VIJAYAWADA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

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Updated JANUARY 26, 2021 5:00 PM

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Month & Paksham:

Pausa, Krishna Paksha

Tithi : Dashami : Jan 27 04:34 AM to Jan 28 02:16 AM

Ekadashi : Jan 28 02:16 AM to Jan 28 11:36 PM

Nakshatram : Vishaka: Jan 26 10:06 AM to Jan 27 08:51

AM Anuradha: Jan 27 08:51 AM to Jan 28 07:10 AM

Rahukalam : 1:52 PM to 3:16 PM

Yamagandam : 6:52 AM to 8:16 AM

Varjyam : 12:34 PM to 02:03 PM

Gulika : 9:40 AM to 11:04 AM

Amritakalam : 09:30 PM to 10:59 PM

Abhijit Muhurtham : 12:06 PM to 12:51 PM

Employees are integral part of Govt: GuvPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Andhra Pradesh GovernorBiswabhusan Harichandan, ChiefMinister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddyand other dignitaries attended the73rd Republic Day celebrationsheld at the Indira GandhiMunicipal Corporation (IGMC)stadium here on Wednesday.Governor Harichandan hoistedthe tricolour, reviewed the RepublicDay parade and received the guardof honour from the contingents.

Speaking on the occasion, theGovernor said that the foundationfor the 75 years of flourishingdemocracy stemmed from thefoundation laid by the spirit of free-dom fighters and the Constitution.

The Governor said the employ-ees were an integral part of the gov-ernment and vital to provide var-ious welfare benefits and servicesto the public, especially those

belonging to the poor, vulnerableand downtrodden sections. In spiteof financial difficulties, the govern-ment had sanctioned an unprece-dented 27 per cent IR, which hascost an additional burden of Rs

17,265 crore on the government. Inspite of the Covid-induced eco-nomic distress, the government wasimplementing the 11th PayRevision Commission, which wasgoing to put an additional financial

burden of Rs 10, 247 crore on thegovernment’s exchequer, he said.

Governor Harichandan said thegovernment had given a fitmentbenefit of 23 per cent to theemployees. “In addition to this,ours is the only government in theentire country to increase theretirement age of governmentemployees to 62 years. Gratuity hasalso been increased from Rs 12 lakhto Rs 16 lakh.”

The Governor said in line withthe election promise for the deliv-ery of more efficient services topeople and for good governance,they would be creating 13 more dis-tricts in the State of AndhraPradesh on the auspicious day ofUgadi. Two districts will be exclu-sively for the tribal population.With this, the total tally of districtsin the State will go up to 26.

SNV SUDHIRn VIJAYAWADA

In a tearing hurry and withlightning speed, the Y S JaganMohan Reddy governmentissued gazette notifications forformation of 13 new districtsin addition to the existing 13in Andhra Pradesh at mid-night of Tuesday.

If everything goes well asplanned by the government,Andhra Pradesh will have 26districts by April 2, Ugadi, theTelugu New Year day.

In the notifica-tions, the govern-ment has soughtobjections orsuggestions fromthose residing in theproposed districts.The objections or sug-gestions should be sub-mitted in writing to the

Collectors of the existing dis-tricts within 30 days.

Though re-organising of thedistricts has been on the cardssince quite some time in linewith Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’spoll promise, the governmentsprang a surprise on Tuesday.Making each par-liamentary seg-ment a dis-trict wasJagan’s pollpromise in2019.

o Proposed districts are named after NTR,Alluri, Lord Balaji, Annamayya, Sri Satya Sai

The Y S Jagan Mohan Reddygovernment has also tried to make

a strong political point with the namesof the proposed districts. As promisedby the Chief Minister in 2018, hisgovernment has now proposed toname Krishna district after legendaryactor, former Chief Minister of AP andTDP founder N T Rama Rao.

Names of districts:Jagan plays it to the gallery

The devotees ofrenowned

spiritual leaderSathya Sai arecelebrating thegovernment’sproposal to carveout Sri Sathya Saidistrict. Sri Sathya Sai CentralTrust’s managing trustee RJRathnakar stated that it was ahistoric day, and profuselythanked the Chief Minister forconferring the ‘great honour’.

Instead of Machilipatnamparliament segment, as expected

earlier, the State government hasproposed to name Vijayawadaparliament segment after legendaryactor and TDP founder N TRama Rao.Interestingly, NTR’snative villageNimmakuru fallsin Machilipatnamparliamentconstituency.

Not Machilipatnam,Vijayawada namedafter NTR T

he State government may have topass a test for its proposal to re-

organise the districts to beimplemented as planned. The Centrehad, in the past, frozen the activity ofredrawing the boun-daries of thedistricts and villages across thecountry in the wake of the latestpopulation census. As the censuscould not be taken up as perschedule due to Covid pan-demic,whether the Centre would accept the proposal by the State govern-ment after the due proce-dure isfollowed here or not has to be seen.

State needs to passCentre’s test

Sathya Sai devoteesthank Jagan

NEW DISTRICTS HEADQUARTERS

Srikakulam SrikakulamVizianagaram Vizianagaram Manyam Parvathipuram Alluri Sitharama Raju Paderu Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam Anakapalli AnakapalliKakinada Kakinada

NEW DISTRICTS HEADQUARTERS

Krishna Machilipatnam NTR Vijayawada Kona Seema Amalapuram East Godavari Raja-

mahendravaramWest Godavari Bheemavaram Eluru Eluru

NEW DISTRICTS HEADQUARTERS

Guntur Guntur Bapatla Bapatla Palnadu Narsaraopeta Prakasam Ongole SPS Nellore NelloreKurnool Kurnool Nandyal Nandyal

NEW DISTRICTS HEADQUARTERS

Ananthapuram Ananthapuram

Sri Satyasai Puttaparthy

YSR Kadapa Kadapa

Annamayya Rayachoty

Chittoor Chittoor

Sri Balaji Tirupati

Govt issues notifications proposing 13 new districts

Dolo’s popularity has nothit city paracetamol makersNAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

The paracetamol tablets distrib-uted by the Telangana govern-ment to fight the Covid-19 pan-demic are ‘Made in Hyderabad’by a city-based pharmaceuticalcompany named Granules India.

The company is committed tosupplying 16 crore paracetamoltablets to the Telangana govern-ment free of cost.

Krishna Prasad Chigurupati,the founder of Granules Indiasaid, “Granules has suppliedaround 7.5 crore paracetamoltablets till date which costsaround Rs 4.5 crore. We will con-tinue to supply them as commit-ted.”

The drugmaker claims that thepopularity of Dolo 650 is not hin-dering the manufacturing of

Paracetamol.Krishna Prasad said, “Granules

primarily focuses on exports toNorth America and Europe, ourprimary markets. Paracetamol

constituted around 30 per cent ofthe overall sales of the companyin FY 2021.”

The drugmaker claims thatthe popularity of Dolo 650is not hindering themanufacturing ofParacetamol. KrishnaPrasad said, “Granulesprimarily focuses onexports to North Americaand Europe, our primarymarkets. Paracetamolconstituted around 30 percent of the overall sales ofthe company in FY 2021.”

GST authorities arrest27-yr old for issuingbogus Rs 1,000 cr billsPNS n MUMBAI

An 'accountant' has been arrest-ed for allegedly issuing bogus billsof Rs 1,000 crore and committingan input tax credit (ITC) fraud ofRs 181 crore, GST authorities saidon Wednesday.

The 27-year-old man, who hadstudied till class 12 and worked asan accountant and GST consult-ant, was arrested by officers of thePalghar CGST Commissionerateof the Mumbai Zone, as per anofficial statement.

Investigations into the matterstarted based on specific inputsreceived from data mining anddata analysis, which pointed toM/s Nithilan Enterprises beingengaged in availing and passing offake ITC by issuing fake invoiceswithout receipt of goods or serv-ices, it said.

It later transpired that theaccountant -- whose identity hasnot been disclosed -- had stolenthe identity of one of his clientsfor committing the GST fraud formonetary gains, the statementsaid.

Confronted with material evi-dence, the accountant confessedto the offence of issuing morethan Rs 1,000 crore of bogus billsand availment of fake ITC of Rs181 crore, after which he wasplaced under arrest on Tuesday.

9 non-BJP ruled states opposeCentre's proposal on IASofficers' central deputationPNS n NEW DELHI

As many as nine non-BJP ruledstates have opposed theCentre's proposal that gives itan overriding power whiledeciding on central deputa-tion of IAS officers, whereaseight others have given theirconsent, off icials said onWednesday.

A reminder will soon be sentto the states and UnionTerritories which have not yetresponded to the proposal onmaking changes in the relevantservice rules, they said.

Odisha, West B engal ,Maharashtra, Kerala, TamilNadu, Telangana, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand and Rajasthan haveraised their voice against theamendments, the officials said.

On the other hand,Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur,

Tripura, Madhya Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat ,Har yana and HimachalPradesh have given their con-sent, they added.

Karnataka and Meghalayahad opposed the proposalinitially sent to them lastmonth but are expected tosend a revised proposal, theofficials said, adding thatBihar had also opposed themove earlier.

Whi le the nine statesopposed the suggested changessaying they were against thefederal structural of the coun-try, the Centre has defended itsproposal asserting that thestates are not sparing sufficientnumber of IAS officers fordeputation which is affecting itsfunctioning, the officials said.

Employees seeconspiracy by govtnot to pay salariesPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Continuing their ongoing stir,the government employees onWednesday handed over symbol-ic memorandums to the statuesof Dr B R Ambedkar across theState. While participating in theprotest programme inVijayawada, one of the key mem-bers of PRC Struggle Committee,B opparaju Venkateswarlu,opined that the government hadbeen conspiring so that theemployees would not receivesalaries for December and play-ing tricks in the name of CFMS,

HRMS etc.He said that they had already

requested the government topay them salaries as per the oldscales. He wondered if the PRCwas announced to increase ordecrease the salaries of the gov-ernment employees.

He alleged that the govern-ment was trying to create unrestamong the employees by notpaying salaries and also derailthe agitation movement theyhad launched against the newPRC.

PNS n CHENNAI

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M KStalin on Wednesday said he willsoon launch an All IndiaFederation For Social Justice andstrive to achieve the principles offederalism and social justice at thenational level.

This federation will be ade-quately represented by leaders ofthe depressed classes from all thestates, he said while addressing anational webinar on “Taking for-ward the struggle for social jus-tice and joint national programme(JNP) for social justice move-ment,” held on Republic Dayunder the aegis of various socialorganisations across the country.

“Those truly concerned aboutsocial justice will be part of it.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu paid richtributes to the framers of theIndian constitution on the occa-sion of the 73rd Republic Day cel-ebrations being held across thecountry.

Naidu lauded the Constitutionof India as one of the greatest con-stitutions in the world as it had pro-vided for fundamental rights andoverall protection to the citizens cut-ting across caste, creed and region.

Constitution of Indiagreatest in the world: Naidu

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Actor Chiranjeevi is likely to beinvited to the meeting with the com-mittee to resolve the movie ticketprice issue that has been scheduledon February 2. The committee has sent an invite to

the exhibitors, distributors and themembers of Cine GoersAssociation.

Earlier, two meetings were heldin this regard.

Chiranjeevi said the CM hadrevealed that he would meet thecommittee during a recent lunch

meeting.Meanwhile, the case in connec-

tion with the ticket price issue willbe heard by the AP High Court onFebruary 10.

Doubts have been expressed overChiranjeevi attending the meetingas he was infected from Covid.

Chiranjeevi had met the ChiefMinister prior to the Sankranti fes-tival. The actor also told the mediathat the meeting was satisfactory.

The Telugu film industry and thegovernment of AP have had sever-al misunderstandings during thepast few months.

Cinematography Minister PerniVenkataramaiah (Nani) had a meetingwith film director Ram Gopal Varma(RGV) before Sankranti and said theprices of movie tickets were fixed as perthe Cinematograph Act, 1956.

Committee on movie ticket prices to meet on Feb 2 Tableauxwin heartsof guests

TN CM to soonlaunch All IndiaFederation forSocial Justice

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INDIA'S 1ST WOMAN RAFALE PILOTSHIVANI IN R-DAY AIR FORCE TABLEAU

The country's first woman Rafale fighter jet pilot ShivangiSingh was part of the Indian Air Force tableau at theRepublic Day parade on Wednesday. She is only the

second woman fighter jet pilot to be part of the Indian AirForce (IAF) tableau. Last year, Flight Lieutenant Bhawna Kanthbecame the first female fighter jet pilot to be part of the IAFtableau. Ms Singh, who is from Varanasi, joined the IAF in2017 and was commissioned in the IAF's second batch ofwomen fighter pilots. She had been flying MiG-21 Bisonaircraft before flying the Rafale.

IMMUNE RESPONSE TO OMICRONEFFECTIVELY NEUTRALISES DELTA TOO

An ICMR study has demonstrated that individualsinfected with Omicron have significant immuneresponse which could neutralise not only the Omicron,

but also other variants of concern, including the mostprevalent Delta variant. It suggests that the immuneresponse induced by the Omicron could effectively neutralisethe Delta variant, making the re-infection with Delta variantless likely, thereby displacing the Delta as dominant strain,the study said emphasising upon the need for Omicron-specific vaccine strategy.

VIRAT, ELITE HORSE OF PRESIDENT'SGUARD, RETIRES; GETS PAT

Virat, the President's Bodyguard Commandant's blackhorse, retired from his years-long service after the 73rdRepublic Day parade today. Virat was the mount of

President's Bodyguard Commandant Colonel Anup Tiwary andtook part 13 times in Republic Day parades. President RamNath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh patted and bid farewell to themagnificent horse after the parade. Virat was awarded theChief of the Army Staff Commendation on the eve of Army Dayon January 15.

RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE ‘WILLCHANGE THE WORLD’: JOE BIDEN

The United States on Tuesday warned Moscow of damagingsanctions, including measures personally targeting VladimirPutin, if it moves ahead with an invasion of Ukraine, as

Russian combat troops massing around the pro-Western countrylaunched new exercises. Tension appeared to be increasing, withthe White House saying the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine"remains imminent." Warning that such a move would prompt"enormous consequences" and even "change the world," PresidentJoe Biden said he would consider adding direct sanctions on Putinto a raft of measures being drawn up.

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vijayawada 02VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 27, 2022

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(IN VIJAYAWADA

Tableaux win hearts of guestsPNS n VIJAYAWADA

As part of the Republic Daycelebrations held at IndiraGandhi MunicipalCorporation Stadium, 16tableaux were exhibited toshowcase the developmentand welfare schemes of theState government.

Of the 16 tableaux, the oneby the Agr icultureDepartment displayed theservices of Rythu BharosaKendras. The tableau of theFisheries Department wasbased on the MatsyakanyaBharosa, aqua laboratories,and other programmes. Thetableau of the AnimalHusbandr y Depar tmentexplained the benefits ofJagananna Pala Velluva.

The two tableaux of theEducation Department high-lighted the importance ofNadu-Nedu and Amma Vodischemes. The other tableauxshowcased Jagananna VidyaDeevena, Vasathi Deevena,Aarogyasri, Nadu-Nedu, and

the medical services beingextended to people duringthe Covid pandemic throughthe Medical and HealthDepartment.

The tableaux of theVillage/Ward Secretariatsshowcased 541 services beingprovided by the government.The Housing Department’stableaux portrayed the mod-

els on Jagananna SampoornaGruha Hakku (One TimeSettlement) and Jaganannahousing colonies. Angan-wadis, Pension Kanuka,Cheyutha, Aasara, MSMEs,Clean Andhra Pradesh andJagananna Pacha Thoranamalso formed part of theRepublic Day celebrations,showcasing the development

and welfare schemes of theState government.

On the occasion, GovernorBiswabhusan Harichandangave trophies to the top threetableaux. The Village/WardSecretariats’ tableau securedthe first prize and PrincipalSecretary Ajay Jain receivedthe trophy. The second placewas secured by the Women

and Chi ld WelfareDepartment’s tableau.Department Director Y VAnuradha received the tro-phy. The third prize wassecured by the HealthDepartment and PrincipalS ecretar y Ani l KumarSinghal received the trophyfrom GovernorHarichandan.

Govt issues notifications...Continued from Page 1

Though Andhra Pradesh has25 parliament segments, whichshould translate into 25 dis-tricts, the Araku segment hasbeen proposed to be made intotwo districts due to the hugegeography spread in multipledistricts.

While the offices of theCCLA and the PlanningDepartment have been work-ing on the proposal to re-organise the districts for sometime, the draft notificationwas circulated to the StateCabinet ministers in virtualmode late on Tuesday evening,which was approved by the

Cabinet.Before sending the draft

notifications and proposals tothe Cabinet, Chief SecretaryDr Sameer Sharma had held avideo conference with theDistrict Collectors to seektheir views ‘urgently’ on therecommendations of the State-level committee constitutedfor creation of new districts.

The recommendations ofthe committee were forward-ed to all the District Collectorson Tuesday for obtaining theirviews. During the Zoom con-ference, the Collectors con-sented in principle with therecommendations of the com-mittee and submitted that they

would send further remarks, ifany, before the final notifica-tion. Meanwhile, after gettingthe State Cabinet’s nod, thenotifications were issued atmidnight.

The government is re-organising the districts in theState as per Sub Section (5) ofSection (3) of the AP District(Formation) Act, 1974, in theinterest of better administra-tion and development of theareas concerned. Mandals andrevenue divisions that comeunder the existing districtshave also been re-organisedaccording to the boundariesproposed for the new dis-tricts.

Names of districts: Jagan plays it to the gallery...Continued from Page 1

There has also been a demandfrom several quarters to namea tribal district after celebrat-ed freedom fighter AlluriSeetarama Raju, who hadwaged a guerrilla war againstthe British in Vizag and EastGodavari Agency tracts.

One of the new districts tobe carved out of ST reservedAraku parliament segment,with Paderu as headquarters,has been proposed to benamed after Alluri SeetaramaRaju. Surprisingly, anotherproposed district was namedafter Lord Sri Venkatswara asSri Balaji district withTirupati as headquarters,another after god man andspiritual leader Sri Satya SaiBaba with Puttaparthy asheadquarters, and anotherafter saint poet Annamayya

with Rayachoty as headquar-ters.

Along with proposals fromthe government, demandshave now cropped up fornaming the other districtsalso. Interestingly, BJP’s for-mer minister KannaLakshminarayana and RajyaSabha member G V LNarasimha Rao have pro-posed two different names forthe newly proposed Palnadudistrict. While welcoming thedecision of the Jagan govern-ment to carve out Palnadudistrict, Lakshminarayana hasproposed to name it afterfreedom fighter KannegantiHanumanthu. Narasimha Raohas proposed the nameGreater Palnadu.

NTR’s daughter and formerunion minister DaggupatiPurandheswari, who nevermisses an opportunity to

attack the Jagan government,tweeted welcoming the deci-sion to name Krishna districtafter NTR. She said the wishof the public had been ful-filled.

Araku parliament segmenthas been proposed to bedivided into two districts --one to be named Manyamwith Parvatipuram as head-quarters and the other, AlluriSeetharama Raju district withPaderu as the headquarters.

Rajampet parliament seg-ment is proposed to beAnnamaya district withRayachoti as the district head-quarters. Amalapuram seg-ment has been proposed to bemade a district with a newname Kona Seema.

Narsaraopet segment isproposed to be Palnadu dis-trict with the town as districtheadquarters.

Not Machilipatnam...Continued from Page 1

Now, the government has pro-posed to retain Krishna dis-trict with Machilipatnam asthe headquarters and namedVijayawada district after NTR.

The government retainedVijayawada as the name of theheadquarters and only thedistrict name is proposed to beNTR district.

