PNS n HYDERABAD

Acquiring land in Telangana isbecoming difficult not only for realestate developers but for the govern-ment too as land prices have scalednew heights in Telangana.

Government sources confirmedthat the increasing prices are amajor problem in land acquisition.Even oustees do not like to give uptheir land for the compensationbeing paid by the government.

One such example was quoted byMinister KT Rama Rao who said thatthey had to take lands from farmersin Mammnuru in Warangal, butprices had increased steeply.

Land prices have increasedsteeply in Telangana and one can-not buy even an acre for less thanRs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh even in vil-lages. KTR said that it is difficult toask farmers to give up land whichis valuable.

He said that land near NIMZ inZaheerabad costs Rs 2 crore to Rs 10

crore an acre and around Rs 50 lakhin mandals. Farmers having landswith proper title deeds don’t want togive it to the government which isoffering only a meagre Rs 9 lakh peracre.

Experts say that the increase inland prices is due to conditionsplaced by landlords. G Ram Reddy,the President of CREDAI said,“There are land acquisition problemsand sometimes in Hyderabad landcosts are more than in Bengaluru.Not only have land prices increased,the conditions set by landlords havealso increased. Raw material costs

are also increasing. In some areas,the price quoted is Rs 10,000 persq.ft. This is not a good sign, butthere is a possibility that prices mayhave peaked. There is a chance ofcorrection especially due to GO: 111.Land is being made available. Insteadof spending huge amounts inKokapet GO: 111 areas could be bet-ter as prices won’t go up substantial-ly. Even in districts land acquisitionis difficult but not as difficult inHyderabad. Agricultural land priceshave also gone up.”

Experts say that that the reorgan-isation of districts has led to anincrease in land values.

C. Shekar Reddy, the Chairman ofCII IGBC said, “After the reorgani-sation of districts accessibility hasincreased. Earlier, an area which wasconsidered as remote is no longer soas the district headquarters is hard-ly a 30 to 40 minute drive away.

So land owners believe that theyare in towns and not villages. Thisled to an increase in prices.”

PNS n HYDERABAD

A day after RahulGandhi’s public meet-ing at Warangal, thewho's who of TRSlaunched a t iradeagainst the MP.

TRS MLA JeevanReddy said that theCongress is now “IndianNational Club Party.” Jeevansaid that Rahul is an iron legand wherever he conducts a pub-lic meeting Congress will losemassively.

Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddydid not attend Rahul’s meeting.Rahul’s own leaders do not trustthe Congress. How will the peo-ple of Telangana believe him?,” headded. Minister SingireddyNiranjan Reddy said that there isa demand to implementTelangana’s schemes in BJP andCongress ruled states.

“Although the Congress saidthat it would waive loans of up toRs 2 lakh during the 2014 elec-tions, the people of Telangana

believed only the TRS promisethat it would waive loans up to Rs1 lakh,” he said.

Minister Jagadish Reddy said,“The Congress has become adirectionless novel and no onewould tie-up with that party. Asan alternative to the BJP and theCongress, KCR will kick startdevelopment in the country witha new model.”

He said the WarangalDeclaration meeting organizedby the Congress will boomerangagainst itself.

Minister Harish Rao said,

“Rahul Gandhi, you have beenthrown out from the agrarian stateof Punjab. When Punjab farmersdid not believe your farmer dec-laration, why should the educat-ed Telangana farmers believe it?”

Government Whip BalkaSuman said that the Congress’meeting was like an old moviebeing played in a new theatre.

He said, “It was not WarangalDeclaration but an outpouring ofthe frustration of the Congress.”

Suman said that conspiracieswere being hatched to damage thevery existence of Telangana.

Land prices have increased

steeply in Telangana and

one cannot buy even an

acre for less than Rs 15

lakh to Rs 20 lakh even in

villages.

OBTUSE AANGLE

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Xiaomi's allegationsof coercion baseless,

afterthought: ED

The Enforcement Directorate on

Saturday rejected as"baseless" the allegations that

the statements of Xiaomi India officials,the wholly-owned subsidiary ofChinese mobile manufacturing

company Xiaomi, were recorded "undercoercion", saying the charges were an

afterthought.The federal agency wasresponding to certain news reports that

said Xiaomi alleged in a recent filingbefore the Karnataka High Court that its

top executives were threatened with"physical violence and coercion" duringtheir questioning by ED investigators inBengaluru.The Enforcement Directorate

(ED) issued a statement saying it was"a professional agency with strong

work ethics and there was no coercionor threat to the officers of the company

at any point of time".

Cyclone won't makelandfall in Odisha orAP but move parallel

In a big relief to the people and

administration, the IMD onSaturday announced that the

cyclonic storm brewing in the Bay ofBengal will not make landfall in either

Odisha or Andhra Pradesh but willmove parallel to the coast. It will

recurve north-northeastwards andmove towards northwest Bay of

Bengal after nearing the North Andhra-Odisha coast, India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) DG Mrutyunjay

Mohapatra said. "The well-marked lowpressure area intensified into adepression and is now moving

towards the coast in thenorthwestwards direction.

VP Naidu calls formovement to protect

environment

Vice President M Venkaiah Naiduon Saturday rued that humans,in their quest for development,

had harmed nature "beyond repair" andcalled for a people's movement to

protect it. He also urged the country'slower courts to hold an eco-centricview and keep in mind interests oflocal populations and biodiversity

while passing judgments. Naidu wasaddressing a gathering after

inaugurating 'The InternationalConference on Environmental Diversity

and Environmental Jurisprudence' atChandigarh University in Mohali.

"In the quest for

In brief Fight is between Cong, TRS: Rahul‘Congress will win the next polls' ‘Congress govt won't be dictatorial'

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

AICC leader and Wayanad MPRahul Gandhi has said that in thenext Assembly elections in TelanganaState the fight is going to be betweenthe Congress and the ruling TRSparty.

Rahul, however, conceded that theCongress party would see a 'toughfight' with the TRS party in the com-ing elections, adding: "even thoughKCR has money and police, peopleare not with TRS". He told the stateCongress leaders that Telangana"should be transformed into a rolemodel". He claimed that develop-ment had taken a backseat in thestate, particularly in education,employment and health sectors. Hesaid: "We all have the responsibilityof protecting Telangana from KCR'sfamily. We have to chase away dic-tatorial KCR. Youth have to comeforward to wage a fight against TRS.

The Congress has to win if our aspi-rations have to be fulfilled. I amready to come whenever and wher-ever you want me to come. Theresponsibility of saving the State and

making it a model State now lies onthe Congress".

Rahul specifically instructedparty leaders to be in their respec-tive constituencies and fight on

behalf of people. "Do not stay inHyderabad and do not think aboutcoming to New Delhi," Rahul said.

Rahul said that the tickets wouldbe given to the leaders on meritbasis, not for seniority or touringin Delhi.

The Congress party would notform a dictatorial government. Hesaid, "The leaders who try for tick-ets from the backdoor have to leavehopes of getting tickets. The lead-ers have to explain to everyone andevery farmer about the WarangalDeclaration. Even children have toknow about the WarangalDeclaration". Rahul Gandhi saidthat the Declaration announced inWarangal was more of "an agree-ment between the people and the(eventual) Congress government".

Rahul Gandhi said that it wascommon for 'family members' tohave differences of opinion.

A rev-up to RevanthRAHUL’S WHIRLWIND VISIT

RAJESWARA PRASAD BUDDHAVARAPUn HYDERABAD

Casting aside the infirmities,dilemmas, and confidence crisisplaguing the Grand Old Party'sspirit to face the next Assemblyelections in Telangana, Congressleader Rahul Gandhi's two-daytour of the state seems to havegiven it a turnaround. The partyunit has got the renewed spirit thatit needed the most. A leader's roleis to motivate, move, and givemomentum to the dampenedforces. Rahul did it and gave theparty the best he could.

Thanks to his tour, it has beenwell-established that the party'sdiffidence has been replaced withrenewed credence and enhancedtrust among party leaders thatthey are not lagging any otherparty. The only thing that theyneeded as of now is a leader whomakes it happen, facing the hur-dles and taking the party aheadof others by carrying along the

rank and file of the party as well.After the formation of the neweststate in the country, the Congresslost much of the political groundit had confidently built and nur-tured. But as fate would have it,a parent lost its child. TheCongress, which was instrumen-tal in the formation of Telangana,lost election after election,

Transco upset with staffgoing to social mediaPNS n HYDERABAD

The CMD of TRANSCO hasexpressed dissatisfaction overemployees posting messages onsocial media. He was reportedlyangered by posts made againstemployers.

D. Prabhakar Rao assured theJAC leaders that a committee willbe set up to examine pay revisionof power sector employees by theend of the month.

The Telangana State PowerEmployees Joint ActionCommittee (TSPEJAC) had sub-mitted a representation requestingthe Chairman & ManagingDirector of TSGENCO &TSTRANSCO to constitute a PayRevision Negotiation Committeeimmediately to initiate the processof revising the pay and allowancesof the employees of TSGENCO,TSTRANSCO, TSSPDCL andTSNPDCL with effect from April1, 2022.

The representation said, “The

revision of pay and allowances forthe employees of TS power utili-ties was due with effect from April1, 2022, as the existing wage revi-sion agreement was in force onlyup to March 31, 2022. The TSPE-JAC has requested to constitute thePay Revision NegotiationCommittee (PRNC) immediatelyto decide on new pay scales andallowances from April 1, 2022. Allunions and associations havealready requested the manage-ment to constitute a PRNC tonegotiate with the unions & asso-ciations for a new wage agreement.

INC is Indian NationalClub, Rahul is iron leg: TRS

KTR calls Rahul dummyand declaration as repetition

PNS n HYDERABAD

KT Rama Rao took pot shots atRahul Gandhi and the WarangalDeclaration of the Congress onSaturday. He asked with whatauthority did Rahul speak atWarangal. “Mommy (SoniaGandhi) is AICC president. Who isthis dummy?” KTR asked. He wastalking to reporters in Warangalwhere Rahul Gandhi had addresseda public meeting on Friday.

LPG price hiked byRs 50; crosses Rs1,000 mark inmost placesPNS n NEW DELHI

Cooking gas LPG priceswere on Saturday hiked byRs 50 per cylinder, the sec-ond increase in rates in justover six weeks followingthe firming of internation-al energy rates.

Non-subsidised LPG nowcosts Rs 999.50 per 14.2-kgcylinder in the national cap-ital, up from Rs 949.50 pre-viously, according to a pricenotification of state-ownedfuel retailers. This is the sec-ond increase in LPG rates injust over six weeks. Priceswere hiked by Rs 50 percylinder on March 22.

Since April 2021, priceshave risen by Rs 190 percylinder. Petrol and dieselprices however continue tobe on freeze for over amonth now.

Soaring realty makes landacquisition further difficult

8 held for takingbets on IPLmatches in MumbaiPNS n THANE

The Navi Mumbai policehave arrested eight personshailing from different parts ofthe country for taking bets onIPL matches, an official saidon Saturday.

The police received a tip-off that some persons weretaking bets from the stadiumitself. A team reached the DYPatil stadium on May 3 andspotted the accused usingseveral gadgets and browsersto take bets, DeputyCommissioner of Police(Crime) Suresh Mengde said.

The accused were arrestedon the spot and accessoriesworth over Rs 2.9 lakh wereseized from them, he said. Thepolice nabbed RajkumarSrivastava (38) of Uttar Pradesh,

Nadda is ‘firstcousin’ ofHarishchandra: KTR

TRS Working President KTRama Rao has sarcastically

described BJP President JPNadda as the 'first cousin of RajaHarischandra.’ “How is thatpossible! He is the first cousin ofRaja Harischandra, no?,” KTRwrote replying to the Tweet ofTRS leader Krishank Manneregarding the corruptionallegations against Nadda.“Naddaji himself was accused ofa mammoth Rs 7,000 crore scamduring his stint as the HealthMinister and that is why he wasremoved from the post of CabinetMinister,” Tweeted Krishank.“Hello Naddaji, your own BJPMLA says he was asked to pay abribe of Rs 2,500 crore to bemade the CM of Karnataka.

TPCC chief Revanth Reddy and other leaders welcoming Rahul Gandhi to Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday

Doctors advise parents to keep infants away from scorching heatPNS n HYDERABAD

There has been a rise in fever casesbeing reported among infants andtoddlers across Hyderabad. Doctorsare advising parents to keep theirchildren away from the scorchingheat, especially newborns andinfants.

With the temperature in the citynot dropping below 30 degrees evenduring the nights, many parents areworrying for the well being of theirnewborn children. Doctors from

the city say that the most commoncause of viral infection in infants is

high temperature.Speaking to the Pioneer, Dr P

Sharmila, senior consultant pediatri-cian at Apollo Cradle Children'sHospital Hyderabad said, ``Therehas been a rise in fever cases in thelast few weeks; this is most likely dueto stomach flu or gastroenteritis, sun-stroke, Covid and viral respiratoryillness. In summer, food also getsspoilt easily, thus I advise parents tomake their kids eat fresh food."

Dr Sharmila also pointed out thatduring summer a lot of children areinvolved in various physical activ-ities, one of which is swimming. She

mentioned that children shouldcompulsorily take a shower beforeand after swimming.

"The ideal temperature suit-able for a newborn or an infant is28-30 degrees Celsius. Anythinghigher than this should be avoid-ed for them. We were also shockedto see many newborns comingwith kidney problems becausethey were not getting enoughbreast milk from the mother.

With thetemperature in the

city not droppingbelow 30 degrees

even during thenights, many parents

are worrying for thewell being of their

newborn children

Minister Jagadish Reddy said, “TheCongress has become a directionless

novel and no one would tie-up with thatparty. As an alternative to the BJP and

the Congress, KCR will kick startdevelopment in the country with a new

model. He said the Warangal Declarationmeeting organized by the Congress will

boomerang against itself.

22

22 2

22

2

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Cong leaders must leaveHyd, go to villages: RahulPNS n HYDERABAD

Former AICC chief RahulGandhi has stated that heknew how tasty HyderabadiBiryani and chai were butCongress leaders will have toleave Hyderabad and go to thepeople.

Declaring that Congresstickets will be given to leaderson merit, he asked Congressleaders not to come to NewDelhi for tickets and not to stayin Hyderabad.

Congress leaders will have toknock on every door in theirconstituencies, Rahul said.

The TRS supremo, ChiefMinister K. ChandrasekharRao, has police and money buthe doesn't have people, Rahulsaid and added that theCongress has people with it.The Congress will give a toughfight to the TRS in the nextelections, he said.

Addressing the TPCC’s

extended meeting held onSaturday at the Gandhi Bhavanhere, Rahul gave a call toCongress leaders to transformTelangana into a model state.

“I thank everyone for mak-ing the Warangal public meet-ing a big success with theirhard work,” he said.

Rahul said the Congress willprovide a democratic govern-ment and not a dictatorial

one. Tickets will not be givento leaders who do not work forthe party. Tickets will notcome if you sit in Hyderabadand roam around New Delhi,he said.

Congress leaders will have toleave Hyderabad and go to vil-lages if they want party tickets.The leaders, who try for tick-ets through the backdoor willhave to give up hopes of gettingtickets, Rahul said.

He said that Congress lead-ers will have to explain toeveryone about the WarangalDeclaration. Even childrenhave to know about it, he said.

He said that it is not only adeclaration made in Warangalbut an agreement between thepeople and the Congress gov-ernment.

Rahul said that it is commonto have differences of opinionamong family members.

“I will listen to everyone’sopinion. You have to tell me if

you want to tell anything butyou must not tell it to themedia. We have to discussthings inside our four walls butnot in front of the media. Wehave crores of activists whorespect the party,” he said.

Rahul said that Telanganahas been witnessing anarchysince eight years. A single fam-ily has been looting the wealthof the state. Sonia gaveTelangana with lots of hopes.But the hopes of the people ofTelangana and Sonia were notfulfilled. The people ofTelangana are not getting jus-tice in education, health, andemployment, he added.

“We have the responsibilityto protect Telangana fromKCR’s family. We have toremove the dictatorial KCR.The Congress must win if ourhopes have to be fulfilled. I amready to come whenever andwherever you want me tocome,” Rahul said.

KTR lays foundationstone for Kitex facilityPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Minister for ITand industries, KT Rama Rao,laid the foundation stone forthe Kerala-based Kitex Group’sfacility at the Kakatiya MegaTextile Park (KMTP) inWarangal’s Geesukonda onSaturday.

He was accompanied by theManaging Director of the KitexGroup, Sabu M. Jacob.

He said that a Korean com-pany called YoungOne is plan-ning to invest Rs 1,100 croreand that it will create 12,000jobs.

The two companies are alsoplanning to establish 8 to 11factories. Work will be com-pleted in the next 18 months.KTR clarified that there is nosuch textile park anywhere inIndia.

“I salute the farmers whogave land for the projects. Isalute all those who enduredhardships and gave their lands.This is not a small sacrifice. We

are indebted to them. They aregiving lands with a big mind,thinking that even if some peo-ple lose many will gain,” KTRsaid.

KTR said Kitex Textiles iscreating jobs for thousandsin Parakala constituency. Heassured the farmers whogave lands that plots of 100yards will be given else-where. Industrialization isbooming in Warangal dis-

trict, KTR said.“Kitex is the second-largest

maker of baby clothing in theworld. Clothes produced bythis company are being export-ed abroad. When Kitexthought of investing Rs 3,000crore, we made a great effort toattract them to Telangana,especially Warangal. Kitex willinvest Rs 1,600 crore creatingjobs for 15,000 people,” KTRsaid.

Congress will give priority to TS protagonists: RahulPNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana protagonists toldformer AICC chief RahulGandhi that the TRS is contin-uing with its Telangana senti-ment politics.

During the meeting withRahul at a hotel here onSaturday, Telangana protago-nists said that they faced injus-tice during the eight-year ruleof the TRS.

The TRS government hasadopted a repressive policytowards Telangana protago-nists. They said that they arewelcoming the Congress’Warangal Declaration made onFriday at the RythuSangharshana Sabha. TheTelangana protagonists askedRahul Gandhi to stick to theDeclaration.

Telangana protagonistsGade Innaiah, Dr CherukuSudhakar, Zaheer Ali Khan,

Gaddar, Prof. Purushotham,Murali Manohar, Prof. HaraGopal, Prof. Kanche Ilaiah,Venkat Yadav, Janaiah andothers met Rahul Gandhi.

Later, speaking to the media,Gaddar said that he had made itclear that there was no qualita-tive change in the lives of thepeople after the creation ofTelangana.

Gaddar said that he hadexplained that the problems ofTelangana are land, food, mar-tyrs and forests. He said that hehad explained to Rahul that thenation needs a young leader-ship. Rahul has to take theresponsibility of leading theyouth, Gaddar said.

