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ANALYSIS 7FRATERNITY MUST TO

PRESERVE INDIAN UNITY

SPORTS 11ENGLAND WHITEWASH

LANKA

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RNI No. APENG/2018/764698

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VIJAYAWADA DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN HYDERABAD

{

Parties doing ‘drama'

over farmers' protest:

Fadnavis

5

Modi has done fulljustice to Ambedkarand the Constitution

2

Biden to sign ordersto promote ‘Made inAmerica' products

8

VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

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VIJAYAWADA, TUESDAY JANUARY 26, 2021; PAGES 12 `3

‘Educated’ parents put faith in spirits, kill 2 girls PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a bizarre incident, a highlyeducated couple allegedly killedtheir two daughters, both intheir 20s , in Chittoor districtof Andhra Pradesh, hopingthat the girls would come backto life within hours due to spir-itual power as the Kaliyugaends, turning into the SatyaYuga.

In fact, the father of the girlshimself is said to have calledone of his colleagues over thephone soon after the incidenton Sunday night and disclosedthe killings, police said.

The shocked colleagueimmediately tipped off the

police, who rushed to the cou-ple's house and found them ina trance.

Police suspect that the fam-ily had apparently been follow-ing certain occult practices for

some time now.According to Madanapalle

Deputy Superintendent ofPolice Ravi Manoharachari, itwas the mother who blud-geoned the daughters to death.

One of the girls was tonsuredbefore she was killed, the DSPsaid. The man remained aspectator as his wife wentabout the alleged killings.

The younger daughter wasfirst killed with a trident. Theelder one was then bludgeonedwith a dumbbell.

Police sources said the cou-ple had actually planned to killthemselves as well to prove thatthey would come back alive butthe timely entry of police per-

sonnel averted the possiblesuicide.

V Purushottam Naidu, M.Sc,PhD, worked as an associateprofessor in the GovernmentWomen's Degree College inMadanapalle. He was also thecollege Vice-Principal.

His wife Padmaja, a post-graduate and gold medallist,was correspondent and princi-pal of a local private school.

The eldest daughterAleikhya (27) was doing herpost-graduation in Bhopalwhile the younger Sai Divya(22) was a ward in the KMMusic Conservatory of ARRahman.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

While the fuel prices keep sky-rocketing, the Andhra Pradeshgovernment levying addition-al charges besides VAT isadding to the burden on con-sumers.

After the YSRCP came topower, it increased the addi-tional fixed charges on fuelwhile not fiddling with theVAT.

AP remains to be oneamong the few states withhigh taxes on fuel. Accordingto the latest report ofPetroleum Planning &Analysis Cell, AP, Telangana,Karnataka, Rajasthan andAssam are imposing over 30percent VAT on fuel.

The AP government is nowlevying a fixed amount of Rs4 and top of it Rs 1 for roaddevelopment cess apart from31 percent VAT. On diesel, itimposes 22.25 percent VAT,fixed amount of Rs 4 per litreand road cess of Rs 1.

The previous TDP regimeused to impose Rs 2 per litrein addition to the VAT of 31percent and 22.25 percent onpetrol and diesel respectively.

The YSRCP governmentmade the hike stating that thegovernment resources havedried up because of reductionin revenues amid the Covid-19-imposed lockdown. TheVAT hike will help the govern-ment earn Rs 600 crore rev-enue.

Fevenue department offi-cials said the government is

ensuring that the overall ratesdo not exceed those prevail-ing between 2015 and 2018.Several states are facing asimilar situation and they toomade upward revision of taxesto offset the loss of revenue.

Apart from this, YSRCPgovernment issued an ordi-nance providing for levy of aRoad Development Cess ofRe 1 each per litre on petroland high-speed diesel thatwould net around Rs 500crore annually. The cessamount would be transferredto the Andhra Pradesh RoadDevelopment Corporation forexclusive use in developingroad infrastructure.

AP Lorry OwnersAssociation members are ofthe view that the govern-ment should focus on increas-ing the sale of petrol anddiesel instead of increasingtaxes. As the prices of petroland diesel are higher in APcompared to the neighbour-ing States, there is a decline inthe sale.

TATA IN TALKS TO LAUNCH MODERNACOVID-19 VACCINE IN INDIA: REPORT

‘GOVERNOR HAS TIME TO MEET KANGANA,BUT NOT FARMERS’: SHARAD PAWAR

SP BALASUBRAHMANYAM AWARDED 2NDHIGHEST HONOUR, PADMA VIBHUSHAN

UK RETAILER DEBENHAMS SHUTS ALLSTORES, AROUND 12,000 JOBS LOST

Tata Group's healthcare venture is saidto have started initial discussionswith Moderna Inc for a partnership to

launch its COVID-19 vaccine in India, theEconomic Times reported on Monday.Tata Medical & Diagnostics could team upwith the India's Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research to carry out clinicaltrials of Moderna's vaccine candidate inIndia, the report said, citing officialsfamiliar with the matter. Moderna did notrespond to Reuters request for acomment outside business hours, while Tata Medical &Diagnostics did not immediately respond.

Is Punjab Pakistan?" NCP chief SharadPawar asked a sea of farmers atMumbai's Azad Maidan where they had

gathered today in support of their comradescamped in protest in and around Delhi.Hailing them for having come to the city allthe way from Nashik, in solidarity withthose gearing up for a massive tractor allyin the national capital, the senior leadercondemned the Union government's view ofthose agitating. "We have seen for the past60 days, without bothering about the cold,the sun, or rain, the farmers from UP, Haryana, and Punjab havebeen protesting. They (Centre) say these are Punjab farmers.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abeand music legend SP Balasubrahmanyamhave been awarded the Padma Vibhushan,

the second highest civilian award in India, thegovernment announced today. Celebrated singerSP Balasubrahmanyam was conferred thehonour posthumously. He died in a Chennaihospital last year after almost two months oftreatment. Former chief minister of Assam TarunGogoi and former union minister Ram VilasPaswan have also been awarded the PadmaBhushan, the third highest civilian awardposthumously. Former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan has also beenconferred the Padma Bhushan.

UK department store chain Debenhams is toshut all its outlets, administrators for thecollapsed group said Monday, with the loss

of around 12,000 jobs. Debenhams, which haslong struggled with fierce online competition,will see its brand live on however after Britishonline fashion group Boohoo bought thegroup's intellectual property assets. Debenhamscollapsed last month, having struggled to adaptfrom a bricks-and-mortar business long beforethe coronavirus pandemic forced shoppersonline. Its stores will reopen following the liftingof the UK lockdown to liquidate stock, administrators FRP Advisory,brought in to salvage parts of the business, said in a statement Monday.

SC dismisses AP appeal on holding of GP pollsPNS n NEW DELHI

In a setback to the Jaganm-ohan Reddy government, theSupreme Court on Mondaysaid that it cannot be part ofan "ego battle" and dismissedan appeal against the HighCourt order upholding theState Election Commissiondecision to hold gram pan-chayat elections in the state.

The State government hassought postponement ofgram panchayat polls due tothe ongoing Covid-19 vacci-nation drive.

The top court observedthat elections have been heldin far more difficult condi-tions and successfully.

Referring to the State gov-ernment and State ElectionCommission, the apex courtsaid ego problem betweentwo authorities is leading tolawlessness.

Saying "We cannot be partof this ego battle", a bench ofJustice Sanjay Kishan Kauland Aniruddha Bose dis-missed the appeal of the Stategovernment. The court said:"We will not interfere with thedecision of the State ElectionCommission.

At the outset, senior advo-cate Mukul Rohatgi, appear-ing for the State government,said that about five lakh po-lice personnel were to be va-ccinated and asked how pollscould be held at this time.

He said even States likeGoa have deferred the elec-tions.

The bench said that everytime there is an election, theState government approach-es the court but it needs to beunderstood that the pollpanel has to hold elections.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Stating that as a party, theYSRCP welcomes theSupreme Court verdict,Advisor to the GovernmentSajjala Ramakrishna Reddyon Monday said that theparty was ready to face thepolls.

"We are always confidentof winning the polls anytime they are held. Our gov-ernment was only concernedabout the health of the pub-lic and also the governmentstaff. That's the reason whywe fought till here," Sajjalasaid after the meeting withthe Chief Minister.

He added: "Otherwise, wedon't have any other illintentions or motives behindknocking on the door of the

Supreme Court or resistingholding the polls. We havehigh regards and respect forConstitutional bodies."

Sajjala went on to say"We suspect there are someunidentified forces that areworking behind the SEC.The SEC had been adamanton holding these polls.

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

The intense drama that unfold-ed over the last few monthsover holding of gram panchay-at polls in Andhra Pradeshended on Monday with theJaganmohan Reddy govern-ment conceding to theSupreme Court ruling.

Minutes after the SupremeCourt pronounced its judge-ment on the SLPs filed by the

State Government and theGovernment EmployeesFederation, Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy held aseries of meetings with his topaides, senior Cabinet col-leagues, Chief Secretary, pan-chayat raj department seniorofficials and the advocate-gen-eral.

After taking stock of the sit-uation, Jagan is said to havegiven the go ahead on holdingof the polls even though there

were a few legal options avail-able. Among those Jagan con-fabulated with werePeddireddy RamachandraReddy and BotsaSatyanarayana, GovernmentAdvisor Sajjala RamakrishnaReddy, Advocate-GeneralSriram Subramanyam, ChiefSecretary Adityanath Das,Panchayat Raj SecretaryGopalakrishna Dwivedi.

Vijayawada: Representativesof Government employeesresponded cautiously toMonday's verdict by theSupreme Court on the holdingof gram panchayat elections.