It was on April 30, 2018,when he visited Nimmakuruas part of his iconic Padayatrathat had catapulted him to thechief minister’s throne, thatYSRCP supremo Y S JaganMohan Reddy promised to

name Krishna district afterNTR.

“NTR garu devoted his lifeto the service of Telugus, espe-cially the downtrodden. As atribute to him, standing on hishome ground, Nimmakaru,during my Padyatra, I pledgeto rename Krishna district asNandamuri Taraka Rama Rao(NTR) district,” Jagan tweetedon that day.

Nimmakuru comes underthe Gudivada assembly seg-ment represented by CivilSupplies Minister Kodali Nani.Incidentally, TDP scion NaraLokesh had adoptedNimmakuru village.

Sathya Sai devotees thank Jagan...Continued from Page 1

He thanked all the public rep-resentatives, MLAs and MPswho supported the cause. “TheGovernment of AndhraPradesh deciding to pay trib-ute to Sri Sathya Sai Baba'simmense contributions to thespiritual uplift of the society bynaming the district after SriSathya Sai Baba is highly com-mendable,” Rathnakar added.

“Millions of Sai devotees areexpressing joy that the govern-ment has paid a perfect trib-

ute in this way,” he said. Healso said that with the forma-tion of Sri Sathya Sai districtwith Puttaparthi as headquar-ters, administration and micromanagement of various peo-ple-centric activities would bemade easier.

This will also mean thatnew government offices willbe set up around Puttaparthicreating various avenues forincome generation andemployment creation for thepeople of the area, the youthin particular, Rathnakar said.

State needs to pass Centre’s...Continued from Page 1

The government is re-organisingthe districts in the State as per SubSection (5) of Section (3) of the APDistrict (Formation) Act, 1974.

A six-member panel headed byformer chief secretary NilamSawhney had already submitted itsreport on the re-organisation of the

districts to the government. Threemore committees have beenformed to initiate the district re-organisation procedure.

As per the laid down procedureafter the 30-day mandatory peri-od after issuing the notification, adraft gazette will be issued by theState, which will be sent to theUnion Government for its nod.

Committee onmovie ticketprices to...Continued from Page 1

Nani had an interesting con-versation over Twitter onticket prices a few days back.

He said like RGV, anyonefrom the film industry couldcome and talk to him on thedecision to reduce ticketprices in the State. Whencompared to the GO No 100issued in 2013, movie ticketprices in the State were highnow, he pointed out. Employees are integral part of Govt: Guv...

Continued from Page 1

He said the government had ful-filled 95 per cent of the promis-es made in the manifesto. Thegovernment has distributed arecord sum of Rs 1,67,798 croreto 9,29,15,170 beneficiaries underthe Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)and non-DBT during the last 32months. Out of which, anamount of Rs 1,27,173 crore offinancial assistance was directlycredited into the bank accountsof 6,80,62,804 beneficiaries underDBT and has given governmentassistance and assets worth Rs40,625 crore to 2,48,52,366 ben-

eficiaries under non-DBT. “The government accords top

priority to the welfare of farmersand the farming sector as agricul-ture is the backbone of our State'seconomy. Development of agri-culture and allied sectors willincrease the living standards ofnearly 62 per cent of the popula-tion depending upon agriculture.

“Andhra Pradesh stands first intotal fish production in the coun-try with 29.67 per cent share. Itcontributes 8.67 per cent to GVA(Gross Value Addition) and isproviding livelihood opportuni-ties to 26.50 lakh people. AP isproducing more than 75 per

cent culture shrimp in the coun-try and stands as the aqua hub ofIndia. The State has the lion’sshare in the seafood exports in thecountry with about 36 per centshare and exported sea foodworth Rs 15,832 crore,” said theGovernor.

The Governor further saidthat the government considerededucation as a passport to thefuture. Keeping this in view, thegovernment has spent Rs34,619.24 crore benefitting1,99,38,694 beneficiaries so far onvarious education schemes likeManabadi Nadu-Nedu,Jagananna Goru Muddha,

Jagananna Vidya Kanuka andothers.

Health services are providedby 10,032 YSR Health Clinics,1,145 Primary Health Centers,177 Community Health Centers,54 Area Hospitals, 14 DistrictHospitals, 11 Teaching Hospitalsand 15 Specialty Hospitals. Apartfrom these, 560 Urban PHCs arefacilitating health access to thepeople of the State. To ensure thatevery mandal has two PHCs, weare also constructing an addition-al 172 PHCs, the Governor said.

The government is fully com-mitted to the overall develop-ment and empowerment of

women and also caring andcompassionate for their safetyand security. With a noble inten-tion to provide every poor fam-ily in the State with a home oftheir own, the government hasstarted the construction of YSRJagananna Colonies.The gov-ernment distributed a whoppingnumber around 32 lakh freehouse site pattas recently to theBelow Poverty Line women ben-eficiaries. The government isconstructing around 30 lakhhouses of which 15,60,227 arebeing constructed in the firstphase, added GovernorHarichandan.

Employees see...Continued from Page 1

Venkateswarlu also said that they wereready to take part in the talks if the gov-ernment was ready to implement theirdemands. He further said they wouldapproach the respective Collectorsrequesting not to put pressure on themregarding the work related to the re-organisation of the districts newly pro-posed by the government.

Constitution of India...Continued from Page 1

The TDP chief unfurled theNational Tricolour at hisUndavalli residence. He gar-landed the photos ofMahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar on the occasion.

Chandrababu Naidu saidthat the fundamental rightsand all protective provisionsin the Constitution should bestrictly implemented toensure overall safety andsecurity to all sections ofpeople. The constitutionalprovisions should be madeavailable to all people, he said.

Dolo’s popularity...Continued from Page 1

The Covid pandemic hasresulted in an increase in theproduction of paracetamolleading to Hyderabad-basedbulk drug manufacturers reg-istering increases in both vol-umes and demand. As per arecent study, the Acetam-inophen (Paracetamol) mar-ket is expected to grow in theperiod 2022 to 2029. Notonly Covid-19, but the increas-ing prevalence of chronic dis-orders and conditions requir-ing pain management drivesthe paracetamol market.

GST authorities arrest 27-yr old...Continued from Page 1

A local court remanded thearrested accused to judicialcustody for 14 days.

The statement said theaccused is suspected to be apart of a bigger networkwhich lures innocent peopleto obtain GST registrationand then 'steals' this regis-tration, which is subse-quently deployed for gener-ation, availment and passingon of fake ITC. Efforts

are underway to identifythe kingpin of the racketand other beneficiaries ofthis network, the statementsaid. The arrest follows aspate of similar actions bythe GST authorities in themegapolis.

The statement said thePa lghar CGSTCommissionerate alone hasdetected tax evasion of Rs460 crore, recovered Rs 12crore and arrested two sofar.

TN CM to...Continued from Page 1

This federation will providestrong suggestions for all thestates to agree to laws relat-ed to social justice,” heannounced.

Though the percentage ofBackward Classes may differfrom state to state, the ideol-ogy of social justice will bethe same. “Everything foreveryone will be the base ofthis federation, which willwork to achieve the princi-ples of federalism and socialjustice,” the Chief Ministersaid. The path for social jus-tice, Stalin said, was notmade in a day but “painstak-ingly laid over the decades,stone by stone, with thesweat and blood of varioustrendsetters like DrNatesanar, Dr T M Nair, SirP Theagarayar, A TPanneerselvam and PanagalArasar.” Pointing out that theconcept and need for social jus-tice is the same, the ChiefMinister said he was glad thatthe "seeds of social justice sownby the Dravidian movement hassprouted across the country."

9 non-BJP ruled states...Continued from Page 1

Sources in the Department ofPersonnel and Training (DoPT)said a trend of decreasing repre-sentation of IAS officers, up tothe joint secretary-level at theCentre, has been noticed asmost of the states are not meet-ing their Central DeputationReserve (CDR) obligations andthe number of officers, spon-sored by them to serve at theCentre are much lesser.

Officers of the IndianAdministrative Service (IAS)are allocated a cadre, which is astate/states or states and Unionterritories.

Every cadre is allowed a CDRto ensure that officers have theopportunity to work on centraldeputation, which adds to theirexperience.

According to DoPT sources,the number of IAS officers onCDR has gone down from 309in 2011 to 223 as on date.

The DoPT has recently pro-posed changes in the IAS (Cadre)Rules, 1954 that will take awaythe power of states to overridethe Centre's request for seekingofficers on central deputation.

Odisha, in its opposition, saidonce the move comes into force,it will affect the administrationof states and have an impact onthe implementation of variousdevelopment projects.

Describing the proposedamendments as "draconian" andintended to promote unilateral-ism, Jharkhand Chief MinisterHemant Soren has asked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi to"bury" the proposal.

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee, first to air hervoice against the move, hasurged Modi to withdraw the pro-posal as it would "create a fearpsychosis among officers andimpact their performance".

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has also asked theprime minister to drop the movethat "strikes at the very root" ofthe nation's federal polity andstates autonomy.

Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot has said the pro-posed changes will violate theconstitutional jurisdiction pre-scribed for the central and stategovernments, and reduce thespirit of working fearlessly andfaithfully by the officers.

The Nation is turning 75and it is preparing to cel-ebrate ‘Azadika Amrit

Mahotsavam.’ This journey of75 years has been a spectacu-lar one. From an impover-ished nation, it is today theworld’s third largest economy.India is today one of the lead-ing countries in InformationTechnology, Space Science,Defence and Pharmaceuticals.India has shown the world itscapability by vaccinating morethan one and a half billion peo-ple in record time. Under theable leadership of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi Indiais recognised today as a superpower.

One area in which the coun-try needs to utilise its resourcesis sports. Despite being theworld’s second most populouscountry with 70 per cent of itscitizens young, India ends up atthe bottom of the Medals Tallyin international competitionslike Olympics. Barring a fewteam sports like cricket andhockey and flashes of individ-ual brilliance in games like bad-minton, shooting, tennis,wrestling, boxing, etc., the

country has no worthwhileachievement to mention.

To improve in the area ofsports and games, one has toanalyse the reasons for thecountry’s poor performancein sports. Sports and gameswere not taken as a potentialcareer by many Indians tillrecently. Talent is not spottedearly in the country and manytalented sportspersons are notable to pursue their path due tofinancial problems. The lack ofgood quality stadia, academiesand coaching is another reason.Sports science and sport med-icine are undeveloped in India.

The recent initiatives by theCentre and some States havetried to address the aboveissues. The TOP scheme of theUnion Ministry of Sports hasencouraged sportspersons toexcel in Olympics. Leadingsportspersons are getting a lotof financial incentives from

Central and StateGovernments. Prime MinisterModi interacting withsportspersons before events,congratulating them personal-ly on winning medals and laterfelicitating them has given a lotof encouragement to sportsper-sons. Now, Olympic medalwinners are also treated asnational heroes. Many newtraining academies have beenadded in the recent past alongwith world-class coaching.

Some actions that we could

take are:i) The country should

focus on some key sports whereIndia has been performingwell, eg. badminton, wrestling,boxing, weightlifting, shooting,archery, hockey, throws (javelin,shot-put) etc. We need to iden-tify sports where India can dowell, for eg. track and fielditems.

ii) The early spotting of tal-ent should be done by organ-ising “talent hunt” competitionsin three age groups: 6 – 10

years; 10 – 14 years and 14 – 18years.

iii) For each sport, top 50-100 children and teenagersshould be identified and thenimparted coaching.

iv) CentralMinistries/PSUs, StateGovernments and private com-

panies should join hands todevelop sports infrastructurefor training the spotted talent.

v) Each sport should beadopted by one CentralMinistry or PSUs of thatMinistry; one of the StateGovernments and one privatecompany. The OrissaGovernment adopting hockeyhelped the Indian men’s hock-ey team tremendously and itwon a bronze medal in therecent Olympics.

vi) All the three aboveshould develop world classacademies and coaching in theidentified sport. This wouldinclude upgrading existinginfrastructure.

vii) For developing newinfrastructure, the StateGovernment shall provide landand infrastructure; the CentralGovernment/PSU shall fundthe cost of building and equip-ment while the private compa-

ny shall look after operationand maintenance of theAcademy.

\viii) World-class coachesshould be engaged. Top Indianplayers who have excelled inthat sport should be engaged ascoaches.

ix) The players who passout from these Academies shallbe Brand Ambassadors of theconcerned CentralG o v e r n m e n tM i n i s t r y / P S U / S t a t eGovernment and the privatecompany. This would encour-age the above Ministries/StateGovernment and the privatesector to adopt the sport.Already, spending in sports ispart of Corporate SocialResponsibility.

x) Domestic tournamentslike the IPL, Hockey League,Kabaddi, Badminton, etc.should be conducted in allsports. International playersshould also be invited to takepart in such tournaments. Theexperience of conducting IPLhas shown that such tourna-ments go a long way in promot-ing talent.

xi) The concerned federa-

tions should also be involved inthat sport. Federations shouldbe kept away from politics andonly professionals should beinvolved in those federations.

xii) Sports science andsports medicine should also bepromoted. Top-class physio-therapists and personnel shouldbe engaged.

xiii) The above CentralMinistries/ PSUs, StateGovernments and private com-panies should also take theresponsibility of developingsports infrastructure in schoolsand colleges.

xiv) India should aim toachieve top five ranks by2047 when India turns 100.(100 Medals by 2047) shouldbe our motto.

Initiatives like these willhelp provide the ground-work to make sports a viablecareer for Indians and putIndia on its way to sportingglory. Hopefully, we will seenot one, but hundreds ofNeeraj Chopras in comingyears.

(The views expressed arepersonal)

AJAY JAIN, IAS

One area in which the country needs toutilise its resources is sports. Despitebeing the world’s second most populouscountry with 70 per cent of its citizensyoung, India ends up at the bottom of theMedals Tally in international competitionslike Olympics.

India@Sports superpower

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 27, 2022

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Vice-Admiral BiswajitDasgupta, Flag OfficerCommanding-in-Chief, EasternNaval Command (ENC),emphasised the significance ofRepublic Day and brought outthat whilst we were well awareof our fundamental rights, itwas equally important to knowand abide by the fundamentalduties enshrined in theConstitution. He exhortedeveryone to continue to followthe Covid appropriate behav-iour of maintaining personalhygiene, maintaining social dis-tancing and wearing masksduring the ongoing third waveof the pandemic.

Addressing the RepublicDay celebrations, the C-in-Cadded that preparations werein place for hosting thePresident’s Fleet Review onFebruary 21 and theMultilateral Naval ExerciseMILAN from February 26 toMarch 4 at Visakhapatnam. Heurged everyone to work dili-gently for the successful con-duct of both events. A largenumber of dignitaries, includ-ing the President, PrimeMinister, Governor and Chief

Minister of Andhra Pradeshand a large number of Centraland State ministers, MPs,MLAs would be attendingthese events.

A ceremonial parade washeld at the ENC paradegrounds at INS Circars. TheVice Admiral took the saluteand inspected a 50-menguard. He later reviewed theplatoons of naval personneldrawn from all ships, sub-marines and establishments.Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan,

Chief of Staff, ENC, was theconducting officer of theparade, which was attended byall Flag Officers,Commanding Officers of allships, submarines and estab-lishments at Visakhapatnam.All Covid norms and proto-cols were adhered to duringthe ceremony.

The Naval InvestitureCeremony was also conduct-ed during the parade. Vice-Admiral Dasgupta presentedNao Sena Medal (Gallantry)

to Naveen Kumar, LeadingSeaman (UW), for displayingindomitable courage, conspic-uous gallantry and braverybeyond the call of duty result-ing in the elimination of twohardcore terrorists in Kashmir.

The C-in-C also presentedNao Sena Medal (Devotion toDuty) to Commodore RahulVilas Gokhale in recognitionof his overall contributions tothe Navy for over twenty-nineyears. Commodore TusharBahl (Retired) was presented

the VK Jain Memorial Awardfor outstanding appliedresearch in the field of embed-ded technologies and SAVLHaranandh POA (AH) waspresented the Ravi DhirMemorial Gold Medal forpromoting flight safety inNaval Air Operations. The C-in-C also presented the UnitCitations for the year 2020 toNaval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam, and INS Jalashwa fortheir outstanding perfor-mance.

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Managing committee membersof Vizag Runners Society organ-ised a maiden club run on theoccasion of the Republic Day atbeach road for the VizagRunners Society members andfamilies. A 5-K run was con-

ducted from RK beach to PalmBeach hotel, and back to RKbeach. The organisers distrib-uted medals sponsored by SriKanya Steels and Cements andT-shirts to all participants. Post-run felicitation ceremony wasattended by two town Inspectorof Maharani Peta, Soma Sekhar.

Society president BalaKrishna Rai, vice-presidentBharat Chouhan, secretarySrinivas Kancheti, treasurerSatish Movva, joint secretary DTNaidu (Arjun), joint treasurerDr Radhika, and other manag-ing committee members werepresent.

Important to perform fundamentalduties: Vice-Admiral Dasgupta

Run organised on R-Day

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

The Waltair Railway Division,overcoming various challenges,came up with good perfor-mance in the 2021-22 fiscal.The division stood in the fore-front in all the fields includingsafety, security, infrastructuredevelopment, amenitiesimprovement and innovativemeasures. The division man-aged to load 50 million tonnesfreight by the first week ofJanuary 2022 that showed 14.4percent growth and 18.4 per-cent growth in passenger traf-fic earnings. The gross earningsreached Rs 6,040 crore in thefinancial year till December.

The Waltair division baggedsix shields for the best perfor-mance by various departments atthe 66th Railway Week Awards.

On Republic Day, artists of

the Divisional CulturalAssociation presented cultur-al programme and patrioticsongs. RPF commandos per-formed daredevil motorcyclestunts, while the special squadof RPF presented a narrative

skit on the Railway Help lineand Meri Saheli by. A magnif-icent performance by the dogsquad was another attraction.

The DRM announced cashawards to various departmentswhich made arrangements for

the successful conduct of theRepublic Day programmes.ADRM (Operations) Dr. C.Surya Lakshmi and ADRM(Infrastructure) Sudhir KumarGupta were also present on theoccasion.

Waltair rly division puts up a good show

Lokesh blamesCM’s attitudefor crimes byYSRCP activists

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh Stategovernment is issuing agazette notification on for-mation of 13 new districtsalong with the existing 13districts, andMachilipatnam will be afull-fledged district head-quarters henceforth for thenew Krishna district.

The new Krishna districtwill be formed with 25 man-dals with the assembly seg-ments Machilipatnam,Penamaluru, PamarruGannvaram, Pedana,Avanigadda and Gudivada.Mandals of Bandar andGudivada revenue divisionswill be in Krishna district.

People of Eastern Krishnaare also happy with the cre-ation of the new districtwith headquarters atVijayawada.

They had not been happyfor a long time because thedistrict officials stayed inVijayawada. ThoughMachilipatnam is the dis-trict headquarters, mostsenior officers prefer to stayin Vijayawada. After bifur-

cation of the district, theofficials of Machilipatnamwill stay in Machilipatnamand supervise the adminis-trative activities and takesteps for the development ofthe backward regions.

Meanwhile, the people ofWestern Krishna will also behappy as their long-pendingdemand for a new districtwith headquarters atVijayawada is being ful-filled. The new district islikely to be named NTR dis-trict.

The YSRCP, in its electionmanifesto, had stated thatevery Lok Sabha constituen-cy would be made a separatedistrict for better adminis-tration. As per the mani-festo, the State governmenthas taken a decision toincrease the total number ofdistricts to 26 from 13.

