RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

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Tithi : Pratipada : Jan 18 05:18 AM to Jan 19 06:54 AM

Dwitiya : Jan 19 06:54 AM to Jan 20 08:05 AM

Nakshatram : Ashlesha: Jan 19 06:42 AM to Jan 20 08:24 AM

Rahukalam : 12:26 PM to 1:50 PM

Yamagandam : 8:16 AM to 9:40 AM

Varjyam : 08:25 PM to 10:07 PM

Gulika : 11:03 AM to 12:26 PM

Amritakalam : None

Abhijit Muhurtham : Nil

AAP PICKS BHAGWANT MANN FOR PUNJAB,SAYS HE SCORED 93% IN TELEVOTE

Bhagwant Mann is Aam Aadmi Party (AAP's) chief ministerialcandidate for Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal said today in a dramaticreveal of the results of the televoting drive in which people were

asked to phone in their choice for the top post. Bhagwant Mann, atwo-time AAP MP from Sangrur, received more than 93 per cent of thevotes cast through phone and WhatsApp, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwaltold reporters. More than 21 lakh people participated in the vote, AAPsaid. Around 3 per cent votes were in the name of Congress leaderNavjot Singh Sidhu, Mr Kejriwal shared. Some even chose Mr Kejriwal,the Chief Minister of Delhi, but those votes were considered invalid.

TWEAKS IN BJP'S UP SEAT STRATEGYFOLLOW RASH OF DEFECTIONS

With just a few weeks to go for the Uttar Pradesh elections, the rulingBJP is busy making changes to its seat distribution strategy - beingmore generous with its allies as well as incumbent legislators than

earlier planned, sources in the party have said. While it has announced 107candidates for the 403-seat assembly, discussions are still underway forothers. UP votes in seven phases starting February 10 with results onMarch 10. The BJP, which had earlier planned to drop as many as 100-150MLAs, now finds itself in a spot after a string of defections led by formerminister SP Maurya that has seen two more ministers and a clutch ofMLAs switch sides to its main challenger Samajwadi Party.

PIT BULL MAULS BOY IN NOIDA,DOG'S OWNERS ARRESTED: POLICE

Apit bull mauled a child at Sadopur village in Uttar Pradesh'sGautam Buddh Nagar district on Monday while the ownersof the dog looked on. According to the Badalpur Police,

during an argument with the boy's family, the owners, identifiedas Ravinder and Saurabh, allegedly let the dog attack the minor."A complaint was received from the minor's family member. Thecomplainant was identified as Vaadi Manvir. We have arrestedRavinder and Saurabh, while one person named Jagat is on-the-run," said the police. The police have registered a case underrelevant of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

THREE NAVY PERSONNEL KILLED IN EXPLOSIONON INS RANVIR AT MUMBAI DOCKYARD

Three Navy personnel were killed and 11 injured in an explosion on-board the Indian Naval Ship (INS) Ranvir at the Naval dockyard inMumbai on Tuesday, officials said. The incident took place at 4.30 pm,

they added. "In an unfortunate incident today at Naval Dockyard Mumbai,three naval personnel succumbed to injuries caused by an explosion in aninternal compartment onboard INS Ranvir," the statement by the IndianNavy said. The ship's crew responded immediately and brought thesituation under control quickly, it added. "Three sailors have been killed and11 injured due to the incident. The names (of the victims) will be madepublic after informing the families about the incident," an official said.

HYDERABAD,WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

PNS n MULUGU

Three Maoists were killed in anencounter with the police atKarriguttalu Forest area underVenkatapuram mandal in Mulugudistrict on Tuesday. It is onChhattisgarh border. MuluguSuperintendent of PoliceSagramsingh Ganpatrao Patil said,

in a press statement, on a reliableinformation that a large gather ofCommunist Party of India-Maoistgroup (Telangana State committee)had been planning to abduct andkill prominent politicians andcontractors, a joint operation byChhattisgarh State police, CRPFand Telangana State police waslaunched on Sunday in the border-

ing areas of Mulugu-Bijapur dis-tricts.

He claimed that an exchange offire between the Maoists and thepolice parties took place inKarriguttalu Forest area. Thepolice, during the combing oper-ation after the firing stopped,three dead bodies, including thatof a woman, were found.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Chennai Bench of theNational Green Tribunal (NGT)has inquired about the irregular-ities in the mining zones locatedin the suburbs of Hyderabad onTuesday.

PNS n HYDERABAD

In view of the Omicron spread,only 50% of the appointmentswill be handled at all Passport SevaKendras (PSKs), Passport SevaLaghu Kendra (PSLK) and 14 PostOffice Passport Seva Kendras(PoPSKs) until 31 January.

Regional Passport Officer,Dasari Balaiah, said: "The reduc-tion in the number of appoint-ments handled at PSKs, PSLK andPoPSKs under Regional PassportOffice, Hyderabad In the wake ofprevailing COVID-19 situation,along with the looming threat ofthe new variant Omicron beingidentified in the country, and witha view to prevent Passport SevaKendras (PSICs)/ Passport Seva

Laghu Kendra (PSLK) and PostOffice Passport Seva Kendras(PoPSKs) functioning underRegional Passport Office,Hyderabad, from turning intosuper spreaders of COVID-19". Hesaid that only medical and genuinetravel emergencies supported byproper documents would be enter-tained against the suspendedappointments due to Covid-19 atthe Public Enquiry Counter atRegional Passport Office,Hyderabad, near Prashant Theatre,Secunderabad. He added that thePublic Enquiry Counter in theRegional Passport Office,Hyderabad would also functionfrom 09:30 AM to 12:30 PM,instead of 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM till31.01.2022.

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

Although the number of peopleinfected by Covid-19 is quite high,available data suggests that only asmall number of Covid-designat-ed beds are presently occupied.Also, the number of pyres being litis relatively less.

Even though there are break-through infections, with some get-ting infected multiple times, theirintensity has been less.

During the peak, India wit-nessed 4,529 deaths per day on 18May, when the number of report-ed cases was 2,67,334. On 6 May,India witnessed, 4,14,188 caseswith the number of deaths at3,915. On Tuesday, the countryrecorded 2,38,018 new cases and310 deaths.

If we compare these numbers,the number of deaths is 13 times

less than the day India reported thehighest deaths of 4,529. Over thepast one week, the average death

rate was 364, with highest being822, recorded on January 12.

Fewer pyres, less hospitalisationamid third wave surge in Telangana

PNS n HYDERABAD

Airlines are cancelling or postpon-ing flights as many of their employ-ees are falling sick with the coron-avirus. At the Rajiv GandhiInternational Airport here onMonday, 15 flights were cancelled.

On Tuesday eight flights were can-celled. At the time of publishing,three flights have been cancelled onWednesday. Nearly 10 flights weredelayed at RGIA on Monday and 22flights were delayed on Tuesday.

Cancellations have been muchhigher in New Delhi where 183

flights have been cancelled fromMonday to Wednesday. In Mumbai141 flights have been cancelled fromMonday to Wednesday.

Sources said that airlines aredoing their best to accommodatepassengers in spite of widespreadproblems. Many flights were can-celled in advance so that passengerscan be alerted early. Sources said thatall scheduled domestic flight oper-ations will continue at the HyderabadAirport and that passengers arerequested to get in touch with theairline concerned for updated flightinformation.

23 flights cancelledin 2 days at RGIA

PNS n HYDERABAD

Ministers deputed by ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Rao toundivided Warangal district onTuesday were witness to the heart-rending plight of farmers who hadlost harvest-ready crops due tounseasonal rains.

The Ministers asked them not todespair and assured them that theKCR government would supportthem in every way and extendcompensation.

Although the Chief Ministerhimself wanted to visit the affect-ed areas, along with AgricultureMinister S Niranjan Reddy andother local people's representa-tives and officials, his programme

was cancelled in the last minute.However, he asked Ministers to goround the affected areas and give

him a first-hand account of thecrop losses suffered by farmers.

Rely on KCR, Ministers telldistraught farmersnn Loss of chilli and other crops in Warangal dist nn CM cancels Warangal tour in the last minute

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

The immediate consequence of 'TheGreat Resignation' - trend of 25-30%of employees quitting tech majors -- is that companies are now lookingat hiring freshers. Most of theemployees on-boarded are entry-level and junior-level candidates.

As per Indeed job site's IndiaHiring Tracker report, nearly 81%of employers hired entry-level can-didates and 66% hired junior levelcandidates during HY-2, as com-pared to 69% and 57%, respective-ly, during HY-1.

Bharani Kumar Aroll of Hyseasaid, "Big companies TCS, Wiproand Infosys are planning to recruitnearly 1 lakh employees this fiscal.Junior resources are highly sought-after especially the 2020-2021 and2021-2022 batches are in high

demand. They are having multipleoffers and this will go on for a cou-ple of years. These youngsters neednot be trained on legacy systemsand just can get on the digital tech-nology which is driving thedemand. Just about 20% of themare employment-ready and compa-nies are gearing to equip them tomake corporate-ready by taking up

the finishing schools programs".As per Monster.com, the

demand for entry level/freshers andintermediate roles saw the highestmonthly growth at 2%, as com-pared to other experience levelsfrom November to December.

Freshers are in high demand fortech jobs and many already havemultiple offers in hand.

Experts opine only 20% are

employable and finishing schools'program gains prominence

Wipro announced that compa-ny was looking to hire 30,000freshers in FY23 and added that thefresher hiring numbers werepegged at about 17,500 forFY22.Wipro also stated that it wason course to onboard over 70 percent more fresh talent from thecampus in FY22 against the previ-ous year. Sashi Kumar, Head ofSales, Indeed India, said:"COVID-19 has led employers and employ-ees to introspect their career andwork priorities and the sentimentis rightly reflected. More employ-ers are hiring in the second half ofthe year and businesses changingtheir hiring priorities from salesroles to data analytics roles indicatethat businesses are well past therecovery phase and are poised forstrong growth".

Freshers in high demand with multiple offers

TRS Ministers deputed by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao assessing crop losses inundivided Warangal district on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

The decision taken by the KCRgovernment on Monday to intro-duce English as the medium ofinstruction in government schoolsfrom the next academic year hastriggered politically-motivatedquestions and highlighted admin-istrative hiccups in implementingit. The moot political question is:Will TDP president N.Chandrababu Naidu, Jana Senapresident Pavan Kalyan and BJPleaders question Telangana ChiefMinister K. Chandrasekhar Rao,considering that they had previous-ly slammed AP Chief MinisterJagan Mohan Reddy for taking sim-ilar decision.

Two years ago, when Jagan tooka decision to introduce Englishmedium in government schools,Chandrababu, Pavan Kalyan andother leaders strongly objected to

it. BJP leader and Vice President M.Venkaiah Naidu had also objectedto it, saying it was not acceptable "atthe cost of Telugu language".Chandrababu and Pavan Kalyanhad said that introducing Englishmedium in government schoolswas a "thoughtless decision."Chandrababu went on to claimJagan's decision would "destroy

Telugu language and literature".Pavan then taunted: "Will you alsointroduce English translation ofsuprabhatam at the TirumalaTirupati Devasthanam?" In fact,Pavan then advised Jagan to "learnfrom his Telangana counterpart K.Chandrasekhar Rao how to protectthe Telugu language".

A section of the media had also

attacked Jagan for his decision tointroduce English medium in gov-ernment schools.

Now, the equations havechanged, with KCR's decision tointroduce English medium in gov-ernment schools.

Although both TDP and JanaSena have no presence inTelangana, as parties representingTelugus they can question KCR'sdecision. Political observers areawaiting the reactions ofChandrababu and Pavan Kalyan

KCR misleading people: RevanthKCR was misleading people in

the name of English medium edu-cation, TPCC president RevanthReddy said on Tuesday. The stategovernment was not issuing noti-fication for recruiting teachers."How can English medium educa-tion be imparted without appoint-ing teachers?" he asked.

KCR's move bristles with political questions, admin gaps ENGLISH MEDIUM IN GOVT SCHOOLS

Passport centres to handleonly 50% appointments

PNS n MUMBAI

The third wave of the COVID-19pandemic is likely to peak muchearlier than anticipated and maytake a maximum of three moreweeks, even though the share ofrural districts in new caseloads hasincreased significantly sinceDecember, says a report.

The optimism comes from themassive decline in new caseloads inthe top 15 districts which had themaximum infections, SBI Researchsaid in a report on Tuesday.Infections in the top 15 districts havedeclined to 37.4 per cent in January,from 67.9 per cent in December. Thereport, however, admitted that 10 ofthese top 15 districts are major citiesand among them Bengaluru andPune still have higher infectionrates. The overall share of rural dis-tricts in new cases has increased to32.6 per cent in January, from thelowest of 14.4 per cent in December,the report noted.

Third wave maypeak in next threeweeks

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Republic Day tableaux ofTelangana and AndhraPradesh states have beenrejected. This year, only 12states have received approval.

Permissions have beengranted to the states ofArunachal Pradesh, Haryana,Goa, Chhattisgarh, Jammuand Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat,Maharashtra, Meghalaya andKarnataka. Permissions havealso been granted to theDepartments of Education,Skill Development, Aviation,Information, Post, Home,Water Energy and Culture.

TPCC chief Revanth Reddyblamed KCR for Telanganamissing out on displaying atableau at the Republic Dayparade. He took to twitter andtermed it as an 'achievement ofKCR.’

No tableau forTS at New DelhiR-Day parade

Three Maoists killed in Mulugu districtNGT notices to TSgovt on illegal Miningin Hyd suburbs

Nearly 81% of employers

hired entry-level candidates

and 66% hired junior level

candidates during HY-2, as

compared to 69% and 57%,

respectively, during HY-1.

nn Deaths nearly 13 times less than the peak figures in the second wave

22

2 2

2

Intelligencealerts

Telangana BJPleaders

PAGE-2

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hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 19, 2022

EGG

RATES

HYDERABAD 435

VIJAYAWADA 455

VISAKHAPATNAM 450

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..3355

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CHICKEN

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Dressed/With Skin `231

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(IN HYDERABAD)

Although Jana SenaParty Chief PawanKalyan appears to

be sincere in his efforts togive a concrete shape tohis new political outfitwhose prime goal is tounseat the YSR Congressgovernment, circumstancesare pushing him into tricky sit-uations that could water downthe efforts towards oppositionunity being made by like-mind-ed parties and social groups.

One predominant view isthat sincere efforts at opposi-tion unity might yield fruits,given the resentment amongvarious sections of society.Even as families below pover-ty line (BPL) are enjoying thebenefits of welfare schemes,there are many from the samesection of society fuming at thegovernment for imposingunbearable financial burdenon them. It is inevitable forany government to taste mixedresponses from different sec-tions of people and those ele-

ments do impact thepolitical prospects of theruling YSR CongressParty.

The state governmentseems to be priori-

tising those issues whichhad resulted in conflicts

with various sections of peo-ple. It government generallygives priority to welfareschemes that cover large num-bers of voters across the state.It believes that those who ben-efit from welfare schemeswould naturally vote for theruling party.

The state government hasalready declared that morethan rupees one lakh crore ofmoney has been depositedinto the bank accounts oflakhs of beneficiaries. It hassuggested that the schemewould continue only if the YSRCongress retains power.

As for retaining power,YSRCP is in a 'do or die ' sit-uation in Andhra Pradesh asit has already boasted that it

would remain in power "forthree decades".

The ruling party may beleast bothered about disgrun-tled sections of society who arepaying huge amounts as taxesand get nothing in return,even in the name of welfaremeasures, including 'NavaRatnaalu', taken up by theruling party. Will the angryvoter spare the government?This is moot question for thefive crore population of AP.

Film actor Pawan Kalyanseems to be anxious to launch

a stir against the JaganmohanReddy government's policies,perhaps thinking that all-outefforts are needed to unseat theYSRC government. There wasa big blow to his plans. Anunexpected incident tookplace with mega starChiranjeevi, elder brother ofJana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan,meeting Chief MinisterJaganmohan Reddy in thename of discussing the hike inticket prices in cinema theatresacross AP.

The general public is of the

opinion that the brothers areworking unitedly for the com-mon cause: unseating the rul-ing party. In any case, the talkof a stir aimed at ruling YSRChas been diluted by the megastar's meeting with the ChiefMinister.

Acting swiftly, YSRC has keptthe rumour mills active with talkthat Rajya Sabha berth is beingoffered to Chiranjeevi. This

development has done enor-mous damage to Pawan Kalyan'sprofessed plans against the gov-ernment.

Now it appears as the youngerbrother is struggling to emergean alternative to the presentregime headed by JaganmohanReddy, the elder brother hasacted against the spirit of effortsaimed at unity by meeting theChief Minister. There are hard-ly any takers for Chiranjeevi'scategorical statement of notaccepting RS seat given by rul-ing party. Finally, Chiranjeevihad to announce that he wouldnot return to politics.

It may be recalled thatParimal Natvani, aide ofMukesh Ambani of RelianceIndustries, had been given RSseat as per Jagan's understand-ing with Mukesh.

Kapus in Andhra Pradeshlack a new leader who cancommand the community'srespect with his sheer confi-dence. At a time when peopleexpected Chiranjeevi to work

hard for helping Pawan emergeas that kind of a leader, themega star had lunch withJagan. If elections are held withthere being no unifying factoramong the opposition in AP, itwould lead to a split in anti-government votes to theadvantage of the ruling party.

So, if there is lack of coor-dination among oppositionparties, including TDP, BJPand JSP for the 2024 elections,it would be a poor show on thepart of the opposition withpossible split of anti-estab-lishment votes.

The absence of a unitedopposition came in handy forthe Congress in 2009Assembly polls in undividedAP, with YS RajasekharaReddy retaining power, thoughcourse with least margin. Thepresence of Praja Rajyam Party(PRP) headed by Chiranjeevicontributed much for his polit-ical persona in 2009, as it got70 lakh votes all over the stateand got 18 Assembly seats.

TRS chief K.ChandrasekharRao also observed that thepresence of PRP in the elec-toral fray of 2009 was the rea-son for his party's poor showthen. The TRS got only 10seats then.

TDP chief ChandrababuNaidu recently claimed that hewould have become chief min-ister had Chiranjeevi notlaunched political party in2009. The Congress party hadgot only 8 seats more than halfway mark (148+8=156) in thetotal 294- member House.The final tally would havebeen different if there was adirect fight between theCongress and the united oppo-sition i.e. without any split ofanti-government votes, rea-soned Chandrababu.

If a united opposition is notensured for the 2024 polls, andif Pawan Kalyan chooses tocontest without having alliancewith principal opposition TDP,it may simply be a repeat ofwhat happened in 2009!

M D RATNA KUMAR

Senior Journalist

So, if there is lack of coordination

among opposition parties, including

TDP, BJP and JSP for the 2024

elections, it would be a poor show

on the part of the opposition with

possible split of anti-establishment

votes.

PIN

POINT

Will Pawan help Jagan have the last laugh in 2024?

PNS n HYDERABAD

BJP vice-president DKAruna's daughter ShrutiReddy has filed a complaintagainst YCP leader andprominent businessmanPotluri Vara Prasad at theBanjara Hills police station.

The complaint said thatPVP follower Balaji andanother person entered thehouse of Aruna's daughterShruti Reddy and smashedthe flakes along the retainingwall with a JCB which shehad built herself.

She also alleged in hercomplaint that she wasthreatened. Police registereda case against PVP andBalaji, who was present at thespot, and others who assist-ed him.

Many cases have been reg-istered against PVP in thepast. Buyers of villas built byhis venture do not want toremodel them, and thosewho once bought a villahave clashed with him overrenovation. They have alsolodged a complaint with thepolice.

The incident became con-troversial after PVP releaseddogs on the police at hishouse when police came to

ML MELLY MAITREYI

n HYDERABAD

Tourism Minister V. SrinivasGoud handed over theUNWTO Certificate of World’sBest Tourism Village won bythe Bhoodan Pochamapallyvillage in Yadadri Bhongir dis-trict to Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao here onTuesday. Srinivas Goud andTourism DevelopmentCorporation MD B. ManoharRao called on the ChiefMinister at Pragathi Bhavanand handed over the certificate.

KCR felicitated the Ministerwith a shawl and congratulat-ed Tourism Department offi-cials for the achievement.

Pochampally was adjudgedthe best from 170 proposalsfrom 75 countries in the com-petition organised by the UN’sWorld Tourism Organisationin the Best Tourism Villagecategory. The award was pre-sented on December 2 at anevent held at Madrid and

was received by IndianEmbassy official SumanSekhar. Srinivas participatedin the virtual award presenta-tion programme from here.

From India, apart fromBhoodan Pochampally,entries were also sent by

Meghalaya and MadhyaPradesh.

Srinivas said that in the lastseven and a half years after theformation of Telangana, thestate’s tourism sector has wonrecognition nationally andinternationally.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The BJP has received an alertfrom Intelligence to be carefulas some unknown people havebeen visiting the TelanganaBJP office frequently. TheIntelligence asked state BJPchief Bandi Sanjay Kumar,Union Tourism Minister G.Kishan Reddy and BJP leaderswho visit the TS BJP office andimportant state leaders to takeadequate security measures asthere is a danger from terror-ists in view of R-Day celebra-tions on January 26.

