VIJAYAWADA, MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

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RNI No.APENG/2018/764698

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ANALYSIS 7SABARMATI, YAMUNA:TALE OF TWO RIVERS

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ALMANAC

Updated: OCTOBER 2, 2022 5:00 PM

Forecast: Partly cloudy

Temp: 33oc

Humidity: 71%

Sunrise: 5:58 AM

Sunset: 5:55 PM

Month & Paksham:Tithi: Ashtami: Oct 02 06:47 PM

to Oct 03 04:38 PMNavami: Oct 03 04:38 PM

to Oct 04 02:21 PM

Nakshatram: Purva Ashadha: Oct 03 01:52 AM

to Oct 04 12:25 AM

Uttara Ashadha: Oct 04 12:25 AMto Oct 04 10:51 PM

Rahukalam: 7:38 AM to 9:07 AM

Yamagandam: 10:36 AM to 12:05 PM

Varjyam: 07:53 AM to 09:23 AM

Gulika: 1:33 PM to 3:02 PM

Amritakalam: 07:54 PM to 09:24 PM

TODAY

VIJAYAWADA WEATHER

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy offered the sacred silk robeson behalf of the Andhra Pradeshgovernment to Goddess KanakaDurga decorated as Sri SarasvatiDevi on the auspicious 'MoolaNakshatram' on the seventh day ofthe Dasara Sharannavaratri celebra-tions atop Indrakeeladri hill onSunday.

Dressed in traditional attire, theCM was accorded a ceremonial'poorna kumbha swagatam', a tradi-tional welcome by Sri DurgaMalleswara SwamyvarlaDevasthanam priests and officials.The CM was adorned with tradi-tional headgear by the temple priests.The CM carried the silk robes(Pattu Vastrams) on a platter over hishead amidst Vedic chants with theaccompaniment of 'Nadaswaram'(traditional classic instrument) tothe temple. The CM offered prayersto the Goddess.

Home Minister Taneti Vanitha,Deputy CM and Endowments

Minister Kottu Satyanarayana,Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh,Chief Minister's Secretary RevuMutyala Raju, EndowmentsCommissioner M Hari Jawahar Lal,MP Nandigam Suresh, Balashowry,Legislative Council MembersThalasila Raghuram, MonditokaArun Kumar, Kalpalatha Reddy,Md Ruhulla, MLAs KodaliSrivenkateswara Rao (Nani),Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao, MalladiVishnu, K Anil Kumar, WomenCommission Chairperson VasireddyPadma and others were present.

PNS n MALANG

Panic and a chaotic run for exitsafter police fired tear gas at anIndonesian soccer match to driveaway fans upset with their team'sloss left at least 125 dead, most ofwhom were trampled upon or suf-focated, making it one of the dead-liest sports events in the world.

Attention immediately focused onthe police use of tear gas, and wit-nesses described police beat themwith sticks and shields before shoot-ing canisters directly into thecrowds. The president of FIFAcalled the deaths at the stadium adark day for all involved in footballand a tragedy beyond comprehen-sion, while President Joko Widodoordered an investigation of securi-

ty procedures. While FIFA has nocontrol over domestic games, it hasadvised against the use of tear gas atsoccer stadiums.

Violence broke out after thegame ended Saturday evening withhost Arema FC of East Java'sMalang city losing to Persebaya ofSurabaya 3-2.

Disappointed with their team'sloss, thousands of supporters ofArema, known as Aremania,reacted by throwing bottles andother objects at players and soc-cer officials. Witnesses said fansflooded the Kanjuruhan Stadiumpitch and demanded that Aremamanagement explain why, after 23years of undefeated home match-es against rival Persebaya, this oneended in a loss.

C PRADEEP KUMARn VIJAYAWADA

The total sown area in AndhraPradesh during the Kharif season sofar is 33.13 lakh hectares, which is90 per cent of the normal area of36.82 lakh hectares, according to theseason crop coverage report of theState government. The total areasown during the present Kharif sea-son is less when compared to theprevious year in the correspondingtime. The sowing across the State isabout 20,000 hectares less com-pared to the previous year.

District-wise sowing: Srikakulam- 92 per cent, Vizianagaram - 87 percent, Parvatipuram Manyam - 89 per

cent, Alluri Sitaramaraju - 80 percent, Visakhapatnam - 93 per cent,Anakapalli - 81 per cent, Kakinada- 89 per cent, Dr BR AmbedkarKonaseema - 77 per cent, EastGodavari - 95 per cent, WestGodavari - 81 per cent , Eluru - 87per cent , Krishna - 92 per cent, NTR- 92 per cent , Guntur - 85 per cent, Bapatla - 81 per cent , Palnadu - 75per cent , Prakasam - 82 per cent ,SPSR Nellore - 93 per cent , Chittoor- 71 per cent, Tirupati - 93 per cent, YSR Kadapa - 114 per cent ,Annamaya - 52 per cent, Anantapur- 104 per cent, Sri Satyasai - 99 percent , Kurnool - 99 per cent andNandyal - 99 per cent. The Stateaverage is 90 per cent.

The highest sowing was carriedout in Kadapa (114 per cent) whilethe district having the least sown

area is Chittoor (71 per cent), dur-ing the current Kharif season.

Meanwhile, AP received average

rainfall during the current season.All the north coastal districtsreceived normal rainfall as of date.Srikakulam, Vizianagaram,Parvathipuram Manyam, AlluriSitaramaraju, Visakhapatnam,Anakapalli, Kakinada, Dr BRAmbedkar Konaseema, EastGodavari and West Godavarireceived normal rainfall whileKakinada received excess rainfall.The south coastal districts -- Eluru,Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Palnadu,Prakasam, and Nellore -- receivednormal rainfall while Bapatlareceived excess rainfall. Rayalaseemadistricts of Kurnool, Nandyal, YSR,Annamaya, Chittoor and Tirupatireceived normal rainfall whileAnanthapur and Sri Satya Saireceived excess rainfall.

AP Agriculture Mission Vice-Chairman MVS Nagi Reddy said

that during the current season, cot-ton and chili cultivation hasincreased while paddy and ground-nut cultivation decreased marginal-ly. He said that the good news for thefarmers was that there had been veryless crop damage during the seasonand if there were no calamities dur-ing the harvest season, the yieldwould be more with good qualityand the farmers would get goodprofit.

He further said that the areaunder horticultural crops hadincreased during the past threeyears as the State government hadbeen encouraging farmers to go forhorticulture. During the past threeyears, horticultural crops were grownon a total of 17,80,000 hectares.Palm, sweet orange, pomegranate,and other crops are being cultivat-ed, he added.

Andhra witnesses slight dip in Kharif croppingFarmers expect good quality yield as crop damage is marginal

CM offers silk robesto Goddess Durga

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Minister for Energy, Environment,Forests, Science and TechnologyPeddireddi Ramachandra Reddyhas said that the State governmentis committed to making AndhraPradesh the number one state withabundant availability of cost-effec-tive power supply to the consumersand future generations as well.

The Energy Minister in his messageon the occasion of the Durga Ashtamifestival said that the main objective ofthe government is to make available24X7 power supply to consumersapart from nine hours of qualitativepower supply to agriculture.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

BJP state president Somu Veerrajucame down heavily on the rulingYSRC and the TDP on the final dayof the 'Praja Poru' programme atLenin Centre that concluded onSunday.

He said that about 5,000 street-corner meetings were held acrossthe state from September 17 toOctober 2.

On the occasion, Veerraju askedif the YSRC and the TDP had theguts for an open debate on Statedevelopment during the past eight

years. He alleged that both partiesare responsible for not having a cap-ital city in the State.

The BJP leader said that AIIMSwas constructed with the funds ofthe central government to treat thepoor patients while the state gov-ernment was unable to providewater facility to the hospital anddemanded to provide water byOctober 10.

Pointing out the renaming ofNTR UHS after YSR, he said that itwas a grave injustice.

BJP'S ‘PRAJA PORU' ENDS

Veerraju dares YSRCP & TDP for debate on development

125 die in stampede

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Neither Daspalla family nor otherpurchasers have any affiliation withany political party or politicians, par-ticularly with Vijayasai Reddy or hisfamily members, according to alegal clarification issued on Sundayon behalf of Rani Kamala Devi andDigvijay Deo Bhanj, lawful andright owners of `Daspalla Lands'.

Any transactions of the Daspallafamily and other purchasers of the landare purely their personal transactions,a release on this matter noted. The law-ful and rightful owners of the`Daspalla Lands' were disturbed by theongoing media circulations by variousindividuals and the allegations regard-ing their lands, the release stated.

No political links:Daspalla family

‘AP will be No 1 in power sector’

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n Tear gas triggers crush at Indonesia soccer match

CBI MAKES SOCIAL MEDIA DEBUT AHEADOF INTERPOL GENERAL ASSEMBLY

GANDHI STATUE MADE OF SCRAPINSTALLED AT ODISHA INSTITUTE

KASHMIRI APPLES MAKE ANAPPEARANCE AT UAE SUPERMARKETS

AUAE-based business conglomerate, which has more than 50supermarkets in the GCC countries, is showcasing Kashmiriapples in its stores, giving a boost to the export of the

superior quality apples from India to the international market. Theflavoursome premium apples native to Kashmir are considered oneof the best quality apples harvested mainly in the months ofSeptember-October. We are happy to announce the availability offreshly harvested apples at our supermarkets in the UAE, Al MayaGroup Director and Partner Kamal Vachani said, noting that this isa peak apple harvesting season in Kashmir.

HC QUASHES FIR, ASKS WOMAN TOPROVIDE SANITARY NAPKINS

The Delhi High Court has directed a woman to provide sanitarynapkins to a girls' school for two months as condition to quashan extortion case lodged against her. The high court also asked

a lawyer, who was the complainant in the extortion case, to report tothe office of Delhi High Court Legal Service Committee (DHCLSC)and undertake pro bono (done for public good free of cost) work tothe best of his ability and capability for the next three months. Itquashed the FIR after noting that no purpose would be served inprosecuting the complainant as the parties have arrived at asettlement and wish to put a quietus to the dispute between them.

Social media shy CBI has made a maiden appearance on Twitterand Instagram ahead of the upcoming Interpol GeneralAssembly in which 195 countries are likely to participate,

officials said on Sunday. The agency created its accounts on bothplatforms with user ID CBI_CIO for the three-day-long 90th GeneralAssembly starting October 18, they said. Unlike its peers, theEnforcement Directorate and the National Investigation Agency, theCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had kept social media at anarm's length, sticking to the age-old practice of issuing pressreleases.

Asix-foot-high statue of Mahatma Gandhi, made of scrap, wason Sunday installed on the campus of a government-runIndustrial Training Institute (ITI) here. The statue, weighing

around 105 kg, was erected as a tribute to the Father of theNation on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. The sculpture has beenmade of various scrap materials, including 1,600 electric fanbearings, car seat belts and iron rods among other items, theinstitute's principal Rajat Kumar Panigrahy said. Around 30students from the fitter and welder wings along with someteaching faculties took around 15 days to complete the sculpture.

SNCN ACHARYULUn HYDERABAD

Allegations and counter allegations,criticism and counter-criticismbetween the TRS ministers ofTelangana and the YSR Congressministers of Andhra Pradesh havereached their peak.

The comments made byTelangana Finance Minister T.Harish Rao about the AndhraPradesh government have led to awar of words between AndhraPradesh and Telangana ministers.

Earlier, Telangana IT Minister KTRama Rao had also made somecomments about the AndhraPradesh government. But when APministers reacted sharply KTR gavea clarification and said that heenjoyed his equation with AP CMJagan Mohan Reddy.

Ten days ago KTR defended theJagan Mohan Reddy governmentand praised Jagan as a man whoadministered Andhra Pradesh wellin most difficult times. When TRSsupremo Chief Minister K.

Chandrasekhar Rao is planning tolaunch a national party the com-ments made by Harish widens thegap between the two Telugu states.

Harish said the AP government isharassing employees and teachersand sending them to jail also.Condemning these comments, APMinisters Ambati Rambabu,Amarnath Reddy and others levelled

counter allegations. YSR CongressGeneral Secretary Sajjala RamaKrishna Reddy said that he couldnot understand why Harish was sodisturbed. He said, “Harish seems tobe walking the path of the gang offour (Dusta Chathustayam) whichconspired against the YSR Congressgovernment. Reacting to thisTelangana Minister GangulaKamalakar made strong commentsagainst Sajjala.

Kamalakar said that Sajjala enteredthe YSR family and created differ-ences between the son and his moth-er, brother and sister and now he istrying to create differences in the KCRfamily. Gradually the ruling partyleaders in both the Telugu statesincreased making allegations andcounter allegations against each other.

There are several disputes betweenthe two states regarding bifurcationissues. TRS leaders suspect that theCentral Government is backing theAndhra Pradesh government againstthe Telangana government.

AP-TS rift widening?

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The bus stations and railway stationsin major cities across AndhraPradesh were flooded with passen-gers who were going to their nativeplaces and home towns to celebrateDasara festival with their lovedones on October 5. In most of thebus and railway stations, the crowdwas very huge and there was hard-ly any room for passengers to enterthe platform and board the bus ortrain. On the other hand, most of thetrains are running late due to heavyrush and the passengers travelling byspecial trains are clueless when thetrain will start and reach the desti-nation.

After two years of Covid-inducedrestrictions by the health officials,

people are all set for the grand cel-ebrations of Dasara festival. Apartfrom trains and RTC buses, privatebuses are also operating hundreds ofservices to take the passengers totheir desired destinations. All the

vehicles are jam-packed and full totheir capacity. The RailwayProtection Force is having a toughtime controlling the passengers.

Heavy rush at bus, railway stations

mHarish’s comments trigger war of words between Telugu States

At a time when TRS supremo and TSChief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao isplanning to launch a national party, thecomments made by Harish widen thegap between the two Telugu states.

Don’t ignore info from NSA: PMPNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hastold all ministers and secretaries notto ignore background notes or othercommunication shared by NationalSecurity Council Secretariat (NSCS)and National Security Advisor(NSA), and to take them seriously,sources said on Sunday.

Stressing that while framing anypolicy, there is a need to look at itfrom India's strategic point of view,Modi said there were instanceswhen notes from the national secu-rity council were not given dueimportance.

During a five-hour long meetingof the council of ministers held onFriday that was also attended by allsecretaries in the Union govern-ment, Modi cited the case of thedependence on imported ActivePharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)used for manufacturing drugs,which was highlighted by the NSCSseveral years back, the sources said.

Thereafter, on the instruction ofPrime Minister Modi, Deputy NSAVikram Misri gave a presentation onNSCS to apprise ministers about thesecretariat, they said.

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PNS n GURUGRAM/LUCKNOW

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minis-ter and Samajwadi Party patriarchMulayam Singh Yadav was shifted tothe ICU of Medanta Hospital inGurugram on Sunday after hishealth deteriorated, the party said.Family members are reachingGurugram to check up on his health.While his brother Shivpal SinghYadav is already there, SamajwadiParty president and Mulayam's sonAkhilesh Yadav has left Lucknow forDelhi, SP state unit spokespersonRajendra Chaudhary said.

Mulayam in ICU

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2022

EGG RATES

VIJAYAWADA 462

HYDERABAD 460

VISAKHAPATNAM 460

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `44..6622

`//110000

CHICKEN RATES

Dressed/With Skin `205

Without Skin `215

Broiler at Farm `190

`//KKGG

(IN VIJAYAWADA)

Monday MirchiA TOP GUN WHO LETS HIS WORK SPEAKFew top guns in the Police Department man-

age to maintain the mystique about them. Theyeither court or are sucked into controversies.Telangana Director-General of PoliceMahender Reddy, whose tenure is about to end,continues to keep himself away from mediaglare. Unlike most of his peers who have beenmedia-friendly, Mahender Reddy has surprisedmany circles by keeping a low profile. Mediahouses are hoping to get his time, but the DGPsays:"Let our work speak". Bureaucratic circlesare discussing how the senior IPS officer maybe having political aspirations. They seem toknow about the calm before the storm.

BLUE-EYED BOY AMONG BABUSNirmal district has faced floods and

issues concerning IIIT Basara, with evenDistrict Collector Musharraf Faruqui beingcaught in controversies. Still, none of theseissues seems to be a blot on his escutcheon.He continues to be in the good books of hispolitical bosses. In fact, very rarely netas useepithets to describe in glowing terms bureau-crats mired in controversies. However,Minister K T Rama Rao, during his recentvisit to IIIT, Basara described Musharraf as"sincere", a "sports person", and recalled thatthey had both worked together directly dur-ing the official's stint in the GreaterHyderabad Municipal Corporation. WellMusharraf seems to be the blue-eyed boyamong the Collectors. As reported in thiscolumn, he once got a rare opportunity tomake a presentation at the Chief Minister'sconference about his initiative viz. sportscenters at villages, and earn brownie points.

RATIO, MAP AND REPRESENTATION The map is never the territory; still, a map

has to be truly representative of the state orunion territory it is purported to be. TelanganaChief Minister's secretary Smita Sabharwal,who is active on social media, learned this thehard way. Aside from the negative commentson some of her posts, she recently drew flakfor using a map that netizens found to be dis-torted. The searing condemnatory commentson social media prompted her to apologise anddelete the map along with the related tweet. Onthe occasion of Dasara festival, SmitaSabharwal had posted the tweet with the map

in question to illustrate the male to female ratioin various states. She mentioned that Ammais worshiped with devotion in all the states; yet,the ratio of women to men is different in thestates. In the offending map, Gujarat, Rajasthan,Punjab, Haryana and Delhi were shown asstates where the population of women was lesscompared to that of men. Netizens wentbeyond that and saw red because Kashmir wasnot complete in the map posted by Smita.

EXTENDED FESTIVE SEASONWITH OFFICIATING CS

For bureaucrats in Telangana it is going tobe an extended festive season. With ChiefSecretary Somesh Kumar leaving for Kenyato participate in a meeting of the InternationalCrops Research Institute for Semi-AridTropics, officers are elated like students whoenjoy when the teacher is on a vacation. Whileofficials are discussing the Chief Secretary'svacation in Kenya, festivities are around withofficiating CS Arvind Kumar. Somesh Kumarhas more than a year to retire; however, hislocum tenens suggests who the front-runneris in the race for the next CS.

ANOTHER BABU IN LINE TO BECOME NETAThese days babus make no bones about

their political ambitions. Andhra PradeshEducation Department advisor and IAS offi-cer A Murali has resigned from his post pro-fessedly to mend matters in his native stateTelangana. A Telangana cadre officer, he hadquit in 2019 miffed at being transferred bythe Telangana government while serving asa Collector. After that, he was appointed asadvisor to the Education Department by theAP government. Murali started the SocialDemocratic Forum to fight for the develop-ment of education and health fields. In 2021IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar also resignedand later joined BSP. Both Praveen Kumarand Murali, after their retirement, targetedthe TRS government and made serious crit-icism. Now, Murali also is planning to enterpolitics. He may join BSP or Aam AdmiParty, going by his aides' reading of the sit-uation. In his latest resignation letter,Murali mentioned that his services wererequired to improve conditions relating toeducation and health fields in Telangana.

-Yours truly

PNS n AMARAVATI

The Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment has sanctioned Rs 1crore for the treatment of atwo-and-a-half-year-old girlsuf fering from the rareGaucher's disease.

Dr. B R Amb edkarKonaseema district CollectorHimanshu Shukla handedover the first set of 13 injec-tions on Sunday to the girl'sfamily for her treatment, anofficial press release said.

In all, at least 52 injectionshave to be administered tothe girl, with each costing Rs1.25 lakh.

Gaucher's disease affects aperson's bones and liver dueto the building up of fattysubstances, causing enlarge-ment of the organs.

As the family could notbear the high cost of treat-ment, it appealed to the

Chief Minister during hisrecent visit to Konaseema tocome to its aid.

The Chief Minis terpromised not only to sanc-tion funds for the girl's treat-

ment but also for her educa-tion and well-being.

The district Collector sub-

mitted a proposal to thegovernment on requiredfunds and accordingly, asum of Rs one crore wassanctioned for treatment ofGaucher's disease, an officialrelease said. The govern-ment coordinated with theinjection manufacturer andsecured the first lot of 13 tocommence the girl's treat-ment. Himanshu Shuklahanded over the injections todoctors at the governmentarea hospital in Amalapuramfor the girl's treatment.

"This is a rare disease andthere are 14 such childrensuffering from it in India.This is the first governmenthospital in the countr ywhere treatment for the dis-ease is being provided," hesaid.

The C ol lec tor said amonthly pension would alsobe given to her family.

AP govt sanctions Rs 1 cr for treatment of girl

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Defending the CID policeserving notices to ChintakayalaVijay for posting indecentposts against women on theITDP website, Minister forSocial Welfare Dr. MeruguNagarjuna accused the TDPand its ‘friendly media’ of try-ing to defame the YSRCP gov-ernment.

Addressing media personsat the YSRCP central officehere on Sunday, Nagarjunasaid that Chintakayala Vijayacted at the behest of TDPsupremo N ChandrababuNaidu and his son Lokesh.

“Vijay made several tweetsdenigrating and disrespectingwomen,” he said, adding thatthe CID police acted exactly asper the law in serving noticesin response to his questionableactions. “What is wrong withserving notices to ChintakayalaVijay? He made nasty com-ments against women on theITDP website and he deservesstrict punishment for this,”the minister averred.

“Are you defending his

actions? The women in theState are seeking your responseon this,” the minister asked theTDP supremo. AccusingChandrababu Naidu andLokesh of trying to defame theYSRCP government, he saidthe government would notallow that to happen.

Meanwhile, addressing aseparate press conference,Minister for Housing JogiRamesh took the TDP to taskfor defending ChintakayalaVijay, who posted obscenecomments against women onthe ITDP website.