People living in the west-ern Krishna region ofNandigama, Jaggaiahpet,Chandarlapadu, Veerulapadu and Penuganchiproluand other areas had beendemanding creation of aseparate district with head-quarter at Vijayawada for a

long time. They had beenfacing many hardships tovisit the present headquar-ters in Machilipatnam as thejourney took four to fivehours.

The government hasdecided to create two newrevenue divisions along withthe existing one. The NTRdistrict will have three rev-enue divisions ofVijayawada, Nandigama andTiruvuru.

Vijayawada revenue divi-sion will have mandals ofVijayawada East,Vijayawada West,Vijayawada Central, Vijayawada North, VijayawadaRural and Ibrahimpatnam.

Proposed Nandigamarevenue division will havemandals of Nandigama,V e e r u l a p a d u ,Kanchikacharla, Chan dar-lapadu, Jaggaiahpet,Vatsavai andPenuganchiprolu.

Proposed Tiruvuru rev-enue division will compriseMylavaram, Tiruvuru, GKonduru, Reddygudem,Gampalagudem and AKonduru mandals.

Long-pending demand ofKrishna people coming true

MARTHI SUBRAHMANYAMn VIJAYAWADA

The row over naming one ofthe districts to be formed uponbifurcation of Krishna districtafter NT Rama Rao orVangaveeti Mohana Ranga hasbecome a big headache for theJagan Mohan Reddy govern-ment.

The decision of the Jagangovernment on namingKrishna district has stirred upa lot of interest among follow-ers of NTR and VangaveetiMohana Ranga.

Earlier, during the Krishnadistrict tour of Jagan, hepromised the people to namethe district after NT RamaRao. Nimmakuru nearGudivada is the birth place ofNTR. The State governmenthas bifurcated Krishna district.In this backdrop, the people areeager to find out whether theCM would keep his promise ornot.

The demand to name theother district after VangaveetiMohana Ranga surfaced lend-ing a curious turn to the forma-tion of new districts.

A relative of Mohana Rangapointed out that the Kapusearlier urged the State govern-

ment to name Vijayawada asVM Ranga District. “We haveurged the government earlier toname Vijayawada district afterVM Ranga if Krishna district isto be divided into two,” he said.

In a video released by him,he lamented that the govern-ment seems to have no inten-tion to name Vijayawada dis-trict as VM Ranga district,going by the process of forma-tion of new districts.

In Machilipatnam district,the number of Kapus is veryhigh. In Vijayawada district,their ratio to Kammas is moreor less the same. A glance of theKapu voters in Machilipatnamand Vijayawada districts indi-cates that Kapu voters exceedKamma voters by at least50,000. In Machilipatnam dis-trict, the Kapu populationwould be around 2.5 lakh,while their population inVijayawada district would beonly 2 lakh. The Kamma pop-ulation in Vijayawada is almostequal to that of the Kapus.

There is demand to nameMachilipatnam after NTR as hewas born in Gudivada.However, going by the popula-tion of Kapus, there is anotherdemand to name the districtafter Mohana Ranga. As it is not

feasible to name the same dis-trict after two leaders, peopleare curious to know what thegovernment will do.

The Kapunadu will launch asignature campaign fromThursday with the demand toname one of the two districtsafter VM Ranga. A memoran-dum would also be submittedto the CM and to the DistrictCollector. Kapunadu nationalpresident Galla Subrahmanyamsaid Machilipatnam was fit tobe named after Ranga, butNTR was also born in theregion. That was why there wasa demand to name the districtafter NTR.

Subrahmanyam, who was aclose aide of VM Ranga,observed that Ranga’s familydid not appeal to the govern-ment to name the district afterRanga. Many share the samesurname of Vangaveeti, butthe true heirs to Ranga areVangaveeti Radha and SantanKumar. “As far as I know, thefamily never urged the govern-ment to name one of the dis-tricts after VM Ranga,” heremarked.

The popular feeling amongKapus is that Jagan will encour-age Kammas in politics morecompared to the Kapus.

NTR or VM Ranga: Dilemmaover naming new district

PNS n NAGARKURNOOL

District administration onWednesday suspended theSuperintendent and dutydoctor of AchampetCommunity Health Centrefor refusing to provide treat-ment to a woman in labouron Tuesday. A tribal woman,named Lalamma, fromBanala vi l lage underBalmoor mandal , wasbrought to the CommunityHealth Centre. Though shewas in the advanced stage ofpregnancy, the doctor andthe health staff refused toprovide treatment to her onthe suspicion that she wasinfected with Covid-19. The

woman at last gave birth toa baby on the premises ofthe centre. On knowing theincident, Minister for HealthT Harish Rao directed thedistrict administration totake action against thoseresponsible for denyingtreatment to the tribalwoman. The Ministerdirected Achampet MLAGuvvala Balaraj and MP PRamulu to ensure that thoseresponsible for dereliction ofduty are punished. TheMedical and HealthDepartment officials, afteran inquir y, placedSuperintendent Hari Babuand duty doctor Krishnaunder suspension.

Doctors suspended for denyingtreatment to tribal woman

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

TDP general secretary NaraLokesh on Wednesdayexpressed concern that thefollowers of the rulingYSRCP leaders were nothesitating to commit anysort of atrocity as theirChief Minister wouldalways be there to savethem. Lokesh said YSRCPMP Mopidevi VenkataRamana's right handBhooshankar had provedwhat sort of heinousoffences they were capableof perpetrating. The YSRCPfollower and Mopidevi'sright hand was an accusedin the molestation of aminor girl.

In a statement here, NaraLokesh said that the situa-tion in the ruling YSRCPwas like, 'as is their topleader so are the partycadre'. They were followingin the footsteps of CM JaganReddy and Mopidevi, whowere the first and the sev-enth accused in the Rs43,000-crore illegal assetscases.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Krishna District Collector JNivas said that Republic Daywas a day to raise awarenessabout the Constitution ofIndia and make everyoneaware of the protection ofconstitutional rights. TheCollector hoisted the flag onthe occasion of the 73rdRepublic Day celebrationsheld at AR grounds inMachilipatnam onWednesday.

Collector Nivas and SPSiddharth Kaushal inspectedthe Republic Day parade andreceived the guard of honourfrom various platoons. Theparade, display of tableauxand various cultural pro-grammes organised on theoccasion attracted the guests.

Addressing the gathering,the Collector read the RepublicDay message and stressed theneed for being aware of theConstitution. The Collectorexpressed deep sympathy toCovid victims' family mem-bers. He congratulated thefrontline warriors, doctors,medical personnel, sanitationworkers and others. They have

administered booster vaccinedoses to 22,000 health work-ers, doctors, medical staff, andsenior citizens over 60 years ofage. About 1.98 lakh teenagersin the age group 15-17 havebeen vaccinated till now, hesaid.

He said that the governmentstrongly believed that realdevelopment would come witheducation, medicine and agri-culture and hence the medicalsector in the district was beingdeveloped in all ways. Under

the Nadu-Nedu scheme, con-struction of 10 new health cen-ters was underway in the dis-trict at a cost of Rs 18.35 crore.Advanced medical facilitieswere being set up at 80 prima-ry health centers at a cost of Rs28.52 crore. A medical collegehas been sanctioned inMachilipatnam at a cost of Rs550 crore.

The Collector said 16 CovidCare Centres had been set upin Krishna district and 2,000beds had been made available

to treat the people infectedfrom Covid. About 10,000people were being tested everyday in the district. Nine hospi-tals have the advanced oxygenfacility to treat Covid patients.The government has set up 15oxygen plants with 9,007 LPMcapacity in the district.

Transport Minister PerniVenkataramaiah, ZP chair-person U Harika, JointCollector Dr K Madhavilatha,Sivashankar and others werepresent.

Krishna Dist achieved significantprogress on all fronts: Collector Nivas

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Cyberabad Police rescued223 children including 39 girlsin a fortnight from January 1to 15 during the 'OperationSmile - VIII' drive. The policehad formed Operation Smileteams in the three zones whichwill work throughout the yearto rescue children from childlabour, begging, rag picking,etc.According to the police, ofthe children rescued, 45 weresent to the rescue homes and178 children were handed overto their parents. Of them, 200children were rescued fromchild labour, 14 from begging,and 2 from rag-picking.Among these children, manybelong to other states includ-ing Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh andRajasthan.

Cyberabad copsrescue 223 children

Historical remains found in Nalgonda distPNS n HYDERABAD

An archaeological site stud-ded with Neolithic,Megalithic and Satavahanaremain is reported by Dr ESivanagireddy, Archaeologistand CEO , Pleach IndiaFoundation at Bhattugudemvillage under Peddavuramandal in Nalgonda dis-trict on Wednesday.

Based on the informationgiven by G Saidareddy and KVenkata Reddy of the village,he conducted an extensivesurvey in the fields ofNakkala Nagireddy and

Kunireddy Ramanuja Reddy,and spotted a well-polishedstone axe belonging to the

Neolithic period (4000 BC),iron slags of the Megalithicperiod (1000 BC) and shreds

of red polished ware of theSatavahana period (1st-2ndcenturies AD). Dr Reddy

also noticed beautiful andrare stone sculptures ofBhairava, Brahma inTrimurti form, ValliSubrahmanya, Surya andMahishamardhini represent-ing the Rastrakuta andKalyani Chalukyan styleslying uncared on the premis-es of Isthakameswara temple.During the exploration, hecould also spot a few herostones of the Kakatiya peri-od (13 th century AD) aredepicted mounting on anelephant and holding swordsrevealing that he theseheroes lost their lives in

local fights and are wel-comed by the celestial maidsRambha and Urvasi.According to him the sculp-tures of Bhairava andBrahma are rare in thierform and iconography. Heexpressed concern over thesad state of neglect of thetemple pillars and sculptur-al panels dumped in thegarbage pit located close tothe temple. Sivanagireddyafter sensitising the villagerson the need to preservethese sculptures of historicalimportance and appealed toprotect them for posterity.

1,000-year- old rare sculptures found at Bhattugudem village under Peddavura mandal

04VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 27, 2022

PNS n ONGOLE

District Collector PravinKumar said that implementa-tion of welfare schemes anddevelopments of the district aregoing on equally on prioritybasis.

Unfurling the national flagon the occasion of the 73 rdRepublic Day here onWednesday, the Collector saidthat Prakasam district is goingahead in implementing welfareschemes precisely and carryingout various development works.He said that 1058 village andward secretariats were set up inwhich 10,352 secretariat staffand 17,965 volunteers are work-ing.

Pravin Kumar said that20,03,336 services had beenprovided by the village/wardsecretariats so far. During

spandana 1,89,976 grievanceswere revived of which 1,87,973had been resolved so far. Hesaid that 3,017 acres of landwere acquired to distribute88,135 beneficiaries as housesites. Rs 383.56 crore wasextended to the farmers asinput subsidy and the crop lossis being disbursed using the e-

crop system, he informed.The Collector said that

17,000 liters of milk was pro-cured from 201 villages and6,708 buffalos were distributedto 4,823 beneficiaries. He saidthat the construction of 75,327houses is being carried out inthe first phase. Under YSRCheyuta scheme 668.52 crore

was disbursed to 3,40,567 ben-eficiaries. Rs 904 crore wasdisbursed to 58,006 self-helpgroup women. Rs 18.82 crorewas disbursed to 12,613 bene-ficiaries under Kapu Nestamscheme, Rs 81.51 crore was dis-bursed to 54,341 under EBCNestam to women beneficiaries,Rs 109.90 crore was disbursedto 4,31,088 as YSR pensions, Rs49 crore was disbursed to58,505 beneficiaries underJagajanna Thodu scheme.

The Collector informed that1,48,687 people tested positivefor Coronavirus so far in thedistrict and steps were taken toface the third wave efficiently.He said that 49 Covid hospitalswere ready to treat people andthe government machinery anddoctors were put on alert inview of the third wave threat, hesaid.

PNS n ELURU

District Collector KartikeyaMishra made it clear that WestGodavari district has overcomethe Covid obstacle and is goingahead with the development,and at the same time, the wel-fare schemes being implement-ed.

The Collector hoisted thenational flag on the occasion of73 Republic day on Wednesday.Speaking on the occasion, hesaid that the district effectivelytackled the second wave ofCoronavirus and prepared toface the third wave challenge.He said that 24 childrenorphaned by the Covid-19 wereextended Rs. 2.40 crore finan-cial assistance. He said that146 Government hospitals hadtreated 4.10 lakh Covid patients.

Mishra said that under YSRAarogyasri scheme 62,305 oper-ations had been performed forwhich Rs 138 crore disbursed.

Rs 12.85 crore was disbursed to21, 227 beneficiaries under YSRArogya Asara scheme.

The Collector said that2,29,548 beneficiaries were dis-tributed house pattas and1,56,541 houses were sanc-tioned. Under YSR Cheyutascheme Rs 356.41 crore was dis-bursed to 1,90,086 beneficiaries,Rs 92 crore was disbursed to90,301 beneficiaries underJagananna Thodu scheme. Rs80 crore was disbursed to53,000 women beneficiariesunder Kapu Nestam scheme, Rs

43.10 crore was disbursed underEBC Nestam scheme to 28,736women beneficiaries, Rs 26.37crore was disbursed underChedodu sceme. Rs 275 croreworth power subsidy wasextended to aqua farmers in thedistrict. he said.

Kartikeya Mishra said that10,000 liters of milk is beingprocured under JaganannaPalavelluva from 142 villages in12 mandals. The Collector saidthat Rs 51 crore allocated for themodernization of Godavaridelta and 22 works in thisregard are being taken up. Hesaid that it was targeted tocomplete the Polavaram irriga-tion project by 2023. Out of the48 crest gates 42 gates hadbeen erected so far to the pro-ject, he informed.

SP Rahul Dev Sharma, JointCollectors Himanshu Shuklaand Dr.B R Ambedkar wereamong those who were present.

PNS n ELURU

Prasanna Venkatesh tookcharge as West Godavaridistrict Collector onWednesday. PrasannaVenkatesh who worked asthe Vijayawada city munici-pal commissioner, was trans-ferred as district Collector ofWest Godavari district.

Speaking on the occasion,Prasanna Venkatesh said thathe would strive for the devel-opment of the district. Hewould give importance to theimplementation ofNavaratnalu welfare schemes

and the welfare of farmers.He said that he would

take steps to resolve thegrievances of people andtake the services to thedoorsteps of people. The

purchase of paddy andimplementation of welfare

schemes for farmers andMGNREGA would be car-ried out efficiently. Focuswould be laid on taking stepsto mitigate the Coronaviruspandemic and completingthe vaccination programme,construction of houses tohouse-less poor and buildingsmart township and provid-ing basic amenities at therural areas.

Joint CollectorsHimanshu Shukla, Dr. B RAmbedkar, P Padmavati andRDO Panabaka Rachanawere among those who werepresent on the occasion.

PNS n BHIMAVARAM

A new district is going to becreated with Bhimavaramas headquarter and theCabinet has approved for thesame. The new Bhimavaramdistrict would compriseseven Assembly constituen-cies in the NarasapuramLok Sabha constituency.

The Cabinet approved theformation of new districts inthe state. The draft notifica-tion was also released in thisregard. The government hasdecided to complete thereorganization process soonand start administration inthe new districts by Ugadi.

The newly formingBhimavaram district wouldcomprise 19 mandals and2,718 square KMs with 17.80lakh population. The

Assembly constituencieswhich would be incorporat-ed in the new Bhimavaramdistrict are Achanta,Palakollu, Narsapuram,Bhimavaram, Undi, Tanukuand Thadepalligudem. Therewill be two Revenue Divisions

in the new Bhimavaram dis-trict and they are Narsapuramand Bhimavaram.

Narsapuram RevenueDivision will be formed withAchanta, Poduru, Palakollu,Yalamanchili , Mogalur,Narsapuram, Penumantra,

Penugonda and Mandalswhile the BhimavaramRevenue Division will beformed with Veeravasaram,Palakollu, Bhimavaram,Akividu, Undi, Kalla, Tanuku,Atti l i , Iragavaram,Thadepall igudem andPentapadu zones.

PNS n GUNTUR

BJP National ExecutiveMember Kanna Lakshminarayana appealed to ChiefMinister Y S Jagan MohanReddy to name of after the newdistrict as “KannegantiHanumanthu Palnadu district.

In a letter to the ChiefMinister here on Wednesday,the BJP leader said that thenaming district KannegantiHanumanthu Palnadu districtis a long cherished dram ofPalnadu region people.Kanneganti Hanumanthu wasborn in 1870 in Minchalapadu

village near Durgi and herevolted against the Britishgovernment.

“I request you to utilize thisopportunity to recognise theselfless sacrifise of brave son ofsoil and name the new district

as “Kanneganti HanumanthuPalnadu District“, KannaLakshminarayan urged theChief Minister.

Meanwhile PalnaduIntellectuals Forum President,Koduru Sambashiva Rao in a

statement here today said thatthey welcome theGovernment's decision to formthe district despite decades ofdesire by the people of Palnadu.

“The people of the area havebeen wanting the district as thecenter of Narasaraopet fordecades. However, we requestthe government to form thedistrict as "KannegantiHanumanthu Palnadu" dis-trict under the name ofKanneganti Hanumanthu, thefreedom fighter who foughtagainst the British in the nameof Pullari movement inPalnadu area”.

PNS n ELURU

Taking everyone by surprise,district Collector PrasannaVenkatesh, within a few hoursof taking charge as Collector,paid a surprise inspection to asocial welfare boy’s hostel atAmeenapet near here onWednesday.

The district Collector tookcharge only this morning andinspected the welfare boy’shostel in the evening. Heinspected the rice and otheritems being served to the stu-dents. He interacted with thestudents. When the studentsfound difficulty to answerthe questions in English, hedirected the hostel warden toengage a private tutor toenhance their English knowl-edge.

The Collector tasted therice and expressed satisfaction

on the quality of the food andtaste. The Collector alsoinspected toilets and the com-pound wall of the hostel. Hedirected the social welfaredepartment Joint director totake steps to erect fences to

those hostels which did nothave compound walls. JointCollector P Padmavati andsocial welfare Joint DirectorMadhusudhan were amongwho accompanied theCollector.

PNS n KADAPA

District Collector V VijayaRama Raju and SP KKNAnburajan participated inthe Republic day celebra-tions here on Wednesday.

As part of the 73rdRepublic Day celebrations,the District Collector, SP,Joint Collector and otherofficials visited stalls set upby various governmentdepartments on develop-ment and welfare programsat the Police ParadeGround.

On this occasion, theCollector distributed assets

worth Rs. 332.55 crore to44,784 beneficiaries out of

5274 units. Rs 328.13 croredistributed under the banklinkage through the DRDAand the MEPMA. Rs. 4.33crores under stree nidhi, Rs2.55 lakh worth of laptopsand touch phones by theDepartment of physicallydisabled welfare depart-ment. The horticulturedepartment distributed twotractors worth Rs. 2.00 lakhsas part of FarmMechanization by theHorticulture Department.

Earlier, the Collectorhoisted the national flag atthe police parade groundand took guard of honour.

PNS n TIRUPATI

Communist Party of India(CPI) National secretary DrK Narayana on Wednesdayalleged that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's style offunctioning is driving thecountry to a constitutionalcrisis.

Addressing a gatheringafter flag hoisting at the CPIoffice here on the occasion of73 Republic Day celebra-tions, the CPI senior leaderslammed that Modi's unwiseacts were consistently weak-ening the world’s largestdemocracy.

He said the BJP is strivingto rewrite the history of free-dom struggle and also hijack-ing the fundamental rights ofstate governments in the fed-eral structure of the countryas is evidenced in the distri-bution of power sector andallotment of IAS.