After the alert by stateIntelligence, the BJP officebeefed up security on Tuesday.The office authorities are notallowing in unknown personseven if they are party workers.

The BJP office authorities arealso not allowing journalists ifthey are not familiar to theparty authorities. They areallowing in only leaders andoffice staff inside the office now.

It may be recalled that theBJP decided to conduct virtu-al press meets and had askedits leaders and cadres exceptimportant ones not to come to

the office till further notice dueto surging corona cases.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Telangana BJP secretaryGujjula Premender Reddy saidthey have almost closed thestate office due to corona.

He asked TRS working pres-ident KT Ramarao not tospeak as he wished on thesecurity of BJP leaders at leastnow onwards as Intelligencehas cautioned BJP leaders to bealert.

He said that almost everyterrorist act across the countryhas its roots in Hyderabad.

UN Tourism Award won byPochampally handed over to CM

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao receiving the UNWTO Certificate of World’sBest Tourism Village won by Bhoodan Pochamapally village in Yadadri Bhongirdistrict from Tourism Minister V Srinivas Goud on Tuesday

DK Aruna'sdaughter filescomplaintagainst PVP

Intelligence alerts Telangana BJP leaders

Continued from page 1

Dr Sravan Kumar, pulmo-nologist at Varsha Hospital,said: "Most of the deaths beingreported are among thoseunvaccinated. The number ofOmicron is less likely to endup in the hospital than casesof Delta. The illness is relative-ly less severe not just becauseof the variant but also can beattributed to the excellent vac-cination drive. Now, the onusis on the people to ensure thatthey follow Covid-appropriatebehavior to reduce the spread".

Doctors point out that theonus is now on people as theDelta variant is still there inthe community and is notreplaced by Omicron. Dr RajaRao of Gandhi Hospital said:"As this variant is highly infec-tious, the spread is more.Even in the coming days, itwill spread, but because it ismild, hospitalisation may beless. A lot of people are asymp-tomatic and mild; all theyneed is bed rest, better hydra-tion and may be paracetamolonly if required.

Fewer pyres, less...

Continued from page 1

TRS leaders came downheavily on Revanth andasked if "Congress hadmade a BJP stooge the PCCpresident.” TRS leaderKrishank Manne in a tweetsaid, "When States arequestioning the Centre forrejecting Republic Daytableaux, your TelanganaPCC chief instead ofquestioning the BJP blamesState Governments. Who isthe Congress fighting?"

No tableau for...

Continued from page 1

In comparison to the US, thisis too low, where the newcases have soared by 6.9 timeseven though it has double-vac-cinated over 80 per cent of itseligible population.

Another point of optimismstems from the fact that Indiahas fully vaccinated 64 per centof the eligible population, while89 per cent of the eligible pop-

ulation have been given thefirst dose. Currently the 7-daymedian average of vaccinationis 70 lakh. Rural vaccinationshare in total vaccination isnow at 83 per cent, indicatingthat the rural populace may belargely protected in the currentwave.

Andhra Pradesh, Delhi,Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala,MP, Telangana andUttarakhand have already vac-

cinated more than 70 per centof their eligible populationwith double doses. However,Punjab, UP and Jharkhand arestill lagging. Significantly, newcases in Mumbai seem to havepeaked (20,971 cases onJanuary 7) but cases in otherdistricts (Bengaluru, Pune, etc)are showing an increase indaily new numbers.

So, if other districts alsoimplement strict measures and

control the spread, then thenational peak may come with-in two-three weeks from now,Soumyakanti Ghosh, the chiefeconomic advisor at SBI said inthe report.

The rural caseload is led byAndhra, Bihar, Himachal,Jammu & Kashmir, Odishaand Rajasthan, and rural vac-cination is lower in Arunachal,Gujarat, Haryana andKarnataka.

Third wave may peak in next three weeks

Continued from page 1

Niranjan Reddy, District andPanchayat Raj and RuralDevelopment Minister ErrabelliDayakar Rao, MLAs, RythuBandhu CoordinationCommittee Chairman PallaRajeswar Reddy, local bodies'representatives and agriculturedepartment officials wentround Parakala, Bhupalapalli,Narsampeta constituencies.

The Ministers, who hadreached Parakala in a specialhelicopter, along with MLAs,went to Nagaram, Mallakkapetavillages to assess the crop dam-age. From there, they went toNarsakkapalli in Nadikudamandal and the Nadikuda man-dal headquarters. Farmers toldthe Ministers that their entire

chilli crop had been destroyeddue to rains. They said they hadinvested nearly Rs.10 lakh,though it was beyond theircapacity as the hybrid variety ofchilly commanded good pricein the market. They conveyedto the Ministers that they wouldhave to end their lives if thegovernment did not come totheir rescue.

Niranjan Reddy assured thefarmers that they would extendmaximum assistance possibleon behalf of the governmentand criticized that farmers werenot getting a fair deal due to theirrational and lopsided agricul-tural policies of the Centre. TheKCR government aloneremained committed to welfareof farmers in the country andwas implementing free power

supply, Rythu Bandhu, RythuBhima schemes.

The Ministers later went toassess the damage in agricultur-al fields in Regonda mandal inthe Bhupalapalli constituency.They observed that the hail-storm had caused heavy dam-age to chilli farmers inNarsampeta, Regonda,Parakala, Duggondi,Chennaraopeta and other man-dals.The Ministers faced restivefarmers in Ippaltanda ofNarsampeta mandal. Thesefarmers complained that thegovernment had not been pay-ing attention to their issues andraised slogans seeking justice.

In Parakala mandal, somewomen farmers were in tearsand fell on the feet of Ministersseeking succor from the gov-

ernment. Niranjan Reddy asked farm-

ers not to lose hope and assuredthem that the state governmentwould do its best to help them.It was unfortunate that chillicrop ready for harvest hadbeen damaged due to unsea-sonal rains. The damage wasextensive in Narsampata,Parakala, Bhupalapalli,Manthani areas. He told farm-ers that they were visiting theaffected areas on the instruc-tions of Chief Minister andgathering details of loss sufferedby farmers.

Steps would be taken to dojustice to farmers. The gravityof the situation would be takento the notice of Chief Ministerwho was committed to thewelfare of farmers, they said.

Rely on KCR, Ministers tell distraught farmers

Continued from page 1

Not a single teacher had beenappointed under the TRS gov-ernment as KCR was focusedon giving jobs to unemployedpoliticians, he alleged. KCRenacting drama: SanjayDeclaring that the BJP had noobjection to introducingEnglish medium, TelanganaBJP chief Sanjay asked the CMto explain how English medi-um schools could function asthere were no Vidya volun-teers and teachers in schools.

KCR was enacting theEnglish medium drama tothreaten corporate schoolsand extort money from them,he claimed.

KCR's move...

Continued from page 1

The NGT issued notices to theUnion Environment Ministry,the Telangana government,the TPCB, and the collectorsof Ranga Reddy and Yadadridistricts. The NGT directedthe collectors of Ranga Reddyand Yadadri districts to con-duct inspections. The NGTalso inquired into the petitionsof the victims of illegal min-ing.

The NGT asked the statewhat action it took against ille-

gal excavations. The NGT tri-bunal set up a joint commit-tee to assess the damage to theenvironment caused by illegalmining.

The committee includesrepresentatives of the UnionEnvironment Department, theTelangana MiningDepartment, the TPCB, andcollectors of Ranga Reddyand Yadadri districts.TheNGT has directed the panel tofile a report by February 28.The next hearing is scheduledon February 28.

NGT notices to TS Govt on...

AICC Secretaries take VH’sversion on Premsagar issuePNS n HYDERABAD

The AICC secretaries in-chargeof Telangana Congress, BoseRaju and Srinivasa Krishnan,visited senior Congress leaderV. Hanumantha Rao's resi-dence along with TPCCDisciplinary Action Committeechairman G. Chinna Reddy onTuesday in view of VH's letterto AICC chief Sonia Gandhiseeking disciplinary actionagainst former MLC K.Premsagar Rao. It is learnt thatthey took VH’s version on theissue while discussing severalissues including the digital

membership drive.Speaking to The Pioneer,

VH said that Premsagar Raoand his followers had insultedhim when he went to Adilabaddistrict as per the directions ofTPCC chief Revanth Reddy.

He said that he had lodged acomplaint with the TPCCDisciplinary ActionCommittee. But there was noaction although the incidenttook place nearly two monthsago. However, the DisciplinaryAction Committee servednotices on other leadersresponding to complaintslodged by others.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Two beautiful sculptures ofthe Kakatiya period lyingamong the bushes were acci-dentally found by archaeolo-gists at the famous SaiviteTemple in Umamaheswaramin Nagarkurnool.

Nagarkurnool is consid-ered to be the northern gateof Srisailam.

The two sculptures, a life-size sculpture of Siva and aNandi idol carved out ofblack basalt stone, were seenby Dr E. Sivanagireddy,archaeologist and CEO,Pleach India Foundation bychance during his explorationat the Anjaneya temple at thefoot of the hill on Tuesdayconducted as part of the her-itage awareness programme

‘Preserve Heritage forPosterity.’ The Saivite sculp-ture was found broken at thehead and hands and the idolof Nandi too was damagedbut the sculpture was decorat-ed with ornamentation repre-senting the artistic dexterity ofthe mature phase of Kakatiyaart that flourished during the14th century AD.

Sriramoju Haragopal,Convenor, Kotta TelanganaCharitra Brindam, has con-firmed that the mutilatedSaivite sculpture representedVeerabhadra based on thestyle of art and iconographyand based on a similar find atDevaracharla in Nalgondadistrict of the same period,Reddy said. Citing a referenceto an inscription of the lastKakatiya ruler Prataparudra

dated 1320 AD found insidethe temple, Dr Reddy saidthat the inscription recordeddonation of lands in 16 vil-lages for the maintenance ofUmamaheswara templewhich proved Kakatiyapatronage.

Dr Sivanagireddy disclosedthat a 14th-century inscrip-tion at Umamaheswaramrecords the installation of thesculptures of Parvati,Chennakesava, Mahishasuramardhini, Veerabhadra andNandikeswara (bull) by oneSadananda Swamy and wascarved by two brothers, ChinaSarabhayya and PedaSarabhayya.

He claimed that the sculp-tures of Veerabhadra andNandi found by him in thebushes were none other than

the ones mentioned in theabove inscription.

The other three sculpturesof Parvati, Chennakesava andMahishamardhini are nowseen inside theMahamandapa of theUmamaheswara Temple.

He lamented the neglect ofan inscription of the RecharlaChief Madanayaka dated1377 AD. It was broken intofour pieces and found scat-tered by the roadside at theAnjaneya Temple.

Dr Sivanagi Reddy sensi-tised the temple priests andthe local community on thehistorical significance andarchaeological importance ofthe sculptures and appealed tothe authorities to preservethem for posterity byinstalling them on pedestals.

Kakatiya period sculptures foundaccidentally in Nagarkurnool

Govt not taking steps toregulate fees ShabbirPNS n HYDERABAD

Former minister MohammedAli Shabbir has alleged thatthe TRS government was notserious in regulating theexorbitant fees being collect-ed by private educationalinstitutions. “The decisiontaken by the TelanganaCabinet to constitute aCabinet Sub-Committee andthen draft a new law to reg-

ulate fees in private educa-tional institutions is proofthat it has failed to preventlooting by private schools andcolleges. It also means thatthe Admission and FeeRegulatory Committee con-stituted by the Governmentwas a farce and it could notstop extortion by privateschools and colleges,” ShabbirAli alleged in a statement onTuesday.

NDA Women Intake Same AsLast Year. SC Seeks ExplanationPNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court Tuesdayasked the Centre to explain why,despite its orders, the intake ofwomen candidates in NationalDefence Academy (NDA) foryear 2022 has been restricted to19, the figure same as last year.It asked the Centre to place thefigures on record about the totalnumber of candidates includingwomen who have appeared inthe NDA examination 2021.

for entrance tests for RashtriyaIndian Military College(RIMC) and for RashtriyaMilitary School (RMS). Abench of Justices Sanjay KishanKaul and M M Sundresh toldAdditional Solicitor GeneralAishwarya Bhati, appearingfor the Centre, that the govern-ment will have to explain whythe figure of 19 women hasbeen fixed for year 2022 as perthe notification issued byUPSC.

hyderabad 03HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 19, 2022

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a specia l dr ive, theShamshabad police team,along with Kothur police, inthe Cyberabad commission-erate limits, arrested fiveinter-state drug peddlersand seized 214 kg of ganjafrom them on Monday.

According to police, ganjawas purchased at Sileru inAP and was being smuggledto Maharashtra throughHyderabad. Totally, 10 per-sons, including 4 seekersfrom Ahmednagar districtof Maharashtra , wereinvolved in the network. Itwas reported that four per-sons from Ahmednagar, toavoid police surveillance,were waiting in two cars atThimmapur Cross Roadson NH-44 (on the outskirtsof Hyderabad). The mater-ial was brought to that place

by two other persons. Itwas reported that the ganjawas purchased at Rs 3,000per kg and it was sold at Rs20,000 per kg .

Pol ice arres ted theAhmednagar residents -Babasow Chandekar,Phukmali Tirumali Balu,Ganesh Nolar i andRajendra. Along with them,a Suryapet resident MalothVinod, who was one of thet ransp or ters f romBhadrachalam toHyderabad outskirts wasalso arrested .Supplier in thedeal Ravi from Warangal,other dr ivers B a laraj ,Nagaraju and Ganesh are yetto be arrested. In all, thepolice seized 214 kg of ganja(two- kg packets of 107) andRs 2.10 lakh cash fromthem. Cases were registeredagainst the arrested per-sons.

Cyberabad cops seize 214 kgganja, arrest 5 culprits

PNS n HYDERABAD

Oppo India has signed amemorandum of under-standing with BITS Pilani toimprove the skills of itsresearch and development(R&D) engineers withadvanced technical knowl-edge. The smartphone maker hasits largest R&D centre inIndia in Hyderabad and withthe partnership with BITSPilani, it wants to help itsemployees acquire skillupgradation while focusingon innovations centric toadvance technologies.Underthe partnership WorkIntegrated LearningProgramme (WILP) divisionof Bits Pilani will supportOppo India R&D engineersto strengthen their technicalknowledge through variouscourses.

Oppo India signspact with Bits Pilanito train employees

PNS n HYDERABAD

In a first-of-its-kind initia-t ive, the TelanganaInformation TechnologyAssociation (TITA) and theJai Makthal Trust havelaunched an Artif icia lIntelligence-based digitallearning system for childrenat the Anganwadi Centre inthe Yedavel l i vi l lage ofNarayanpet distr ict onMonday.

TITA and the Jai MakthalTrust chief Sundeep KumarMakthala took the initiativeto ensure that children atAnganwadi Centres couldlearn uninterrupted evenduring the raging pandemic.The initiative was launchedin the presence of foreigndignitaries.

The Jai Makthal Trustwhich has taken up numer-ous initiatives in various sec-tors has taken up digitallearning for the students ofAnganwadi centres to iden-tify talent in children andensure continuous learningdespite the pandemic.

The Trust and Edu ProjectGlobal Tech came together toprovide digital learning forchildren.

The Edu project, which isknown for its 'Kids GoBagless' initiative, came for-ward to provide digital learn-ing based on AI tools in theremote Makthal constituen-cy.

The Jai Makthal Trust iscoordinating with the NGOfor the novel initiative. Trustpresident Sundeep Kumarhanded over a Smart TV tothe Anganwadi Centre.

Through digital learning,the children in Anganwadicentres will learn pre-schooldisciplines aided with AIand 3D images. Children’sattendance can be markedonline. The initiative is beinghailed as home-based learn-ing.

Speaking about the newproject, Sundeep Makthalasaid the Trust was trying toensure that children frommarginalised sections werenot deprived of learning dueto the pandemic and also tomake learning more effectiveusing AI tools.

Amit from Skanda ITSolutions, V. Jitendra,Narayanpet TITA secretaryShruti and foreign digni-taries, were present on theoccasion.

TITA, Jai Makthal Trust launchAI-based learning system

PNS n HYDERABAD

Due to operational reasonsand maintenance activity,South Central Railway hasdecided to suspend someMMTS services connectingvarious stations in the cityfrom January 18 to 21. A totalof s ix trains fromLingampally to Hyderabad(numbers 47132, 47133,47135, 47136, 47138 and47139), five trains fromHyderabad to Lingampally(47109, 47111, 47112, 47116and 47116), five trains fromFalaknuma to Lingampally(numbers 47165, 47216,47166, 47220 and 47170),and six trains fromLingampally to Falaknuma(numbers 47189, 47186,47210, 47187, 47191 and47192) will not be operatedfrom January 18 to 21.

In addition, a few moretrains, from Lingampally toHyderabad (numbers 47129and 47140), from Hyderabadto Lingampally (numbers47105, 47110, 47114 and47120), from Falaknuma toLingampally (47153, 47164

and 47203), f romLingampally to Falaknuma(47176, 47190), f romLingampally to Secunderabad(47150) and fromSecunderabad to Lingampally(47195) will not operate fromJanuary 19 to 21.

SCR suspends MMTS servicesbetween January 18&21

M L MELLY MAITREYI

n HYDERABAD

The stiffer the network ofproteins and other moleculesthasurround, support, andgive structure to cells and tis-sues in the body (called ECMor extracellular matrix), thegreater the susceptibility of aperson to cancer, going by aTIFR study.

Researchers at the TataInstitute of FundamentalResearch in Hyderabad claimto have established a linkbetween the elasticity of extra-cellular matrix and theirdefence against mutant genesthat could cause cancer.

The extracellular matrix(ECM) helps cells attach to,and communicate with, near-by cells, and plays an impor-tant role in cell growth, cellmovement, and other cellfunctions. The ECM is subject

to what is technically called'oncogenic insults'. Oncogenerefers to a gene that is amutated (changed) form of agene involved in normal cellgrowth. Oncogenes may causethegrowth of cancer cells.Mutations in genes thatbecome oncogenes can beinherited or caused by beingexposed to substances in the

environment that cause can-cer. In their study, theresearchers showed how theelasticity of\ extracellularmatrix (ECM) of epithelialtissue affects their fundamen-tal defence against such onco-genic insults. ECM forms thegel containing proteins andminerals in which our tissuesare embedded. Diseases likeobesity, fibrosis etc. are known

to cause pathological stiff-ening of this matrix. Patientswith such conditions showheightened susceptibility to

cancer, though little is knownas to what could be the cause,according to the researchers.

Shilpa P. Pothapragada(Ph.D. student at Tamal Das'lab in TIFR Hyderabad) andcolleagues deciphered howECM elasticity plays a decisiverole in determining the out-come of this defence, alsoknown as Epithelial Defenceagainst Cancer (EDAC). They

used Ras oncogenic mutationto create precancerous cellswhich when in contact withtheir normal counterparts, areforced to move out of the tis-sue only when the ECM is soft.When they used an ECMwhich is stiff instead, non-can-cerous epithelial cells couldnow no longer remove theseprecancerous cells. As a resultof this, the precancerous cells

can freely expand and growwithout restriction. The scien-tists looked at molecular play-ers to understand what leads

to this failure in precancerouscell removal. When the ECMis soft, an actin crosslinkingprotein called Filamin comesto the interface between nor-mal and precancerous cells inorder to help push out the pre-cancerous cells. Actin cross-linking proteins organise actinfilaments into dynamic andcomplex subcellular scaffoldsthat orchestrate importantmechanical functions, includ-ing cell motility\ and adhesion.

On a stiff ECM, however,Filamin gets scavenged aroundthe nucleus of the normalcell. Thus, there is not enoughFilamin available to helpextrude precancerous cells.

The observations of thisstudy explain the link betweenECM stiffness and higher inci-dence of cancer which maypave way for therapeutic inter-ventions in cancer preven-tion .

Scientists shed new light on defences against precancerous cells

PNS n HYDERABAD

A new steel bridge which willprovide direct entry into thePunjagutta graveyard here willbe inaugurated by AnimalHusbandry Minister T.Srinivas Yadav on Thursday.

The GHMC had taken upconstruction of the 140-metresteel bridge to provide anaccess road to the Punjagutagraveyard opposite ChutneysHotel. The GHMC is also con-structing an exit road from the

graveyard via Banjara Hills.This bridge constructed at a

cost of Rs 9 crore will ease traf-fic movement from NFCLJunction to KBR Park Junctionand will prevent congestion atthe existing gate of the grave-yard.

As traffic on this route isvery dense the GHMC con-structed the dedicated accessroad to the graveyard by pro-viding a steel bridge on the exitroad from Road No: 1, BanjaraHills. It also widened the road

from the main gate of thegraveyard to HT Tower.

PNS n HYDERABAD

After two days of cloudy skyand rainfall, Hyderabad mightwitness a dip in the nighttemperature for the next cou-ple of days. The average min-imum temperature of 16.4degree Celsius was recorded inthe city in the early hours ofTuesday, which is at least twodegree less than expected.Serilingampally recorded thelowest minimum temperatureof 13.4 degree Celsius.