Cheruku Sudhakar said afterhis meeting with Rahul that hehad explained to Rahul thatthere is a need to provide aplace and identity to Telanganaprotagonists in the Congress.

He said that he had told

Rahul that there is a need togive tickets to TS protagonists.The people’s faith in theCongress has increased withthe Warangal Declaration, hetold Rahul.

Rahul assured that he willgive priority to TS protagonistsin the party. He said that hewill merge his Telangana IntiParty into the Congress soon.

Rahul also had a meetingwith media heads VemuriRadhakrishna, Ravi Prakashand others.

The Telangana JournalistsAdyayana Vedika also had ameeting with Rahul and hand-ed over a four-page report tohim on the political situationin the state. Later, Rahul paidfloral tributes to former chiefminister DamodaramSanjeevaiah along with partyleaders V. Hanumantha Rao,Uttam Kumar Reddy, BoseRaju and others.

Congress calls Prakash Raj a‘buffoon’ for criticising Rahul

Nalgonda MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has described film actorPrakash Raj as a ‘buffoon’ and asked him to explain how hehad lost the MAA elections if he was such a big man. Uttam

said that Prakash Raj had been speaking against Rahul Gandhi tomake Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao happy. Prakash Raj isspeaking as he liked hoping for a TRS Rajya Sabha seat, Uttamsaid. He said that Rahul Gandhi’s two-day tour had filled theCongress with josh. TPCC Working President Sangareddy MLA T.Jagga Reddy said that Prakash Raj has been speaking as he likedas he is not getting chances in cinema. He has been trying to geta Rajya Sabha ticket from KCR as his glamour had faded. “Whatdoes Prakash Raj know about KCR to speak like that…The daywill come when Prakash Raj will have to criticise KCR with thesame tongue. How is Prakash Raj connected to politics as he hasnever worked among the people,” he asked. Congress leaderslaunched a scathing attack on film actor Prakash Raj forcriticising Rahul through his Twitter account. On SaturdayPrakash Raj had criticised Rahul saying “Mr@Rahul Gandhi...Telangana is governed by a visionary #KCR garu...tell us what youhave to offer with your bunch of fools… #just asking.”

TRS leaders reactsharply to Rahul’s speechPNS n HYDERABAD

TRS leaders have reactedsharply to Rahul Gandhi’spublic meeting in Warangal.

Agriculture MinisterSingireddy Niranjan Reddy'sresponse to the WarangalDeclaration said, “If peoplebelieve that the Congress gaveTelangana why did they rejectthe Congress in 2014 and2018? The people of Telanganaachieved their state after innu-merable sacrifices. There is nogiver or taker.”

“You can never make afarmer king, but if you haveguts get ready for the waragainst the BJP. There is noneed to leave the real enemyand the battlefield and boastelsewhere,” Niranjan toldRahul.

“The Congress promised a

loan waiver of Rs 2 lakh dur-ing the 2018 elections .. butpeople rejected it .. now it issinging the same old songagain. It boasts of providing aninput subsidy of Rs 15,000, butfirst it should implement it inthe states where it is in power,”Niranjan said.

“The UPA Government setup the SwaminathanCommission to determine theright price for farmers. TheUPA government ignored thecommittee's recommenda-tions. Let alone reopeningclosed industries, Rahulshould note that industrieswere closed during your gov-ernment and now that is beingcontinued by the BJP govern-ment,” he added.

Niranjan asked Rahul tofirst implement his assurancesin Congress-ruled states.

Fight is betweenCong, TRS: RahulContinued from page 1

"I will listen to everyone'sopinion and thoughts. Youhave to tell me if you want totell, but not before the media.We have to discuss inside thefour walls, but not before themedia. There are crores ofactivists, who have respecttowards the Congress party",he said.

8 held for takingbets on IPLmatches in MumbaiContinued from page 1

Amir Jaffar Ali (24) ofMumbra, Prashant Hedav(38) of Khar, Ajay Dabgar(23) of Gujarat, Hardik Barot(38) of Gujarat, SandipShetty Dhanpal (31) ofHyderabad, TirumalaVenkatan Babu (29) ofAndhra Pradesh and SeemaShankar (32) of AndhraPradesh, the official said.

Doctors adviseparents to keep...Continued from page 1

As breast milk containsabout 85% water, it is verygood for the child especial-ly during the summer," saidDr Rakesh, AssociateProfessor of Neonatology atNiloufer Hospital,Hyderabad.

Other Pediatricians havealso said that there is a dif-ference between fever causedby infections and fevercaused by heat. The body isready to deal with a feverwhich is caused by an infec-tion whereas heat relatedillness produce a feverbecause the body has over-heated and cannot cooldown. Doctors advise par-ents to immediately visit apediatrician if the body tem-perature of the infant is veryhigh.

LPG price hiked byRs 50; crosses Rs1,000 mark in...Continued from page 1

The pause followed ratesbeing hiked by a record Rs 10per litre in a matter of 16 daysbeginning March 22.

Non-subsidised cookinggas is the one that consumersbuy after exhausting theirquota of 12 cylinders at sub-sidised or below-market rates.

However, the governmentpays no subsidy on LPG inmost cities and the price ofthe refill that consumers,including the poor womenwho got free connectionunder the much-talkedUjjwala scheme, is the sameas non-subsidised or marketprice LPG.

Non-subsidised LPG costsRs 999.50 per 14.2-kg cylin-der in Mumbai while it ispriced at Rs 1,015.50 a bottlein Chennai and Rs 1,026 inKolkata.

Rates differ from state tostate depending on the inci-dence of local taxes such asVAT. Prices are higher instates with higher taxes.

Earlier this month, theprice of commercial LPGcylinders - the one used byestablishments like hotels andrestaurants - was increased.On May 1, the price of a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinderwas increased by Rs 102.50 toRs 2,355.50. International oilprices have been on the risethis year.

A rev-up to RevanthContinued from page 1

finally making it a party whichfaced the double whammy i.e.lost the state and also theMLAs elected from the party.Any party facing such back-stabbing by its elected MLAs,apart from battling crisis ofconfidence, will be at a loss asto how to go about retrievingthe lost ground as well as therespect and trust of people.This has been the case with theCongress party, which notonly lost elections, but alsotrusted leaders who can givethe party robust leadership. Itis an undeniable fact that theCongress leaders from thestate have not been orators,who can attract the masses tothe advantage of the party,more so since the formation ofTelangana. Now the scene and

the situation of the party haschanged with Rahul Gandhigiving clear message and direc-tion to leaders and the rankand file of the party to standbehind Revanth Reddy so thatthe party could face the elec-tions with trust and tenacity.Dwelling on internal bickeringplaguing the party, it is saidRahul has taken it so serious-ly. He has given a stern warn-ing to certain senior leadersnot to spoil the encouragingsituation. He asked them toinstead strengthen the partyunitedly. It is said noting suc-ceeds likes success. In order toturn the defeats and failuresinto success, what is requiredis strong leadership, unflinch-ing commitment, and pavingthe way forward. Here is whereRahul's endeavor has beensuccessful; for, he gave the

directionless party a clear wayforward. The way how to goabout it is so clearly drawn thatit would outsmart politicalopponents. What the Congressrequired most is unity in diver-sity. Rahul has acted as a strongforce to bring to line the diver-gent forces of the Congress tothe clearly charted line ofaction. It is really a josh forRevanth who is said to havestrong backing from the partyhigh command to retrieve theparty's lost political ground andinstil trust and confidenceamong the party leaders. Nowit seems Revanth, with a clearmandate, could make strongand untiring efforts to realisethe dream to bring Congressback to power. Let us see howRevanth makes use of his ora-torical skills to make a mark ofhis leadership.

KTR calls Rahul dummy and...Continued from page 1

KTR said, “It is not a declara-tion but just a repetition.”

KTR reacted sharply to com-ments that Telangana is ruledby a king. “If KCR is a monarchcan Revanth roam aroundfreely after bad-mouthing theCM? People call you crownprince. Only God knows wherethe crown is,” KTR said.

Recalling events during theUPA government, KTR saidthat insults were meted out toformer PM Manmohan Singh.

“Didn’t the UPA presidentbehave like an alternativepower centre in the country?Mommy had the remote anddummy was governing theCongress,” KTR said.

Describing AlCC as the AllIndia Crisis Committee, KTRsaid the time has come for peo-ple to dump the Congressonce and for all.

Advising Rahul not to readfrom scripts, he mocked RahulGandhi's comment that theCongress will not have analliance with the TRS duringnext year's Assembly elections.

“Is there any political partyin India that wants to have analliance with the Congress,”asked the TRS leader.

Dubbing the Congress as atried, tested and dusted party,the TRS leader wondered whowould want to have an alliancewith it.

“Can Rahul who could noteven win his own constituen-cy make his party win inTelangana,” asked KTR.

KTR said that Rahul hashanded over Gandhi Bhavan toGodse. Taking another dig atthe Congress MP, the TRS

leader said he had just read thescript written by somebodyelse.

KTR also ridiculed Rahulover his claim about suicides byfarmers in Telangana. Hepointed out that the Centreitself had declared thatTelangana has the least num-ber of farmer suicides. “If theCongress is such a great partywith concern for farmers, whydid it lose elections in Punjab,”he asked.

Regarding the WarangalDeclaration of the Congress,KTR said the Congress has just

repeated what it had said dur-ing the 2018 elections. “HasRahul spoken in Parliamentabout paddy,” he asked.

“When the Congress was inpower, it had no rythu band-hu and rythu bheema schemes.It did not supply uninterrupt-ed power to farmers. None ofthe welfare schemes beingimplemented by the Telanganagovernment today was thereduring Congress rule, KTRsaid.

He said the Congress hadpushed agriculture into crisis,but Chief Minister KCR trans-formed it into a great power.

He recalled that when theCongress was in power therewas not even a single village inTelangana from where peoplewere forced to migrate to citiesand other states for liveli-hood's sake.

KTR dismissed the Congresscharge that the TRS govern-ment did not waive crop loans.He said that farmers know thetruth. He urged farmers not tobelieve what the Congress hadpromised in its WarangalDeclaration.

Nadda is ‘first cousin’ of...Contractors say they have to pay 40 per cent commission and evenHindu Mutt seers say they have to pay 30 per cent commission! AKuch Kehna Hain? ED, IT, CBI Ke liye Koi Adesh?,” KTR said in hisTweet. This comes two days after Nadda described the TRSGovernment as one of the most corrupt governments and allegedthat the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project has become an 'ATM'and a 'milch cow' for Chief Minister KCR while speaking at a publicmeeting in Mahbubnagar. Responding to the LPG price hike KTRsaid, “Achhe Din Badhai Ho Phir Ek Baar.” He re-tweeted a Tweet bySmriti Irani from June 2011 which read, “50 rupee hike in LPG!!!!!N they call themselves Aam Aadmi ki Sarkar. What a shame!”

Transco upset with staff going to...Continued from page 1

But so far, the PRNC has notbeen constituted and the delay

in initiating the pay revisionprocess is causing a lot ofheartburn among all employ-ees.”

ED arrests CA linkedto Jharkhand IASofficer in moneylaundering casePNS n NEW DELHI

The ED on Saturday arresteda chartered accountant underthe anti-money launderinglaw in a case linked to allegedembezzlement of MGNRE-GA funds in Jharkhand'sKhunti district as part ofwhich state mining secre-tary and IAS officer PoojaSinghal and others were raid-ed, officials said.

CA Suman Kumar wastaken into custody under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA)around 5 pm in Ranchi andhe would be produced beforea local court where theEnforcement Directoratewould seek his further cus-tody, they said.

Officials alleged that theCA was "evasive in his replies"with regard to the allegedrecovery of cash to the tune ofRs 17.79 crore from his premis-es in Ranchi after the agencyconducted raids in this case.

PM Modi reviews NEP's implementation,calls for developing hybrid learningPNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday advocateddeveloping a hybrid system ofonline and offline learning toavoid overexposure of school-children to technology, as hechaired a high-level meeting toreview the implementation ofthe National Education Policy(NEP).

The new policy is beingrolled out with the objectivesof access, equity, inclusivity andquality, he said, according to anofficial statement.

Modi said the databasesmaintained by anganwadi cen-tres should be seamlessly inte-grated with school records aschildren move there fromanganwadis, and called for

their regular health check-upsand screening in schools withthe help of technology.

Pitching for emphasis on theuse of indigenously developedtoys to develop conceptualskills in students, he also sug-gested that secondary schoolswith science labs should engagewith farmers in their area forsoil testing, the statement said.

Lauding the new educationpolicy, he said from specialefforts to track out-of-schoolchildren and bring them backinto the mainstream and theintroduction of multiple entryand exit in higher education,many transformative reformshave been initiated that willdefine and lead the progress ofthe country as it enters the'Amrit Kaal'.

Modi was apprised that thework of the formulation of theNational CurriculumFramework under the guid-ance of the National SteeringCommittee is in progress.

In school education, initia-tives like quality ECCE in'Balavatika', NIPUN Bharat,Vidya Pravesh, examinationreforms and innovative peda-gogies like art-integrated edu-cation, toy-based pedagogyare being adopted for betterlearning outcomes and holisticdevelopment of children, thestatement said.

Referring to multi-discipli-narity in higher education, itsaid he was informed that theguidelines for multiple entry-exit for flexibility and lifelonglearning along with the launch

of academic bank of credit ondigilocker platform will nowmake it possible for students tostudy as per their convenienceand choice.

In order to create new pos-sibilities for lifelong learningand centrally involve criticaland interdisciplinary thinkingin learners, the UGC has pub-lished guidelines according towhich students can pursuetwo academic programmessimultaneously. The NationalHigher Education QualificationFramework (NHEQF) is also atan advanced stage of prepara-tion, while the UGC is revisingthe existing CurriculumFramework and Credit Systemfor Undergraduate Programmein alignment with the NHEQF,it said.

After Shah visit to hishome, Sourav talks of closerelation with MamataPNS n KOLKATA

A day after Union HomeMinister Amit Shah paid avisit to his residence and haddinner with his family, whichgrabbed attention, BCCI pres-ident Sourav Ganguly Saturdayspoke of his close relation withChief Minister, who is knownto be a strident critic of the BJP.

Ganguly, former Indiancricket team captain, also show-ered praise on minister and citymayor Firhad Hakim describ-ing him as a person who can beapproached by anyone at anytime of the day.

"Our honourable ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee is aperson very close to me. I hadapproached her to help up this

institute," he said at the inau-guration programme of a pri-vate hospital here.

The former southpaw said, "Iam also very close to FirhadHakim. He has been seeing mesince I was in Class 1. He hasbeen our family friend. Allwho approach him get help. Itoo have called him severaltimes," Ganguly said.

Shah's visit to Ganguly's res-idence on Friday had fuelledspeculation that the formercricketer would join politicssoon. The dinner was reportedto be a close family affair wherebesides Ganguly and his wifedanseuse Dona Ganguly, thecricketer's elder brotherSnehasish Ganguly and otherfamily members were hosts.

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MAY 8, 2022 hyderabad 03

Use medical equipment efficiently:Harish directs govt hospitals

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana Finance and HealthMinister on Saturday conduct-ed a monthly review meetingregarding the performance ofTelangana Vaidya VidhanaParishad (TVVP) hospitals.

Speaking at the review meet-ing Harish Rao said, ``For thefirst time in the country, wehave formulated a policy for themanagement of medical equip-ment under the name of`Biomedical Equipment

Maintenance'. We request thehospital administration to bringall the medical equipment inhospitals under the AMC(annual maintenance contract)within 10 days. The hospitalsshould utilise these equipmentvery efficiently. The doctors atdistrict hospitals should notunnecessarily refer patients toHyderabad.

The minister, while congrat-ulating doctors, said that manyhospitals from the state in thelast month have recorded a

decrease in C-Section deliver-ies. He also directed the hospi-tal administration to ensurethat there is proper supply ofclean drinking water in all thehospitals. The Minister alsosaid that surgeries should bedone from time to time and thegovernment has allocated aspecial budget for drugs, dietand sanitation. He further stat-ed that he will be making sur-prise visits to hospitals in thefuture to take stock of progress.The meeting was attended by

TVVP Commissioner AjayKumar, DME Ramesh Reddy,DPH Srinivasa Rao, TSMSIDC

Chairman Erolla Srinivas andsuperintendents of all area hos-pitals.

Harish lauds PHC Ghanpur asit gets NQAS certification

Finance and Health Minister Harish Rao on Saturday took totwitter to congratulate the Primary Healthcare Center (PHC)Ghanpur in Wanaparthy district for getting certified with National

Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) status. Harish Rao tweeted"Many congratulations to the entire team of PHC Ghanpur forgetting certified with NQAS status with highest score among allcenters and providing quality care to the people of Telangana byproviding medical care duly ensuring hygiene, greenery andsanitation" The NQAS is currently awarded for District hospitals,CHCs, PHCs, Urban PHCs keeping in view specific requirements forpublic health facilities, as well as global best practice.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Municipal AdministrationSpecial Chief SecretaryArvind Kumar has inspectedthe flyover works in LB Nagarand Mal Mysamma flyoverand the box drain works nearDevaki Function Hall inNagole and has asked thecontractors to speed up theexecution of the box drainworks to complete thembefore the forthcoming mon-soon season, according to anofficial release here onSaturday. Arvind Kumarexpressed satisfaction overthe progress of ongoing worksat the flyover.

MLA Devireddy SudheerReddy and officials also par-ticipated in the inspection.

He assured the contractorsexecuting the works that therewould be no problem inrelease of funds for the exe-cution of the works.

He said that the completion

of box drain works wouldsolve the problem of inunda-tion of low lying areas. Afterthe completion of flyover nearLB Nagar, the vehicle riderswill have smooth journey, headded. Later, he inspected theMahaprasthanam worksunder execution at a cost of Rs21 crore in six acres of land in

Fatullahguda of Nagole divi-sion. Arvind Kumar said thatburial grounds are being builtfor Hindus, Muslims andChristians separately at a sin-gle place, which is not foundanywhere in the country.

The balance of Mahaprastanam works would be com-pleted as early as possible. Heinspected the works on con-struction of a hall inMahaprasthanam and wash-rooms and toilets. He askedthe officials to take steps todevelop greenery on thepremises of Mahaprasthanam.He said that the power meantfor Mahaprasthanam wouldbe supplied through solarpanels set up on the nearbyAnimal Care Centre.

City Chief PlannerDevender Reddy, LB NagarZonal Commissioner Pankaja,Deputy CommissionersSurender Reddy and Maruti,Zonal City Planner Prasadand others were present.