“Why did he run away

escaping from the eyes of theCID police officials if he didnot indulge in any crime? Thepolice went to serve notices onhim. What is wrong with it,” heasked.

Calling the TDP-friendlyprint and electronic mediaanarchic, the minister warnedthat their instigating actionswould one day boomerang onthem. “How long will youcontinue to abet anarchy? Youpeople have families andwomen. If you don’t stopencouraging these anti-socials,it will one day boomerang onyou,” he warned.

Ministers defend CIDnotice to Chintakayala

“What is wrong with servingnotices to Chintakayala Vijay?

He made nasty commentsagainst women on the ITDP

website and he deserves strictpunishment for this,” the

minister averred. “Are youdefending his actions? The

women in the State are seekingyour response on this,” the

minister asked the TDPsupremo.

Continued from Page 1

He said that for the pasteight years the Modi-ledgovernment was develop-ing the 13 districts in thestate and further said thatRs 7,000 crore were givenby PM Modi to the powersector for substations inAP.

He said that the BJP wasagainst YSRC and the TDPwhich are family politicalparties.

He said that the Uniongovernment has been sup-plying rice to 1.6 crorepeople in the state byspending Rs 9,000 croresand alleged that the ricemafia was at its peak in thestate.

Veerraju said thatTIDCO houses were con-structed with the funds ofthe central governmentand the YSRC and TDP areboasting that they haveconstructed the houses.

He said that even afterthree years the poor andhomeless in the state didnot get houses.

The BJP state presidentsaid that the central gov-ernment has given Rs15,000 crore for the con-struction of the Polavaramproject.

He alleged that the stategovernment has neglectedthe development of NorthAndhra and Rayalaseemaregion and the people areobserving everything inthe state. 24 hours ofpower will be given onlyafter the BJP forms govern-ment in the state, saidSomu Veerraju.

‘AP will be No 1 in power sector’Continued from Page 1

As the State’s economicpotential is incredibly excitingand the State government islooking at rapid industrialisa-tion and development in allkey sectors, the demand forpower in Andhra Pradesh isgoing to increase manifold inthe ensuing years.

The minister said, “Theelectricity growth is crucial forpowering the State’s future.Energy services are funda-mental for fulfilling basicsocial needs, driving econom-ic growth, and fueling humandevelopment. In view of this,the state government is verykeen on supplying qualitypower without interruptionsto the consumers.”

Minister Peddireddi saidthat the availability of 24x7quality and cost-effectivepower will spur the industri-al and economic developmentof the state. This will also helpfor infrastructure develop-

ment, employment genera-tion, and enhancement of theliving standards of people.

The Minister “ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy was keen on providingreliable power supply to con-sumers and free power toagriculture. The governmentwants to see fulfillment/hap-piness in the eyes of farmers.The government entered intoan agreement with SolarEnergy Corporation of India(SECI) to procure 7000 MWof solar power to continue the9 hours day time free power toagriculture for the next 30years.

The government is strong-ly committed to making thepower sector pro-public andconsumer-centric. TheUltimate goal of the state gov-ernment is to make the powersector vibrant for sustainabledevelopment of the State andassure 24x7 reliable power toeach and every electricity con-sumer in the state in future”.

Veerraju dares,YSRCP & TDPfor debate ondevelopment

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

West Rayalaseema graduates’constituency candidate Dr.Potula Nagaraju has said thatthe Progressive DemocraticForum (PDF)’s MLC candi-dates will work for the protec-tion of democracy, constitu-tional rights, against privatisa-tion, protection of job rights,cancellation of theContributory Pension Scheme,regularisation of contract

employees and to solve theproblems faced by farmers.

The introductory meeting ofPDF MLC candidates was heldin Vijayawada on Sunday, inwhich PDF floor leader in theAP Legislative Council V BalaSubramanyam and deputyfloor leader KS LakshmanaRao said that the PDF wasworking relentlessly on theissues of teachers, employeesand workers. They appealed tograduate voters to support

PDF candidates in the elec-tions.

The MLCs said that PDFwould work for the protectionof education and schools, andjobs for the unemployed. Theyvowed that the PDF MLCswould be at the forefront of thecontinuous fight against thegovernment. They askedteachers to vote for PDF can-didates in the Upadhyaya(teachers) and graduate MLCelections to be held in March.

PDF MLCs vow to workagainst privatisation, CPS

Continued from Page 1

Dasara festival has its ownimportance in both the TeluguStates and the people, who aresettled in different parts of thecountry and even abroad,make it a point to visit theirnative villages during this fes-tival.

The South Central Railwayhad also announced more thana dozen special trains, apartfrom regular trains, during

the festive season. The numberof trains will be increaseddepending on the demand,according to the Railway offi-cials.

Meanwhile, APSRTC hasbeen operating 4,500 specialbus services apart from theregular services during Dasarafestival season from variousplaces to important destina-tions to ease the passengerrush.

G Anil Kumar, a private

engineer, said that he got areservation in a special trainfrom Secunderabad toVijayawada for Saturday 8 pm.But the train left Secunderabadfour hours late. By the time thetrain reached Vijayawada, itwas 8 am on Sunday, whichwas six hours late. The journeywas horrible as general passen-gers boarded the reservedsleeper compartment makingthe journey hell. He said thateven the railway police were

helpless as the situation was sobad.

Despite introduction of spe-cial trains during the festivalseason, short-distance trav-ellers from Vijayawada toKhammam, Warangal,Rajahmundry, Chirala andNellore are having a toughtime even boarding the trainand have to stand on the footboard on single leg riskingtheir lives to reach their desti-nations.

Heavy rush at bus, railway stations

Continued from Page 1

On the electricity dues issue, theCentral Government's order hasstrengthened the doubts of TRSleaders. In Andhra Pradesh,there are some followers ofTelangana Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao. On someoccasions, they have performed‘Palabhishekam’ on KCR’s portraitin Vijayawada andVisakhapatnam. If KCR launch-es his national party he has to con-test in Andhra Pradesh Assemblyand Lok Sabha elections too.

Continued from Page 1

In the presentation, Misrishared the details aboutchanges taking place across theworld, especially in Europe,Russia and the US, and theirimpact on India, the sourcesadded.

According to sources, Misri'spresentation was not original-ly scheduled and was added onthe intervention of the primeminister, sources said.

Before Misri, FinanceSecretary TV Somanathan andCommerce Secretary BVRSubrahmanyam also gave theirpresentations.

During the meeting, Modialso underlined that the poli-cy-making process is dynam-ic and it needs to be modifiedwith changing times.

Citing an example from histenure as Gujarat chief minis-ter, the prime minister saidthere were some rules related

to a ministry that were namedafter some other state and thiswas changed only after hepointed it out to officials, thesources said.

He told the meeting thatthere is a tendency of beingcomplacent in framing andimplementing policies and thisshould be avoided.

Policies should be cus-tomised with changing times,the sources quoted the primeminister as saying.

Don’t ignore info from NSA: PM

Mulayam Singh Yadav in ICUContinued from Page 1

According to hospital sources, the 82-year-old leader is beingtreated under the supervision of oncologists Dr Nitin Soodand Dr Sushil Kataria. He has been under treatment in the hos-pital since August 22, the sources said. The SP leader was admit-ted in the hospital in July also.

In a tweet in Hindi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said,"Received the news of Mulayam Singh ji's ill health. I wish hima speedy recovery."

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "Weall are concerned about the deteriorating health condition ofMulayam Singh Yadav and are praying for his health."

"Hope Shri Mulayam Singh ji is back to best health soon,"RLD president Jayant Singh said on Twitter.

AP-TS rift widening?

‘Notification for Munugode by-poll likely to be issued at any movement’

PNS n NALGONDA

BJP MLA from Huzurabad Eatala Rajenderon Sunday said the Election Commissionis likely to issue notification for theMunugode by-poll any moment. Heexpressed confidence that the BJP candidateKomatireddy Rajgopal Reddy would win inthe by-poll.Speaking at a media conferenceat Munugode, the BJP MLA claimed thatthe people in the constituency had reposedfaith in Rajgopal Reddy. The people believedthat Rajgopal Reddy had quit as MLA to

give a fresh impetus to the progress of theconstituency. He quit the Congress partyand resigned as MLA because the TRS gov-ernment had denied funds for the develop-ment of the constituency, the Rajender said.The government has delayed the sanctionof new pensions for three months for peo-ple above 57 years. On knowing that a by-poll would be held, the government hadsanctioned 10 lakh new pensions. The ChiefMinister, the BJP MLA alleged, announcedreservations for Scheduled Tribes as the trib-al votes were crucial in the by-poll. He

demanded that the Girijan Bandhu pilotproject be launched to help the tribal peo-ple. He demanded that the governmentresolve the podu land cultivation problemto help the tribal people.

He claimed that the leaders and theactivists from various parties aremigrating to the BJP in Munugode con-stituency.

He said ‘dharma yuddham will bewaged in the constituency.’ BJP leaderKomatireddy Rajgopal Reddy and oth-ers were present.

‘How can KCRwho failed to solveVRAs’ problemslead the nation’ PNS n NALGONDA

Two groups of labourersclashed near Bhaskar theatrehere on Sunday. The clashtriggered tension in Nalgondatown.

The two rival groups pelt-ed stones at each other. Thewindshields of four vehicleswere damaged as the stonesfell on them. The police saidlocal labourers staged a sit-into protest against labourersfrom Bihar accepting lowwages.

The labourers from Biharhave been depriving thelivelihood of the local labour-ers. While the local labourerswere demanding wages atthe rate of Rs 600 a day, theircounterparts from Bihar wereaccepting Rs 300 a day. Themasons are hiring labourersfrom Bihar as they are avail-able at a low price. It isalleged that the workers fromBihar pelted stones at thelocal labourers when theystaged a sit-in and it triggereda clash between the rivalgroups. The police rushed tothe police and dispersed theclashing groups. The policetook 18 migrant workers intocustody.

Tension in Nalgondaas locals andmigrants clash

PNS n PEDDAPALLI

Peddapalli MLA DasariManohar Reddy was placedunder house arrest by thepolice on Sunday to preventhim from visitingMallikharjuna Swamy templeat Odela. The MLA planned tovisit the temple at Odela toprove that he had nothing todo with the sand mining scamas alleged by Congress leaderCh Vijayaramana Rao. TheCongress leader, while allegingthat the TRS MLA wasinvolved in illegal sand min-

ing, challenged the latter totake a pledge on MahatmaGandhi Jayanthi Day at thetemple that he had no role inthe scam.

When the TRS MLA wasabout to leave for the temple,the police told him that he wasplaced under house arrest as aprecautionary measure. Thepolice claimed to have takenthe step to prevent any unto-ward incident.

Meanwhile, the police tookthe Congress leader into cus-tody when he arrived at thetemple.

TRS MLA placed underhouse arrest

PNS n HYDERABAD

TPCC Star CampaignerBhongir MP KomatireddyVenkat Reddy has congratu-lated Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao for buy-ing a new plane costing Rs 80crore. Venkat suggested thatKCR must hold an AyudhaPooja for the new plane.

Speaking to the mediawhile participating inMahatma Gandhi’s birthanniversary celebrations atthe Aleru Mandal ParishadOffice on Sunday, Venkatsaid that a VRA tried to com-mit suicide as the govern-ment was not addressingtheir problems.

What can a leader whofailed to solve VRAs’ prob-lems do for the nation, heasked, saying that KCR is try-ing to lead the nation by giv-ing the impression thatTelangana has alreadybecome golden.

KCR is behaving like thisto divert attention from theproblems of Telangana aswell as to check the anti-incumbency trend amongthe public, he said.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2022

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Founder of Mahatma GandhiTemple Rampilla Jayaprakashhas said that Mahatma Gandhihad led an exemplary life.

Mahatma Gandhi BirthAnniversary celebrations andGandhi initiation ceremonywere held under the directionof Indian Civilization GandhiTrust director TamminaHanuma at the MahatmaGandhi Temple on the premis-es of Syed Appala SwamyCollege at the milk factory inVijayawada on Sunday.

The statue of the Mahatmawas sanctified with milk. Aninitiation ceremony was con-ducted for students who volun-teered to propagate Gandhi'sideals.

Speaking on the occasion,Jayaprakash said that they hadstarted an initiative to propagateGandhi's ideals all over theworld. He said that he is veryhappy that Gandhi Diksha,which was started at SyedAppalaswamy College, isspreading across the countrytoday. "Mahatma brought free-dom to our country withweapons of peace, non-vio-lence, and satyagraha," headded.

He said that his parentsSardar Rampilla Suryanarayanaand Narasayamma had madebombs on the top of the hillbehind Syed Appala SwamyCollege to bomb the British inthe past, and the idea was todevelop the area as a freedommemorial.

Goddess Kanaka Durga will be decorated as Sri Durga Devi on the eighth day ofthe Dasara festival at Durga Temple atop the Indrakeeladri in Vijayawada onMonday.

SRI DURGA DEVI

PNS n TIRUMALA

Among the various 'VahanaSevas' that are being observedas part of the ongoing annual'Brahmotsavams' in Tirumala,the 'Swarna Ratham' is a uniquecarrier worn by the womendevotees who play a prominentrole in pulling the Chariot.

On Sunday evening womendevotees participated in pullingthe Swarna Ratham withenthusiasm chanting'Govinda...Govinda...'

Malayappa Swamy, alongwith His Consorts Sridevi andBhudevi, seated elegantly onthe platform inside the Chariotwas pulled by the women devo-tees.

The spouses of ChairmanYV Subba Reddy, EO AVDharma Reddy, board mem-bers, officials, JEO SadaBhargavi, and other womenemployees, devotees pulled thechariot all along the four Madastreets on Sunday evening withutmost devotion.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh GovernorBiswabhusan Harichandanpaid rich tributes MahatmaGandhi and former primeminister Lal Bahadur Shastrion the occasion of their birth153rd and 118th birth anniver-saries respectively by offeringflowers to their portraits at aprogramme held at DurbarHall in Raj Bhavan here onSunday.

Speaking on the occasion,Governor Harichandan saidGandhi fought against theBritish with the weapon ofnon-violence, which was anew experiment and the entireworld was surprised. He saidmany leaders like SubhashChandra Bose differed with theviews of Mahatma Gandhiand felt that it was not possi-ble to drive away such a pow-erful nation as the British, butMahatma Gandhi believed thatit was possible to achieve inde-pendence with the weapon ofNon-violence. The Governorsaid that in 1942 whenMahatma Gandhi gave theultimate call to the Britishersto quit India, many peoplewere also surprised and did notbelieve Mahatma’s call couldhave any effect on the mighty

British rulers. “But peoplefrom the Himalayas toKanyakumari came on to thestreets in huge numbers andparticipated in the movement,without caring for bullets, thatultimately led the countrytowards independence,” saidthe Governor. He said afterIndia got independence, lead-ers of other countries fightingfor freedom, were greatly influ-enced by Mahatma Gandhi’sNon-violence method andadopted the same in theirmovements and that Gandhijiis worshipped all over theworld and his birth anniver-sary is also observed as‘International Day of Non-violence.’

Governor Harichandan hassaid that Lal Bahadur Shastri,

another great man, whose118th birth anniversary is alsocelebrated today, was a hum-ble, soft-spoken but strongleader, whose call “Jai Jawan JaiKisan” given during the Indo-Pak war of 1965, inspired theentire nation. “Lal BahadurShastri gave the call to jawansto secure the borders and thefarmers to produce enoughfood grains needed for thecountry during the time of cri-sis, which led the country towin the war as well as becomeself-sufficient in food produc-tion, said the Governor.

RP Sisodia, Special ChiefSecretary to Governor, PSSuryaprakash, Joint Secretary,and other officers and staffmembers of Raj Bhavan werepresent on the occasion.

Governor pays tributes to Gandhi, Shastri

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In line with the GoI initiativeof 'Puneet Sagar Abhiyaan',beach clean-up drives wereorganised by the Eastern NavalCommand (ENC) at YaradaBeach and Mangamaripeta atVisakhapatnam on Sunday. Inpursuit of the theme “SwachhSagar; Surakshit Sagar”, over100 naval personnel includingladies and children collected 80kg of non-degradable wastesfrom Yarada beach for recy-cling. To mark Gandhi Jayanthiand in pursuance of his famousquote “Health is the real

wealth”, the beach clean-updrive commenced with aHealth Walk from DolphinCove to Yarada Beach whichwas f lagged off by Rear

Admiral Manish Sharma, ChiefStaff Officer(Operations), ENCand culminated with sportsand games followed by anuphill trek.

At Mangamaripeta, ENCand INTACH VisakhapatnamChapter jointly organised abeach cleanup drive atMangamaripeta beach as part

of the InternationalGeodiversity Day celebrationsbeing observed on 06 Octevery year. INTACHVisakhapatnam Chapter

Convener Dr D RajasekharReddy, Dr Surendra, Co-Convener, Life members AVMonish Row, Edward Paul, NChandrasekhar, K Mohan Rao,INTACH Visakhapatnam,

Cdr V Ramakrishna (Retd.)and R Appala Naidu alongwith naval personnel of INSKalinga and GVMC officialsparticipated in the cleanupdrive. 120 personnel cleanedthe beach by removing all plas-tic and non-biodegradablematter and all waste was col-lected and deposited in GVMCvehicles for recycling and fur-ther disposal.

Puneet Sagar Abhiyaan: Beach clean-up drives by ENC

Spl initiatives to empowerthe underprivilegedPNS n VIJAYAWADA

To mark the 153rd birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi, the Union Bank ofIndia on Sunday announcedits special initiative to empow-er the underprivileged. Thebank has carried out a specialinitiative from September 15to October 1 that aimed topromote financial inclusion,extend social security, provideaffordable banking services,easy loan access, and extendsocial wellness. This uniquesocial responsibility initiativeaddressed the cause of helpingthe needy based on the prin-ciples of clean surroundings,good health, and inclusiveservices.

Under these initiatives, thebank provided various facili-ties to customers under finan-cial inclusion like 2,550accounts opened under

Pradhan Mantri JanDhanYojana. Fresh sanctionand loan disbursement of Rs23.31 crore made to 5,334Self Help Groups in the RuralCommunity. Assistance to7,750 farmers by way of KisanCredit Card under Debt Swapamounting to Rs 45.00 crore.A total of 4,234 Mudra loanswere given to individual bor-rowers amounting to Rs 29.15crore.

On this occasion, the bankalso observed the SwachhaBharath Abhiyan atVijayawada,

Navneet Kumar, FieldGeneral Manager, and SLBCConvenor took the lead inSwachhta Abhiyan and high-lighted its importance. On theoccasion, PVJ NarasimhaMurty, Deputy Zonal Head, NSrinivasa Rao Regional Head,R Anita AGM, and staff mem-bers participated.

Expo showcasesGandhi's life events PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Mandali Foundation, jointlyorganised an exhibition of art-works that display different inci-dents of Gandhi’s life, KolusuFoundation and CCVA, wasinaugurated by former MP NTulasi Reddy at the CulturalCentre of Vijayawada andAmaravathi (CCVA) on Sunday.

Tulasi Reddy said that theartists captured the unstintingcommitment of Gandhi in bring-ing the whole nation to fightagainst the British without anyviolence and so that his statues

are seen in 110 countries.Mandali Buddha Prasad, for-

mer Speaker, AP LegislativeAssembly and Chairman,Mandali Foundation, who facil-itated the expo, said Gandhi’smission was successfully con-veyed by the artists throughtheir artworks and stressed theneed to revive Andhra style ofart and sculpture.V LaxmanaReddy, Chairman, APProhibition CampaignCommittee and theDistinguished Guest of the pro-gramme said that the artworksinspire the younger generation.

GANDHI LED AN EXEMPLARYLIFE: RAMPILLA

Women devotees pull‘Swarna Ratham’

‘HanumanthaVahana Seva'conducted PNS n TIRUMALA

On the sixth day morning, as apart of the ongoing annual'Brahmotsavams' in Tirumala onMonday morning, 'HanumanthaVahana Seva' was held.Malayappa decked as SriRamachandramurty took outcelestial ride on His favourite andloyal Hanumantha Vahana to blessthe devotees. The uniqueSudarshana Salagrama Haramwas adorned with Sri Rama.By riding this vehicle, the Lordsent a message to His devotees tolearn how to render service withdevotion, dedication, and loyaltylike Hanuman which is the onlyway to get salvation.

TamilNadu - Puducherry: Puducherry Batting: 59/10 in19.3 overs, Yuvashri 21 (40b, 1x4, 1x6), Tamil Nadu

Bowling: B Jenitha 2 for 6, Tamil Nadu Batting: 60/8, NSSubhaharini 33 (27b, 4x4, 2x6), Puducherry Bowling: Amruta

Saran 3 for8, Result: Tamil Nadu won the match by 2 wickets Odisha- Jammu & Kashmir: Odisha Batting: 134/3 in 20 overs, Roshini Bagarty30 (44b, 2x4), Suchismita Panda 29 (30b, 1x4), Tanamayee Behera24*(19b, 3x4), Pujarani Das 39*(21b, 6x4), Jammu & Kashmir 104/7 in20 overs, Afreen 29 (47b, 2x4), Odisha Bowling: Babhani Dhada 2 for11, Jyothi K Prasad 2 for 17, Result: Odisha won by 30 Runs. Punjab - Gujarat: Gujarat Batting: 102/6 in 20 Overs, Zeel Mithaiwala37(38b,7X4), Punjab Bowling: Amarjot Kaur 2 for13, Punjab Batting:104/3 in 19.1 Overs, Aishmane Kaur 37 (50b,2X4), Manya Sharma37(43b,5X4), Result: Punjab Won by 7 Wickets.

scor

es

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh maintainedits medal-winning streak onSunday, the fourth day of theongoing 36th National Gamesin Ahmedabad. AP baggedtwo silver medals during theday. In the women's category,triple jumper Karthika won asilver medal, and in 64-kgWeightlifting S Pallavi lifted199 kg (Snatch and Jerk) towin a silver medal.