According to the forecast byTelangana State DevelopmentPlanning Society (TSDPS), theminimum temperature in var-ious places in the city, especial-

ly the outskirts, can dip by twoto three degrees. The nighttemperature in areas includingBegumpet, Malakpet, Jubilee

Hills, Saroornagar and Karwanare likely to fall below 15degree Celsius on Thursdayand Friday.

Night temp likely to dip in city

PNS nMEDCHAL MALKAJGIRI

The Hyderabad MetropolitanDevelopment Authority(HMDA) officials, launched aspecial drive to demolish ille-gal constructions within itslimits in the district. Thedemolition drive was taken upwith the cooperation of theDistrict Task Force, Municipaland Police officials. On the

first day on Monday, 10 illegalconstructions were demol-ished. The drive continued onTuesday and 13 more illegalconstructions were demol-ished in the municipal limitsof Sankarpally, Badangpet,Dundigal, Boduppal andPocharam municipal corpora-tions in HMDA limits.Altogether, Task Force officialshave taken action against 23

illegal constructions in twodays. The demolished illegalconstructions include 4 inSankarpally municipality, 3in Dundigal, 3 in Badangpet,2 in Pocharam, and one inBoduppal municipal limits.In this connection, noticeswere issued to the concernedplanning officers of themunicipalities asking themwhy they had not identified

the illegal constructions atthe

beginning stage. It may benoted that HMDACommissioner AravindKumar had set up four teamsto take up the demolitiontask. The teams conductedfield surveys for four days andsubmitted reports to higherofficials. Based on the report,the HMDA officials, along

with Task Force officials,launched the special drive. Inthe first phase, demolitionworks started at 10 construc-tions with more than 600 sq.yards. HMDA directors, plan-ning officials, HMDA enforce-ment officials, District TaskForce teams, local MunicipalCommissioners and policeofficials participated in thedemolition works.

Demolition drive continuesAltogether, 13 illegal constructions were demolished on Tuesday and 10 on Monday

Panjagutta graveyard steelbridge to open tomorrow

PNS n HYDERABAD

Government employeesworking in ad hoc sec-retariat relocated toBurgula Ramakrishna Rao Bhavanhave been hesitatingto discharge theirduties freely as sever-al of their colleagueshave tested positive forCovid-19. Over 15 govern-ment employees posted inthe GAD and EducationDepartments tested positivefor Covid-19 when tests wererun on them on Tuesday.

The affected includeEducation Secretary

Sandeep KumarSultania. As a

result, all thosewho are work-ing in thedepartment havebeen advised of

home isolation.Similarly, three per-

sonal secretaries andsome others in the office ofthe GAD tested positive forthe virus. The principal sec-retary Vikas Raj has beensent to treatment in home iso-lation.

Over 15 govt employeestest positive for Covid-19

PNS n HYDERABAD

About 20 police personnel atthe Narsingi police station inCyberabad police commis-sionerate limits tested positivefor Covid-19. Some of themwere down with fever and hadexhibited symptoms. As theycontinued to have symptoms,they got tested and with theresults showing them to bepositive, they were shifted tohome isolation. Their familymembers were advised homequarantine and get them test-ed for the virus as well. Afterthe positive cases, theMadhapur zone police offi-cials have got all the primarycontacts tested and directedother staff members, whowere primary contacts to theinfected persons, to get tested.

20 cops infectedwith Covid-19 atNarsingi PS The

extracellularmatrix (ECM)helps cellsattach to, andcommunicatewith, nearbycells, and playsan importantrole in cellgrowth, cellmovement, andother cellfunctions.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Five persons who wereinvolved in two fatal road acci-dents in Cyberabad limitswere arrested by the police. Inthe first case, three personsShashank Shekar,Manabendra Roy andIndukuri Srikanth were arrest-ed by the Gachibowli police.In the early hours ofDecember 31, Shekar, whowas driving a car allegedlyunder the influence of alcohol,hit a cyclist Nithin Agarwal(45), who died the next day.Roy and Srikanth were sittingin the car and allowed Shekarto drive the car knowing wellthat he was intoxicated. In theother case, the KPHB policearrested two persons OddeRavinder, driver of a tipperlorry and KunchapuVenkatesh, the vehicle owner.

5 held in 2 road

accident cases

PNS n HYDERABAD

After the massive fire at theSecunderabad Club, fire safe-ty officers are inspectingclubs across the city to ascer-tain whether they complywith fire safety regulations.

Fire safety officials identi-fied 15 major clubs in the citywhich were inspected onMonday and Tuesday. Theseare the Country Club, JubileeClub, Gymkhana Club andFNCC Club.

Officers found that most ofthem did not comply withfire safety regulations andnotices were issued to them.Some clubs had fire safetyequipment that did not work

while some had only gassprayers.

Fire officers say that eventhough there was fire safetyequipment at the FNCC clubwhich was inspected onTuesday, they were not work-ing.

Some clubs do not renewthe NoC regarding fire safe-ty. The fire NoC has to berenewed every five years.

Fire Safety Officer Prasadsaid, “On Monday, inSecunderabad division, fiveclubs were inspected andtoday three clubs. Many have100 per cent of equipmentbut do not maintain them.We are issuing notices toclubs to comply with norms.”

City clubs fail to adhereto fire safety norms

PNS n HYDERABAD

As many as 236 personsincluding students, facultyand staff tested positive forCovid-19 at the IndianInstitute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) campusas on Tuesday. According tosources at the campus, 186students, 50 faculty and stafftested positive for Covid-19.Since the first case wasreported on January 6, thenumber of Covid-19 casescontinued to increase on thecampus. On Tuesday, 13 per-sons tested positive forCovid-19. However, Of the186 students, only 72 are inisolation at the isolationrooms, and the rest hadrecovered fully. While 100 ofthe recovered students werestill in the camps, 14 of themleft for their homes.About100 faculty members and100 staff members live in thequarters with their families,and the staff and faculty whotested positive were isolatedat their own residencies. Theinstitute has been makingdoor delivery of all essentialrequirements in the isolationrooms and at the staff quar-ters who are in isolation.

236 test positiveat IIT Hyderabad

04HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 19, 2022

PNS n SIDDIPET

All India Student Federation(AISF) on Tuesday demandedthat the State governmentorder the reopening of schoolimmediately to ensure thatthe students do not suffer dis-ruption to their learningprocess. The closure of schoolsmeant making the lives of the

teachers in private schoolsmiserable, the AISF said.Speaking to reporters here,AISF district unit secretaryManne Kumar said the TRSgovernment had promised togive priority to education. TheTRS came to power after sev-eral students sacrificed theirlives. But, now the governmenthad gone back on its promise,he said.It was good to close theschool on the pretext of coro-

navirus time and again. Thegovernment had caused agonyto the students and teachers.The decision to close theschool on one or other pretextwas to ensure that the studentsdo not protest against the anti-people’s policies of the govern-ment, he felt. Hequestioned

why the government did notorder the closure of liquorbars and theatres to prevent thespread of the virus and why therule was applied to schoolsonly.AISF district vice-presi-dent Jogari Raju, district unitassistant secretary P Subbuluand others were present.

AISF demands reopeningof school immediately

SNCN ACHARYULU

n HYDERABAD

“The TRS government isdiverting the funds allotted bythe Centre for the welfare ofDalits. We will expose thisand tell the people how theTRS government is cheatingthem,” said BJP Mission-19(SC Coordination Committee)Chairman AP Jitendar Reddy.

The BJP is formulating plansto exploit the anti-establish-ment sentiment prevailing inthese areas in order to ensurevictory in all the 19 SC reservedAssembly constituencies inTelangana.

There is also an impressionthat the party which wins amajority of the SC reservedAssembly seats will form thegovernment.

The TRS government failedin implementing the DalitBandhu scheme and KCR hasforgotten his promise to makea Dalit the Chief Minister, said

Jitendar Reddy.Speaking to ‘The Pioneer’

Jitendar Reddy said that theirMission-19 action plan willstart soon. He said that theaction plan may start fromVikarabad, Chevella andSecunderabad Cantonment.

Jitendar said the Centre isimplementing several welfareschemes for Dalits. He said thatthe schemes are divided intotwo categories. One is coreschemes and the other is coreof core schemes.

He said that under coreschemes the Centre is provid-ing 100 percent funds to states.Under the core of coreschemes, the Centre is provid-ing 60 percent of funds and thestate has to provide 40 percentfunds.

The BJP leader alleged thatthe TRS government is divert-ing all these funds at the costof Dalits. He said that SCs andDalits are looking to the BJP asan alternative to the TRS and

they are ready to vote for theBJP.

He said that in SC reservedAssembly constituencies the SCpopulation is only about 15percent and to win these con-stituencies the support of othercommunities is also required.For that we will campaignabout other issues apart from

Dalit issues, he said.He clarified that they had

not discussed the padayatras inSC reserved constituencies asspeculated on social media.There are speculations thatTelangana BJP President BandiSanjay Kumar will launch theDalit Bahujana padayatra in SCreserved assembly constituen-

cies in April.Jitendar said that they had

no plans for any kind of paday-atras as of now.

Meanwhile, according toBJP sources, Telangana BJPchief Sanjay feels that JitendarReddy is the ‘golden leg’ of theBJP.

The BJP won in theAssembly by-elections ofDubbaka and Huzurabadwhen Jitendar was made incharge. In the GHMC andWarangal municipal corpora-tion elections too Jitendarbrought good results to the BJPin the areas where he was incharge. Keeping this in mindSanjay thinks that Jitendar isthe BJP’s golden leg.

The victory in SC reservedAssembly constituencies has akey role in bagging power.Sanjay made Jitendar the chair-man of Mission-19 to ensurevictory in SC reserved con-stituencies, a senior BJP leadersaid.

TRS govt diverting central fundsmeant for Dalits, says BJP

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

Health Minister T Harish Raohas said that Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao will lay thefoundation stone for the 900-bedhospital in Mahabubnagar soon.A trauma centre will be provid-ed to the community health cen-tre at Balanagar will strive toenhance the status of NawabpetPHC.

He was addressing a gather-ing after laying the foundationstone for the Rs 4.75 crore and30-bed community health cen-tre at Balanagar in Jadcharla con-stituency of Mahabubnagar dis-trict on Tuesday.

In the new state of Telangana,the Government set up over 40dialysis centres and providedgovernment hospitals at Taluklevel with ICU beds. All threemedical colleges have been sanc-tioned to the undivided Medakdistrict. TheCM will soon lay thefoundation stone for the 900-bedhospital in Mahabubnagar.

He asked people to wearmasks without fail and receivetwo doses of vaccines againstCovid. He suggested teenagers inthe age group of 15 to 17 toundergo vaccination. Peoplewho have already received twodoses of the vaccine should beprepared to receive the boosterdose. In all, over two-croreCorona testing kits have beenkeptready in the state and thereare one-crore Covid isolation kitsavailable in the state. Also, thereare stocks of 2.50 lakhRemedisivir injections, ICUbeds, and ventilators. Electedpeople’s representatives shouldtake precautions and at the sametime sensitise people on theprecautions. He asked the peo-ple to remain careful as the newvariant cases are likely to increasein the next 15 days. SpecialCovid-19 wards have been set upin all hospitals to treat expectantmothers.Pending irrigation pro-jects – including the Palamuru-Rangareddy LI Scheme --have

been taken by the governmentunder the leadership of the CM.The works are being executed ona war-footing, he said.Efforts areunderway to take the state to thetop position in medical andhealth realms, he said pointingout that the state governmentearmarked Rs 7289 Crore tointroduce English medium edu-cation in government schools-from the Anganwadi level underthe Manavooru-Manabad pro-

gramme. Corporate level schooleducation would beprovided ingovernment schools offering allamenities to students. The percapita power utilisation inTelangana is very high as suchthe state occupied number oneposition. Similarly, the stateoccupied number one positionin the per capita income too.

Excise Minister Dr. V SrinivasGoud and Jadcharla MLA Dr CLakshma Reddy spoke.

Devarakadra MLA AVenkateswar Reddy, district SPR Venkateswarlu, local bodiescollector Tejasnandlal Pawar,director of Medical EducationRamesh Reddy, state warehous-ing corporation Saichand, stateSangeet- Natak Academy pres-ident Badmi Siva Kumar, ZPvice-chairman Yadaiah, DMHODr. Krishna, local elected people’srepresentatives and others tookpart in the event.

Harish Rao lays stone for 30-bed Community Health Centre

PNS n JAYASANKAR

BHUPALAPALLY

Manthani MLA and formerminister D Sridhar Babudirected the doctors to providequality and better treatment tothe Covid-19 patients so thatthey can be recovered from thedisease early.

Sridhar Babu inspected theGovernment Hospital atManthani on Tuesday andheld a review meeting withdoctors, ANMs, and otherstaff at the hospital. Hestressed on the need to bringawareness among the peoplefrom the village level about themeasures to be taken to pre-vent the spread of Covid-19.He asked the doctors to com-plete 100 percent vaccinationcovering

all people and to arrange anadequate number of testingcentres. Doctors, ANMs andother staff have to be keptavailable to the patients, he

said.He urged the people anddoctors to make use of digitalex-ray and diagnostic machineset up by Bain &Company in the hospital. Heasked the people to strictly fol-low the five principles suggest-ed by doctors to avoid Covid-19 infection. Strive to give pro-

tection to party workersMeanwhile, 50 TRS leaders

and activists resigned to theparty and joined the Congressparty at Arenda village ofManthani Mandal on Tuesday.Addressing on the occasion,Sridhar Babu gave assurancethat he would strive to giveprotection to Congress partyworkers. He welcomed thenewly joined leaders into theCongress party and askedthem to work hard like sol-diers to bring the party topower in Telangana.

He alleged that the TRSgovernment in the state andBJP government at Centrehave been adopting anti-peo-ple policies.Earlier, the MLAperformed special puja atViswanatha Swamy temple atArenda village.Congress lead-ers Seggem Rajesh, stateCongress Kisan cell coordina-tor SasibhushanKache, Sekar,Machidi Ramu Goud and oth-ers were present.

Provide quality treatment to Covid-19 patients: MLA to doctors

PNS n SIDDIPET

District Additional CollectorMuzammil Khan on Tuesdaysaid the district administrationwill set up nutri gardens on the

premises of everyAnganwadis with permanentbuildings. During his visit toAnganwadi centre atSubhashnagar-Prasanti Nagarhere, the Additional Collectorplanted saplings for growingnutri garden. He interactedwith the children. He said the

administration would com-plete the nutri garden pro-gramme

in two months. A meetingto review the functioning ofeach The anganwadicentrewould be held on every Friday,he said.Muzammil Khan fur-ther stressed the need forchild growth monitoring. Healso felt that there was a needto create awareness on thehealth of children and ensurethat the children do not suffermalnutrition.

Nutri gardens to be set upat every Anganwadi centre

PNS n SIDDIPET

District In-charge CollectorM Hanumantha Rao advisedthe students not to wasteholidays. The studentsshould learn a new topicalong with academic sub-jects daily during the holi-days, he said. He spoke tomedia persons here onTuesday. As the doctors hadsuggested that the spread ofCovid-19 would be maxi-mum by the end ofthemonth, the state govern-ment had declared holidaysto all educational institu-tions up to January 30. Students, who will be writ-ing public examinations,have to be more alert. Theycan contact the teachersover the phone for clearingdoubts,’ Hanumantha Raosaid. He also urged the par-ents to take care of the stud-ies of their children, espe-cially during holidays.

Make use ofholidays,Collectoradvises students

Officials told to provide amenities totribal schools, hostels in Nagarkurnool

PNS n SANGAREDDY

BV Sankar Rao of Hatnura(Mandal and village) wasappointed as Telangana RashtraSamithi Karmika Vibhag(TRSKV) Sangareddy districtpresident. To this effect, TRSKVstate president Rambabu Yadavhanded over the appointmentorder to Sankar Rao at the res-idence of Minister T HarishRao in Gachibowli in the cityon Tuesday. Sivasankar Rao, onthe occasion, expressed histhanks to Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao, Minister THarish Rao, TRSKV state pres-ident Rambabu Yadav, stategeneral secretary Narayana,state Mahila Commissionchairperson Vakati SunithaLakshma Reddy,NarsapurMLA Madan Reddy,MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy,district MLAs, and Telanganastate Labour Welfare Board

Chairman Ummana DevenderReddy.

He said that he would striveto solve the problems of work-ers and would take up pro-grammes to bring awarenessamong people on various wel-fare schemes being implement-ed by the Telangana govern-ment for workers.

BV Sankar Rao Rao madeTRSKV Sangareddy district chief

D Sridhar Babu

Additional District Collector Muzammil Khan interacting with children at anAnganwadi centre in Siddipet on Tuesday

AISF office-bearers at a press conference in Siddipet on Tuesday

‘Complete 100 pc second dose Covid-19 vaccine’PNS nKHAMMAM

Minister for TransportPuvvada Ajay Kumar onTuesday directed the DistrictCollector to appoint a specialofficer to speed up vaccinationdrive in the district. Hestressed the need to curb thefast-surging Omnicron variant.

Urging the authorities tocomplete 100 per cent admin-istration of second dose of vac-cination by this month-end,the Minister suggested thatspecial officers be appointedfor Yerrupalem andMudigonda mandals. He sug-gested the names of Appa Raoand ACP Sneha Mehra forYerrupalem and Mudigondamandals respectively as specialofficers to speed up the vacci-nation drive. He appealed tothe Zilla Parishad Chairman toreview the functioning of theGovernment Hospitals in thedistrict.

Ajay Kumar directed theTelangana State MedicalInfrastructure DevelopmentCorporation ExecutiveEngineer to ensure that the'trauma centre' in all majorhospitals in the district is setup. Responding to the requestby the Government Hospital

superintendent, he instructedthe authorities to take steps forsetting up a new lift for trau-ma centre in the GovernmentHospital. He also directed theDistrict Collector to sanctionfunds for lift. He asked theadministration to ensure thatthe tender process for the con-struction of 100-bed hospitalsin Sathupally and Madhira iscompleted. He stressed theneed to complete the con-struction of hospital. Theywould be inaugurated byMinister for Health T HarishRao, he said. Later, theMinister reviewed the progressof Dalit Bandhu scheme withthe officials and bankers.Madhira constituency inKhamma district has beenselected as the second pilotproject for launching Dalit

Bandhu scheme. The DalitBandhu funds were alreadycredited to the account of thedistrict administration. Butthe selection of beneficiarieshas not yet been completed, hesaid. He suggested appoint-ment of special officers forevery mandal in the con-stituency to ensure that thefunds are not misused and cre-ate awareness among the ben-eficiaries on various schemes.

Minister forTransportPuvvada AjayKumar alsoreviewed theprogress ofDalit Bandhuand directsofficials tocompleteselection ofbeneficiariesfor Dalit Bandhuin Madhiraconstituency

PNS n KARIMNAGAR

Anti-Corruption Bureau offi-cials claimed to have trappedMunicipal CorporationExecutive Engineer PRaman, while accepting Rs17,000 bribe from a contrac-tor at his chamber in theoffice on Tuesday.

According to ACB police,Raman demanded the bribefrom a contractor, namedMadhu, to clear his bills. TheACB police laid a trap andcaught the ExecutiveEngineer red-handed.

ACB DSP K Badraiah andthe staff participated in theoperation.

Municipal

Executive

Engineer trapped

Minister for Finance addressing a meeting in Mahabubnagar on Tuesday. Minister Srinivas Goud is also present

M L MELLY MAITREYI

n HYDERABAD

The Rythu Swarajya Vedikahas demanded that theTelangana governmentshould give compensation tothe lakhs of farmers whohad suffered loss of crops dueto the heavy rains in 2020and 2021.

Reacting to the decision ofthe Chief Minister to toursome constituencies in undi-vided Warangal district onTuesday to assess the loss ofcrops due to untimely rainsRythu Swarajya Vedika rep-resentatives said that this isthe first time KCR was visit-ing farmers who sufferedloss of crops.

“However, the loss of cropsis not the problem of only thefarmers of Narsampeta con-stituency. The problems offarmers cannot be solvedwith a one-off visit by theChief Minister, ” said VissaKiran Kumar, the RythuSwarajya Vedika representa-t ive, who a long with

Kannegant i R avi andAshalatha filed a PIL in theHC in 2020 seeking compen-sation for farmers who suf-fered huge losses due to rainsin 2020 and 2021.

The RSV representativesdemanded that the govern-ment should implement thehistoric judgement given bythe High Court on the PIL onSeptember 28, 2021, andimplement a comprehensivecrop insurance scheme inthe State.

The High Court in itsjudgement said that it was theresponsibi l ity of theGovernment under theNational DisasterManagement Act to providecompensation to farmerswho suffered losses due tonatural calamities.

It also asked the govern-ment to prepare a list offarmers who incurred losseswithin three months and paycompensation to them with-in a month.

The HC had also said thatthe government should also

compensate the loss due tonon-implementation of cropinsurance and give addition-al compensation to affectedfarmers.

Although the four-monthtime given by the court wasnearing its end, the govern-ment has not done anythingso far. There was no responseso far although RSV repre-sentatives gave representa-tions to State and districtofficials, they said.