While maintaining theywere still not ready to take partin the polls, the employees saidthey will take a decision onlyafter reading the full text of theSupreme Court order.

Federation of State Gove-rnment Employees of AndhraPradesh chairman R Venka-trami Reddy said that they had

only approached the SupremeCourt fearing for their lives.He denied forcibly stoppingany government staff fromtaking part in polling duty.

Venkatrami Reddy addedthat the state governmentemployees remain apprehen-sive about attending poll dutiesamid Covid pandemic.

It's learnt that with the gov-ernment too deciding to goahead with the polls, govern-ment staff too will announcetheir willingness and readinessto join poll duties.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minutes after the SupremeCourt dismissed the SpecialLeave Petition filed by the APGovernment on Monday, StateElection Commissioner Nim-magadda Ramesh Kumarissued a fresh notification,rescheduling the gram pan-chayat polls.

Stating that no arrange-ments have been made, theSEC pushed the first phase of

polls that were to be held onFebruary 5 to February 21.

As per the original scheduleannounced by the SEC onJanuary 18, gram panchayatpolls in Andhra Pradesh wereto be held in four phases onFebruary 5, 9, 13, 17. As per theschedule revised on Monday,the polls now would be held onFebruary 9, 13, 17 and 21.

In his notification, the SECsaid that the Commission hadconvened a video conference

with the Collectors, SPs andother officials on January 23and communication was alsosent to the Chief Secretary,DGP, Principal Secretary(Panchayat Raj), Principal Fin-ance Secretary and Commi-ssioner (Panchayat Raj) to joinhim to review the preparednessfor conducting gram panchay-at elections besides requestingthe Chief Secretary to give nec-essary permission to theCollectors and other district

officials to participate in theconference.

"Government officials nei-ther participated nor issuedinstructions to the Collectorsand other officials to partici-pate in said video conferenceand a communication was rec-eived from the Chief Secretaryrequesting to defer the video-conference as the Governmenthas filed an SLP in the SupremeCourt," the SEC said.

The Andhra Pradesh Secretariat is tastefully illuminated as part of the Republic Day celebrations on Monday.

SAYING IIT WWITH LLIGHTS

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Union Finance Ministryhas released the 13th weeklyinstalment of Rs 6,000 croreto the states on Monday tomeet the goods and servicestax compensation deficit.

In total, Rs 5,516.60 crorehas been released to 23 statesand Rs 483.40 crore to threeUnion Territories withLegislative Assembly who aremembers of the GST Council.

The remaining five states -Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur,Mizoram, Nagaland andSikkim do not have a gap inGST revenue.

After series of meetings, Jagan gives the nod

SEC reschedules first phase of polls

Ready, confident of victoryin elections, asserts Sajjala

Employees respond cautiously

Rs 3,174.15 croreGST deficitreleased to AP, TS

Centre plansgreen tax onold pollutingvehiclesPNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre plans to imposea green tax on old pollutingvehicles soon in a bid to pro-tect the environment andcurb pollution.

Vehicles like stronghybrids, electric vehicles andthose running on alternativefuels like CNG, ethanol andLPG will be exempted whilethe revenue collected throughthe green tax will be utilisedfor tackling pollution, a state-ment said on Monday.

CS seeks Centre'sguidance on CovidvaccinationPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Secretary AdityanathDas on Monday sought theCentre’s guidance on contin-uing with the Covid vaccina-tion drive in the State sinceboth the inoculation andgram panchayat polls have tobe taken up as per the direc-tions of the AP High Court.

In a letter to Union HealthSecretary Rajesh Bushan, theChief Secretary said that thesame frontline workers whoare to be vaccinated would bedeployed at polling stationsacross the state.

“This issue is more seriousin the case of police person-nel who number only 73,188but have to be deployed to1,35,000 polling stations,” theCS wrote.

V Purushottam Naidu with his wife and daughters in happier times.

Govt’s extra chargeadds fuel to the fire

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 26, 2021

EGG

RATES

` 50, 120 (10 gm)

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Dressed/With Skin `131

Without Skin `149

Broiler at Farm `90

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

With the country cele-brating the 71stanniversary of

implementation of itsConstitution today, manyexpress doubts whether fruitsof India’s Freedom have trick-led down to people andwhether the dreams of thearchitect of our Constitutionhave been fulfilled.

The Congress was in powerfor over five of the sevendecades of India as a Republic.

In the backdrop of the sab-otage done to the Constitutionand injustice rendered to itsarchitect Dr BR Ambedkarduring the five-and-a-halfdecades of Congress rule, it isnecessary to understand thecurrent political situation inthe country.

The BJP, which regards theConstitution as a holy book,declared November 26 to beobserved as Constitution Dayto sensitise people of DrAmbedkar’s ideals. Prime

Minister Narendra Modimade the announcementwhile laying the foundationstone for the Statue of Equality(Dr Ambedkar statue) inMumbai on October 11, 2015.

The Constitution says thatIndia is Socialist, Secular,Democratic Republic.

Modi holds the constitu-tional post as the PM; the BJPhas been voted to power twiceunder his leadership. Leader ofthe BJP Parliamentary Party,which has majority inParliament, and his team, isauthorised to take decisionson behalf of the people.

How can decisions of thedemocratically-elected gov-ernment become ultra viresthe Constitution?

The dark days when theConstitution was trampledupon, fundamental rightswere denied, Opposition lead-ers put behind the bars, voic-es of the common man stifled,elected governments pulled

down, dynastic rule imple-mented and the PrimeMinister rendered a puppethave gone. The forces respon-sible for the dark era are nowon the verge of extinction.

Yet they cry hoarse thatModi is functioning unconsti-tutionally.

The welfare schemes beingimplemented by the BJPGovernment are designed intune with the spirit of theConstitution. The PM, sooncoming to power, declaredthat working in tune with theobjectives of the Constitutionlike uniting everyone and

treating everyone equally is hisduty.

The new agricultural lawsalso advocate development toreach villages to ensure theirgrowth on par with towns andcities. But the Opposition par-ties have been provokingfarmers to meet their politicalends.

They know well that if theyfail to thwart the efforts of theCentre to ensure the fruits ofthe Constitution trickle downto the grassroots level, theywould have no political sur-vival.

Modi reminded the people

time and again that theConstitution gives not onlyrights to the citizens but alsoenshrines fundamental dutiesfor them. He made it clear thatevery school and every collegeshould sensitise the new gen-eration about theConstitution.

Maintaining a balancebetween rights and dutieswould strengthen our country,

he quoted Mahatma Gandhias saying.

The Part-VIof theConstitutionclearly laysdown duties ofthe citizen, vis-à-visthe people and thecountry. We should remainloyal to the National Flag andAnthem. We should keep oursurroundings clean andcleanse our systems and showrespect to Indian culture,social values and strive fordevelopment of the country.Our duty is to desist fromlending support to fissiparousforces and work united toprotect the country’s unityand integrity.

The BJP does not say any-thing different to this.

Unfortunately, those whohave no respect for the coun-try’s values and integrity andlending support to antisocial,fissiparous forces and terror-

ists have been claiming thattheir rights have been

trampled upon. Theyhave also beene n c o u r a g i n gcasteism in the coun-

try. How far are theyjustified in making these

claims?How can those who have

been unwilling to act asresponsible citizens and haveno regard for patriotism valuethe Constitution? It should bedebated on the occasion of theRepublic Day.

The Congress not onlyfailed to value the Constitutionbut also insulted Ambedkar.During its rule, it did not pub-lish any works of Ambedkar. Itdid not establish any organisa-tion in his name.

The portrait of Ambedkarwas unveiled in the central hallof Parliament during VPSingh’s term. The NationalFront Government announcedBharat Ratna for Ambedkar.

Ambedkar vehementlyopposed Article 370 givingspecial status to J& K andincorporated Article 365Agiving equal weightage on parwith other Indian states.

The decision taken by theBJP government to make J&K,going through turbulence forover seven decades, an integralpart of the country renderedfull justice to the Constitution.

Division of J&K andLadakh and abrogation ofArticle 370 led to implemen-tation of one nation and oneConstitution in the country,declared Modi on RepublicDay last year.

Today a struggle is going onbetween the true patriots,who derived inspiration fromAmbedkar and hisConstitution, and forces bay-ing for power in spite of loot-ing the country for decades.

People know who reallyyearns for the development ofthe country.

Y SATYA KUMAR

BJP National Secretary

TRULY

SPEAKING

Modi holds the constitutional post as the PM;the BJP has been voted to power twiceunder his leadership. Leader of the BJPParliamentary Party, which has majority inParliament, and his team, is authorised totake decisions on behalf of the people.

Modi has done full justice to Ambedkar and the Constitution

Japan MNC breaks groundfor manufacturing facilityPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Japanese electronics majorPanasonic Life Solutions Indiaon Monday held the ground-breaking ceremony for its newmanufacturing facility in SriCity.

Panasonic Life SolutionsIndia is a wholly-owned sub-sidiary of PanasonicCorporation. The Japanesecompany plans to make a totalinvestment of Rs 600 crore intwo phases in Andhra Pradesh.The previously announcedinvestment of Rs 294.7 crore inphase one is part of the com-pany's robust manufacturingand expansion plans to supportthe infrastructure and increaseproduction capacity in India.

Upon completion, the newfacility will be Panasonic LifeSolution India's eighth electri-cal equipment material pro-duction base in India, fol-lowed by facilities in the Northand West regions.

The facility will include astate-of-the-art assembly line of

the electrical equipment mate-rials and wiring devices offeredby the company. It will be builtover 33 acres of land spreadover 133,546 sq m at Sri CityIndustrial Park. The aim is toprovide direct employment toat least 600 people in the stateby the year 2022. Due to thepandemic, the new unit willnow commence its operations

of manufacturing the electricalappliances by April 2022.