Meanwhile, there is achance to win more medals inthe National Games forAndhra Pradesh. The fastestrunner in this event YarrajiJyotika entered the 100 mHurdles finals, after complet-ing the heats clocking 13.30seconds. Her chances of win-ning a medal are bright.

In the Mixed ArcheryCompound event, AndhraPradesh's Archers KunderuVenkatadri, and K Sharanya

will fight for the bronze medal.However, international

archer and Arjuna awardeeVennam Jyothi Surekha, whorepresented the ArcherFederation of India, in theongoing National Games, lostin the quarter-final round.

NATIONAL GAMES

AP bags 2 more medals

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Tamil Nadu and Punjabwomen's teams registered theirsecond wins consecutively inthe BCCI Women's Under-19T20 Cricket Trophy (Elite-Egroup) being conducted atthe Gokaraju Laila Ganga RajuCricket Complex at Mulapadunear Vijayawada on Sunday.These two teams got eightpoints each and stood in thetop position.

Tamil Nadu won the matchby two wickets againstPuducchery at the DevineniVenkata Ramana Grounds ofAndhra Cricket Association

(ACA) playfields. TamilNadu's women players exhib-ited their talents and helpedthe team win. Pujarani Das(39*) played a key role withher batting win for Odishaagainst Jammu & Kashmir.

Also, in the match betweenPunjab and Gujarat, thePunjab team won the matchby seven wickets. Punjabwomen cricketers AishmaneKaur 37 (50 Balls,2x4), andManya Sharma 37 (43Balls,5x4) played a pivotalrole in the team win.Meanwhile, in the othermatches, Odisha won by 30runs against Jammu Kashmir.

TN, Punjab registersecond wins in BCCI U-19 women's tourney

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Around 2.50 lakh devoteeshad darshan of GoddessKanaka Durga Devi atopIndrakeeladri shrine on theauspicious day of ‘MoolaNakshatram’ on Sunday.

Thousands of devoteesthronged the Sri DurgaMalleswara Swamy VarlaDevasthanam in theearly hours ofSunday andstayed in thequeue linesfor takingearly dar-shan ofD u r g aDevi. Thedeity wasadorned asSaraswati Devi,with a ‘Veena’ onher lap, on the sev-enth day of the 10-dayDasara Sarannavaratri cele-brations. People consider‘Moola Nakshatram’ auspiciousas it is the birth star of the god-dess.

Durga temple authoritiesallowed darshan from 1.10 amand Minister for EndowmentKottu Satyanarayana had thefirst darshan of Durga Devi.

Temple Executive Officer (EO)D Bramaramba welcomed theminister as per rituals. Later,Vedic scholars gave blessings tohim and the EO presentedSheshavastram and Prasadam.

Later, the temple authoritiesallowed darshan to all. ManyVIPs had darshan along withtheir family members. The

temple was thrownopen to the gen-

eral public inthe early

h o u r s .T h eauthori-t i e sc a n -c e l l e da l lRs.100,

R s . 3 0 0and Rs.500

tickets inview of the

heavy rush.All queue lines were

turned into general darshanlines for speedy movement ofthe devotees. About 2.50 lakhdevotees had darshan as per thelatest reports.

Unlike in the past, devoteeshad darshan within an hourand all department officialsmade elaborate arrangements

for that. The devotees hadwaited in queue lines sinceSaturday night. After takingbath in the showers arrangedon the premises of RiverKrishna, they entered thequeue lines at the Vinayakatemple.

On the directions of MinisterKottu Satyanarayana, NTRDistrict Collector S Dilli Rao,Police Commissioner KantiRana Tata and EOBramaramba, the officialsstopped operating special vehi-cles for the VIPs, media andothers to the temple because ofthe heavy rush since earlyhours of the day.

The Police Department post-ed additional forces at allimportant places to manage thelarge number of devotees vis-iting Vijayawada. Additionalforces were deployed nearqueue lines and at all importantentries to restrict unautho-rised darshans.

During the Dasara festivities,many ‘Aksharabhyasams’ wereperformed at the TrisakthiPeetham near Pandit Nehru BusStation (PNBS) in Vijayawada.The devotees believe that if thealphabet is on the day of MoolaNakshatram, they will becomewell–educated.

‘MOOLA NAKSHATRAM'

2.5 LAKH HAVE DURGA DARSHAN

Pics by Ch Vijaya Bhaskar

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Goddess Kanaka Durga was deco-rated as Sri Sarasvathi Devi on theseventh day of Dasara Navaratricelebrations atop Indrakeeladri hillon Sunday. Saraswathi is the god-dess of knowledge, music andarts, and also she is regarded asVagdevi, goddess of sound,speech, consciousness and wis-dom. Maa Saraswathi appears inwhite attire, seated on a whitelotus and with four hands -- oneholding a book, one playing veena,one holding a japa mala (rosary)

representing the power of medita-tion and spirituality and one withKamandalam (a pot with sacredwater) representing creative andpurificatory powers. SaraswathiDevi is also referred as ShardaDevi. A white swan is her vehicle,so she is also known as HamsaVahini also. On this day, all stu-dents are traditionally required tostudy and also start studyingsomething new. Small childrenunder five years old start to writetheir first alphabet, which is calledVidyarambham. Gurus (teachers)are worshipped as embodiments

of Saraswathi. Offering honey isvery important in Saraswathipooja, as honey represents perfectknowledge. Payasam is offered asprasadam. It is with the help ofSaraswathi that the yudha tantrawas designed and planned andDevi won the war againstMahishasura. ChintamaniSaraswathi, Gnyana Saraswathi,Neela Saraswathi, GhataSaraswathi,Kini Saraswathi,Antariksha Saraswathi and MahaSaraswathi are the seven forms inwhich Saraswathi is spread in theuniverse.

Goddess appears as Saraswati Devi

04VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2022

YSRCP regime entrenchedin corruption: Sunil DeodharPNS n GUNTUR

BJP state affairs co-in-chargeSunil Deodhar HAS allegedthat the Jagan Mohan Reddygovernment is stuck in corrup-tion and development hascome to a halt.

The BJP Traders Cell organ-ised a ‘Health Awareness sem-inar’ here on Sunday as part ofprogrammes being held onthe occasion of the birthdays ofPrime Minister NarendraModi and former PrimeMinister Lal Bahadur Sastry.

A medical camp was alsoorganised on the occasion atEluru Bazar here today. SunilDeodhar attended the pro-gramme as chief guest.

Speaking on the occasion,Sunil Deodhar slammed thatthe YSRCP leaders resorted tocorrupt practices the regimestruck in corruption. “TheYSRCP has adopted an anti-

Hindu stand and it is encour-aging anti-Hindu activities.Both the YSRCP and the TDPhave corrupt tainted parties” heflayed.

He lashed out that like ex-Chief Minister ChandrababuNaidu, Chief Minister Y SJagan Mohan Reddy is usingthe Central government-spon-

sored schemes without givingdue credit to the Centre. Hepraised Prime MinisterNarendra Modi stating that isleading the country towardsdevelopment.

“The Jinnah Tower shouldbe renamed Abdul Kalamtower. Jinnah was a traitorand the name of the rower

should changed,” he demand-ed. Those who love Indiashould not support calling thetower Jinnah tower, he said.

Deodhar asked former chiefminister Chandrababu Naiduto exert pressure on the gov-ernment to change the name ofthe tower to Abdul Kalamtower.

If BJP is voted to power, themafia gangs would be sent tojail and AP would witness adouble engine growth, heassured.

BJP traders Cell convenorThota Ramakrishna, ConvenerMalishetty Pawan Kumar, dis-trict president PatibandlaRamakrishna, state generalsecretary Maganti SudhirYadav and state officialSpokesperson ChanduSambashiva Rao, former min-ister S Aruna and Dr.SUmashankar were amongthose who were present.

PNS n GUNTUR

YSRCP State general secretaryand MLC Lella Appireddy hassaid that steps will be taken toinstall the statue of BP Mandalwho played a vital role to pro-vide reservations to theBackward Classes.

Lella Appireddy, Mayor BPMandal, statue committeeconvenor Janga KrishnaMurthy, and other leadersheld a meeting in the MLCscamp office at Brindavan gar-dens here on Saturday.Speaking on the occasion, theMLC said that they would visitthe place where the pedestal,

which was constructed toinstall the statue of BP Manda,was demolished.

Lella Appireddy said thatthe YSRCP party always standsby the BCs. The Jagan Reddy-headed government is givingpriority to the underprivi-leged and downtrodden sec-tions.

The Chief Minister hadmade it clear that the peoplebelonging to the BC commu-nities no longer remain back-ward socially as they wouldbecome the backbone of thecountry. The Chief Minister isgiving due importance to allsections.

Appireddy assured that all efforts would be made to install BP Mandal’s statue inthe city as early as possible. MLC Janga Krishna Murthy also spoke

Steps will be takento install BP Mandalstatue: Appireddy

PNS n GUNTUR

District Judge YVNBGParthasarathi has asked theconvicts to reform themselvesand start a new life eschewingcrimes.

On the occasion of GandhiJayanti on Sunday, thePrisoners Welfare Day pro-gramme was organised in thedistrict prison. Addressing theconvicts, the district Judgeasked the prisoners to utilizethe prison life to reform them-selves, give up criminal tenden-cies, and lead respectable lifeafter being freed from prison.He said that the convicts com-mitted crimes in a fit of rageand they should lead a new lifeafter being freed from prison.

Parthasarathi asked the pris-oners to draw inspiration fromthe father of the nation

Mahatma Gandhi to overcometheir inner defects. The DistrictJudge told the prisoner: “Intoday's society if you workhard with a little intelligence,there are plenty of employmentopportunities. Many peoplecommit crimes at a young ageand go to prison because of badaddictions. If you reform your-self and try to live well in soci-

ety, you will rise to higher posi-tions in the future”.

Judge Parthasarathiinformed the prisoners thatfree legal aid would be provid-ed to the needy prisonersthrough the District LegalService Organization. The gov-ernment was implementingmany programs in the prisonsto reform the convicts.

Collector M VenugopalReddy said that the prisonerswho are undergoing imprison-ment for crimes committed outof ignorance should turn theirprison life into an opportuni-ty to change for the better. TheCollector asked the convictsnot to indulge in criminal actsafter being released fromprison and lead happy lifewith their family members.Earlier, the district Judge,Collector, and State HumanRights Commission (SHRC)member G Srinivasa Rao anddistrict legal services authori-ty secretary Ratnakumar paidtributes to Mahatma Gandhiby garlanding the portrait.Prison doctor K LakshmiPurnalatha, Jailors B TejeswaraRao, Ch Kiran, G Yeriki Naidu,and deputy jailors were pre-sent.

Convicts told to reform themselves

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The members of the AndhraPradesh chapter of the IndianRadiological and ImagingAssociation (APIRIA) organ-ised a plantation drive to markthe 153rd birth anniversarycelebration of MahatmaGandhi on the premises ofSarvodaya Trust in Vijayawadaon Sunday.

Vijayawada Central MLAand Vice Chairman StatePlanning Commission MalladiVishnu was the chief guest ofthe programme. He paid flo-ral tributes to the statue ofMahatma Gandhi on thepremises of the trust. Vishnustarted the plantation drive bydistributing saplings to thepeople present on the occa-sion.

Speaking on the occasion,Malladi Vishnu said that it isthe responsibility of everyone

to plant and grow at least onetree in the present scenarioand protect the environmentfor future generations. He saidthat all children should be sen-sitized and encouraged toplant and protect trees rightfrom their childhood. He fur-ther lauded the initiative takenby the Vijayawada chapter ofthe Indian Radiological andImaging Association as part oftheir social responsibility.

Dr Rajakumar, President ofthe Vijayawada chapter of IRIAsaid that this simple act will bethe signature of the Radiologistsfraternity on this planet.

Dr VN VaraPrasad, chair-man of ICRI, Dr GV MohanPrasad, programme in chargeand central council member ofIRIA, Dr T Rajeswara Rao, for-mer president APIRIA, andother Radiologists inVijayawada participated inthis programme.

APIRIA takes upplantation drive

PNS n ONGOLE

As many as 13 persons, includ-ing five children, had a miracu-lous escape as the Toofan vehiclein which they were travelling,caught fire at Venkatachalampallivillage in Darsi mandal onSunday.

Police said that a familyengaged the Toofan vehicle to goto Narasaraopet from Kanigiri.When the 13-member familywas going to Narasaraopet to

attend a programme, the drivernoticed smoke emanating fromthe engine.

He stopped the vehicle andopened the bonnet. Flames erupt-ed suddenly from the engine andengulfed the vehicle. The driveralerted the passengers and gotthem alighted immediately fromthe vehicle. A fire tender rushedthem and put out the flames butby the time the vehicle was com-pletely gutted in the mishap. Noone was hurt in the mishap.

13 have miraculous escape as MUV catches fire

PNS n NELLORE

Minister for Agriculture Kakani GovardhanReddy has said that Chief Minister Y S JaganMohan Reddy has realised the 'Grama Swarajya'dream of Mahatma Gandhi by launching thevillage and ward secretariat system in the State.

The minister paid rich tributes to the Fatherof the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 153rdbirth anniversary on Sunday. The minister,along with District Collector KVN ChakradharBabu, Municipal Commissioner Harita, JointCollector R Kurmanath and freedom fighter KVChalamaiah, paid tributes to Gandhi by garland-ing his statue at Gandhi Bomma centre.

Speaking on the occasion, MinisterGovardhan Reddy said that Gandhi whofought against the Britishers with great patienceand skill as a weapon of non-violence andgained independence for India, deserves thehonor of Pujya Bhapuji. The way of fighting heshowed was an example for the world.

The minister reminded that Chief MinisterY S Jagan Mohan Reddy said that after takingcharge as the Chief Minister, he was taking stepstoward village swaraj that Bapuji had dreamedby laying the foundations for village and wardsecretariat system and providing good gover-nance to the people and working towards theachievement of Gandhiji's ambition.

Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had given

a call that the villages should strive for devel-opment and remove inequalities among thepeople. The Chief Minister had given 50 per-cent of the nominated posts to the weaker sec-tions, he claimed. Minister Govardhan Reddysaid that all should follow in the footsteps ofMahatma Gandhi and take part in the devel-opment of the district.

Venkaiah Naiduaccorded warmwelcome in NellorePNS n NELLORE

The officials, including DistrictCollector, accorded a warmwelcome to the former Vice-President of India MuppavarapuVenkaiah Naidu, who arrived inNellore for a three-day visit.

Venkaiah Naidu reachedVenkatachalam Swarna BharatTrust by road from Tirupati ataround 4.20 pm on Sunday.Rajya Sabha MemberVemireddy Prabhakar Reddy,District Collector KVNChakradhar Babu, JointCollector Kurmanath,Commissioner of Nellore CityCorporation Haritha, RDOMalola, and other dignitariesgave a warm welcome by offer-ing bouquets. Venkaiah Naiduinteracted with officials, digni-taries, and locals for a while.

CM fulfilled Gandhi’s dream of‘Grama Swaraj’: Minister Kakani

APIPMEA urges AP govt to solve problems of staff from TS

Success in life is influ-enced not only by cogni-tive abilities and knowl-

edge, but also by non-cogni-tive factors, such as beliefs,attitude, and values. Thoughtsdetermine decisions. Mindsetis a series of self-perceptionsor beliefs people hold aboutthemselves. These determinebehaviour, outlook and men-tal attitude. Achieving greatsuccess in life depends uponmindset. Our mindset affectshow we see the world and theway people think directlyaffects the outcomes. Mindsetis a fixed mental dispositionthat predetermines responsesto and interpretations of sit-uations. They require extraeffort to change them andhence developing the rightmindset is crucial to suc-ceed. Mindset can bechanged, but it takes a lot oftime. A successful mindsettriggers strategic thinking,builds self-confidence, and

empowers people to actaccordingly when things gowrong.

FIXED MINDSET

LIMITS PROGRESS

Attitude has a short-termimpact and it is easy to cor-rect but changing the mind-set takes lot of time. Peoplewith fixed mindset believethat they are born in a certainway and cannot change.Hence, they tend to becomedisinterested and give up.Fixed mindset limits capaci-ty for learning, whereas agrowth mindset helps peopleto reach their full potential. Agrowth mindset believes thatskills are built, and that newabilities can be developedthrough practice. Accordingto mindset expert,

Angelina Zimmerman, ‘theuniverse gives us gentlereminders of what we need todo. If we fail to understand themessage from the universe,we will receive great life

lessons later.’ She also assert-ed that people should sur-round themselves with posi-tive influences that can helpthem live their best. Theexpert in mindset, Dr Carol SDweek, says that those with afixed mindset firmly believethat intellect is static whilstthose with a growth mindsetstrongly affirm that intellectevolves.

GROWTH MINDSET HELP

EXCEL IN LIFE

Growth mindset galvanis-es people to put extra timeand efforts to reach zenith.This mindset allows people tothink big and helps themthink outside the box. As aresult, people will learn topush themselves to newheights. People with growthmindset firmly believe intheir own capacity to learnand grow. ‘The growth mind-set allows people to valuewhat they’re doing regardless

of the outcome.’ Adopting asuccess mindset has manybenefits that include highself-esteem, positive thinking,

healthy relationships, har-nessing internal spirit, facingadversities with confidenceetc. People with a growthmindset view a setback as anopportunity to learn and pro-pel in life. Once they start tochange their mindset, theywill immediately start tochange their behaviour. If

people develop a growthmindset, setbacks can becomelearning opportunities. Manypeople have their dreams inthe corner of their head, buttheir daily routines take over.Human brain is like a horsethat needs guidance to run inthe right direction. Mindsetpredetermines interpretationsand responses. It shapes rela-tionship with internal (self)and external world. Choosemindset wisely and put effortsto create positive conse-quences instead of negativeones even in dire situation.Napoleon Hill said, ‘There areno limitations to the mindexcept those we acknowl-edge. Both poverty and rich-es are the offspring ofthought.’ Mindset can impactoutcomes by determining theway people think, feel andemotional response to situa-tions. Instead of judging expe-riences from failure, framethem in a positive light.

CHANGE THINKING PATTERN

People should know chal-lenges and obstacles can helpthem grow. Unwilling to takerisks stymie progress and willlead to failure. In this fluxbusiness world both success-ful and mediocre people facehurdles frequently. The sub-tle difference lies in theirapproach. Successful peopleovercome challenges bychanging their mindsetwhereas some people blamethe situation. Our behaviour,habits, and even mood are areflection of our thinkingpatterns. A Harvard BusinessStudy reveals that, how 3% ofpeople who had written downtheir goals achieved morethan the other 97%. Readinggoals in the morning andbefore bed can help guidingboth conscious and subcon-scious mind. People can’tachieve even ordinary goalswithout changing their nega-tive mindset.

CELEBRATE SUCCESS

OF OTHERS

We often meet people whoare full of negativity and scep-ticism, and always criticiseothers for their mistakes. Thismindset will help shirk feel-ings of resentment and queru-lous on setbacks rather thanfocus on goals. Human mindis a flexible mirror thoughwhich people can see a betterworld. Read books on mind-set and attend workshop tounderstand and adapt growthmindset. Integrate powerfulhabits into daily routine thathelp mindset change andreinforce thinking withaction. Cultivatepositive mindset to celebrate other people’sachievements. Developing theright mindset is crucial toachieve success in life.

(The writer is Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Commerce

PB Siddhartha College of Arts & Science

Vijayawada)

SRINIVAS VISSAPRAGADA

Growth mindset imperative to propel success in careerMany people have their dreams in the corner oftheir head, but their daily routines take over.Human brain is like a horse that needs guidanceto run in the right direction. Mindsetpredetermines interpretations and responses. Itshapes relationship with internal (self) andexternal world. Choose mindset wisely and putefforts to create positive consequences instead ofnegative ones even in dire situation. Napoleon Hillsaid, ‘There are no limitations to the mind exceptthose we acknowledge. Both poverty and richesare the offspring of thought.’

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh Institute ofPreventive Medicine EmployeesAssociation - Amaravati (APIP-MEA) State president VinukondaRaja Rao has urged the State gov-ernment to resolve all problemsof employees who came to workin Andhra Pradesh fromTelangana after the State bifurca-tion. Salaries were not being paidto employees for the last threeyears, he said.

Raja Rao submitted a represen-

tation to Chief Secretary ofAndhra Pradesh Sameer Sharmahere on Sunday.

He appealed to the State gov-ernment to give promotions tothose who came to AndhraPradesh from Telangana asGazetted Officers immediately. Healso urged the government to con-tinue those employees who havebeen working as contract sampletakers in the IPM for the past 19years and provide job security tothem. Mobile labs should be setup in the State and fill vacant posts

that came to AP as per GO MSNo.106, he added.

He further said in his represen-tation that food samples should betested in the Andhra PradeshState Food Laboratory instead ofHyderabad in Telangana. Sevenassistant director of food postswere allotted to Andhra Pradeshafter State bifurcation, and theyshould be filled with eligible can-didates, he said. Gazetted foodinspector promotions should begiven to the eligible FSOs, and thedeputy food controller, as well as

joint food controller posts, shouldbe filled immediately, he said.

He requested Chief SecretarySameer Sharma to recruit out-sourcing employees sanctioned bythe State government at head-quarters. Raja Rao submitted arepresentation to Minister forHealth, Medical and FamilyWelfare Vidadala Rajani, PrincipalSecretary MT Krishna Babu,Special Secretary M RaviChandra, Commissioner J Nivas,and In charge Director of IPM DrK Jagadeeswari.

Pursue ideals of Gandhi: District CollectorPNS n ONGOLE

Collector AS Dinesh Kumar has calledupon the people to pursue the ideals ofMahatma Gandhi who played a vital rolein the freedom struggle.