Kiran Kumar said that inOctober, 2020, crops on 15lakh acres were damaged andthere was also a list availablegiving details of district-wisecrop loss that was sent to theCentre.

The Centre had released Rs185 crore as compensationfor farmers but the moneydid not reach farmers, hesaid.

In 2021 too, crops on lakhsof acres were damaged byheavy rains . The ChiefMinister should do justice tothem too, he demanded.

The RSV members said

that crores of farmers suf-fered huge losses due to non-implementation of the cropinsurance scheme in the Statein the last two years.

States like Gujarat, AndhraPradesh, West Bengal andTamil Nadu were implement-ing special State-level cropinsurance schemes. But theTelangana government abol-ished the Centre’s FaisalBhima Yojana and did notimplement even a State levelcrop insurance scheme.

The farmers who sufferedcrop losses were caught indebt traps and are commit-ting suicide.

Many families of deadfarmers said that crop lossdue to natural calamities wasthe reason for the suicides.

RSV State Committeemember B. Kondal said thatthe state government shouldtake the responsibility forimplementing a systematicplan to extend compensationregularly to farmers who suf-fered crop losses withoutdelay.

Compensate farmers who lost crops, says Rythu Swarajya Vedika

PNS nNAGARKURNOOL

District Collector P UdayKumar has directed engineer-ing officials to complete the exe-cution of the infrastructuralamenities in SC and STResidential Schools and hostelsas early as possible.

He was reviewing theprogress of the infrastructuralamenities at a meeting held atMannanur Tribal WelfareDepartment’s office with head-masters of SC and ST residen-tial schools, hostel wardens, andengineering officials.

He asked them to benefit theSC and ST students by effective-ly executing various welfare anddevelopment schemes meantfor them in the residentialschools and hostels. There areover 5006 students in 29 resi-dential schools and hostels fortribals, he said asking the offi-

cials to ensure that no inconve-nience is caused to them. Theresidential schools and hostelsshould have power supply,drinking water, toilets facilityand so on. Under MissionBhagiradha scheme, all residen-tial schools should be coveredto provide drinking water. Toppriority should be given toprovide basic amenities in theinstitutions meant for tribal

girls. All 92 construction pro-jects taken up by the TribalWelfare EngineerngDepartment, at a cost of Rs30.34 crore, should be complet-ed as early as possible.The DCasked the Divisional Engineerto furnish him particulars ofTribal Welfare Department’sbudget.He called upon the par-ticipants to implement school-wise action plan to conduct spe-cial classes, classes-wise andsubject-wise action plnas toprovide quality education tostudents. He asked them to fur-nish details of Girijana DarsiniWorkbook assessment. He alsoasked them to upload images ofbreak-fast and other Menuitems to him through the onlinelink. All Chenchu habitatsshould be provided drinkingwater facility under the MissionBhagiradha, the DC told theEE.

B V Sankar Rao

District Collector Uday Kumar at areview meeting in Nagarkurnool onTuesday

nation 05HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 19, 2022

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The BJP on Tuesday held protests in Thane and Palghar districts against MaharashtraCongress chief Nana Patole in connection with a video in which he is purportedly heardsaying he will beat up and badmouth "Modi". The video was widely circulated on Monday

after a television channel aired it and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis tweeted about it,though Patole had clarified that the Modi referred to in his conversation with villagers ofBhandara district was not the primeminister but a local goon. Protests wereheld in Thane, Kalyan, Nalasopara,Dahanu and other places in the twodistricts. Among those who took partwere local BYJM unit vice presidentManoj Barot, KDMC unit president SrikantKamble, Palghar unit chief NandakumarPatil and Thane BYJM president SarangMedhekar. BJP group leader in the ThaneMunicipal Corporation Manohar Dhumbresubmitted a complaint at Kapurbawdipolice station against Patole.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held an audio interaction with BJPworkers of his Varanasi parliamentary constituency and reaffirmed the BJP'scommitment towards development. Restoration of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor,

women empowerment, infrastructure and healthcare development were among thetopics that came up for discussion during the interaction. Interacting with one of the'karyakartas' (party workers), PrimeMinister Modi asked him to expandthe reach of the government's welfareschemes to farmers and said theyshould make farmers aware of theuse of chemical-free fertilisers.Modi also talked about severalcentral schemes which arebenefitting the people of Varanasi atlarge. He urged people to contributeto a section -- 'Kamal Pushp' -- onhis NaMo app that features some"inspiring" party members.

The Karnataka government has warned certain medical practitioners of action for allegedlyspreading misinformation pertaining to the COVID-19. In a statement on Tuesday, theCommissionerate of Health and Family Services said some medical practitioners were

allegedly giving incomplete, inaccurate and unsubstantiated information about COVID-19. "Suchmisinformation leads to confusion inpublic at large on the prevailing COVIDscenario in the State and encouragesthem to deviate from well laid outguidelines issued by the health andrevenue authorities," the statementsaid. Asking the medical professionalsto exercise utmost care and cautionwhile communicating with public onCOVID-19, the Commissionerateasked them to refer to thegovernment guidelines, circulars andorders thoroughly before appearingon any media or social platform.

BJP protests in Thane Palghar againstPatole's 'beat up, badmouth Modi' video

Court rejects AnilDeshmukh's bailplea in moneyPNS n MUMBAI

A special court here onTuesday rejected a plea filed byformer Maharashtra homeminister Anil Deshmukh seek-ing default bail in an allegedmoney laundering case.

Deshmukh, an NCP leader,was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) onNovember 2, 2021, and is cur-rently in judicial custody. In hisapplication, Deshmukh con-tended that the special courtfor Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act cases did nottake cognizance of the chargesheet filed by the ED beforeremanding him in further judi-cial custody. Therefore, he wasentitled to bail by `default'

(on technical grounds), hesaid. The ED opposed the pleasaying the charge sheet hadbeen filed within stipulatedtime. Special Judge R N Rokaderejected the NCP leader's plea.

ED raids Punjab CM's relative, othersin probe against ‘illegal' sand miningPNS n NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Tuesday raided mul-tiple locations in poll-boundPunjab, including those linkedto a relative of Chief MinisterCharanjit Singh Channi, aspart of a money launderingprobe against the 'sand mafia'and companies linked toalleged illegal sand mining inthe border state, officials said.

They said at least a dozenlocations in the state includingin Chandigarh, Mohali,Ludhiana and Pathankot arebeing covered by the officialsof the federal agency. They arebeing assisted by armed per-sonnel of the Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF). The

action is being undertaenunder the provisions of the

Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA).

Reacting to the raids, Chnnitold reporters that relatives ofWest Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee were raidedduring the assembly polls inthat state and the "same pat-tern" is being followed by theED in Punjab to "pressure"him, his ministers andCongress party members.

"We are ready to handle thepressure...," he said, adding hehad no links with the case.

Premises linked to a personidentified as Bhupinder Singhalias Honey, a nephew ofChanni, are also being cov-ered.

Sources said Honey's linkswith a person identified asKudratdeep Singh are beinginvestigated by the agency.

Opposition parties have ear-lier linked Channi with thedealings of Honey which theformer had denied. The EDaction, sources said, has beeninitiated after taking cogni-sance of a 2018 FIR of theNawanshahr (Shaheed BhagatSingh Nagar district) Policeand some other such policecomplaints against some com-panies and individuals allegedto be involved in the businessof illegal sand mining in thestate. A number of truck dri-vers and other operativesinvolved in the extraction andtransportation of sand werenamed as accused in thesepolice FIRs. Voting for 117assembly seats in Punjab isslated on February 20.

PNS n LUCKNOW

In the battle for the Uttar Pradeshassembly elections, a musical warhas broken out between politicalparties which are resorting tocatchy campaign songs to pro-mote their policies and ideologies.The Election Commission hasimposed restrictions on poll ral-lies till January 22 in the wake ofrising COVID-19 cases in the fivepoll-going states. After the BJP,Congress and Samajwadi Party,the Aam Aadmi Party too has

released its theme song for theelections. Although, the custom ofresorting to songs during elec-

tions is old, with the campaigngoing virtual due to the Covidpandemic, the competition

among parties to grab the atten-tion of voters has only intensified.While the ruling BJP refers to theparty's “Hindutva pride” and the"development" done under theYogi Adityanath government,the opposition Samajwadi Partyechoes the socialist sentimentsand the achievements of theprevious government led byAkhilesh Yadav. BJP MPs andBhojpuri actors Ravi Kishan andManoj Tiwari have come outwith various songs and somemore are in the pipeline. Among

these, 'damru jab bajega todekhna nazara kya hoga' --apparently referring to the damruof lord Shiva – is quite popularwhile similar songs like ‘jo Ramko laye haye, hum unko layenge'(those who have brought lordRam, we will bring them topower) and ‘mandir banne lagahai, bhagwa rang chadhne lagahai' (construction of temple hasbegun, saffron colour is on therise) are testament to BJP lever-aging on the upcoming Ramtemple in Ayodhya.

PNS n SRINAGAR

The Army on Tuesday res-cued over a dozen civiliansafter their vehicle came underan avalanche triggered byrecent snowfall in borderdistrict of Kupwara in Jammuand Kashmir, officials said.The vehicle got stuck on theTangdhar- Chowkibal axis,following which the nearestArmy unit was alerted and arescue operation launched,they said. "The civilians,which included a child, wereevacuated to safety by theArmy rescue team," the offi-cials said. One of the civilianstold the rescuers that theyhad a narrow escape as theymanaged to jump out of thevehicle before it was buriedunder snow, the officials said.

Army rescuesciviliansstuck inavalanche

PNS n BENGALURU

Joining the growing list ofIndian states wooing Tesla's bil-lionaire founder and CEO ElonMusk to start a manufacturingunit, Karnataka on Tuesdayprojected itself as the "ElectricVehicle (EV) hub" of India andan ideal destination to set upa plant.

Several Indian states likeTelangana, West Bengal,Maharashtra, Punjab andTamil Nadu have already invit-ed Musk to set up shop.

"With over 400 R&D cen-tres, 45+ EV startups & an EVcluster near Bengaluru,Karnataka has emerged asEV hub of India. Mr @elon-musk, Karnataka would be anideal destination to set up@Tesla plant. Bengaluru is

already Tesla's maiden addressin India," Karnataka Ministerfor Large and Medium-scaleIndustries Murugesh R Niranitweeted. Musk had recentlytweeted that the US-basedfirm is working through a lotof challenges with the govern-ment to launch its products in

India. "Still working througha lot of challenges with thegovernment," Musk tweetedin reply to a Twitter user, whoasked: "Yo @elonmusk anyfurther update as to whenTesla's will launch in India?They're pretty awesome anddeserve to be in every corner

of the world!"In January 2021, Tesla reg-

istered its Indian arm amidindications that the companyis set to enter the country'sautomobile market.According to a regulatory fil-ing, the firm registered TeslaIndia Motors and Energy PvtLtd with RoC (Registrar OfCompanies) Bengaluru. Thecompany has been registeredas an unlisted private entitywith a paid-up capital of Rs 1lakh.

In February 2021, the thenKarnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa too had said that"American firm Tesla will setup the car-manufacturing unitin Karnataka." Last year, Teslahad sought a reduction inimport duties on electric vehi-cles (EVs) in India.

Karnataka invites Elon Musk to set up Tesla plant

No revision of decision on exclusion ofTN, WB and Kerala tableaux on R-DayPNS n NEW DELHI

The decision to not include thetableaux of Kerala, WestBengal and Tamil Nadu at theRepublic Day parade will notbe revised, senior officials ofthe Defence Ministry said onTuesday and noted that a totalof 12 states have been select-ed to display their models.

The remarks by the defenceministry officials came amidstongoing controversy over thetableaux exclusion, promptingWest Bengal chief ministerMamata Banerjee and TamilNadu Chief Minister M KStalin to seek Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's immediateintervention.

Some leaders of the non-BJPruled states also alleged thatthe exclusion was an "insult" bythe Centre.

Reacting to the controversy,a senior defence ministry offi-cial said, "it is not possible toaccept requests from thesethree states' and polite respons-es have been sent to their

CMs explaining the longprocess of selection oftableaux." "It is not possible torevise or reconsider the deci-sion as Tableau making processis a very long process and anexpert committee takes thesedecisions sufficiently inadvance," the official added.

Officials said tableaux ofArunachal Pradesh, Haryana,Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat,Jammu and Kashmir,Karnataka, Maharashtra,Meghalaya, Punjab, UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand willbe shown at this year's parade.

Moreover, tableaux of nineministries and departmentsof the Central governmentwill be shown at this year'sparade, they stated. These ninetableaux would be Educationand Skill Development, CivilAviation, Communicationsand Posts, Home Affairs,Housing, Textiles, Law andJustice, Jal Shakti and Culture,they added. Therefore, a totalof 21 tableaux would be shownat this year's parade, theyadded. Overall, there were 56proposals to show tableauxthis year, they said.

Cong, SP in competition overwho can target Hindus more: BJPPNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP alleged on Tuesdaythat its rivals Samajwadi Partyand the Congress appeared to bein a competition over who canspew more venom againstHindus and protect those whodo so. BJP spokesperson SambitPatra cited Islamic clericMaulana Tauqeer Raza Khan'ssupport to the Congress in UttarPradesh assembly polls and theSP nominating several Muslimsallegedly accused of involve-ment in riots and making com-munal remarks to attack theseparties.

Khan had recently made aspeech targeting Hindus, Patrasaid and noted the Congress hadallied in the past with parties

which draw its support fromMuslims in states like Kerala,Karnataka and West Bengal andwere accused of making commu-nal remarks aimed at the major-ity community. The SP has alsogiven tickets to people like NahidHasan, an MLA currently in jail,and Muharram Ali, accused ofstoking riots, Patra said.

Centre flags decline in Covidtesting, asks states to enhance itPNS n NEW DELHI

Flagging a decline in thenumber of COVID-19tests in many states andunion territories, theCentre on Monday askedthem to enhance testingso that an effective trackof the spread of the pan-demic can be kept andimmediate citizen-cen-tric action can be initiat-ed.

In a letter to states andUTs, Additional Secretaryin the Union HealthMinistry Arti Ahujaadvised them to payattention to this aspectimmediately and increasethe testing in a strategicmanner keeping in viewthe trend of case positiv-ity in specific areas.

She highlighted thatOmicron, which has beendesignated by the WorldHealth Organization(WHO) as a variant ofconcern, is currentlyspreading across the

country. Referring to theministry's earlier lettersand the Home Ministryadvisory of December 27last year laying out thebroad framework of pan-demic management inthe context of Omicron,Ahuja said testingremains a key and crucialcomponent.

"However, it is seenfrom the data available onthe ICMR portal thattesting has declined inmany states and unionterritories," she wrote.She said in all advisorieson testing issued by theIndian Council of

Medical Research(ICMR), including thelatest on January 10, thebasic objective remainsearly detection of casesfor quick isolation andcare.

In addition, testingremains a key strategy forpandemic managementas it helps in identifica-tion of new clusters andnew hotspots of infectionwhich can in turn facili-tate immediate action forcontainment such as set-ting up of containmentzones, contact tracing,quarantining, isolationand follow-up.

Beating Retreat ceremonyto have 1000 dronesPNS n NEW DELHI

The annual Beatingthe Retreat ceremo-ny, which takesplace in the nation-al capital on January29, will have a showof nearly 1,000drones by a IIT-Delhi-based start-up to commemo-rate 75 years of thecountry's indepen-

dence, senior offi-cials of the defenceministry said onTuesday. Moreover,for the first time, onthe parapet of thenorth block and thesouth block, therewill be a laser pro-jection mappingshow to commemo-rate 75 years ofindependence, theyadded.

BSF seizes fake driving licencesfrom truckers at Bangladesh frontPNS n NEW DELHI

The Border Security Force(BSF) has seized 82 fake dri-ving licences from truck dri-vers this week at the India-Bangladesh border checkpost at Petrapole in WestBengal stating these illegalacts could "compromise"national security. The southBengal frontier of the forceand its officials headquar-tered in Kolkata said in astatement on Monday thatwhile they do not want tocreate any "disruption" incross-border trade betweenthe two neighbours, rules inthis regard will have to be fol-lowed. The border guardingforce said its troops launched

an intensive search onJanuary 16 and 17 at thePetrapole integrated checkpost (ICP) in the North 24Parganas district of WestBengal after it got "inputs thatfew drivers (of heavy vehicleslike trucks) are involved incarrying out trans-bordercrimes such as smuggling ofgold, silver, phensedyl syrup(a cough syrup abused as nar-cotics drug in Bangladesh),drugs etc. while engaged inexport and import of goodsbetween India andBangladesh."The Bangladeshiside opposite this borderpost is called Benapole andeveryday hundreds of truckswith goods cross over to theeither side.

R-Day: Delhi-NCR underhigh-securitycoverPNS n NEW DELHI

Ahead of Republic Day, the Delhi-National Capital Region has beenput under a "very high-security"cover after police received inputsfrom Intelligence agencies abouta possible terror attack, officialssaid on Tuesday. Operation ofsub-conventional aerial platforms,including UAVs, paragliders andhot air balloons, over the nation-al capital has been prohibited inthe city from January 20 in viewof Republic Day celebrations,according to a Delhi Police orderissued on Tuesday. The order shall come into force

from January 20 and remain ineffect till February 15. The orderhas been issued by Delhi PoliceCommissioner Rakesh Asthana inthe wake of reports of the possi-bility of certain criminal or anti-social elements or terrorists pos-ing a threat to the safety of thegeneral public, dignitaries andvital installations, it said.

PM interacts with BJP workers inVaranasi through NaMo app

K'taka govt warns medical professionalsof action for spreading misinformation

UP polls: Political parties locked in musical war

Minorities sidelined in Congressleadership, says CPI (M) leaderPNS n KANNUR (KERALA)

CPI(M) Kerala State secretary and senior politburo mem-ber Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Tuesday alleged that lead-ers belonging to minority communities were neglectedand sidelined in the Congress in line with the party scionRahul Gandhi's speech in Jaipur calling for establishingwhat he called as a rule of Hindus in the country afterousting the "Hindutva" government at the Centre.

All-out war between

Mamata Banerjee

and her nephew

Abhishek. Mamata’s

pictures missing

from posters in

Diamond Harbour.

BJP leader

—Amit Malviya

There are times when cir-cumstances override nationalinterests. In fact, until the endof the 18th and the beginningof the 19th century, there waslittle by way of a nationalawakening. If there was an ide-ology, it was either religion orlanguage.

More than circumstances,the fault lay with the leadershipat points of time of the coun-tries concerned. Take France,for example. As a gesture ofcivilisation, Paris declared itsoverseas empire to be metro-politan France. This made iteasily possible for people fromFrench colonies like Algeria,Morocco, etc., to emigrate tothe cities and towns of France.Today, this European countryhas two huge segments ofpeople, European and African.Being culturally and religious-ly very different, they find itdifficult to coexist. Germanyand Turkey were allies duringthe two world wars. Therewere many Turks who did nothave sufficient employmentwhereas Germany wantedcheaper labour. The former,therefore, arrived in droves tomake Deutschland their homebut Berlin insisted that theycould settle only as guestworkers, not as citizens. Butwhat happens to children bornto such guest workers? To add

further to the population ofAsians in the country, whenrefugees recently came rushingin from the civil war-ravagedSyria, Chancellor (now for-mer) Angela Merkel welcomedmany of them.

Britain made the samemistake after World War IIwhen it needed cheaper labour.There were ready arrivals fromthe West Indies, India andPakistan. Now there are prob-lems with civic living in thismulti-racial national life. In the17th and the 18th centuries,the USA imported slaves fromWest Africa on a large scale. Aswe have noted, there was afour-year civil war between thenorthern States who wanted toabolish slavery and the south-ern ones, who saw this evil andinhuman institution as theirlegitimate way of life. But theAmerican leadership did notlearn their lesson and freelyallowed in more and more set-tlers. The Democratic Partysupports them whereas theRepublicans wish to largelyretain the white (European)character of the USA. Hencethe Blue versus Red Statesdivergence referred to above.

Who is India to give adviceto these countries? It has alsoblundered. At Partition timeand throughout 1946-47, theMuslim League insisted on an

exchange of population as thehomeland called Pakistan wasfor all the Islamic people of thesubcontinent. Dr RajendraPrasad, Independent India’sfirst President, wrote a book onthe subject called IndiaDivided, offering an answer forthose who could not move out.They could stay on, but not ascitizens. Instead, they would betreated as aliens with resi-dence visas, sans politicalrights. Pakistan’s founderMohammad Ali Jinnahendorsed Dr Prasad’s views.But Gandhi and JawaharlalNehru not only opposed thispractical solution, but wereunjust to millions of people.The distinguished Pakistanischolar Ayesha Jalal in herbook The Sole Spokesmanhas raised the question: whyPartition then? The Muslim-majority provinces like Punjaband Bengal did not need norwant the break; it were main-ly the Muslim-minorityprovinces like UP and BombayPresidency which pressed forit. Eventually, their minoritieslargely got left behind in India.What a fiasco it has turned outto be?