The groundbreaking cere-mony for the facility was heldin the presence of various dig-nitaries of Sri City, construc-tion company M/s TakenakaIndia Private Limited and dueto the Covid protocol,Panasonic Life Solutions IndiaPvt. Ltd Managing Director,

Tetsuyasu Kawamoto, attend-ed the ceremony virtually.

Speaking on the occasionKawamoto said, "India is grow-ing exponentially in terms ofhousing development. The realestate market, especially inAndhra Pradesh, will witnessa paradigm shift in the post-pandemic era. The pandemichad brought businesses to ahalt. However, we look forwardto a revived growth journeyand contribute to the speedyeconomic recovery of thecountry."

He said that the new facili-ty in Sri City, once completed,will help the company signifi-cantly scale up production inIndia and generate employ-ment opportunities for thelocals in Andhra Pradesh."With a strong commitmenttowards the government'svision of 'AatmaNirbharBharat', the completion of thisland will assist in strengthen-ing our relations with theGovernment of AndhraPradesh," Kawamoto said.

AP recordslowest numberof Covid casesin over 7 monthsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Only 56 new cases, a recordlow in more than sevenmonths, were reported inAndhra Pradesh as 27,717sample tests were conductedfor coronavirus in 24 hoursending 9 am on Monday.

The state also reported141 more recoveries and twofresh fatalities in a day, ahealth department bulletinsaid.

After 1.29 crore total sam-ple tests so far, the gross con-firmed positive Covid-19 casestouched 8,87,066, at the rate of6. 87 per cent, it said. The totalrecoveries went up to 8,78,528and deaths to 7,149. The statenow has 1,389 active cases.

In 24 hours, only Krishnadistrict added 11 new caseswhile five districts reportedbetween five and ten each.Three districts logged zerocases, three districts two eachand another, three, accordingto the bulletin.

Chittoor and WestGodavari districts reportedone fresh Covid-19 death each.

SC dismisses AP appeal on holding of GPContinued from Page 1

Rohatgi said that the State hasalso to see that the police anddoctors are vaccinated and thePanchayat elections can beheld from March 1 after thefrontline workers are vaccinat-ed by January 28.

He said that the High Courtshould have found out whetherelections and vaccination canhappen together or not. Thebench said that the state gov-ernment is supporting theorder of a single judge whichdoes not give any reason forsuspending the schedule ofelections.

It noted that staff associa-tions have passed resolutionsagainst State ElectionCommissioner RameshKumar.

Rohatgi said that the stategovernment has nothing todo with that person.

"Ego problem between thetwo authorities is leading tolawlessness. We cannot allowlawlessness to happen. Howcan resolutions be passedagainst the SEC N RameshKumar? Elections have beenheld in far more difficult con-ditions and successfully," thebench said.

The bench said that it is veryeasy to blame or judge anyone,but States have conducted elec-tions even during Covid-19and even though there was aspike of cases in Kerala, it can-not be said that polls were thereason.

Panchayat elections wereheld in Kerala in December2020.

"We cannot be a part of thisego battle. There are somepolitical and administrativedecisions. Some decisions haveto be taken by the StateElection Commission," the

bench said.When some intervenors

tried to intervene in the mat-ter, the bench pulled them upand said, "Your behaviour isatrocious and undesirable".

The top court said it will notinterfere with the decision ofthe State Election Commissionand dismissed the plea of theState government.

In its appeal, the state gov-ernment has said that the HighCourt has completely erred innot considering that the SECand its commissioner NRamesh Kumar have takenthe decision of conductingelections to local bodies with-out examining any relevantconsiderations.

In fact, the respondent (SECand Kumar) is not qualified -having no medical expertise -to decide whether Electionsought to be conducted at a timewhen vaccination drive is on

full swing and the effect of elec-tions on (i) the vaccinationdrive and (ii) the spread ofvirus, the appeal said, addingthat Kumar has rejected theconcerns raised by the State.

On January 21, the HighCourt had given its nod to holdelections to gram Panchayats infour phases from February 5.

It had struck down the orderof a single judge delivered onJanuary 11 suspending the pollschedule announced by RameshKumar while allowing the appeal.

On January 8, the SEC hadannounced the schedule for con-duct of elections to gram pan-chayats in four phases beginningFebruary 5, even as the state gov-ernment contended that holdingelections would not be possiblein view of the coronavirus vac-cination programme.Notification for the first phase isscheduled to be issued onJanuary 23.

Ready, confidentof victory inelections,asserts SajjalaContinued from Page 1

The government hadinstructed the departmentsconcerned to make arrange-ments for the polls."He added that the SEC will beheld responsible if anythingadverse happens to the staffon poll duty or the publicduring the polls. Sajjala alsosaid that the government willwrite to the Centre on vacci-nation programme in thebackdrop of panchayat pollsin the state.

SEC reschedulesfirst phase of...Continued from Page 1

He said that the poll panelreceived information fromseveral quarters that necessaryarrangements were not madeby the district administra-tions to receive nominationsscheduled from January 25 forPhase-I of Gram Panchayatelections awaiting instruc-tions from the Government.

"The State ElectionCommission came to a con-clusion that the electionprocess has been vitiated asthe district administrationhas not made arrangements

for receiving nominations forthe phase-i gram panchayatelections," Ramesh Kumarsaid.

He said that therefore, theState Election Commission,"in exercise of the powersconferred under Rule 7 ofAndhra Pradesh PanchayatRaj (Conduct of Elections)Rules, 2006 read with Section200 & 201-A(1) of AndhraPradesh Panchayat Raj Act,1994 (Act 13 of 1994) andArticle 243K of theConstitution of India, hereby,reschedules the Phase-I GramPanchayat elections".

After series...Continued from Page 1

Highly placed sources hadhinted that the CS will nowissue a notification and com-munication to concerneddepartments and also the dis-trict administration on hold-ing the polls after which thecollectors, SPs and other gov-ernment officials will partic-ipate in the videoconferencethat will be held by the StateElection Commissioner (SEC)to discuss the arrangements.

Despite the SEC issuingpoll schedule and notification,on the ground, no arrange-ments were made. No govern-ment official had taken part inthe numerous videoconfer-ences the SEC had called inthe last few months.

The CS is also expected towrite to the SEC sounding thegovernment's readiness toconduct the polls.

Continued from Page 1

In his letter to Rajesh Bushan,Adityanath Das pointed outthat each police personnelthus will have to be deployedat three polling stations on anaverage, on rotation basis bymoving from one location toanother.

“Some of them will be onother bandobast arrange-ments like monitoring ofmodel code of conduct, andexecution of non-bailablewarrants,” the CS wrote.

“Simultaneously, all pollingpersonnel are deployed away

from their place of work andtheir residence as per theguidelines of the ElectionCommission. This will leadto huge logistical problemsand the polling personnelwill not be able to be vacci-nated as the session site allot-ted to them through Co-Win software will be basedon their office/home locationbut they will be deployedelsewhere. Those who arevaccinated for the first doseat one location will not beavailable at the same locationfor the second dose,” hewrote.

CS seeks Centre'sguidance on...

‘Educated’ parents putfaith in spirits, kill 2 girlsContinued from Page 1

The daughters were stayingwith their parents since theCoronavirus-induced lock-down.

The police investigation hasrevealed that Sai Divya posteda message on social media:"Siva has come…work isdone."

Several mysterious imageshave been found in the housealong with those of variousdeities.

They said that the accusedwould be arrested only on theadvice of medical personnelafter subjecting them to med-ical tests.

According to the motherPadmaja, her younger daughtSai Divya had been behavingerratically and threatened the

family to jump off from therooftop. Pujas were performedat their home suspecting thatSai Divya might have comeunder a spell.

She said that her elderdaughter Alekhya had alsodemonstrated similar behav-iour.

As both the sisters startedbehaving erratically, the fam-ily made arrangements to per-form special prayers. Theseprayers were performed forfour days.

The family began to believethat Sai Divya was possessed,and had got mystic powers.They believed that Sai Divyacould even open doors in thehouse psychically.

The mother said that sheused to behave erratically andshe acted differently through

the day.According to the DSP, going

by their interaction, the family"transcended the peaks of spir-itualism,".

"They asked us to wait for aday as their daughters will comeback to life again," he said.

Manoharachari said the fam-ily was well-educated and it wasvery puzzling why they resortedto such an act.

Police have detained the cou-ple in their house and startedquestioning them even as foren-sics teams began examining theclosed-circuit television footageto establish if someone else werealso involved in the spiritual rit-uals practised by the family.

{ost-mortem on the bodies ofthe two sisters has been complet-ed. The police registered a mur-der case against the parents.

Govt’s extracharge addsfuel to thefire Continued from Page 1

The government can gener-ate more revenue by focusingon increasing the volume ofsales and reducing taxes, heobserved.

"When the rate of fuel ishigh, a price hike, even by adecimal, will bring the ratesup. The state tax is notimposed on the base price ofthe fuel, but after addition ofthe Central tax and dealer'scommission," said a petrolbunk owner in Vizag, react-ing to the price hike.

Centre plans greentax on old polluting...Continued from Page 1

"Union Minister for RoadTransport and HighwaysNit in Gadkar i hasapproved a proposal tolevy a 'green tax' on oldvehicles which are pollut-ing the environment," itsaid in a statement.

The proposal will nowgo to the states for consul-tation before it is formal-ly notified, it added.

Under the scheme,transport vehicles olderthan eight years could becharged green tax at thetime of renewal of fitnesscertificate at the rate of 10to 25 per cent of road tax.