On the occasion of the 153rd birthanniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, theCollector, along with MP MaguntaSrinivasa Reddy and ZP ChairpersonBuchepali Venkayamma, paid tributes toMahatma Gandhi by garlanding the stat-ue of Mahatma Gandhi here on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion, the Collectorsaid that Gandhi had played an important

role in bringing freedom to India. He saidthat Gandhi fought by including people ofall communities without any distinctionof caste, religion, or region. Chief Minister

Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was trying tomake Gandhi's dream of village Swarajtrue by establishing the village and wardsecretariats and bringing self-governanceto the people at the village level. The wel-fare and development schemes are beingprovided to all, he said.

MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy saidthat he wished that Gandhi Jayanti shouldbe celebrated as a festival across the coun-try and all should follow the ideology ofGandhi. The MP recalled that Gandhi hadchosen the path of non-violence andfought with the Britishers to free Indiafrom the rule.

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2022

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Organs of AIIMS official's sister give life to four

Organs of a senior Delhi AIIMS official's sister who was declared brain dead a fewdays ago were donated, giving a fresh lease of life to four people and vision to two.Snehlata Choudhary, sister of Rabindra Agarwal, an IAS officer posted as the

additional director of administration at AIIMS here, had sustained a severe head injuryduring her morning walk last month. The 63-year-old was initially operated for headinjury in Jharkhand's Jamshedpur and then airlifted to AIIMS Trauma Centre for furthertreatment, a senior doctor said. Choudhary was health conscious and used to go formorning walks regularly for the last25 years. "Despite best efforts, hercondition did not improve and wasdeclared brain dead on September30," the doctor said. She was ahome maker and a social worker."She was a strong supporter of theeye donation campaign andsupported the cause of organdonation throughout her life. Shehad also qualified for Kaun BanegaCrorepati," the doctor added.

Gujarat: Campaigning heats up aheadof announcement of Assembly polls

Campaigning is heating up in Gujarat ahead of announcement of dates for theAssembly elections, with prominent political leaders like Narendra Modi, ArvindKejriwal and Rahul Gandhi visiting the state. The elections are crucial for the ruling

BJP which aims to retain power in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,while the Congress hopes for a win after remaining out of power for 27 years in the keystate. For new entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the elections, scheduled to be held intwo months, will be an opportunity to emerge as a pan-nation party. The state will see athree-cornered contest between BJP,Congress and AAP. Gujarat has seenfrequent visits of top national leadersahead of the elections, and parties arefirming up their strategies. The roadsof cities and villages of Gujarat arefilled up with advertisement bannersof political parties. Political partieshave started high decibel campaignsfor the elections, whose dates may beannounced any time this month,political observer Hari Desai said.

Moosewala murder case: Accusedgangster Tinu escapes from custody

Gangster Deepak Tinu, one of the accused in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case,escaped from police custody in Punjab's Mansa district, official sources said onSunday. A manhunt has been launched to nab Tinu, who escaped on Saturday

night when he was brought on a production warrant from Goindwal Sahib jail in anothercase by the Mansa police, they said. Police of neighbouring states, including Rajasthanand Haryana, have been alerted, the sources said. Tinu is a close aide of jailed gangsterLawrence Bishnoi, also an accused inthe murder case of the Punjabi singer.When asked about the incident,Patiala Range Inspector GeneralMukhwinder Singh Chhina, who iscurrently holding additional charge asBathinda Range IG, told PTI over thephone, "We are working on it, policeparties are on the job and we willcatch him soon." Shubhdeep SinghSidhu, popularly known as SidhuMoosewala, was shot dead inPunjab's Mansa district on May 29.

CONGRESS PREZ POLL CANDIDATES

PNS n NEW DELHI

After his immensely successful"Everybody loves a GoodDrought", a researched study ofpoverty in the rural districts ofIndia, award-winning author-journalist P Sainath will sooncome out with a new book onIndia's freedom struggle.

The book, titled "The LastHeroes" and scheduled forrelease on November 21, cele-brates little known fighters --farmers, labourers, homemak-ers, forest produce gatherers,artisans and others -- fromIndia's freedom struggle as ittracks the role of ordinary,everyday people in achievingIndependence.

Published by PenguinRandom House India (PRHI),it is touted to be an attempt totell these freedom fighter sto-ries, giving them a recognitionthey "truly deserve, but werenever granted".

"In the next five or six years,

there will not be a single per-son alive who fought for thiscountry's freedom. Newer gen-erations of young Indians willnever get to meet, see, speak orlisten to India's freedom fight-ers. That's why and for whomI wrote this book," said Sainath,whose last book is currently onits 56th-print run.

"For quite a while now, wesee young people being robbedof their history, denied anyknowledge of what India's fightfor freedom and Independencewas about -- and who it waswho spearheaded that strug-gle," he added.

The book highlights the dis-tinction between freedom andindependence that these fight-

ers speak of.It also shows that Indian

Independence was not the giftof a handful of 'Oxbridge elites',and does so by revealing thediversity of these foot soldierswho fought the great battles offreedom.

According to the publishers,"The Last Heroes" goes beyondtheir fight for Independenceonly as many continued theirbattle for freedom long after1947.

"P Sainath's book, his first inmore than two decades, cap-tures a critically importantslice of history by document-ing the participation of ordi-nary people in India's freedomstruggle.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The closing date of an online auction ofover 1,200 items, including models of theupcoming Ram temple in Ayodhya andsporting memorabilia of CommonwealthGames medallists, gifted to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, has beenextended to October 12.

The e-auction that began on September17 was earlier scheduled to end onOctober 2.

"The last date for the e-auction of PM'sgifts has been extended to October 12,"a Culture Ministry official said.

The ministry also tweeted to announcethe extension of the last date.

"Feeling that you've missed out on theHYPERLINK https://mobile.twitter.com/hash-tag/PMMementosAuction2022?src=hashtag_click #PMMementosAuction2022? We aredelighted to announce that the auction has beenextended till 12th October, 2022. Visit HYPER-

LINK "http://pmmementos.gov.in"pmme-mentos.gov.in now to participate#AmritMahotsav," it tweeted and also shareda poster on it.

At a press conference here on Saturday16, Reddy had said, a statue of LordGanesha, a trident, models of the upcom-ing Shri Ram Mandir at Ayodhya and theKashi-Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi,will also be part of the e-auction of giftsand mementos given to PM Modi, pro-ceeds of which will go the Namami GangeMission.

A black model statue of Netaji SubhasChandra Bose, which was gifted to Modiin April by sculptor Arun Yogiraj, is alsopart of the auction.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Singing rhymes and dancing,they walk through the wards ofa children's hospital in thenational capital every week.Patients, their parents andcaregivers cheer them.

They are the 'medicalclownselors', a group of volun-teers who dress up as clowns,and they visit the wards ofChacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalayain Geeta Colony everySaturday.

Coming from differentwalks of life, they make all-outefforts to spread joy in the pen-sive and at times intimidatingenvirons of the hospital.

They call themselves 'med-ical clownselors', a blend ofclown and counsellor.

They come to this pediatrichospital on Saturdays andengage with ailing kids, theirloved ones and nursing staffthrough their humourous acts.

Clownselors is the brainchildof Sheetal Agarwal, a native ofHisar in Haryana, who startedmedical clowning in July 2016in the national capital.

"My obsession with smilesled me on this journey. I met

Dhara in Ahmedabad in one ofthe retreats where she intro-duced herself as a medicalclown. I was intrigued, cameback and searched for what isit. "I found the whole conceptfascinating and wanted toexperience the joy of sharingsmiles with the ones who needit the most. No one was doingthis in Delhi and I really want-ed to. That's how ClownselorsFoundation (a not-for-profitorganisation) was born,"Agarwal told PTI.

PNS n PUDUCHERRY

Union Minister DharmendraPradhan on Sunday said theNational Education Policy(NEP) is not meant only for theIndian society but its imple-mentation would create glob-al citizens for the 21st century.

Inaugurating a three-day12th International conferenceof Indian School PsychologyAssociation at PondicherryCentral University, the UnionMinister for Education, SkillDevelopment andEntrepreneurship, said Indiahas a lot of responsibility totake and the NEP was framedto create global citizens for the21st century.

"To implement NEP, weshould understand psychologyand NEP is a very crucial doc-ument and envisages the visionof such stalwarts likeAurobindo to nurture inte-gral education, measure up tothe principles laid down by theMahatma and also the philos-

ophy promoted by SwamiVivekananda that education isa transformative catalyst ofsocial changes," he added.

Underscoring the need forunderstanding the psychologyof children and also tappingtheir innate potential and apti-tude, the Minister said psychol-ogy should be given impor-tance in education. "Educationand psychology are co-related,"

he added."Learning, gaining knowl-

edge and education are a lifelong experience and are notconfined to limited stages," hesaid and stressed "we shouldcope up with the changingtimes and teachers shouldrecognise the native talentsand skill of the children."

Pradhan released publica-tions of the Indian School

Psychology Associationauthored by its president PanchRamalingam.

Puducherry Lt GovernorTamilisai Soundararajan said"the Atmanirbar Bharath initia-tive has been an effective visionof Prime Minister NarendraModi and is most relevant."

She said the country's per-formance in developing indige-nous vaccines to combat coro-navirus has gained global rep-utation. "The Prime Minister`ssustained efforts have bornefruit and the vaccines devel-oped in our country had beenmuch sought after globally.We could supply the vaccinesto more than 150 countries inthe context of the cripplingnature of Covid-19," the LtGovernor added.

Vice Chancellor ofPondicherry UniversityGurmeet Singh was amongthose who spoke.

The Minister declared openthe Dr Ambedkar Centre ofExcellence on the occasion.

NEP aims at creating globalcitizens: Dharmendra Pradhan

‘The Last Heroes': Author P Sainath toreturn with new book after two decades

PNS n PATNA

Renowned barrister Sir Sultan Ahmed hadtaken part in the second Round TableConference in 1931 along with MahatmaGandhi and a host of other top leaders, ahistoric event that was held in London toconsider the future government of India.

On Gandhi's 153rd anniversary onSunday, family members of Sir Sultan, ashe was fondly known, recalled his asso-ciation with the Mahatma during India'sstruggle for freedom and self-rule.

They also heaved a sigh a relief after thePatna High Court recently granted a stayon the proposed demolition of the icon-ic 100-year-old Sultan Palace in Patna bythe Bihar government for constructing afive-star hotel.

The grand palace with Indo-Saracenicarchitecture, was built by Ahmed in 1922

as his residence."We were all under great stress since the

demolition decision was announced by thegovernment a few months ago. This placeis not just an ornate building erected bya well-known barrister, but it stands as atangible memories of the history gone by.

"Sir Sultan's life was extraordinary and

he was part of so many historic events tillhis death in 1960s. Today being GandhiJayanti, it reminds us of his participationin the Round Table Conference inLondon," his great-grandson AlamdarHussain said.

"We have old, black and whites picturesof him sitting at the second Round TableConference, and Gandhiji, Pt MadanMohan Malviya and other leaders sittingacross him during the conference," he said,with pride in his voice.

Hussain, a lawyer at the Patna HighCourt where Ahmed had a stint as a judgebefore becoming a member of theViceroy's Executive Council, said hebrought his legal acumen and clarity ofthinking to the table during the 1931 con-ference. Prior to that he was also the firstIndian vice chancellor of Patna Universityfrom 1923-30.

Family remembers Sir Sultan Ahmed'sparticipation in Round Table Conference

ED again summonsKarnataka Congress chief D K ShivakumarPNS n NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directoratehas summoned KarnatakaCongress President D KShivakumar for questioning inits ongoing money launderingprobe into the operations ofthe Congress party-ownedN a t i o n a lHerald news-paper, officialsources said.

He has beenasked todepose beforethe federalinvestigativeagency onOctober 7 inDelhi, theysaid.

The 60-year-old formercabinet minister was last ques-tioned by the federal agencyon September 19 in thenational capital in anothermoney laundering case linkedto alleged possession of dis-proportionate assets.

The latest summons comes

at a time when the 'BharatJodo Yatra' of the Congressparty, led by its leader RahulGandhi, entered Karnatakaon Friday, September 30, andwill be in the state for 21 days.

Shivakumar is involved inthe conduct of this leg of theyatra.

While exitingthe ED officeafter his ques-tioning lastmonth, he hadtold the waitingmediapersonsthat he has beencharge-sheetedby the agencyin one moneylaundering casebut he does notknow what isthe new case

(disproportionate assets)against him.

"Surprisingly, they (ED offi-cials) have asked me about thepayment from one of my trustsfrom me and my brother toYoung Indian," he had toldreporters.

‘NATIONAL HERALD’ CASE

Maha govt launches campaignappealing to people

PNS n MUMBAI

The Maharashtra governmenton Sunday launched a campaignappealing to people to say"Vande Mataram" while receiv-ing phone calls instead of Hello.

" V a n d eMataram meanswe are bowingbefore ourmother. Hence,it is our appeal tothe people to sayVande Mataraminstead of Hello,state CulturalAffairs MinisterS u d h i rMungantiwarsaid at a rally held in Wardhadistrict on the birth anniversaryof Mahatma Gandhi.

A Government Resolution(GR) issued on Saturday hadappealed to Maharashtra gov-ernment employees and officersto greet people by saying "VandeMataram" instead of "Hello"during official or personalphone calls.

It is not mandatory, but theheads of departments shouldencourage their staff to do so,the GR said.

It said 'Hello' depicted west-ern culture and the word did nothave any specific meaning. "The

word is just aformality whichdoes not arouseany emotion,"the GR said.

G r e e t i n gpeople by say-ing "VandeMataram" willcreate a feelingof affection, itsaid, addingthat an aware-

ness campaign should be con-ducted to promote it.

At the event in Wadha onSunday, Mungantiwar said, Ifpeople want to say 'Jai Bhim' or'Jai Shri Ram', or even mentiontheir parents' names whileanswering a phone call all formsare ok with us. Our appeal is toavoid saying Hello while receiv-ing a call."

Say ‘Vande Mataram' on phonecalls instead of ‘Hello’

HEALING WITH HUMOUR

Medical ‘clownselors’ bring smiles now!

Open to public debate, say Tharoor; I only know how to work: Kharge

Closing date of e-auction of mementosgifted to PM Modi extended till Oct 12

PNS n NEW DELHI

Set for an electoral face-offwith Congress veteranMallikarjun Kharge for theparty president's post, LokSabha MP Shashi Tharoor onSunday said he would be opento the idea of a public debatebetween the candidates as itwould evoke people's interestin the party similar to therecent British ConservativeParty leadership race.

Asked about Tharoor'sremarks on holding a debate,Kharge, however, did notappear inclined towards hav-ing such an engagement, say-ing, "I don't want to get intothat, I only know how to work,give me an opportunity to dothat."

In an interview with PTI,Tharoor also said the Nehru-Gandhi family has held andwill always hold a special placein the hearts of Congress partymembers.

He said the answer to theCongress' current challenges

lies in a combination of effec-tive leadership and organisa-tional reforms.

Kharge and Tharoor wereleft in the fray in the Congresspresidential poll after formerJharkhand minister K NTripathi's nomination wasrejected on Saturday.

Talking about what hebrings to the table, Tharoorhas he has a "proven and cred-ible track record in leading atthe highest levels of organisa-tions, whether it has been atthe UN" or more recently forthe Congress party as founder-

chairman of the All-IndiaProfessionals' Congress.

At the UN, Tharoor said, "asthe under-secretary-generalin-charge of the body's publicinformation department, Imanaged the communicationsof the UN's largest departmentcomprising of over 800 staff in77 offices worldwide, ratio-nalised its structure, trimmedits budget and sharpened itsefforts all of which promptedmany to urge me to contest tolead the UN Organisationitself ".

Referring to the All-India

Professionals' Congress, hesaid, "I had to create fromscratch and which in just fiveyears since 2017 has over 10,000 fellows from across 20states in the country."

In terms of organisationalreforms, the former Unionminister said, he has outlineda set of priorities that hebelieves can help strengthenthe Congress and take on themachinery of the BJP.

"Since our current situa-tion is widely deplored, it maybe an advantage not to be bur-dened by the baggage of hav-ing spent too much time in thepresent party organisation andbe able to approach it from afresh perspective," the 66-year-old leader said.

Asked if he would want apublic debate between theparty's presidential candidatesas is seen in many westerndemocracies and if such anexercise would help delegatesmake up their minds, Tharoorsaid, "I would be open to theidea."

ACommunist and a Gentleman are two mismatched terms. To be precise, it isan oxymoron description. But Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, CPI(M) leader and for-mer home minister of Kerala who breathed his last on Saturday night stood

out as an exception to this usage. Starting as an ordinary activist of the Kerala StudentsFederation (the predecessor to the Students Federation of India), Balakrishnan rosethrough the ranks with his organizational skills and leadership qualities to becomethe home minister of the State and then the party’s Kerala secretary. Kodiyeri, aninnocuous village in the Kannur district figured in the national political landscape onlybecause of Balakrishnan. For an average Keralite, whether he is the camp followerof the Congress or BJP or the Muslim League, Kodiyeri meant Balakrishnan and viceversa. Balakrishnan, who was the home and tourism minister during the tenure of

V S Achuthanandan as chief minister (2006-2011)is the only politician in the State to come out of thatoffice without a blemish.

While Communists, especially the Marxists inKerala and elsewhere are strangers to civility and dig-nity, Balakrishnan, a hardcore Marxist, remained apleasing personality. There were no instances in hiscareer when he reportedly lost his cool and temper.He was dear to the public because he spoke their lan-guage and the Keralites saw in him a mirror imageof themselves. Upcoming politicians should take a cuefrom Balakrishnan who rose from humble beginningsand became a member of the CPI(M)’s Polit bureau,

the apex national body of the Marxists.Balakrishnan steered the CPI(M) for six yearsas its secretary. No other past secretaries had commanded the kind of popularity hehad enjoyed among the masses cutting across party lines. The recent Party Congress(the triennial conclave of the CPI(M)) held at Kannur was a standing monument of hisleadership qualities. At a time when people were skeptical about the move to hold sucha massive event amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Balakrishnan who was in semi-retire-ment due to illness, staged a comeback to make the event a grand success. The onlyblot on his five decades-long pubic life was caused by his two sons who faced chargesranging from narcotics trade and money laundering. But Balakrishnan was bold enoughto declare that they themselves would face the charges while neither he nor the partyhad any role in it. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was a Communist and a Gentleman.

If a political party frequently makes ‘explosive’ claims, over a period of time peo-ple get inured to its statements—especially when the claims seldom correspondwith the objective reality. So, if Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

boss Arvind Kejriwal thought that he would set the Yamuna on fire with a state-ment, based on an “Intelligence Bureau report,” he may be in for an unpleasantsurprise. This report, Kejriwal claimed, says that his party will win the GujaratAssembly elections if these are held today. Apparently, he did not explain the smallmatter of how he got hold of the IB report. After all, the IB is an intelligence agency,not a ministry or department which posts its documents on its website. The casu-alness with which Kejriwal mentions an IB report to score political points is dis-concerting; it is unbecoming for an incumbent Chief Minister to have disclosedthe findings of an intelligence report (if he really saw it). A few weeks ago, while

slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thealleged Operation Lotus, he had said the Centre’srecent action against Delhi Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia had increased the AAP’s vote sharein Gujarat by 4 per cent. And, for good measure,this increase would rise to 6 per cent if Sisodia wasarrested. Nobody knows from where Kejriwal gotthese numbers—some pollster carrying out a sur-vey, his own party doing it—but he said it nonethe-less. The media too reported it faithfully.

Such loose talk doesn’t cover Kejriwal in glory,but it has been quite useful for him and his party.Before coming to power in Delhi, he flooded the polit-ical arena in the national capital with all manner of

accusations against Congress leaders (as the Congress-led United Progressive Alliancewas in power) and some big industrialists. Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit,who died in 2019, was a favourite target. He pledged to throw all corrupt peoplebehind bars if elected. He did get elected, but did nothing against those whom hehad called corrupt. It’s true that the Delhi Police is not under him, but he didn’t eveninitiate any serious investigation or prosecution against the corrupt. If a private cit-izen Subramanian Swamy can get powerful people prosecuted and even jailed, whycouldn’t Kejriwal? Unfortunately, Kejriwal is not the only politician who has acquiredthe habit of hurling wild allegations against the people he doesn’t like; Bharatiya JanataParty leaders have also said nasty things about Robert Vadra, without taking actionagainst him if he did anything wrong. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said all kindsof things about Lalu Prasad Yadav in the past, though now they are allies. At the heartof the issue is politicians’ belief that they will not be held accountable for their state-ments, so they say anything that suits their political purpose. But they must realizethat there is something called the law of diminishing returns.

Loose talk

CONGRESS BASHING UNCALLED FORSir — All the Congress bashing due to itselections to the president of the party isuncalled for. I have never heard of a con-test for the position in any party so far. TheBJP which prides itself on its democratic tra-ditions may have had different presidentsthrough the years. But why has there neverbeen another contender for the post? Thefact is a few men at the top decide who thepresident should be and nobody dares to dis-sent. Congress is the oldest party and ide-ally should have started the trend of havinga contest for the president of the party. Noparty is going to take the challenge of hav-ing dissenters to the party diktat. Thereforeto single out Congress for not having innerparty democracy is not quite right.

Anthony Henriques | Mumbai

AN ERA ENDS WITH KODIYERI Sir — It was with deep sorrow that welearned the sad news of the demise ofCPI(M) veteran Kodiyery Balakrishna, oneof the tallest leaders of the CPI(M) andKerala politics, an astute politician, whocould combine organizational acumenand a rare ability to make friends across thepolitical spectrum and ideological divideshe was widely known for his organisation-al caliber and Parliamentary expertise.

His career graph is a manifestation ofhis vital role in Kerala politics, he had adeep and clear understanding of the issuesof the day, and his contribution during hisfour-decade-long political career willalways be remembered for a long time tocome. When he was the home minister ofKerala, his role as a mediator to hold all fac-tions of CPM together was praiseworthy.Many of his colleagues in party viewed himas a possible successor to the present chiefminister Pinarayi Vijayan.

