery Road in thecity despite the police repeat-edly warning them to evacuatethe place.

The protesters voiced theirdissent through art, music,skits and speeches and are alsoconsidering screening movieson Mahatma Gandhi. One ofthe students who participatedin the protest said, “The policehave warned service providerslike the shamiyana contractorand the sound system providerto take away their equipment.But we are not moving aninch.”

Another protester held aplacard which read, ‘A cow atemy document.’ She said, “Thisis not about minorities. They(the government) will targetthe vulnerable and the weakand continue to be discrimina-tory. It is heartening to seewomen here with children, thesituation had empoweredthem,” she explained.

Another placard read,‘Coronavirus still better thanModi, it does not discriminate(against) people on the basis ofreligion’.

COUNCILLOR OFTMC COMMITS

SUICIDERAJIB CCHOWDHURI || DDCKOLKATA, FEB. 10

A female Trinamul Congresscouncillor committed suicideby jumping in front of a speed-ing train at Shreerampore inHooghly on Monday. RamaNath (48), the deceased, was aspinster. She was the council-lor of Ward Number 16 of theTrinamul-ruled Shreeramporemunicipality. The incidenttook place at around 12 p.m. atShreerampore railway station.

Nath was seen sitting on abench at Platform Number 2for a long time, the tea-stallowners recalled. As the DownSheorafuli local train enteredthe platform, she jumped infront of it. Later, the bodyparts were recovered by rail-way police and sent for post-mortem at Sreerampore WalshHospital.

No suicide note has beenrecovered so far. According tolocal residents, Nath’s namecropped in the illegal fill-up ofa pond in the area recently.Trinamul district president ofHooghly Dilip Yadav, however,indicated that Nath’s namemight have been dropped inthe upcoming municipal elec-tion in the state.

“A list of candidates underthe reservation category hascome out in view of the ensu-ing civic polls. Ward Number16 falls under the same catego-ry,” he said.

SABARIMALARELATED CASES INSC FROM FEB. 17PARMOD KKUMAR ||DCNEW DELHI, FEB. 10

The Supreme Court willcommence fromFebruary 17 the hearingon issues relating to gen-der justice vis-a-visessential religious prac-tices. It held on Mondaythat a five-judge bench,in a limited review juris-diction, could refer to alarger bench the ques-tion of law germane tothe issue before thecourt.

Upholding theNovember 14, 2019 refer-ence order by a five-judge constitutionbench, Chief Justice S.A. Bobde heading thenine-judge constitutionbench said, “We holdthat this court can referquestions of law to alarger bench in a reviewpetition.” The issuefocuses on the right ofwomen under Article 14and the essential reli-gious practices underArticle 25 and 16.

The hearing is likely tolast for three weeks, asthe court has givenseven days each to boththe sides, with SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehtagiven a day’s time tomake submissions onbehalf of the centralgovernment. Kerala gov-ernment too would get-separate time to addressthe court. However, thecourt accepted that thetime schedule is not castin a rigid frame butwould be flexible.However, the courtexpected the counsel tostick to the schedule andcomplete the arguments.

RAHUL SAYS IT’SIN BJP-RSS DNATO ERASE QUOTANew Delhi, Feb. 10: Itis in the DNA of the BJPand the RSS to try anderase reservations, Con-gress leader RahulGandhi said on Mondayand asserted that hisparty will not allowdoing away with quota.

Taking a swipe atPrime Minister Nare-ndra Modi and RSS chiefMohan Bhagwat, hesaid, “We will not allowreservation to be doneaway with, no matterhow much Modi Ji orMohan Bhagwat dreamof it.” Gandhi’s attackon the ruling party cameover the BJP govern-ment of Uttarakhandcontending in theSupreme Court thatthere was no fundamen-tal right to claim reser-vation in appointmentsor promotions in publicposts, and there was noconstitutional duty onthe part of the state gov-ernments to providereservations. “The RSSand the BJP cannotstand the idea thatDalits, tribals and OBCshave reservations,” hetold reporters outsideParliament. — PTI

Govt living in denialon economy: PC

From Page 1

“They (children) comehome crying,” they sub-mitted. The interventionby advocates ShahrukhAlam and Nandita Rao,did not go down well withthe bench, which said:“We will not hear you onthis. Don’t make suchtypes of irrelevant argu-ments.”

Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta opposedthem saying, “Can it be aground for sitting ondharna with a four-month-old child or canthey oppose this on theground that children arebeing called names likegaddars in school.”

The bench asked, “Afour-month old infant hadgone to protest? But tell uswhich four-month-oldchild goes on its own toprotest sites.”

Advocate Alam said shewas appearing for motherof two daughters andgiven that India has rati-

fied UN Conventions onchildren’s right to protestit was not appropriate forthe apex court suo motutaking up the matter.