Arvind Kumar inspects box drain,Mahaprasthanam & flyover works

Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar and MLA D Sudheer Reddy inspecting works in Nagole, Hyderabad on Saturday

PNS n RANGAREDDY

Madhapur Zone DeputyCommissioner of Police KShilpavalli, in accordance withthe guidelines from CyberabadCP Stephen Ravindra, inau-gurated the pre-recruitmenttraining programme atAmbedkar Bhavan inMadhapur on Saturday. Underthe supervision of DCP K.Shilpavalli, the enrolment pro-gramme was held in MadhapurZone. The programme wasmonitored by ACPs andInspectors of the MadhapurZone. Above 900 aspirants gotenrolled, out of which 700aspirants are from Madhapurzone and around 200 aspirantsare from other areas.

Speaking on the occasion,DCP Shilpavalli said the

Telangana government ten-tatively announced therecruitment of 15,575-PoliceConstables and 538-SIs (total 16,113) and the Finance

Department also approved it.The Telangana State LevelPolice Recruitment Board(TSLPRB) has also issuedthe notification. As per the

instructions of the ChiefMinister K ChandrashekarRao, Cybera bad CP StephenRaveendra has initiated theprogramme in all zones of

Cyberabad Commissio ner-ate. The DCP also stated thatmeticulous planning and exe-cution will lead to the successfor the aspirants. The examswill be conducted by TSLPRBand the entire process of therecruitment will be conductedin a transparent way. Separatecoaching centres for womenwill also be provided, DCPsaid.

The DCP also suggested thecandidates to stay away fromSocial media, friends, functionsand parties till they achievetheir success. The DCP alsostated that the police officerswill take all measures to orga-nize the training from prelim-inary exams, conducting tests,arranging physical training insecond phase and also finalexams in third phase.

PRT launched in Madhapur for police job aspirants

Launching of PRT for police job aspirants in Madhapur Zone in Hyderabad on Saturday

Cricket betting: 10 people held,

Rs 2.58 lakh seized in two raids

Woman killed, husband injured

as speeding car hits bike

Woman found murdered in home

Infant dies after fridge falls on him

PNS n HYDERABAD: The Sleuths of the Commissioner's TaskForce, North Zone Team on Friday busted two cricket betting racketswho were betting on the IPL match in Secunderabad area. One gangwas busted in the limits of Market Police Station whereas the other inthe limits of Mahankali Police Station. A total of 10 persons wereapprehended in both the raids, 5 each from one raid. According tothe police, the accused were placing bets using a betting app. Themain accused in both the cases had their respective collection agentswho would contact interested people and collect money, online andoffline. Then the money was given to the main organiser who wouldplace live bets. Based on a tip off, the police raided the two locationsand arrested the accused. Police filed a case against all of themunder the TS Gaming Act. A total of Rs 2.58 lakh and 13 mobilephones were seized by the police from both the raids. The arrestswere made under the supervision of Radhakishan Rao, DCPCommissioners Task Force. Task Force Inspectors, local police per-sonnel participated in the raids.

Awoman died on the spot while her husband sustained injurieswhen the motorcycle they were travelling on was hit by a car atAbdullapurmet on the city outskirts on Saturday.\ The couple

was identified as G.Srinivas and G.Jayamma, residents of Anajpurvillage in Abdullapurmet. According to the police, the husband andwife were on their way towards Bandiravirala when the mishapoccurred. When they reached Kavadipalli village, a car which wasdriven in a rash manner hit their bike from behind. They fell off thebike and Jayamma died on the spot and Srinivas sustained seriousinjuries. He was shifted to a private hospital in Vanasthalipuram. TheAbdullapurmet police are investigating.

Awoman was found murdered in her house at Saroornagar in thecity on Saturday. It is suspected that her foster son might havekilled her, police said. The victim was identified as Bhudevi (58)

and was staying with her family at P&T Colony in Saroornagar.According to the police, the suspect Sai Teja had allegedly planned toloot her valuables. After killing her, he fled with cash and gold jewelry,it is alleged. The Saroornagar police are investigating.

Athree-month old infant sustained injuries reportedly after arefrigerator fell on him. The incident took place at Uppal.On Thursday, the victim Mohd Riyazuddin was made to

sleep on the floor by his mother Arshiya while she was havingher lunch. Riyazuddin's two-year-old elder brother MohdHabeeb was trying to open the refrigerator's door when theentire fridge toppled and fell on the sleeping baby boy. The kidwas shifted to a private hospital immediately where he diedwhile undergoing treatment on Friday night. The Uppal policeare investigating.

PNS n HYDERABAD

South Central RailwayWomen's Welfare Organisation(SCRWWO) felicitated 125Railway employees and con-tract workers of the zone inrecognition of their meritori-ous and dedicated services.The function was conducted atVidya Vihar High School,Chilkalguda in Secunderabadon Saturday.

Usha Jain, Secretary,Madhavi Vijay Kumar, JointTreasurer, Aruna Vishwanath,Joint Secretary, Aparna Eswara

Rao, Executive Committeemember of SCRWWO partic-ipated in the programme.

Usha Jain appreciated theemployees for their hard workand commitment towardsIndian Railways and addedthat every employee deservesrespect and the right to lead adignified life. This felicitationwould be a salute to them fortheir contribution. Duringthe event, 125 employees fromHeadquarters, HyderabadDivision, SecunderabadDivision, IRISET and RailwaySports Complex were felicitat-

ed and Phani Kumari,Headmistress, Vidya Vihar

High School, was also presenton the occasion.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The SHE Teams wing ofCyberabad Police on Saturdayreleased their monthlyprogress report for themonths of March and April2022. According to the report,a total of 11 SHE Teams areworking in Cyberabad tohelp women and children.They were successful in stop-ping 7 child marriages in themonths of March and April,the report said.

SHE Teams received a totalof 355 complaints from vic-tims through different meanssuch as whatsapp, email andthe Hawkeye app. Out of the355 complaints, 269 were

filed through Whatsapp. Thehighest number of complaintswere made for phone harass-ment and 141 cases werefiled in this regard.

Apart from this, SHETeams is also conducting reg-ular night decoy operations atfood courts, metro stationsand bus stops. They caught 75people who were involved inindecent activities during thenight time. About 837 aware-ness programmes were con-ducted. In addition to this,regular counseling sessionswere held at Women andChildren Safety Wing,Cyberabad which was attend-ed by 319 eve-teasing respon-dents.

SHE Teams stopped 7 childmarriages in March, April

PNS n HYDERABAD

Hyderabad City Police onSaturday celebrated the sixthanniversary of establishmentof the Bharosa Cell. The pro-gramme was held in the pres-ence of city police commis-sioner CV Anand.

Speaking on the occasion,CP CV Anand said, ̀ `BharosaCenter was formed to provideaid and counseling to the vic-tims. Since its inception,Bharosa center is successfullyensuring convictions in allsexual assault cases withonboard court room, medicaland legal aid teams. Womensafety is the top priority of the

state government. Coor dina-tion between city police andwomen and child welfaredepartment has to be furtherinstitutionalised to enhance

the operations of the center."Addressing the gathering,

Divya Devarajan, Commissioner, Women and ChildWelfare department said that

there is an ongoing plan toreplicate the Bharosa centermodel at different placesacross the state.

CV Anand , along withother dignitaries, flagged offan Audio Visual vehicle, spon-sored by MD of NCC UrbanInfrastructures AlluriNarayana Raju. The vehiclewas launched to campaignthe activities of Bharosa cen-ter and conduct sensitisationprogrammes in various local-ities.

Other important guests atthe event were AR Srinivas,Addl CP Crimes, Gajarao Bhupal, Addl DCP (Bharosa andSHE Teams) and others.

C V Anand lauds Bharosa Center forensuring convictions in sexual assault cases

City CP CV Anand at the event of sixth anniversary of Bharosa Center in Hyderabad

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Joint Commissioner ofPolice for Traffic, AV Ranganath on Saturday convened ameeting to discuss an actionplan for water logging areasin the city. The Joint CP alsodiscussed other importantissues like removing obstaclesof commuting at free lefts,prevention of stop line cross-ing violations and payment ofchallans. The Joint CP issuednecessary instructions/guidelines for the complianceof the issues. Other partici-pants of the meeting includeDCP Shamshabad PrakashReddy and Addl DCPs,ACPs and inspectors fromHyderabad Traffic Police.

Traffic Joint CPdiscusses roadsafety measures

SCRWWO felicitates 125 Railway employees

SCR Women's Welfare Oganisation felicitating employees in Hyderabad on Saturday

He inspected theMahaprasthanamworks under executionat a cost of Rs 21crore in six acres ofland in Fatullahguda ofNagole division. ArvindKumar said that burialgrounds are being builtfor Hindus, Muslimsand Christiansseparately at a singleplace, which is notfound anywhere in thecountry.

Work from home will drive 50K jobs to tier-2 cities: KTRPNS n HYDERABAD

Work from home will drive50,000 jobs to tier-2 cities inthe next five years, Minister KTRama Rao has said.

Ministers KTR, SatyavathiRathod, and Erabelli DayakarRao participated in the firstanniversary celebrations ofSoftpath System and inaugu-rated their new office atWarangal on Saturday.

KTR said the government isfocussing on expanding the IT

industry to Warangal,Karimnagar, Nalgonda,Mahabubnagar, Nizamabad,Khammam, Siddipet, andRamagundam. “We are goingto create 50,000 jobs in fiveyears in tier-2 cities. In the lasttwo years due to the lockdownwithout meeting others andwithout coming to offices peo-ple worked from home. It alsoproved that work from home isreliable and that geography isimmaterial. You can work fromHyderabad or Atlanta or

Warangal. The entire dimen-sion changed when yourealised that you need to gowhere the talent is,” KTR said.

“Some companies arerecruiting even in villages.They are asking people towork from there. I am confi-dent that 50,000 jobs can becreated in tier-2 cities,” headded. He said that during dis-cussions with IT companies thegovernment had asked them tolook at the opportunities intier-2 cities.

Minister K T Rama Rao addressing a meeting in Warangal on Saturday

Police bust interstate satta bettingracket, apprehend 12 accusedPNS n HYDERABAD

Police busted an interstate'satta betting' racketbeing operated from ahouse in Santos hna-gar on Saturday.Police arrested 12persons and seizedRs.25,710 from thearrested person. Thelocal organiser, MohammedSiraj of Santos hnagar, was intouch with the main organis-er Iqbal Shaik of Maharashtra,and was transferring the

amount to him online. "Dailywagers, auto drivers, fruit ven-dors and construction work-

ers are participating inthe satta betting,"Commissioner's TaskForce Ins pector, SRaghavendra said.In another case, the

Mangalhat policecaught Raghunath Rao

(45) and Madhukar Rao(52) for organising satta bet-ting. Police seized Rs.42,500from them, MangalhatInspector N Ravi said.

Refrain from OTT platforms: CV Anand to job aspirantsPNS n HYDERABAD

City police commissioner CVAnand formally launched thepre-recruitment training (PRT)programme at RTCKalabhavan. The programmewas organized by HyderabadCity Police and aided by stategovernment. A record numberof 21,000 applications were

received online for PRT out ofwhich around 16,000 attempt-ed the exam and finally 7,133were selected. The entire coach-ing will be for a period of 3months at 8 hours per day isfree for the aspirants, whichotherwise would cost them atleast Rs 10,000 per month.

Speaking on the occasion, CPAnand exhorted the aspirants to

take advantage of free PRT tosecure a job.. "The State LevelPolice Recruitment Boardissued notifications for filling upover 16,600 posts. Of the totalposts, around 2,800 vacanciesare to be filled in HyderabadCity Police," he said. "Youshould refrain using OTT plat-forms, and social media for thenext few months," said Anand.

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MAY 8, 2022

Eight poachers from Hyderabad arrested PNS n KAMAREDDY

Kamareddy police onSaturday chased and arresteda gang of eight poachers ona charge of hunting spotteddeer at Polkampet villageunder Lingapet mandal in thedistrict. The police seizeddeadly weapons, whichincluded a rifle, from thearrested.

All the poachers, accordingto police, hailed fromHyderabad. The gang was ledby Mohammed HameedUzzaman and consisted ofObaid Khan (29), MeerMustafa Ali (35), FarzanGulam Hussain (34), SyedRaheel (24) and Meer TayyabAli. The arrested are residentsof Malakpet, Falaknuma andCharminar. The police alsoarrested Ramvath Pandu andBadya Bhoda, who hailedfrom a village in the district,for extending their support tothe poachers. It all began inthe early hours of Saturdaywhen the police noticed twocars packed with men, mov-ing under suspicious circum-

stances at Polkampet village.The police personnel askedthe occupants of the cars tostop. When the policeapproached the cars, thegangsters in one of cars spedaway and another car wasabandoned. When searched,the police had found a num-ber of deer carcasses in the

abandoned car and a riffle.One of the poachers wasfound hiding in a pit. Thepolice, after taking thepoacher into custody, alertedthe higher officials.

The police alerted all thepolice stations in the districtand the poachers, who fledthe car, were traced to

Ailapoor village.YellareddyCircle Inspector Srinivas,Lingapet Sub-InspectorSahnakar, along with the per-sonnel, launched the man-hunt when they received theinformation that a gang ofpoachers had escaped by acar and caught them atAilapoor village.

Police presenting the arrested poachers along with deer carcasses in a vehicle at Ailapoor village in Kamareddy district on Saturday

KTR asks youth seeking govtjobs to develop self-confidence PNS n WARANGAL

Minister for IT K T RamaRao has underlined theimportance of self-confidenceto achieve anything in life.

As part of his Warangaltour, he inspected the site forMamunoor airport and laterinspected free coaching class-es for various competitiveexaminations being held atthe Police Training Collegeunder the aegis of AruriGattumallu MemorialFoundation.

Every student should havea killer instinct to crack thecompetitive examinations, he

said adding that it is not pos-sible for all to get governmentjobs.

He called upon the unem-ployed to strive to develop asprospective industrialists evenif they failed to get govern-ment jobs. What is importantis not the size of the business,but ability to stand on one'slegs to support the family.

The State government isready to support the youthwho come forward to set uptheir units. Many units cameforward to set up their unitsin textile sector and manymore are on the anvil, he said.

He asked the unemployed

job seekers to focus on com-munication skills and work-ing skills and asked them todevelop self-confidence.

Later, he unveiled ArooriGattumallu Foundationmobile application.

Ministers Errabelli DayakarRao and Satyavati Rathod,MLC Pochampalli SrinivasReddy, TRS Warangal districtpresident and VardhannapetMLA Aruri Ramesh, MLA NNarender, City MayorG u n d u S u d h a r a n i ,AruriGattumallu FoundationChairman Aruri Vishal andothers took part in the pro-gramme.

PNSnJAYASHANKARBHUPALAP

ALLY

District Superintendent ofPolice J Surender Redd onSaturday assured the policethat the department wouldextend all help to the fami-lies of the police personnelwho died in the line of duty.

He presented a cheque forRs 1 lakh to the bereavedfamily of Regonda ASIBhanot Harilal Naik whorecently died in road acci-dents. The widow of HarilalNaik, Sarojana, received thecheque from the SP.

The SP assured thebereaved family members ofpolice personnel to strive toget their financial benefits asearly as possible.

Addit ional ASP V

Srinivasulu, district in-charge OSD P S obhanKumar, DPO AO AyubKhan, DPO superintendent

Sophia Sultana, bereavedfamily members of HarilalNaik and others were presenton the occasion.

Minister for Municipal Administration K T Rama Rao at Police Training College in Warangal on Saturday

PNSnSANGAREDDY

The State government hadgiven an undertaking to theCentre that it would not sendboiled rice in future to theFood Corporation of India(FCI), alleged YSR TelanganaParty president Y S Sharmilaon Saturday. This undertak-ing, she said, has proved to bean albatross around the neckof farmers. Sharmila, whovisited Medak Market Yard,said the farmers were forcedto wait for long period to dis-pose of their produce. But thegovernment failed to come totheir rescue, she said. Thefarmers poured out tale ofwoe to Sharmila. Some farm-ers told her that they hadbeen waiting for days to selltheir produce. But they couldnot get the attention of the

officials. They said the rain-soaked paddy would get fur-ther damaged.

Though the farmers werewaiting patiently at the pro-curement centre, a group ofofficials had reportedly goneon leave, leaving the formerin lurch. She said the farmerhad left 17 lakh acres of farmlands fallow because the gov-ernment appealed to thefarmers not to cultivatepaddy. She demanded thatthe State government paycompensation at the rate ofRs 30,000 an acre to thefarmers who left their landsfallow.

Sangareddy district unitYSR Telangana Party presi-dent Goureddy SridharReddy, Siddipet district partypresident Ramalinga Reddyand others were present.

‘State govt's policies provealbatross around farmers' neck

SP presents cheque for Rs 1 lakh towife of ASI killed in road mishap

District Superintendent of Police J Surender Reddy presenting a cheque to wife ofASI Harilal Naik in Bhupalapally on Saturday

PNS n WARANGAL

Minister for Industries K TRama Rao on Saturday saidthe State government is plan-ning to acquire 300 to 400acres of land for the expan-sion of Nizam era airport atMamnoor, near here.

The Minister along withMinister for Panchayat RajErrabel l i Dayakar Rao,Minister for Women andChild Welfare SatyavathiRathod, Chief Advisor to theState government RajivSharma and officials of theAirport Authority of Indiawere inspecting the airport.

Talking to the reporters,Rama Rao stressed the needto revive the mamnoor air-port. The State governmentwas taking al l steps toimpress upon the Centre to

help revive the airport. Thepresent runway length is 1.8km. It has to be expanded to3.9 km to facilitate big planesto land, he said. There was aneed to acquire between 300and 400 cres of land for theexpansion of the airport, hesaid.

The lands adjacent to theairport, however, shot up.

There ws some dairy landnear the airport that may begiven to the land owners inexchange for their lands, hesaid. Several options werebeing explored, he said.

He said the governmentwould establish food pro-cessing units in the undivid-ed Warangal district. Theunits would be set up in allsix districts carved out oferstwhile Warangal district.

In the Budget, the govern-ment earmarked Rs 100 crorefor development of civil avi-ation facilities in the State.The government has acceler-ated its efforts to revive theairport as it had developedthe Kaktaiya Mega TextilePark where several big com-panies including the MNCsare setting up the manufac-turing units.

‘Govt planning to acquire landfor Warangal airport expansion’

PNS n HYDERABAD

Objecting to TRS leaders andTRS Working President KTRamarao for describing for-mer AICC chief Rahul Gandhias a political tourist, TPCCStar Campaigner KomatireddyVenkat Reddy said that ChiefMinister K. ChandrasekharRao is also a political tourist.

Venkat Reddy said that theTRS has been describingRahul Gandhi as a politicaltourist for visiting Telangana.

"Going by the same stan-dards, KCR is also a politicaltourist as he has been visitingDelhi, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand,West Bengal, andMaharashtra," he pointed out.