"Personal vehicles to becharged green tax at thetime of renewal of registra-tion certification after 15years; public transportvehicles, such as city buses,to be charged lower greentax; higher green tax (50per cent of road tax) forvehicles being registered inhighly polluted cities," thestatement said.

Differential tax will also

be charged depending onfuel (petrol/ diesel) and thetype of vehicle.

Apar t f rom st ronghybrids, electric vehiclesand alternate fuels likeCNG, ethanol, LPG etc,vehicles used in farming,such as tractor, harvesterand tiller will be exempt-ed from the tax, the state-ment said.

According to the min-istry, the revenue collect-ed from the green tax willbe kept in a separateaccount and will be usedfor tackling pollution.

The s tates wi l l b erequired to set up state-of-art facilities for emissionmonitoring, it added.

Listing the benefits ofthe green tax, the ministrysaid that it will dissuadepeople from using vehiclesthat damage the environ-ment and motivate them toswitch to newer, less pol-luting vehicles.

"Green tax will reducethe pollution level, andmake the polluter pay forpollution," it added.

Vote a powerfulinstrument inyour hands,Governor tellsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor BiswabhusanHarichandan on Monday saidthat the vote is not merely aright to be exercised mechan-ically as and when electionsare held, but is a powerfulinstrument in the hands ofthe people.

"Exercise of the right tovote makes people sentinelsof the noble tradition ofdemocracy," the Governorsaid.

Speaking at the launch of11th National Voters Daycelebrations at the DurbarHall in Raj Bhavan,Harichandan said the Rightto Vote is the mother of allpolitical rights providedunder the Constitution.

The Governor said thatevery citizen of the country,especially the youth, shouldfeel proud of performingtheir respective constitution-al duties as this will ensuretheir meaningful participa-tion and significant contribu-tion to the growth of theNation and Society.

Continued from Page 1

Accordingly, Rs 3,174.15crore has been released to thetwo Telugu states - Rs 1,336.44crore to Telangana and Rs1,810.71 crore to AndhraPradesh.

Until now, 70 per cent of thetotal estimated GST compen-sation shortfall has beenreleased to the States and UnionTerritories with LegislativeAssembly. Among this, Rs71,099.56 crore has beenreleased to the states and Rs6,900.44 crore has been releasedto the three Union Territorieswith Legislative Assembly.

Rs 3,174.15 croreGST deficitreleased to AP, TS

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 26, 2021

A bullock cart moves past the Secretariat Building that has been illuminated with dazzling lights to mark Republic Day celebrations at Velagapudi on Monday.

REPUBLIC DDAY GGRANDEUR

Sharmila condemns report ondifferences with Jagan, to sue

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister andYSRCP supremo YS JaganmohanReddy's sister YS Sharmilacondemned a story that waspublished in a vernacular Telugudaily on Sunday. She alsothreatened to take legal actionagainst the media house. Avernacular Telugu daily on Sundaycarried a story stating that seriousdifferences had cropped upbetween Sharmila and Jagan. Thereport also claimed that she was

miffed and was contemplating to launch a political party in Telangana.In a statement on Monday, she found fault for writing baseless storiesabout YSR family. She said: "It's wrong on the part of a media houseto write about a family. It's against morals. I condemn such baselessstory and will take legal action on that media house."

AP girl bags Pradhan MantriRashtriya Bal Shakti award

VISAKHAPATNAM: AmeyaLagudu, a student of Class 8in Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar,has been selected for thePrestigious Pradhan MantriRashtriya Bal Sakthi Puraskar2021". She is the secondstudent from Sri Sathya SaiVidya Vihar to bag theprestigious award in a row".The Government of India hasbeen awarding Pradhan

Mantri Rashtriya Bal Sakthi Puraskar on Republic Day to children withexceptional abilities and outstanding achievements in the fields ofinnovation, sports, arts, culture, social service, scholastic field andbravery. The award function will be held in New Delhi every year, butthe function was virtually orgainsed due to Covid pandemic this year.Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually interacted with the awardeeson Monday through video-conferencing in which Union Women andChild Development Minister Smriti Irani ji was also present. AmeyaLagudu has been learning South Indian Classical dance forms ofBharatanatyam and Kuchipudi since the age of four. She hasperformed her Arangetram (a debut solo performance of the artistafter a successful training.) at the age of six. Ameya's talent has beenrecognised by many national and international organisations andlauded her outstanding talent in dance. She has performed more than100 programems on various national, international platforms so far.

SHORT TAKES

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The YSRCP is planning toraise issues of public interest inthe Parliament during theupcoming Budget session.Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy held a meeting with theparty MPs here on Mondayand apprised them of the issuesto be raised in the Parliament.

Releasing funds forPolavaram, re-notification forthe relocation of High Court,Special Category Status to thestate of Andhra Pradesh andpolitical angle related to thedesecration of temples areamong the issues that would bevoiced in the Parliament.

The Chief Minister directedthe MPs to stress on thePolavaram project's arrearstotaling Rs 1,569.86 crore andthe revised estimates to thetune of 55,656.87 crore thatneeds to be approved.

With regard to thePolavaram project, the State

government has already dis-cussed and written letters to thePrime Minister and HomeMinister to approve the revisedestimates.

He recalled that formerChief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu during TDP rule hadagreed to the special packageputting the Polavaram projectat stake. He directed the MPsto give utmost important toPolavaram project and insistfor the approval of revisedcost estimates to complete theproject on time.

The Chief Minister also told

the MPs to raise the issues ofdecentralisation of capitalactivities, integrated develop-ment bills passed by the Statealong with issuing a re-notifi-cation to shift the High Courtto Kurnool.

The Chief Minister askedthem to raise the problemsregarding the new railway zonein Vishakapatnam.

Referring to the attacks ontemples, he instructed the MPsto be prepared with a compre-hensive report. "Investigationsrevealed that people with polit-ical backgrounds were involved

in these incidents. Maliciouspropaganda was spread onsocial media. Action is beingtaken against people involvedin these attacks irrespective ofreligion," he said.

He reminded that it wasTDP followers who shifted theNandi idol from a temple atSanthabommali of Tekkali con-stituency in Srikakulam districtand false information waspropagated that YSRCP follow-ers were involved in the inci-dent. Even ChandrababuNaidu and his party membershave changed their version

after CCTV footage wasreleased, he remarked.

He asked the MPs to raisethe conspiracies hatched by theTDP through attacks on tem-ples and urge the Centre tocomplete the CBI inquiry intothe Antarvedi temple chariotfire issue.

Referring to special catego-ry status, the Chief Ministersaid that he had written sever-al letters and appealed theCentre on every occasion hevisited Delhi, to grant the spe-cial category status to the state.

Under the employmentguarantee scheme, there arearrears of Rs 3,707.77 crore, hesaid and asked the MPs torequest the Centre for increas-ing the number of workingdays from 100 to 150.

Besides, the CM advised theMPs to raise the establish-ment of Tribal University,Disha Act, Nivar compensa-tion, pending funds, and var-ious other issues.

Jagan tells MPs to raise issues ofstate interest in Budget session PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national president andformer Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu onMonday welcomed theSupreme Court judgment thathas paved way for holding thepanchayat elections in AndhraPradesh.

The TDP chief asserted thatafter coming to power, the rul-ing YSRCP has violatedConstitutional norms in manyinstances. No system or insti-tution was being allowed tofunction peacefully and nor-mally. Hurdles were beingcreated at every step, helamented.

In a statement issued here,the TDP chief raised apprehen-sion that all the four pillars ofdemocracy - legislature, judi-ciary, executive and the mediawere being undermined bythe ruling party. "YSRCP lead-ers have been issuing threats tothe heads of the Constitutionalinstitutions," he alleged.

"A bill was passed toabolish the Legislative Councilaltogether out of politicalvendetta. The honest and com-mitted officers were being tar-geted and harassed. The judi-ciary and the courts were com-ing under unforeseen attacks.The judges were being threat-ened. The State ElectionCommission was ignored. TheState Election Commissionerwas unduly criticised in thename of caste," Naidu alleged.

Naidu recalled how GO2430 was brought to kill thevoice of the media in violationof the Right to Freedom ofExpression enshrined in theConstitution.

"The ruling party colourswere pasted on the govern-ment offices with total disre-gard for decorum and demo-cratic values. The people's sen-timents were hurt in every waypossible. The orders of the

courts were not being imple-mented," he said.

The TDP chief deploredthat the YSRCP Governmentobviously had a single pointagenda to demolish theConstitutional institutions likethe courts, the Election

Commission, etc. "An unfortunate situation

had set in where the interven-tion of courts is becomingnecessary in each and everyproblem confronting the peo-ple and the development of thestate," he added.

Naidu welcomes SC verdicton gram panchayat polls

PNS n HYDERABAD

Vice-President M VenkaiahNaidu inaugurated theIntegrated Weapons SystemDesign Centre at DRDO's APJAbdul Kalam Missile Complexhere on Monday.

The facility would enhancethe capability in design anddevelopment of command andcontrol systems for surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems andballistic missile defence (BMD)systems, said Defence Researchand Development Organisation.

The DRDO officialsexplained that the centre wouldgive thrust to the overall systemdesign and evaluation method-ology for state-of-the-art mis-

sile systems and would help inimproving the performance ofmissiles. This would play amajor role in the realisation ofhighly complex futuristic aero-space and defence systems.

The DRDO officials briefedNaidu on the various ongoingprojects and technologicaldevelopments of missile com-plex laboratories - DefenceResearch and Development

Laboratory (DRDL) andResearch Centre Imarat (RCI).

He also showcased a range ofindigenously developed missilesystems and avionics tech-nologies. The Vice-Presidentevinced keen interest in DRDOtechnologies and various testfacilities being used foradvanced technology devel-opments.