He fought his cruel illness with anindomitable spirit till the end, his passingis all the tragic as he was still young at 69,but his leaving us at this crucial junctionis all the more tragic, when he had so much

to contribute to the political arena, he wasa person who had friends and admirersacross political spectrum demise of the lateleader is an irreparable loss to the politicsof Kerala and CPM which leaves a lastingimpression in Kerala politics.

Ramesh G Jethwani | Bangalore

BAN ALL HATE MONGERS Sir — The Centre has banned the PopularFront of India ( PFI) and its eight frontalorganizations over charges that includesterrorism, terror funding, Militancy, andRadicalisation of " a particular section ofsociety. Despite its claim of working forthe poor and the needy, the PFI had beenfor radicalism. It attained notoriety afterits gracious attack on a professor inKerala for allegedly inflammatory remarkson the Prophet. The ban on the PFI is jus-tified but what about other organizationswho are disturbing peace and Harmonyin our country?

Then the Government should also banthe organizations who did numerous attacksin our country. The organizations that did

blasts in the samjhautha Express, the orga-nizations that killed more than 2000Muslims in the Godhra riots, the bombingsin Malegaon, the attacks in Ajmer dargahand Macca Masjid should also be banned.

Lalu Prasad rightly said RSS should alsobe banned as it is more dangerous than PFI.He rightly asserted that all communalorganizations needed to be banned and thatprobes and actions should be taken if anyevidence is found against them.

It is a clear fact that Muslims in ourcountry do not support any organizationthat in the name of service to Muslims andkills innocent people. They do not want anorganization that believes in violence andtakes recourse to religious slogans at the dropof a hat. So the crackdown on outfits incit-ing hatred and violence should not be con-fined to one community. Banning should bedone to all organizations who are spoilingthe peace and Harmony in our country

Zeeshaan | Kazipet

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

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VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2022

06

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Adieu comrade kodiyeriUnlike his fellow partymen Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was civil,

his death leaves a void in state politics of Kerala

PICTALK

Devotees pull ‘Swarna Ratham' during ‘Navaratri Brahmotsavam' celebrations, at Tirumala in Tirupati district PTI

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

Kejriwal says that an ‘Intelligence Bureau report’foresees his victory in Gujarat Assembly poll

While the nation celebrates GandhiJayanthi on October 2 every year, fewremember that the day is also the birth-

day of Lal Bahadur Shastri, India's secondPrime Minister, who played an important rolein shaping a new India. He commanded a lotof respect from his peers and is remembered

for his great mind and extraordinary willpow-er. Shastri coined the popular slogan ‘Jai JawanJai Kisan’ which still resonates in the heart ofevery Indian. Shastri never misused the powerof the office. For his personal use when hebought a Fiat worth Rs12000. Shastri had onlyRs. 7,000 in his bank account. He took a loanfrom the bank for the balance amount and pur-chased the car. Even today the vehicle is keptat the Shastri Memorial in New Delhi. LalBahadur Shastri was deeply influenced by thepolitical teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. “Hardwork is equal to prayer”, he once said, inaccents profoundly reminiscent of his master.In the direct tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, LalBahadur Shastri represented the best in Indianculture.

Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai

Remembering Shastriji on his B'day

SOUNDBITE

try had distorted our sense ofrights and duties, drained us ofmost of our rich values, andleft us bereft of any positiveinculcation of the spirit ofduties and responsibilities.Even the concept of Dharmaassiduously evolved inHinduism had got much dis-torted. The cumulative effectof this long foreign subjugationhad been that despite ourunique spiritual heritage wehad turned into self-orientedindividuals out to further ourinterests at any cost. Even ourvalue of the correlation ofmeans and ends had gotmauled.

Framers of theConstitution of free India wereconscious of it when theyfinalised the Constitution ofIndia. It guaranteed variousfundamental rights to everycitizen of India which areenumerated and defined inpart III of the Constitution.These are enforceable bycourts and broadly include theright to equality, freedom ofreligion, freedom of speechand expression, right againstexploitation, cultural and edu-cational rights, and right toconstitutional remedies. Insection IV, the Constitutionhas also laid down directiveprinciples enunciating funda-mental obligations of the Stateto its citizens. Though notenforceable by courts, these

aim at making India a progres-sive and developed nation andwelfare State.Apart from thesefundamental rights and direc-tive principles, the fundamen-tal duties of the citizens of thecountry were incorporatedinto the Constitution of thecountry through the forty-second amendment to it in1976. Like directive principles,these too are not enforceableby courts but constitute moralobligations of the citizens ofthe country.

These include respect forour Constitution, the pursuitof noble ideals laid down byour national struggle for inde-pendence, work for protectingour sovereignty, promotion ofharmony and spirit of com-mon brotherhood among allpeople transcending religious,linguistic and regional, andsectional diversities, valuingand preserving our rich cultur-al heritage and protectingenvironment, safeguardingpublic property and abjuringviolence, developing scientif-ic temper, humanism, the spir-it of inquiry and reform andstriving for excellence in allspheres of individual and col-lective activity.The time hascome when the people ofIndia will have to bridge thiswide gulf between our consti-tutional rights and duties. Toexamine lending legal supportto the gigantic task, in

February this year theSupreme Court asked Centreand State governments as tohow they intend to sensitisecitizens on the importance ofknowing their fundamentalduties enshrined in our consti-tution. It also agreed to exam-ine a PIL seeking that moralobligations of duties be con-verted into legal commitmentby enacting a law.

After decades and formany years now India has aworking, stable central govern-ment poised yet again forfaster socio-economic growthin a more corruption-freeatmosphere. With this back-ground as already pointed outby this writer in his article on“Rights and Duties” publishedon 24.2.2017 and with vasttechnological and otherresources at their command,the government and people ofIndia have to carry out thissustainable campaign with thesame missionary spirit withwhich our leaders carried outsuccessfully the freedom strug-gle. This has also to be donewith the same zeal with whichAshoka erected his famousedicts in far-flung areas of hisvast empire over two thousandyears ago to instill discipline,a sense of duty, and moral val-ues in the people.

The author a former IISofficer and producer. The

views expressed are personal.

Though fundamental duties are not enforceable constitutionally, theyare as vital as fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution.

TIME HAS COMEWHEN PEOPLE OFINDIA WILL HAVETO BRIDGE THIS

WIDE GULFBETWEEN OUR

CONSTITUTIONALRIGHTS AND

DUTIESVIGOROUSLY

JL KOUL JALALI

Rights and dutiesare interrelated

President of IndiaDroupadi Murmu in heraddress to the nation onIndependence Day eve

said that the keyword for Indiatoday is compassion; for thedowntrodden, for the needy, andthose on the margins. Stating thatsome of our national values havebeen incorporated in ourConstitution as the fundamentalduties of the citizen, she appealedto every citizen to know abouttheir fundamental duties andfollow them in letter and spirit sothat our nation reaches newheights.After independence in1947, India has made tremendousprogress in various spheres ofactivity more so in economicdevelopment. But despite welfaremeasures, the distribution aspectof this development has not per-colated down properly to lowersections of society. After thepolitical change that occurred inthe country following the gener-al elections in 2014, this aspect ofdevelopment too has been takencare of more vigorously and thepoverty line brought down butstill much needs to be done toeliminate the evil of poverty.ThePresident appealed to every citi-zen to know about their funda-mental duties and follow them inletter and spirit. It is a commonobservation that in India a vastdichotomy exists between rightsand duties.

While we are keen on ourrights we talk very rarely aboutour duties as citizens of freeIndia. There is hardly any reali-sation that our fundamental rightsentail responsibilities and funda-mental duties. We also appear tobe generally not aware of the dic-tum that a person`s rights startfrom where others' rights end. Inhis Man Ki Baat` program fromAkashvani on 29.1.20017, PrimeMinister of India Narendra Modispoke about rights and duties andthe need to bridge the gulfbetween the two in ourcountry.The concept of duties hasnot been new to India as thesehave been a part of our traditionsin various spheres of humanactivity from times immemorial.A long spell of foreign rule forover a millennium in our coun-

We are one of thosefew countries whichhave a wide range ofdefence optionsbefore us.

External Affairs Minister—S Jaishankar

For the first time,our farmers havegot regular, unin-terrupted and sur-plus power.

Punjab Chief Minister—Bhagwant Mann

Don’t think Indiahave a replacementfor Bumrah. A vitalcog, he’ll be sorelymissed.

India ex-batter— Wasim Jaffer

Salman sir should-n’t venture intoOTT. I’m happy towatch him on thebig screen.

Actor—Varun Dhawan

We had to takeurgent action (taxcuts) to get our econ-omy growing, getBritain moving.

UK Prime Minister—Liz Truss

I TOLD HIM (KHARGE) THAT I STAND BY HIM AND CAN’TEVEN THINK OF CONTESTING AGAINST HIM. I WILL BE HIS PROPOSER. —CONGRESS LEADERDIGVIJAYA SINGH

IT’LL BE A GOOD THING TO HAVE MORE PEOPLE INTHE FRAME. THE MORE CANDIDATES (FOR

CONGRESS CHIEF’S POST), THE BETTER.—CONGRESS LEADER

SHASHI THAROOR

Phenomenal march of India to become the fifth largest economy inthe world after going past its colonial master the UK when the coun-try is celebrating ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ is worth appreciating.

Many economic accolades have revisited India. However, India has invit-ed fresh challenges like high inflation rate, huge income disparity, unem-ployment and excessive taxation, which are likely to be difficult to tack-le in the days to come.

Going past the colonial master, the UK, to become the fifth largesteconomy in the world is definitely not an easy feat for India. During theperiod ending March 2022, India’s GDP stood at $854.7 billion as com-pared to the UK at $816 billion. This is just a speck of other achieve-ments that India managed to garner during this period. India’s weigh-tage in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) rose to the sec-ond spot, just behind China. It has spread its exports to penetrate newmarkets, earlier monopolized by China.

Export orders have seen an uptick from both the US and Europe,especially for products from labour intensive sectors such as handicrafts,apparels, and non-electronic consumer goods. Economic projectionsfrom the World Economic Forum and management consulting firm Kearneypoint towards India owning the world’s largest labour force with a prob-able contribution of more than $500 billion to the global economy.

This rising tide of global impact in terms of economic growth canbe sustained and multiplied by India if the economic benefits percolatedeep down to touch the lives of the common man. Moreover, this is asubject which has been debated since India’s independence also. Amore humane and holistic society governance can do wonders to keepthe momentum of the current trend of GDP and economic developmentin full swing.

It would be wise to ponder on this fact in the light of the United NationsHuman Development Index for 2020-21. This report projects that Indiahas moved down in its global rankings in Human Development Index(HDI) values from 130 to 132 in 2021. Also, in terms of the per capitaincome report of 2021, India was ranked 145th compared to the UK atthe 22nd rank, which essentially translates to the fact that the averageincome of an Indian continues to remain low compared to the averageincome of a UK citizen.

It is required to contemplate whether India surpassing the UK asthe fifth largest economy in the world also translates into higher pro-ductivity of an average Indian compared to a UK citizen. If the answeris negative, then India should look into ways and means to enhancethe productivity and per capita income of an average Indian to becomethe biggest economy in the world, which we can easily achieve withthe current governance.

When we critically encounter issues like high inflation rate, hugeincome disparity, unemployment and huge taxation, these need to bedealt carefully. India can be able to pull its economically weaker citizensfrom poverty by ensuring that policies and benefits reach them. Onlythrough sustained poverty alleviation programmes and policies direct-ed at benefitting the common man economically, India can sustain itseconomic bull run for over a period of time.

Yes, the phoenix is rising after a long slumber of ages, and this risecould be the dawn of India’s march into its lost glory if supported byan equally economically strong common man who is, after all, the pil-lar on which this phoenix will finally rest on.

(Sofi and Chakraborty teach at Bharathidasan Institute of Management Tiruchirapalli)

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMN

INDIAN ECONOMY RISESAS PHOENIX TO FLY HIGH

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

After going past UK, it shouldimprove HDI ranking

There is only one thingthat is more dangerousthan doing something

without fully knowing its impli-cation. And that one thing isdoing something withoutknowing fully the implicationsand yet defending it. In the sec-ond case, the danger is of half-baked competencies at work.

The job gets done, becausewith the apparatus and sys-tems, all the superficial skillsare there, and the implemen-tation of the decision becomesa logical flow. In the chainreaction that is triggered, thedoer himself knew only thetechniques and operated itwithout understanding the fullimplications of the action. Theothers in the team only didtheir bit to keep it going.

Yet, as an upshot, undesir-able results emerged. This

happens very often in gover-nance and in certain relateddomains. Any action shouldbe undertaken only when thecomplete implications of thataction are understood, to theextent possible.

When the Aadhar card wasintroduced into the systemmore than a decade ago, it wasportrayed as a harmless andwelcome intervention in theprocess of establishing identity.Gradually, the instrument grewlarger and larger in its signifi-cance. It grew from beinginnocuous to becoming essen-tial in many ways and acts.Gradually, not only did govern-mental circles and quasi-inde-pendent institutions start usingit, but the interloper in the formof the private sector tooappeared. In a distant way,Aadhar tended to become the

equivalent of a social securityidentity in certain countries.Matters reached a head wherethe courts had to intervene.

The rollercoaster ride ofreference to and use of Aadharwas stymied. That may beanother story. Closer to the nar-rative is the fact that, through-out, Aadhar found a criticalpride of place in many situa-tions, including KYC (KnowYour Customer) efforts. Slowly,there was an attempt to sanitisevarious systems with KYC.Nothing wrong with that either.The problem, however, waselsewhere. KYC became a dou-ble-edged sword. The enterpris-ing individuals reportedlyfound ways of having morethan one Aadhar card.Predictably, this was both iden-tified and tracked. The problemwas contained. However, some

thought that some damage hadbeen done. The magic of theinstrument of the Aadhar cardstarted to receive a shadow onthe side.

However, along with thePAN card, ‘establishment ofidentity’ became a commonrequirement. And, as it hap-pens often in the case ofoverkill, in certain cases, theclaims of Aadhar and PANcards as identity symbols stillneeded to be supplemented.

Here, the Voters cards surfaced.In some cases, even thePassport document was dugout from its usual recalcitrantposition in domestic matters,and occupied the pride of placein identity documents.

Put simply, institutionssuch as the DGCA took a fancyto the Passport as an identityproof. So the citizen, with all hishumility, was on the road to col-lecting identities: Aadhar, PAN,Passport, Voter cards, et all. Thelist continues to grow. Someagencies wanted the electricitybill as proof of identity and res-idence. Others wanted theMunicipal Corporation TaxReceipt, and so the search foridentity items grew larger, as thechoices widened.

In fact, as the wise crackonce said “there is nothingwrong with anything if you are

not affected”. Like the story ofBetal, the identity story of doc-uments and evidence almostnever ends. There were spellingerrors in names and cases ofmixed up identities of laneswith common house numbers.One could have the right blockand number, but say the nameSouth City in a town couldbecome the ‘Water Colony’ ofthe same town. The error wasinnocent and unintended, butthe citizen had to pay the price.He had to work very hard to getthe system to get it right

He was supposed to firstidentify the error and thentrack it to where it originated inthe system. These efforts werestressful and none of themcould be set right at one place.A number of people refused tohelp to sort it out, because theydid not want to be ‘dragged in’.

Nevertheless, the systemcontinued to chug along relent-lessly. This kind of being ‘pro-tective’ to the system needs athorough review. It cannot beanybody’s case that the ineligi-ble should be pandered to. Butequally it should not be any-body’s case that harassment,endless at that, must be sup-ported in the name of ‘protect-ing’ the system. There are manydangers which start surfacingwhen this happens.

Of them, the biggest is theimpunity with which the non-descript misuses the confusingelements in a system to get‘away with the booty,’ He wouldbe pretending to be the aggriev-ed party, while he was actuallyexploiting the system. Fewthings are sadder than legiti-mate cases being lost because ofthe convolutions in the system.

Aadhar occupies place of eminence in KYC update documents, but its anomalies give citizens a harrowing experience

The Great Indian identity chase for KYC updates

(The author is a member ofadvisory committee ofMinistry of Shipping)

VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

KG SOFI DINESH & UTTAM CHAKRABORTY

Sabarmati, Yamuna:Tale of two rivers SUMEET BHASIN

DELHI CM HADCLAIMED THAT

HE WOULDREDUCE

POLLUTION INYAMUNA BY 90

PER CENT BY2023. WE ARE

JUST TWOMONTHS AWAY

FROMKNOCKING THEDEADLINE, AND

THE YAMUNAIN THE

NATIONALCAPITAL ISEXHALINGFOAMS OF

CHEMICALS

Until 2005, washer men heldforth on the banks of SabarmatiRiver in Ahmedabad, washingand drying clothes of the big

city, while slums dotted its floodplains,with garbage sprawling around to presenta nauseating look to the visitors toGujarat’s capital. The people covered theirnoses as they passed by the riverbanks ofSabarmati. The river was as dead in thecity, as is Yamuna in the national capital.People in Ahmedabad faced long trafficjams, as the roads were clogged, becauseof massive encroachments of the flood-plains and the adjoining public land. Thescene filled one with despondency.

But by that time Narendra Modi hadalready chalked out the plan for the devel-opment of the Sabarmati Riverfront.The project would cost a total of Rs 1200crores. The project would be a city levelintervention, conceived and implement-ed as a pioneering multi-benefit project,with significant urban transformationpotential to transform the historic, butneglected river Sabarmati into a vibranturban space.

The vital focus was to return the riverback to the citizens of Ahmedabad, andin the process also ensure that the citygains a major asset, which will improvethe efficiency of its infrastructure and thequality of life. The aims also envisagedrevitalizing the river, which in fact wascarrying significant sewage flow andused as a dumping yard for disposal ofgarbage.

The project ensured that it would befinancially self-sustainable, while entail-ing environmental improvement, alongwith cultural and social sustainability totransform the non-perennial river for bet-ter.

Now that Gujarat is hosting the 36thNational Games at a short notice, thePaldi Sports Complex at the SabarmatiRiverfront is one of the sporting venuesfor the big sporting event. This turn-around is at a scale seen in Singapore only.The East Asian city-state is a majortourism destination. The city planner hasaligned Singapore in such a way that atourist would always see something new,thus finding something novel and inno-vative, which leaves the tourists withimpressions that they should again come.This has been the model of Singapore forseveral decades. The city administratorwill develop an amusement park andother attractions.

The Sabarmati Riverfront is on thesame pattern. The visitors will always findthat there is something new in line withthe spirit of a lively city. This has beenreflected in the development of greencover and Miyawaki plantation of 14.30hectare of land on the banks of theSabarmati River, which has seen over23000 tree plantations in four public parkswith a total area of 12.45 hectare, besidesa biodiversity park of eight hectares.

The Sabarmati Riverfront is a story still unfolding that matchesonly with Singapore, while Yamuna in Delhi remains dead

(The author is Director,Public Policy Research

Centre)

Last month, over 100 Mayorsand Deputy Mayors came visitingthe Sabarmati Riverfront, andthey were awed with the scale ofdevelopment at the place. Theurban administrations would bethe next engine of the growth ofthe nation, and the mayors haveto lead their corporations withinnovative solutions to the chal-lenges faced by the cities in thecountry. The leaders of the localbodies were thrilled as theywalked on the Atal Bridge, whichwas inaugurated by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onAugust 27 this year. The bridge isnow a major tourist attraction,and the people make a beeline tobuy tickets to spend half an houron the iconic place. This has notonly boosted the tourism poten-tial of Ahmedabad and Gujarat,but is also filling the coffers of thelocal municipal corporation totake up further developmentworks, which would again scale upthe attractions of the SabarmatiRiverfront.

This is not the end of the story,for it’s just the beginning, as thenext phases of development of theSabarmati Riverfront would givenew wings to the lives of the peo-ple in Ahmedabad. The master-plan for ‘Riverfront Phase 2’ willencourage development that is inharmony with nature, with acombination of high, mediumand low density zones, carefullyplanned amidst green and openspaces, besides the masterplan alsoproposing an efficient and inte-grated mobility network. But itmust be noted that the overalldevelopment will be sensitive,sustainable and will aim to pro-

mote wellness and mindfulness ofthe city-dwellers.

In the next five years, whenpeople would visit Ahmedabadand the Sabarmati Riverfront,they may see a Singapore risingthere with a similar or granderenergy of the people, driving theeconomy of the city and Gujaratto greater heights, while at thesame time being in full harmonywith nature, sticking firmly to sus-tainability and setting the exam-ple for urban renewal and devel-opment worth replication acrossthe country.

Cities in India for ages havedeveloped on the riversides. Thedevelopments of riverbanks willonly ensure the renewal of thecities. There should be no secondopinion about this aspect. Thisexplains why Delhi is regressing.The city is dying. The people aredepressed. The population ofDelhi, in place of taking pride inliving in the national capital,finds themselves stuck in match-boxes, struggling to breathe andwalk.

In Delhi, the people can nei-ther breathe nor walk, and theyeach year spend more and moremoney on their health expenses.Yamuna gave life to Delhi, and theriver is now reduced to gutters.The ruling politicians in thenational capital have fooled thepeople with promises of revivingthe Yamuna River to only fattentheir purses with the lootedmoney. The people are nowresigned to their fate that therecould be no progress for better intheir lives.

First, Sheila Dikshit, chiefminister of Delhi from 2003 to

2015, sold false promises of clean-ing Yamuna. She was succeededby Arvind Kejriwal who has filledthe people with so much skepti-cism that no one is now hopingthat they would ever walk on thebanks of Yamuna in the eveningsas they do on the SabarmatiRiverfront. In 2015, Kejriwal soldthe dream to the people in Delhithat he would transform Yamunainto the Thames River of London.In 2020, he presented a 10-pointguarantee card in the DelhiAssembly that Yamuna wouldnot only be cleaned but one couldeven start swimming in thewaters!