He asked KTR and otherTRS leaders not to speakagainst Rahul Gandhi as theyliked. He said that Rahul is agreat leader who refused the

PM's post twice."TRS leaders do not have

the stature to criticise Rahul ashis father Rajiv Gandhi andgrandmother Indira Gandhisacrificed their lives for thenation.

How can TRS leaders criti-cise Rahul who hails from afamily that has sacrificed somuch for the nation," VenkatReddy asked.

SC Commission Chairman consoles Nagaraju's family, promises helpPNS n HYDERABAD

The Chairman of theNational SC Commission,Vijay Sampla, has consoledthe family of Nagaraju, whowas murdered at SaroorNagar a few days ago by his

wife's brother.Vijay Samplaassured the bereaved familythat he will ensure that thecase is tried by a fast-trackcourt.

Speaking on the occasion,Vijay Sampla said that themurder of Nagaraju was

shocking."We will help Nagaraju's

family in all ways. We willgive three acres of land, ahouse and a job to one of thevictim's relatives. We willalso provide Rs 8.25 lakhunder the SC, ST Atrocity Act

in two phases," he said.VijaySampla gave a cheque of Rs4.12 lakh to the bereavedfamily.

He said that they will pro-vide a pension of Rs 5,000 permonth to the victim's family.He also directed the TS gov-

ernment to take act ionagainst the murder suspect asper law. BJP ExecutiveCommittee member Vivekand others accompanied VijaySampla when he visited thebereaved family at Marpallyvillage in Vikarabad district.

KCR is also a political tourist,says Komatireddy Venkat Reddy

Rahul assures NSUI president of all helpPNS n HYDERABAD

The Telangana Police andManickam Tagore gave ashocker to TPCC chiefMalkajgiri MP Revanth Reddyby not giving him a chance tomeet the jailed 18 NSUIactivists at the ChanchalgudaJail along with Rahul Gandhion Saturday.

Rahul met the 18 NSUIactivists at the ChanchalgudaJail along with CLP leaderMallu Bhatti Vilkramarkainstead of Revanth.

It may be recalled that theChanchalguda JailSuperintendent had refusedpermission to Rahul to visit thejail even though Revanth hadsubmitted a letter to him seek-ing permission for Rahul tomeet the 18 NSUI activists.

The Jail Superintendentasked Revanth to get permis-

sion from Jail DG Dr Jithender.Revanth had also submitted aletter to Dr Jithender but herefused permission and theCongress leader was informedon the morning of May 6 aboutit. Coming to know about therefusal of permission to Rahulto meet the NSUI activists, theAICC General Secretary In-charge, Manickam Tagore, senta letter to Dr Jithender onbehalf of Rahul seeking permis-sion for a meeting on May 6.Inhis letter, Manickam Tagorementioned the name of CLPleader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarkainstead of Revanth. Revanthalso went to Chanchalguda Jailalong with Rahul, but the jailauthorities allowed only Rahuland Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka tomeet the NSUI activists.

Revanth came out of the jailpremises and said that theauthorities had allowed only

Rahul and Bhatti Vikramarkato meet the NSUI activists.

The jail authorities releasedthe letter sent by ManickamTagore in which he had soughtpermission for only two per-sons and they allowed thesame.It is learnt that the policerejected the letter of Revanth ashe had sought permission formany people to meet the jailedNSUI activists.

The jail authorities hadrefused permission thinkingthat they may create problemson the jail premises.

The police gave permissionto Rahul Gandhi and MalluBhatti Vikramarka respondingto the letter sent by ManickamTagore, who had sought per-mission for two persons.

It is learnt that Revanth wasnot aware of ManickamTagore’s letter and had gone tothe jail along with Rahul

Gandhi, but the jail authoritiesdidn't allow him to meet theNSUI activists. Meanwhile, it islearnt that Rahul told the NSUIactivists that they have tolaunch protests against thestate and Central governmentsand that the Congress will bewith them. The police hadmade massive security arrange-ments at the ChanchalgudaJail. The authorities hadstopped the regular meetings ofprisoners with their kin tillRahul’s meeting was over.

The police had arrested theNSUI activists for allegedlyattacking the OsmaniaUniversity’s administrativebuilding protesting against theOU’s refusal to give permissionto Rahul Gandhi to visit theOU campus and meet stu-dents. The arrested studentswere later remanded to custodyfor 14 days by court.

Cops bar Revanth from meeting jailed NSUI activists

PNS n HYDERABAD

Minister for AnimalHusbandry Talasani SrinivasaYadav along with other polit-ical leaders has calledRahul Gandhi 'a part-time politician.'Addressing the mediaalong with MLCPrabhakar, MLAsMaganti Gopinadh,Danam Nagender, KaleruVenkatesh and Mutha Gopalat the TRS Legislature Partyoffice here on Saturday,Srinvias Yadav said that thedeclaration adopted by theRytu Sangharshana Sabha,addressed by Rahul Gandhi inWarangal on Friday, is not fea-sible. There is no claritywhether the declaration per-tained to the State or to thenation, he wondered.

What is the size of theState's budget? How much

does it cost to implement theassurances? Does a part-timepolitician like Rahul Gandhi

know, hequeried.

What didt h eCongressdo to thef a r m e r sduring its

6 0 - y e a rregime, he

questioned. IfRahul has love for

farmers, where did he gowhen TRS supported thefarmers' stir in Delhi? Takingobjection to Congress harpingday in and day out on the sub-ject that it gave TelanganaState, the Minister said that thethen UPA government hadbowed to the people's demandfor Telangana, led by KCR,and granted the statehood toTelangana, he explained.

The Centre withdrew theblack laws succumbing tofarmers' stir, he said asking theCongress to not to forget this.The Telangana state hasachieved mani-fold develop-ment in all sectors of activity,he said adding that leadersfrom Delhi are visiting thestate like tourists. The peopleare not going to be benefitedby such tourists, he said. Hesought to know whether theBJP leaders are ready for a dis-cussion on the Kaleshwaramayacult lands irrigation and forinspection of the ground real-ity.

When the Centre was notprepared to buy the cropsharvested by farmers workinghard, the TRS government isprocuring the crops, he saidadding that the State emergedas the rice bowl of the coun-try due to the thrust it gave toagriculture.

Talasani calls Rahul Gandhi a part-time politician

PNS n HYDERABAD

AICC former vice presidentRahul Gandhi on Saturdaycalled on the NSUI State pres-ident Venkat Balmuri inChanchalguda jail, near here.Venkat was arrested and sentto judicial custody in the jailfor leading the NSUI protest atthe Osmania Universityrecently. He along with CLPleader Bhatti Vikramarkaassured him full support toVenkat Balmuri and others.

In connection with RahulGandhi's visit to Telangana,Venkat Balmuri and his teamled a protest at the OU campus.He was sent to judicial remandin Chanchalguda for 14 daysalong with other protesters.

Student leaders apprisedRahul Gandhi of the condi-tions on OU campus and theconditions prevailed in

Telangana education sector.Bjatti Vikramarka told the

student leaders that Rahulwould help them. Justicewould be rendered to the stu-dent leaders. He said that hehad explained Rahul Gandhithe efforts made by the studentleaders to make the Rahul

Gandhi's public meeting agrand success. Rahul Gandhialso asked the student leadersnot to be cowed down bythreats and told them that thefuture belonged to them. Hecalled for NSUI playing a moreactive role to safeguard democ-racy in future.

AICC former vice president Rahul Gandhi with NSUI students at Chanchalguda jailin Hyderabad on Satursday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Endowments MinisterIndrakaram Reddy said that itwas not proper to criticiseYadadri, a famous temple,for political gains.

“Attempts are being madeto magnify even minor prob-lems. It is better to refrainfrom such attempts to tarnishthe image of the sacred tem-ple. The roads under con-struction were damaged dueto the untimely heavy rains.As work was going on at thetemple mud and sand collect-ed in the pipeline leading towater stagnation,” he said.

He clarified that it did nothappen due to poor work-manship or structural defects.“The roads were damaged bythe heavy rains and workwas taken up immediately.Problems caused by theuntimely rains are being rec-tified,” Indrakaran Reddysaid.

Indrakaran conducted a

review meeting with theauthorities regarding the pro-vision of facilities at theYadadri Sri LakshmiNarasimha Swamy Temple atthe Aranya Bhavan inHyderabad. The Ministerenquired about the problemsdue to the untimely rainsand the steps needed to solvethem. He enquired about thefallen shed, rainwater leaks,and other problems.

“Instead of repeating suchproblems in future, stepsshould be taken to solvethem,” he said and directedthe authorities to focus oninfrastructure.

Indrakaran said that as themain temple was newly builtthe problems should be man-aged for a few days andshould not be seen as a short-coming. He made it clearthat the government wouldsolve all problems and willprovide good facilities.

The meeting discusseddrinking water arrangements

at the queue complex, sanita-tion in washrooms, installa-tion of sheds on the hill,maintenance of sewagepipelines, the monitoring offans in the queue complex,and provision of wheelchairsfor the elderly and the dis-abled.

The minister suggested thatspecial measures should betaken to help the devoteeswithout making them waittoo long in queues.

He said that freshwatershould be provided to thedevotees at all times whilethey waited in queues on thetemple’s premises. Indrakarandirected the authorities totake appropriate action with-out delay.

The meeting was attendedby Revenue CommissionerAnil Kumar, YTDA Vice-Chairman Kishan Rao, R&BENC Ganapathy Reddy, SEVasant Kumar, temple in-charge EO Ramakrishna andothers.

Yadadri problems minor,repair works on: IndrakaranPNS n HYDERABAD

AIMIM chief AsaduddinOwaisi on Saturday challengedAICC former president RahulGandhi to contests fromHyderabad or Medak in theState. He said, 'I am saying thatyou will now lose fromWayanad too. Come, contestfrom Hyderabad. Try yourluck. You can contest fromMedak too.' It may be men-tioned here that the late PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi hadsuccessfully contested fromMedak in 1980 and came topower to power at the Centre.

Telangana Congress seniorleader V Hanumantha Raowondered whether AsaduddinOwaisi would contest from aconstituency which would bechosen for him by theCongress party. AICC officialspokesperson Dasoju Sravancountered Asaduddin Owaisiby saying that the peoplewould decide the victory ordefeat of Rahul Gandhi, butnot any political leader, he said.Asaduddin Owaisi is not a bigleader, he added.

Rahul challenged tocontest from Hyderabad or Medak

PNSnJAYASHANKAR

BHUPALAPALLY

Hampi Seer JagadguruVirupaksha VidyaranyaSwamy on Saturday said thatthe energy required for thesustenance of human life andto lead a life full of disciplinecomes from worshippingGod. Therefore, he advisedthe people to spend sometime in temples to worship theGod so that vibrations ema-nating from the God's idolprovide the necessary energy.The seer was taking part inthe second day celebrations ofthe Dattatreya idol installationheld at Dhanwada villageunder the aegis of the familymembers of Manthani MLADuddillaSridharbabu.

Seer advises peopleto visit temples toreceive positive vibes

04

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MAY 8, 2022 nation 05

AShatabdi Express trainwas left stranded for twohours after body parts of a

camel that walked on to thetrack got stuck in the enginefollowing a collision in MadhyaPradesh's Morena district on

Saturday, an official said. The incident occurred near Hetampurrailway station, some 10 km from Morena, around 9 am, when theDelhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express was heading towards the statecapital, inspector Harikesh Meena of the Railway Protection Force(RPF) said. A camel was run over when it walked on to the track andits body parts got cut into pieces and got stuck in the engine afterthe collision, halting the train at the spot, he said, adding that nopassenger was injured in the incident.It took around two hours toremove the animal's body parts from the engine, and the train laterleft for the destination, Meena said.A case has been registered in thisregard and further investigation is underway, he added.

Shatabdi Express stranded for2 hrs after running over camel

Senior Maharashtra BJP leaderDevendra Fadnavis on Saturdaysaid his party would give 27 percent tickets for upcoming localbodies polls in the state tomembers of Other BackwardClasses. The former chiefminister was speaking at anOBC convention. "The BJP willgive 27 per cent tickets to OBCs

in all upcoming local bodies polls in Maharashtra no matter what itsoutcome would be. We are ready to pay the price for it," he said. Helashed out at the "arrogance" of the Uddhav Thackeray governmentfor allegedly giving Census figures to the dedicated committee set upby the state backward classes commission instead of empirical datarequired to obtain quota for OBCs. "The state government has killedpolitical quota for OBC quota with its inefficiency," the Leader ofOpposition in the Maharashtra Assembly claimed.

Maha local bodies polls: Willgive 27 pc tickets to OBCs

Senior Congress leaderSiddaramaiah on Saturdaysought to know whether the

Karnataka Chief Minister's seat wasoffered in exchange for money toaspiring candidates by the BJP, andsought a probe into allegations madeby a ruling party MLA that he wasapproached by power brokers, askinghim to pay Rs 2,500 crore bribe forthe top position. The demand comes

at a time when the Basavaraj Bommai-led government in the state isfacing charges of corruption. Terming it a serious issue,Siddaramaiah said only proper investigation will reveal the truth. “Isthe CM's position a payment seat?" the Leader of Opposition in thestate assembly asked in the wake of claims made by BJP legislatorBasanagouda Patil Yatnal that he was approached by 'some people'from Delhi, offering the state chief minister's position, in exchangefor Rs 2,500 crore.

Siddaramaiah taunts: IsCM's post for sale?

INDIA CORNER

PNS n NSRINAGAR

In a crackdown against themisuse of SIM cards by mili-tants and their fraudulent saleby telecom vendors, the Jammuand Kashmir StateInvestigation Agency (SIA) onSaturday carried out searchesat 19 premises across the Valley,officials said.

The searches came in theface of the “ever-increasingmisuse of SIM cards by terror-ists", their over-ground work-ers (OGWs), narcotics smug-glers and other criminals, theysaid.

“The SIA in 11 differentFIR cases carried out searchesat 19 premises spread all overKashmir,” the officials said.

A majority of the premisesbelonged to the Point of Sale(POS) vendors who sold theseSIM cards in violation of theDepartment of Telecom regu-lations and in a manner thatamounts to forgery and cheat-ing, they said.

The officials said in threecases, preliminary evidence“strongly indicated” that SIMcards were procured to helpterrorists in maintaining theircommunication with their han-dlers across the border andother modules inside J-K.

Giving examples of the mis-use, the officials said, a POS

vendor in Chawalgam inKulgam under the name M/SAirtel Micro World created aSIM card against a non-existentfictitious person namelyGowhar Ahmad Hajam andgave the card to a person inQaimoh in Kulgam whoturned out to be an OGW ofterror outfit Ansar-Gazwat-

ul-Hind.In another case, a POS

vendor at Mir Mohal laMonghall of Anantnag creat-ed a SIM card for a sub-scriber who handed it overto an O GW of HizbulMujahideen (HM) outfit, theofficials said.

The houses of all the three

-- the vendor, the subscriberand the OGW -- were searchedto look for additional evi-dence, the officials said.

In a third instance, four PoSvendors -- one belonging toKonibal in Pampore, another toWalina, Ichgam in Budgam, thethird one to Barzullah inSrinagar and forth one toLasjan -- created SIMs in thename of real persons by steal-ing and misusing their identi-ty documents, the officialssaid.

Subsequently, they said,these POS vendors fraudu-lently gave the SIM cards tounauthorised persons withoutthe knowledge of the originalpersons.

Authorities have decided totake stringent measures againstPOS SIM card sellers who arefound to be stealing identitydocuments of unsuspectingsubscribers and creating SIMcards without the knowledge oforiginal subscribers, the offi-cials said.

PNS n MUMBAI

Union Minister for MinorityAffairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvion Saturday said that Haj 2022was taking place with signifi-cant reforms, giving utmostpriority to the health and well-being of pilgrims.

Inaugurating a two-daytraining camp of "Khadim UlHujjaj" at Haj House here,Naqvi said a total of 79,237Indian Muslims will go for Haj2022, of whom 50 per cent arewomen.

The entire process of Haj2022 has been chalked outwith necessary guidelines of thegovernments of India andSaudi Arabia, which includeeligibility criteria, age limit,health-related requirements,among other things, he said,while noting that the pilgrim-age could not take place for thelast two years due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

"We are making all efforts to

ensure that there is no addi-tional financial burden on thepilgrims, as they will performHaj without any subsidy. Theprocess is on to provide accom-modation, transportation andother necessary facilities inSaudi Arabia at affordableprices," the Union ministersaid.

The selection process of Hajpilgrims has been done consid-ering the completion ofCOVID-19 vaccination andfulfilling the necessary normsdecided by the governments ofthe two countries, he said.

Naqvi further said that mak-ing the entire Haj 2022 process100 per cent digital has been

extremely beneficial to ensurehealth and well-being of pil-grims, besides making the pil-grimage transparent, accessible,affordable and convenient.

At least 56,601 IndianMuslims will go for Haj 2022through Haj Committee ofIndia and 22,636 will gothrough Haj Group Organisers

(HGOs), he said.More than 1,800 Muslim

women will go for Haj 2022without 'Mehram' (male com-panion) and they will go to Hajwithout a lottery system, theminister said, adding that atotal of 83,140 applicationshad been received for Haj2022.

The pilgrims will gothrough Haj Committee ofIndia from 10 embarkationpoints namely Ahmedabad,Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi,Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata,Lucknow, Mumbai andSrinagar, he said.

The Ahmedabad embarka-tion point will cover Gujarat,while the Bengaluru embarka-tion point will cover Karnatakaand Chittoor district of AndhraPradesh, and the Cochinembarkation point will includeKerala, Lakshadweep,Puducherry, Tamil Nadu andAndaman & Nicobar, Naqvisaid.

The Delhi embarkationpoint will cover Delhi, Punjab,Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,Chandigarh, Uttarakhand,Rajasthan, western districts ofUttar Pradesh, while theGuwahati embarkation pointwill cover Assam, Meghalaya,Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh,Sikkim and Nagaland, he said.

The Hyderabad embarka-tion point will be for AndhraPradesh and Telangana, theKolkata embarkation point willcover West Bengal, Odisha,Tripura, Jharkhand and Biharand the Lucknow embarkationpoint will cover all parts ofUttar Pradesh except westernparts, he said.

The Mumbai embarkationpoint will be for Maharashtra,Goa, Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu,Dadra & Nagar Haveli andSrinagar embarkation pointwill cover Jammu-Kashmir,Leh-Ladakh-Kargil, the minis-ter said.

Haj 2022 gives priority to health, well-being of pilgrims: Naqvi

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Saturdayslammed the government overthe hike in price of domesticLPG cylinder with formerparty chief Rahul Gandhi say-ing millions of Indian house-holds are waging a difficultbattle against "extreme infla-tion", unemployment and"poor governance".