Addressing the DRDO frater-nity, he complimented the sci-entists for their hard work anddedication even during thenationwide lockdown and saidthe efforts by DRDO have ledto the phenomenal technolog-ical advancements in the formof a series of successful missionssuch as HSTDV, SMART,

ATGM, NGARM, HELINA,NAG, BRAHMOS etc.

He mentioned that theDRDO is an epitome andtorchbearer of scientific socialresponsibility and is a place ofeternal learning. The roleplayed by the DRDO duringthe pandemic has set an exam-ple for others to emulate.

He said that the develop-ment of a range of indigenousdefence systems by DRDO hasgiven confidence to the Indiangovernment for banningimport of 101 items.

Remembering formerPresident Kalam, Naidu saidthe scientific institutions ofthe country should never workin the incremental mode.

V-P opens integrated weapons system design centre

Vizag cops to close rowdy-sheets of reformed criminals

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Andhra Pradesh HealthMinister Alla Kali KrishnaSrinivas said that the reason fordeath of ASHA worker VijayaLakshmi has not been ascer-tained yet.

ASHA worker, B. VijayaLakshmi, 42, fell ill two daysafter taking the vaccine shotand was admitted to the GGH.She was a native of Penumakavillage in Tadepalli mandal ofGuntur district. She had com-plained of severe headacheand fever on January 22, threedays after taking vaccine shot.

Minister Alla Nani, HomeMinister M Sucharita, MLAAlla Ramakrishna, HealthDepartment PrincipalSecretary Katamneni Bhaskarand district officials onMonday visited the familymembers of ASHA workerBokka Vijaya Lakshmi inTadepalli mandal.

ASHA worker Bokka VijayaLakshmi of Penumaka village

in Tadepalli mandal in Gunturdied on Sunday. She was vac-cinated for coronavirus on theJanuary 19.

Speaking on the occasion,Minister Alla Nani said that itwas unfortunate that VijayaLakshmi died.

The cause of her death willbe known only when the post-mortem report comes out andsteps will be taken to get thepostmortem report quickly,he added.

"Whatever may be the cause

of Vijaya Lakshmi's death,Chief Minister YS JaganmohanReddy responded immediate-ly and sent us to support thebereaved family members,"Alla Nani said.

He said that Vijaya Lakshmihas insurance of up to Rs. 50lakh which applies only to healthworkers discharging Covidduties but not for vaccination.

He said that CM YS Jaganwould, however, provide Rs 50lakh on behalf of the state gov-ernment on humanitariangrounds. He added 3.88 lakhpeople have registered for vac-cination across the state and sofar 1.5 lakh people have beenvaccinated against Covid. So far,only 39 people have developedsymptoms like dizziness, coldand fever and it has been clar-ified that there was no need tobe vaccinated despite beingregistered for vaccination.

If there are any health rea-sons, it is suggested that theycould consult doctors and takethe vaccine.

AP govt grants `50 lakh aid to kin of deceased ASHA worker

Though the cause forthe death of ASHAworker has not beenascertained yet, thegovt has decided togrant compensation ofRs 50 lakh for thefamily of deceased,says Minister

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The City Police on Mondayarrested three persons for grab-bing a piece of land belongingto a private person and tryingto sell it to someone else.

The arrested have been iden-tified as Kodigudla VenkataRamana, Pachi Ramesh andPothina Jaya Balakrishna, allresidents of Visakhapatnam.

According to DCP (law andorder) Aishwarya Rastogi, thecomplainant GolaganiKanakaraju, a serving soldier inthe Indian Army, had pur-chased about 138.88 sq. yd outof total extent of 279 sq yd fromone Guttula Gangadhar Srinivasin January 2012. The property

is located in Bottavanipalem inMadhurawada and Kanakarajuhad purchased it for Rs 8.40lakh.

The remaining extent ofland was bought by one NelliRamarao and both the dealswere brokered by the accusedPachi Ramesh.

When the deal was bro-kered, the survey was conduct-ed and boundary stones werefixed. But in August 2020,when Kanakaraju visited thesite, he found that the surveystones were removed and landwas levelled.

Fearing that someone wastrying to grab their land, bothKanakaraju and Ramarao builtboundary walls.

In the meantime, all threeaccused visited the site andthreatened them.

Later, taking advantage inthe absence of Kanakaraju ashe was posted at Punjab bor-der, the accused damaged theboundary wall and tried toconstruct a shed and alsoerected a board stating that thesite was not for sale and itbelonged to one VanapalliNagamani, said the DCP.

Based on a complaint filedby the victims, the police inves-tigated and arrested theaccused under various sec-tions of AP Land Grabbing(Prohibition) Act and sentthem to judicial remand, onMonday.

3 persons held for grabbing land

Narayana tells people, partiesto uphold spirit of democracyPNS n HYDERABAD

CPI national secretary Dr KNarayana on Monday calledupon people and politicalparties to uphold the spirit ofdemocracy.

Welcoming the SupremeCourt verdict on panchayatpolls, he hoped that a peace-ful atmosphere will prevail inthe state. It may be recalledthat the state government ledby YSRCP and the StateElection Commission were atloggerhead over conductingelections to local bodies in thestate of Andhra Pradesh.

He said: "It is unfortunatethat differences eruptedbetween the SEC and stategovernment over conductinglocal body polls." He wel-comed the decision of theSupreme Court which pavedway for the SEC to conductpanchayat elections.

Narayana lauded the effortsState Election CommissionerNimmagadda Ramesh Kumarin discharging duties in hiscapacity as the head of aConstitutional body.

Finding fault with the stategovernment for creating hur-dles for panchayat polls, theCPI leader said that the issuehas been settled with thedecision of the SupremeCourt.

The state government andSEC should set their differ-ences aside and work togeth-er for conducting the elec-tions in an amicable atmos-phere at least not, he added.

Criticising the employees'associations for opposing theelections, he said that theemployees should now coop-erate with the governmentandthe SEC in holding polls.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP national spokesper-son Kommareddy Pattabhion Monday accused someleaders of Governmentemployees' associations ofmortgaging the interests ofthe lakhs of their colleaguesfor the sake of narrow per-sonal gains and undue polit-ical favours.

Pattabhi asserted thatthese 'hired leaders' ofemployees were acting sole-ly at the behest of the YSRCPleaders. "They were makingwrong statements boycottingthe gram panchayat elec-tions, though thousands ofemployees were ready toattend poll duty at the sched-uled time," he said.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, the TDP leaderposed a series of questions tothe employees' leaders, ask-ing them why they weresilent when the JaganmohanReddy Government hasbeen giving a raw deal to theGovernment employees inextending provident fund,life insurance, retirementbenefits, surrendered leave,Compensatory PensionScheme, Leave TravelCompensation, Pay RevisionCommission and so on.

"Most of these facilities

need just administrativeclearance but the rulingparty was creating hurdles.The benefits that used to behanded over to employees inmere days and weeks, arenow being given after fourto five months," Pattabhiclaimed.

"The Chief Minister hadpromised cancellation ofCompensatory PensionScheme within a week aftercoming to power but noaction has been taken evenafter 20 months.Unfortunately, the CPS con-tributions are not beingpaid. The TDP regime madetimely payments and stoodin first place in the entirecountry at that time," hesaid.

The TDP leader sought toknow why Jagan has notextended benefits in thepast 20 months even thoughthe report of the PayRevision Commission wasreadily available.

"The 'hired leaders' of theemployees were silent forreasons best known to them.They were levelling falseallegations against TDPsupremo N ChandrababuNaidu who actually gave agreater benefit of 43 per centfitment with 18 arrears,"Pattabhi claimed.

‘Hired leaders of employees’associations misleading staff'

Disappointmentfor Telugu statesPNS n HYDERABAD

The Padma Awards 2021announced by the Centre onMonday on the eve ofRepublic Day came as a bigdisappointment for the twoTelugu states as bothTelangana and AndhraPradesh drew a completeblank with regard to PadmaVibhushan and PadmaBhushan awards.

While Andhra Pradeshhad to contend with just twoPadma Shri awards,Telangana got only onePadma Shri award.

The lone winner fromTelangana was Kanaka Raju,who was selected for PadmaShri for Art. The two PadmaShri winners from AP wereRama Swamy Annavarapufor Art and PrakasaraoAsavadi for Literature andEducation.

The Centre declared 7Padma Vibhushan Awards,10 Padma Bhushan Awardsand 102 Padma Shri Awardsacross the country. However,none from Telugu States fig-ures in the list of winners ofPadma Vibhushan andPadma Bhushan.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

In a bid to encourage goodbehavior among rowdy-sheeters, Vizag city police willreview the rowdy-sheets andclose them in case the crimi-nals were found reformed overthe years.

For instance, E Ramana,

had applied for PoliceClearance Certificate to makea passport and go to Republicof Turkey for employment.

However, a rowdy-sheet wasopened against him atGajuwaka Police Station since2007 for his involvement in var-ious crimes. Though he wasacquitted in the cases, rowdy-

sheet against him was still openeven though he had notinvolved any case since then.

Therefore, PCC could not beissued to him. Currently, he isworking as Fire Safety Officerin a private firm.

Hence, a Commissioneratelevel committee will look intothese kinds of issues and

resolve them thereby makingsure that no one suffers unnec-essarily. The committee willmeet in the conference hall atCAR Grounds every Mondayat 11.30 am to review therowdy-sheets.

The process of continua-nce/retention/deletion of therowdy-sheet needs to be

streamlined. There is no uni-formity in the benchmarks orstandards set by the concernedjurisdictional officers with inthe commissionerate in takinga call on the rowdy-sheets. Thelatest technological and scien-tific tools available must beadequately applied to aid thereview process.