Delhi Chief Minister had alsoclaimed that he would reduce pol-lution in Yamuna by 90 per centby 2023. We are just two monthsaway from knocking the deadline,and the Yamuna in the nationalcapital is exhaling foams of chem-icals. The Centre also made avail-able the funds to the extent of Rs2419 crores. But there was no willon the part of the city government.To make a change in the lives ofthe people, the city administratorsneed vision, but the Kejriwal-ledAam Aadmi Party believes inmaking quick gains by the politicsof freebies. Thus, Yamuna remainsdead in Delhi, while Sabarmatiflows in Ahmedabad with all theyouthful energy.

Now that Delhi is approach-ing another winter, the people maybe condemned to inhale the toxicair, for there is no sink to absorbthe carbon and the pollution.The Yamuna Riverfront couldhave taken shape if there was avision and will to change the livesof the people for the better.

VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2022 Money 08

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NE

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In a veiled attack on party leader Sachin Pilot, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot onSunday said it was important to know why there was resentment among MLAs over thename of a new chief minister in the state. Several MLAs loyal to Gehlot, who was seen as

the frontrunner for the post of the Congress national president, had last week submittedresignation letters over a possible move to appoint Pilot as the next chief minister. Gehlot laterannounced that he will not contest theCongress presidential polls as he took moralresponsibility for the political crisis in his state.Referring to the crisis, he said 80-90 per centMLAs switch sides when a new chief ministeris going to be appointed but this did nothappen in Rajasthan. "When a chief minister ischanged, 80-90 percent (MLAs) leave him andswitch sides. They turn to the new candidate. Itoo don't consider it wrong. But it was a newcase in Rajasthan where the MLAs gotagitated just in the name of the new chiefminister," Gehlot said without naming Pilot.

Acase was registered after an unidentified person sent an email to the MumbaiInternational Airport Limited (MIAL) threatening to blow up a flight of IndiGo airline, aMumbai police official said on Sunday. The email threat, which was received on

Saturday night, turned out to be a hoax after nothing suspicious was found post athorough check of the aircraft, the Sahar police station official said. The email had asentence that read "I will blow up flight 6E 6045", he said, adding that an FIR has beenregistered under Indian Penal Code section 506B (issuing death threat) and other offences.IndiGo, in a statement, said "due to aspecific bomb threat, IndiGo flight fromMumbai to Ahmedabad was impacted onOctober 1, 2022." "The bomb threatprotocol was initiated and the flightoperated after all the checks werecompleted," the airline said in itsstatement, though it did not share detailslike the number of passengers on board,flight number and delay in departure dueto the incident.

Revenue intelligence officers have seized 198 kg high purity crystal methamphetamine(ice) and 9 kg cocaine worth Rs 1,476 crore, the finance ministry said. In one of thebiggest seizures of amphetamine and cocaine in the country, Directorate of Revenue

Intelligence (DRI) officers intercepted and seized a truck in Mumbai on October 1. The DRIrecovered 198 kg high purity crystal methamphetamine (ice) and 9 kg high purity cocaineworth Rs 1,476 crore in Navi Mumbai, the ministry said in a statement. The team of DRIMumbai officers intercepted a truck inVashi, carrying imported oranges. Onthorough checking and examination,large quantity of drugs were foundconcealed in the cartons carryingoranges. "This is a new kind of modusoperandi involving concealment of drugsin the boxes of 'Valentia Oranges'imported from South Africa. Afterclearance of such oranges from Customsarea, the goods used to get stored insome cold storages located in Vashi," theministry said.

Gehlot targets Pilot, saysRajasthan MLAs got agitated

Email threat to blow up IndiGoflight turns out to be hoax

Crystal methamphetamine,cocaine worth Rs 1,476 cr seized

Inflation may fall to 5.2 % next fiscal on normal rainsPNS n NEW DELHI

Persistently high inflationremains a key policy concernfor the Reserve Bank, whichhas raised rates aggressively sofar this year, but the pressuremight ease next fiscal assum-ing normal rains and furthernormalisation of global supplychains without any exogenousshocks, according to an RBIreport.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) expects retail inflation tocome under control at 5.2 percent in the next financial yearbeginning April, down from6.7 per cent it has forecast forthe current year.

"For 2023-24, assuming anormal monsoon, a progressive

normalisation of supply chains,and no further exogenous orpolicy shocks, structural modelestimates indicate that inflationwill average 5.2 per cent," RBIsaid in its 'Monetary PolicyReport September 2022'.

The central bank is mandat-ed to keep retail inflation in a

range of 2-6 per cent.However, inflation has been

above the RBI's upper tolerancelevel since January 2022 main-ly due to adverse supply shocksamid geopolitical tensions aris-ing out of the Russia-Ukrainewar since late February.

Both the countries are key

suppliers of foodgrains, edibleoil, fertilisers and energyresources such as crude oil andnatural gas.

Even as inflation has easedfrom its April peak of 7.8 percent, it remains at unacceptablyhigh levels, the central banksaid in the report.

On Friday, the Reserve Bankhiked the key repo rate by 0.50per cent to 5.90 per cent tobring inflation under control.During the May-August peri-od of this fiscal, it raised thepolicy repo rate by 140 basispoints or 1.4 per cent.

The six-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC) ofthe RBI met four times duringApril-September 2022, includ-ing an off-cycle meeting in

May, in the backdrop of asharp jump in global commod-ity prices and uncertaintiesaround the pace of monetarypolicy normalisation globally.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas, while announcing the pol-icy, said the world already wit-nessed two major shocks of thepandemic and the Ukrainian sit-uation over the last two-and-a-half years and a third shockcomes in the form of aggressivemonetary policy actions by cen-tral banks globally.

The RBI projects the inflationto remain above the upper tol-erance level of 6 per centthrough the first three quartersof 2022-23 (till December) andexpects it to come under controlfrom January 2023 onwards.

India makes strongpitch to major US firmsPNS n HOUSTON

Favourable geology, open dataaccess, supporting policyregime and ease of doing busi-ness were the major drivers toattract potential US players toinvest in India's energy andpetroleum growth wave duringa two-day investors meet heldhere. The investors meet fromSeptember 28-29, showcasingthe lucrative fiscal policies andconducive environment ofenergy and petroleum (E&P)sector, that has seen a paradigmshift in policies aimed at attract-ing investors for investment wasorganised by DirectorateGeneral of Hydrocarbons(DGH) under the aegis ofMinistry of Petroleum andNatural Gas (MoPNG) andfacilitated by HoustonConsulate General of India.

MoPNG Secretary PankajJain, in his keynote address topotential investors from over 50companies; oil and gas majors,financial institutions, privateequity firms, service providersand academicians, made astrong pitch to investors inter-ested in doing business withIndia.

He discussed India's strengthand role in the global energyecosystem and highlighted Indiaas the destination of energyopportunities.

Jain spoke on the latest offer-ing of discovered fields, ease ofdoing business for bidding and

assured an open-door policy toresolve any issue faced by theindustry as he sought foreignand private investments to boostdomestic oil and gas production.

India is the world's 4th largestoil importer and the demand isexpected to rise driven by anincrease in India's per capitaconsumption of energy whichcurrently stands at one-third ofthe global average. India wantsto be the new destination forglobal energy players. Oil pro-ducers worldwide are eager togain a foothold in India, wherefuel demand is expected to keeprising as the country's economygrows," he said.

India is exploring the mul-tiple attractive opportunities inthe energy sector as it seeks toensure reliable, affordable andsustainable energy to its grow-ing population, 40 per cent ofthe working age population isaged between 15-35 years. It isthe large growing economyand will be the main driver ofrising demand for energy overthe next two decades, account-ing for 25 per cent of globalgrowth . Being the 2nd largestoil consumer, its oil consump-tion or demand is expected torise to 450 MMT by 2040from about 220MT in 2022.India, also being the 2nd largestrefiner in Asia with 23 refiner-ies, will increase its refiningcapacity to 400 MMTPA by2030 from current 251.2MMTPA," he said.

Indian hodophiles bank big on ‘travel now, pay later'PNS n NEW DELHI

Maldivian blues or Rajasthan'ssand dunes? Keen on both,Rakesh Mandavaya had a bud-get for none. That's when helearnt of the travel now paylater' option offered by banksand fintech companies. Andthe rest, as they say, is hisMaldives travel history he can'tstop gushing about.

The 37-year-old, who man-aged a memorable holiday andthat too a foreign one, said hissix-month interest free loan forRs 1.5 lakh was approved injust a day.

"Since my trip was animpromptu one, I didn't haveenough time to plan it ormoney to fund it. Then a

friend told me about travelloans. The process was supereasy," the Delhi-based IT pro-fessional told PTI.

"I think the demand forsuch a loan category was alwaysthere. It is useful for everyone,especially salaried employees.It will encourage people to seenew places and make holidaymemories," he added.

The TNPL acronym for thetravel now pay later' trend hascaught on, a variation of thebuy now pay later' (BNPL) seg-ment where customers buyproducts without paying forthem immediately.

Be it a foreign or a domes-tic destination, leisure oradventurous getaways, TNPLoptions available with leading

travel agencies, includingSOTC, Thomas Cook Indiaand MakeMy Trip (MMT),make it all within reach forIndia's growing tribe of travel-philes' busy ticking off theirbucket lists. The trend haspicked up pace after the pan-

demic."You walk into a leading

electronics store to buy a refrig-erator or a mobile. You will see10 options to pay over an EMIor pay for later programmes.But you walk into a leadingtravel agency and you won't

find any option available what-soever. This is what we funda-mentally want to change," saidAkash Dahiya, founder ofSanKash, a travel aggregatorwith a network of more than6,000 merchants.

"We allow customers to payfor their travel or holiday overa period of time," Dahiya toldPTI.

Like any other EMI scheme,TNPL travellers take loans tobook their tickets and hotelexpenses and pay it back ininstallments later over severalmonths. Aspiring travellers areprovided short-term credit bypartner NBFCs and banksthrough an underwriting plat-form that evaluates the cus-tomer's creditworthiness using

data science models.Loans are available on online

travel aggregators -- whichhave both travel merchantsand fintech partners on theirplatforms -- or travel agenciesthat either have tied up withbanks, fintech companies, oroffer credit through their ownfintech arms.

With the world opening upafter more than two years ofCovid and thousands ofrevenge travellers' on the move,business is soaring.

SOTC, one of India's leadingtour operators, has witnessed a7X surge in queries among cus-tomers opting for travel now,pay later, said Daniel D'Souza,president and country head,Holidays, SOTC Travel.

GONE WITH THE LOAN

Cycle Pure Agarbathies toset up 100 stores across IndiaPNS n CHENNAI

NR Group, manufacturers ofCycle Pure Agarbathies, hasdrawn up aggressive expan-sion plans that includes open-ing 100 stores by 2024 besidestapping the online market toboost sales, according to a topcompany official.

The Mysuru-based NRGroup is known for the pop-ular Cycle brand of agarbathis(incense sticks) and also diver-sified into other products likesambrani, turmeric, kumkumamong others, companyManaging Director ArjunRanga said here.

"Cycle - as a brand is known

for agarbathis (incense sticks)but we are into other productsalso. We want to be known asa prayer-and-fragrance brandand not just an agarbathibrand," he told PTI.

Elaborating, he said, "We areinto sambrani segment andhave also launched 'nai vaid-hya' under spiritual productscategory, it is one of the fastestgrowing segments for us...wealso have pooja oil, camphor,kumkum and turmeric," hesaid. To a query, he said rev-enue from Agarbathi busi-ness accounts for more than 90per cent and his companywants to increase the sales ofother products as well.

Suzlon Energyfounder TulsiTanti passesaway

PNS n NEW DELHI

Tulsi Tanti, the founder chairmanand managing director of SuzlonEnergy and a renowned experton renewable energy, died due tocardiac arrest on Saturdayevening. Tanti, 64, who was alsothe chairman of the IndianWind Turbine ManufacturersAssociation, was on his way toPune from Ahmedabad when hesuffered a cardiac arrest, a com-pany official said.

He is survived by his daugh-ter Nidhi and son Pranav. In aregulatory filing, the companysaid, "With profound sadness,we inform you of the untime-ly demise of Tulsi R.Tanti, theFounder, the Chairman &Managing Director, and one ofthe promoters of SuzlonEnergy Limited... on 1stOctober 2022. Tanti suffered acardiac arrest and passed awaythe same day."

In this difficult time, thecompany continues to besupported by its highly expe-rienced board of directorsand senior management whoare both able and committedto take Tanti's legacy forwardand realise his vision for thefirm, it added. Suzlon Energyis in the process of raising Rs1,200 crore through a rightsissue. The official said Tantiwas on his way home inPune after holding a series ofmeetings in Ahmedabadregarding the rights issue.

Housing sales up 87 % in 7 citiesPNS n NEW DELHI

Housing sales rose 87 per centin January-September acrossseven cities to 2,72,709 unitsand breached the transactionsclocked in entire 2019 pre-COVID year on strongdemand, according toAnarock.

Sales stood at 1,45,651 unitsin the January-September peri-od of 2021.

Property consultantAnarock, which is one of theleading housing brokeragefirms, tracks primary sales ofseven major cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai MetropolitanRegion (MMR), Chennai,Kolkata, Bengaluru,Hyderabad and Pune.

As per the data, housingsales in these seven citiesincreased to 2,72,709 unitsduring January-September thisyear from 1,45,651 units in thecorresponding period of theprevious year.

The January-September fig-ure of this calendar year ishigher than the 2,61,358 unitssold during entire 2019.

Sales plunged to 1,38,344units in 2020 due to the

adverse impact of the COVID-19 induced lockdowns.

India's primary housingmarket revived last year onpent up demand coupled withincentives offered by somestate governments likeMaharashtra in the form oflower stamp duty.

As a result, sales rose to2,36,516 units in 2021 and themomentum has continued sofar this year.

The impact of rise in inter-est rates on home loans -- froma decadal low of around 6.5 percent to over 8 per cent now --has not been felt so far on thehousing market. The RBI hasincreased the repo rate by 190basis points since May this yearto contain inflation.

Concessional importduties on edible oils PNS n NEW DELHI

Concessional import dutieson specified edible oils are inplace till March 2023, thefood ministry said on Sunday.

This decision was taken onAugust 31, 2022 by the CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes andCustoms (CBIC) in order toboost domestic supply andkeeping retail prices undercontrol.

The food ministry in its lat-est statement said that theCBIC's decision of extendingexisting concessional importduties on specified edible oilsis in place till March 2023.

"The concessional customsduty on edible oil import hasbeen extended by another 6months, which means that thenew deadline will now be March2023," the statement said.

The ministry also said thatdomestic edible oil prices havebeen on a declining trend dri-ven by a fall in global prices.With falling global rates andlower import duties, retailprices of edible oils have fall-en considerably in India.

According to the statement,the current duty structure oncrude palm oil, RBDPalmolein, RBD palm oil,crude soybean oil, refinedsoybean oil, crude sunfloweroil and refined sunflower oilremains unchanged till March31, 2023.

FPIs turn net sellers again;withdraw Rs 7,600 cr from equities PNS n NEW DELHI

After infusing funds in the lasttwo months, foreign investorsturned sellers again inSeptember and pulled out overRs 7,600 crore from the Indianequity markets amid hawkishstance by the US Fed andsharp depreciation in rupee.

With this, the total outflowby Foreign Portfolio Investors(FPIs) from the Indian equitymarkets has reached Rs 1.68lakh crore so far in 2022, datawith depositories showed.

FPI flows are expected toremain volatile in the comingmonths on slew of global anddomestic factors, experts said.

"The UK government'sexpansionary fiscal policiesamid elevated global inflationroiled the global currencymarkets and resulted in risk-offsentiment in equities," said

Shrikant Chouhan, Head -Equity Research (Retail), KotakSecurities.

On the domestic front, thereis some fuel related concerns,besides marginal drop in GDPestimates, he added.

According to the data, FPIshave sold equities worth a netRs 7,624 crore in September.This came following a netinvestment of Rs 51,200 crorein August and nearly Rs 5,000crore in July.

Prior to that, FPIs were netsellers in Indian equity markets

for nine months in a rowbeginning October 2021.

Although FPIs started themonth of September on a pos-itive note, the pace of netflows was lower compared toAugust on the back ofenhanced global uncertainty.

"Concerns over the aggres-sive rate hike by US Fed to con-trol rising inflation, sharpdepreciation in rupee, surge inUS bond yields and fear of aglobal recession, fuelled pes-simism among investors.

"Continuing Russia-Ukrainewar also dented sentiments,"said Himanshu Srivastava,Associate Director - ManagerResearch, Morningstar India.

The scenario turned adverseafter hotter-than-expectedinflation report dashed hopesthat the US Federal Reservewould scale down its rate hikesin the coming months.

Govt issues draft guidelinesfor listing of RRBsPNS n NEW DELHI

In a bid to enable regional ruralbanks (RRBs) to raiseresources by listing on stockexchanges, the governmenthas issued draft guidelinesthat set certain basic criteria,including net worth of at leastRs 300 crore during the previ-ous three years.

They should also have cap-ital adequacy above the regu-latory minimum level of 9 percent in each of the precedingthree years.

The RRBs should have atrack record of profitability andearned operating profit of min-imum Rs 15 crore for at leastthree out of the previous fiveyears, according to the draftguidelines issued by thefinance ministry recently.

Besides, there should not be

any accumulated loss and thelender should have givenreturn on equity of minimum10 per cent in three out of thepreceding five years, it said.

As per the draft norms, theresponsibility of identifyingsuitable lenders for issuinginitial public offering (IPO) hasbeen left with the respectivesponsor banks.

The sponsor bank wouldtake into account the relevantnorms and regulations of theSecurities and Exchange Boardof India (Sebi) and ReserveBank of India (RBI) regardingcapital raising and disclosurerequirements while identifyingRRBs for IPO, it said.

RRBs, which play an impor-tant role in agriculture credit,are sponsored by Public SectorBanks (PSBs).

Currently, the Centre holds50 per cent in RRBs, while 35per cent and 15 per cent arewith the concerned sponsorbanks and state governments,respectively.

These banks were formedunder the RRB Act, 1976 withan objective to provide creditand other facilities to smallfarmers, agricultural labourersand artisans in rural areas.

Power consumptiongrows 13.31 % to 127 bnPNS n NEW DELHI

India's power consumptiongrew 13.31 per cent on anannual basis to 127.39 billionunits (BU) in September 2022and 11.65 per cent during thefirst six months of this fiscal,as per government data.

The double-digit growthhighlights recovery in eco-nomic activities following thepandemic-induced lockdown,experts said.

They are also of the viewthat demand as well as con-sumption of electricity willincrease due to the festiveseason and improvement ineconomic activity.

Power consumption in

September last year wasrecorded at 112.43 BU, high-er than 112.24 BU in the samemonth of 2020, power min-istry data showed.

Electricity consumptionduring April-September 2022grew by 11.65 per cent to 786.5BU compared to 740.40 BU inthe same period in 2021. It was625.33 BU in April-September2020.

9

Vijayawada| Monday October 3, 2022 what’s brewing?Adele has a fangirl moment when

she meets her idol Gabrielle

British singer Adelehad an emotionalmoment when she

met her idol, Gabrielle,who is best rememberedfor her Bridget Jones’sDiary sound track. TheRolling In The Deep hit-maker cried her heart outupon meeting the seniorsinger and UK chart-top-per, reports Mirror.co.uk.

She rushed over toGabrielle’s dressing roomin hair rollers. Gabrielle,53, whose 1993 debut sin-gle Dreams was a globalhit, was supporting Adeleat two sold-out Hyde Parksummer gigs.

As reported byMirror.co.uk, Gabriellesaid, “It was amazing. Shecame to my dressingroom. She was meant tobe in hair and makeup,she arrived in rollers look-ing really cute. She justmade my day. She'sincredible. She cried. Shenearly made me cry-because she's phenome-nal.”

Adele, 34, was five when

Dreams, which includesthe line “dreams can cometrue”, was released and theyoungster growing up inTottenham, NorthLondon, longed to emulatethe singer.

Speaking at Jog-On toCancer, a charity event inLondon, Gabrielle said,“We were star struckaround each other but Iwas more star struck.”

Gabrielle, who has adrooping eyelid and cov-ers it in public withshades, an eyepatch orhair, is getting ready toembark on her ‘30 Years ofDreaming Tour’ in 2023.

According toMirror.co.uk, Adele choseDreams when sheappeared on Desert IslandDiscs. She said, “It's thevery first song I rememberin my life. I was four orfive and I think the lyricdreams can come true is soinfectious. I rememberbeing mesmerised by her,so pure and so delicateand gentle with her voicein the way she moved.”

Actor Priyanka Chopra hasshared several pictures andvideos from her recent discus-

sion with US Vice President KamalaHarris. Taking to Instagram, Priyanka alsopenned a long note in which shetalked about voting rights in the US.She said that while she doesn’t‘vote in this country - my hus-band can and one day, my daugh-ter will’. Priyanka is married tosinger Nick Jonas and they have adaughter, Malti Marie ChopraJonas.

Priyanka spoke about how inIndia, women have held 'highestelected offices’ from IndiraGandhi as Prime Minister to cur-rent President Droupadi Murmu.She added that in the US, peoplehave not yet seen that ‘final glassceiling shattered’. For the event,Priyanka wore a long yellow dressand white heels. The duo spoke atthe Democratic NationalCommittee (DMC) Women’sLeadership Forum in WashingtonDC.