The Opposition party alsosaid the central governmentshould roll back the hike in theprice of domestic cooking gascylinder and bring it to thesame level as it was for the sub-sidised cylinder in 2014.

The price of domestic LPGcylinders was raised by Rs 50on Saturday. With the latestrevision, the 14.2 kg domesticcylinder will now cost Rs999.50/cylinder from Saturday,according to reports.

Gandhi said during theCongress-led UPA govern-ment, the price of an LPGcylinder was Rs 414 and a sub-sidy of Rs 827 was being givenon every cylinder.

"Today, the cost of a cylin-der is ?999. The amount of

subsidy given is 'zero'," he said.The Narendra Modi govern-

ment has removed all safetynets that the Congress had putin place to protect the commonman, Gandhi alleged.

"Today, millions of Indianhouseholds are waging a diffi-cult battle against extremeinflation, unemployment, andpoor governance," the formerCongress chief said in aFacebook post.

"The Congress party wouldhave never let this happen. Wehave and always will supportfamilies in need," he said withthe has tags

'MehengaiMuktBharat' and'BJPFailsIndia'.

After the news of a hike ofRs 50 in the price of domesticLPG cylinder, the Congressalso claimed that the Modigovernment has increased theprice of subsidised cooking gasby over Rs 585 in the last eightyears and also ended the sub-sidy that was given.

Congress chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala tweet-ed, "BJP is rich, people arehelpless. The price of subsi-dized LPG cylinder hasincreased two and a half timesunder the BJP rule.

Rahul: Millions of householdsbattling ‘extreme inflation’

PNS n MUMBAI

Calling the issue of loud-speakers a "closed chapter",Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rauton Saturday said instead ofspeaking on that topic, theBJP should talk about risinginflation and unem-ployment as theseare the challengesbeing faced bythe people.

" P r i m eM i n i s t e r( N a r e n d r aModi), FinanceMinister (NirmalaSitharaman) and topBJP leaders don't speak ofthe issue of inflation andunemployment. Their issuesare different. They only speakon what police in Punjab andMaharashtra are doing," Rauttold reporters here.

The issue of loudspeakers isa closed chapter as attempts tocreate Hindu-Muslim divideover it have failed, he said.

It is the Hindu communi-ty that has faced the biggestsetback as far as the issue ofloudspeakers is concerned,

the Sena MP added."Attempts were made to

incite tension betweenHindus and Muslims by rais-ing the demand to ban loud-speakers on mosques. Butpeople are wise. The SupremeCourt's directives on loud-

speakers are beingimplemented. There

should be anational policyon loudspeak-ers," Raut said.

No one isready to speak

on inf lation.People of the coun-

try are grappling withissues like price rise and

unemployment. But no BJPleader is speaking on it, theSena's chief spokespersonsaid.

Even since MaharashtraNavnirman Sena (MNS) chiefRaj Thackeray demanded theremoval of loudspeakers frommosques in his rallies held lastmonth, it has become a hotbutton issue in the state andother parts of the country.The BJP has supported hisdemand.

Loudspeaker issue a‘closed chapter': Raut

PNS n MUMBAI

A fire broke out at an office ofthe Life InsuranceCorporation (LIC) in subur-ban Santacruz (West) onSaturday morning but nobodywas injured in the incident,the public sector companysaid.

The fire was brought undercontrol after six hours andcooling operations wereunderway, said an official ofthe Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC).

Earlier, BMC officials hadsaid the building was locatedin the adjoining Vile Parlearea.

As per an LIC statement,fire broke out at its ground-plus-two-storey Jeevan Sevabuilding on SV Road inSantacruz (West) around6.40 am.

Fire breaks outat suburbanLIC office

PNS n NEW DELHI

The DMRC on Saturdayannounced the construction ofa new interchange hub at theR K Ashram Marg metro sta-tion which will provide ashorter route from central tonorth Delhi.

In a tweet, the Delhi MetroRail Corporation (DMRC)said the interchange facilitywill provide a convenientmode of transit and help indecongesting the busy BlueLine.

According to the DMRC,the R K Ashram Marg stationon the Blue Line will be con-nected to the metro station ofthe same name on theMagenta Line.

"R.K Ashram Marg Metrostation on Blue Line is beingconverted into an interchange.It will be connecting R.KAshram Marg Metro station ofMagenta Line. Commuterswill have access to alternate &shorter routes from Central toNorth Delhi," the DMRCtweeted.

"The new underground sta-tion will be constructed adja-cent to the existing elevatedstation. This interchange will

provide a convenient mode oftransit and will help in decon-gesting the busy Blue Line," itadded.

At present, the DMRC isdoing construction work on65.1 km of phase-IV prioritycorridors, which compriseJanakpuri West to R K AshramMarg (28.92 km), Majlis Parkto Maujpur (12.55 km) --extensions of the already oper-ational Magenta Line and PinkLine -- and Tughalakabad toAerocity (23.62 km) which hasbeen christened 'Silver Line'.

The Silver Line will connectthe Violet Line and AirportLine. DMRC is handling oper-ations and maintenance ofover 390 km of network, com-prising 286 metro stations,including the Rapid Metro inGurugram and Aqua Line inGreater Noida.

NEET PG examnot postponed,will happenon May 21: PIBPNS n NEW DELHI

The Press Information BureauSaturday said this year's NEETPG exam has not been post-poned, and will happen on thescheduled date of May 9,terming "fake" a notice issuedin the name of the NationalBoard of Examinations thatthe paper has been resched-uled to July 9.

The National Board ofExamination in MedicalSciences (NBEMS) Saturdayalso cautioned stakeholdersagainst "false and bogus infor-mation" being circulated in itsname.

This comes after a sectionof the media reported thatNEET PG exam this year waspostponed to July 9.

In a tweet, the PressInformation Bureau FactCheck handle said, "A FAKEnotice issued in the name ofthe National Board ofExaminations claims that theNEET PG exam has beenpostponed & will now be conducted on 9th July 2022.

PNS n FIROZABAD

A man was arrested here forallegedly forcing a collegestudent to change her reli-gion and marry her underIslamic rules, police said onSaturday.

Arif, the accused, wasarrested for “abducting” aB.Com course student fromher college and performinga nikaah with her, policesaid. According to them, thefather of the woman hadfiled a missing person reportafter her daughter did notreturn home from college.

Superintendent of Police(city) Mukesh Chandra

Mishra said that the womanhad gone to her college withher brother on April 25,where Arif convinced her toelope with him.

He said the accused wasarrested on Wednesday, andled the police to the woman,who was recovered onFriday.

The accused has confessedthat he got the woman tochange her religion andmarry him under Islamicrules, Mishra said.

A case has been registeredagainst Arif under the UttarPradesh Prohibit ion ofUnlawful Conversion ofReligion Act, he added.

Muslim man held for converting,marrying college-goer

PNS n BUDAUN

An FIR has been registeredagainst an office-bearer of theSamajwadi Party and twoothers for allegedly usingindecent language againstPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath here,police said on Saturday.Somendra Yadav, secretary ofthe SP's district unit, and thetwo others have been bookedunder sections 500(defamation), 504 (intentionalinsult with intent to provokebreach of the peace) and 506(criminal intimidation) based on

a complaint by one AnoopSingh, Superintendent of Police(city) Praveen Singh Chauhansaid. Referring to the case, theSamajwadi Party said somecontractors had held a meetingon Friday during which theydiscussed various issuespertaining to the contractors.However, some of them gavethe meeting a political colour.

They spoke about scrapping ofArticle 370, Ram temple inAyodhya, and drew acomparison between the BJPand SP governments in thestate, during which one of thepersons praised Modi andAdityanath. Countering it, Yadavallegedly used objectionablelanguage against the twoleaders.

SP functionary, 2 others booked for usingobjectionable language against PM, Yogi

PNS n NEW DELHI

Restaurant and bar owners inDelhi have welcomed theArvind Kejriwal govern-ment's decision to allow themto serve liquor till 3 AM, say-ing the "progressive" movewill help improve businessand lead to employment gen-eration. The owners hopedthat the move will help therestaurant and bar industry,which is still reeling under theimpact of the Covid pandem-ic and subsequent restric-tions, in recouping lossesincurred over the past twoyears and promote nightlife.

Bar ownershail Delhi govtdecision

SIA carries out searches atmultiple locations in Kashmir

MISUSE OF SIMs FOR TERROR

Metro interchange hubat RK Ashram Marg

HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MAY 8, 2022 money 06

MONEY MATTERS

Hyundai Motor IndiaFoundation, the philanthropicarm of Hyundai Motor India,has donated cut section enginesto 24 government-run industrialtraining institutes across TamilNadu, the company said onSaturday.The cut sectionengines to 24 government ITIswould enable the students totrain and enhance theiremployability skills."Keeping in mind the demand

for skilled manpower, we are happy to partner with government ITIsin facilitating modern infrastructure and provide industry-relevantskills to students," Hyundai Motor India Foundation, Trustee, GaneshMani S said in a company statement."Under Hyundai's global vision-- Progress for Humanity and going 'Beyond Mobility', we arealigned with the government's vision to empower you with industryrelevant skillsets suited to the modern workplace for betteremployability," Mani said. According to him, in the next five years,12,000 students would be studying Motor Mechanic Vehicle Tradeand they would get hands-on experience in engine technology.Hyundai Motor India Foundation said it has tied up with 47 ITIs and13 polytechnics in the country and extends support to infrastructuredevelopment, syllabus content and placements, the statementadded.

Hyundai Foundation donatescut section engines to ITIs

Public sector Indian Bank hasunveiled digital broking solution-- E-Broking -- allowing

customers to open a demat andtrading account facility, in line withthe digitalisation mission of the bank,an official said on Saturday. Thelaunch of digital broking solution 'E-

Broking' was a strategic step towards complete digitalisation of itsofferings to customers, a bank statement said. "E-Broking, an instant andpaper-less demat and trading account opening is integrated in the bank'smobile banking application," it said. IndOASIS, the bank's mobilebanking application, would offer customers, a seamless experience fromdemat and trading account opening to discounted broking servicesbacked by research based investment in the secondary market startingfrom equity, futures, options, and initial public offerings in a singleplatform, it said."This is a key initiative in line with our digitalisationmission to provide all financial products and services to our customersin an affordable manner under one roof," the bank's executive director,Ashwani Kumar said. "This will also help the bank to increase its CASA(current account, savings account)...," he said.The bank said the initiativealso enables its customers to invest in the ongoing LIC Initial PublicOffering seamlessly. The product was launched in association with thebank's financial technology partner Fisdom. "We are thrilled to partnerwith Indian Bank to transform the way its customers experience wealthmanagement and specifically digital broking journey," Fisdom co-founderand CEO, Subramanya S V said.

Indian Bank unveils digitalbroking solution

PNS n NEW DELHI

US-based technology industrybody ITI, having global techfirms such as Google,Facebook, IBM and Cisco as itsmembers, has sought a revi-sion in the Indian govern-ment's directive on reportingof cyber security breach inci-dents.

ITI said that the provisionsunder the new mandate mayadversely impact organisationsand undermine cyber securi-ty in the country.

ITI country manager forIndia Kumar Deep, in a letterto CERT-In chief Sanjay Bahldated May 5, has asked for awider stakeholder consulta-tion with the industry beforefinalising on the directive.

"The directive has thepotential to improve India'scyber security posture if appro-priately developed and imple-mented, however, certain pro-visions in the bill, includingcounterproductive incidentreporting requirements, maynegatively impact Indian andglobal enterprises and under-mine cyber security," Deepsaid.Indian ComputerEmergency Response Team(CERT-In) on April 28, issueda directive asking all govern-ment and private agencies,including internet serviceproviders, social media plat-forms and data centres, tomandatorily report cyber secu-

rity breach incidents to it with-in six hours of noticing them.

The new circular issued bythe CERT-In mandates all ser-vice providers, intermediaries,data centres, corporates andgovernment organisations tomandatorily enable logs of alltheir ICT (Information andCommunication Technology)systems and maintain themsecurely for a rolling period of180 days and the same shall bemaintained within the Indianjurisdiction.ITI has raised con-cerns over the mandatoryreporting of breach incidentswithin six hours of noticing, toenable logs of all ICT systemsand maintain them withinIndian jurisdiction for 180days, the overbroad defini-tion of reportable incidentsand the requirement that com-panies connect to the serversof Indian government entities.

Deep, in the letter, said thatthe organisations must begiven 72 hours to report an

incident in line with globalbest practices and not just sixhours.ITI said that the govern-ment's mandate to enable logsof all covered entities' informa-tion and communicationstechnology systems, maintainlogs "securely for a rollingperiod of 180 days" withinIndia and make them availableto the Indian governmentupon request is not a bestpractice. "It would make suchrepositories of logged infor-mation a target for globalthreat actors, in addition torequiring significant resources(both human and technical) toimplement," Deep said.

ITI also raised concern onthe requirement that "all ser-vice providers, intermediaries,data centres, body corporateand government organisationsshall connect to the NTPservers of Indian labs andother entities for synchronisa-tion of all their ICT systemsclocks".

Global body seeks revision in India's fiaton reporting of cyber security breach

PNS n NEW DELHI

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturdayflagged anonymity as an"inherent risk" in blockchaintechnology and called for tak-ing precaution in future with arise in the use of this technol-ogy.

The finance minister madeit clear that using the distrib-uted ledger technology (DLT),which is also called asblockchain, is absolutelyimperative and the govern-ment also supports the use ofthe same.The minister'sremarks come ahead of thelaunch of the budgetaryannouncement of central bankdigital currency (CBDC)which is based on theblockchain technology itselfand is billed as being similar tothe paper currency carried inour wallets.

the anonymity is what ... oneunknown element in thiswhole thing. The anonymity ofthe person or whoever or therobot is the one which we haveto be absolutely readying our-selves as a future challenge,Sitharaman said, addressingan NSDL event here.

Sitharaman said the DLT isa beautiful technology whichwill help in democratisation

but flagged anonymity as aninherent risk which we need toguard ourselves from.

Terming anonymity as apowerful imponderable in thewhole equation, Sitharamansaid, "unless we are able toguard ourselves against thatanonymous element which canitself pose an inherent risk, weprobably will be exposing our-selves much more than ever wewould have imagined."

Sitharaman commendedcapital markets regulator Sebichief Madhabi Puri Buch, whospoke before her at the sameevent, for rightly warning usabout the risk of anonymity,and also for advocating DLTs.

Buch said we do not wish tohave anonymity in the CBDC,which is supposed to be intro-duced during the fiscal bybanking regulator RBI.

As per the central bank,considerable progress has beenmade regarding the introduc-tion of the CBDC.Meanwhile,Sitharaman said private cryp-tocurrency assets like Bitcoinsare fairly well spread in India.

Buch said strengths of DLTsinclude transparency, real time,infinite divisibility and it beinga cost effective medium.

Sitharaman said the retailinvestment journey has trans-formed in the last two or threeyears, with new demat account

opening zooming to 26 lakhper month in FY22 from 12lakh in FY21 and just 4 lakh amonth in FY20.

She said the retail investorsact as shock absorbers as theforeign portfolio investors havecome in and gone as per theglobal cues.

Pointing out to the totalUSD 4 trillion in custody valueheld by NSDL, Sitharamansaid the buoyancy in retailaccount opening is a prime rea-son for the high asset value.

A postage stamp and covercommemorating NSDL's 25-year-long journey was alsolaunched at the event.

FM flags anonymity as ‘inherentrisk' in use of blockchain tech

The minister'sremarks comeahead of the launchof the budgetaryannouncement ofcentral bank digitalcurrency (CBDC)which is based onthe blockchaintechnology itselfand is billed asbeing similar to thepaper currencycarried in ourwallets.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Union minister Nitin Gadkarion Saturday said his aim is todevelop at least one automobilescrapping facility within 150kilometres from each city cen-tre, while asserting that thecountry has the potential tobecome a vehicle scrappinghub of the entire South Asianregion.

Addressing an event here,Gadkari said the NationalVehicle Scrappage Policy is akey initiative in the Indiantransport and sustainabilitysector, and this will enable theremoval of older and unfitvehicles and introduction ofnew lesser-polluting vehicles ina phased manner.

"My aim is to develop a vehi-cle scrapping centre withinthe reach of 150 km from allthe city centres," the roadtransport and highways min-ister said.

Gadkari noted that the roadtransport and highways min-

istry has designed the vehiclescrapping policy in a way thatallows all types and sizes ofinvestors to come and establishscrapping centres.

"Developing a large numberof vehicle scrapping centres, wecan also develop multipleauthorised collection centres ofvehicle scrapping units in onecity, which will have theauthority to deregister a vehi-cle and issue deposit certifi-cates," he said.

Prime Minister NarendraModi had launched theNational Vehicle ScrappagePolicy in August last year andhad said it will help phase outunfit and polluting vehiclesand also promote a circulareconomy.

He had also said that thematerial recycling sector givesdirect and indirect employ-ment to 4 crore people and thisnumber is expected to go up to5 crore by 2025.

At Friday's event Gadkarisaid: "India has potential tobecome a vehicle scrappinghub of the entire South Asianregion. We can import a largenumber of old vehicles fromBangladesh, Bhutan,Myanmar, Maldives, Nepaland Sri Lanka for scrapping inour country."

The minister also observedthat there is a challenge toestablish a circular economy torecover maximum value fromthe scrap or end-of-life vehi-cles.

Govt aims to develop vehicle scrappingfacilities within 150 km from city centres

PNS n NEW DELHI

Mortgage lender HDFC Ltdon Saturday announced anincrease in its benchmarklending rate by 30 basis points(bps), a move that will makeloans dearer for both existingand new borrowers.

The move comes just daysafter several lenders, includingICICI Bank, Bank of Barodaand Bank of India, raisedinterest rates following theReserve Bank of India's sur-prise repo rate hike onWednesday.

"HDFC increases its RetailPrime Lending Rate (RPLR)on housing loans, on which its

Adjustable Rate Home Loans(ARHL) are benchmarked, by30 basis points, with effectfrom May 9, 2022," the hous-ing finance company said in astatement.

The revised rates for newborrowers range between 7 percent and 7.45 per cent,depending on credit and loanamount. The existing range is6.70 per cent to 7.15 per cent.

For existing customers, therates would rise by 30 basispoints or (0.3 per cent).

Earlier this month, HDFChad increased its benchmarklending rate by 5 basis pointsmaking EMI for existing bor-rowers expensive.

HDFC hikes lending rate by 30bps; loans to become dearer

PNS n NEW DELHI

Micro-fertiliser makers' bodyIMMA on Saturday hailed theproposed bill on plant nutri-tion management to regulatethe sector, but urged the gov-ernment not to bring any pricecontrol mechanism formicronutrients and specialityproducts.