The bench said the twolawyers were deviatingfrom the main issue ofwhich it has taken cog-nizance of.

“We are not consideringeither CAA or NRC. Weare not considering theabuses like Pakistanihurled in schools,” thebench said.

The bench made it clearthat it was not stiflinganybody’s voice.

“We are not stifling anyvoice. This is a properlyconstituted suo motu pro-ceedings by the SupremeCourt of India,” the benchsaid.

“We have the highestrespect for motherhood,and highest concern forchildren. Don’t makearguments to raise andcreate guilt,” the benchsaid. “A child has died.Instead of causing more

trouble, mothers shouldback this cause,” thebench said.

The lawyers had submit-ted that “these women(who are sitting at protestsite) live in slums andhave no option but to taketheir children along to theprotest site”.

“The right of children toprotest is also recognisedunder the UN conven-tion...and children arebrought along to fairs,jagratas etc where alsothey could be at a risk ofsome harm”, Alam sub-mitted. The two womenlawyers said they wereseeking intervention onbehalf of journalist andactivist John Dayal andthe mother of two chil-dren.

The 4-month-old babyhad passed away in hissleep on the night ofJanuary 30 after return-ing from Shaheen Baghwhere his parents hadtaken him during the anti-CAA protest. — PTI

Pre-arrest bail if no prima facie proof■ ■ A BBENCH of JusticesArun Mishra and VineetSaran said that “in caseswhere no prima faciematerials exist warranti-ng arrest in a complaint,the court has the inherentpower to direct pre-arrestbail

■ ■ JUSTICE MMISHRA saidthat a “preliminaryinquiry is permissible”only in certain circum-stances and “if the com-plaint does not make outa prima facie case forapplicability of the act,the bar created bySection 18 and Section18A(i) shall not apply

DC CCORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI, FEB. 10

Accusing the Modi govern-ment of living in denial inregard to the state of theeconomy, former financeminister and seniorCongress leader P Chidam-baram on Monday claimedthat the country’s economywas “perilously close to acollapse” and was beingattended to by “incompetentdoctors”. “Because of itsrefusal to admit mistakes,because it lives in denial,because of its predisposi-tion, the government eitherdoes not know or if it knowsis not willing to make itclear that this is the state ofthe economy,” said theCongress MP in the RajyaSabha while initiating adebate on the Union budget.He said despite the countryfacing rising unemploy-ment and falling consump-tion, the government con-tinues to live in denial. Theformer finance ministersaid with an unprecedentedsix consecutive quarters offalling growth, the economy

is facing demand con-straints and is investment-starved.

The former finance minis-ter said more money needsto be put in hands of peopleand not give “extraordinarypowers” to junior taxmen tounleash “tax terrorism.”

Quoting Mr Modi’s advicegiven in November 2013 tohim when he was the Unionfinance minister, he said“On November 2, 2013, avery distinguished politicalleader said “Economy is introuble. The youth wantsjobs. Devote more time tothe economy, not on pettypolitics. Please focus on thejob at hand. Very wiseadvice. I can’t do anythingbetter than reading thispiece of advice to thefinance minister.” Notingthat every competent doctorthat the govt could ever findhas left the country, he list-ed out former RBI gover-nors Raghuram Rajan andUrjit Patel, former CEAArvind Subramanian andformer NITI Aayog VCArvind Panagariya as per-sons who quit.

SC chides advocates BJP dares MP CMto stop censusRABINDRA NNATHCHOUDHURY II DDCBHOPAL, FEB. 10

Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) general secretaryKailash Vijayvargiyaon Monday dared MPChief Minister KamalNath to stop Censusofficials from record-ing tribals as Hindus.He was addressing arally that was organ-ised to protest theblockade of a road lead-ing to Mahakal templein district headquar-ters of Ujjain by anti-Citizenship Amend-ment Act activists forthe last several days.

Mr Vijayvargiya said,“He will not remain inoffice even for a day ifhe restrains the censusofficials from record-ing our Hindu tribalbrothers as Hindus.”

He was referring to

the recent remarks byMr Nath about howlegal action would betaken against RSSactivists if they coe-rced the tribals to givethem a particular reli-gious identity in the2021 Census. Mr Nathwas reacting to thereported call given byRSS supremo MohanBhagwat to the sanghcadres to ensure thattribals recorded them-selves as Hindus in theupcoming census.

Mr Nath said the RSSwould not be allowed tocreate disturbance inthe peaceful life of trib-als by resorting to suchtactics. Earlier, seniorBJP leader GopalBhargav accused MrNath of hatching a con-spiracy to identify thetribals as Christians atthe behest of Congresshigh command.

WE WWILL notallow reservationto be done away

with, no matter howmuch Modi Ji or MohanBhagwat dream of it

RAHUL GANDHI,Congress leader