The NDA-led BJP govern-ment has failed to bring thepetrol and diesel prices underGST regime in spite of its slo-gan of 'one nation, and onetax' and charged that Modihas become a dictator, theCPI leader said.

PNS n GUNTUR

The police prevented theattempt of hoisting the nation-al flag on the controversialJinnah tower by some activistsbelonging to a Hindu outfithere on Wednesday. Mild ten-sion prevailed at the Jinnahtower centre in the heart of thecity as some Hindu Vahiniactivists rushed there to hoistthe national flag on the occa-sion of Republic Day.

However, the police chased,overpowered and whiskedthem away to the police sta-tion. The Hindu Vahiniactivists a few days ago daredto hoist the national flag on theJinnah tower. As a precaution-ary measure, the police heldBJP district presidentPatibandla Ramakrishna inTenali in his house.

The BJP leaders aredemanding to change thename of Jinnah tower as AbdulKalam tower. The BJP activiststhreatened to demolish theJinnah tower if the name wasnot changed. The BJP objectsthe name of Jinnah to thetower stating that Mohammad

Ali Jinnah was responsible forthe bifurcation of India.

In the backdrop of thethreats, the municipal corpo-ration erected a strong fencearound the tower and set up apolice post. Responding tothe incident of police prevent-ing activists from hoisting thenational flag at the tower, BJPGVL Narasimha Rao con-demned the incident. GVLNarasimha Rao in social mediaon Wednesday said “InSrinagar’s Lal Chowk, Indianflag is hoisted with pride today

but in AP’s Guntur town, YCPgovernment is not allowingunfurling of India flag on‘Jinnah Tower’. Do you consid-er Muslims in Guntur lesspatriotic or you (ChiefMinister Y S Jagan MohanReddy) are using even this toappease Muslims.

BJP AP state affairs co-in-charge Sunil Deodhar said ontwitter ”Entire Nation wants toKnow from you whetherJinnah Circle in Guntur ofAndhra Pradesh is part ofRepublic of India or not?

Welfare, development prioritizedin Prakasam in district: Collector

Overcoming Covid obstacles, WG isgoing ahead with development: Collector

Police prevent attempt to hoistnational flag on Jinnah tower

Prasanna Venkatesh takes charge as District Collector

Kanna urges CM to name new district as‘Kanneganti Hanumanthu Palnadu district’

“I request you to utilize this opportunity

to recognise the selfless sacrifise of

brave son of soil and name the new

district as “Kanneganti Hanumanthu

Palnadu District”, Kanna Lakshminarayan

urged the Chief Minister.

Collector pays surpriseVisit to social welfare hostel

PNS n GUNTUR

In a bizarre incident, a youthsuffered serious burn injurieswhen he tried to take a self-ie photo atop a goods trainat Piduguralla railway stationon Wednesday.

Police said that KatikamVeera Brahma Naiduclimbed a wagon of a goodstrain to take a selfie. Whenhe was taking a selfie photowith his mobile phone, hecame into contact with ahigh tension electric wire,sustained 70% burns andfell down from the wagon.He was shifted to the govern-ment hospital in a 108 ambu-lance. His condition is said tobe very critical.

Youthcriticallyinjured whiletaking selfie

Assets worth Rs. 332.55 crdistributed in Kadapa

India is going faceconstitutional crisisbecause of Modi: CPI

PNS n GUNTUR

District Collector Vivek Yadavsaid that despite the Covidhurdles the welfare schemesare being implemented, and atthe same time, priority wasgiven for the development ofthe district. Hoisting thenational flag on the occasionof the 73 Republic Day onWednesday, the Collectorrecalled the supreme sacrificesof freedom fighters and paidhomage. He underlined theneed of remembering thearchitect of IndianConstitution Dr.B RAmbedkar.

The Collector said that thegovernment is giving priorityto education, medicine andagriculture. Rs 19,000 crorehad been spent for the educa-tion of 91 lakh students since2019 in the district. TheCollector handed over a

cheque of Rs 463.34 crore todisburse 4117 Self-help groupwomen beneficiaries on theoccasion.

The tableaux of variousgovernment departmentsincluding the welfare, Health,Co-operative Bank, PublicBanking Services, Rural WaterSupply and Works carried out

by Jalajivan Mission in RuralAreas, Sanitation Department,YSR Animal HusbandryScheme, Animal HusbandryDepartment on JaganannaDairy Schemes, the RBKs,Civil Supplies Department,Manabadi Nadu demonstrat-ed the developed.

The Collector gave away

appreciation letters to the ben-eficiaries. MLA AllaRamakrishna Reddy, MLC KSLakshmana Rao, ZP chairper-son Henry Christina, UrbanSP Arif Hafiz, Rural SP VishalGunni, Joint Collectors ASDinesh Kumar, B Rajakumari,Anupama Anjali were amongthose who were present.

Despite Covid hurdles, welfareschemes being implemented: Collector

New district being created withBhimavaram headquarters

Speaking onthe occasion,PrasannaVenkatesh saidthat he wouldstrive for thedevelopmentof the district.

The newlyformingBhimavaramdistrict wouldcomprise 19mandals and2,718 squareKMs with 17.80 lakhpopulation.

PNS n WARANGAL

Admission to eight new med-ical colleges in the State willbegin from the next year,according to Kaloji NarayanaRao University of HealthSciences B Karunakar Reddyon Wednesday. Speaking at afunction, shortly after unfurl-ing the National flag on theoccasion of 73rd RepublicDay here, the Vice-Chancellorsaid the medical education inthe State would make signif-icant progress with the Stategovernment extending sup-port. He further said the newmedical colleges would helpincrease the medical infra-structure in the State.

Admission to newmedical collegesto begin next year

NTPC retainsits leadershipposition: CGMPNS n RAMAGUNDAM

Republic Day celebrationswere held at NTPCRamagundam onWednesday. The programmewas held at M G stadium.Chief General Manager SunilKumar hoisted the Nationalflag and took the salute at themarch-fast by the CISF.Speaking on the occasion,Sunil Kumar stressed on thesignificance of Republic Day.He highlighted the glorioushistory of NTPC and its con-tribution to the developmentof the country. He spokeabout the success story ofNTPC-Ramagundam and itsplant performance. DespiteCovid disruption, the NTPC-Ramagundam is all set toachieve its annual target dur-ing 2021-22.

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 27, 2022

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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday said a new schemewill be launched to promote empowerment of girls under which the first twodaughters of labourers will be given financial assistance for their education and

employment. The state government will also implement a five-day week workingsystem for its employees in a bid to increase their work efficiency and productivity.The contribution of the stategovernment under the employees'Contributory Pension Scheme willbe increased from 10 per cent to 14per cent, an official release quotedthe CM as saying. Baghel wasspeaking at a function held at theLalbagh Parade ground in Jagdalpurafter unfurling the national flag tomark the 73rd Republic Day.Jagdalpur is the headquarter of theBastar district, located over 300 kmaway from the state capital Raipur.

Amid reports that six members of two families from a village in Gujarat'sGandhinagar district were abducted in Istanbul by traffickers, police on Wednesdaycited their parents saying they are found and currently staying at a hotel in Turkey

and will return in the next two-three days. Police also denied any abduction angle citingtheir relatives. The six members became untraceable after reaching Turkey on the visitorvisa earlier this month, a senior policeofficer said. Though there werereports that the two families,comprising two couples and twochildren, were abducted in Istanbul byhuman traffickers, their parents backhere denied the abduction angle, saida senior police officer of theAhmedabad crime branch who hadquestioned the agent through whomthe two families had acquired visitorvisas. "These two families havealready been found.

Agartala, Jan 26 (PTI) Tripura Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya on Wednesdaycalled upon the people of the state to pay tribute to the freedom fighters and theconstitution makers, who worked for the development of the country despite

facing several difficulties. Unfurling the Tri-colour at the Assam Rifles Ground hereon the occasion of the 73rdRepublic Day, he hailed the stategovernment for its selfless work tomake Tripura a model state. "Iappeal to all to pay tribute to thefreedom fighters and be grateful tothe constitution makers, whoduring the days of the freedomstruggle had faced severaldifficulties, but worked for thedevelopment of the country. "I alsoappreciate the work undertaken bythe state government to makeTripura a model state.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Ministry of Educationand Skill Development'stableau at the 73rd RepublicDay parade on the Rajpathshowcased the key aspects ofthe new National EducationPolicy through the theme'Vedas to Metaverse'.

The front part of the tableaudepicted the glorious past ofthe country in the area of edu-cation starting from the Vedas,the Gurukul system of educa-

tion and ancient universitiessuch as Nalanda where stu-dents from all over the worldused to gather. The rear parthad a glowing bulbous brain-like structure symbolisinginnovation and creativity.Students of different agegroups, accompanying thetableau, portrayed skill devel-opment, joyful learning whileemphasising the latest tech-nologies like augmented real-ity and virtual reality.

Video on the LED screens of

the digital book placed atopthe tableau illustrated multi-disciplinary education,research and innovation, star-tups, robotics and metaverse.

Images of educationists andscintists from ancient times tothe modern age could also beseen on both sides of thetableau. The NEP approved bythe Union Cabinet in 2020replaced the 34-year-oldNational Policy on Educationframed in 1986 and is aimedat paving the way for transfor-

mational reforms in schooland higher education systemsto make India a global knowl-edge superpower. A choicebetween three or four-yearundergraduate courses, multi-ple entry and exit options indegree courses, adding 3.5

crore seats in higher educationinstitutions, which will nowhave a single regulator, discon-tinuation of M.Phil pro-grammes and fixation of feesare among the higher educa-tion reforms outlined in thenew policy.

PNS n INDORE

Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said thatthe total prohibition cannot beachieved by any government bybanning the sale of liquor.

He said that for achievingthis goal, the trend of drinkingalcohol in society will have tobe changed by launching a de-addiction campaign.

Addressing the RepublicDay function in Indore, thechief minister said, “the con-sumption of alcohol by peoplecannot be stopped just by ban-ning it by the government. It

will end only when we changethe trend of drinking liquor inthe society”. Chouhan unfurledthe national flag at the Nehru

Stadium here and inspected thecustomary parade on the occa-sion of the 73rd Republic Day.

He also appealed to people

to run a de-addiction cam-paign in their villages andcities. The CM said people willhave to take a pledge to notconsume alcohol if the goal ofthe total prohibition is to beachieved in Madhya Pradesh.

The chief minister alsoemphasised the need to launcha de-addiction campaign.

Interestingly, the BJP gov-ernment in MP is facing flakfrom the Opposition over itsnew Excise Policy approved bythe Cabinet recently.

In the new Excise Policemeant for the next FinancialYear, the government hasdecided to allow the sale of

liquor at all airports and selectsupermarkets in four big cities,and issue home bar licenses tothose earning Rs one crore ormore annually. Chouhan saidthe state government has beensupporting industrialisationand self-employment at a rapidpace. The government has seta target to create at least 2 lakhnew opportunities of liveli-hood in the state, he added.

The chief minister said thatthe state government hadrecruited 44,000 people in gov-ernment jobs last year. By thenext year, around one lakh gov-ernment jobs will be given, headded.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A day after he was awardedthe Padma Bhushan, formerJammu and Kashmir chiefminister and Congress veter-an Ghulam Nabi Azad onWednesday sought to scotchspeculation about his futurepolitical plans. Reports hadclaimed that he had changedhis Twitter profile, but Azad,who has been critical of hisparty leadership and is thelone Congress leader to beawarded this year under theModi dispensation, denied it.

"Some mischievous pro-paganda being circulated bysome people to create confu-sion. Nothing has beenremoved or added to myTwitter profile. The profile isas it was earlier," Azad said onTwitter.

Azad's Twitter profile hasnothing written on it andthere is no reference to theCongress party. In the age ofsocial media, the Twitter pro-files of leaders are keenlywatched as many tend tochange them before formal-ly switching parties. Azad, theformer Leader of Oppositionin Rajya Sabha, is a promi-nent member of the G23 dis-sident leaders who have beendemanding an organisation-al overhaul in the Congress

and has faced backlash froma section of the party. Afterthe announcement of thePadma awards on Tuesdayevening, Congress leaderJairam Ramesh, while com-menting on CPI (M) leaderBuddhadeb Bhatta charya'srefusal to accept the award,said, "He wants to be Azadnot Ghulam".

However, senior Congressleader Kapil Sibal, who is also

in the G23, said onWednesday that it was iron-ic that the Congress doesnot need Azad's serviceswhen the nation recogniseshis contributions to publiclife. Prime Minister NarendraModi had showered praise onAzad during his farewellspeech for the Congressleader in the Upper Houseand the latter had returnedthe sentiment.

Vedas to Metaverse: EducationMinistry tableau at R-Day parade

Shah compliments JK Police'svalour and commitment

New Delhi, Jan 26 (PTI)Union Home MinisterAmit Shah on

Wednesday complimentedthe Jammu and KashmirPolice for its valour andcommitment and said itsdedication has beenreflected as it got thelargest share of 115gallantry awardsannounced on the occasionof Republic Day. The Jammu and Kashmir Police has been in forefrontin fighting the Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the sensitive unionterritory for more than three decades now."J&K Police has beenspearhead of India's fight against terrorism. It is a matter of immensepride to the entire nation, that the @JmuKmrPolice has won thelargest share, 115, of the gallantry awards today on Republic Day.This reflects their valour and commitment," Shah tweeted.Congratulating the Jammu and Kashmir Police, he said on thismomentous achievement, he salutes their bravery. "PM Shri@narendramodi Ji led central government stands committed torecognising and honouring our brave police personnel," he said.

‘Mischievous propaganda’,says Azad over speculations

Reports had claimed that he hadchanged his Twitter profile, but Azad,who has been critical of his partyleadership and is the lone Congressleader to be awarded this year underthe Modi dispensation, denied it.

‘Total prohibition can't be achieved by any govt’

PNS n SHILLONG

Meghalaya Chief MinisterConrad K Sangma onWednesday said his govern-ment has laid the foundationfor the state to become one ofthe top 10 states in the coun-try in the next 10 years.

Unfurling the Tricolour onthe occassion of the 73rdRepublic Day at the Pologround here, he said the statewith 3.8 million people needto grow together with the restof the NE states and present tothe world one North Eastmarket like the EuropeanUnion. “We (the state govern-ment) have laid the foundationand it will become one of thetop 10 states in the country inthe next 10 years. We will doit. We need to realise theimportance as a society tomove positively in the direc-tion that we have set,” the chief

minister said.He said 3.8 million people

(Meghalaya's population) is asmall number in a global mar-kets and if Meghalaya has togrow, it has to grow as one ofthe entities of the NE market.

“I am happy to inform youthat today the state's expendi-ture is touching close to Rs14,000 crore... This is possiblebecause of tapping of externalagencies, timely implementa-tion of projects and runningcentral schemes in efficientmanner,” he said.

Sangma said the state hasmobilised Rs 7,500 crore fromexternal agencies, a big jumpfrom Rs 2,500 crore in 2018.

“Funds from these agenciessupport projects in tourism,water catchment area, roadconstruction, integrated trans-port system, early childhooddevelopment programmebesides others,” he said.

‘Meghalaya to be madeone among top 10 states’

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Railways suspended itsNTPC and Level 1 exams onWednesday after the candi-dates went on a rampage insome states alleging irregular-ities in the process whilst min-ister Ashwini Vaishnaw urgedthem not to destroy publicproperty and assured redressalof their grievances.

The suspension of exams anthe statement by the ministerare being seen in certain quar-ters as a step down from theearlier decision to bar appli-cants found indulging in van-dalism given that elections aredue in five states, including thepolitically crucial UttarPradesh.

"I am telling the aspirantsthat this is their own proper-ty. Why are they destroyingsomething that is their own?However, authorities will fol-low due process if public prop-erty is damaged," Vaishnawsaid at a press conference.

The Railway Ministryformed a high-level committee,headed by Deepak PeterGabriel, the principal executivedirector of industrial relationsin the ministry, to examine theaspirants' grievances.

Sources say it was theprotests by the job aspirants in

Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh fortwo days and the fear that theagitation may fan out in otherparts of the country throughthe aggressive social mediacampaigns being run by thecandidates forced the Railways'hand. Bihar, home to a major-ity of the job aspirants, saw vio-lent protests for the third dayin a row. A crowd stormed theGaya Junction and set on firethe Bhabhua-Patna InterCityExpress. But nobody wasinjured.

East Central Railway CPRORajesh Kumar told PTI-

Bhasha, "The rakes were emptyand parked inside the yardwhen miscreants set a coach onfire. It has not resulted in dis-ruption of rail traffic."

In Sitamarhi, police fired inthe air to disperse the demon-strators at the railway station.Protests were also reportedfrom Patna, Nawada,Muzaffarpur, Buxar andBhojpur districts.

In Uttar Pradesh, policearrested two persons andlodged a case against around1,000 unidentified people forallegedly rioting and blocking

the train tracks. Six policepersonnel were suspended withimmediate effect for usingunnecessary force on Tuesday.

A police official said itappears the accused had taken"money from some politicalparties" to cause unrest. Policewere also probing the incidentfrom this angle.

A video of the incident sur-faced on social media, follow-ing which Congress generalsecretary Priyanka GandhiVadra condemned the use offorce against the protestingjob aspirants.

Missing Arunachal boy: Rijijusays PLA responded positivelyPNS n NEW DELHI

A hotline was exchanged onWednesday between the IndianArmy and China's People'sLiberation Army whichresponded positively, indicatinghanding over of the missingyouth from Arunachal Pradesh,Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said.The PLA suggested a place ofrelease, the minister said.

"They are likely to intimatedate and time soon. Delayattributed to bad weather con-ditions on their side," he wroteon Twitter. On Tuesday, Rijiju

had said that India had shareddetails of the missingArunachal Pradesh teenagerwith the PLA to corroborate the

identity of the youth in theircustody. "Hotline exchangedon Republic Day by IndianArmy with Chinese PLA. PLAresponded positively indicatinghanding over of our nationaland suggested a place ofrelease," he said on Wednesday.The Union minister, who rep-resents the state in Lok Sabha,had earlier said that theChinese side had conveyed tothe Indian Army on January 20that they had found a boy ontheir side and requested for fur-ther details to establish theidentity.

PNS n AYODHYA

With the Samajwadi Partynominating old hand PawanPandey on the Ayodhya seat,all eyes are on the BJP whichis yet to name its candidate forthe high-profile constituencyafter buzz on Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath stopped withthe party fielding him fromthe Gorakhpur Urban seat.

The BSP and Congress arealso yet to come out with thenames of their candidates butpeople here see the poll as adirect fight between the SPand the BJP.

Akhilesh Yadav's party onTuesday night declared thecandidature of former MLAPandey on the seat .

A promising youth leaderfrom Lucknow University,Pandey had won the seat in2012 but lost in 2017. He wasalso a minister in the AkhileshYadav government.

Even as the SP has comeout with the name of its can-didate, BJP supporters arestill guessing whether it willbe sitting MLA Ved PrakashGupta or someone else.

Like in the past, Ayodhya isbeing used as a springboardby all major parties to launchits election campaign this

time too. Suraj Kumar ofNayaghat says, "There isresentment against theincumbent MLA as he couldnot fulfil the aspirations of thepeople. If the BJP changes itscandidate, it will be to itsadvantage".

"A lot of work has beendone here due to which landwas acquired and for develop-ment work, demolition alsotook place. When there isdevelopment, some structuresare to be razed," he noted.

When asked about theresentment prevailing amongthe traders, Ayodhya VyaparMandal President NandKumar Gupta, said the widen-ing of road from Saadatganj toAyodhya Ghat requires demo-lition of shops.