Priyanka captioned the post,“To quote Ruth Bader Ginsburg— ‘Women belong in all placeswhere decisions are being made. Itshouldn't be that women are theexception.’ Since the very begin-ning, the world has underminedthe power of women. We’ve beenshunned and silenced, but thanksto the scarifies and tenacity of somany selfless women, we are in aplace today where we can cometogether and work collectively toright the wrongs. This was a keytake away from the conversation Ihad the honour to moderate with@vp, Kamala Harris at the Women’sLeadership Forum conference inWashington DC last night.”

She added, “Over the last twoyears, humanity has experiencedsome of the biggest challenges thatwe will see in our lifetime. We arefaced with an urgent need for stabili-ty and progress, and for Americathat starts at the polls on November8. Everyone has a role to play

towards that… to be part of the civicprocess and to exercise the right tovote, especially women because weneed to be actively involved inensuring our rights are being takencare of."

While I don’t vote in this country -my husband can

and one day, mydaughter will. My conversation withVP Harris centred around the mostpressing issues, that, in order to beaddressed, needs to have a clearvision and plan. Thank you to theWLF and Secretary Hillary Clinton,a founding force in establishing thisorganization, and for including mein these important conversations,among an incredible collection ofaccomplished women,” she conclud-

ed her post. Priyanka also shared avideo on Instagram as she posedwith the South Asian members of theJoe Biden administration. A part ofher caption read, "For years, I’vestruggled with finding my place inAmerica. When I was growing up,

there weren’t many women, let aloneSouth Asians, in positions of poweracross mediums. Lucky for me, myparents and grandmother were a partof the civil service in India, whichgave me an ounce of hope, but I wasnever sure if I’d ever see the daywhen we got a seat at every table.Representation opens the doors ofopportunity for others to follow.”

She also expressed her excitementto be ‘in the room with this collec-tive of accomplished individualsmaking strides at the highest levelsin politics, government, and policy,because it’s not just about us filling achair in the President’s cabinet’.Priyanka added the names of theofficials she met. Priyanka also post-ed several pictures and clips on herInstagram Stories as she took a walkinside the White House and also vis-ited the Vice President's office.

Priyanka has several projects inthe pipeline like Ending Things andIt’s All Coming Back To Me. She willalso be seen in the Prime Videoseries Citadel, produced by RussoBrothers, alongside Richard Madden.The upcoming sci-fi drama series isbeing directed by Patrick Morgan.She also has Farhan Akhtar’s Jee LeZaraa along with Alia Bhatt andKatrina Kaif.

Saif Ali Khan has recently revealedthat his wife, actor Kareena KapoorKhan, was once told that he will

only do TV, when he took upon theNetflix web show Sacred Games. Headded that an open mindset regardingplatforms and genre has helped him stayrelevant over the years. Saif has been inthe business for more than threedecades. Saif made his digital debut with SacredGames in 2018.After receiving widespread appreciationfor the show, Saif also featured in its sec-ond season and Ali Abbas Zafar’s 2021political thriller Tandav. Saif essayed therole of a cop in Sacred Games while heplayed a politician in Tandav.Talking to Dainik Bhaskar in an inter-

view, Saif said, “Shah Rukh Khan oftentells me that people are not old, theirthinking turns old. You can stay relevant

as a person if you keep your thoughtsnew and updated. For example, when Iaccepted Sacred Games, someone toldmy wife ‘Oh, Saif will only do TV now’.That when Sacred Games was not evena TV show, it was for an OTT platform.”“So, I have made sure not to have such amind set and that is the approach thathas helped me stay relevant,” Saif added.Saif is currently seen in the Hindiremake of R Madhavan-starrer Tamilfilm Vikram Vedha that released onFriday. The film also stars HrithikRoshan and earned Rs 10.58 crore inIndia on its opening day.After Vikram Vedha, Saif will soon beseen in another film. Titled Adipurush,it also stars Prabhas, and Kriti Sanon inlead roles.

Saturday Night Liveflagged off its 48thSeason by poking fun

at both frequent target for-mer US President DonaldTrump, and its ownrebuilding period after asummer filled with castexits and goodbyes, reports.The sketch starred the pre-miere’s host Miles Teller and castmember Andrew Dismukes as sportsstars and brother’s Peyton and EliManning, in a parody of their‘Monday Night Football’ com-mentary show Manningcast.

Instead of analysing afootball game, the twoturned their insight intothe opening sketch ofthe new season ofSaturday Night Live.

According toreports, at the top ofthe sketch, Teller asPeyton addressed theshake ups that the serieshas gone through otherthe summer, which saw

eight cast members - Chris Redd,Alex Moffat, Aristotle Athari, MelissaVillasenor, Pete Davidson, Kate

McKinnon, Aidy Bryantand Kyle Mooney -

announce theirdepartures

from thelong-run-ning sketchcomedyseries.“Let’s seewhat theycame upwith,”

Teller said,quoted by

Variety.

Although Johnson was joined byMikey Day, Chloe Fineman, HeidiGardner and Bowen Yang, the focuswas on the Mannings’ commentary,with Teller proclaiming that thesketch served “14 attempted jokes,one mild laugh and three chuckles.”

Variety adds that the sketch alsoacknowledged the cast changes thatmark the season by having Teller - fol-lowing a purposefully weak impres-sion from Heidi Gardner as SouthDakota Governor Kristi Noem -bemoan the lack of memorable politi-cal figures in the sketch, “What abouta fun impression like Anthony Faucior Lindsey Graham or RudyGiuliani?”

“Those were all Kate McKinnon,”Dismukes replied, referencing thenow-departed long running castmember.

Stopping by for surprise appear-ances were three-time SNL host - andTeller’s Top Gun: Maverick co-star -Jon Hamm as a guest commentatorwith the Mannings, and a somewhatinexplicable appearance from ShaunWhite in the sketch-within-a-sketch.

SNLopens 48thseason with

Manning Brossketch, John

Hamm cameo

PC: I can’tvote here, but

one day mydaughter will

‘Someone told Kareena that I’ll only do TV shows’

FUN

ARCHIE

GARFIELDREALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

SUDOKU

Rulesl Each row and column can

contain each number (1 to 9)exactly once.

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

The nature of busi-ness is ever evolving.New business mod-

els are constantly beingcreated and innovated,while more establishedones are reassessed, modi-fied, and oftentimes out-right discarded.

Businesses of course donot operate in a vacuum.They are inherentlyplugged into a movingand fast developingecosystem, marked by rev-olutionary transformationand lightning speedchange. At its core, busi-ness is the key driver foreconomic, social, andsocietal change and devel-opment. In fact, it is ofsuch pivotal interest thatevery stakeholder, includ-ing local and state/provin-cial governments, aredeeply engaged in the on-going discussion anddebate about what consti-tutes good, ethical, fair,and sustainable businesspractice.

Business education withits primary purpose of“developing business lead-ers”, must be in totalalignment with trends inglobal business and com-merce. The primary chal-lenge for business schoolleaders is not to be blind-ed by a myopic view oftrends and changes. But tohave a significantlylonger-term perspectivewith a missional lens toprepare business studentsfor a future that is yet tounfold.

Employers are watchingclosely. They want and

expect graduatingstudents with

all the

requisite knowledge, skills,and attributes to utilizethem productively fromthe moment they join thefirm. From an individual’sperspective, employabilityrates are seen as a keymetric in the selectionand choice of a businessschool apart from rank-ing, accreditation, andgeneral perception of the“quality” of an institutionof higher learning.

Dr. Franco Gandolfi,Dean, D-School ofBusiness powered by PearlAcademy and LSBF,shares, “A myriad of per-spectives exists and thenotion of best pedagogy iswidely debated in acade-mic and non-academiccircles. Even the Top ofthe Top Business schoolstypically struggle withthat. Harvard Universitywith its pre-eminent busi-ness school and the inven-tor of the Harvard CaseStudy pedagogy continuesto examine its own prac-tices as voices of more“high-impact” graduateand executive educationhave become loud.”

The most critical part ofbusiness education is nei-ther the knowing nor thedoing part. The most criti-cally important part of thedevelopment of a businessleader is the being part ofbusiness education. Truebusiness leadership is nei-ther about knowing nordoing but being. Leadersare not defined by whatthey know or do but bytheir very essence of whothey are and their deeplyheld values and principlesto the business equation.

Finally, the failure oflarge companies has been

frequently attributed tothe moral failure of

senior lead-ers.

Revamping businessleaders via education

TEJAL SINHA

Just imagine: You’ve been working onsomething for quite a long time, andafter say, 28 years of sheer hard work,

your hardwork pays off. This was thesame in the case of actor Gajraj Rao,who says the 2018, AyushmannKhurrana starrer film Badhaai Ho, wasthe turning point in his life.

Though, he debuted in 1994, with aminor role in Shekhar Kapurs BanditQueen, ever since then, he has workedin many films and web-series, includingDil Se, Aamir, Bhoothnath Returns,Badhaai Ho, Made in China, ShubhMangal Zyada Savdhaan, to name a few.

In an exclusive interview with us, theBadhaai Ho actor shares that his careerhas been divided into two phases;before and after Badhaai Ho. “Earlier Iused to get interesting parts. But afterthe success of Badhaai Ho, I am beingoffered roles that are also substantial.”

His recent project Zee Theatre’s newplay, Gunehgaar is a perfect example ofthat shift. Gunehgaar, is a suspensefuldrama about crime and retributionrevolves around the life of three key per-sonalities - a journalist, a cop, and acommon man. Directed by AkarshKhurana, Gunehgaar along with the ver-satile actor Gajraj Rao, also stars thedazzling beauty Shweta Basu Prasad andthe stellar actor Sumeet Vyas in promi-

nent roles. Gunehgaar isavailable across majorDTH platforms such asTata Play, Airtel TV,Dish TV, and D2h.

In Gunehgaar, theactor is seen playing the

character of a businessman namedBansal, who invites a crime journalistand a cop to his home on a rainyevening. As the entire story unfoldswithin the walls of his home, we get tofigure out who among them is a victimand who is the real Gunehgaar.

On working for the first time in ateleplay, the actor shares, “It has been avery interesting experience. I have donea lot of theatre in Delhi, but in recentyears, a distance was developedbetween the stage and me, due toother commitments. So whenAkarsh Khurana offered me thisrole, it seemed like a goodopportunity to reconnect withmy roots. When I saw theteleplay, I was glad to havedone it as it is exceedinglywell-made. My co-actorsSumeet Vyas andShweta Basu Prasadare brilliant in theircraft and I am gladthat Zee Theatrebrought ustogether forthis project.”

Eversince hisdebut,he hasgot toplay

several characters,but the character ofJitendra Kaushik,in Badhaai Ho,he says is pret-ty close to hisheart.

He goeson, “Itwas thisrolethat

changed my life. As this was the firsttime I had been given such a pivotalpart to play, I did a lot of homework tolive up to the challenge. My role inHungama Hai Kyon Barpa, a story in the‘Ray’ anthology on Netflix was also chal-lenging. I played a wrestler who shares acomplicated history with a ghazal singerplayed by Manoj Bajpai and the storyunfolds across two train journeys with aflashback connecting them. Even inGunehgaar, Bansal is a very intriguingcharacter and very different from myrecent work,” says the versatile actor.

Be it Badhaai Ho, or Shubh MangalZyada Savdhaan, he is seen sharing agreat chemistry on-screen with thebeautiful Neena Gupta.

On sharing his experience of workingwith the Panga actress, he says, “As anactor, Neena Gupta is a legend and as ahuman being, she is very inspiring, fullof life, and authentic. Her social mediaposts reflect exactly who she is in reallife. A genuine person who says what ison her mind without trying to concealher true self. Rehearsing with her andsharing screen space with her is alwaysan amazing experience. She is the bestco-actor that anyone can hope for.”

Playing so many different characters,we wondered, if the character’s age thathe plays, really matters? To this, he says,“The age of a character is not really rele-vant. The impact your part has on thestory is the most important factor.”

At present, on workfront, the actor isseen sharing the screen space with thediva, Madhuri Dixit in Maja Ma.Concluding the interview, the actorexclusively reveals that, this year he hasanother film with Badhaai Ho director

Amit Sharma Maidaan, which starsAjay Devgn in the lead, and

he will be seen playingan interesting

part.

GAJRAJ RAO: IMPACTOF THE CHARACTER

IS VITAL, NOT AGE

AMARTYASMARAN

Most of usfindit

hard to stand infront of a small

group and introduceourselves. Let’s say,

someone, asks you inan event to go up on the

dias and be funny. You golike, ‘I know I am funny,

but I ain’t doing that onstage. Are you crazy?’ That’d

be a big one, don’t you think so?A vast majority of us would have a

stroke before we could make it to thestage. That’s not the case with Stand-up

Comedian Daniel Fernandes. He’s been inthe business for over a decade, and is wellaware of what the business demands ofhim. He’s currently touring India for hissecond stand-up special, Alive &Vaccinated.

On Sunday, the comedian was in the cityfor a comedy event, hosted by SakshiChaturvedi, founder of Buzz kyaEntertainment, at Heart Cup Coffee, JubileeHills.

Explaining about the show, in a crisp andconcise manner, he says, “It’s like a summa-ry of life during the pandemic, and what Iexperienced. It’s something that’s relatableto everybody else as well. So it's a mix ofdark jokes. dark, intelligent, and dirty.”

Jerry Seinfeld, one of the greatest comicsof all time, religiously writes all his jokes ona yellow notepad before hitting the stage.Other comics have their own process ofcoming up with their material. The comedi-an gave us a sneak peek into his unortho-dox joke writing process, “I don’t reallyhave a process as such. This show is pecu-liar in a way that I developed the entireshow on stage. The whole show was all inmy mind. So, I haven’t written it down any-where. I just went on as soon as the lock-down was done away with. I kept workingon these jokes on stage, and now, a year and

a halflater, it's

already been publiclyreleased on a wider platform.

For now, I’m doing one final tocross India. I have a bunch of ideas

in my head that I put on stage. If Ifind there's something that isn't work-

ing, I remove them. It takes around agood year for a one-hour special to come

into its form,” said Fernandes. If you have seen the latest edition of The

Academy Awards, comedian Chris Rockfound himself in a very uncomfortableposition after cracking a joke on JadaPinkett Smith. Will Smith (Jada’s husband),the biggest superstar in Hollywood walkedon the stage and slapped Chris Rock. Ya!Just like how your Dad woke you up tosend you to school. That shocked the entireworld and there’s been a lot of criticismover the incident ever since. Cancel himand cancel Chris for the joke and it went onlike that forever.

Speaking of the growing intolerance ofthe cancel culture on the internet, the wittycomic quipped, “I think it’s a case of self-importance. I think people pay unneces-sary attention to their feelings in relationto the rest of the world. Cancel culture isall about ‘Me! Me! Me!’ It primarily comesfrom a very selfish place where people arejust trying to make everything about them.I’m not really a fan of all of that. There'sno direct physical impact to a joke. Thereare far worse things that are happening inthis world today. Politicians are bringingpolicies that have real consequences. Ithink people need to get over themselves,take a joke for what it is and move on.”

Some of the comedians like RodneyDangerfield and Don Rickles, have madetheir careers out of their personalities. Weasked the young performer who hisfavourite comics are and he replied swiftly,“Dave Chappell because he’s at a levelwhere people just want to see him speakwhether his material is funny or not, he's amaster. I love Bill Burr, he’s one of the bestcomics that I've seen. His ability to tackleboth sides of an argument is amazing.Kevin Hart for the sheer scale at which helikes doing the craft. Trevor Noah is anoth-er comic that I like for his story and whathe represents as a person of colour in theindustry. Finally, Andrew Schulz is some-one I really respect for how he carved anindependent path for himself. That's prettymuch what I do as a comic.”

Stand-up comedy is anart form that is quitedifferent from the rest. It isthe only form of art that you getto practice in front of a live audience.Just like theatre artists, even stand-upcomedians get to perform in front of a liveaudience. Unlike theatre actors, they don’tget to hide behind a character. They don’thave a made-up reality to resort to. It isthem, the person, and his/her personalityhas to shine through the entire act. It is allabout how they tell a joke and how well itrings in the ears of the audience. Kudos toall the stand-up comics out there who givetheir everything to make this chaotic wordlaugh out loud for a few hours.

DanielFernandes, whois touring India as partof his second stand-up spe-cial, will next be seen in the fol-lowing cities: Delhi(Oct 8), Gurgaon(Oct 9), Pune(Oct 16), Bangalore (Oct 29),Vizag (Oct 30) and will follow through inother cities in the month of November aswell.

Actor Gajraj Rao hasreceived immense love

for his character inBadhaai Ho, and is

currently seen inGunehgaar, and

Maja Ma. During anexclusive interviewwith The Pioneer,

the actor shares aboutworking in Gunehgaar,

turning point in his life, and a lot more

Stand-up comedianDaniel Fernandes,who is currentlytouring India, andwas in the ‘city ofpearls’ on Sunday,gets candid withThe Pioneerabout hisunorthodox jokewriting process,intolerance ofcancel culture, and much more.

‘It takes around a good oneyear for a one-hour special’

MondayOctober 3, 2022

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

sports 11VIJAYAWADA | MONDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2022

PTI n GUWAHATI

The Indian top-four battersonce again put up asuperlative show to post

a massive 237 for 3 in the sec-ond T20 International againstSouth Africa here on Sunday.

A sellout crowd witnessedraining boundaries at the smallACA Barsapara Stadium as theIndian batters smashed 25 foursand 13 sixes. They scored 178runs in boundaries.

Rohit Sharma (43 off 37balls) and KL Rahul (57 off 28balls) started it beforeSuryakumar Yadav (61 off 22balls), Virat Kohli (49 not out)and Dinesh Karthik (17 notout) finished it off in style.

Replying to his critics,Rahul (57) was back at hisaggressive best, slamming a24-ball fifty, his second in a row,as he and Rohit put on 96 runsfor the opening wicket thatcame off just 59 balls.

Yadav then continued toraise his standards higher witha third successive half-centurythat came off just 18 deliveriesand India crossed the 200-mark in the 18th over.

With the top-four doing thebulk of the scoring, India'sdesignated finisher Karthik gotjust seven balls but he made themost of the opportunity, smash-ing two sixes and one four in hisquickfire 17 not out.

The South African pacerslooked lacklustre and bowledfull and the Indians feasted onto them.

Rohit first began theonslaught and Rahul followedit up in style after TembaBavuma put them in.

After being hit on his handfrom Wayne Parnell in the sec-ond over, Rohit came out allguns blazing while Rahul was amute spectator with nine fromfive balls.

It was then the turn of

Rahul who whipped the ballover square leg with perfectdemonstration of his wristwork.

It was a shot that summedup his dominating innings as hetook on Nortje in a similar fash-ion, this time whipping thebowler a little deep.

There was no signs of ten-tativeness in Rahul's batting that

had copped much criticism ashe raced to his fifty in just 24balls, stepping down to AidenMarkram for a six over long-on.

India were 57 for no lossinside the power play and therewas no stopping the duo whena snake gave South Africans abit of a breather.

In a rare sight, the snakeslithered out onto the field

from the extra cover region tostop play for about five minutesbefore the groundsmen cap-tured it in a bucket.

MISMANAGEMENTTrust Assam Cricket

Association (ACA) to mess itup every time.

Chaos once again reignedsupreme at the ACA Barsapara

Stadium here during the India-South Africa second T20I onSunday.

If a snake slithering ontothe field during India's inningswas not enough, the worst wasin store when the stadium wentinto partial darkness duringSouth Africa's chase of themassive target of 238, causinga second interruption in thematch.

Just after the first ball ofDeepak Chahhar in the thirdover when South Africa werereeling at 5/2, play came to haltafter one of the four floodlighttowers went off, halting play for18 minutes.

All the players went back tothe dressing room and it tookabout six minutes for the lightsto slowly turn on one by onebefore play resumed.

Blaming it on a "technicalglitch", Assam CricketAssociation secretary DevajitSaikia told PTI: "We have threeparties handling the poweraspect – our own 25-memberteam, a third (outsourced) partyand the state power depart-ment. It was perhaps a voltageproblem, some technical glitch."

Saikia said the ACA hasused generator sets to power thematch and not depended onelectricity supply from thepower department.

The media contingent alsofaced similar problem beforethe match as there were nolights till a few overs into thematch as the officials tookhours to find out the fault.

AP n LONDON

Kenyan Amos Kiprutomarked his London

Marathon debut with a decisivevictory in the men's race onSunday as Ethiopian 23-year-old Yalemzerf Yehualawbecame the youngest winner ofthe women's race.

It was a maiden Londonvictory for Yehualaw in whatwas just the second marathonof her career.

The 30-year-old Kipruto, aworld bronze medallist in Dohain 2019, crossed the line inLondon in two hours, fourminutes and 39 seconds afterbreaking away late on.

Leul Gebresilase ofEthiopia finished second in2:05:12, with Bashir Abdi of

Belgium third in 2:05:19.Ethiopian distance great

Kenenisa Bekele was fifth withcompatriot Sisay Lemma, lastyear's London Marathon win-ner, seventh.

Yehualaw's winning time of2:17:26 was just three secondsoutside the personal best sheset at Hamburg in April whenmaking the fastest debut in anywomen's marathon.

PTI n SINGAPORE

Sergio Perez won a rain-affected Singapore Grand

Prix on Sunday meaning hisRed Bull teammate MaxVerstappen, who finished sev-enth, must wait at least anoth-er week to retain his FormulaOne world championship.

The Mexican took the che-quered flag 7.5sec ahead of theFerrari of Charles Leclerc,whose teammate Carlos Sainzwas third in the night race thatstarted more than an hourlate because of a storm.

Verstappen had a mathe-matical chance to clinch a sec-ond world title in Singapore,but needed to win and haveother results go his way.

The Dutchman was alwaysgoing to struggle after startingeighth on the grid at the

Marina Bay Street Circuit buthe battled back from a slowstart where he dropped to13th to finish seventh.

It means his world cham-pionship lead over Leclerc hasbeen cut to 104 points aheadof next week's Japanese GrandPrix. Perez is two pointsbehind Leclerc.