(The writer is a well-knowncolumnist, an author and aformer member of the RajyaSabha. The views expressedare personal.)

DIRTY POLITICS OVER TABLEAUX Sir —The exclusion of tableaux proposedby Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengalfrom this year’s Republic Day Parade hasno rational explanation or justification;it constitutes a politically motivated andbiased move to exclude what is not inconformity with Hindu Right’s exclusiveHindutva or Hindu nationalist narrativeand agenda and a response to the elec-toral defeats inflicted on the BJP in theaforesaid States. India is a federal Republicfor the ruling dispensation to be so sum-marily dismissive of ‘regional pride’. Weare totally justified in saying that theRepublic Day pageantry should showcaseIndia’s diversity. We are not so naive asto believe that the Union Governmenthad no role in nixing the tableaux of thethree Opposition-ruled States and the‘apolitical subject experts’ found themwithout merit ‘after due process anddeliberations’ and took the decision.

By dropping the tableau of WestBengal featuring Netaji SubhasChandra Bose, Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore, SriAurobindo, Swami Vivekananda,Nazrul Islam and Birsa Munda and thetableau of Tamil Nadu portrayingMahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar,VO Chidambaranar, Rani VeluNachiyar and Maruthu Brothers, theModi Government has betrayed thekind of patriotism it practises. As adescendant of those political forces thattook no part in the freedom struggle,the BJP does not seem to be quite inter-ested in celebrating India’s valiant free-dom fighters on the occasion of theRepublic Day.

G David Milton | Maruthancode

BANK SERVICES NEED IMPROVEMENTSir — It has been reported that the StateBank of India (SBI) has hiked the inter-est on fixed deposits. The hike is noth-ing but a pittance. What was 4.9 per centis now 5.1 per cent. It means an increaseof 20 paise over the previous rate. Doesthis require publicity? The publicitygiven indicates as though we are livingin the 1950s when a rupee was able to

fetch 20 seers (not kgs) of rice. The quality of service in banks has

been deteriorating. Bank customers havebeen given the responsibility of makingpass book entries by themselves in themachine kept outside. Installation ofATM machines has further reduced thework burden of bank employees in thecase of withdrawal of deposit amount.When a bank account holder shifts toanother place, a single request letter totransfer his account to the bank branchof his choice does not draw the attentionof the concerned to consider the request.Fixed Deposits account is also not beingtransferred easily on request. Because ofthis, aged persons in particular are fac-ing an ordeal of traveling to the bankwhere the account was held earlier. Thedifficulty is more pronounced at a timewhen the corona is at its peak.

KV Seetharamaiah | Bengaluru

RAJAPPA’S DEMISE IS A BIG LOSSSir — The passing away of veteran jour-nalist Sam Rajappa, whose name is syn-

onymous with the Kolkata based dailyThe Statesman, is a huge loss to Indianprint journalism. His rich experience inthe profession, deep knowledge in pol-itics, and absolute command over theEnglish language, have all made himone of the finest ever Indian journalists.A fact well known by contemporaryjournalists that Sam Rajappa stronglyfavoured and followed “Queen’s English”throughout his journalistic career andnever compromised on the language,both in style and grammar.

Years ago, I was working with a lead-ing publication office in Chennai, locat-ed close to The Statesman’s office, andI had the opportunity to interact withMr Rajappa a few times. Not only washe affable and down-to-earth, but I alsofound him to be an encyclopedia, whocould reel out information on any sub-ject at the drop of a hat.

Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai

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

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HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 19, 2022

06

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Despite the Partition on religious lines, we are still religious factionswhose ultimate loyalties are similar to those of Indians in the UK

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN

CIRCUMSTANCESOVERRIDENATIONAL

INTERESTS. INFACT, UNTIL THE

END OF THE 18THCENTURY, THERE

WAS LITTLE BYWAY OF ANATIONAL

AWAKENING. IFTHERE WAS AN

IDEOLOGY, IT WASEITHER RELIGION

OR LANGUAGE

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

PRAFULL GORADIA

In the majority of team sports, a captainis as good as his team. A win, and the cap-tain takes most of the credit. A loss, and

the captain is panned more than anybodyelse. There is no denying that there were,and there will be, exceptional captains. Greatcaptains are born leaders who marshal theirteam members with a deep sense ofinstinct. Their gut feelings almost always fallin place when they carry their teams to glory.These leaders are respected and loved —generally these don’t go together. In recent

times, Saurav Ganguly and MS Dhoni weretwo Indian cricket captains who command-ed awe and affection in equal measure. Theformer was flamboyant while the latter keptto himself. But the end result was the same.Players who played under Ganguly andDhoni recall their association with the twowith admiration and fondness.

Everything was not hunky-dory in theIndian dressing room, and Kohli’s report-ed rift with Rohit Sharma and RavichandranAshwin will rankle. But nothing can beat hisrepeated display of tantrums on the groundthat prompted experts to call him “imma-ture”. The Cape Town Test against SouthAfrica saw Kohli in full blast on the field; notas a batsman but as a captain. That said,free from the captaincy burden, master bats-man Virat Kohli should regain his pristinetouch, and carry India to more victories withhis batting exploits.

Ganapathi Bhat | Akola

Kohli will only emerge stronger

National integrity,cohesive people

The anniversary of CapitolInsurrection — when anincumbent PresidentDonald Trump gestured

through an apparent revolt thathe was not accepting the electoralverdict in favour of Democrat JoeBiden — was all over the medialast fortnight. Some writers seemto suggest that the Red States inthe USA (Republican majority)could be prepared to separatefrom the Blue ones (Democraticmajority). That might be a splitbetween the Liberal and theConservatives Americans, butby no means is wide enough tojustify the breakup of the coun-try. Lest one forgets, a bitter CivilWar was fought for four yearsfrom 1861 to 1865 between thenorthern Yanks and the southernConfederates. Abraham Lincolnled the former with a missionaryzeal, winning the war and pre-serving the Union, gaining recog-nition as the greatest President ofthe USA.

It is, however, true that beinga creation of random immigra-tion from the 15th centuryonwards, the USA does not havean integrated ethos. There arepeople of European, Japanese,Chinese, Korean, Indian,Hispanic, Arab and other Islamicorigins. Most Indians do not raisetheir political heads. The othershave a political muscle which theycould use to further their cause.Indian-origin citizens, when theyshow up at cricket grounds in theUK, cheer the ethnic team, i.e.,India, despite themselves holdingBritish passports. Nevertheless,this is not a desirable symptombecause it reflects that the nationdoes not have a single ethos andholds out a threat of a breakupwhich we are discussing.

But why go far? India has onesingle ethos plus several otherpolitical sentiments. Despite thepartition on entirely religiouslines in 1947, we are still religiousfactions whose ultimate loyaltiesare similar to those of Indians inthe UK. Unlike the USA and theUK, India has not undergonerandom immigrations. India’s isa unique tale, which can be toldby a historian who cannot justi-fy its lack of an integrated ethosthat can ensure national unity forall times and under all circum-stances.

SOUNDBITE

I don’t regret it (my arrest) for asecond. This is our country and we have no other.

Kremlin’s critic—Alexei Navalny

Hi Mr Elon @elonmusk. I’mfrom Tamil Nadu.Welcome to India’s EV capital. #tnforpartnership

TN Industries Minister

—Thangam Thenarasu

Saleem Malik hadthis smug look onhis face, like, ‘Youshould have takenthe cash’.

Australia ex-bowler—Shane Warne

Political discourse in Kerala touched the nadir of decency as leaders shoutat each other using the choicest of abuses. Though there is no election roundthe corner in Kerala, political one-upmanship continues to rule the roost.

KP Anil Kumar, a Congress leader who defected to the CPI(M) for not getting hisshare in the reorganisation of the party, was seen threatening K Sudhakaran, thePradesh Congress chief of dire consequences. “We will lynch Sudhakaran like amad dog in the streets of Kerala,” shouted Kumar while addressing a public meet-ing. The recent murder of an activist of the SFI owing allegiance to the CPI(M) is

the root cause of the outbursts by Anil Kumar. TheCPI(M), which returned to power in the 2021Assembly election much against the precedence ofthe party in power biting the dust in the subsequentelection, should have shown maturity and restrainton the murder of its own activist. Though the policehas arrested three Congress workers in connectionwith the murder, the CPI(M) leaders allege Sudhakaranto be the master brain behind the killing. The mediain Kerala known for its pro-CPI(M) stance parrotedthe allegation and blacked out the version ofSudhakaran from the narrative. This led to a verbal

duel between the PCC chief and journalists at the Press Club in the Capital.Media is entrusted with the responsibility of reporting facts and they should

never misinterpret words. Let it be done by political observers or commentatorsto suit their line of thinking. If the media has strong evidence linking Sudhakaranto the murder, it could ask him for clarification and not accuse him of a crimeabout which he was in the dark. Sudhakaran, who is known for his boldness anduprightness has always been an eyesore for the Marxists because of his abilityto take the comrades head on in northern Kerala’s party villages where only thewrit of the Marxists run whoever is in power in Thiruvananthapuram. The CPI(M)is better advised to speak in cohesion and unity. Polit Bureau member SR Pillaiwas heard alleging that India is tormenting China. Party’s State secretary KodiyeriBalakrishnan is on record declaring that India got independence because of theCPI(M), a political outfit that was formed in 1964. Re-education is a must for lead-ers and cadres alike because of the information technology era in which we live.

The Election Commission has postponed the date of voting for the election tothe Punjab Assembly from February 14 to 20. By itself the change is not note-worthy; a mere administrative exercise. Politically, however, the significance is

not lost on anyone in the country. It is a curious display of unity amid diversity byall political parties to set aside their electoral differences to ensure that the electiondate does not come in the way of a section of Punjab's electorate conducting animportant religious ritual. The deferred election date allows a particular Dalit com-munity to visit Varanasi on the occasion of Guru Ravidas Jayanti on February 16.The ‘Ravidassias’, as the followers of the mystic poet-saint are called, mostly inhab-it Punjab's Doaba region and their numbers have a say in 23 Assembly constituen-cies. Dalits comprise 32 per cent of the State's population. Over a third of them areconcentrated in the Doaba. And over 60 per cent of Doaba's Dalits are Ravidassias.This is the political context to the ‘humanitarian’ gesture by the political parties. Afterthe deferment, the parties are in a race to take credit for it. The prize is such. In a

multi-cornered election, anybody bagging themaximum support of the Dalits can dream of anedge in the 117-member Assembly.

Would not the Dalits be wondering why the good-will of the political parties does not reach out to themwhen elections are not around? The Dalits, for whomthe election date was changed because their votescount, otherwise complain of indifference from thesevery parties. They are certainly on the path to eman-cipation because of affirmative actions like reser-vation, but are as vulnerable today as before tocasteist attacks in terms of a ban on entry into tem-

ples, sporting a moustache, riding a horse, using cremation grounds and the like.The National Crime Records Bureau tells us that a Dalit in India was the victim of acrime every 10 minutes in 2020 and the situation was no different in 2021. Dalitsare attacked for the silliest of excuses — beaten up for wearing leather shoes in Gujarat,paraded naked for swimming in a well in Maharashtra, even killed for sitting cross-legged during a temple ritual in Tamil Nadu. They are subjected to gross and inhu-man insults like being urinated upon. In a case from Bihar a month ago, a personwho lost a village election blamed the Dalits for his defeat and forced a Dalit to lickspit as punishment. Dalit women and girls are molested, raped and killed at whim.Dalit politics takes centre stage whenever elections are around and sympathy to theircause replaces the usual indifference. If the deferment of the Punjab election dateis not to be construed as merely a gesture with a selfish motive, political partiesmust proactively address discrimination and violence against Dalits and not dismissthem as an embarrassing relic of the past.

Mockery

Due diligenceThe CPI(M) is better advised to be responsible

and speak in cohesion and unity

PICTALK

Tourists visit the Taj Mahal on a cold winter day PTI

Political goodwill reaches to Dalits only when the elections are around

I have no interestin netagiri .... but Ithink Congress willturn me into aleader.

Film director— Kangana Ranaut

Caste coalition inUP at crossroads

GOANS WILL VOTE WHERE THEY SEE

HOPE AND THE CONGRESS IS HOPE

FOR THE BJP, NOT GOANS.

—DELHI CHIEF MINISTER

ARVIND KEJRIWAL

MY ASSESSMENT THAT THE AAP WILL ONLY

FRACTURE THE NON-BJP VOTE HAS BEEN

CONFIRMED BY ARVIND KEJRIWAL.

—CONGRESS LEADER

P CHIDAMBARAM

OBCs may have been satisfied with the call of Mandirs and mutts, but what

they want is true empowerment where they have an equal share of power

Tension is brewing between Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK and stateGovernor over the latter not forwarding the Tamil NaduAdmission Undergraduate Medical Degree Courses Bill 2021,

passed by the Legislative Assembly, for consideration of the President.The bill seeks to bypass the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)for medical students in Tamil Nadu by allowing admissions to be madebased on marks obtained by students in Class XII or Plus Two. Allparties, except the BJP, support the Bill. As it attempts to bypass aCentral law, the Bill needs Presidential assent to come into force. Nowas the state governor has not acted on the legislation sent to him,the state government has put pressure on him. Various DMK MPs triedto meet the President of India but in vain. They had to satisfy them-selves by submitting a memorandum to the President’s office. Theirmeeting with the Union Home Minister also did not materialise. A meet-

ing of all the legislature parties chaired by Tamil Nadu Chief Ministerwas conducted on January 8 to take necessary legal steps to abol-ish NEET. The meeting decided to take other state governments intoconfidence and put up a collective fight against NEET. Senior BJPleader and MLA Vanathi Srinivasan righty denied the contention of theDravidian parties that NEET for medical admissions was against theprinciples of social justice and the reservation policy followed in TamilNadu. When all the reservations applicable for Scheduled Caste,Scheduled Tribe, Backward Class, etc., are intact even after NEET sys-tem, how is it against any social justice? Hence, the contention thatNEET affects social justice is a blatant lie.

The Constitution backs the governor who”shall declare either thathe assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or thathe reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President.” When itis not a Money bill there is no compulsion for him to return the billimmediately. Even if the said bill is sent to the President, the CentralGovernment in all likelihood may not agree for giving consent for thelegislation of the Tamil Nadu Government due to the following fac-tors. First, the TN legislation is against the Central Government Actand any tinkering will amount to violation of aSupreme Court ruling.Secondly, among all the states in India, only Tamil Nadu is againstNEET and there is no political compulsion for Centre to side with theTN government. Thirdly, the ruling dispensation in TN is politicallyagainst BJP at the Centre and there is no need for BJP to help DMKto fulfil its election promise. Fourthly, even when BJP’s alliance part-ner AIADMK was in power in TN, the BJP government was not inclinedto remove NEET. When the GO issued by the TN Government for admis-sion to academic year 2017-18, it was contested by the students fromCBSE stream. While delivering the judgement the following commentswere made by the judge: “The case as projected by the Governmentby treating the students from the CBSE Board undoubtedly indicatesthe mind of the State Government that they want to look at those stu-dents as though they do not belong to this State.” It seems still thepresent state government has not learnt any lesson from the aboveobservation. More number of students from Tamil Nadu have clearedNEET this year. Among the top 50,000 national rank holders, the num-ber of TN students has increased to 2874 this year, as against 2747last year. Hence there is no truth in the statement that TN studentscannot pursue medical education due to introduction of NEET.

(The writer is a retired banker. The views expressed are personal.)

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 19, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNNEET AND THE POLITICS

OF TAMIL NADU

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

S KALYANASUNDARAM

BISWAJEET BANERJEE

That the test is against social justice is a fallacy

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Partygot a major setback when a tallOBC leader representing thenumerically dominant Kushwaha,

quit Yogi’s cabinet and later joinedSamajwadi Party with a vow to finish theBJP from the State. The day he joined SP,Swamy Prasad Maurya claimed that “it isa history that the party I leave is finishedwith the passage of time”. It could be aboastful assertion which he made whenprobably he got swayed by the massivecrowd that assembled at the SamajwadiParty office to welcome him. But thisswitch is an indication that the rainbowcoalition of upper caste, backward, andDalits which the BJP had stitched assid-uously in the last seven years has startedcrumbling.

The importance of Swami PrasadMaurya could be gauged from the fact thatafter him quitting the Government, twomore ministers and around a dozen BJPlawmakers, all non-Yadav OBC leaders,resigned from the party. They have showntheir loyalty to Maurya and claimed thatthey will swim with him. The indicationsare more desertions may follow.Incidentally, the majority of them wereoriginally with BSP and had joined BJPalong with Maurya after desertingMayawati.

The revolt by these OBCs leadersagainst the BJP leadership ahead of thecrucial UP assembly elections has comeas a shot in the arm for the oppositionSamajwadi party. Akhilesh Yadav tweet-ed a picture of himself with Maurya andwrote: “Saamajik nyay kaa inqalabhoga,baaes me badlavhoga (There will be a rev-olution in the field or social justice andthere will be change in UP).”

The sudden political developmentcaught the BJP leadership, which appearsto have grown complacent after threeback-to-back electoral successes in the2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections andthe 2017 UP assembly elections, unawares.This victory centered around the supportof backward communities, which accountfor 54 percent of the population. This sup-port base was built brick by brick by AmitShah in 2016 when he was the nationalpresident of the party. He was the one whopicked up Swamy Prasad Maurya and per-suaded him to join BJP along with his sup-porters. The BJP needs to introspect asto why and how this support group dis-integrated putting the party in a soup.

The resentment among backwardagainst the Chief Minister Yogi is not new.The anger was simmering for the last cou-ple of years. There is an impression thatthe BJP Government is pro-Thakurbecause Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathbelongs to that caste. Word started spread-ing that the members of the backwardcommunity were being ignored.

Even the Deputy Chief Minister in theYogi cabinet, Keshav Prasad Maurya,himself an OBC who belongs to the samecaste as Swamy Prasad Maurya, showed

IN THE BUDGETFOR 2021-22, THE

FINANCE MINISTERANNOUNC

his annoyance at the way themembers of the backward commu-nity were ignored. The RSS lead-ership placated him and early lastyear when Yogi along with seniorBJP leaders had a luncheon meet-ing with Maurya at his residence.The indications were that “every-thing has been sorted out” but themeeting failed to douse the angerof the backwards.

Political analysts, however,point out that the BJP in the lasteight years with its social engineer-ing politics along with the benefitsthrough ‘Direct benefit transfer’(DBT) believed that it has upstagedthe caste-based identity politics.The BJP leadership believed thatthe members from the SC and theOBCs are no longer attracted tocaste lines. It is believed that theeconomic needs of this section havebeen fulfilled by the NarendraModi and Yogi Adtyanath govern-ments in the last five years throughthe free distribution of food grains.

In fact, BJP mis-read the trend.Free distribution of food grainsdoes not lead to empowerment ofany caste. It is a feelgood factor forshorter period of time but at alonger run, it proved detrimentalfor the party. There is a beliefamong the villagers that the free-bie scheme which has started, willnot be withdrawn by the next gov-ernment.

The way OBC leaders are leav-ing BJP is not a good sign for theruling party particularly when anelection bugle has been soundedbecause leaders like Swami PrasadMaurya and his colleagues stillcommand clout in their respectivecommunities and enjoy ideologi-

cal weightage.The voters from the OBCs

and SCs will face the dilemma onthe day of voting whether torespond to the traditional optics ofcaste appeal or go with the politicsof economic and social empower-ment. The Yadavs are already withSamajwadi Party and after leaderslike Swami Prasad Maurya, LaljiVerma, and Ram Achal Rajbharjoined SP, now Akhilesh hasbecome the focal point aroundwhom the backward politics willrevolve now.

What has happened last weekis a clear indication that caste-basedpolitics is threatening to upstageHindutva politics, despite the saf-fron-clad Yogi Adityanath is theHindutva icon for the BJP and theparty’s campaign is revolvingaround Ram Janmabhoomi andKashi Vishwanath Dham. Therewere rumours that Yogi would con-test assembly elections fromAyodhya but later it was commu-nicated he would contest fromGorakhpur.

BJP continued to play aroundthe arrogance of Yogi by projectinghim as the staunch Hindutva icon.Slogans like “Raj tilak ki karotayari, aa rahen hai bhagwadhari(Get ready for coronation as a saf-fron-clad is coming)” were sharedwidely during the digital cam-paign kicked off two days back.

The party added further dosesof Hindutva by propagating theconstruction of Ram Mandir andthe inauguration of KashiVishwanath Dham as its achieve-ments. A new twist was added tothis Hindutva story when BJP lead-ers started talking about Mathura.

In contrast, Samajwadi Partypresident Akhilesh Yadav whohad contested the 2017 election onthe development plank with thetagline of “Kaam bolta hai”, choserealpolitik as he shed all inhibi-tions and joined the caste band-wagon. He started his crusade byfirst asking for the caste-basedcensus and even gave a slogan of“85 vs15” indicating that theOBCs were 85 percent of thepopulation while the uppercasteswere a minuscule minorityof 15 percent.