The Indian Micro-FertilizersManufacturers Association(IMMA) said in a statementthat it welcomes the draftIntegrated Plant NutritionManagement (IPNM) Bill 2022which is aimed at regulatingthe micro-fertiliser sector.

IMMA said the aim of theproposed bill should be topromote ease of doing busi-

ness.IMMA, however, urged the

government to "control theprices of only those nutrientswhere subsidy is being provid-ed and not to control the ratesof micronutrients and spe-cialised fertilisers".

In February, the Departmentof Fertilisers floated the draftbill and sought commentsfrom all stakeholders.

The proposed law empow-ers the government to fix themaximum selling price of fer-tilisers and control their qual-ity as well as distribution.

The draft bill seeks to estab-lish an 'Integrated PlantNutrition ManagementAuthority of India'.

On Friday, IMMA organised

the third edition of theNational Crop NutritionSummit with all stakeholders,

including the government,industry bodies, agriculturalinput companies, farmers and

agricultural input dealers inattendance.

"While the move is wel-

come, the industry needs tobegin a constructive dialogueon this radical policy shiftand set up checks and balancesto ensure that farmers receivequality agricultural inputs andaccurately understand theagro-economic benefits ofusing the new-age fertilisers,"said Rahul Mirchandani, pres-ident, IMMA.

R K Tewatia, Director-Agriculture Sciences, FertilizerAssociation of India, said,"There is a need for differentchapters in the IPNM Bill2022 for subsidised and non-subsidised fertilisers."

The provisions to enableease of doing business areessential to support the indus-try, he added.

Micro-fertiliser makers' body urges govt not to control prices

PNS n NEW DELHI

To promote ease of doingbusiness, the Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways(MoRTH) has proposed thata dealer, manufacturer orimporter of motor vehiclescan apply for a trade certificateelectronically for multipletypes of vehicles in a singleapplication on the Vahan por-tal, according to an officialrelease.

The validity of the tradecertificate has been proposedto be increased from 12months to five years.A tradecertificate is required only incase of vehicles that are neitherregistered nor temporarilyregistered.

Such vehicles can only be inthe possession of a dealer,manufacturer or importer ofmotor vehicles, or a testagency specified in rule 126 orany entity specified by the cen-tral government."In anendeavour to promote 'Ease ofdoing business', it is proposedthat such agency can apply fora trade certificate and traderegistration marks electroni-cally for multiple types ofvehicles in a single applicationon the Vahan portal, withoutthe need to visit the RTO," thestatement said.

Govt proposes tomake trade certificateprocess online forvehicle dealers

PNS n CHENNAI

Go Fashion (India) Ltd whichowns the popular women'swear brand 'Go Colors' hasrecorded a 73.2 per cent jumpin its profit after tax (PAT) forthe quarter ending March31, 2022. The companyreaped Rs 12.3 crore.

The city-based companyregistered a PAT of Rs 7.1crore during the correspond-ing quarter previous year.

For the financial year end-ing March 31, 2022, the prof-it after tax was at Rs 35.6crore.

Total revenue during thequarter under review grew toRs 116.2 crore from Rs 89.8crore registered the sameperiod last fiscal. The totalrevenue for the year endingMarch 31, 2022 went up to Rs401.3 crore from Rs 250.7crore registered year ago.

Commenting on the finan-cial performance, the compa-ny CEO Gautam Saraogi said,

"Our company has showngreat resilience in FY `22, andwe have come out strongerthan ever before. Even duringthe last quarter, despite facingCOVID-19 related lockdownin January, our revenues grewby 29 per cent year-on-yearled by high volume growth."

"For the quarter (endingMarch 31, 2022), our volumesincreased by 11 per cent. Wehave strengthened our port-folio by continually addingnew products across all bot-tom wear categories", he said.

According to him, the com-pany added 54 exclusivebrand outlet stores in lastfinancial year and crossedthe 500th store milestoneduring the quarter endingMarch 31, 2022. "Keeping inline with our growth strategyto open more doors closer tothe consumer, the company ispushing ahead with expan-sion. We continue to investexpanding our store foot-print across geographies byadding around 120-130 newstores every year", he said.

Go Fashion clocks 73.2% rise in PAT during Q4LIC IPO's non-institutional investors'portion fully subscribed on Day 4PNS n NEW DELHI

The portion of LIC's initialpublic offering earmarkedfor non-institutionalinvestors, including high net-worth individuals, has beensubscribed fully on the fourthday on Saturday.

Against the total2,96,48,427 shares reservedfor Non-InstitutionalInvestors (NII), 3,06,73,020bids were received resultingin subscription of 1.03 times,according to data posted onstock exchanges at 4:36 pm.

The overall issue was sub-scribed 1.59 times.

However, the QualifiedInstitutional Buyer (QIB)portion is yet to be fully sub-scribed. It is still 0.67 per centof shares earmarked for theQIB. Retail individualinvestors bid for 9.57 croreshares as against 6.9 crore setaside for this segment, trans-lating into an oversubscrip-

tion of 1.38 times. Of thetotal, the policyholders' por-tion was subscribed 4.4 times,while that for employees wassubscribed 3.4 times. State-owned LIC's IPO (InitialPublic Offering) will close onMay 9. The country's biggestever public offer is open forsubscription on Saturday andSunday as well. Meanwhile,LIC in a statement said thata fire broke out at around 6.40am in the LIC's Jeevan Sevabuilding, Santacruz inMumbai, which houses SSSdivisional office.

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned Punjab NationalBank (PNB) on Friday said ithas hiked its external bench-mark linked lending rate by0.40 per cent to 6.90 per centwith effect from June 1.

The move comes a dayafter several lenders, includ-ing ICICI Bank, Bank ofBaroda and Bank of India,raised interest rates followingthe RBI's surprise repo ratehike on Wednesday.

The Repo Linked LendingRate (RLLR) has beenchanged from 6.50 per cent to6.90 per cent with effect fromJune 1, 2022 for existing cus-tomers, PNB said in a regu-latory filing.For new cus-tomers, the revised RLLRwill be effective from May 7,2022, it said.

PNB also increased thesavings deposit rates for var-ious tenors.

PNB hikes lendingrate by 40 bps

PNS n KOLKATA

Tata Group-backed IndianHotels Company Ltd prefersto equal proportion of asset-light and owned propertiesin the coming days, an offi-cial said here on Saturday.

IHCL, which owns the'Taj' brand of luxury hotels,currently has 46 per cent ofproperties on asset-lightmode, he said.

"The aspiration is to makeit to 50 per cent for asset-light and the remaining forowned or leased, IHCL man-aging director and chiefexecutive officer PuneetChhatwal said at the launchof Taj City Centre at NewTown here.

The company today has177 properties in the coun-try, including all of its brandslike Vivanta, Ginger, he said.

Most of the hotels, whichare in the pipeline, are on theasset-light model, exceptfour or five, Chhatwal said.

IHCL for equal ratioof asset-light, ownedhotels in future

sundaymagazine

HYDERABAD, May 8, 2022

Haryana--- Hari + Yanameaning the abode ofHari/Vishnu--- is prove-nance of the Bhagvad Gitaor the Song of God/the

divine song, the golden words of philos-ophy uttered by Shri Krishna on the bat-tle field of Kurukshetra. The BhagvadGita occupies an exalted position inIndia's culture and its philosophicalprecepts have gained much acclaimworldwide. In the text Kurukshetra isdescribed as Dharmakshetra,, the fieldof righteousness and in a collection ofhymns of the Maitrayani Samhita,Kurukshetra is first mentioned by nameas a place of divine sacrifices. In mythol-ogy, the name Kurukshetra applies to acircuit covering over 100 kilometres withan abundance of holy places, temples andtanks, connected with ancient Indian tra-ditions.

Literary tradition speaks ofKurukshetra not merely as a singleplace or site, but rather as a sacred andreligious landscape extending beyond thepresent city. This long held associationwith the Epic and Vishnu worship is notmerely a myth. Archaeological andinscriptional material from Pehowa,Thanesar, Rohtak and Gujjar Kheri haveunveiled a vast, ancient and rich religiouslandscape.

A journey from Delhi toKurukshetra and thence Chandigarhreveals numerous sites of ancient Hindutemples and remains. In the context ofHindu remains, the most well-known siteis Surajkund, a 10th century CE steppedwater tank, the banks of which once hada temple dedicated to Surya.Undoubtedly, it would seem that manyother temples must have existed inHaryana, clues to which are found inarchaeology and inscriptions.

The historical village of Gurawara,is located about 50 kilometres fromGurgaon and 8 kilometres north east ofJhajjhar. A votive stone temple of Vishnufrom Gurawara was built in 897 CE andimages of Sheshashayi Vishnu (Vishnulying on snake), Parvati, Ganesha,Mahisasurmardini and pillar fragmentsof 10th to 12th century CE speak of atemple lost in time.

From Jhajjar, at a short distance ofabout 45 kilometres, is the well-knowntown of Rohtak, or ancient Khokhrakot.The archaeological remains fromKhokhrakot show a developed townshipfrom 1000 BCE to Gupta period. Coinsof the Yaudheyas (a Republic that findsmention in Panini’s Ashtadhyayi of 6th/5th century BCE), moulds and evi-dences of mints were discovered at thesite of Garhi Majra. Recovered duringexcavations were an image of Kubera anda terracotta female figurine of 2nd to 4thcentury CE. A ruined brick temple of 4th

to 6th century CE was excavated and avotive red stone Hindu temple of the 11thcentury CE was reported.

Travelling ahead on Highway 9, thenext site with clues to temples of anancient past is Hansi. The inventory ofsculptural remains from various locationsfirmly establish that Hansi did once havea temple. The earliest dated image is ofNarasimha of the 7th century CE andtwo images of Mahishasurmardini (7thto 9th century CE). Other Hindu deitiesrecovered and reported include Vishnu,Nar Varaha (Varaha in male form), siximages of Surya and Ganesha (10th cen-tury CE). The Digambar Jain temple hastwo images of 10th /11th century and12th /13th century CE. All this points toHansi’s past as a religious establishment,covering a span of almost 400 years.

Further ahead at a distance of about50 kilometres along the same Highwayis the town of Agroha, steeped in histor-ical significance. The archaeological siteis situated about 1.5 kilometres awayfrom the present town. According to tra-dition, Raja Agra, later named as Agrasenof Agrawal community, used to live here.The remains of the Fort on the top ofthe mound are connected with his resi-dence. The excavations revealed a settle-ment dating from circa 4th century BCEto 14th century CE, and more important-ly, remains of a Buddhist stupa and aHindu temples. The site had two templeswhich existed from the 4th century CEto the 11th century CE. Terracotta seal-ings (small clay seals) with Sri NarayanaDeva inscribed (3rd /4th century CE)seem to suggest that the temples had aVaishnavite affiliation. This is the onlysite with early evidence of musical notes- ni, dha, pa, ma, ga, re, sa- beinginscribed on a terracotta clay tablet (9thcentury CE).

From Agroha, one continues onHighway 10 till Barwala, then takingHighway 52 to Badowala. FromBadowala, Highway 152 leads to Kalayat.Upon reaching Kalayat, one is amazed atthe beauty of the only surviving bricktemple of the Gurajara Pratihara period,8th /9th century CE. Located on thebanks of a sacred water tank, the tem-ple and its environs transports one intothe realm of peace and calm. The lay-out of the temples indicates aPanchayatana scheme, a central templesurrounded by four smaller shrines. Ofthese , only two have survived-- one inits original form, and the reconstructed.The name Kalayat is believed to have itsorigin in the word “Kapilayatana”, or thehome/ base of Kapila Muni.

Further ahead en route is the site ofPehowa, on the banks of mythical andrevered Sarasvati River. Pehowa is of spe-cial interest as it is here that inscriptionsspeak of three temples dedicated to

Vishnu and his Avataras. The inscriptionof the time of Mahendrapala, 895-905CE, mentions a horse fair at Pehowa, vis-ited by numerous horse dealers from var-ious localities, and records the construc-tion of a triple temple to Vishnu by threebrothers. It further records the collectionof a voluntary tax from each trader forthe purpose of maintenance of theseVishnu temples. From a mound stonesculptures depicting scenes from theRamayana and the Mahabharata andremains of an ancient temple plinth werereported. The structural remnants of ear-lier temples, such as pillars, have beenreused in the relatively modern templestructures of Garibnath Temple andSaraswati Temple at Pehowa.

The sacred site of Kurukshetra is just25 kilometres from Pehowa, and rem-nants of its past have been recoveredfrom the area of Thanesar located on theoutskirts of Kurukshetra. The city wasearlier known as Thaneshwar and attimes Sthaneshwar. It is believed that atthe Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple, thePandavas prayed to Lord Shiva for vic-tory in the battle of the Mahabharata.The ancient site of Thanesar has a longperiod of occupation covering almost2000 years, beginning from the 1st cen-tury CE. Thanesar finds mention inBanabhatta’s Harshacarita (The Deeds ofHarsha), a historical poetic work of the7th century CE. The city was also visit-ed by the Chinese traveller Xuanzang in634 CE. The excavated mound of Harshka tila brought to light Hindu and Jainasculptures, dating from the 6th to 12thcentury CE. An inscription from theSouth East Asian country of Laos (sec-ond half of the 5h century CE) establish-es the fact that the fame of Kurukshetrahad spread beyond India. The inscrip-tion of Maharajadhiraja Sri Devanika,compares the king to Yudhishthira,Indra, Dhananjay and Indradyunna, iteulogizes the merits of Kurukshetraand records that the king planned toestablish a new Kurukshetra in Laos.

Travelling northwards fromKurukshetra on NH 44 towards Kalka,the well-known Pinjore Garden is just5 kilometres before Kalka. The 17th cen-tury Mughal style garden is located inthe foothills of Himalayas and was builtby Nawab Fidai Khan during the reignof Aurangzeb (1658-1707). The gardenwas renamed to ‘Yadavindra Garden’ inthe memory of Maharaja YadavindraSingh of the princely state of Patiala whorestored it to its former glory. In thevicinity of Pinjore garden are the ves-tiges of a glorious temple. The BhimaDevi Temple Complex, also called theKhajuraho of North India, consisting ofthe restored ruins of an ancient Hindutemple dated between 9th and 11th cen-tury CE. The inventory of Hindu sculp-tures includes those of Shiva, Shakti,Parvati, Chamunda, Uma Maheshvara,Nandi, Karttikeya, a fragmentaryVaraha, colossal images of Ganesha,Vishnu (fragmentary), and Surya (frag-mentary) and also 19 Jain images.

Another site that deserves mentionis Kheri Gujjar , which is located southof Kurukshetra along Highway 44 head-ing towards Panipat and Delhi and 10kilometres before Murthal. Excavationsat an old archaeological mound atKheri Gujjar brought to light numeroussculptures, including three stone panelsculptures depicting scenes from theKrishan Leela. The first image isbelieved to be of Lord Krishna in astanding posture, whereas the second isa representation of the episode ofKaliya Daman, and the third showsKrishna as Murli Manohar. A Shivalinga from the site is of 5th century CEand the early medieval images includesculptures of Vishnu, Uma-Maheshwara, Karttikeya,Mahishasurmardini, Surya, Ganesh,Brahma, Ganga and Yamuna, Nandi andKarttikeya. The masterpiece is a buffsandstone image of Karttikeya with sixfaces of the 9th century CE. Pillars,architectural pieces and even sculpturesof an earlier religious structure havebeen reused in comparatively new tem-ples.

These sites are just a glimpse of therich heritage of Haryana which includesnumerous other locations with vestigesof Hindu sculptural remains from thepast. The terracotta plaque from Sugh,located in the village of AmadalpurDayalgarh, Yamunanagar district,speaks of Haryana’s rich artistic and lit-erary heritage. The plaque of 2nd cen-tury BCE, now housed in the NationalMuseum at New Delhi, depicts a childseated comfortably on the floor andholding a Takhti in his hands, attempt-ing to write the alphabets in Brahmiscript, and on the tablet is visible whatis colloquially known as the Barakhadi.

The writer is a research scholar,worked as Project Associate and

recipient of Devangana Desai SeniorFellowship CSMVS Mumbai. She has

also co-authored two book

I think you shouldtake your job

seriously, but notyourself. That is the

best combination— Dame Judi Dench

Literary tradition speaks of Kurukshetra not merely as a single place or site, but rather as a sacredand religious landscape extending beyond the present city, writes SUSAN MISHRA

7

LAND OF THEBHAGVAD GITA

HARYANA

LAND OF THEBHAGVAD GITA

Photo: Anuradha Goyal

Photo: Karnail Singh Photo: Karnail Singh

Photo: Giridharmamidi

THE HISTORICALVILLAGE OF

GURAWARA, ISLOCATED ABOUT 50KILOMETRES FROM

GURGAON AND 8KILOMETRES NORTHEAST OF JHAJJHAR.

A VOTIVE STONETEMPLE OF VISHNUFROM GURAWARA

WAS BUILT IN 897 CEAND IMAGES OF

SHESHASHAYIVISHNU (VISHNU

LYING ON SNAKE),PARVATI, GANESHA,

MAHISASURMARDINIAND PILLAR

FRAGMENTS OF 10THTO 12TH CENTURY

CE SPEAK OF ATEMPLE LOST IN

TIME

sundaymagazine

health 08HYDERABAD, May 8, 2022

Last month, the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) flaggedconcerns that anxiety and depres-

sion have increased more than 25 percent since the onset of the Covid-19 cri-sis. Young people and women are theworst hit.

The global health agency alsopointed out that concerns about poten-tial increases in mental health condi-tions has already prompted 90 per centof countries to include mental healthand psychosocial support in theirCovid-19 response plans, thoughmajor gaps and concerns still remain.

India on its part has launched tele-services in the healthcare sector to helpaffected people deal with mental healthdisorders. But just depending on thetele-services to sort out mental healthproblems is not enough. For, India isalready burdened with huge mentalhealth issues so much so that in 2017,President Ram Nath Kovind assertedthat the country is “facing a possiblemental health epidemic” and muchmore needs to be done. This includesprevention services for all, early iden-tification and intervention for those atrisk which need more number of pro-fessionals in the sector; and access tointegrated care and treatment forthose who need it to ensure their holis-tic treatment.

Reports say that one in 5 adults willbe diagnosed with mental illness or dis-order. We all know that mental health

is a critical component of overall well-ness. There is no denying the fact thatintervening effectively during earlystages of any disease can save lives; andthat’s true for people living with men-tal health conditions also.

However, in countries like Indiathe mental health issues continue to bemired in stigma and fear of ostraciza-tion. Moreover, treatment is consideredto be too expensive and a lengthyprocess in view of shortage of profes-sionals.