Verstappen will need to be112 points ahead at the end ofnext Sunday's race in Suzuka toretain his title.

It means a win will beenough for Verstappen ifLeclerc fails to finish second.

"It was certainly my bestperformance," Perez said. "Icontrolled the race. The lastthree laps were so intense.When I got out of the car, I feltit. I gave everything today."

Perez was under investiga-tion for an infringement under

one of numerous safety carperiods during the race, andpotentially faces a time penal-ty that could hand the victoryto Ferrari.

"I have no idea what'sgoing on, they just told me Iwas under investigation and to

increase the gap," Perez said.Leclerc started on pole but

had a sluggish getaway onintermediate tyres in the slip-pery conditions allowing Perezto reach the first corner in thelead.

"I pushed all the way," said

Leclerc. "The bad start put uson the back foot and it was areally difficult race after that.

"I need a good night'ssleep and to get ready forJapan."

Sainz said he felt he couldnever threaten the front twoafter he crossed the line 7.7secbehind his teammate.

"It was very tough outthere," Sainz said. "I neverreally got into a rhythm in thewet and then couldn't chal-lenge the top two guys.

"I had to settle for P3, butthe good thing is I didn't doany mistakes and could bringthe car home and be quicktowards the end of the race."

Lewis Hamilton startedthird in his Mercedes and losta place at the start before laterslithering into a barrier andfinishing ninth.

PTI n NEW DELHI

KL Rahul bats at his best when he hasa "nothing to lose" approach and that

is how former Australia all-rounderShane Watson wants the opener to playat the T20 World Cup beginning later thismonth.

Rahul's strike rate came under scan-ner during the Asia Cup and the ongo-ing home series against South Africa.

Though India had to chase downonly 107 in the first T20 against theProteas, questions were raised overRahul's intent as he ended with 51 not outoff 56 balls.

Speaking to PTI, Watson said Rahulneeds to be aggressive from ball one inthe World Cup Down Under.

"KL Rahul is is one of my favouritebatters. To me when he is batting at hisbest, when he is aggressive, he takes thegame on and is not trying to control the

game. "He has got that skill, when he isjust reacting to the ball coming down, hehas all the shots all around the groundagainst the best bowlers in the world.

"I love seeing him when he feels likehe's got nothing to lose, then he can evenstrike at 180 without taking too muchrisk. If he is able to do that (in Australia),there will be a lot of bowlers in trouble,"said one of the best all-rounders to haveplayed for Australia.

With serious question marks over theavailability of the injured Jasprit Bumrahfor the ICC event, India's pace attackseems like their weakest link.

Watson thinks on similar lines andwants Mohammad Siraj to take Bumrah'splace if the latter is deemed unfit for theWorld Cup.

"India have certainly got the battingto do incredibly well in Australian con-ditions but the biggest question mark isaround their fast bowling.

"The spinners, Axar Patel and YuziChahal, are as good as anyone in theworld in all conditions but the fastbowling without Bumrah in particular,whether they can execute skills underpressure at the back end of the game. Thatis where teams will be trying to exposeIndia." India need a bowler who can bowlin excess of 140kmph in the absence ofBumrah, said Watson.

"It is a genuine concern (lack ofexpress pace), that is why Siraj will be agood option if Bumrah isn't there.

"The pace at which he bowls and theskills he has got, swinging it away andpushing towards 150 kmph with thebrand new ball and he can execute wellin the end as well.

"He provides that element that otherIndian bowlers don't necessarily have,"said the 41-year-old adding that hewould pick Siraj over Mohammad Shamiin the squad.

PTI n SYLHET

Shafali Verma couldn't haveasked for an easier opponent

to regain her mojo as a confi-dent India get ready to maulMalaysia in their second T20match of the women's AsiaCup here on Monday.

The game should serve asnet session for HarmanpreetKaur and Co against aMalaysian side that wasthrashed by Pakistan by ninewickets in its opener.

After a comfortable winagainst Sri Lanka, scripted byJemimah Rodrigues, the lessexperienced Indian players areexpected to get some gametime as the team prepares forthe T20 World Cup in SouthAfrica early next year.

Shafali, who has endured adismal run, would want tocome out all guns blazing andmay take this opportunity to tryan alternate batting approach asher natural game has not beenyielding success off late.

The 18-year-old has notscored a T20I half-centurysince March last year but playeda couple of good knocks at theCommonwealth Games. Shethen had a woeful England tour,where she had single digitsscores four times across for-mats.

The big-hitting openerneeds to find consistency afterthree years in internationalcricket. Her lack of footworkwas the main cause of herundoing as English bowlerscapitalised on her weakness.

With the quality of theMalaysian bowlers no whereclose to their English counter-parts, it is important that Shafaliuses this opportunity to thefullest to gain her confidence.

For vice-captain SmritiMandhana, who failed to getgoing against Sri Lanka, thegame will be about quality hit-ting time in the middle againstan attack that is sure to feelintimidated.

Rodrigues, who came off awrist injury, made instantimpact with a sensationalcareer-best performance whileHarmanpreet has also been inimperious touch.

The tournament providedIndian with the perfect platformto experiment and several newplayers like Kiran Navgire couldbe seen in the playing XI comeMonday.

Finding the right combina-tion with the ball is also high onIndia's priority list.

With the pitch here pro-ducing knee length bounce onthe opening day of the compe-tition itself, India are expectedto field a spin heavy attack withRenuka Singh being the solespecialist pacer.

THE TEAMS (FROM)India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c),Smriti Mandhana, DeeptiSharma, Shafali Verma,Jemimah Rodrigues, SabbineniMeghana, Richa Ghosh (wk),Sneh Rana, DayalanHemalatha, Meghna Singh,Renuka Thakur, PoojaVastrakar, RajeshwariGayakwad, Radha Yadav, KPNavgire. Malaysia: WinifredDuraisingam (c), Mas Elysa,Aina Najwa, Ainna HamizahHashim, Aisya Eleesa, DhanusriMuhunan, Jamahidaya Intan,Mahirah Izzati Ismail, NoorHayati Zakaria, Nur AriannaNatsya , Nur Dania Syuhada ,Nurilyaa Natasya, Sasha Azmi,Elsa Hunter, Wan Julia.

India take onMalaysia inAsia Cup T20

Sky fires India to 237-3

Mukesh, Rajat earn maidenIndia call-up for SA ODIsPTI n NEW DELHI

Uncapped Bengal seamerMukesh Kumar and pro-

lific domestic performer RajatPatidar on Sunday earnedtheir maiden India call-upfor the upcoming three-matchODI series against SouthAfrica, starting October 6 inLucknow.

Mukesh, a prolific redball bowler for Bengal, hadperformed just at the righttime, emerging as top wickettaker in first class gamesagainst New Zealand 'A' andfollowed that up with anoth-er stupendous show in theIrani Cup.

The 28-year-old quick hadtaken nine wickets in thethree matches against NewZealand 'A', besides snapping20 wickets for Bengal in theRanji Trophy this year.

He also emerged as thewrecker-in-chief for Rest ofIndia in the ongoing Irani Cupwith a four-wicket haul whichbroke the back of theSaurashtra batting in Rajkoton Saturday.

Patidar, a stylish hitter, onthe other hand, has scoredcenturies in IPL play offs, inthe Ranji Trophy final and in"Tests" against New Zealand'A' in the last three months.

The 29-year-old fromIndore gained prominenceafter slamming a sizzling 112not out for Royal ChallengersBangalore against LucknowSuper Giants in the IPL elim-inator. He also scored a 58against Rajasthan Royals in thenext match.

Switching to red-ballcricket, Patidar came up withscores of 85 and 79 againstPunjab and Bengal respective-ly in knockout matches in theRanji Trophy before slam-ming a decisive hundred in theRanji Trophy final to guideMadhya Pradesh to the title.

His performance earnedhim a place in India A squadand Patidar grabbed theopportunity by producing twohundreds in the three four-daymatches against New ZealandA. He also fired a quickunbeaten 45 to help India Abeat New Zealand A in thefirst one-dayer.

While Mukesh andPatidar will be the new faces,the Indian team would onceagain be led by ODI special-ist Shikhar Dhawan, whileShreyas Iyer will be his deputythis time.

Shreyas and DeepakChahar will link up with theT20 World Cup squad inBrisbane after the ODI series.They were named as stand-byplayers for the ICC flagshipevent. The team will train inPerth in first week.

The second and thirdODIs of the South Africaseries will be played onOctober 9 and 11 in Ranchiand Delhi respectively.The Squad: Shikhar Dhawan(captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad,Shubhman Gill, Shreyas Iyer(vice-captain), Rajat Patidar,Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan(wicket-keeper), SanjuSamson (wicket-keeper),Shahbaz Ahmed, ShardulThakur, Kuldeep Yadav, RaviBishnoi, Mukesh Kumar,Avesh Khan, Mohd. Siraj,Deepak Chahar.

PTI n RAJKOT

All-rounder Saurabh Kumarhit a strokeful fifty before

returning to snap two wickets asRest of India tightened thenoose around Saurashtra onday 2 of the Irani Cup matchhere on Sunday.

Saurabh smashed 10boundaries in his 78-ball 55 andadded 71 with Jayant Yadav(37) for the seventh wicket totake ROI close to the 350-markafter Sarfaraz Khan dominatedthe opening day with a century.

It was Saurabh's inningswhich helped ROI grab a solid276-run first-innings lead overSaurashtra.

The 29-year-old from UttarPradesh then returned to dis-miss both the Saurashtra open-

ers -- Harvik Desai (20) andSnell Patel (16) -- as ROI gainedfurther ascendency in the match.

At stumps, Chirag Jani (3batting) and DharmendrasinhJadeja (8 batting) were at thecrease with Saurashtra, the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy Champions, at49 for two in 17 overs, still trail-ing by 227 runs.

Earlier, left-arm fast bowlerChetan Sakariya gaveSaurashtra a glimmer of hopewith a five-wicket haul as theydismissed ROI for 374 in 110overs.

The 24-year-old (5/93)snapped four wickets to gowith the one scalp he took onthe opening day after ChiragJani removed the overnightbatters Hanuma Vihari (82)and Sarfaraz (138) in the first

sessions.After dominating the open-

ing day, ROI resumed day twoat 205 for three with skipperVihari and centurion Sarfarazbatting for more than an hour,adding another 33 runs to theirovernight partnership.

However, both departed inquick succession with Jani pro-ducing the breakthroughs.

Jani first had Hanumacaught by Harvik Desai beforetrapping Sarfaraz in front ofwicket in his opening spell toreduce ROI to 239 for 5 in the65th over.

It was a Sakariya show afterthat as he drew Srikar Bharat(12 off 44) with a full deliveryafter coming round the wicketand induced an edge which wascaught by Harvik Desai.

Saurabh’s all-round showputs ROI in firm control

KL bats at his best when he has ‘nothing to lose’: Watson

Perez wins Singapore Grand Prix Kenya’s Kipruto and Yehualawtriumph at London Marathon

Telugu star AlluArjun inaugurat-ed the Allu

Studio along withmegastar Chiranjeevito commemorate the100th birth anniver-sary of his grandfather,Telugu cinema’s cele-brated comedian, AlluRamalingaiah.

The centenary wasalso marked by theunveiling of a book onRamalingaiah, whowas awarded a PadmaShri and the FilmfareLifetime AchievementAward-South.

Taking to his socialmedia, Allu Arjunshared a picture ofhimself along withclose relatives and thecountry's former VicePresident, VenkaiahNaidu. He wrote in thecaption, “Book launch

of my Grandfather ShriAllu Ramalingaiahgaru on his centenarybirthday. I would liketo thank Shri VenkaiahNaidu garu for gracingthe occasion.#AlluARG100.”

Recently, Arjun visit-ed Amritsar with hisfamily to celebrate hiswife Sneha Reddy’sbirthday. The actor vis-ited the GoldenTemple, Attari borderand spent time withBSF jawans. Allu Arjunfans, meanwhile, areeagerly waiting for thesequel to Pushpa: TheRise. The film’s makersof Pushpa recentlyshared the progress ofthe sequel, marking thestart of their work witha puja they organisedin the presence of teammembers.

Venkaiah Naiduunveils book on AlluArjun's grandfather

12

Vijayawada | Monday October 3, 2022 tollywood

AMARTYA SMARAN

Actress Gul Panag needsno introduction, whatso-ever. After her last ven-

ture Paatal Lok, opened to criti-cal acclaim, she is all ready tolight the screens on fire with herlatest release, The Ghost starringNagarjuna Akkineni directed byPraveen Sattaru.

Ahead of her Tollywooddebut with The Ghost, actressGul Panag known for her filmslike Ab Tak Chhappan 2, 420IPC, The Family Man, andPaatal Lok, opens up about herexperience working in theTelugu film industry and takesus through her acting process.

Being adventurous is secondnature to this Former MissIndia. However, this timearound, acting in Nagarjuna’sThe Ghost wasn’t a cakewalk forthe actress.

The Dhoop actress will beseen playing King Nagarjuna’ssister in the film. She plays abusinesswoman who is not ontalking terms with her siblingfor around two long decades,but quite naturally reaches outto him for help when in trouble.

Actors work on a project forvarious reasons, known only tothem. The versatile actor thatshe is, she shares her reason forgiving the nod to The Ghost.She says, First of all, the oppor-tunity to work with Praveen Siritself was great. He is a directorwho’s known for his clarity ofvision. To work with someonewith the stature of NagarjunaSir was something that I waslooking forward to. I have neveracted in a Telugu film before, so,it was like going on an adven-ture. I feel like one grows in lifewhen they put themselves inuncomfortable situations andmakes an attempt to adapt to

them.” There are so many permuta-

tions and combinations foractors to say yes to a script.Some have the audience in theirmind while reading the scriptwhile others simply go by theirgut feeling. The Paatal Lokactress explained, “There is noformula to speak when it comesto saying yes to a script. After awhile, you go by your gutinstinct and the experience youhave gathered over the years. Itend to work with people whomI enjoy working with. It is notabout the screen time or thenumber of shots that you get tobe in. It is all about how rele-vant the character is. You know,if the story is incomplete with-out my character, chances arethat I will say no to that film. Inthe case of Ghost, I play a cru-cial character that serves as oneof the important pieces in thefilm.”

She further elaborated, “Thisfilm has the most challengingrole that I have played till date.To sort of act in a different lan-guage was tough. I would say,the first day of the shoot wasthe hardest of my professionallife. I am not someone who likesto mug up lines and say themout loud. It is just not about say-ing the dialogue, it is aboutemoting in the right way. I wasreally concerned about how itwould come out on the screen,but Nag Sir really made mecomfortable on the sets.”

Actors like Hrithik Roshan,Vidya Balan, and ThovinoThomas use a distinct perfumefor every character they play toget into the character. RanveerSingh listens to a customisedplaylist while doing his part toget the emotion right. Whatdoes Gul Panag do? In conver-sation with The Pioneer, thevivacious actress gives a rare

insight into her acting process.“It totally depends on what thepart needs. There are multipleapproaches that one can use, butas you live your life, you accu-mulate all the experiences andevents over a period of time.What I do is contextualise theemotional data files that arestored in my memory. Nowthat I am more experienced, ittakes half the time that it’d takesome 20 years ago. For me, act-ing is all about contextualizingthe emotional data files that arerelevant for the character that Iam playing.”

When asked about her actingidols, the talented actressreplied with quite a uniqueanswer, “Who wouldn’t idolizean actress like Meryl Streep?After a point, you become yourown idol. You’ll have to outper-form yourself in every endeavorthat you embark on as an actor.”

You must’ve seen Tom Cruisecruising a Formula One atSouthern California’s 2.5-mile(4km) Willow Springs circuit.Did you know that The Ghostactress is one of the few peoplein the world who’s had the hon-our of driving Formula One and

Formula E cars? “I amvery cool that way. Igot the opportunityto drive a retired2007 Renault F1 car.They said they need-ed someone fromBollywood. The briefwas, ‘We need some-one like a MissUniverse or someoneas an opinion maker’,others have beenapproached too, butthey all went like we’renot going to go all theway to Prague to drive anF1 car if we’re not gettingpaid. I was like, ‘Can I payyou to drive the car?’ (shelaughs),” enthused Gul.

Currently, she is busy pro-moting The Ghost alongsideher upcoming Sony Liv OTTrelease Good Bad Girl whichis up for its release on 14October.

She ended the interview bysaying, “I am still figuring outwhat to do next and some-thing exciting is brewing forsure. I will keep you’ll beinformed about my upcom-ing projects.”

Actress Gul Panag, who isall set to make herTollywood debut withNagarjuna starrer The Ghost,gets candid with ThePioneer, about working withthe megastar, the film, sayingyes to a film, and much more.

‘Acting for me iscontextualising theemotional data files’

The makers of direc-tor AbhilashJoshiy’s King of

Kotha, featuring DulquerSalmaan in the lead, havereleased the first look ofthe film, much to thedelight of the Malayalamsuperstar’s fans.

The poster depictsDulquer, in a blazing hotnever-before-seen avatar,promising a visual treatto all his fans.

The much-awaitedhigh-octane actiondrama will be producedby Wayfarer Films and

Zee Studios. The firstschedule of the shoot isproceeding at a briskpace in Karaikudi, TamilNadu.

Speaking about theassociation, DulquerSalmaan said, “WayfarerFilms is proud to associ-ate with Zee Studios fortheir maiden venture intothe Malayalam filmindustry with our filmKing Of Kotha!

Zee Studios has beenassociated with some ofthe biggest industry hitsacross languages nation-

wide and it’s a privilegeto partner with them toproduce some of the bestcontent we wish to bringto all of you.

From pre-productionto now beginning princi-pal photography, we feelwe have found the bestteam with aligned inter-ests to achieve our visionto the best of our abili-ties.”

Speaking about theassociation, AkshayKejriwal, Head – SouthMovies at Zee Studios,noted, “We are extremelydelighted and proud tocollaborate with Dulquerand Wayfarer Films onthis exciting film. KOKalso marks our entry intothe Malayalam filmindustry and we couldn’tbe happier that the jour-ney begins with this asso-ciation.”

Talking about the castand crew, Kejriwal added,“Dulquer has consistentlyentertained audiencesacross the globe with hisversatile performancesand it is our absolutehonour and privilege topresent this film helmedby the supremely talent-ed, Abhilash Joshiy.”

The first look promisesa visual treat for theaudiences as Dulquer isset to repeat his victoryafter blockbusters acrosslanguages like SitaRamam, Chupp, KannumKannum Kollayadithaland Kurup.

Zee Studios on Sundayannounced a silentfilm, titled Gandhi

Talks with actor VijaySethupathi.

An AR Rahman musical,the dark comedy will bedirected by Kishore PBelekar and also featureactors Aditi Rao Hydariand Arvind Swami, a pressrelease by Zee StudiosstatedRahman will providethe background score andmusic for the film, whichwill be produced by ZeeStudios.

“Silent film is not a gim-

mick. It is a form of story-telling. Conveying emo-tions by switching off thedevice of dialogue is notonly scary but also interest-ing and challenging,”Belekar said in a statement.

Shariq Patel, CBO of ZeeStudios, said the film has aunique, relatable, andincredibly funny, andentertaining story.

Gandhi Talks , co-pro-duced by Kyoorious DigitalPvt. Ltd. and Movie MillEntertainment, will bereleased worldwide in2023.

Ever since themakers hadofficially

announced,Adipurush has gar-nered massiveattention from theaudience. It is tout-ed to be one of themost expensivefilms made inIndian cinema.After a long wait,the makers hadunveiled the teaserand the poster ofthe Om Raut direc-torial on Sunday onthe bank of Sarayuin the holy land ofAyodhya, UttarPradesh. This reli-gious town in UP isalso the birthplaceof Lord Ram, mak-ing the locationmuch more rele-vant for this event.The grand eventwas graced with thepresence of the castof the film includ-ing superstarPrabhas, KritiSanon along withthe director OmRaut and the pro-ducer BhushanKumar.

Adipurush,

which is the mod-ern-day retelling ofRamayana, featuresactor Prabhas asLord Rama whileSunny will be seenas Lakshman. Kritiis set to essay therole of Sita in theforthcoming filmand Saif will por-tray the role ofRaavan.

Adipurush is amultilingual periodsaga, which isbeing touted as afilm celebrating“the victory ofgood over evil”. It isan on-screen adap-tation of the Hinduepic Ramayana.The film will bereleased in 3D andIMAX in multiplelanguages. It wasshot for over 100days and then wentinto post-produc-tion earlier thisyear. Though theteaser hadimpressed the fanswith the looks andother aspects in theteaser, the makersfailed to impressthe audience withits VFX.

Prabhas aces as Lord Rama

Sudheer Babu is creating a forte forhimself, expanding his horizons. Theactor is currently gearing up for his

upcoming film titled Hunt. The filmdirected by Mahesh Surapaneni is cur-rently under post-production and theyare getting ready to finalise the film’srelease date. The makers are gettingready to release the film’s teaser.

The makers locked the time and datefor the film’s teaser launch. The teaserwill be launched today at 11.06 AM.Sharing the details, the makers released anew and intense poster of Sudheer Babuin which he sported a serious expression.The film is a thriller and comes with atagline ‘Guns Don't Lie’ and featuresSrikanth, Premisthe fame Bharat, Mime

Gopi, Kabir Duhan Singh, MounikaReddy, Goparaju Ramana, Manjula,Chitra Shukla, Supoorna Malkar, SanjaySwaroop, Ravi Varma, ‘Gemini’ Suresh,Abhijit Poondla, Kotesh Mannava, SatyaKrishnan in crucial roles.

Gibhran is scoring music while thefilm is produced by Anand Prasad underBhavya Creations banner.

Vijay Sethupathi to star in the

silent film Gandhi Talks

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Sudheer Babu’s Hunt begins