He followed it up by scoutingfor new caste-based parties asallies. He even made it clear thatSamajwadi Party will never haveany trucks with big parties. Hepatched up with his estrangeduncle Shivpal Yadav to consolidatethe backward caste vote bank. Thecreation of a large coalition of theneglected, excluded and undocu-mented backward castes andDalits could be a game-changer forthe Samajwadi Party.

On the other hand, BJP’s socialengineering tactics meantregrouping of the non-Yadav, non-Jatav OBC, and Dalit sub-castes inits favour. But what had happenedin last two days is a clear indica-tion that the members of thebackward community are nowasking for their pound of flesh.They are satisfied with the call ofMandirs or mutts but they wantempowerment in the true sense —where they have an equal share ofpower. This has crumbled thecookie of Hindutva.

In short, the ghost of Mandalis out of Kamandal and it is set toturn the UP election on its head.

(The writer is PoliticalEditor, Lucknow

Edition. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Former Uttar Pradesh chiefminister and SamajwadiParty chief Akhilesh

Yadav has emerged as the pri-mary challenger to the BJP inthe February Assembly pollsnow that the poll scene isexplicit.

The massive turnout at theyoung Yadav chieftain’s electionrallies is testimony to Akhilesh’sgrowing popularity. Mostpsephologists say that the pollshave become a bi-polar contestbetween the Samajwadi Partyand BJP. Recently, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi alsoremarked about the growingsupport base saying ‘Lal topi’ (red cap) is a ‘Lal batti’ (redlight) for UP.

Yadav Junior came out ofthe shadows of his father andformer chief minister MulayamSingh Yadav a long time ago,

and today he is the only leaderfor his party. Akhilesh hasgone through many ups anddowns in his two decades ofpolitical life. Leading the elec-tion campaign for the coalition,he is a much more maturepolitician today.

SP’s political strategy iswell calibrated. Akhilesh hasstrengthened himself withinthe party and sorted out hisfamily fights with his uncleShivpal Yadav who is now backin the fold.

Single-handedly hestitched up alliances, particu-larly with Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal. What isworking to the benefit of the SPis the support from the farm-ers community in westernUttar Pradesh. They have beenupset with the BJP for almostone year, as the Centre did not

heed their protests against thethree farm laws passed inParliament in 2019. The Jatshold the key in Western UPand they back RLD.

The junior Yadav hasastutely moved away from hisfather’s trusted Muslim-Yadavformula to a new kind of socialengineering for a larger socialcoalition. Akhilesh has learnedlessons the hard way. He hadexperimented with severalcombinations. As joining hands

with Congress in the 2017Assembly elections and withthe BSP in 2019 polls failed toyield the desired results, he isnow depending on smallercaste-based regional parties,particularly those with a non-Yadav OBC base. He has ropedin smaller parties like RashtriyaLok Dal, Mahan Dal, SanjaySingh Chouhan’s Democratic(Socialist) Party, Krishna Patel’sApna Dal (Communist),Rajesh Siddhartha’s PoliticalJustice, and Ram Raj SinghPatel’s Akhil Bhartiya KisanSena.

Interestingly, the SP chiefhas promised a caste census ifelected to power. Thoughbackward classes parties havebeen in power in UttarPradesh since the early 1990s,his predecessors did not takeany risk.

His calculations are basedon the Samajwadi Party’s inter-nal surveywhich revealed thatin the 2017 elections, over 50per cent of OBCs voted for BJPwhile around 15 per cent sup-ported SP. Akhilesh has givenan open invitation to all partiesand sections to join him inthrowing out the BJP.

He successfully poached onseveral OBC leaders from theBJP, including Swami PrasadMaurya, in his efforts to broad-en his party’s social base. Twoinfluential ministers and someMLAs quit BJP and joined SPdays before the poll announce-ment. Swami Prasad Maurya, apowerful OBC leader and five-time MLA, joined BJP in 2016after quitting Mayawati’sBahujan Samaj Party. Manyfrom BSP like Yogesh Verma,Mithai Lal Bharti have already

switched to SP.As for countering

Kamandal politics, Akhileshhas embraced the “me too” lineto counter BJP’s politics. He hasalso promised to establishVishnu Nagar and a massivestatue of Parashuram on thePurvanchal expressway.

He raises other issues likeCovid handling, development,law, and order, poor healthinfrastructure, reservation, andinflation. He also presents thecontroversial incidents inGorakhpur, Hathras, andUnnao.

BJP is counting on BrandNarendra Modi to get votes.Yogi is contesting for theAssembly for the first time. TheBJP seems to be banking on thepolarisation of Jat votes like inthe 2017 polls to maintain itsdominance.

To counter the SP castestrategy, BJP has given ticketsto 44 OBC names, including 16Jats, followed by 43 uppercastes and 19 from ScheduledCastes. The list indicates thatthe BJP is hopeful of getting theJat votes in western UP, wherethe rural community is concen-trated.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra,who leads the Congress in UPis banking on women’s votesand has promised all kinds offreebies. The BSP chiefMayawati is lying low butworking quietly after her party’smiserable performance in 2017and 2019.

UP is known for castingvotes on a caste basis. WhetherAkhilesh’s Mandal politics orBJP’s Kamandal politics worksin these polls is a million-dol-lar question.

Akhilesh has astutely moved away from his father’s trusted Muslim-Yadav formula to a new kind of social engineering for a larger social coalition

OBC is the new catchphrase in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh

KALYANI SHANKAR

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 19, 2022 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Tata Motors on Tuesdaysaid it will increase pricesof its passenger vehicles

by an average of 0.9 per centwith effect from January 19,in order to partially offset theimpact of rise in inputcosts.The Mumbai-basedautomaker sells variousmodels like Tiago, Punch andHarrier, in the domesticmarket.Effective January 19,2022, an average increase of0.9 per cent will beimplemented, depending onthe variant and model, the

automaker said in a statement.At the same time, the company has alsotaken a reduction of up to Rs 10,000 on specific variants, in responseto feedback from customers, it added."While the company is absorbinga significant portion of the increased costs, the steep rise in overallinput costs has compelled it to pass on some proportion through thisminimal price hike," Tata Motors noted.It noted that in line with thecompany's customer-first approach, it has again decided to offer priceprotection to all its customers who have reposed faith and confidencein the Tata Motors' passenger vehicles range.There would be noimpact of the price increase on the cars booked on or before January18, 2022, Tata Motors stated.Last week, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI)raised prices of its models by up to 4.3 per cent with immediate effect.The company has enhanced prices across its models from 0.1 percent to 4.3 per cent owing to rinse in various input costs.

Tata Motors to hike passengervehicle prices

Sri Lanka avertsmajor default;repays USD 500million internationalsovereign bonds

PNS n NEW DELHI

Mukesh Ambani led RelianceRetail has acquired a 54 percent stake in domestic robot-ics company Addverb for USD132 million (about Rs 983crore), a senior official of therobotic firm said Tuesday.

Addverb Technologies co-founder and CEO SangeetKumar told PTI that the com-pany will continue to operateindependently and will use thefunds received from Relianceto expand business overseas aswell as set up one of thebiggest robotic manufacturingfacilities in Noida. The com-pany already has a manufac-turing plant in Noida where itproduces around 10,000robots per annum. "With thisinvestment, Reliance will holdaround 54 per cent stake in

Addverb. They become thelargest shareholder in the com-pany. Reliance was alreadyone of our esteemed clients,with whom we had co-creat-ed and delivered highly auto-mated warehouses for theirJio-Mart grocery business.

The comfort level and thetrust factor were already inplace, which led to this asso-ciation," Kumar said.Thestrategic partnership withReliance Retail will help usleverage 5G, battery technol-ogy through new energy ini-tiatives, advances in materialsciences (carbon fibre) todeliver more advanced andaffordable robots, he added.

"We are a profitable compa-ny. We will use the funds foroverseas expansion andexpanding manufacturingfacilities.

Reliance Retail buys 54pc stake in Addverb Tech

PNS n NEW DELHI

Bidding for 15 blocks offeredin the first coal-bed methane(CBM) round in more than adecade will start on February15 and end on March 15, theDirectorate General ofHydrocarbons (DGH) said onTuesday.

Bids under the Special CBMBid Round-2021, which waslaunched in September lastyear, were originally due onFebruary 20, 2022, but thedeadline was postponed.

"Bid submission for SpecialCBM Bid Round-2021 willstart on 15th February, 2022and end on 15th March, 2022,"DGH said in a notice.

The government has offered15 blocks in Maharashtra,Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal,Jharkhand, Odisha andChhattisgarh for extracting gasfrom coal seams (CBM).

This is the first CBM bidround in more than a decade.The last round was held in2010.

CBM is gas or methanefound below coal seams incoal fields. It is similar to nat-ural gas and can be used as fuelto fire power plants, run fer-tiliser units, or be used as

CNG in automobiles.The maximum number of

five coal-bed methane (CBM)blocks have been offered inMadhya Pradesh, and twoblocks each in Jharkhand,Maharashtra and Odisha.Three blocks are on offer inChhattisgarh and one in WestBengal.

The government has award-ed 29 CBM blocks in the pre-vious four rounds of bidding.

"Companies are invited tobid for exploration, develop-ment and monetisation of 15CBM blocks likely to contain

both conventional and/orunconventional hydrocarbonresources, distributed in thesedimentary basins of India,"DGH had said in the noticeinviting offers in September lastyear.

All the 15 blocks are inCategory-III basins that holdprospective resources to beexplored and discovered.

India's sedimentary basinsare divided into three cate-gories -- Category-I are basinswith reserves being producedand exploited, and Category-IIare ones with contingent

resources to be developed andmonetised.

Under the current CBMround, bidders offering to domaximum exploration workwill be awarded the block,DGH had said.

The bid round is part of thegovernment's attempt to raisedomestic oil and gas produc-tion to cut reliance on imports.India imports roughly 85 percent of its oil needs and abouthalf of the gas requirement.

Prior to the CBM launch, the

government offered 21 conven-tional oil and gas blocks forbidding in the sixth roundunder the Open AcreageLicensing Policy (OALP). Lastdate for bidding for theseblocks is February 15, 2022.

In parallel, the governmenthas offered 32 small and mar-ginal discovered fields. Thesewere discovered by state-owned Oil and Natural GasCorp (ONGC) and Oil IndiaLtd (OIL) but the companiescould not develop them for avariety of reasons, includinguneconomical size.

Now, 32 such areas havebeen offered under the thirdDiscovered Small Field (DSF)round."Bid submission for DSFBid Round-III will start on 01stFebruary, 2022 and end on15th March, 2022," DGH said.

These are part of govern-ment efforts to more thandouble the share of natural gasin the country's energy mix to15 per cent by 2030 from thecurrent 6 per cent.

State gas utility GAIL (India)Ltd is adding around 15,000kilometres of gas pipelines ineast India to an existing net-work of around 17,000 km toform a national grid that willtie into city gas networks.

Bidding for CBM blocks to starton Feb 15, end on March 15: DGH

The governmenthas offered 15blocks inMaharashtra,MadhyaPradesh, WestBengal,Jharkhand,Odisha andChhattisgarh forextracting gasfrom coal seams(CBM).

PNS nKOLKATA

Mining major Coal India Ltd iscommitted to meet the “elevat-ed” demand of the dry fuelfrom the power sector, includ-ing coastal plants dependent onimports, a company officialsaid on Tuesday.

The miner had hoped thedemand would ease byDecember last year, but that didnot happen, he said.

“We are committed to cater-ing to the coal needs of thepower sector, be it domestic orthose dependent on imports,despite CIL being stretched,” a

senior company official toldPTI when asked whether it wascapable of plugging the gapsarising out of Indonesian sup-ply disruptions.“We havealready started supplying someamount of coal to the coastalplants to cut down on imports,”he added.

Indonesia had banned coalexports since January 1 due todomestic shortages and theimpasse still prevails. This hasled to a surge in prices in theinternational market.

India imports 5-9 milliontonnes of coal per month fromIndonesia, officials said.

The world's largest miner istrying to keep up to thedemand by dispatching over1.75 million tonnes of coal perday to the power sector, theysaid.India's power consumptiongrew by 4.5 per cent inDecember 2021 to 110.34 bil-lion units (BU) over the sameperiod a year ago, according topower ministry data.In the first16 days, Coal India's averagedaily production stood at 2.35million tonnes. It is targeting670 million tonnes of produc-tion in the 2021-22 fiscal. TillJanuary 16, the total ouput wasat 445 million tonnes.

Coal India committed to meet‘elevated' demand of power sector

PNS n NEW DELHI

International oil prices jumpedto the highest level since 2014,topping USD 87 a barrel butdomestic petrol and dieselprices remained unchangedfor the 74th day in a row - afreeze that may be linked toensuing assembly elections instates like Uttar Pradesh andPunjab.

Brent - the key global oilbenchmark - soared to USD87.7 per barrel mostly due torising geopolitical tensionsand supply-side disturbancesdue to Yemen's Houthi group'sattack on oil facilities in theUnited Arab Emirates. Also,global inventories are waning.

The attack, some analystsbelieve, may lead to morehostile behaviour between thetwo power centres in theMiddle East - Iran and SaudiArabia.

But domestic fuel prices -which are directly linked tointernational oil prices - havenot been revised for over twomonths now.

Petrol costs Rs 95.41 a litrein Delhi and diesel is priced atRs 86.67. This price is afteraccounting for the excise dutycut and a reduction in VAT

rate by the state government.Prior to these tax reduc-

tions, petrol price had touchedan all-time high of Rs 110.04a litre and diesel came for Rs98.42. These rates correspond-ed to Brent soaring to a peakof USD 86.40 per barrel onOctober 26, 2021. Brent wasUSD 82.74 on November 5,2021, before it started to falland touched USD 68.87 abarrel in December.

Prices, however, started torise thereafter and on Tuesdaysoared to USD 87.7 per barrel- the highest since 2014.

Petrol and diesel prices havebeen in the past frozen beforecrucial elections.

There was a 19-day pricefreeze on petrol and dieselahead of Karnataka polls inMay 2018, despite interna-tional fuel prices going up bynearly USD 5 per barrel.However, no sooner were theelections over, oil companiesrapidly passed on to cus-tomers the desired increase —over 16-straight days post-May 14, 2018. Petrol priceclimbed by Rs 3.8 per litre anddiesel by Rs 3.38 per litreafter the hike.

Similarly, they had stoppedrevising fuel prices for almost14 days ahead of the assemblyelections in Gujarat inDecember 2017.

Oil price tops $87/bbl but petrol,diesel prices stay unchanged

PNS nMUMBAI,

Equity benchmark Sensexplunged by 554.05 points onTuesday, tracking deep loss-es in realty, auto and metalstocks amid widespread sell-ing pressure in global mar-kets.

The 30-share indexslumped by 554.05 points or0.90 per cent to end at60,754.86. The broader NSENifty fell by 195.05 points or1.07 per cent to 18,113.05.

Maruti was the top loser inthe Sensex pack, sheddingover 4 per cent, followed byTech Mahindra, HCL Tech,Tata Steel, IndusInd Bankand L&T.

Sectorally, Basic Materials,Telecom, Auto, Realty andMetal indices fell up to 2.76per cent.

On the other hand, AxisBank, HDFC Bank, ICICIBank, Kotak Bank DrReddy's, Titan and NestleIndia were the gainers.

Elsewhere in Asia, bours-es in Hong Kong, Tokyo andSeoul ended with losses,while Shanghai was posi-tive. Stock exchanges inEurope were witnessingheavy selling pressure inmid-session deals.

Sensex tanks 550pts; Nifty slumpsbelow 18,150

PNS n NEW DELHI

The accelerating pace of dig-italisation, fuelled by theCOVID-19 pandemic, has ledto a record-breaking year forcybercrime with ransomwareattacks rising 151 per cent in2021, and an average of 270cyberattacks per organisationbeing faced, a new studyshowed on Tuesday.

The World EconomicForum's 'Global CybersecurityOutlook 2022', released duringits online Davos Agenda sum-mit, further said that each suc-cessful cyber breach cost acompany USD 3.6 million

(nearly Rs 27 crore) last year,while the average share priceof the hacked company under-performed NASDAQ by near-ly 3 per cent even six monthsafter the event in case of thebreach becoming public.

The WEF said the globaldigital economy surged onthe back of the COVID-19pandemic, but so has cyber-crime and nearly 80 per centof cyber leaders now consid-er ransomware a 'danger' and'threat' to public safety.

At the same time, there is alarge perception gap betweenbusiness executives who thinktheir companies are secure

and security leaders who dis-agree.Some 92 per cent ofbusiness executives surveyedagree that cyber resilience isintegrated into enterprise risk-management strategies, but

only 55 per cent of cyberleaders surveyed agreed. Thisgap between leaders can leavefirms vulnerable to attacks asa direct result of incongruoussecurity priorities and policies,the report said. Even after athreat is detected, the WEFsurvey conducted in collabo-ration with Accenture, foundthat nearly two-thirds wouldfind it challenging to respondto a cybersecurity incident dueto the shortage of skills with-in their team.Even more trou-bling is the growing trend thatcompanies need 280 days onaverage to identify andrespond to a cyberattack.

Cyberattacks surge amid acceleratingpace of COVID-driven digitalisation

PNS n NEW DELHI

Gaming and sports media com-pany Nazara Technologies onTuesday said it will acquire a 55per cent stake in programmat-ic advertising and monetisationcompany Datawrkz for aboutRs 124 crore.

The transaction values theBengaluru-based company atRs 225 crore (approximatelyUSD 30 million), linked to CY22 EBITDA performance, a fil-ing said.The Board hasapproved the strategic invest-ment by the acquisition of37,498 equity shares - represent-ing 55 per cent of the equityshare capital, on a fully dilutedbasis -- of Datawrkz BusinessSolutions Private Limited along

with its wholly-owned sub-sidiaries at a total considerationnot exceeding Rs 124 crores intwo tranches, it added.

The shares will be boughtfrom existing shareholdersSenthil Govindan, KarthighaDhanabalan, K Arunprabu,Mayank Khirwadkar and VishalTukaranm Garale, it said. In thefirst tranche, Nazara will acquirea 33 per cent share for Rs 60crore during the first quarter ofFY2022-23 and it reserves anoption to acquire an addition-al 22 per cent share in the sec-ond tranche that is expected toclose in the fourth quarter ofFY2022-23, the filing added.

In a statement, Nazara said ofthe Rs 60 crore payable, Rs 35crores are partly payable in

cash and the balance consider-ation of Rs 25 crore will be paideither in cash or swap of sharesin the first tranche by April2022.

Datawrkz tech offerings willenhance the in-house capabil-ities of Nazara for optimising itscustomer acquisition spendsas well as enhance yields on admonetisation of its large con-

sumer base. This ad revenuemonetisation is expected toassist many of the companies inthe 'Friends of Nazara' network.

With this transaction,Datawrkz also aims to establishitself as a key player in gaming,covering both demand andsupply side offerings for thegaming ecosystem in the USand India.

Nazara acquires majority stake in Datawrkz for Rs 124 crRupee slumps 33 paise to close at74.58 against US dollarPNS nMUMBAI

Continuing its fall for thethird consecutive session,the rupee on Tuesdayslumped 33 paise to close at

74.58 (provisional) againstthe US dollar as strongAmerican currency and ele-vated crude oil prices contin-ue to weigh on investor sen-timents.

PNS nCOLOMBO

Sri Lanka has repaid USD500 million international sov-ereign bond (ISB) that wasdue for settlement, theCentral Bank said onTuesday, averting a majordefault amidst deepeningforex crisis and spirallingexternal debt in the islandnation.

The development camedays after India earlier thismonth announced a USD900 million loan to Lanka tobuild up its depleted foreignreserves and for foodimports.

"Sri Lanka has paid theUSD 500 million sovereignbond that matured today(Jan 18)," Central Bank AjithCabraal tweeted. The interna-tional rating agencies hadexpressed doubts over theisland nation's ability to meetits international sovereignbond payments of USD 1.5billion, including the firstUSD 500 million whichmatured on Tuesday.

The face of men grooming rit-uals has undergone a seachange, and it is having amoment lately. With the pan-demic imposing closures ofsalons and barbershops, there

is a boom in demand for men’s groom-ing products and services. Notably,men’s grooming is incomplete withoutmanscaping. However, most of us areunaware of this term and wonder whatexactly manscaping is? To put it plainly,manscaping is a routine of removing ortrimming men’s body hair to enhancetheir appearances.

With the prominence of manscaping,its ways have transformed with time.Today, in the age of body positivity, menare no longer shamed if they sport aneatly trimmed chest, arms and legs. Itis widely accepted today if men choose

to remove unwanted body hair like theirwomen counterparts. For your ease ofbuilding up a routine, here’s a list of 4ways to master the art of manscapingwith perfection.

Choosing the ideal trimmer &blade

There are four manscaping optionsfor men (trimming, waxing, shaving,and applying depilatory creams), andthey have to decide which one suitsthem the best. Among all, trimming isconsidered the safest and hassle-free.This is because shaving has a highchance of causing nicks and cuts.Besides, men do not use separate bladesfor shaving specific body parts, owingto their careless and lethargic nature.They hardly keep a separate razor forshaving their sensitive-prone private

parts. Although shaving is a fastprocess, it causes cuts, and the razorsare usually designed for removing facialhair.