"These shops are on prop-erties of Raja (Ayodhya) ortemples. The shopkeepershere will not be getting anycompensation. It's a matter oftheir livelihood as they arehere for the past three-fourgenerations," Gupta said.

According to the proposedplan, two stretches of theroad in Ayodhya dham (OldAyodhya town), including theone leading to the historicHanuman Garhi temple,would be widened.

SP picks nomineefor Ayodhya seat

Chhattisgarh govt will give financial helpto labourers for empowerment of girls

Two Guj families who became ‘untraceable'in Turkey found; in touch with parents: police

Freedom fighters, Constitution makersworked for country against odds

‘CHANGE IN TWITTER PROFILE’

Rail job aspirants go on rampageExams suspended; Grievance panel set up, minister appeals for calm

Make videos on the

good works of Delhi

Govt and share

these on social

media, appealing to

people to give Kejriwal a chance.

AAP national convener

— Arvind Kejriwal

hold good his threat of the“historical task of completeunification”. Even though theBiden Administration hasostensibly shed its traditional‘strategic ambiguity’ vis-à-visthe official position and com-mitted itself to defend Taiwanmilitarily, should China attack,the credibility of that commit-ment is a bit suspect, given therecent history and the appar-ent lack of appetite for conflict.

Recently, riots broke out inthe Central Asian Republic ofKazakhstan, and the worldwatched with bated breath tosee which international powerwould step in. Pitted againsteach other was the undemoc-ratic, repressive and illiberalKazakh regime (given to itsown power struggles andintrigues among the elites)against the suffering masseswho desperately soughtreforms and relief from eco-nomic hardships. Expectedly,the security forces respondedbrutally and disproportion-ately by killing over 100 pro-testers even as unbackedclaims of “20,000 bandits”,“armed aggression by well-coordinated terrorist groups”,“radical Islamist groups” etcwere randomly postulated bythe Government, with a brazen‘shoot to kill’ order. The US,which has literally no leveragein the region, was left spout-ing platitudes like “deeply con-cerned”, whereas the Russiansunder the aegis of Collective

Security Threat Organisation(CSTO) sent in 2500 troops to‘stabilise’ the situation. Even theChinese offered supporttowards ‘counter-terrorism’ toward off portents of colour rev-olution (euphemism for theWest-supported pro-democra-cy movements).

Basically, the autocraticregimes of Vladimir Putinand Xi Jinping demonstratedan intent and sent an unmis-takable message that whenev-er autocrats are in crisis, theycould seek help from fellowautocrats as they would retainthe appetite for conflict, unlikea tired ‘Free World’.

Concurrent war of wits isescalating in neighbouringUkraine, with Russian troopsmenacingly amassed on theborders, prepping for a possi-ble invasion. Earlier in 2014,too, Russia had forciblyannexed Crimea from Ukraineand the US-led ‘West’ hassince pitter-pattered with ‘sanc-tions’, to no avail. Even now,Biden has sheepishly admittedthat “the US going to unilater-ally use force to confrontRussia from invading Ukraineis not…on the cards rightnow”, added unconvincinglythat there would be “severeconsequences”. Nonetheless,no one in Ukraine would bereassured with that kind of aback-up plan as they know thatshould Russia roll in, nothingand no one will hold out.Biden worsened the optics by

admitting that his allies weredivided on how-to-respondto even a ‘minor incursion’ ofUkraine by Russia, let alone afull-fledged invasion.

Meanwhile, quasi-dicta-torial regimes like Russia (orChina) care two hoots about‘international condemnation’when it comes to safeguardingtheir perceived interest; in thiscase, stopping Ukraine’s bid tojoin the NATO.

Insecure one-partyregimes, like that of China,embed an invaluable messagewith their cross-border aggres-sion, that is aimed as much fortheir own domestic audiencesas it is for the countriesattacked. Pandemic era hasalready worsened the eco-nomic conditions of the ‘FreeWorld’, and the all-importantopinions of the electorate indemocracies are not for anyexternal interventions.However, the Chinese orRussian regimes who are notanswerable to anyone for theiramoral conduct, and are rela-tively well-placed economi-cally, do retain a bigger appetitefor conflict. Evolving triangu-lar tensions of ‘One-against-One (US versus China), plusanother one (Russia)’ will be,eventually, all about appetitefor conflicts.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governorof Andaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

LEADER SHOULD SET AN EXAMPLESir — One should be a diehard practi-tioner of morals before he starts preach-ing to others to follow. The entire nationis aware how the ruling dispensation hasbeen amending the Constitution toenact Acts as per its whims without car-ing for the Opposition’s demand tohave at least discussions over such Bills,making it seem like a right in view of itsbrutal majority in Parliament. We haveseen how the farmers affected by the dra-conian farm laws were treated for overa year, unmindful of their agony. Weknow how writers, journalists and NGOshave been tortured by stalling their oper-ations and freezing their bank accounts.

The latest sad episode is their doingaway with “Abide with me”, a Christianhymn and the one most loved byMahatma Gandhi, from the BeatingRetreat ceremony this year, of coursebased on their rights gained through themajority in Parliament. The BJPGovernment is conveniently forgettingthat it also has a bounden duty to thenation’s people who had brought it topower. Is it not an irony that PM Modisays the country has wasted a lot of time“fighting for rights” and “neglecting one’sduties”? A good leader is one who setsan example for others.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

THE SC IS RIGHTLY CONCERNEDSir — The Supreme Court has recentlyexpressed concern over the freebies andother sops as major poll promises byalmost all political parties, which is cer-tainly not misplaced. The apex court hasasked the Union Government and theElection Commission to spell out theirstand on such misgivings that cheat notonly the unsuspecting electorate but alsogo against the spirit of the Constitution.The amount spent on the promised free-bies can out run an entire State’s budget,is what was rightly expressed by the judi-ciary. Practically, however, it may be dif-ficult for the Election Commission toimpose checks on such promises madeby the political parties in electoral fray.

To begin with, it has to be definedclearly as to what a freebie is and how itis different from a legitimate act of pro-viding succour to common people. Topropose a raise in the pension amountto a destitute cannot be seen as a free-bie. To hand over a smartphone for freeto a needy child for his online class canalso be justified. But such genuine actsof empathy can’t be allowed to rununchecked, lest these take the form ofbribe. The Election Commission can askthe political parties to tell people howtheir promises are going to be met in adetailed way, if they are voted to power.

DVG Sankararao | Vizianagaram

THE TREND OF ABANDONING CONGSir — Sir – It refers to the report “Congfirst family loyalist RPN Singh joins BJP”.Singh may not bring too much to thetable for the BJP as far as elections are

concerned because he has not won anyelection in the last decade or so. But itsends a strong message to the Congress,and especially to the Gandhi family, thatthey are unable to keep their flocktogether. Priynaka Gandhi is the face forthe Congress in UP elections, whileSingh contributed to the party’s goodshowing in last Jharkhand elections.

Only a few days back, Singh wasnamed as a campaigner for the UP polls.There is a long list of promising, brightand popular leaders who left theCongress in last few years. The commonfactor is that they were all disillusioned,and Priyanka recently admitted that theparty did not try to stop anyone. It is aclear reflection of the sad state of affairsin the ‘grand old party’.

Bal Govind | Noida

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

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VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 27, 2022

06

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

A tired ‘Free World’, noticeably the US, is no match for autocratic regimeslike China and Russia that are not answerable to anyone for their amoral acts

QUASI-DICTATORIAL

REGIMES LIKERUSSIA (OR

CHINA) CARE TWOHOOTS ABOUT

‘INTERNATIONALCONDEMNATION’

WHEN IT COMES TO

SAFEGUARDINGTHEIR PERCEIVED

INTERESTS; INTHIS CASE,STOPPING

UKRAINE’S BID TOJOIN THE NATO

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

BHOPINDER SINGH

To put it plainly, the eternal flame (AmarJawan Jyoti) in the National WarMemorial at India Gate, which has

been burning for more than five decadesto honour the martyred soldiers, has beenextinguished. Indians are told, the flamewas carried to the newly built NWM 400metres away and ‘merged’ with the newflame there. However, history will remem-ber this ‘merger’ only as one more addedto the group of great flames extinguished

in the past. By the same logic, anymemorial, monument, mausoleum, pillaror obelisk can be demolished and ‘merged’with a new one elsewhere. Treating AmarJawan Jyoti as a going concern under theCompanies Act or any other legislationsubject to amalgamation, absorption orreconstruction was a sacrilege.

Many countries have constructedmore than one war memorial with ever-burning fires to honour war heroes. InFrance, under the archway in Paris, a flamehas been burning in memory of all whodied in World War I since 1921 and anoth-er one at Arras, at the Notre Dame deLorette war memorial. Russia has two warmemorials in Moscow: one at the Tomb ofthe Unknown Soldier in Alexander Gardenand another one at Victory Park. Perhaps,the ruling establishment fears that theNWM built under PM Narendra Modi’saegis would not gain importance, as longas the Amar Jawan Jyoti is aflame at theIndia Gate.

Haridasan Rajan | Kozhikode

A part of our history relocated

It all boils down toappetite for conflict

Irrespective of the govern-mental spine, the popularmood in Australia sums upthe awkward conundrum:

There is simply no appetite forconflict with China. With China’sintimidating expansionism inthe Indo-Pacific waters, Australiahad hit back with suggestions foran independent inquiry into theorigins of COVID-19 — a furi-ous Beijing responded immedi-ately by decoupling economicties, and Canberra upped the anteby seeking nuclear submarinesand forming AUKUS (partner-ship amongst Australia, the USand UK). Given Australia’s paci-fism and wariness of nucleartechnology, this change of officialstance was significant, though notcommensurate with societal apa-thy, as the ‘participation fees’ forAustralia in any potential conflictwith China is widely imagined tobe too high. The Chinese societyis never allowed to harbour con-trarian views from that of itsexpansionist regime, therefore thedrums of war directed towards aTaiwan, Japan, Australia, or evenIndia, are forever beating.

If the appetite for conflict forthe US in the restive MiddleEastern theatre had visibly wanedwith the unsaid acceptance of theIranian-Syrian triumph in thedecisive fight for reclaiming ISIS-held territories, the meek flightfrom Afghanistan completed thepicture. A year into the office, JoeBiden has openly conceded thatthere are “a whole range of thingsaround the world that we can’tsolve” — the issue on hand wasability of the so-called ‘mostpowerful military in the world’ todefeat the Taliban mujahideen inAfghanistan.

Even earlier, during thebloody Indo-Chinese borderstandoff in 2020, the ostensibly‘muscular politics’ of DonaldTrump only led to an offer by thePOTUS to “mediate or arbitrate”as he was “ready, willing andable”! Constant Chinese attemptto shift the existing norms andstatus quo on the Line of ActualControl was left for India to fend.Today, as a record number ofChinese fighter jets routinelyintrude into Taiwan’s Air DefenceZone, wary Taiwanese genuine-ly ponder: “Will the US showup?” in case Xi Jinping decides to

SOUNDBITE

It’s important to preserve the unity of all EU membersin protecting thesovereignty of our State.

Ukraine President— Volodymyr Zelenskiy

PM Narendra Modiji called up toenquire about myhealth. I am thank-ful for his concernand good wishes.

NCP president— Sharad Pawar

I found a parallel inboth the Test andODI defeats. Thesame mistake wasresponsible: Teamselection!

India ex-cricketer— Sanjay Manjrekar

Deviating just a little from sporting his usual type of headgear this Republic Day,Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to don a cap from Uttarakhand and stolefrom Manipur around his neck. Normally, as seen on previous R-Day and

Independence Day celebrations, he prefers to opt for a bright, multi-coloured saafa orturban. On Modi’s cap was inscribed a ‘Brahmakamal’, which is interestingly the Stateflower of Uttarakhand. To be fair to him, though, the Prime Minister is apparently fondof the ‘Brahmakamal’ and uses the flower whenever he offers prayers at the Kedarnathtemple. Similarly, the white, black and red woven stole that he draped around his neck

is a leitmotif of the Meitei tribe in Manipur. Once again,his choice to wear these accessories may be seen asan attempt to cosy himself to voters in the two hillyStates. No wonder, Uttarakhand Chief Minister PushkarSingh Dhami immediately took to Twitter to point outthat the PM wore the famous ‘Brahmakamal’ cap, dif-ferent from the colourful turbans that he has worn dur-ing the previous R-Day celebrations.

For his part, Minister Biswajit Singh wrote:“Moment of great pride and honour for entire#Manipur on seeing Adarniya PM @NarendraModiJi wearing a Manipuri stole, Leirum Phee, on the glo-

rious occasion of 73rd Republic Day of India, showcasing the exquisite tradition of thestate.” The Leirum Phee has been seen on the PM on many occasions in the past,especially during live addresses to the nation. The Prime Minister’s hint to both Uttarakhandand Manipur, besides three other States where elections have already been notified,was rather vigorous than subtle. Uttarakhand votes on February 14 and Manipur onFebruary 27 and March 3. However, the jury is still debating whether, legally or not, itbehoves someone of the stature of the Prime Minister to use a national festival to fur-ther his party’s agenda and send out a signal of endearment especially to the elec-torate in the poll-bound States. Continuing in the same vein, the choice of national heroesfeatured in the tableaux could have been more exhaustive. The grand parade depict-ed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, quite deservedly; still itskipped any chances of showcasing a glimpse of Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar andJawaharlal Nehru, all of whom have also been tall national leaders. The nation’s momentof pride might just have been one more shade happier.

Today as we celebrate the 73rd year of India becoming a Republic, can we takea moment to digress from freedom and heroism to ask ourselves where westand on the subject of kissing? The context is a Mumbai court discharging

actor Shilpa Shetty in an age-old kissing case involving Hollywood actor Richard Gere.At an event to promote AIDS awareness in 2007, Gere suddenly held Shetty’s handon the dais and kissed it. He then gave her a quick hug, bent her back in what helater explained as a dance hold from his movie Shall We Dance and kissed her onthe cheek. Many Indians were angry. They called him indecent. They blamed Shettyfor not objecting to the kiss. They filed cases against both. The case against himwas quickly dismissed. Gere apologised, saying he had no bad intention at all. Shettywas left languishing, the case a millstone around her neck. She was called a con-spirator or perpetrator just because she did not object to the kiss. The Indian judi-cial system chugged along all these years to finally ‘discharge’ her, pointing out whatwas evident in 2007 itself that she was victimised. The case should have been dis-missed on the day it was filed instead of waiting all this while. Looking back, were

we prudes in 2007? It is not easy to answer becausewe tend to mix up our sensibilities when dealing withreal and reel incidents of oscular affection. The for-mer, we oppose. The latter, we enjoy.

Remember when actor Padmini Kolhapure kissedPrince Charles in Mumbai in 1980? The orthodoxywent into spasms for days. Did not Shabana Azmiraise the hackles of conservative Muslims in 1993when anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela kissed herat an event in Cape Town? There was no social mediathen or else the visuals would have gone viral likethe 2016 video of Girija Srinivas, a panchayat mem-

ber, kissing then Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. If we were prudes, or hyp-ocrites, for these kisses to shock us, imagine the reaction back in the 1930s whenDevika Rani, the first lady of the Indian cinema, did an intimate kissing scene withHimanshu Rai in Karma. Bollywood has ensured that our conservatism loosens upto the beats of modernity by inserting kissing scenes regularly in films. Bobby thrilledviewers, Satyam Shivam Sundaram sizzled them, Dhoom2 was consummate. RajaHindustani introduced kissing in family films. Even a film titled Hey Raam had it. Ifnot most Indian viewers, Bollywood certainly has kept time with ever-changing rela-tionships. Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das portrayed lesbian love in Fire. Saqib Saleembrushed lips with Randeep Hooda in Bombay Talkies. A kiss is an expression of endear-ment. Not every kiss is sexual. It can be civil or perfunctory, too. If our censor board,which frowns upon just about everything in films, could pass hot kissing scenes,there is every reason for us to be neither prejudiced nor hypocritical.

Kiss and tell

OutreachPM Modi’s head cap and stole were a message

to the voters of Manipur and Uttarakhand

PICTALK

The CPWD tableau during the Republic Day Parade, at Rajpath in New Delhi PTI

A court has closed the Shetty-Gere case, which was actually just a trifle

I want to share my journey as anew mother….Breastfeeding isone of the mostnatural things you can do.

Actor— Evelyn Sharma

Can expenditure taxbe alternative to I-T?

HUNDREDS OF SENA WORKERS STOOD BY HINDUS

DURING THE 1993 RIOTS AFTER BABRI MASJID’S

DEMOLITION. MANY SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES.

—SHIV SENA RAJYA SABHA MP

SANJAY RAUT

WHO ALL FROM THE SENA PARTICIPATED IN

THE RAM JANMABHOOMI MOVEMENT? YOUR

HINDUTVA IS MERELY ON PAPER.

—BJP LEADER AND FORMER CM

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS

If personal income tax is abolished but corporate income tax stays, as was

done in some nations, it will be an open invitation to all sorts of manipulations

Never before perhaps a national memorial to soldiers has sparkedsuch a major controversy as the decision to extinguish the 50-year-old eternal flame -Amar Jawan Jyoti - at India Gate or the

installation of Netaji’s statue at a disputed canopy. Earlier, a propos-al to install Mahatma Gandhi’s statue there was not considered befit-ting to his stature and abandoned. Then how can Netaji’s statue bebe installed there? India Gate was a memorial for the 80,000 Indiansoldiers killed in foreign wars. The Jyoti was lit at its arch in 1972 bythe then prime minister Indira Gandhi to commemorate the victoryagainst Pakistan in 1971, creation of Bangladesh and in tribute to thesoldiers. The dispute has now been sparked by an apparent target-ing of the Congress at the height of the elections to UP and four otherstates. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is the other tar-get whose Netaji tableau for Republic Day parade was rejected and

BJP is alleged to be appropriating Netaji’s legacy. The Governmentsays though the flame was lit in 1972, the names of 3,843 martyrsof the 1971 war were not inscribed. The National War Memorial nextto India Gate is the first national monument, with whose flame theone at Amar Jawan Jyoti has been merged. An unseemly situationis developing. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slamming the govern-ment says that flames are for our soldiers and would be lit again. “Thisis insulting history and memory of the martyrs of Bangladesh war. Itis shocking outrage”, says former Congress minister Anand Sharma.Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan says it is an “unnec-essary controversy” and the opposition lacks knowledge of history.

The Congress is accusing the present government of not givingdue to leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and RajivGandhi even as BJP appropriates freedom fighters like VallabhbhaiPatel, BR Ambedkar Patel and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The peo-ple in Delhi feel that the Jyoti is historic and should have continued.Many Hindu shrines, including in Badarinath, have jyoti lit continu-ously for centuries. It is being echoed that now it is not the same jyotiat the NWM. The nation has to respect, honour and be proud of itsheritage. Doing anything new is not a novelty. Let the nation think,consider, discuss and then do. The government says that dignitariescannot pay tributes at two shrines. On the other hand, people won-der why suddenly the decision to install the Netaji statue was announcedwithout a discussion.The statue of George V was removed from thecanopy in 1968. In 1991, former prime minister Chandra Shekharwanted the canopy demolished and a Gandhi statue erected there.But since the canopy housed a colonial occupier, who was removedby Indian freedom fighters, a statue of an Indian leader was foundinappropriate and insulting. So Gandhi was never given that place.