Lockdown madebillionaires 35%richerPNS n NEW DELHI

The coronavirus pandemichas worsened exist ingincome inequalities betweenIndia's super-rich and itscrores of unskilled workers- many of whom are oftenunemployed for long peri-ods and struggle to accessbasic healthcare and sanita-tion - non-profit groupOxfam said Monday in areport to be tabled at theWorld Economic Forum atSwitzerland's Davos.

The report - titled TheInequality Virus - said thewealth of the country's bil-lionaires increased by anestimated 35 per cent dur-ing the lockdown, while 84per cent of households suf-fered varying degrees ofincome loss, and 1.7 lakhpeople lost their jobs everyhour, in April 2020 alone. Italso said income increasesfor India's top 100 billion-aires since March 2020,when the lockdown wasenforced, was enough togive each of the 138 millionpoorest people a cheque forRs 94,045.

PADMA AWARDS

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 26, 2021 telangana 04

Punjab-HaryanaJudge elevated toCJ of Manipur HC

Hyderabad: The SupremeCourt Collegium hasrecommended the elevation ofthe Judge of Punjab andHaryana High Court JusticePV Sanjay Kumar as the ChiefJustice of Manipur State HighCourt. Justice Sanjay Kumarhails from Telangana State. Itmay be recalled that severalBar Associations of the Statehave staged protests whenSanjay Kumar, who was thesenior judge of TelanganaHigh Court, was transferredas the judge of Punjab andHaryana High Court inOctober 2019.

Accordpermission tofarmers’ rally: HCHyderabad: Responding to alunch motion petition filed bythe Telangana Rythu Sangam,a Farmers Association, theTelangana High Court onMonday directed theRachakonda PoliceCommissioner to accordpermission to a rally of thefarmers with curbs. In itspetition, the association urgedthe High Court to issue ordersto the police to accordpermission for the rally thatbegins at LB Nagar andculminates at the Rajiv GandhiStadium in Uppal between 2pm and 5 pm on January 26,which happens to be theRepublic Day. The associationtold the High Court that it wastaking out the rally to extendsolidarity with the agitatingfarmers in New Delhi, who aredemanding the withdrawal ofcontroversial farm lawsenacted by the Centralgovernment.

Mandal surveyorlands in ACB netHyderabad: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)sleuths arrested Doma man-dal surveyor G Bhagyavathiand a computer operator APrem Kumar on Monday forallegedly demanding andaccepting a bribe of Rs 3,000from a complainant for doingan official favour. Bhagyavathiallegedly demanded the bribefrom the complainant, SyedKhaja Yadullah Hussaini ofMehdipatnam through PremKumar for forwarding the sur-vey report pertaining toHussaini’s land to the office ofthe assistant director, Surveyand Land Records, accordingto a press release.

CAPSULE

BJP takes dig at Rahul over‘knickerwalla’ jibePNS n HYDERABAD

BJP senior leader NV Subhashhas rebutted the commentmade by Congress leaderRahul Gandhi that ‘knicker-wallahs’ from Nagpur can’tdecide the future of TamilNadu.

In a statement here onMonday, Subhash said theCongress leader’s remarks overRSS was ‘brutal’ and made ‘outof frustration’ over successivepoll debacles. Rahul Gandhiwas well aware that his partycan do nothing in Tamil Nadupolitics, hence, he was target-ing RSS, which was in no wayconcerned with Tamil Nadupolitics. Instead of improvingprospects in the poll-boundTamil Nadu, Rahul Gandhiwas using the public places forspewing venom against the

BJP and the RSS. Before mak-ing remarks against the RSS,the Congress leader shouldthink of his dynasty politics,which ruled the country overdecades destroying the veryfoundation of Indian cultureand tradition with pseudosecularist ideologies.

The BJP leader said RahulGandhi has to introspect firstwhat Congress did in TamilNadu and the role of theCongress party was minimalin southern States. But hewanted to gain popularity bylevelling charges against theBJP and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. He advisedRahul Gandhi to build hisparty image and strengthenthe party wings at least to geta minimum percentage ofvotes in the ensuing elections,he remarked.

Cong asks govt tobear cost of fixingnew water metersPNS n HYDERABAD

The government shouldbear the entire cost of instal-lation of new meters forthe beneficiaries of 20,000litres free water scheme inGreater Hyderabad,demanded Hyderabad CityC ongress C ommittee(HCCC) Minor it iesDepar tment chairmanSameer Waliullah.

Sameer Waliullah said onMonday that the guidelinesissued by the HyderabadMetropolitan Water Supplyand Sewerage Board(HMWS&SB) on January 23were not practical and theymust be modified. As per theguidelines, he said that theconsumers were being askedto link their CustomerAccount Numbers (CAN)

with Aadhaar to avail of thescheme. Furthermore, domes-tic consumers in non-slumsareas are being asked to fix anew meter by spendingbetween Rs 1,498 and Rs 2,147each.

"The High Court hadopposed the mandatory pro-vision of Aadhaar details inconnection with the registra-tion of properties. Therefore,how could the HMWSSB forcethe consumers to link theirCAN with Aadhaar to get20,000 litres of free water?" heasked.

He said that more than 50%of the households in the cityhave no water meters and theBoard is charging them anominal bill of about Rs 200to Rs 300. They are consumerswith consumption of less than20,000 litres per month.

P VENKATESHWARLUn SIDDIPET

Shelters for orphans roaming onroads is quite common andheard about hostels for students,working men and women. But,can we believe that even live-stock have hostels..!? Yes, it istrue. A cattle hostel has been setup at Ponnala village in Siddipetdistrict, which falls under theSiddipet urban mandal, whichis represented by Minister forFinance T Harish Rao, and it ishis innovative idea.

Those who are unable to rearcattle can put them in the hos-tel and give monthly mainte-nance. The women of Siddipetdistrict, who have been involvedin dairy farming, embracedthis innovative idea.Comfortable cattle sheds with-out mosquitoes and the arrivalof veterinarians once a week arearranged at the shelter toaccommodate up to 160 cattle.Many are interested in dairy cat-tle, but are reluctant to feedthem while others have noplace to accommodate them.

Therefore, the idea to con-struct a hostel for cattle was con-ceived and it was constructed atPonnala village in Siddipet dis-trict. The project was taken upat a cost of Rs 2 crore under theNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme (MGN-

REGS) and Rs 1 crore grantsfrom corporates under theirCorporate Social Responsibility(CSR).

When the idea came up it wasdecided to hand over theresponsibility of their manage-ment to the local self-help groupwomen. Thirty women cameforward. Many of them haveexperience in animal husbandry.All of them have been impart-ed training by the officials of the

Child DevelopmentOrganisation on basic issues likemilking using machines andcutting grass

The farmers can hand overthe dairy cattle to the hostel andthe rest of the work is done bythese 30 women. Grazing, wash-ing, cleaning and milking themwill be done by them.Furthermore, the functioning ofsurrounding dairies are beingmonitored and training in cova,

ghee making, creating a brandname for those products andarranging sales will be done bythe officials. However, the own-ers have to pay a certain amountper month to a buffalo for itsmaintenance. The women'steam aims to ensure that every-one in the village has dairy cat-tle, keeps them in hostels andachieves high milk yields.

The women take care of allthe animal husbandry in the vil-lage. But, who has not been rais-ing dairy cattle for the past fewyears. This has had an impact onthe economic status of women.Nirmala, a member of the hos-tel, said that it is a good oppor-tunity for women to becomefinancially independent. Inaddition to the money comingin the form of livestock manage-ment in the shelter, the incomecomes from milk from own buf-faloes. Over 200 litres of milkis being procured from the hos-tel is being sold for Vijaya Dairyper day.

n Those who are unable torear cattle can put them inthe hostel and givemonthly maintenance. Thewomen of Siddipet district,who have been involved indairy farming, embracedthis innovative idea

PNS n HYDERABAD

Union Minister of State forHome Affairs G Kishan Reddyhas urged Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao to allotland for the setting up of aNational Centre for DiseaseControl (NCDC) by the Centralgovernment in the State.

In a letter, addressed to theChief Minister, a copy of whichwas released to the media hereon Monday, he said that theCentral government led byPrime Minister NarendraModi has taken a number ofsteps across the country for themedical field, especially formedical research. As part ofthis, the State government hasbeen informed about the pro-posal to start a NCDC (for-merly National Institute ofCommunicable Diseases) inHyderabad in 2019. TheCentral government has alsoallocated the required fundsfor it. In response, theTelangana government alsoagreed in principle to allocatethe required space andinformed the Central govern-ment.

A high-level team of centralmedical health officials came

to the State in 2020 and helddiscussions with the HealthMinister and other govern-ment officials. The State gov-ernment has proposed somebuildings for the NCDC. But,the Union Health Ministryhas made it clear to State gov-ernment officials that oldbuildings are not fit for theNCDC establishment andrequested to allocate threeacres of land to construct newbuildings. But, unfortunatelynot even a step has been takenin terms of land allotmentover the last one year.

If the NCDC is set up inHyderabad, it will be a keyinstitution that will benefitthe people of the State, alongwith many other Central gov-ernment research institutes

like CCMB and IICT, alreadyoperating successfully inHyderabad. There is an urgentneed to set up such an organ-isation in the Hyderabadmetropolis in these difficultcircumstances of fighting theCorona epidemic. The estab-lishment of this institute by theCentral government will makeit a focal point for medicalresearch for many hospitals inthe public and private sectorsin Hyderabad as well asTelangana.