On the other hand, neither waxingprovides the much-needed trimmedsophisticated look, nor do depilatorycreams suit the skin type of everyone.This indicates the importance of choosing a body trimmer speciallydesigned for body trimming over anordinary beard trimmer meant for facialhair to keep your chest groomed everytime.

The Ballistic Body Trimmer by Zladeis an exceptionally curated body hairtrimmer that seamlessly trims the inti-mate parts of your body. It is equippedwith ceramic blades and safe-edge tech-nology, which phenomenally protectsthe skin from nicks and cuts.

Not forgetting the aftercare

Whatever method of body hairremoval you choose (waxing, shaving,or trimming), your body skin will thankyou for slathering it with some post-manscape love. Aftercare is incrediblyessential as your skin tends to becomevulnerable to sensitivity, irritation, andinfections after manscaping. Aftershavebalms help keep your skin on yourchest, legs, and crown area soothing andreduce any kind of skin irritation orrazor bumps. Therefore, avoiding anaftershave routine is a lousy skincaremove.

Manscaping under shower

It is always advisable to conduct amanscaping routine when the water isrunning or after a shower. You can

smoothly clean the delicate parts ofyour body through friction and mini-mize the risk of cuts and razor burns bymanscaping under the shower. Shavingunder the shower also ensures that allthe mess goes right down the drain,making the process more accessible andconvenient. Keeping your skin wet ormoisturized while manscaping preventsskin itchiness and makes your workdone smoothly.

Trimming the neck hair

Skipping the neck hair trimming rou-tine is a major mistake, as it can ruin agood hairstyle by making your hairlinelook truly messy and ugly. With theright neck hair trimmer, you can shape,line up, and cut a clean neckline bytrimming your neck hair anytime to getthe perfect well-groomed look. Besides,at-home trimming also eradicates yourfrequent visits to salons and barber-shops.

Summing up

Manscaping has indeed emerged tobe an art of manliness over the years. Ithas helped men to scale up their pre-sentability and boost their self-confi-dence. So, incorporating a manscapingregimen into your personal groomingroutine is a boon that will undoubtedlyhelp you look more hygienic and pol-ished.

(The writer, Suraj Chaudhari, is the Co-founder andCEO of Zlade)

nno-vationis cen-tredontech-

nology and use oftechnology is revamp-

ing the economydoubtlessly. The technology

skill market has the most evidentmismatch vis-à-vis available talent to

fit the needs of an employer, yet themajor players are contingenting on the

automation of process efficiencies. In an inter-view with The Pioneer, Yogita Tulsiani, MD CO-

Founder at iXceed Solutions, discusses the same. As therace to hire top talent in IT heats up, Yogita tells their mission is

to enable organisations to match their growth with business demandand clients to modernise and adapt new technologies for staying aheadof the curve, by improving employee-employer relations via trust-based-hiring, seamlessly merging the practises of contractual staffing, solu-tions delivery and recruitment into a custom-fit solution.

“The start of the pandemic, as well as the introduction of technologyhas hastened the pace of distant work. The employment contracts werefloating around the market and qualified people with many offers werestill looking for better chances, amidst a lot of time in the interim. As a

result, a whole new post-covid world scenario has emerged with enter-prises attempting to build and maintain a solid IT infrastructure inorder to deploy hybrid work models at the workplace which led toincreased flexibility of IT developers and businesses towards remoteworking. — iXceed seized the opportunity, and developed a specific 5Fstrategy structure with aspects such as Focus, Find, Filter, Fit, and Flexthat allow employers and workers to make quick and informed deci-sions about cooperating. As an organisation we believed that ‘when youshare risk, the collective risk goes down.’ Buckling delivery methods ledto fastening adoption and expansion. Concomitantly they assisted com-panies in appropriating the applicants on one side, on the other sideafforded assistance to the potential employees in making the properdecision about their future employer with respect to their growthopportunities and cultural fit,” tells Yogita on the challenges the firmfaced during the pandemic and how it overcame with grace.

The firm has become so successful that they now plan to expand innew geographies – specially US. They also plan to enhance the growthof new service lines — technology solutions and enterprise services.“We also focusing on creating a better ecosystem for employees to boosttheir growth and add value to themselves.We plan to increase our rev-enue growth by 40% YOY and become the employer of choice acrossEurope and India. We intend to grow our global customer base. We’realso planning to create valuable relationships for businesses and peopleby providing efficient talent solutions. Connect talent with globalopportunities. Expand footprints in Americas and expand more in AsiaPacific. We recently started working in South-East Asian and MiddleEast markets as well. Not just this we’re also planning proliferationacross varied industries beyond IT. Expanding workforce in India,Poland, ME and other parts of world,” concludes Yogita.

Focus, Find,

Filter, Fit, and Flex

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

WednesdayJanuary 19, 2022

SHIKHA DUGGAL

ew series of Mission Frontline is beinglaunched on Discovery+ and who betterthan the action director Rohit Shetty tobe a part of it! The king of action didn’tknow at all what he was getting into —he was in there for a lot of unexpected

surprises. It was his knack to push himself intoplaces that are undiscovered and difficult to dodgeon the planet Earth that he came on board for aninteresting series like this. As serious as he looks inhis BTS scenes, we saw a very new side of the pro-prietor of the Singham franchise — immensely sar-castic and a giggling director sitting right in frontof us in a virtual press conference. It was a pleasur-able sight to watch weighty and disciplined RohitShetty indulging in a lot of laughter with us.The enormous collection of awards behind himwas a pointer towards his massive success that he’sreached all by himself. Asking him about spendinga day in action with the Armed forces and thekind of feelings he was going through, he reflects,“I felt like a police personnel for that day butdebarring the fact that I am not a commando,rest everything was definitely so real. Fromammunition, vehicles to the commandos —nothing was pretense. I realised their strug-gle, especially serving in a state like J&Klooking at the unexpected situations report-ed everyday. My association with the cops isso unbreakable that I couldn’t have turnedthis concept down ever. Singham, cops andRohit Shetty should always be taken in onesentence.”

The series wasn’t a fictitiousone, Rohit Shetty wasactually living thelife of apoliceofficerfor

a day and as a director himself he could under-stand the uphill tasks the Discovery team musthave gone through. He reveals to us, “Doing arecce at a place like Srinagar isn’t an easy task. Myphotographs are ready to be disclosed on the dayof the big launch! Whatever I had seen in aHollywood film, the kind of interceptor rooms andbullets to catch hold of terrorists is actually a reali-ty. Our country has it too! I was given adequateinformation about those shells, I was taught howto use them — it was a lifetime experience. I againfelt proud to be an Indian.”

All this while, the only thought that was pon-dering in the director’s mind was that is he gettingtrained all over again? Because, the guns he wasfiring were real! He adds, “The stories of comman-dos are even more heart-wrenching. I wasn’t with

the khakee cops; it’sa special task

force. They arethe first guys

to react in adangeroussituationbeforetheArmysteps inand whatsurprised

me wasthey livelike anyother

localsthere. They

aren’tdeployed, they

are trained underNSG. It’s not even

close to operating a policestation — such is the dif-

ference. The kids areborn there and then

join the forces,what better

way ofshowing

patrio-

tism?.”For a change, Shetty was ruling in front of the

camera and not instructing from behind and that’swhat caught our attention too! He was goingthrough a pot of mixed feelings, he responds, “Iam a constantly evolving part of the Fear Factorshow, dedicated a long time to it and that was infront of the camera. For me, it was like goingfor a shoot but with real projectiles! Iwas highly cautious of how I wasbehaving, what am I saying, amI following all of their proto-cols, etc. The temperaturewas freezing there, DalLake was frozen andthere was fog every-where. I’ll call ourcommandos super-heroes. In spite ofbeing known for acop franchise, mis-sion frontline wasthe one which dis-closed the real worldof a commandobefore me.”

When The Pioneerexclusively asked him tonarrate one of his fondestmemories that he spentwith any of the commandos,Golmaal director states, “Therewas a story at every turn, not justa story but an emotional saga unfold-ing before me. The senior most comman-do turned to a cop in 90s only because his fatherwas killed by a terrorist — the moment I heardthis it shook me. While patrolling, I heard many ofthe commandos telling me how they lost one oftheir fellow commandos, it’s sad to hear. There wasno fear in their eyes, not any of them and I wasstunned. Despite knowing the circumstances, noone ever backed out. For a matter of fact, anengineer turned to a commando because hisfather was killed by a terrorist — this willbe so inspirational for the youngstersbecause it will lead them to knowhow one must channelizetheir anger. Today, thesame person is ahighly decoratedcop in his

department.”Clarifying further how Singham 3 will always

stay as Ajay Devgn’s brand, yet episodes like thisin life upgrade him as a director to showcasemore perspectives towards the world through hismovies. Even during Mission Frontline, thedirector in him was popping out during suitableintervals to which he laughed his heart out.After serving as a host and mentor for a realitytelevision show based on fear itself for such along time, it was only natural for the press toask fears of Rohit Shetty and he asserts, “Idon’t fear anything, pressurising situations doarise. Anything can go wrong at any givenpoint of time. I have gotten upset too but Inever overthink. I don't have that time toconsume myself, every year I have a film orshow to do.”

The episodes will see him spend a daywith J&K Police’s Special Operations

Group in Srinagar and wecan’t wait to watch him

come to blowswith it!

Rohit Shetty lives the life ofa commando for a day!

Man

scap

ing:

Age

ntle

man

’sgu

ide

to g

room

ing

n

i

t

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

FUN

10

what’s brewing?Hyderabad Wednesday January 19, 2022

PAR

TY

Ph

oto

s b

y S

V C

ha

ryThe ring ceremony of

Mohammed ZeeshanOsmani saw the

attendance of all the bigwigsof the city. Home MinisterMohammed Mahmood Ali,MLAs, many political leadersand officers gathered at theevent to bless the new couple.

FOR THE RING

l Sarah

l Khaiq ur Rehman and Kabeer Khan

l Hafsa l Natiq Osmani and Khan Ather l Shazia

l Shabeer Ali l Zakir Osman and Md Zeeshan Osmanil Mohammad Mahmood Ali

At the Akriti exhibition,renowned fashiondesigners and best

artisans from across thecountry are presenting all thenewest apparel and homedecor from Kolkata, Bombay,Bengaluru, Ahmedabad,Madhya Pradesh, Delhi andHyderabad. The three-daygala comes to an end onJanuary 20 at the Taj Deccan.

SHAPE AND COLOUR

l Sony l Sashi Nahata l Kanchan

l Anuritha

l Pinky and Sanjanal Bhumika

ctor-producer TussharKapoor, who is turningauthor with BachelorDad, says his debutbook offers a deep diveinto his journey tofatherhood and will

touch upon several aspects ofbeing a single parent.

Tusshar opted for surrogacy andbecame a father to son LaksshyaKapoor through surrogacy in June2016.

The 45-year-old actor said peo-ple would often ask him to writedown his experience of raising achild as a single parent in theform of a book but he thought itwas a “far-fetched idea”.

Two years ago, however, whenpublishing house Penguin Indiaapproached him with the idea,Tusshar said he thought it was anopportunity to set the recordstraight on questions he was askedprivately.

“The questions were mostlyabout ‘Why did I do it? How is itpossible? Is it the right thing todo?’ and ‘Will I be able to do it?’After I became a father, the ques-tions were about how I am man-aging it. The initial surprise wasbecause I was one of the very firstpeople in the fraternity to becomea single parent in this manner.

“A lot of people were curiousabout the medical aspects, evengoing into the idea of whether Ishould have adopted or just gotmarried. People had their ownnotions,” the actor, son of veteranactor Jeetendra and producerShobha Kapoor, told PTI in aninterview.

Tusshar, known for films likethe Golmaal series, Shootout atWadala and The Dirty Picture,said, though people around himwere “curious” about his father-hood, the response was not nega-tive.

In fact, the actor said, his biggerchallenge before becoming afather was to first navigate hisown doubts and introspect.

“Nobody really reacted nega-tively. There was a lot of positivity,they were all supportive, but therewere questions about how myjourney will be. Which is why Ihave written this book, to give anhonest account of my journey. Iwas nervous before taking the step

of becoming a father. There werelots of questions that came to mymind as well. (For example) ifpeople will accept it positively?Will there be too much of ashock? Will there be a backlash inthe media because I was breakingcultural norms? The book shedslight on all these queries and alsochronicles how I decided to takethe plunge and eventually foundmy true inner calling,” he added.

Through the course of 10 chap-ters spread across 224 pages, thebook chronicles the last decade ofTusshar’s life.

As a first-time writer, he said hewas initially bogged down by theidea of writing a book but slowlygot comfortable as he began writ-ing, every day.

Initially, I wondered how Iwould be able to pull this off andwrite all these chapters. It hasbeen a journey, so the apprehen-sion was if I would be able toremember it all. Another chal-lenge was time. I was busy work-ing during the lockdown, the daytime was spent in my son’s onlineschooling. So I allotted night timeto write the book. When I startedwriting, I started enjoying it. Mywriting speed increased, and I wasable to finish the book in 11months. I took it up as a challengebut the process in the end becamequite fun and enjoyable,” headded.

Bachelor Dad is expected to hitthe shelves in the first week ofFebruary.

Tusshar Kapoor on debut

book Bachelor Dad

A

assMaharajaRavi Tejaand cre-ative directorSudheerVarma’s unique

action thriller Ravanasura waslaunched grandly on Sankranthi with megastarChiranjeevi attending it as a chief guest. TheRavanasura rule begins, as the team begun its reg-ular shoot. Night sequences are currently beingshot. Ravanasura is being mounted on a massivescale by Abhishek Nama under Abhishek Picturesand RT Teamworks. The makers recentlyannounced to release Ravanasura on September30, 2022. Ravi Teja plays a lawyer, while Sushanthwill be seen a crucial role as Ram in the film.Ravanasura will star a total of five heroines- AnuEmmanuel, Megha Akash, Faria Abdullah, DakshaNagarkar and Poojitha Ponnada. All the heroineswill have equal importance in the movie.Srikanth Vissa who’s associated with few excitingprojects as a writer has penned a powerful and afirst of its kind story for the movie. Known for hisstylish and exceptional taking expertise, SudheerVarma will be presenting Ravi Teja in a never seenbefore role in the movie. Some prominent actorsand noted crafts-men are part ofthe project.HarshavardhanRameswar andBheems togetherprovide music forthe film, whileVijay KartikKannan handlesthe cinematogra-phy and Srikanthis the editor.

egendaryscreen writerK.V. VijayendraPrasad, who isalso the fatherof ace directorS.S. Rajamouli,is to pen the

story and screenplay forthe third production ven-ture of Sri Vaari Films.Disclosing this, producer P.Ranganathan of Sri VaariFilms said that work onthe project would com-

mence soon.Vijayendra Prasad has

written the screenplay formore than 25 superhitpan-Indian films inTelugu, Tamil and Hindi,including the Baahubalifilms, Bajrangi Bhaijaan,Manikarnika and the high-ly-anticipated RRR that hasbeen directed byRajamouli.

Ranganathan said lead-ing actors would be a partof the project and the offi-

cial announcementabout the cast andcrew wuld be madein the coming days.Sri Vaari Films hasalready bankrolledtwo successful films— Dharmaprabhuand AnandhamVilayadum Veedu.Dharmaprabhu wasa fantasy flickwhich had YogiBabu in the leadrole whileAnandhamVilayadum Veeduwas an emotionalfamily drama fea-turing Cheran andGautham Karthikin prominent roles.

ega Star Chiranjeevi’s youngestdaughter Sreeja has dropped heractor-husband Kalyaan Dhev’sname from her social media han-dles amid rumours that theirmarriage is on the rocks. Her uni-lateral action has triggered specu-

lation about the couple’s impending sepa-ration. Sreeja changed her Instagram han-dle name to Sreeja Konidela from SreejaKalyan. Ever since Sreeja started usingInstagram, her display name has beenSreeja Kalyan up until a couple of daysago. Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who gotseparated from Telugu actor NagaChaitanya, also had taken down herthen surname — Akkineni — muchbefore their divorce announcement.Industry watchers believe that Sreeja’s

action couldbe an indica-tion that herdivorce for-malities havebeen initiat-ed.For a while

now, there have been rumours that all isnot well between Sreeja and her husbandKalyaan Dhev. No one from Chiranjeevi’sfamily was seen promoting Kalyaan Dhev’s

recent movie Super Machi, which onlyadded fuel to the fire of the speculationsurrounding the couple’s marriage.There has been no official confirmationregarding the split. Sreeja and KalyaanDhev were married in March 2016. Thecouple was blessed with a daughter in2018. Before Kalyaan Dhev, Sreeja wasmarried to Sirish Bharadwaj, throughwhom she had her elder daughter. Theirrelationship ended in 2011 after Sreejafiled a harassment case against him.

ctor AbhiramiSuresh is allset to take uson a romanticride this cozywinter withthe micro-

series, AanandhamAarambham, nowstreaming on Disney+Hotstar. Over the years,Abhirami Suresh hasimpressed us with herexquisite style and stu-pendous performancesacross movies and reali-ty shows. She will bejoined by co-actorSantosh Prathap to takethe audience on a heart-warming tale of love inthe modern age.

In a candid conversa-tion, Abhirami Sureshopened up on whatexcited her about theseries. “The characteri-zation of Ranjini in theseries is exactly what Iam in my real life. Thecharacter very well res-onates with the real me.When Jagan narratedthe character to me inhis own funny way, Iwas instantly convinced.The very moment Iheard the script narra-tion, I decided that Iwanted to do this.Another thing thatexcited me was thestory’s concept. The

romantic quotient ishappening for me forthe very first time. Ihave essayed all types ofcharacters and been partof stories of differentgenres- be it emotional,suspense, thrilling butnever been a part of aromantic drama. It isthe very first time whenI will be a part of aromantic series andhence it is a whole newexperience for me. Theexcitement of doing theon-screen romanceseries thrilled me,” shesaid.

Diving deep into theinsight of a simple cupof coffee bringing twoindividuals together, theeight-episode micro-series traces the heart-warming relationship oftwo coffee lovers,Ranjani andRamcharan, startingfrom their proposal totheir first weddinganniversary. Each four-minute episode displayshow coffee becomes anintegral part of theireveryday life to build anequal relationship. ForRamcharan andRanjani, filling bitter-gaps becomes easierover coffee and eventu-ally becomes a back-in-love tactic.

Abhirami Sureshspills the beans on

her all new avatar inAanandham Aarambha

hoosing to endtheir 18-year-long marriage,actor Dhanushand directorAishwaryaaDhanush, who

also happens to be the daughter ofsuperstar Rajinikanth, have announced that they

have decided to part ways.Late on Monday night, both the actor and the

director put out a letter, which looked similar forthe most part, on their respective socialmedia handles. Dhanush, who was mostrecently seen with Sara Ali Khan in AtrangiRe, shared his letter on Twitter, Aishwaryachose Instagram.

In the letter posted on his timeline, Dhanushsaid, “18 years of togetherness as friends, couple,as parents and well-wishers to each other. Thejourney has been of growth, understanding,adjusting and adapting. Today, we stand at aplace where our paths separate. Aishwaryaa andI have decided to part ways as a couple and taketime to understand us as individuals for the bet-ter. Please do respect our decision and give usthe needed privacy to deal with this. OmNamah Shivaaya! Spread love!”Aishwaryaa’s letter read pretty much thesame except for the last line in which shesaid: “Much love always to you all!Godspeed.”

On Instagram, while posting the let-ter, Aishwaryaa added: “No captionneeded. Only your understandingand your love are necessary!”The decision of the couple, whohave two sons, Yatra andLinga, comes as a boltfrom the blue to thefilm industry.

11

tollywoodHyderabad Wednesday January 19, 2022

m

RaviTeja’s

Ravanasura

shoot begins

SHIKHA DUGGAL

ukshar Dhillon is going to bethat one gorgeous young faceto watch out for in Tollywoodnow! Having made her markwith her big-screen debutwith Akatayi in which shelooked sizzling, the beautiful

Rukshar has been on the radarof Tollywood directors that

see a huge potential for herin the near future.

Sprinkling some goodcheer for our read-ers, the Londonreturned actress hasnow been roped inby director VidyaSagar Chinta to starin his new movieAshoka Vanam LoArjuna Kalyanam.After giving ablockbuster hit withactor Nani, this isher another bigpocket film that shehas signed in aremarkably quicktime. Quickly get-ting in touch withher amid a busyschedule, Ruksharpaints a very clearpicture about herupcoming romanticentertainer inwhich she’ll be seenromancing actorVishwak Sen! She

enlightened us, “In no time I seized thisproject because of the variety it wasoffering to me as an upcoming actressone can root for. As compared to my ear-lier Telugu films, this seemed like a dis-tinct role to me. I was busy wrapping upmy OTT project and besides that I could-n’t stop myself from coming on boardwith the Falaknuma Das director.”