In actuality, it is yet to be reachedto the point of acceptance. So, whencelebrities like Deepika Padukone,Anushka Sharma and Hrithik Roshanshare their stories of struggles aboutseeking help to deal with mentalhealth issues, the message is sent farand wide that ‘you are not alone’ inseeking help from a mental health pro-fessional. Usually, when people’s rolemodels are willing to talk about theirstruggles, their followers feel like thereis no abnormality in having mentalissues.

As a result, what can be treated intime, the gap worsens the disease. Somuch so that at times it becomeschronic, requiring lifelong manage-ment.

Shubhrata Prakash, an IndianRevenue Services officer who haspenned down her journey of depres-sion in the book ‘The D Word’, tells you

that she had been trying to dignifymental disorders. “For someone hav-ing anxiety disorder, you will neverknow the battle they are fighting withthemselves. These psychosocial inabil-ities exist. People having it must keeptheir dignity and talk about it and sen-sitize people around,” she says. Andthat’s what she has been doing very sen-sitively.

Many factors contribute to men-tal health problems such as biologi-cal factors like genes, physical illness,injury, or brain chemistry. Others areLife experiences, such as trauma or ahistory of abuse. However, contraryto general perception, people withmental health problems can get bet-ter and many of them recover com-pletely if detected early and giventimely and adequate treatment, saysDr Smita Deshpande, former head ofthe Centre of Excellence in MentalHealth, ABVIMS- Dr RML Hospital,Delhi.

It is important to understand whywe suffer from psychological disorders,

she asks. “... like a nuclear family wherethere is no one to share our issues with,too much professional workload, com-petition in every sphere of life to per-form better than others, and a highexpectation level from parents. All aretaking a toll on our mental health,” DrDeshpande explains.

Doing his bit, wrestler and moti-vational speaker Sangram Singh is soonplanning to launch a programme tohighlight the stigmas associated withmental illness and substance use dis-order. “Wherever I go to interact withyoungsters, I am often asked about howto attain physical fitness goals. But, Ioften tell them that more than physi-cal fitness, they should aim at mentalhealth, growth and discipline.

“Being healthy is more importantthan being fit. Youth are going throughlots of mental health issues. We shouldencourage them to talk about it, dis-cuss it. It is high time we should addressmental health issues among youngstersand encourage them to aim for over-all health,” he says matter-of-factly.

Life's Simple 7 is defined by the American Heart Associationas the 7 risk factors that people can improve through lifestylechanges to help achieve ideal cardiovascular health.

MANAGE BLOOD PRESSUREHigh blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart dis-

ease and stroke. When your blood pressure stays within healthyranges, you reduce the strain on your heart, arteries, and kid-neys which keeps you healthier longer.

*CONTROL CHOLESTEROLHigh cholesterol contributes to plaque, which can clog

arteries and lead to heart disease and stroke. When you con-trol your cholesterol, you are giving your arteries their bestchance to remain clear of blockages.

*REDUCE BLOOD SUGARMost of the food we eat is turned into glucose (or blood

sugar) that our bodies use for energy. Over time, high levelsof blood sugar can damage your heart, kidneys, eyes andnerves.

*GET ACTIVELiving an active life is one of the most rewarding gifts you

can give yourself and those you love. Simply put, daily phys-ical activity increases your length and quality of life.

*EAT BETTERA healthy diet is one of your best weapons for fighting car-

diovascular disease. When you eat a heart-healthy diet, youimprove your chances for feeling good and staying healthy –for life!

*LOSE WEIGHTWhen you shed extra fat and unnecessary pounds, you

reduce the burden on your heart, lungs, blood vessels and skele-ton. You give yourself the gift of active living, you lower yourblood pressure and you help yourself feel better, too.

*STOP SMOKINGCigarette smokers have a higher risk of developing car-

diovascular disease. If you smoke, quitting is the best thingyou can do for your health.

Yoga is considered to bevery effective for asthma

patients as it opens the lungsand helps them to breathe bet-ter. However, not all asanas aremeant for asthma patients.

Dr. Ishwar V Basavaraddi,Director, Morarji DesaiNational Institute of Yoga(MDNIY), Delhi says thatdetoxification kriyas like kun-jal, jalneti and kapal Bhanti arevery important for asthameticpatienst and should be donebefore sunrise for best results.He also cautions that all kriyasand yoga asanas should bedone under the guidance of acertif ied yoga trainer.According to Basaavaraddi bestyoga asanas to manage the res-piratory disease are:

Nadi Shodhan pranaya-ma (Alternate Nostri lBreathing technique)/KapalBhati/Ardha Matsyendrasana(Sitting Half Spinal Twist)/Pavanamuktasana (WindRelieving Pose)/SetuBandhasana (Bridge Pose)/Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)/Adho Muk ha Svanasana(Downward-Facing DogP o s e ) / B a d h a k o n a s a n a(Butterf ly Pose)/Poorvottanasana (UpwardPlank Pose)/Shavasana(Corpse Pose)

Your child may haveasthma ifl Coughing that is constant, is

intermittent or seems linkedto physical activity

l Wheezing or whistling soundswhen your child breathes out

l Shortness of breath or rapidbreathing.

l Repeated episodes of suspect-ed bronchitis or pneumonia

Common triggers of asthma*Weather change/*

Exposure to dust, tree or grasspollen/* Exposure to strongsmells such as perfumes andodours/ * Exposure to smoke,or occupational dust *Exposure to certain class ofdrugs eg. aspirin, NSAIDs(non-steroidal anti-inflamma-tor y drugs) Ibuprofen,Diclofenac, blood pressuremedicines (Beta blockers)/ *Stress/ * Non-compliance withtreatment/ * Alcohol, cigaretteor drug abuse /* Employmentor income problems leading tonon-compliance /* Viral infec-tions/ * People who have exer-cise induced asthma, will havesymptoms aggravated duringexercise.

Yoga Asanas tomanage asthma

DON’T LET IT SUFFOCATE YOU

OUR BODIES ARE OURGARDENS – OUR WILLSARE OUR GARDENERS.

— WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

World AAsthma DDay is observed on every first Tuesday in the month of May. The theme forthis year is ‘Closing the Gaps in Asthma Care’. The HEALTH PIONEER talks about the disease which kills around 1.98 lakh asthmatic people every year in India.

Mental Health: Let’s Talk About It May is observed as Mental Health Awareness Month. With the Covid-19 pandemic taking toll on our collective wellness, it’s now more important than ever to practice empathy daily with ourselves as well as others to ensure ouremotions are regulated, we are connected with others and feel less isolated. ARCHANA JYOTI reports.

Dr Naval Kishore Vikram, a leading Endocrinologistand Professor at the Department of Medicine of theAll India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),

Delhi, takes time out from his busy professional sched-ules to cater to his passion for playing badminton.

He says it keeps him “calm, clear and focused.” It isincredible to see how Dr Vikram finds time for playingbadminton given his hectic schedule amidst patients whilealso teaching students.

It all depends on perspective, he reasons. “I make sureto play every alternate day. Unlike in many sports like crick-et, you don’t need many players in badminton and, inAIIMS we are lucky to have an indoor court too.”

The doctor enlists the benefits of playing badminton.It is a total body workout, improves your mental wellbe-ing, heart health, reduces health risks and so many otherailments, the doctor tells you, asserting that he never miss-es out on his practice on the badminton court.

Talking about how sports boost one's health, the seniordoctor gave an instance of a Parkinson’s patient, a DU pro-fessor Pramesh Ratnakar, who had been managing wellwith his neurodegenerative disease because of his passionfor several games like squash, badminton and tennis.

Dr Vikram happened to play badminton with Ratnakarat an event last month to mark the Parkinson’s Day atAIIMS here. “Ratnakar gave a good fight despite beingafflicted with the neuro-degenerative disease that primar-ily affects movement due to the loss of specific brain cells.He has coped well with his condition due to his engage-ment in various games.

“I advise my patients to take up any physical activityor sports to stay in good stead. There is no substitute togood health,” says Dr Vikram, who has well-known author-ity on metabolic disorders with special emphasis on insulinresistance and obesity.

Father of two children, Dr Vikram is a first genera-tion doctor in his family. His wife, Dr Sujata Sharma, aprofessor at the Department of Biophysics of the AIIMS,also dons multiple hats: she's a writer and a dancer.

(Medicos may write to us at healthp100@gmail.com)

AIIMS DoctorShuttles From OPD ToBadminton Court

Follow Life’s Simple 7

BEYOND THE STETHOSCOPEWhen not pursuing their profession, abreed of doctors prefer to wear differenthats to keep themselves fit and centered.The HEALTH PIONEER tries to catch upwith them every week.

India is home to around 34.3 mil-lion asthmatics, that is 12.9 per centof the global 262 million cases.

According to the latest data from theGlobal Burden of Diseases (GBD)study in 2019, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar andOdisha are among the top three withthe highest number of asthmatics.

Asthma is a serious, chronic dis-ease that causes the airways in thelungs to become swollen or inflamedand over-reactive to triggers likepollen, dust or smoke. Severe asthmarequires inhaled medications, con-troller medications, and oftentimesoral corticosteroids, and, if ignored cantake a significant toll on people livingwith this disease.

Prof (Dr) GC Khilnani,Chairman, PSRI Institute ofPulmonary, Critical care & SleepMedicine and member, technicaladvisory Group of WHO Global AirPollution and Health, says that asth-ma is a health issue that largely goesundiagnosed. The patients haveepisodic cough, chest tightness,breathlessness and wheezing (awhistling sound from the chest).“These issues can usually be treatedwith the help of inhalers or with coughsyrups, warm water, antibiotics orother home remedies. In young chil-dren and infants, it is seen as frequentcough and rapid breathing. Fever isnot a symptom of asthma. Diagnosis

of asthma is carried out by doingspirometry, where a patient blows intoa machine that measures the calibreof the airways.”

Doctors say that by reducing lev-els of atmospheric pollution, India cancut down the burden of the diseasecaused by asthma. They add that theoverall framework for managing asth-ma requires considerable attention toenvironmental exposures (indoor andoutdoor) and control practices.

Dr. Ravi Shekhar Jha, Director,PulmonologyFortis Escorts Faridabadnotes, “asthma is mostly an allergicdisease, which has multiple triggers.Most of the time, asthma is triggeredby dust, smoke and pollution. Thosewho have hypersensitivity of airwayscan experience worsening of symp-toms when they come in contact withsuch irritants. Therefore, the bestthing one can do to prevent asthmaattacks is to reduce their exposure tothese irritants.”

Must remember, smoking is oneof the commonest irritants. Anotherimportant thing we should keep inmind is that if prescribed, we musttake inhalers. Inhalers have no addic-tion and it is one such thing which canstop the progression of the disease.

According to Dr Ambuj Roy,professor of Cardiology at AIIMS,elderly people, patients with lungand heart problems, Covid-recov-

ered patients and pregnant women aremost susceptible to issues arising outof the polluted air.

Prevention is better than cureThe best way to prevent asthma

attacks are to identify the possible trig-gers so that you can avoid or minimiseexposure to those. You must take yourmedications as prescribed. Your doctorprescribes medications known as asth-ma preventers such as inhaled corticos-teroids. Track your asthma and recog-nise early signs that it may be gettingworse, and you can have an action planfrom your doctor to know what to dowhen your asthma is getting worse.

At the same time, Dr. SandeepNayar, Senior Director & HOD , Chest& Respiratory Diseases, Max Hospitalechoes similar views. “Asthma patientsshouldn’t discontinue inhaler therapy.“Inhalers play an advantageous rolecompared to tablets or injections in asth-ma therapy. And it is my sincere adviceto patients that under no circum-stances they should not stop takinginhalers, until the doctors have pre-scribed to do so.

“Even for pregnant women, whoworry about how the changes of preg-nancy will affect their asthma, inhalerstherapy is most successful when awoman receives regular medical careand follows her treatment plan closely.”

ASTHMA IS MOSTLY AN ALLERGIC DISEASE,WHICH HAS MULTIPLETRIGGERS. MOST OF THETIME, ASTHMA ISTRIGGERED BY DUST,SMOKE AND POLLUTION.THOSE WHO HAVEHYPERSENSITIVITY OF AIRWAYS CANEXPERIENCEWORSENING OFSYMPTOMS WHEN THEYCOME IN CONTACT WITHSUCH IRRITANTS

sundaymagazine

opinion 09HYDERABAD, May 8, 2022

MAKHAN SSAIKIA

PERSPECTIVE

With the Covid

becoming a

nightmare for

Shanghai residents

and big corporations,

China may find it too

difficult to achieve

its 5.5 per cent

growth rate set for

this year. But the

maintenance of

Covid fortress in

Shanghai beyond the

upcoming Party

Congress may be too

difficult for Xi. And

his detractors are

waiting for a chance.

Certainly, there

would not be any

open rebellion

against his

leadership, but his

ever-greater control

over the party and

leadership may

slowly decline

EERISHIKA PPANKAJ

Inclusion of parties like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal into Global Security Initiative framework — owing to the growing dependence

of these countries on China — would be a major cause of concern for India, further building tensions in its strategic neighbourhood

Xi’s ‘indivisible security’ spells trouble for India

Speaking at the Boao Forumat a time of geopolitical

turmoil across Asia andEurope, Chinese President XiJinping’s speech titled “Risingto challenges and building abright future through cooperation” has brought tocentre-stage yet again his goalof building a “community witha shared future for mankind”.Such a vision, adorned with“Chinese characteristics”, hasbuilt itself as a counter to theUS-centric pax-Americanaworld order, vying for replace-ment with a pax-Sinica drivenPeking model of governance. Inthe latest attempt at exportingthe Chinese governance model,Xi’s Boao Forum keynoteaddress has seen the ideation ofthe notion of building an “indi-visible security community”via proposing Global SecurityInitiative (GSI).

Ambiguously described asa “vision of common, compre-hensive, cooperative and sus-tainable security”, the GSIideation is an attempt tocounter the efforts of democ-ratic like-minded countries inthe Indo-Pacific which Chinahas long heralded as misguid-ed under “Cold War mentali-ty” and “bloc confrontation”politics. By opposing “the wan-ton use of unilateral sanctions

and long-arm jurisdiction” referencing Western sanctionsagainst both China and Russia,and embracing “a global gov-ernance philosophy”, the GSI’srhetoric despite its flamboyantdescription spells imminenttrouble for India and her partners.

Xi’s speech gave little infor-mation on what the GSI wouldessentially look like; whether itwould follow a Quad likemodel of engagement or bemore framed as a Chinese ver-sion of a security alliance is tobe seen. As China’s fears of an“Asian NATO” grow — firstanticipated by them as early as2003 — Xi’s goal via the GSI isto present an image of uphold-ing “true multilateralism”.However, for India, the fresh-ly invoked “principle of indi-visible security”, which the GSIdespite all its talks about build-ing a balanced security archi-tecture is focused on, is a causefor concern.

A concept with its root inEurope, starting with the 1975Helsinki Act, “indivisible secu-rity” essentially means thatsecurity is a collective conceptand if actions by one statethreaten the security of anoth-er, it marks a breach of indi-visible security. Hence, no stateshould be able to make itself

stronger at the expense ofanother. Importantly, it is aterm most frequently used byRussia while opposing NATO’sexpansion. The same also playsin tune with China’s favoureddiplo-speak while opposingconcepts that look to derail itsown unilateral rise, withAUKUS being an “arms race”starter; Quad being a “ColdWar mentality” bloc; andactions by India to build itsown comprehensive nationalpower being intrinsically “uni-lateral” in nature.

In rather hypocriticalrhetoric for any Indian analyst,

Xi spoke of opposing “the pur-suit of one’s own security at thecost of others’ security” whilearguing for swift and peacefulresolution of disputes via dialogue.

In a post-Galwan securityscenario — wherein disen-gagement talks have nowentered their 15th round amidChina’s categorical refusal toback down from key frictionpoints like Depsang, Demchokand Hot Springs on the Indianside of disputed boundary —India’s vision of China as a rev-olutionary revisionist powerhas grown. Without officially

terming it so, Indian foreignpolicy has certainly acceptedthat China’s peaceful rise seemsto be all but over.

By evoking “indivisiblesecurity”, Beijing hopes tomakes actions taken in defenceof its own national interestsappear more legitimate. Underan “indivisible security” ban-ner, claiming the moral highground amid retaliation insensitive areas along the Line ofActual Control (LAC) withIndia or in the South China Seaor Taiwan becomes moreimplementable. For India, theconcept stays much in linewith recent Chinese legislativeattempts at justifying its uni-lateral actions that threatenDelhi’s own sovereignty ;between the New Coast GuardLaw and the new Land BorderLaw, Chinese actions have beenanything but opposed to build-ing Chinese “national securityon the basis of insecurity inother countries”.

Ultimately, disguised undera banner of global security andprotected by its loosely word-ed vision, GSI emerges as aventure that no one couldpotentially object to as it seeksto build a “common, comprehensive, cooperativeand sustainable” security architecture. Nonetheless,

behind its ostensible notion ofhope, GSI shows that Xi is keento regain control of the Asiansecurity narrative that he seemsto have been losing for the pastfive years. At this juncture, withexamples like Sri Lanka withrespect to the Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI) standing tall,the international world orderhas become well-versed withChinese larger-than-life ven-tures turning into tools forimbalanced geo-economicpower growth in favour ofBeijing. Importantly, Indiamust note that the GSI is moreintended for Chinese domesticaudiences as well, especially asXi feels the need to retake con-trol of his “strongman polity”image ahead of the upcomingNational Party Congress wherehe is vying for an unprece-dented third term in office.

While envisioning a multipolar world with China asa leading player, Xi wants tomake Beijing a leading playerin setting global standardsacross sectors ranging fromeconomy to technology tosecurity. Aligned with his wolf-warrior style diplomats, thegoal for Xi via GSI would be tobring into the fold smallerdeveloping countries — asattempted with BRI — withpremise of building a uniform

security system that guaranteesthem respite in economic,political and defence relatedturmoil. By touting GSI asopposing “exclusiveness” and“clique” style politics — oftenascribed by China to the Quad— China’s security leadershipambitions are unravelling viathe GSI, coupled with ventureslike its Himalayan Quad.

Inclusion of parties likePakistan, Afghanistan andNepal into a GSI framework —possibly owing to the growingdependence of these countrieson China — would be a majorcause of concern for India, fur-ther building tensions in itsstrategic neighbourhood.Moreover, building of a veryactive maritime militarist tan-gent of the at present abstractGSI, details of which have notbeen released in public, couldbe a possibility with China lednaval exercises in the IndianOcean Region (IOR). Such atrajectory would shadow theQuad, which with the inclusionof Australia in Malabar upgraded the same to a navalexercise with all four members.

(The writer is head ofResearch and OperationsDirector at the Organisation forResearch on China and Asia,New Delhi)

The road ahead for ChinesePresident Xi Jinping is chal-

lenging as Beijing’s “zeroCovid” approach is encoun-tering mounting challengesand Shanghai is experiencingthe worst of the coronaviruscrises ever in the country sincethe onset of the pandemic in2020.