Netaji has been raised to an icon by RSS executive member IndreshKumar who initiated an event in Andaman to celebrate Netaji freeingthe island and setting up the first national Azad Hind government everyDecember end. Most senior leaders feel Netaji should have an inde-pendent place and not a “tainted” one. But it is more than this. NarendraModi wants to trounce Mamata Banerjee. In 2021, he tried by hav-ing the 125th birth anniversary celebrations on eve of Bengal elec-tions at Kolkata’s Victorial Memorial, an incongruous British symbol.Mamata had stolen the show. Now the government wants to installthe Netaji statue to spite her. Would that help BJP? Unseemly battlesdo not behove a great nation. But politics is at a new low.

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal.)

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 27, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNPLAYING WITH THENATION’S HERITAGE

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

SHIVAJI SARKAR

SUBHASH CHANDRAPANDEY

People feel that Amar Jawan Jyoti shouldn’thave been merged with another flame

The budget for the next financialyear is approaching and the pinkpress is full of comments and sug-gestions. Expectations are high

on the post-pandemic economic recov-ery. For some, budget is all about taxation,particularly personal income tax.

There is a common gripe that thefixed-income group of salaried class andpensioners bear the brunt of income taxwhile flexible-income group of profes-sionals and businesses have enough legalloopholes available to avoid payingincome tax.

There are also voices against the veryidea of taxing incomes because thatmeans taxing low spenders and highspenders alike and actually discouragingsavings. Here is an attempt to present dif-ferent dimensions of this interestingdebate.

Nearly 5.95 crore Income Tax Returnswere filed for the financial year 2019-20till the extended deadline of January 10,2021. For the financial year 2020-21, overfive crore ITRs were filed till December29, 2021.

Out of total population of over 130crore, only about 1.46 crore actually paidincome tax for financial year 2019-20.

A detailed analysis of about 5.87crore ITRs for FY2017-18 showed that5.53 crore were from individual filers, 11.3lakhs from Hindu Undivided Families,12.7 lakhs from firms and 8.4 lakh fromcompanies.

Out of the reported gross total incomeof ̀ 51.33 lakh crore, business income was`24.37 lakh crore and salary/pensionincome was `20.04 lakh crore. Taxablesalary/pension (above `5 lakh pa limit)returned was `15.55 lakh crore with taxliability of about 3.95 lakh crore.

The salary/pension income is a majorbut not the dominant source of incometax. Total income tax collected in 2018-19 was `11.37 lakh crore out of whichcompanies alone paid `6.64 lakh crore.

Of course, the argument that businessand professional income is more evasionprone than salary/pension income isunassailable.

Efforts to curb income tax evasionrevolve around tracking major expendi-tures and indicators of high conspicuousconsumption (foreign travel, electricityconsumption etc). Increasingly, highconsumption and investment both aretracked by taxmen following the digitalfootprints left behind by PAN AAD-HAAR linkage.

Can any expenditure tax yield over`11 lakh crore to substitute expendituretax? Over and above GST collectionwhich at current rate of monthly collec-tion of about `1.3 lakh crore comes toabout annual collection of about `15.6lakh crore?

To tax income or to tax expenditure?Which is more efficient and equitable wayof collecting tax? An expenditure by oneperson is the income of another person

MOST INCOMESARE LUMPY WHILEEXPENDITURES ARE

MORE DIFFUSE,HARDER TO TRACK

CRORES OFSALE/PURCHASE

TRANSACTION,MORE SO IF MADEIN CASH. GETTINGLUMPY INCOME IN

CASH IS HARDERTHAN SPENDING

IN CASH. A LOW TAX BASEEXPENDITURE TAX WILL NOT

COMPENSATE THELOSS OF REVENUE

BY ABOLITION OF INCOME TAX

AND A WIDE BASEEXPENDITURE TAX

WILL PROVE MOREREGRESSIVE

WITH CASCADINGEFFECT UNLESS

GST-LIKEMEASURES ARE TAKEN

and vice versa. Whether you taxsalary income of employee orsalary expenditure of employer, theeffect is the same. (Knife andwater melon - what falls on whatis immaterial.)

Just as some incomes are hard-er to detect by taxmen so are someexpenditures. It all depends on howdiffused is the income/expenditurestreams. For some, income comesin big chunks for others it comesin bits and pieces. Some expendi-tures are lumpy some are micropayments. It all depends on whatrate of expenditure tax is applied onwhat class of expenditures.

The philosophy underlyingtaxation of spending rather thanincome was propagated as early asthe seventeenth century byThomas Hobbes who consideredit unfair to tax low spenders andhigh spenders having same incomealike.

In spite of the endorsement bysome economists exempting sav-ing from taxation, an expendituretax has never been used in anyindustrial country.

Prof Nicholas Kaldor ofCambridge University made astrong case for expenditure tax in1955. He proposed an expendituretax be substituted for the surtax onhigher income taxpayers in Britain.India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)had adopted Kaldor’s suggestion tointroduce an expenditure tax for afew years but dropped it by 1966.The tax was different from thatrecommended by Kaldor and thesmall revenue yield was considerednot worth the burden of compli-ance and administration.

Kaldor received reconsidera-tion in India when ExpenditureTax was re-introduced in 1987with very limited scope. Under the

Expenditure Tax Act, 10 per centtax is charged on payment madeat a high-end hotel (with room rentexceeding `3000 per day).

The proponents of expendituretax argue that the Income Tax bur-den falls on salaried class/pension-ers and abolition of income tax willbe a big relief to these hassled tax-payers freeing them from the tedi-um of filing tax returns (big lossto charted accountants and lawyersand a dip in national income!)

The Income Tax Departmenttirelessly scrutinises millions ofreturns, which are followed byqueries, clarifications, refunds andprotracted correspondence.However, what is the guaranteethat expenditure tax will not bringmore hassles of record keeping.Most incomes are lumpy whileexpenditures are more diffuse,harder to track crores of sale/pur-chase transaction, more so if madein cash. Getting lumpy income incash is harder than spending incash.

A low tax base expenditure taxwill not compensate the loss of rev-enue by abolition of income taxand a wide base expenditure taxwill prove more regressive withcascading effect unless GST likemeasures are taken.

Every time money changeshands and every transfer/disburse-ment /payment is not EXPENDI-TURE. When some bank is givenmoney to disburse salaries or pen-sions or dividends, the expenditureis only by the employer or compa-ny, the disbursing bank is only anintermediary, a courier. Themoney does not belong to thebank. Postman delivery of cash isnot postman’s expenditure. Soobviously all such remittanceswould be out of expenditure tax.

We are talking of expenditure taxnot transaction tax.

If we include salary, pension,interest, rent payment withinexpenditure tax, the recipient willnot only face effective income taxbut will be further liable to suffermore expenditure tax when spend-ing the received income by way ofsalary/pension/ interest/rent.

Complexities of decidingwhich income to tax at what ratewill be substituted by perhapsmore complex task of taxing dif-ferent types of expenditures at dif-ferent rates. (Imagine a tax dispute:This is not wedding party but prewedding or post wedding partytaxable at lower rate!)

If personal income tax is abol-ished while corporate income taxstays as was done by some coun-tries, there is open invitation to allsorts of manipulations. Personalexpenses of shareholders andemployees will get shifted as cor-porate expenses and promoterswill drain out corporate profits bybeing lenders, landlords andemployees of their own compa-nies!! Have seen it all.

One of the reasons why expen-diture tax did not find favour withmajor countries as the assessmentthat this tax will discourage spend-ing (encourage savings) and wouldimpede growth.

The risk of discouraging suchspending as is reportable to taxdepartment hurting overall eco-nomic growth is very much there.People resent government tryingto snoop around finding what theyearn. They will be more alarmedand more hassled if governmentstarts hassling them and snoopingaround what they spend!!

I think expenditure tax is anidea whose time has gone.

(The writer is President,Institute of Public

Auditors of India andformer Special

Secretary, Ministry ofCommerce and

Industry. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s declaration of 2022as the ASEAN-India

friendship year goes beyondceremonial rhetoric. India seeksto improve the level of partner-ship with key Southeast Asiancountries. Recent developmentsindicate this trajectory. Fromhigh-level engagements withIndonesia and Vietnam to final-izing the sale of the BrahMosshore-based supersonic cruisemissile with the Philippines,India has endeavored to bolsterits strategic partnership withthese countries. However, it willbe interesting to assessthe statusof India-Cambodia relationsgiven that both countries will becelebrating their 70th anniver-sary of diplomatic relations thisyear. Though the relationsbetween India and Cambodiahave been growing steadily over

the past years,Cambodia hasbeen seen to be moving deeper-into China’s sphere of influence.Being Cambodia’s largest trad-ing partner, China continues toincrease its influence there.China has fundedat least 70 percent of Cambodia’s key infra-structure, particularly, roadsand bridges. China promised todeliver an amount of RMB 4 bil-lion (US$588 million) in aidbetween 2019-2021. During thepandemic, China has also great-ly supported Cambodia.

This heavy dependency onChina has led to a series of diplo-matic problems for Cambodia.From the deportation of Uyghurasylum seekers to blocking theissuing of anjoint communiqueon the assertion of China in theSouth China Sea, Cambodiahas constantly been under thespotlight due to actions that con-

tinue to compromise its stand-ing in the regional and globallevel. In fact, in 2020, formerSingaporean diplomat BilahariKausikan highlighted howSoutheast Asian countries mayneed to considerrecokingCambodia’s ASEAN member-ship due to its vulnerability toexternal pressure. Recently,theUS announceda new set ofrestrictions on Cambodia,including an arms embargo,due to its notorious humanrights abuses and China’s grow-ing military influence.

Despite its inevitable andincreasing reliance on China,Cambodia must attempt to revi-talise and diversify its relation-ship with other key and majorpartners in the Indo-Pacific thatseek to ensure the maintenanceof a rules-based and transparentregional order as a foundationfor international relations.Among these partners, India sig-nificantly stands out due to itshistoric relationship withCambodia based on principlesof mutual benefit and non-interference. As Cambodiaassumed its role as ASEANChair for 2022, it will be a prag-matic option for both countriesto step-up their relations. OnJanuary 10, Indian ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankarspoke with Cambodian ForeignMinister Prak Sokhonn toemphasize India’s steadfast com-

mitment to boost its partnershipwith ASEAN. Moreover, bothofficials discussed a wide arrayof regional security issues thatdirectly impact Southeast Asiancountries.

India is amongCambodia’stop 1 foreign investors andoffers a massive market of 1.3billion people for a much need-ed diversification of PhnomPenh’s exports. Being recognisedas one of Asia’s most stable post-colonial countries and theworld’s largest democracy, Indiacan serve as a practical model forCambodia in its quest to maxi-mize peace within its borders.Furthermore, as India’s capabil-ities are growing exponentiallyin terms of economic capacity,military strength, andsoft power,its role in Southeast Asia and thegreater Indo-Pacific in generalwill also be expected to increase.

Given the intensifyingpower competition between theUS and China, it will be imper-ative for Cambodia to bring inIndia into its overall strategic cal-culus to balance and safeguardits interests. This will also ben-efit India’s Southeast Asia strat-egy as it seeks to present itself asan important security provider,capacity builder, and strategicpartner in the region. Moreover,forging robust relations withIndia will not only improve theChina-dependent narrativeoften attributed to Cambodia,but will also provide the latterwith an opportunity to balanceand diversify its external rela-tions without directly gettingembroiled in the existing US-China competition. India’sadherence to strategic autonomywill provide Cambodia with aless controversial position vis-à-

vis its relations with China andserve as a complement to theoverarching India-ASEAN part-nership. It is therefore crucial forCambodia to maximize itsengagements with India giventhe geopolitical and economicuncertainty brought by theintensifying power competitionand the crippling effects of theCovid pandemic.

However, India must alsomaintain a proactive level ofconsistency in applying its ActEast Policy. The lack of momen-tum in the past has allowedcountries like China to monop-olize influence over keySoutheast Asian countries. It willbe necessary for India to projectitself as a responsible stake-holder in the stability of theregion and a trustworthy part-ner that seeks to achieve mutu-al gains.

Despite its increasing reliance on China, Cambodia must revitalise its relationship with other key and major partners in the Indo-Pacific

Ties with India can help Cambodia’s long-term interests

DON MCLAIN GILL

(The writer is a resident fellow at the Manila-basedInternational Development and Security Cooperation

(IDSC). The views expressed are personal.)

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 27, 2022 Money 08

MONEY MATTERS

Signaling a return tonormalcy, India's largesttruck lender, Shriram

Transport Finance Company onWednesday said its collectionefficiency returned to 100 percent in the second half ofJanuary after undergoing a briefblip in the first fortnight.Shriram Transport Finance

Company Vice-Chairman andManaging Director Umesh

Revankar said the collection rates would rise in February and Marchas more people get vaccinated and the Omicron variant was lessimpactful on business than originally feared.Collections rates reflectsconfidence levels in borrowers, often seen as a proxy of economicactivity."Third wave (of Covid-19) was only temporary. Doctorsadvise normal treatment and people have come out of fear andbusiness has returned to normal. Some state governments imposedsome restrictions but later it was reversed, by most of them.Everything appears normal now", he told PTI. The company pegsdisbursements to reach pre-Covid-19 levels and expects demand to"shoot up" in coming months."For February and March we feel it willbe good. We feel things will be normal and it will be pre-Covid-19levels, demands will shoot up soon ", he said.He expressed hope thatadditional allocations in the union budget for infrastructure wouldpropel demand for trucks.

Feb, March to see increase indemand: Shriram Transport Finance

Metals and mining groupVedanta Ltd will announcethe contours of a proposal

to spin off key businesses intoseparate listed companies byMarch-end, its chairman AnilAgarwal said, as he looks tosimplify and streamline thecorporate structure to createvalue. While the zinc business isalready housed in a listedsubsidiary, the plan is to

demerge the aluminum, iron and steel, and oil and gas businessesinto standalone listed entities. This will unlock value for allstakeholders as well as create businesses that are positioned betterto capitalise on their distinct market positions and deliver long-termgrowth and enable strategic partnerships, he told PTI in aninterview. It will also help tailor capital structure and capitalallocation policies based on business-specific dynamics as alsocreate distinct investment profiles to attract deeper and broaderinvestor bases. "It (demerger) is a natural thing to do. Market isvery good and production (at different divisions of Vedanta) is goingwell. And so we think having separate companies will createvaluation," he said. "I think, maybe in a month and a half, sometimebefore March-end we will announce the full (contours)." Mumbai-listed Vedanta Ltd had in November last year announced that itsboard of directors had formed a sub-committee to evaluate apotential spinoff of its aluminum, iron and steel, and oil and gasbusinesses into separate listed companies.

Vedanta demerger call byMarch-end: Anil Agarwal

The government onWednesday said theMinistry of Coal, through

its CPSEs, has registered a28.33 per cent year-on-yeargrowth in capex achievementat Rs 12,605.75 crore for theperiod ending December,2021.The Ministry of Coal,through its Central PublicSector Enterprises (CPSEs),had registered a capex

achievement of Rs 9,822.28 crore for the period up to December,2020, "As compared to the last year's achievement of Rs 9,822.28crore for the period up to December, 2020, Coal Ministry CPSEs havedone capex of Rs 12,605.75 crore, thereby giving a major impetus tothe COVID-struck economy," the coal ministry said in a statement.Thiscapex achievement is also 75 per cent of the Ministry of Coal's annualtarget, the statement added.Coal India (CIL) is one of the CPSEsunder the coal ministry. CIL had earlier said that its capitalexpenditure jumped more than two-fold to Rs 1,840 crore in the firstquarter of 2021-22, compared to Rs 844 crore in the year-agoquarter.

Coal Ministry CPSEs clock28.33 pc growth in capex

PNS nMUMBAI

Insurance companies are seek-ing a separate deduction limitof Rs 1 lakh for insurance pre-mium payment under Section80 C of the Income Tax Act inthe upcoming Union Budget tobring in more people under theambit of insurance.

The insurers also wantreduction in the goods and ser-vices tax (GST) rate of 18 percent currently applied onhealth insurance products to 5per cent to make such productsmore affordable to commonpeople.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman will present theUnion Budget for 2022-23 onFebruary 1.

"The industry has longpending expectations from thepolicy makers for incentivizingpeople to get life insurance bygiving a separate deductionlimit of minimum Rs 1 lakh forinsurance premium paymentunder Section 80C," TarunRustagi Chief Financial OfficerCanara HSBC OBC LifeInsurance said.

Life insurance is a long-term solution, unlike otherfinancial products which havea shorter investment horizon

and are covered under the80C provision.

Currently, all financial pur-chases are clubbed under thesame IT deduction section(80C) capped at Rs 1,50,000.

"We expect the budget toconsider creating a separatesection for tax deduction onpremium paid towards lifeinsurance. This would enable amore logical segregation ofcustomer's funds into long-term and short-term kitties,"Edelweiss Tokio Life InsuranceExecutive Director SubhrajitMukhopadhyay said.

Ageas Federal LifeInsurance Managing Director

and CEO Vighnesh Shahanesaid the Section 80 C is cur-rently cluttered with severalinvestment options such asPublic Provident Fund (PPF),Equity-Linked Savings Scheme(ELSS) and National SavingsCertificate (NSC) amongst oth-ers. "At least, a separate sectionfor term policies would behelpful given the current sce-nario and the huge protectiongap in the country," Shahanesaid.

Future Generali India LifeInsurance Senior VP and HeadProducts and DevelopmentChinmay Bade said that lifeinsurance is a proxy to social

security in case of death of aperson as well as survival and,therefore, the exemption limitof 1.5 lakh under Section 80Cneeds a revision.

As per IRDAI's AnnualReport-2020-21, insurancepenetration in the country is at4.2 per cent of the GDP vis-à-vis a global average of 7.4 percent. As of March, 2021, thenon-life insurance penetrationstood at barely 1 per cent.

Liberty General InsuranceCEO and Whole-TimeDirector Roopam Asthana saiddue to the uncertainty spurred

by the COVID-19 pandemic,health insurance has becomean everyday need in order toprotect oneself from uncertain-ties and is more relevant thanever. "Therefore, the govern-ment should consider a dras-tic reduction in the GST applic-able on health insurance pre-miums which is currentlycharged at 18 per cent. This willencourage people to purchasehealth insurance and addi-tional top-up plans to protectthemselves from medical crisesand emergencies," Asthananoted.

Budget 2022: Insurers urge higher 80 Cinvestment limit; reduction in GST

Bring natural gas under GST to realisePM's vision of gas-based economy

The government should bringnatural gas under the Goodsand Services Tax (GST)

regime to realise Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's vision for a gas-based economy and raising theshare of the environment-friendlyfuel in India's energy basket, anindustry body that represents thelikes of Reliance Industries aswell state-owned firms, has said.Natural gas is currently outsidethe ambit of GST, and existinglegacy taxes -- central excise

duty, state VAT, central sales tax -- continue to be applicable on thefuel.In its pre-Budgetmemorandum to the financeministry, Federation of IndianPetroleum Industry (FIPI), whichboasts of members from acrossthe oil and gas spectrum, alsodemanded rationalization of GSTon transportation of natural gasthrough pipeline as well as on re-gasification of imported LNG tohelp bring down cost of theenvironment friendly fuel.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian government is like-ly to hand over Air India to theTata Group on Thursday, near-ly 69 years after it was takenfrom the conglomerate, offi-cials said on Wednesday.

After a competitive biddingprocess, the government hadon October 8 last year sold AirIndia to Talace Private Limited- a subsidiary of the TataGroup's holding company - forRs 18,000 crore.

Meanwhile, two airline pilotunions - Indian Pilots' Guild(IPG) and Indian CommercialPilots' Association (ICPA) - onMonday warned Air India'sCMD Vikram Dev Dutt oflegal action as "multiple deduc-tions and recoveries have beenprojected" on the dues owed topilots.