Talking a little more about the varia-tion she mentioned before, she givesdetails saying, “Having talked about themultifariousness in the character that Iam playing in the movie written by RaviKiran Kola, it’s true that it’s demandingbut the kind of demands that I wouldlove to fulfill. The role is all about doingless talking and depicting it all throughemotions. Ashoka Vanam Lo ArjunaKalyanam team infused me withunbreakable confidence that I was able toexecute my character so well oppositeVishwak.”

When talking about films with any ofthe actors, it’s mandatory for us to touchupon the fondest set memories while theyare busy doing precarious shoots andRukshar had her optimistic memories too,especially with a lovely co-star likeVishwak Sen. She highlights, “While inconversation with Vishwak, I realised thatwhat we share in common is that thethought of appreciating valuable opportu-nities coming our way. Neither of usbelong to a film background, and the kindof discussions we indulged on set wassomething to cherish. I noticed Vishwaknever tried to gain control over me whileperforming a scene, he knew exactly whatsharing screen space meant. Our end goalwas to make the scene look better and notone of us in the movie! Moreover, he’s

extremely talkative on sets and that’s thekind of vibe that I appreciate too.”

Back-to-back Telugu films are beingchurned out in the theatres but theromantic entertainers will continue toruminate on our screens and as for thatreason we were eager to know whatromance for the actress is like too! Shesnickers a bit and reflects, “I am a hard-core romantic girl. Love and care are thetwo facets I endear in any relationship. Ihave a deep affection for love stories andprobably that’s why Ashoka Vanam LoArjuna Kalyanam seems like the right fitfor me to move ahead in my Telugucareer.” Further in conversation with thestar to watch out for, we learnt it wasn'tthe language that pushed her to domovies but the whole concept of ‘cine-matic values’ that made her go for it! Shecontinues, “I have grown up watchingHindi and English movies, but I alwaysensured that I also watch the dubbed ver-sions of other regional movies too. That’sthe kind of engrossment I have withmovies despite not knowing Telugu. Theone thing I really liked about Tollywoodis the way Tolly fans worship thesemovies and their actors! Regardless ofdoing very few films in T-town, I havenever faced a thumbs down from Teluguaudiences.”

Elaborating more about the characterthat we’ll see Rukshar playing on screenwhen this SVCC banner movie goes onfloors, she says, “It boiled down to therearing and raising my characterMadhavi has in the movie. She comesfrom a space where she fears takinguncompromising decisions she’s broughtup in a very protective environment.And, when we compare Rukshar to

Madhavi, the combat changes! I havealways been asked to embrace individual-ity in real life and Madhavi is closely knitto her family. She never reacts impulsive-ly in the movie, she’s observant and sen-sitive. This feature made me go back tothe times while I was growing throughthis phase of life.”

Relentlessly going ahead with this funconversation, she didn’t shy away fromsharing her association with actor Nanitoo and she recollects, “I had just steppedinto this industry while I got the chanceto star opposite Nani. Initially, I was thishighly strung girl coming to the sets but itwas actor Nani who taught me how to beyour windless self before the shot takesplace. He knew I wasn’t affluent in Telugulanguage, but he educated me on how todeliver the scene not with the correctword but the correct emotion. That hasstayed with me all this while. It gives me amuch better closure now.”

Concluding the swift interview on ajolly note, Rukshar who is working non-stop in this industry has been gettingplenty of requests from her Punjabidescendants to make her grand debut ina full-fledged Punjabi movie too. If shedoes it, she confirms it’s going to be forher grand-parents! “Regional tag hasbeen pushed aside, its pan-India moviesnow. I would love to be part of the moviethat hugs me with my own culture. ButAshoka Vanam Lo Arjuna Kalyanamshould be the talk of town. Through myTelugu ventures I would love to changeperceptions, create a broader point ofview towards societal pressures. It’s aspretty as a picture to see actresses helm-ing big-ticket movies on their shoul-ders!,” she signs off.

Meet Allam Gaari

Pellikuthuru Rukshar Dhillon

R

c

a

lm

Dhanush-Aishwaryaend their 18 years

of marriage

K.V. Vijayendra Prasad to pen story,screenplay for Sri Vaari Films

Rumours rife as Sreeja

drops husband’s name

AP n MELBOURNE

Five years and five long sets later,five-time Australian Open run-

ner-up Andy Murray finally has wonanother match at the season-open-ing Grand Slam tournament.

The former No 1-rankedMurray, playing thanks to a wild-card invitation as he continues hiscareer comeback from hip opera-tions and thoughts of retirement,beat 21st-seeded NikolozBasilashvili 6-1 3-6 6-4 6-7(5) 6-4 onTuesday to reach the second roundat Melbourne Park.

He lost a five-setter in the firstround in 2019 — a match he, andeveryone else, thought might havebeen his last in Australia — aftermissing the 2018 edition with an

injury. He missed the 2020 tourna-ment with a pelvic injury and lastyear's event because of COVID-19.

"It's been a tough three, fouryears. Put in a lot of work to get backhere," Murray said in his post-match TV interview at John CainArena, which was formerly knownas Hisense and is parochiallyreferred to as the People's Court.

"I've played on this court manytimes, the atmosphere is incredible.

This is the one where I thoughtI'd played my last.

"Amazing to be back, winninga five-set battle like that. Couldn'task for more." Murray beat

Basilashvili in a three-hour three-setter last week in Sydney, where hereached the final of the tuneup tour-nament.

This one went almost fourhours.

When the 34-year-old Murrayclinched it on his third match point,he turned to the back of the court,closed his eyes and pumped his fiststo celebrate.

After walking over to his court-side chair and dropping his racket,he returned to the court, punchedthe air and yelled "Let's go!"

It was Murray's 49th win in anAustralian Open singles match,

moving him ahead of Andre Agassiand Ivan Lendl into fifth-place all-time. Match win No 50 is theimmediate priority.

"I think there's things in mygame I can do better," said Murray,who lost the 2010 final to RogerFederer and four others to NovakDjokovic.

"Would love to have a deep runhere, if possible.

"It's something I've not had inone of the Slams since I've comeback from the injury, and it's some-thing that's motivating me."

Murray's wasn't the only dra-matic five-setter that finished in the

early evening on Day 2.Ninth-seeded Felix Auger-

Aliassime fended off EmilRuusuvuori 6-4 0-6 3-6 6-3 6-4, andMaxime Cressy overcame 20 dou-ble-faults to upset fellow Americanand No 22-seeded John Isner 7-6(2)7-5 6-7(4) 6-7(4) 6-4.

Second-seeded DaniilMedvedev, one of the biggest poten-tial beneficiaries of Djokovic'sdeportation, had a much more rou-tine first round.

Nine-time champion Djokovicwas already back in Serbia — twodays after losing his legal challengeto stay in Australia despite beingunvaccinated against COVID-19— when Medvedev went into RodLaver Arena for a 6-1 6-4 7-6(3) winover Henri Laaksonen.

sports 12HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 19, 2022

PTI n TAROUBA (TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO)

In-form batter and captain Yash Dhull will beexpecting a much improved batting effort from

his team when record four-time champions Indiatake on Ireland in their second Group B match ofthe ICC U-19 World Cup here on Wednesday.

Having started their campaign with a 45-runwin over South Africa, the Indians are brimmingwith confidence and are expected to steamrollIreland at the Brian Lara Stadium.

Both India and Ireland have registered wins intheir openers. While India beat South Africa, Irelanddefeated Uganda by 39 runs.

Dhull single-handedly anchored the Indianinnings against the Junior Proteas as they lost boththeir openers — Harnoor Singhand Angkrish Raghuvanshi earlyafter being put into bat. Dhulladded vital 71 runs with ShaikhRasheed (31) for the third to res-urrect the Indian innings first andthen stitched valuable contributions with NishantSidhu (27), Raj Bawa (13) and Kushal Tambe (35)to give his bowlers a decent target to defend. Butcome Wednesday, Dhull would be looking for moresupport from his openers to ease the pressure onmiddle and lower-order going into the knockoutstages of the tournament. If Indian batters were notupto the mark against South Africa, it was com-pletely contrasting performance from the bowlingunit. Left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal (5/28) turnedout to be the star performer with the ball while right-arm fast bowler Raj Bawa (4/47) gave the perfectsupport from the other end as India bowled outSouth Africa for 187 runs.

Jalandhar-born left-handed opener Harnoor,who was India's leading run-getter in the Asia Cup

with 251 runs in five games and struck an unbeat-en 100 against Australia in the team's final warm-up game on January 11, is expected to score a bag-ful of runs in the tournament but managed only 1in the opener. Right-arm pacer Rajvardhan

Hangargekar (1/38), who hasplayed senior cricket forMaharashtra and impressed withhis raw pace in the Asia Cup, andleft-arm fast bowler Ravi Kumarboth had ordinary outings

against South Africa. Meanwhile in the other matchof the day, Australia will take on Scotland in a GroupD game in Basseterre.

Squads (from):India: Yash Dhull (c), Harnoor Singh, Angkrish

Raghuvanshi, SK Rasheed (vc), Nishant Sindhu,Siddarth Yadav, Aneeshwar Gautam, Dinesh Bana,Aaradhya Yadav, Raj Angad Bawa, Manav Parakh,Kaushal Tambe, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, VasuVats, Vicky Ostwal, Ravi Kumar, Garv Sangwan.

Ireland: Tim Tector (c), Diarmuid Burke,Joshua Cox, Jack Dickson, Liam Doherty, JamieForbes, Daniel Forkin, Matthew Humphreys,Philippus le Roux, Scott MacBeth, Nathan McGuire,Muzamil Sherzad, David Vincent, Luke Whelan,Reuben Wilson.

PTI n LUCKNOW

India's HS Prannoy entered the sec-ond round of the men's singles com-

petition at the Syed Modi Internationalbadminton tournament after register-ing a straight-game win over Ukraine'sDanylo Bosniuk but seventh seed

Sourabh Verma was stunned byAzerbaijan's Ade Resky Dwicahyohere on Tuesday.

On a comeback trail, the fifthseeded Prannoy took just 36 minutesto get the better of Bosniuk 21-14 21-18 in his opening match.

A former top-10 player, Prannoy,

who gave a good account of himselfbefore being stopped by 20-year-oldLakshya Sen in the quarterfinals of theIndia Open last week, will next meetcompatriot Priyanshu Rajawat, whogot a first round walkover from RahulYadav Chittaboina.

However, the tournament wasover for fourth seed Sameer Vermaafter he retired hurt against Ireland'sNhat Nguyen.

Sameer was trailing 2-7 in the firstgame before he decided to concede thematch due to a calf muscle injury,which he had sustained in October lastyear.

Subhankar Dey also concededhis match against compatriot KartikeyGulshan Kumar due to an injury whenhe was trailing 2-9 in the openinggame. Later in the day, Sourabh suf-fered a 15-21 21-19 21-18 first-rounddefeat to Dwicahyo in a match thatlasted one hour and seven minutes.

Among women, Ashmita Chalihagave a first round walkover to MalvikaBansod, while Aakarshi Kashyapdefeated Mugdha Agrey 21-13 21-14and Anupama Upadhyaya eased pastRituparna Das.

PTI n NEW DELHI

KL Rahul will captain the yet-to-be-namedLucknow franchise in the upcoming IPL, a league

source told PTI on Tuesday.It is learnt that Rahul is one of the players

Lucknow has picked from the draft ahead of the megaauction on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.

The other two are likely to be Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and uncapped leg spinnerRavi Bishnoi.

"Rahul will captain Lucknow. The team isdeciding on the other two draft picks," an IPL sourcetold PTI. Rahul led Punjab Kings for the past twoseasons but did not want to stay at the franchise.Bishnoi was also with Punjab while Stoinis represent-ed Delhi Capitals. RPSG Group had shelled out Rs7090 crore to buy the Lucknow franchise.

Rahul is currently the stand-in captain of theIndian ODI team in South Africa in the absence ofan injured Rohit Sharma.

PTI n BASSETERRE ST KITTS & NEVIS

Dunith Wellalage led from the frontwith an all-round show as Sri

Lanka defeated Australia by four wick-ets to register their second consecutivewin in Group D of the ICC U-19 WorldCup here.

Wellalage (5/28) first spun the webaround Australia batsmen with his slowleft-arm tweakers to bundle out theopposition for 175 runs after opting tobowl at the Conaree Sports Club onMonday.

Opener Campbell Kellaway wasthe top-scorer for Australia with a 77-ball 54-run knock as Sri Lankanbowlers picked up wickets at regularintervals to make life difficult for theiropponents.

Besides, Wellalage, TreveenMathew (2/32) and MatheeshaPathirana (2/34) picked up two wick-ets apiece for Sri Lanka.

Chasing a modest target, Sri Lankasuffered early jolts and were reducedto 49 for four at one stage beforeWellalage steadied the ship with a 71-ball 52 and stitched two crucial part-nerships with wicketkeeper AnjalaBandara (33) and Ranuda Somarathne(32 not out) to take Islanders home in37 overs.

Sri Lanka are leading Group D withfour points from two games, whileAustralia are placed third with a win.

West Indies beat Scotland in aGroup D match in Basseterre

In another Group D match inBasseterre, West Indies thrashed min-

nows Scotland by seven wickets to reg-ister their first win of the tournament.

Electing to field, West Indies firstbundled out Scotland for 95 in 35.4overs and then chased down the tar-get in 19.4 overs by losing just threewickets. Right-arm pacer Shiva Sankar(3/17) was the star performer for WestIndies with the ball, while off-breakbowler Onaje Amory (2/26) and left-arm spinner Anderson Mahase (2/16)also chipped in with wickets.

Pakistan register easy win overZimbabwe in Group C in Trinidad

Opener Haseebullah Khansmashed a brilliant century as Pakistanshowed their batting prowess to starttheir campaign on a positive note, beat-

ing Zimbabwe by 115 runs in GroupC at the Diego Martin ground.

Wicketkeeper Haseebullah scored135 off 155 balls, the highest score ofthe tournament so far, while Irfan Khanmade 75 off 73 deliveries to propelPakistan to 315 for nine after being sentinto bat.

Haseebullah and Irfan shared 192runs for the third wicket to set the plat-form for the total.

For Zimbabwe, pacer Alex Felao(5/58) picked up a fifer.

Brian Bennett (83) played a lonehand for Zimbabwe but they werenever really in the hunt after early dis-missals and were all out for 200 in 42.4overs.

PTI n PAARL (SOUTH AFRICA)

The mighty Virat Kohli'spresence in the Indianplaying eleven as a mereplayer for the first time in

seven years will be keenly followedwhile his potential successor inred-ball cricket, K L Rahul, will bejudged for his captaincy in thethree-match ODI series againstSouth Africa beginning here onWednesday.

Whether he is batting in themiddle or fielding at the boundaryline, Kohli's every move is trackedbut some of that attention will nowhave to be shared by Rahul.

More importantly, will he beat his usual animated best on thefield or will the cricketing world seea rather subdued Kohli after hisstunning resignation from Testcaptaincy brought an end to hisinnings as official leader of the

team across formats?He did not want to leave ODI

captaincy after relinquishing therole in the shortest format and itled to a war of words with theBCCI on how the entire matter washandled.

His supporters and Indiancricket in general will be hopingthat Kohli has put his differenceswith the BCCI firmly behind himand come Wednesday, he starts anew innings with his willow doingmost of the talking. A highlydesired century after two yearswould be cherry on top.

Rahul, who is leading the sidein the absence of an injured RohitSharma, is expected to turn toKohli for advice during the series.

Not only Kohli has a majorrole to play as a batter, but as vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah said on theeve of the series, the star "willalways be a leader" in the team.

With the new leadership and

support staff, India will look to winthe series with one eye on prepa-rations for the 2023 World Cupand also make up for the disap-pointment of unexpectedly goingdown in the Tests last week.

The last time a full strengthIndia played an ODI series was athome against England in Marchbefore a second string squad trav-elled to Sri Lanka in July.

Rahul batted in the middle-order against England but itremains to be seen if he movesback to the top alongside ShikharDhawan. Ruturaj Gaikwad, whomade the squad following anexceptional domestic season,might have to wait longer for hisODI debut.

It will be crucial three gamesfor the seasoned Dhawan, who hasalready lost his place in the T20side. The southpaw has thrivedunder pressure in the past andwill be looking to solidify his

position as the first-choice open-er alongside Rohit when thelatter returns from injury.Kohli will bat at his usualnumber three spot whilethere will be a toss-upbetween SuryakumarYadav and Shreyas Iyerfor the number four posi-tion.

Rishabh Pant isexpected to come atnumber five whileVenkatesh Iyer is likely tomake his 50-over debutas the all-rounder at six,having shown promise inthe T20s against NewZealand.

The two spinnerslikely to play areYuzvendra Chahaland R Ashwin, whohas made a come-back after morethan four years.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former first-class and IPL cricketerRajagopal Sathish was allegedly

offered Rs 40 lakh to fix matches dur-ing the Tamil Nadu Premier League41-year-old Sathish was part ofChepauk Super Gillies squad that wonthe TNPL last season. The formerTamil Nadu player has also been partof Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings andKolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Aperson named Bunny Anand madethe offer to Sathish via Instagram.

"He informed us as well as theInternational Cricket Council earlierthis month that he was offered moneythrough social media. Since we areonly facilitators in such cases, weadvised him to lodge a police com-plaint. He has done that and nowpolice will investigate and do theneedful," BCCI ACU chief ShabirKhandwawala told PTI.

The complaint has been filedwith Bengaluru Police.

The TNPL was played from July19 to August 15 last year.

Asked why Sathish chose toapproach the BCCI only now, theACU chief said: "Whatever the cir-cumstances were, it needs to be seenby the police.

"We don't want to discouragehim. If he has decided to come out,our duty is to show him the way,"Khandwawala, who is a formerGujarat DGP, added.

PTI n MUMBAI

India head coach ThomasDennerby on Tuesday said the

hosts would aim to break down astrong Iranian defence with anattacking game to eke out a win intheir women's AFC Asian Cupopener here on Thursday.

The match against Iran wouldbe crucial for India in their bidto qualify for the quarterfinals.Iran are the lowest rankedteam in Group A which alsohas China and Chinese Taipei.They are ranked at 70th in theworld as against India's 55th.

"Our first target is to getto quarter-finals, we thinkwe have a realisticchance to do that.Iran is going to be areal tough game.

We have fol-lowed themthrough videosand they are real-ly a fighting( t e a m ) , "Dennerby said in

a virtual media interaction."They (Iran) have strong

defence, they defend very wellaround their box. It is going to bea challenge for us to score. It is notgoing to be an easy game. We arehoping that with some creative andgood passing game, we can breakdown their defence," he added.

"We have a lot of play-ers that can create

chances and scoregoals.

We have to be goodall through the match."

A win against Iranwill give India a big

chance to make it to theknock-out stage -- thequarterfinals. A quarterfi-

nal berth will virtuallyensure at least an Inter-continental Play-offsberth for the 2023FIFA World Cup inAustralia and NewZealand.

Five teams fromthe tournament willdirectly qualify for

the 2023 women's FIFA World Cupwhile another two will make it tothe Intercontinental Play-offs.Australia, which finished run-ners-up in the last edition of theAFC Asian Cup, have alreadyqualified for the 2023 FIFA WorldCup as co-hosts.

"It is a big challenge obvious-ly for us, but it is also a very bigopportunity. If we qualify for thequarterfinals, we have a chance forqualifying for the FIFA WorldCup next year and that will be hugefor Indian football," said captainAshalata Devi.

"We are hoping that the AsianCup being hosted in India will givea big boost to women's football inour country. Everyone in the teamnow wants to play the first matchright away," said the pivot ofIndian defence with 64 caps underher belt.

Since taking charge of theIndian team in August last year,Dennerby has been trying tochange the playing style from apredominantly long ball game toshort passing one.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Young Lakshya Sen reached acareer-high 13th in the latest

badminton world rankings afterwinning the men's singles crownin the India Open, a title triumphin which also lifted the men'sdoubles duo of SatwiksairajRankireddy and Chirag Shetty toeighth place.

Two-time Olympic medallistPV Sindhu and former worldnumber one Kidambi Srikanthremained static at seventh and10th spots, respectively, even asSatwiksairaj and Chirag movedup two places.

Sen made a jump of fourplaces, moving up from the 17thposition with 66470 points toclose in on reigning world cham-pion Loh Kean Yew at 12th spot.Sen defeated Yew in the final ofthe India Open.

Last year, Sen reached theBWF World Championshipssemifinal where he lost toSrikanth in a hard fought match21–17, 14–21, 17–21 and settledfor a bronze medal.

ALL EYES ON VIRAT KOHLI THEBATTER AS INDIA TAKE ON SA

K L Rahul set to leadLucknow IPL franchise

India eye improved battingperformance against Ireland

Former IPL cricketerR Sathish claims“fixing approach”

Skipper Wellalage's all-round

show hands SL 4-wicket victory

Andy Murray wins in Australia for 1st time

Prannoy enters second roundof Syed Modi badminton

Lakshya reachescareer-high 13th

We hope to break down Iran defenceto start with a win: Dennerby

India vs IrelandLive from 6:30pm ISTSTAR SPORTS 1 NETWORK