“Therefore, I urge you, as theChief Minister of Telangana, totake the initiative to immedi-ately identify and allocaterequired land for the establish-ment of the prestigious NCDCin the State,” Kishan Reddy saidin his letter.

Kishan Reddy urges CMto allot land for NCDC

n If the NCDC is set up inHyderabad, it will be a keyinstitution that will benefitthe people of the State,along with many otherCentral governmentresearch institutes likeCCMB and IICT, alreadyoperating successfully inHyderabad

A hostel for cattle at Ponnala

PNS n HYDERABAD

BJP national vice-presidentDK Aruna demanded thatChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao tenderapology to the people ofMahabubnagar and Nalgondadistricts for extending thedeadline of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift IrrigationScheme (PRLIS).

Addressing a media confer-ence here on Monday, Aruna,who took objection to thegovernment increasing thedeadline for completion of theproject, described the exten-sion as atrocious.

She charged the govern-ment not even spending Rs6,000 crore so far under theproject, which was taken up ata cost of Rs 60,000 crore.

Change of design of theproject has been causing severeinjustice to the people, she saidadding that the promise to

complete the project in a yearwas a lie.

She pointed out that all irri-gation projects taken up in theMahbubnagar district havebeen kept pending. The Stategovernment has been incliningtowards the construction of anunderground pump housewith an eye to earn kickbacks.

She demanded that the gov-ernment lift water from theJurala project to the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift IrrigationScheme. She demanded thatthe State government explain

how it is going to irrigate 12lakh acres with one tmc feet ofwater.

She declared that the BJPwould execute another projecton Jurala soon after coming topower.

PALAMURU-RANGAREDDY LIFT IRRIGATION SCHEME

Aruna seeks apology fromgovt for extending deadline

n BJP national vice-president DKAruna charged thegovernment not evenspending Rs 6,000crore so far under theproject, which wastaken up at a cost ofRs 60,000 crore

n Change of design ofthe project has beencausing injustice to thepeople, she saidadding that thepromise to completethe project in a yearwas a lie

PNS n JAYASHANKAR BHUPALAPALLY

G Vivek Venkatswamy, theformer MP and BJP CoreCommittee member, allegedthat the family of ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao had embezzled lakhs ofcrores in the name of irriga-tion projects in the State.Addressing a press conferenceat the Kataram mandal head-quarters, he said that theKaleshwaram project was afailed project as it wasredesigned for kickbacks.

He said that people from allover the country were comingforward to donate with the

intention of becoming partnersin the construction of the Ramtemple in Ayodhya.

BJP district presidentKannam Yugender, districtBJYM president Gorre SasiKumar, district general secre-tary Ranjit Kumar andChintakani MPTC VijayaReddy and others were pre-sent on the occasion.

Vivek terms Kaleshwaram ‘a failed project’

GOVT SCHOOL GETS A FACELIFT

The GGovernmentSchool ffor GGirls iin SSircilla

has aa ggiven ffacelift, tthanks ttoMinister ffor MMunicipalAdministration aand IIT

K TTarakarama RRao. TThe sschool was rrefurbished oon ppar

with ccorporate schools

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for Tourism VSrinivas Goud unveiled thedesign of PV Vigyana Vedikaat his office in Ravindra Bharatihere on Monday to develop thenative village Vangara of for-mer Prime Minister PVNarasimha Rao.

On the directive of ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, the PV Vigyana Vedika isbeing constructed at Vangaravillage at a cost of Rs 11 croreas part of the PV centenary cel-ebrations to explain PV great-ness to the posterity, he said.

The Vedika would begroomed on the lines of the

Abdul Kalam memorial gar-den.

He traced the political eleva-

tion of PV Narasimha Rao tothe PMO from the humble ori-gins of a village Patwari. He

recalled reforms introducedby PV Narasimha Rao. PV’sresidence would be developedinto a museum and the PVVigyana Vedika would be builton an eight-acre site in Vangaravillage.

As part of it, in the firstphase, a water fountain andlighting facility, photo gallery,meditation centre, sciencemuseum, maze garden, amuse-ment park for children, statuesof freedom fighters, amphi-theatre and food courts wouldbe provided at a cost of Rs686.25 lakh, he said. The arti-cles used by PV NarasimhaRao would be used in hismuseum, he said.

PV Vigyana Vedika design unveiled

PNS n HYDERABAD

AICC spokesperson SravanDasoju, who unearthed theirregularities and violations ofOBC reservation in facultyrecruitment at the English andForeign Languages University(EFLU) said that Vice-Chancellor Suresh Kumar wascaught unawares.

He alleged that the Vice-Chancellor Suresh Kumarintentionally skipped the pub-lic hearing on this importantissue and deputed only theOSD, along with the Registrarto appear before ThallojuAchary, a Member of NationalBC Commission, who hasordered them to given an expla-nation on the malpractices inthe recruitment of faculty.

The furious Member of theNational BC Commission,Achary, who couldn’t satisfywith the responses given by theuniversity authorities, orderedto cancel, or withhold the totalrecruitment process until hereceived a valid and satisfacto-ry reply from the V-C of EFLU.Therefore, he summoned V-C

and other officials concerned toappear before him on February3 in New Delhi, along with theUGC Secretary. Achary alsoordered them to produce theservice registers of all facultyand the roaster system thatthey have followed till date.

While speaking to the mediahere on Monday, along withAnil Kumar Yadav, GeneralSecretary, All India YouthCongress, and Prof PLVishveshwar, Sravan Dasojulashed out at the Vice-Chancellor and also the otheruniversities, which have beendeliberately violating theConstitution regulations, ignor-

ing the UGC guidelines andindulging in dirty malprac-tices in recruitment of facultywith an intention to renderinjustice to OBC candidateswhile displaying nepotism tofavour their kith and kin, whoare ineligible.

"Why the EFLU didn’t followthe UGC norms in filling up thefaculty. Why does the universi-ty have only 25 OBCs out of 63actual positions? Why didn’t theuniversity follow the 27% OBCreservation in the recentlyadvertised 58 vacancies? DoesEFLU think there is no singleBC candidate fit for a job?”Sravan asked.

G Vivek Venkatswamy, the former MP and BJP Core Committee member, seeksdonations in Kataram mandal headquarters in Jayashanker Bhupalapally districton Monday for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya

VIOLATION OF OBC QUOTA IN FACULTY RECRUITMENT

EFLU V-C skips public hearing

Vivek said that people fromall over the country werecoming forward to donatefor the construction of theRam temple in Ayodhya

AICC spokesperson Sravan Dasoju addresses the media on misdeeds in Englishand Foreign Languages University (EFLU) faculty recruitment in Hyderabad onMonday

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

M Suresh, a ReserveInspector of Karimnagar CityPolice Training Centre, wasselected for the HomeMinistry Medal. He is oneamong the six officers select-ed for the coveted medalfrom the State.

In all, 277 officers acrossthe country will receive themedal on the occasion ofRepublic Day. Suresh wasselected for the medal underthe outdoor category for giv-ing training to different cadreofficials during the year 2019-20. He received a communi-cation from the HomeMinistry and Bureau of PoliceResearch and Developmentwing in this regard onMonday. Along with themedal, he will receive Rs25,000 cash prize. A native ofInavolu of Warangal Urbandistrict, Suresh joined thepolice department as aReserve Sub-Inspector in2012 and has been promotedas an RI in 2020.

Karimnagar cop selected for HM medal

VIJAYAWADA | TUESDAY | JANUARY 26, 2021 nation 05

Maharashtra BJP leader andformer state ministerPankaja Munde on Monday

said there should be a nationwidecensus of the Other BackwardClasses (OBC) communities.Talking to reporters here, she saidthe demand for an OBC censushad been made earlier by herfather late Gopinath Munde, one ofthe tallest leaders of the party in the state. "Caste wise censusshould be done. It will give justice to various communities. I willraise this issue with the Centre," she said. The former Parli MLAhad, on Sunday, tweeted in Hindi demanding an OBC census.Meanwhile, replying to a query on a Marathi television channelabout her cousin and NCP minister Dhananjay Munde facing a rapeallegation, which was later withdrawn by the woman complainant,the BJP leader said it never occurred to her to make this issue "aweapon for political gain".

INDIA CORNER

Maha BJP's Pankaja Mundedemands nationwide OBC census

Goa BJP minister MichaelLobo on Monday saidviolations committed by

the app-based cab operatorGoa Miles was affecting thetourist taxi trade in the state.He said the Goa Miles servicewas launched by former chiefminister late Manohar Parrikaron August 6, 2018 as a statetourism department initiative with the hope that all tourist taxioperators would join the former, but that did not happen. "It hascreated conflict between the tourist taxi business and Goa Miles.Parrikar has created this problem and left us," Lobo said, adding thatGoa Miles need not be given a separate counter at the airport heresince it is app-based and can be hailed from anywhere. Lobo'sstatement comes against the backdrop of the North Goa Tourist TaxiAssociation giving a deadline of 15 days to the state government towind up Goa Miles. The association has claimed Goa Milesdrivers were breaking the queue system outside hotels.

Minister blames Goa Milesservice for tourist taxi trade woes

One hundred cameratraps have beeninstalled in the western

part of Rajaji Tiger Reserveto keep a constant watch onthe movement of relocatedtigers, officials said onMonday. Recently, twotigers, one male and theother female, were relocated from Corbett Tiger Reserve to Rajajito increase their population in its western part. "We have set up100 camera traps in the western part of Rajaji to keep an eye onthe relocated tigers. We are getting pictures of their movement inthe reserve regularly. We are also actively exploring whether therelocated male tiger who ran away from its enclosure atMotichoor range of the reserve can be radio collared once again,"Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Vinod KumarSinghal said.