"This recovery exercise isentirely illegal, and we demandthat this anomaly is rectifiedand the amount due is repaidwith immediate effect," theletter sent by the two unionssaid.

Additionally, two otherunions have opposed the car-rier's January 20 order to checkgrooming and measure thebody mass index (BMI) ofcabin crew members at the air-ports just before their flights.

These unions - Air India

Employees' Union (AIEU) andAll India Cabin CrewAssociation (AICCA) - onMonday wrote to Dutt oppos-ing the order on the groundsthat it is dehumanising and inviolation of rules prescribed byaviation regulator DGCA.

"BMI is a person's weight inkilograms divided by thesquare of height in metres. Ahigh BMI can indicate highbody fatness," stated the web-site of US' Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention.

Three days after Air India'ssale was announced onOctober 8 last year, a Letter ofIntent (LoI) was issued to theTata Group confirming thegovernment's willingness tosell its 100 percent stake in theairline. On October 25, the

Centre signed the share pur-chase agreement (SPA) forthis deal.

Officials said on Wednesdaythat the airline will most like-ly be handed over to the con-glomerate on Thursday as allthe formalities are close tocompletion.

As a part of the deal, theTata group will also be hand-ed over Air India Express anda 50 percent stake in groundhandling arm Air India SATS.

Tatas had on October 8 beatthe Rs 15,100-crore offer by aconsortium led by SpiceJetpromoter Ajay Singh and thereserve price of Rs 12,906crore set by the government forthe sale of its 100 percentstake in the loss-making car-rier.

Air India likely to be handedover to Tata group today

PNS n NEW DELHI

Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) has become the secondmost valuable brand in the ITservices sector globally, whileInfosys and four other Indiantech majors have firmly estab-lished their position among thetop 25 IT services brands tally,according to Brand Finance.

Following TCS and Infosys(third spot), there are fourmore Indian brands now firm-ly established among the glob-al elite - Wipro (7th), HCL(8th), Tech Mahindra (15th)and LTI (22nd), as per theBrand Finance IT Services 252022 report.

All six Indian brands featureamong the top 10 fastest-grow-ing IT Services brands over thecourse of 2020-2022, the brandvaluation firm added.

Accenture retained the titleof world's most valuable andstrongest IT services brand,boasting record brand value of

USD 36.2 billion, as per thereport.

Indian IT services brandsmade a leap with averagegrowth from 2020 to 2022 at 51per cent, compared to a sevenper cent drop for brands fromthe US.

A global turn to remoteworking for professional ser-vices and an accelerated digi-talisation trend across the glob-al economy have facilitatedexpansion of IT services hubswithin India.

With strong IT servicesbrands and a large populationof people with digital skills,India will continue to play amajor role in developing infra-structure for artificial intelli-gence, data analytics andInternet of Things (IoT), itadded.

The report said as IBM hasgone down to fourth rank,TCS has risen up to secondspot in ranking, following 12per cent growth year-on-year

and 24 per cent since 2020, toa brand value of USD 16.8 bil-lion.

TCS - in a regulatory filingsaid - this growth is attributedto the company's investmentsin its brand and its employees,customer equity and strongfinancial performance.

Strong revenue growth in2021, saw TCS cross an impor-tant milestone, hitting USD 25billion in revenue for the first

time, with an industry-leadingoperating profit margin of over25 per cent.

"TCS continues to rise up theIT services rankings to becomethe second most valuable brandin the sector for the first time.

"This great achievement isthe result of strong financialgrowth, strong and continuedinvestments in a new globalbrand positioning last year... Ialso see TCS' focused commit-

ment to serving the needs of itsemployees, customers, andcommunities, which always –in the long run – drives brandperformance," David Haigh,CEO and Chairman of BrandFinance, said. TCS CMORajashree R said the ranking isa landmark milestone for thecompany and a validation of itsincreased market relevanceand focus on innovation andtransformation of clients, theircustomers, and the larger com-munity. "With our differentiat-ed 'customer focused' strategy,superior execution, invest-ments in building newer capa-bilities and sustained focus onresearch and innovation overthe last decade, we are indeedwell positioned to capitalise onthe multi-year technologytransformation opportunitiesthat lie ahead," Rajashreeadded.

Infosys, at the third spot,emerged as the fastest-growingIT services brand globally fol-

lowing 52 per cent brand valuegrowth since last year and 80per cent since 2020 to USD12.8 billion.Over the past twoyears of the COVID-19 pan-demic, the change is even moreimpressive with the brandrecording an 80 per cent gain,the report said. Strong businessresults can be attributed to thebrand's ability to credibly adaptits offering to fast-evolvingneeds of today's economy aswell as to its continued invest-ment into innovative solutionsthat help clients securely accel-erate their journey to the cloud,the report noted.

Infosys has also continuedto build brand recognitionglobally by nurturing sportscollaborations with ATP,Roland Garros, and theAustralian Open, while alsoforging new ones with MadisonSquare Garden and media-heavyweights – TheEconomist, Financial Times,Bloomberg, it added.

TCS 2nd most valuable IT services brand globally

PNS n NEW DELHI

A joint venture of billionaireMukesh Ambani's RelianceIndustries Ltd (RIL) and ener-gy supermajor BP has openedone of the country's largest EVcharging hubs in Delhi, as theduo scale up the fuel retail net-work, offering multiple fuelchoices including EV charginginfrastructure.

Reliance BP MobilityLimited, operating under thebrand name Jio-bp, is workingwith multiple demand aggre-gators, original equipmentmanufacturers (OEMs) andtechnology partners with avision of being the leading EVcharging infrastructure playerin India, RIL had said in itsthird quarter earningsannouncement last week.

"Jio-bp has constructed andlaunched one of the country'slargest EV charging hubs inDwarka, Delhi with BluSmartas its primary customer," it hadsaid.

RBML had launched its first

Jio-bp branded MobilityStation at Navde, Navi Mumbaiin October last year. And sincethen it has been scaling up thenetwork.

In 2019, BP had bought a 49per cent stake in over 1,400petrol pumps and 31 aviationturbine fuel (ATF) stationsowned by Reliance for USD 1billion. The existing petrolpumps of Reliance had sincebeen transferred to the jointventure, which plans to scalethem up to 5,500 by 2025.

Reliance holds the remain-

ing 51 per cent stake inReliance BP Mobility Limited(RBML). RBML has alreadyreceived the marketing autho-risation for transportationfuels.Petrol pumps with RBMLhave since increased to 1,448,according to latest informationavailable from the petroleumministry. RBML had 1,427outlets at the end of September2021.India's auto fuel retailingis dominated by public sectoroil companies that own themajority of 81,099 petrolpumps in the country.

Jio-BP opens EV charging hub inDelhi; petrol pump count inching up

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian Biogas Association(IBA) has urged the govern-ment to set up a 'BiogasFertiliser Fund' with an initialprovision of Rs 1.4 lakh crorefor five years, as it has thepotential to benefit five crorefarmers and to reduce fossilfuel import bill.

For materializing the envis-aged target of 5,000 plantsunder the SATAT (SustainableAlternative Towards AffordableTransportation) scheme, creat-ing a ‘Biogas-Fertilizer Fund'with an initial provision/corpusof Rs 1.4 lakh crore for the firstfive years period should be awelcome step, IBA said in astatement.

"The government has con-

stantly been talking about dou-bling the income of farmers by2022. 50 million farmers will bebenefitted with the outlay.Biogas Fertilizer Fund will notonly ensure that India importsless fossil fuel but also help

farmers with bio-fertiliser," AR Shukla, President, IBS said.

The IBA has also suggesteddefining a blending quota forstatutory mixing of bio-methane (CBG) in the city gasdistribution network and nat-

ural gas pipeline. A tentativeblending quota of 5 per cent forthe first five year, followed byprogressively increasing it up to10 per cent at the end of 10years.It also stated that the GSTcouncil recently notified theescalation of the GST slabfrom 5 per cent to 12 per centfor biogas plant-related equip-ment and their parts.

"This has put the biogasproducers in a challenging sit-uation. With the end product,biogas, and its other upgradedforms being slated at 5 per centGST slab, the GST rate escala-tion further aggravates theexisting inverted tax structureconcerns, which eventuallycascades onto an increase inthe overall project price," itpointed out.

Indian Biogas Association urges govt to set up Fund

PNS nWASHINGTON

President Joe Biden pledgedlast week to chat more witheveryday Americans and tookan initial step Tuesday after-noon by visiting a gift shopand ice cream store inWashington's Capitol Hillneighbourhood.

Biden went shopping atHoney Made, a boutique thatopened up last year amid thepandemic. The presidentperused the store, choosing ahoodie for his grandson anda necklace for his wife, Jill. Hethen picked up a mug with apicture of Vice PresidentKamala Harris on it.

“I'll get this one, too,” he

said.The excursion occurred as

the administration is trying tospotlight the healthier parts ofthe economy, at a time whenmany Americans are frettingover inflation at a nearly 40-year high. Higher prices haveovershadowed the clear gainsunder Biden's watch as theunemployment rate hasimproved sharply to 3.9%and the economy is poised forthe strongest growth since1984.

The White House issued afact sheet as Biden shoppedthat said the administrationhad provided $400 billion inaid to more than 6 millionsmall businesses.

To highlight economicgrowth, Biden goes shopping

PNS nTOKYO

Global shares were mixedon Wednesday, with manyinvestors staying on the side-lines ahead of an update onhow aggressively the FederalReserve will tackle inflation.

France's CAC 40 addednearly 1.0 per cent in earlytrading to 6,903.90, whileGermany's DAX gained 1.2per cent to 15,309.64.Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.2per cent to 7,461.86.

The future for the Dowindustrials climbed 0.3 percent to 34,287.00. The S&P500 future was 0.4 per centhigher at 4,367.50. Stockshave gyrated this week asmarkets focused on whetherthe US central bank will clar-ify just how fast it plans totighten credit and potential-ly slow the economy. TheFed's two-day meeting wrapsup on Wednesday.At thesame time, tensions over theRussia and Ukraine tensionscontinue to grab attention.

Global sharesmixed ahead ofFed policy

PNS nCOMACHUEN

Mexico's remittances — themoney migrants send home totheir relatives — have soared inthe past two years, and are nowexpected to top USD 50 billionfor the first time once 2021'sfigures are added up. Thatwould surpass almost all othersources of Mexico's foreignincome.But as happy as theMexican government is aboutthe news — it calls the migrants“heroes” — the boom raisesquestions: Will Mexicansalways have to emigrate? Andis it sustainable, or just blipfueled in part by US govern-ment pandemic support pay-ments? In many rural placessuch as Comachuen,Michoacan, every store, busi-ness and family depends onremittances.

“Without these remittancesthat migrants send back to theirfamilies here in Comachuen,the town would have no life,”said Porfirio Gabriel, who hasspent nearly 13 years workingon farms in the United States

and now recruits and supervis-es people to go north.

Remittances as a percentageof Mexico's GDP have almostdoubled over the past decade,growing from 2 per cent ofGDP in 2010 to 3.8 per cent in2020, according to the govern-ment. Between 2010 and 2020,the percentage of households inMexico receiving remittancesgrew from 3.6 per cent to 5.1per cent. For the first 11months of 2021, remittancesgrew by almost 27 per cent.

Mexico is now the thirdlargest receiver of remittancesin the world, behind only Indiaand China, and Mexico nowaccounts for about 6.1 per centof world remittances, accord-ing to a government report.

Mexico's remittances topUS$ 50 billion, surge continues

9

Vijayawada | Thursday January 27, 2022 books

rom stories that detail theshenanigans of animals, to theBCCI’s impact on Indiancricket, to discovering theunity in diversity that is Indiathrough the workings of the

15th Finance Commission, to the saga ofIndia’s first manufacturing park for med-ical devices to lessons homemaker-CEOscan teach MBAs, corporate managersand businesses, to magical foods thatwill change your life, to the agony andecstasy of falling and failing in live, RupaPublications invites you to Bond with thebest this February.

Here’s what’s on offer:

All Creatures Great and Small –By Ruskin Bond

‘Samuel was a snail of some individuali-ty. Some considered him to be the badsnail in the family, but that was becausehe did not listen to his elders and likedto do things on his own… Birds andbutterflies recognized no man-made borders, so why shouldsnails?’If there is one thing thatnever gets old or boringor repetitive, it is storiesthat detail the shenani-gans of animals. Oftenextremely entertaining, animals act incertain ways that are intriguing, won-drous and fascinating.In All Creatures Great andSmall, Ruskin Bond,known for his signaturesimplistic and wittywriting style, brings usstories and personalessays that speak to thisanimal-human equation.He takes us into the world ofambitious snails, connivingeagles, monkeys that love hotbaths, humans who befriend themand many other exciting tales!

On Board: Test, Trial, Triumph —My Years in BCCI — By RatnakarShetty

The Board of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) is an institution that elicitsextreme reactions. While some marvel atthe remarkable work it has done to pro-mote and develop cricket in India andelsewhere, others decry it as beingmyopic, arrogant and money-minded.However, nobody can deny the impactthe BCCI has had not only on Indiancricket, but also international cricket andthe influence it commands. Over theyears, the professionalism and excellencedisplayed by Indian cricketers on thefield has been complemented by the zeal and diligence of those who worked

tirelessly behind the scenes to takeIndian cricket to where it is today.On Board offers the reader an opportu-nity to walk through the corridors ofthis extraordinary institution and enterits meeting rooms, where many issueswere discussed and momentous deci-sions taken. Penned by Prof Ratnakar Shetty, whohas been an integral part of the BCCI’sevolution from being just a member of the International Cricket Council(ICC) to the most powerful cricketboard on the planet, the book is anengaging read.

Those Were the Days: TalesFrom The 15th FinanceCommission – By Ashok K. Lahiri

The Finance Commission has played acritical role in India’s federal structuresince 1952.

Every five years, this constitu-tional body produces a report recom-mending what share of the UnionGovernment’s divisible tax pool shouldbe devolved to the states, and how thisaggregate should be distributed amongthe different states, among other recom-mendations on fiscal governance. Inbetween its appointment and submissionof its Report, the Finance Commissiontends to spend the intervening period inthe relative secrecy of internal discus-sions and state visits.Despite the excitement about theCommissions in the media, and amongthe public, leaders and bureaucrats instates, little is publicly known about therich experiences that the members and

staff of the Commission gain while visit-ing all the states of our large and diversecountry, and their interpersonal interac-tions.Those Were the Days captures vignettesof such experiences of the 15th FinanceCommission. It is a book not of historyor economics or even secret delibera-tions within the Commission, but onethat captures the joys of working as ateam, a sense of discovery of the unity indiversity that is India and the greatcamaraderie that it enjoyed with leadersand civil servants in the different states.

Made in Lockdown: India’sMedtech Growth Powered byAMTZ — By Jitendra Sharma

AMTZ is India’s premier medical tech-nology park with common manufactur-ing and scientific facilities that includespecialized laboratories, warehousing

and testing centres suchas the centre for elec-

tromagneticcompatibil-

ity andsafetytesting,centreforbio-mate-rial

testing,centre for3D print-ing, centres

for lasers,MRI mag-

nets,gammairradi-ation,

mouldsand

many otherindustrial service

centres.This book highlights the

real strength of AMTZ — notjust the products to fight the pandemic, but a broader ambit of thehealthcare value chain. Made inLockdown is all about how AMTZ showcases modern India as a leader inthe medical technology global stage.

Every Mother Is a CEO:Management Lessons From MyMother — By Dhanjit Vadra

Homemaker-CEOs can teach MBAs,corporate managers and businessesmuch more than you ever imagined.Doesn’t managing a home’s finances,nurturing the family’s nutritional andemotional needs and planning the work-flow of everyday activities of different

family members count as management?Every Mother Is a CEO answers thesequestions and more. In a breezy, conver-sational style, the author Dhanjit Vadra— Managing Director, Allen &Alvan PvtLtd and CEO, Allen & Alvan Defence &Aerospace – recounts the ways in whichhis mother Urmil Vadra worked tireless-ly towards managing a large household,raising a family and assisting his fatherbuild a hardware manufacturing empirefrom scratch.

Heal With Foods: MagicalIngredients That Will ChangeYour Life — By Manjari Chandra

A vibrant, healthy you starts with yourgut!Our food choices are driven by what wesubconsciously feed to our brain, influ-enced by advertisements, peers, societalnorms and many environmental factors.Immaculately designed packets and theirstrategic placement on store shelvescompel us to buy foods that, in reality,we do not need. These are the foods thatdeteriorate our overall health, particular-ly the gut, when in fact, the gut definesand influences every aspect of our health— from digestion and body weight, tomood, hormonal balance and immunity.And gut health can only be enhanced byeating nutritionally rich, wholesomefoods.

Premier Amour: First Love — ByAbhay

A love story that is at once exciting andtender!The fact and fiction about love storiesinevitably merge at some point, and onebecomes the other. The proof liesbetween these pages.

Just like the lovebirds in real life,Bhanu and Bhushan experience theecstasy and agony of falling and failingin love. But will they rise again in love?Will their first love give them a secondchance? Those who have loved will get aclue from these lines:A woman’s heart in love is like a peacockin the rains. It has to give in to muchsinging and dancing, flutter its rainbowfeathers and spread them in an oversizedarch, then strut all over the place wear-ing that colourful cloak, announcing tothe world that it is the season of love.First love is a rare lucky charm. Alwayswear it close to your heart.To love and to lose in love is worse thannot to love.I am still recovering from a fracturedheart, and it is unfair to give someonesomething that is broken.Some women prefer to win their man,not steal him.Let’s ride the tide, love is by our side.

— IANS

Bond with the best this February

idely known for hisbestseller booksCatalyst and Get Betterat Getting Better, thelate ChandramouliVenkatesan’s third

book titled TRANSFORM wascompleted just before he suc-cumbed to pancreatic cancer. Itwas intended to be a part of alonger series of books he wantedto write to help guide people tobetter navigate their careers. Inthis new book, published byPenguin, Mouli does what hedoes best, highlighting the mostimportant ways to grow andimprove through a key skill –people management.

Having a proven 29-year trackrecord across companies likeAsian Paints, Onida, Mondelez(erstwhile Cadbury) and Pidilite,Mouli has worked across multi-ple disciplines and brings all hisexperience to life through theinsights he provides in this book.

During his career, Mouliobserved that people manage-ment skills are a near universalrequirement in all industries,and their impact in making aperson successful is high. Healso found that the people at thetop are not necessarily the mosttechnically competent or themost creative, but they werealmost always good leaders andmanagers — making them goodat people management. Heviewed people management asone of the four key levers toachieving success in one’s lifeand work.

We often view people manage-ment to be the actions that“leaders” and “managers” take,and many of us dream of being“leaders” one day ourselves.Mouli’s writing style, however,makes you rethink concepts suchas leadership and managementand how they actually aren’t one

dimensional in nature.This book is based on a devel-

opment program Mouli used torun called Lead & Manage. Thebook aims to bust certain mythswe have — such as “leaders” onlybeing those with leadership builtinto their role, like a CEO. Infact, he argues that no matteryour role, your actions must beto both lead and manage simul-taneously.

What makes Transform differ-ent is that Mouli has developed apractical work plan for his read-ers. By completing the few sim-ple exercises in the book rigor-ously, you can learn to drive var-ious behavioural and actionbased shifts in the way oneapproaches their career.

On book, Anand Kripalu,Managing Director & CEO, EPLsays, “Mouli has been one of mybest reportees. The book sharesinsights on people managementto help young managers move upthe corporate ladder fast. I amsure the book will leave a lastingimpact and accelerate the careersof those who read it.”