There are credible reasonsbehind Xi’s constant concernabout the health emergency inShanghai at a time whenalmost the whole world hasrecovered from the pandemic.In fact, by leaps and bounds,the most powerful businesscapitals of the world such asNew York, Tokyo, London,Frankfurt, Hong Kong,Singapore, etc, are back tonormal business.

But China, which has beenconstantly facing the wrath ofthe West, is seriously understrain as there is no let-up inCovid-19 severity in its pow-erhouse called Shanghai.

Why is the ShanghaiCovid-19 breakout critical forthe global economy? With theCovid-19 becoming a night-mare for Shanghai residentsand big corporations, Chinamay find it too difficult toachieve its 5.5 per cent growthrate set for this year.

This year-end, Xi’s gripover the Communist Party ofChina is heading for a crucialleadership reshuffle. Xi’s high-ly ambitious political agenda isconstantly getting unmasked.Behind his steely facade, someChina observers opine thatconfidence over the all-pow-erful Xi is gradually ebbing. Ashe is inching towards his thirdterm by early next year, he hasbeen tightening control overthe party, military and thegovernment.

Today, China’s worstCovid-19 disaster has comeunder control. But nearly amonth-long lockdown was tooharrowing and punishing forthe city. But Beijing’sCommunists have vowed tostand by their so-called “ZeroCovid Strategy” despite havingmounting business losses in thefinancial hub. The number ofnew infections has come downsince April 22 but city officials,including the Vice-Mayor WuQing, have come out in publicto announce that “currently ourcity’s epidemic prevention andcontrol situation is steadilyimproving, and the epidemic

has come under effective con-trol”.

For now, community trans-mission has been curbed. Buthealth experts are sounding anote of caution saying there isa chance of rebound. Therefore,it would be difficult to relax therestrictions altogether.

Finally, it can be said Xi isfacing the test of time. At themoment, global power calculusis also seriously disturbed bythe ongoing Ukraine war. AndChina has a big stake in thedevastating conflict as Xi hasdirectly backed Russia againstthe severe sanctions imposedby the western nations overMoscow. Putin is heavily rely-ing on India and China.Against the backdrop of all theNATO and the EU alliesmarching against Russia, lend-ing support to a war mongerlike Putin might cost serious-ly to both Delhi and Beijing in

the aftermath of the war. China for long was expect-

ing a stiff resistance to the glob-al liberal order spearheaded bythe US since the end of theSecond World War. Hence, Xiis undoubtedly happy, but heshould not expect that Putinwill act as a junior partner ina China-led future global order.Neither India will accept anAsian or world order led byChina in anytime in future.

Having been embroiled ina protracted border conflict inEastern Ladakh and over thehistoric McMahon Line inNorth-East, it would be reallydifficult for Delhi to meetBeijing in a normal bilateralmeet. These all are complicat-ing Xi’s manoeuvring space athome, in the neighbourhoodand at the global stage.

Hence, the maintenanceof Covid-19 fortress inShanghai beyond the upcom-

ing Party Congress may be toodifficult for him. And hisdetractors are waiting for achance. Certainly, there wouldnot be any open rebellionagainst his leadership. But hisever-greater control over theparty and leadership may slow-ly decline. This will seriouslyhamper his grand plan toremain the permanentPresident of China.

Shanghai’s importance isever-growing since the estab-lishment of the People’sRepublic of China (PRC) inOctober 1949. Started as afishing village in the 11th cen-tury, the city has become themost powerful financial hub ofChina. It is also known as the“Magic City” in China. By the1800s, it became the largest cityof the country. And mostimportantly, Shanghai gradu-ally came to the limelight forgrowing cotton by the mid-

18th century. Through the 90s,the city witnessed a steadyeconomic growth between 9per cent and 15 per cent.

Again, Shanghai holds thekey to administration in China.It is a provincial administrativeregion of the PRC.

It is very close to the heartof the Communist Party ofChina as it was the birthplaceof the party. It is situated in thewest coast of the Pacific Ocean,the east coast of the Asian con-tinent, at the front edge of theYangtze River delta, and exact-ly at the middle of the country’snorth-south coastline. Apartfrom its alluvial soil, it has theadvantage of having a sub-tropical monsoon climate, verymild and humid with four dis-tinct seasons throughout theyear. Besides, Shanghai receivessufficient sunshine and abun-dant rainfall. It has all the

power because of its geographiclocation.

Economically, Shanghai isthe centre point of China. It’sthe world’s third most popu-lous city behind Tokyo andNew Delhi. Today it is aninternational financial centre.And since the coming of HuJintao to power in 2002, theChinese Government has beenmaking consistent efforts tomake Shanghai a global busi-ness hub, competing withLondon and New York. WithXi, these efforts have beendoubled so as to bring China tothe economic powerhouse ofthe planet. Furthermore, theShanghai Stock Exchangedirectly governed by ChinaSecurity RegulatoryCommission is today consid-ered the country’s most pre-eminent market for stocks inregard to turnover.

Today, Covid-19 menace in

Shanghai is pushing Xi toanother struggle both withinand outside China. These dayspeople have witnessed growingquiet reprisals and rising tideof criticism against Xi in theparty. The man who has so farbeen termed as the most pow-erful “Paramount Leader” onlyafter Chairman Mao Zedongand Deng Xiaoping is facing anuphill task this year. Mao beingthe founder of the People’sRepublic of China (PRC) con-tinued unchallenged as theChairman till his death inSeptember 1976. Then after abrief lull of uncertainty of HuaGuofeng’s tenure from 1976-78,Deng took over the leadershipof China. Deng became thefather of modern China byopening the country to a mar-ket economy while safeguard-ing the unique nature of theChinese political system.

He ruled China from 1978to 1992, solidifying theCommunist Party of China(CPC), its leadership andChina’s influence in the glob-al governance system.Interestingly, he made a changein the Chinese Constitutionthat no single individual cancontinue in power beyond twoterms i.e. 10 years as he strong-ly propagated the concept ofcollective leadership to keep atbay any chance of “CultLeadership” tendency the wayMao preached and practised.

The Shanghai Covid-19crisis is testing Xi’s patience andleadership. Its more than 25million people are mostlytrapped at home. In March thisyear, he renewed his threat topunish any cadre who fail intheir fight against Covid-19spread in Shanghai. This clear-ly shows how serious he is overthe issue as the country’s mostcrucial financial hub is wit-nessing an unprecedentedgrowth of Covid-19 cases.Indeed, he is in a bind overwho to blame and hold respon-sible for the mess in Shanghai.

(Dr Makhan Saikia hastaught political science andinternational relations for overa decade in institutions ofnational and internationalrepute after specialisation inglobalisation and governancefrom Tata Institute of SocialSciences, Mumbai. He is thechief editor of the Journal ofGlobal Studies, an internation-al research journal)

In this file photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a villager carrying baggage is disinfected as she returns home after being quarantined due to local Covid cases found in Lianqin Village of Beicai Town in PudongNew Area, Shanghai AP

Shanghai Covid crisis a test for Xi’s leadership

US Census Bureau officials said Friday they are ready to startexamining changes that would combine race and ethnicityquestions and add a Middle Eastern and North African

category to the 2030 census questionnaire, but they have to waitfor another federal office to start the conversation. That office isthe White House Office of Management and Budget, which sets thedefinitions on race and ethnic background for all federal agencies.The Census Bureau has been using Office of Management andBudget standards which were set in 1997. If the proposals areadopted for the 2030 census, they would mark one of the biggest

changes to the census questionnaire in recent years. Several yearsbefore the last census in 2020, support was growing for combining the

race and ethnicity questions into a single question and adding the MiddleEastern and North African category, also known as MENA. Census Bureau

research said doing so would increase the accuracy of the once-a-decadeU.S. head count, particularly among Hispanics and people of Middle Eastern or

North African descent who are unsure how to answer the race question. Butthose efforts were dropped after President Donald Trump became president. As a

result, there was no MENA category, and the race and ethnicity questions wereseparated on the 2020 census form, leading to overwhelmingly large numbers of Hispanic

respondents to answer ?ome other race" for the race category, Census Bureau officials said. ?e arenot surprised by the results. Our research predicted them," Merarys Rios-Vargas, chief of the

Ethnicity and Ancestry Branch at the Census Bureau, told members of the Census Bureau'sNational Advisory Committee on Friday. One of the committee members, Helen Hatab

Samhan, a retired executive at the Arab American Institute, said it was preferableto add MENA as an ethnic category, such as Hispanic, rather than a race

category like white, black, Asian, American Indian or Native Hawaiian.Among the items the Census Bureau wants to research is the

lack of responses to the race question among Hispanics,how Hispanics identified their race when they did

answer the question and whether thelocation of the respondents made any

difference in whether theyanswered those

questions, officialssaid.

scopekaleid backpage HYDERABAD | SUNDAY | MAY 08, 2022

PTI n COLORADO

A new discovery deep beneathone of Antarctica's rivers of ice

could change scientists' under-standing of how the ice flows,

with important implicationsfor estimating future sea

level rise. Glacier scien-tists Matthew Siegfried

from ColoradoSchool of Mines,

Chloe Gustafsonfrom Scripps

Institutionof

Oceanography and their colleaguesspent 61 days living in tents on anAntarctic ice stream to collect dataabout the land under half a mile of icebeneath their feet.

They explain what the team discov-ered and what it says about the behav-iour of ice sheets in a warming world.

What was the big takeaway fromyour research?

First, it helps to understand thatWest Antarctic was an ocean before itwas an ice sheet. If it disappearedtoday, it would be an ocean again witha bunch of islands. So, we know thatthe bedrock below the ice sheet is cov-ered with a thick layer of sediments –the particles that accumulate ontoocean floors.

What we didn't know was whatwas in the tiny pore spaces

among those sedimentsbelow the ice.

We expected tofind meltwater comingfrom the ice stream above, afast-moving channel of ice that flowsfrom the centre of the ice sheettoward the ocean.

What we didn't expect, but wefound in this thick layer of sediments,was a huge amount of groundwater –including saltwater from the ocean.

Our findings suggest that this saltygroundwater is the largest reservoir ofliquid water below the ice stream westudied, and likely others, and it maybe affecting how the ice flows onAntarctica.

Liquid water is incredibly impor-tant to how fast an ice stream moves.If there's liquid water at the base of anice stream, it flows fast. If that waterfreezes or the base dries out, the icescreeches to a stop.

Models of ice streams typically con-sider only whether ice at the base hasreached the melting point or if waterhas flowed from upstream along thebase of the ice.

Scientists had never considered thatmore water was available under theice sheet, let alone water that is muchsaltier, which keeps water from freez-ing at lower temperatures. (Thinkabout why communities put salt onroads in winter.)

Our observations suggest there is somuch water there, if you took the 500to 1,900 metres or so of sedimentsbelow the ice stream and squeezedthem like a sponge, you'd have a col-umn of water about 220 to 820 metresdeep.

This water can move through thepores in the subglacial groundwatersystem, just like groundwater else-where, but in Antarctica, there is adynamic ice sheet on top.

When the ice sheet gets thicker, itexerts more pressure on the sedimentbelow, so it could drive meltwaterfrom the base of the ice sheet deeperinto the sediment.

When the ice gets thinner, however,it could draw water, now a little salti-er, out of the sediments. That saltierwater could affect how fast the iceflows. Knowing that there is a massivereservoir of water that may be linkedto how fast-flowing regions ofAntarctica behave means scientistsneed to rethink our understandingof ice streams. What does find-ing liquid seawater in thesediments tell

sci-entistsaboutAntarctica?

The saltygroundwater wasa clear sign of howfar inland the bound-ary between the icesheet and the ocean oncereached.

This boundary, known asthe grounding line, is incredi-bly important. When ice flowsacross the grounding line, itstarts to float in the ocean. If youknow how the grounding line isshifting, you have a good sense ofhow much ice is being contributedto the global ocean.

The fact that there were marinewaters beneath our feet meant thatthe grounding line was upstream ofus at some point, at least 110 kilome-tres from where it is today.

The next question is when it gotthere.

We argue in our paper that it can'tbe too old. The groundwater is flow-ing, and fresh water is coming intothe sediments from the glacier above.We estimate that most of this saltywater arrived in the subglacial sys-tem within the past 10,000 years,based on how much radiocarbonhas been found in the upper sedi-ment in previous a study.

The ocean would havedeposited that seawater whenthe ice sheet got smaller dur-ing warm periods in the past.

Whillans ice stream ispretty remote. How didyou determine what washappening a mile belowyou? Our site is abouta two-hour flightfrom McMurdoStation,Antarctica.

Salty groundwater in Antarctica linked to sea level rise

As a physicist working atthe Large Hadron Collider(LHC) at Cern, one of the

most frequent questions I am asked is “When are you goingto find something?”. Resisting the temptation to sarcastically

reply “Aside from the Higgs boson, which won the Nobel Prize,and a whole slew of new composite particles?”, I realise that the

reason the question is posed so often is down to how we haveportrayed progress in particle physics to the wider world. We often

talk about progress in terms of discovering new particles, and itoften is. Studying a new, very heavy particle helps us view underlying

physical processes – often without annoying background noise. Thatmakes it easy to explain the value of the discovery to the public and

politicians. Recently, however, a series of precise measurements ofalready known, bog-standard particles and processes have threatened to

shake up physics. And with the LHC getting ready to run at higherenergy and intensity than ever before, it is time to start discussing the

implications widely. In truth, particle physics has always proceeded in twoways, of which new particles is one. The other is by making very precise

measurements that test the predictions of theories and look for deviationsfrom what is expected. The early evidence for Einstein's theory of general

relativity, for example, came from discovering small deviations in theapparent positions of stars and from the motion of Mercury in its orbit.

Three key findings

Particles obey a counter-intuitive but hugely successful theory calledquantum mechanics. This theory shows that particles far too

massive to be made directly in a lab collision can stillinfluence what other particles do (through something

called “quantum fluctuations”). Measurementsof such effects are very complex,

however, and much harder toexplain to the public.

But recent resultshinting at

unexplainednew

physicsbeyond the

standard model are of thissecond type. Detailed studies from the

LHCb experiment found that a particle known asa beauty quark (quarks make up the protons andneutrons in the atomic nucleus) “decays” (falls apart)into an electron much more often than into a muon –the electron's heavier, but otherwise identical, sibling.According to the standard model, this shouldn'thappen – hinting that new particles or even forces ofnature may influence the process. Intriguingly,though, measurements of similar processes involving“top quarks” from the ATLAS experiment at the LHCshow this decay does happen at equal rates forelectrons and muons.Meanwhile, the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab inthe US has recently made very precise studies of howmuons “wobble” as their “spin” (a quantum property)interacts with surrounding magnetic fields. It found asmall but significant deviation from some theoreticalpredictions – again suggesting that unknown forcesor particles may be at work.The latest surprising result is a measurement of themass of a fundamental particle called the W boson,which carries the weak nuclear force that governsradioactive decay. After many years of data taking andanalysis, the experiment, also at Fermilab, suggests itis significantly heavier than theory predicts –deviating by an amount that would not happen bychance in more than a million million experiments.Again, it may be that yet undiscovered particles areadding to its mass. Interestingly, however, this alsodisagrees with some lower-precision measurementsfrom the LHC (presented in this study and this one).

The verdict

While we are not absolutely certain these effectsrequire a novel explanation, the evidence seems tobe growing that some new physics is needed.Of course, there will be almost as many newmechanisms proposed to explain theseobservations as there are theorists. Many will lookto various forms of “supersymmetry”. This is theidea that there are twice as many fundamentalparticles in the standard model than we thought,

with each particle having a “super partner”. Thesemay involve additional Higgs bosons

(associated with the field that givesfundamental particles their

mass).

The standard m

odel of particlephysics m

ay be broken – an expert

South Korea: North Korea test-fired missile from submarine

North Korea flight-tested a ballistic missile that was likely fired from asubmarine on Saturday, South Korea's military said, continuing aprovocative streak in weapons demonstrations that may culminate with a

nuclear test in the coming weeks or months. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staffsaid the launch occurred from waters near the eastern port city of Sinpo, whereNorth Korea has a major shipyard building submarines. It said the short-range missileflew 600 kilometers (372 miles) at a maximum altitude of 60 kilometers (37 miles) but itdidn't immediately provide details about the submarine that would have been involved inthe launch. South Korean and US intelligence officials were analysing the launch, the militarysaid, describing it as a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a “seriousthreatening act that harms international peace and stability.” Japanese Prime Minister FumioKishida in response to the missile firing ordered officials to prepare for all “unforeseeable situations”and secure the safety of aircraft and ships. There were no immediate reports of damage. South Korea'snational security director Suh Hoon and other senior officials during an emergency National Security Councilmeeting denounced the launch and urged North Korea to return to long-stalled talks aimed at defusing the nuclearstandoff, Seoul's presidential office said. It was apparently North Korea's first demonstration of a submarine-launchedballistic missile system since October last year, when it fired a new short-range missile from the 8.24 Yongung - itsonly known submarine capable of launching a missile. The October underwater launch was the North's first in twoyears. On Wednesday, the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected a suspected ballistic missile fired from near

the capital, Pyongyang. Both exercises come ahead of theinauguration on Tuesday of South Korean President-elect Yoon SukYeol, who has vowed to take a tougher approach over the North'snuclear ambitions. Yoon's office said in a statement that his

government will pursue “actual deterrenceability” against the North's nuclear andmissile threat, but didn't specify how.Yoon has vowed to strengthen SouthKorea's defense in conjunction with itsalliance with the United States, which hesaid would include enhancing missilestriking capabilities.

US Census ready to studycombining race, ethnicity

The Supreme Court isset to regain its fullstrength of 34 judges with two

appointments to the top court onSaturday. Days after the Supreme CourtCollegium headed by CJI N V Ramanarecommended the names of Gauhati High Court ChiefJustice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Jamshed BPardiwala of the Gujarat High Court for elevation to the topcourt, the Union Law Ministry announced their appointments onSaturday in separate notifications. Once they take oath early next week,the Supreme Court will regain its sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

SC gets two more judges Deforestationdetected in theBrazilian Amazon broke

all records for the month of April,and that followed similar new records setin January and February, reflecting aworrisome uptick in destruction in a state deepwithin the rainforest. Satellite alerts of deforestation forApril corresponded to more than 1,000 square kilometres (nearly

400 square miles), the highest figure forthat month in seven years of record-

keeping and 74 per cent more than the samemonth in 2021, which was the prior record. Itmarked the first time that deforestation alerts havesurpassed 1,000 square kilometres during a month in therainy season, which runs from December to April.

Brazil's Amazon deforestationhits record for month of April