Camera traps at Rajaji Reserve to keep vigil on relocated tigers

Amulti-layered securityarrangement has been putin place at all the venues

across Jammu and Kashmir toensure peaceful Republic Dayfete, officials said on Monday.The focus is on the MaulanaAzad Stadium here, the venue of the main function where Lt GovernorManoj Sinha will take a salute and unfurl the national flag, they said.Besides the Maulana Azad Stadium, official functions will be held at alldistrict and tehsil headquarters, including block development officesacross the union territory, to mark the 72nd Republic Day on Tuesday."A multi-layered security arrangement has been put in place at all thevenues of the Republic Day fete to ensure peaceful celebrations andthwart any attempt by terrorists to disrupt the functions," a policeofficial said. He said the security has been stepped up at vitalinstallations, including railway stations, bus stands and importantreligious places like Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district andRaghunath temple in Jammu, besides more checkpoints have been setup along the highways as part of the arrangement to keep a strict vigil.

Multi-tier security setup put inplace for R-Day across J-K

PNS n KARUR (TN)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhion Monday alleged PrimeMinister Narendra Modi is the"person through which" priorinformation on India's airstrikes in Balakot in Pakistan in2019 was made available toRepublic TV editor-in-chiefArnab Goswami.

The Congress MP, however,did not provide evidence toback up his claim. The PrimeMinister's Office (PMO) alsodid not immediately respond tothe unfounded claim.

Addressing a roadshow hereduring his final day of electioncampaign in poll-bound TamilNadu, he said only five people,including the PM and theDefence Minister, would haveprior information of theplanned strikes.

"Some days ago it came outthat a journalist knew about theair strikes in Balakot. Three daysbefore the (Indian) air forcebombed Pakistan, an Indianjournalist was told it was goingto happen," he said.

This meant the lives of ourIAF pilots were put at 'risk,' hesaid.

"Now, five people in thisworld knew about Balakot (airstrikes). Prime Minister of India,the Defence minister of India,the National Security Adviser

and the Chief of the Air Forceand the Home minister."

"Nobody else in the worldknew about Balakot before ithappened. Now I want tounderstand why an enquiryhas not started on who told thisjournalist about Balakot beforeit happened. The reason is thatone of these five people told thisman. One of these five peoplebetrayed our Air Force," hecharged.

He alleged that "one of thesepeople put the lives of ourpilots in danger."

"If the Prime Minister didnot do it then why is he notordering an enquiry. Thinkabout it.

The only reason that thePrime Minister has not orderedan enquiry is because he is theperson through which thatmessage has gone to this jour-nalist," Gandhi claimed.

Else, the PM should investi-gate and tell which one ofthese five people did it, Gandhidemanded.

Purported chats betweenGoswami and formerBroadcast Audience ResearchCouncil (BARC) head ParthoDasgupta, which mentionedthat the former was privy to the2019 air strike, by the IAF onthe biggest JeM training campin Balakot had surfaced recent-ly.

The IAF had carried out thestrike deep inside Pakistan onFebruary 26, 2019 in the wakeof killing of 40 CRPF person-nel in Kashmir's Pulwama dis-trict then by Pakistan-basedJaish-e-Mohammed.

Gandhi also hit out at Modionce again over the Sino-Indiaface-off, saying "today theChinese army is sitting insideIndian territory."

Balakot info went to Arnab through Modi, alleges Rahul

Display of tobacco near edu institutes in 25 cities: StudyPNS n NEW DELHI

Over 72 per cent points of salearound educational institu-tions in 25 cities of the coun-try were found displaying cig-arettes, bidis and smokelesstobacco products near can-dies and sweets at the eye levelof children, according to arecent study.

The study titled 'Big TobaccoTiny Targets' was conducted inOctober and November 2019to build more evidence onhow key gaps in Cigarettes andOther Tobacco Products Act(COTPA), 2003, allowing pointof sale advertising and productdisplay, are being exploited bytobacco companies to targetyouth and children.

A total of 1,011 educationalinstitutions were investigatedfor this study using a mobileapp in 25 cities across 10 statesby two public health groups -

- Voluntary Health Associationof India and Consumer Voice.

In total 885 points of salewere identified selling tobaccoproducts within 100 yards ofeducational institutions, thesurvey report stated.

This is in violation of section6(b) of COTPA which statesthat no person shall sell, offerfor sale or permit sale of ciga-rettes or any other tobaccoproduct in an area within aradius of one hundred yards ofany educational institution.

"Out of the 885 points of saleinvestigated, 640 (72.32 percent) points of sale displayedcigarettes near candies andsweets to attract children, 669(75.59 per cent) had displayedtobacco products at the eyelevel of the child," the reportsaid.

Further, 117 (13.2 per cent)points of sale had outdooradvertising, 369 (41.69 per

cent ) had posters and 107(12.09 per cent) had big ban-ners.

This advertising violatesSection 5(2) of COTPA andNotification GSR 345(E) whichestablished strict rules for anydisplay boards used atentrances of shops wheretobacco is sold, report said.

Out of 885 points of saleinvestigated, 111 (12.54 percent) offered free distributionof tobacco products for theirpromotion, 106 (11.98 percent) offered special or limit-ed-edition packs and 105(11.86 per cent) offered pricediscount on tobacco products,the survey report stated.

"Free distribution of tobac-co products and promotionthrough discounts is prohibit-ed under section 5(3) ofCOTPA," the report said.

Out of the 885 points of sale,771 (87.12 per cent) sold sin-gle stick cigarettes, 553 (62.49per cent) displayed tobaccoproducts hiding graphic healthwarnings on them and there-by neutralizing their effective-ness.

"The tobacco industry mustbe held accountable for theiraggressive sale and advertisingefforts around educationalinstitutions," said Bhavna BMukhopadhyay, the chief exec-utive of Voluntary HealthAssociation of India.

"Our educational institu-tions are not safe so long as thetobacco industry continues tolure our children and youthinto buying their deadly prod-ucts."

Ashim Sanyal the chief oper-atiofficer of Consumer Voicesaid Tobacco companies havebeen exploiting loopholes inthe law by selling and advertis-ing their products around edu-cational institutions andendangering the lives of theyoung generation.

"We urge the government tostrengthen COTPA 2003 toprotect our children and youthfrom falling prey to the tacticsof tobacco companies," he said.

Advocate Ashok Agarwal,the national president of AllIndia Parents Association saideasy availability of tobaccoproducts and their attractiveadvertisements trap childreninto lifelong addiction.

"We appeal to the govern-ment to improve the currentlaws and penalties to checktobacco companies from entic-ing our children to these harm-ful products," he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onMonday refused to transfer toitself petitions filed inAllahabad High Court chal-lenging new law of UttarPradesh regulating religiousconversions for the inter-faithmarriages.

A bench of Chief Justice SABobde and Justices ASBopanna and V Ramasub-ramanian said that it wouldlike to have the advantage ofthe High Court order.

Taking note of the observa-tion of the bench, the UttarPradesh government preferredto withdraw the transfer peti-tion.

Senior advocate P SNarasimha, appearing forUttar Pradesh government,said to avoid multiplicity ofproceedings before the HighCourt and the top court, the

transfer petition may beallowed.

The bench said, “We haveissued notice does not meanthat the High Court cannotdecide the issue”.

It said, “Why should westop the High Court fromhearing the matter. Let us havethe advantage of the HighCourt verdict”.

The top court had onJanuary 6, agreed to examinecontroversial new laws of Uttar

Pradesh and Uttarakhand reg-ulating religious conversionsfor the inter-faith marriages.

It had, however, refused tostay the controversial provi-sions of the laws and issuednotices to both state govern-ments on two different peti-tions.

The top court had issuednotice to the Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand governments andsought their response withinfour weeks.

SC refuses to transfer to itselfcases from Allahabad HC

PNS n NAGPUR

Senior BJP leader DevendraFadnavis on Monday allegedthat some political partieswere doing "drama" andspreading wrong informationover the issue on farmers'protest against the Centre'sthree new farm laws. His remarks came in the wakeof a rally organised by farm-ers in Mumbai which hasbeen supported by the NCPand Congress in Maharashtra. Talking to reporters here,Fadnavis, who is the leader ofopposition in theMaharashtra Assembly,claimed that it was the previ-

ous Congress-NCP govern-ment which allowed contractfarming and direct purchaseof farm products.

He said so much time haspassed since the farm billswere passed (by the BJP-ledcentral government last year)and Maharashtra did not wit-ness any protest against it.

PNS n AURANGABAD

The earlier BJP government inMaharashtra neglectedMarathwada but the presentMaha Vikas Aghadi dispensa-tion was providing develop-ment funds to districts in theregion, state Public WordsDepartment minister andsenior Congress leader AshokChavan said on Monday.

He said his department wasallotting development work inthe region and also checkingto ensure the bidding firm hadthe capacity to complete thetask at hand.

"The earlier BJP govern-ment neglected Marathwadaand Nanded. My focus asminister is to provide funds tothe neglected districts," hesaid.

Chavan said he had toldUnion minister of Road

Transport and Highways NitinGadkari that contractors hadfailed in 18 of the 21 Centre-backed packages forMarathwada.

He informed that a surveywas underway for a highwaythat would connect Nandedwith the Mumbai-Nagpurexpressway, which wouldreduce the travel time betweenthe former and Mumbai from12 hours now to around 6-7hours.

‘Earlier BJP govtneglected Marathwada’

17 ITBPofficials getpolice medalsPNS n NEW DELHI

Seventeen Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP) person-nel have been awarded policeservice medals of various cat-egories on the eve of RepublicDay on Monday. Two officershave been decorated with thepolice medal for gallantry, threewith the President's policemedal for distinguished se