Dr. Ranjan Banerjee, Dean —BITSoM, says, “How do yougrow your people and in doingso, grow yourself? As somebodywho has been both CEO and HRhead, Mouli is/was uniquelyplaced to speak about this. Clear,simple and actionable, this is amust read for both aspiring andcurrent leaders.” Insightful andpractical, TRANSFORM is acomprehensive book on leader-ship and management whichcovers many important conceptsto improve chances of corporatesuccess.

Available at book stores andon Amazon.in

Hardcover | Non-fiction | Rs 399

TRANSFORM will make youa better leader, manager

w

f

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

FUN

elivering proper care to those withmental health issues has alwaysbeen a big challenge. India is on theverge of a mental health epidemic,yet it’s hard to find a public dis-course on ways to prevent mental

health disorders or treat them.According to a report by the World Health

Organisation in 2019, over 264 million peopleare affected by depression and almost 8,00,000people die by suicide each year. The situationhas been further worsened by the onset of thecoronavirus pandemic. The isolation becauseof lockdown, uncertainty and fear due to jobcuts and general discomfort due to the inabili-ty to control different aspects of life has trig-gered severe mental trauma in people acrossIndia. Theissuehasbeen

made even more complicat-ed by the fact that no onehas any idea when thingswill ever return to normal.

To tackle the issue of ris-ing mental health issuesamong people, technologycompanies are leveragingArtificial intelligence-basedsolutions to develop chat-bots tuned to help patientswith mental health concerns.These conversational agents sup-port patients with mental healthissues while offering a high level ofprivacy and anonymity.

Chatbots can be effective but are theyreally the answer? Dr Prakriti Poddar,Mental Health Expert Director at PoddarWellness, answers it all.

A chatbot is able to simulate a conversa-tion on different platforms using audio ortext and sometimes video too. While somechatbots are fully automated, some utilisehuman interfaces. The AI frameworksrequired to be trained with vast amounts ofdata to make these chatbots compatible withthe complexity of human communication havethe ability to understand cultural nuances.

There are chatbots designed to detectsubtle changes in facial expressions, length ofpauses or rates of speech and build a diagnosisaccordingly. In case the chatbot detects a deep-seated problem in the patient, an option tomeet an actual therapist is offered to them, andrelevant helpline numbers are shared.

A part of the population especially, the mil-lennials and Gen Z, believe that chatbots are agreat way to address the issue of the mentalhealth crisis in India. The young crowd is tech-savvy and more comfortable in sharingresponses with a chatbot rather than a realperson. This makes sense when we think abouthow workplaces are becoming more remote,and increasing internet conversations are mak-ing human interaction more limited.

However,not all areconvincedand it canbe debatedwhetherone oughtto be. Issuesrelated tomentalhealth arecomplexand articu-lating howone feels

canbe

quite dif-ficult even in

front of atrained profes-

sional who can seethe facial expressions,

nuanced inflections in body languageand even tone. Compared to that, using achatbot may seem superficial.

Apart from that, there are other issuesas well. A chatbot is trained with underly-ing neural nets and learning algorithmsand can inherit the prejudice of its makers.The algorithms behind a chatbot have to bedesigned in a way that makes sure itbehaves in a specific manner, which is help-ful for the person talking to it on the otherside. The people developing the chatbot needto be well aware of the nuances of mentalhealth.

Bridging the gap

Human beings are complicated creatures,even those who are not struggling with mentalhealth issues. Those suffering from anxiety,depression, schizophrenia, and suicidalthoughts have several layers of thinking andmultiple faces that they put on for their inter-actions. A chatbot, in this scenario, often helps

to bringdown the‘wall’ sinceits biggestweakness isits greateststrengthtoo. Achatbot isneverjudgemen-

tal, it will nevershow empathy too. Most questions used bychatbots are fed in an algorithm based on theCBT technique. The lack of emotional bondingis often what a person suffering from mentalhealth is often looking for. However, it isimportant to remember that chatbots can beeffective in early interventions and a primarydiagnosis of mental health disorders but it isbest not to let chatbots engage in full-blownmental health therapy without any humansupervision.

In conclusion, chatbots can offer support,companionship and therapy which can lessenthe load on therapists drastically. It is indeed aviable option for people who face challengesin terms of affordability and accessibility. Inthe years to come, technology companiesneed to develop chatbots that can strike theright balance of being empathetic withoutbeing judgemental. Those using them mustbe made aware of the limitations of thechatbot and the areas in which it can help— a transparent system is what is required.

hamaSikander whospent her timein Dubairecently daz-zled in the lat-

est photoshoot by keep-ing super fit andindulging herself inspreading smiles. Theactress is flying higheven during these diffi-cult times as she saysthere is no other way sheknows to live life. Weabsolutely adored herpictures and we wantedto know more about herlife in Dubai, what shefeels about the situationback home and what washer idea behind theshoot.

We spoke to Shama onthe current conditionand her photoshoot andhere is what she says, “It’snot easy staying awayfrom home during sucha situation. But allthanks to the almightythat everyone is hail andhearty. Everyonefollowsthe

rules there and there arepunitive implicationsotherwise. We arealthough quite disci-plined even at home.This photoshoot hap-pened as one of myfriends approached mewith this concept and itseemed very exciting asyou all know how muchI enjoy doing new photo-shoots it keeps my cre-ative side excited andbusy So we rallied quick-ly and made it happen.There is a lot more com-ing on that space. I doget to see the sceniclandscape here but Imissed home as muchbecause now I haveCasper my puppy tocome back to along withmy family and friends.I’m happy to be backnow and super excitedfor some good actingprojects coming my way.”

She loves Dubai andDubai loves her. Weloved those stills fromthe inimitable shama andwe wish she keeps them

coming.

on’t you think that the techindustry is shaping thefuture of this country?Well, the 21st century isearmarked as IT driven andwe are at the centre of glob-al attraction considered as a

knowledge powerhouse. And, takingthis act ahead Xebia, the US head-quartered IT consultancy firm hasjoined hands with Microsoft for theirfirst ever blog-a-thon contest! Theblog-a-thon invites IT professionals,students, developers, and leaders toparticipate by sharing solutions on apre-identified list of topics that arecritical for business applications.

The blogs will be further evaluatedby the Xebia — Microsoft jury andwinners will be provided a global visi-bility to showcase their perspectivesand win prizes along with Azure cred-its and mentoring sessions byXebia and Microsoft subjectmatter experts. "This ini-tiative will not onlyenable the students,IT aspirants, devel-opers to showcasetheir skills but alsoget the right expo-sure for futurecareer endeavors.The seasoned pro-fessionals, develop-ers and leaders onthe other hand willhave their tech strategyheard in the right wayglobally. It is also an opportu-nity to IT professionals and develop-ers to learn more about Microsoft’spath breaking technologies andempower them to build the India oftomorrow,” says Runki Goswami —Chief Marketing Officer — XebiaGlobal Services.

As we all know, India ranks thirdamong the most attractive investmentdestinations for technology transac-tions in the world. This nodern Indiahas had a strong focus on science andtechnology, realising that it is a keyelement for economic growth! Thecountry has regularly undertakenspace missions, so why not this now?Runki further says, “Covid times sawan unprecedented number of blogspresenting an array of perspectives in

technology. Some never got theright highlight or a definitive call

to action. Looking at the inno-vative potential of techies

and developers, wethought of give the

bloggers a strategicplatform for

thought leader-ship. This

was awayfrom the

regu-lar

coding games and could bring outbrilliant ideas that can be the base fortomorrow.”

Blogging seems to be like the new-gen thing and capitalising on it quick-ly is Xebia’s strategic mind to infuse itwith an interesting initiative like this!It proves how over just a few decades,the internet went from being aresearch project to being perhaps themost important piece of technologywe have in modern society. Thespokesperson continues, “The covid-19 crisis has brought about years ofchange in the way companies in allsectors and regions do business.Digital adoption has taken a quantumleap at both the organisational andindustry levels. With new tech trendsbeing introduced every quarter andinformation becoming obsolete, it’snow an obligation to stay relevant and

learn about the newest tech-nologies including digital

industry, social media,and the web in gen-

eral. Updated tech-nology trendstoday helps indi-cating new mar-kets, open upnew merchan-dise and alsointroduce new

of development.”Why do they

have a strong beliefin this specific initia-

tive and how are theyaggressively working

towards establishing pioneeringleaders in technological development?To that she replies, “We believe suchcollaborations bring out the best ofdifferent worlds. This is the digitalage and making opportunities for ITaspirants and leaders to share theiropinions on relevant sub-jects surely helps inbringing out brilliantideas and summa-rizing the pros andcons of certaintrends. This ini-tiative will notonly enable theaspirants toshowcase theirskills but also getthe right expo-sure for futurecareer endeavors.The seasoned pro-fessionals, develop-ers and leaders onthe other hand willhave their techstrategy heardin the rightway global-ly.”

Write fromhome now!

d

s

d

Ch

atb

ots

to r

escu

e

ShamaSikander all

excited aboutfuture projects

ThursdayJanuary 27, 2022

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

AP n SAO PAULO

With World Cup spotssecured, Brazil and

Argentina appear set to test play-ers in qualifying who are belovedby fans while trying to provethemselves with national teams.

Vinícius Júnior has notscored in his first nine appear-ances for Brazil and Paulo Dybalahas two goals in 31 games forArgentina.

Vinícius Júnior is expected toreplace Neymar for the Selecaoagainst Ecuador and Dybala islikely to take the field in place ofLionel Messi against Chile.

Four South Americannations qualify for this fall'stournament in Qatar and fifthplaces advances to a playoffagainst an Asian opponent, leav-ing two automatic berths still incontention. Only last-placeVenezuela, with seven points, isout of contention.

Brazil leads with 35 points,followed by Argentina (29),

Ecuador (23), Colombia, Peru(17), Chile, Uruguay (16) andBolivia (15).

The contenders each havefour games remaining.

Brazil leads with 35 points,followed by Argentina (29),Ecuador (23), Colombia, Peru(17), Chile, Uruguay (16) andBolivia (15).

The contenders each havefour games remaining.

ECUADOR VS. BRAZIL

Vinicius Junior's top form atReal Madrid has drawn criticismat home for Brazil coach Tite,accused of not giving the 21-year-old enough time to show hisdribbling skills and quick pass-es. Some allege the coach has dif-ficulties to innovate and test ris-ing players in new roles.

Tite maintains the wingerrequires patience. Based onTuesday's training session,Vinicius Junior appears likely forthe starting lineup.

Midfielder Casemiro, whoplays with Vinicius at Madrid,agrees with his national teamboss on not rushing the young-ster.

“He has been exceptional, Isee him every day. I saw himgrow at the club," Casemiro said.

“With the national teamthere is a different style of play-ing, another period to adapt. Thecompetition is different. Thequicker he adapts, the better. Butwe can't forget he is just 21 yearsold.”

Ecuador, coached byArgentinian coach GustavoAlfaro, should clinch with fourpoints from its remaining games.

CHILE VS. ARGENTINA

Under coach Lionel Scaloni,Argentina won last year's CopaAmerica.

Following decent form atJuventus, the 28-year-old Dybala isexpected to replace Messi in amatch played at nearly 7,900 feet(2,400 meters) at Calama, in north-ern Chile's Atacama Desert.

Dybala also started forArgentina in November's 1-0 qual-ifying win at Uruguay, when Messiwas recovering from a knee injuryand entered in the second half.

Despite Argentina's early qual-ification to the World Cup, goal-keeper Emiliano Martínez said heand his teammates “are still hungry”and “not relaxed."

“We want to continue uniting asa team and as a group. We have togive our best to be in the final list,”

he said. “We will try to win every match

or play them as if they were our last.People have to see the best versionof us in this World Cup year and wewant to reach that goal.”

Messi will miss these gameswhile regaining fitness following apositive COVID-19 test last month.

“We don't have (Arturo) Vidaland we have to win. If our opponentdoesn't have Messi, we have to beatthem too,” Chile coach MartínLasarte said Tuesday.

No. 7 Uruguay will need a winat ninth-place Paraguay onThursday to climb back to a qual-ifying position and to start strongunder coach Diego Alonso, whotook over after Óscar Tabárez wasfired.

Fourth-place Colombia willhost No. 5 Peru, and Bolivia willplay at Venezuela.

AP n MELBOURNE

Stefanos Tsitsipas maintainedhis perfect record in GrandSlam quarterfinals, beatingNo 11-seeded Jannik Sinner

6-3 6-4 6-2 on Wednesday toreach the last four of theAustralian Open. The 23-year-

old, No 4-ranked Tsits ipasimproved to 5-0 at this stage of amajor. It's the semifinals he's yet

to master, winning just one — atRoland Garros last year — fromfour so far.

He'll next player either DaniilMedvedev, who made his GrandSlam breakthrough when he won

last year's US Open title, or No 9Felix Auger-Aliassime No. 2Medvedev and Auger-Aliassimewere meeting later on Wednesdayin a night match.

Tsitsipas didn't face a breakpoint and converted all four he goton Sinner's serve in the match thatlasted just over two hours, consid-erably less than his five-set fourth-round win over Taylor Fritz.

The only real delay came froma weather disruption, when a lateafternoon storm meant the roofover Rod Laver Arena had to beclosed when the Greek star wasalready up a set and a break.

"I knew I was heading towardthe right direction," Tsitsipas said.

"The conditions might havechanged a little bit after the roofwas closed — slightly faster, not asbouncy as before. I tried to adaptto the new conditions, and it justworked."

Dozens of ball kids and staffused towels to soak up water onthe court in the 15-minute break.

The temperature droppedfrom the highs of the afternoon,when Iga Swiatek took three hoursin the afternoon heat to beat 36-year-old Kaia Kanepi 4-6 7-6(2) 6-3, with the payoff being a spot inthe semifinals against DanielleCollins.

"This match was crazy," the 20-year-old, 2020 French Open win-ner said.

"First set I think my mistakewas I had so many break points, Ifelt like I missed my chances. Inthe second set … I felt like she'splaying so fast that I can't be tight.I had to finish my forehands."

The temperature reached 36degrees Celsius (97 degreesFahrenheit) on Day 10, continuinga week of hot weather.

Collins won the openingmatch before the heat peaked,swinging it in her favor with a keyservice break in the final game ofthe opening set on her way to a 7-5 6-1 victory over Alize Cornet.

No 115-ranked Kanepi wascoming off an upset, three-setwin over No 2-ranked ArynaSabalenka and took the match toSwiatek, who saved nine set pointsbefore losing the first set.

Swiatek rallied in the second,exchanging service breaks twicebefore winning it in a tiebreaker.

After getting on top in the thethird, Swiatek was broken in theeighth game when she was servingfor the match. She eventuallyclinched on Kanepi's serve, scram-bling to stay in the last point untilthe Estonian player sent a fore-hand wide.

After the first three quarterfi-nals were decided in straight sets— Ash Barty beat Jessica Pegulaand Madison Keys beat BarboraKrejcikova on Tuesday — the lastone went all the way.

sports 11VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JANUARY 27 2022

PTI nMUMBAI

Indian women's football team coachThomas Dennerby on Wednesday

squarely blamed the AFC for the COVID-19 outbreak that led to the country's ousterfrom the ongoing Asian Cup here, alleg-ing that his players were infected by thehotel staff in a bio-bubble that was not"foolproof". In a scathing attack on the con-tinental body, Dennerby said India's dreamof taking a shot at the FIFA World Cup wasshattered not because of any fault of theplayers but due to the weak bio-bubble cre-ated by the Asian Football Confederation(AFC). He said the AFC did not show any"respect, compassion, empathy" to the teamto deal with the "extraordinary" situationin such a high-stake tournament.

"We were all negative of COVIDwhen we reached team hotel (on Jan 13)

and after arrival tests. The first positive casecame on the day we went out of hotel fortraining and a day later (January 17), sevenhotel staff tested positive. It is not rocketscience to know how the outbreak came,"he told PTI after a virtual media interac-tion. "The first huge outbreak was amongthe hotel staff. From my point of view, it'svery clear where it (COVID) started, it def-initely did not start in the team. It camefrom the AFC bubble inside the hotel," hesaid. "The hotel staff was tested for everysix days and not every three days as donein case of teams. We know tests were con-ducted on hotel staff on Jan 11 and thenon Jan 17 and seven positive cases wereknown on Jan 18. But the information wasgiven only on Jan 19 afternoon. What wasAFC doing for whole one day, we don'tknow." India were forced out of the AFCWomen's Asian Cup on Sunday after a

dozen COVID-19 cases among their play-ers led to the cancellation of a group matchagainst Chinese Taipei minutes before kick-

off here. The AFC had said given the sit-uation, Article 4.1 of the tournamentrules came into effect, which made it clear

that if a team failed to assemble for a match,it would be "considered to have withdrawnfrom the relevant Competition."

Dennerby said the AFC should haveasked the infected hotel staff to leave imme-diately and not have any contact with play-ers. "We don't know why the AFC did nottake immediate action. AFC should havecalled the hotel directly and asked theinfected staff to immediately leave and notto have any contact with players," said theSwede who will also coach the Indian teamin the FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup inOctober. "Several hotel staff infected withCOVID, including team India coordina-tor, kitchen staff, chef, housekeeping, ser-vice staff, all of them taking care of us, cook-ing and serving food, cleaning our rooms,while we were inside isolated in ourrooms, still the AFC waited for a wholeday."

PTI n NEW DELHI

The National FootballChampionship for the

Santosh Trophy, which wasscheduled to be held atMalappuram in Kerala fromFebruary 20 to March 6, was onWednesday postponed till furthernotice due to rise in COVID-19cases.

The All India FootballFederation said it will review thecircumstances next month beforeannouncing the new schedule.

"The AIFF has communicated toparticipating state associationsthat in wake of rise in COVID-19 positive cases, and after con-sultation with the Government ofKerala, the competition schedulefor the Hero National FootballChampionship for the SantoshTrophy has been deferred," thefederation said in a release.

"A review of the circum-stances will be undertaken in thethird week of February to decideon new dates and the new sched-ule."

AP n SEVILLE

Anthony Martial will playfor Sevilla on a loan from

Manchester United until theend of the season, the Spanishclub said. United managerRalf Rangnick said lastmonth that the 26-year-old Martial wanted toleave after tumblingdown the list of for-wards at the club,behind CristianoRonaldo, MarcusR a s h f o r d ,Edinson Cavani,Jadon Sancho

and Mason Greenwood.The France for ward

became the world's mostexpensive teenage playerwhen United signed himfrom Monaco in September

2015 for 36 mi l l ionpounds (then $55.1 mil-lion) that could poten-

tially rise to 58 mil-lion pounds ($78

million).T h e re

was nor e p o r t e dtransfer feeor option

to buy.

PTI n VASCO

Aplace in the top four will be up forgrabs but for that Odisha FC will

have to tame Bartholomew Ogbecheand Hyderabad FC in their IndianSuper League match at the TilakMaidan Stadium here on Thursday.

Hyderabad are top of the table atthe moment and will stay put unlessChennaiyin FC beat Bengaluru onWednesday.

For the Nizams, the league's top-scorer Ogbeche has been on fire to saythe least. The Nigerian put on a trebleshow against SC East Bengal the otherday, putting in the back of the netalmost everything that was thrown athim. Ogbeche's hattrick that tookHyderabad to pole position yet again,ensured his tally of goals went up to 12,placing him on the shop window in thegolden boot race.

After picking up another record,Ogbeche will now be aiming for thenext big ones – becoming the leadinggoal scorer in Hero ISL history andbecoming the first player to score 50goals in the competition.

He currently has 48 goals.Odisha, meanwhile, go into the

game having kept two consecutiveclean sheets, and that will give interimcoach Kino Garcia some solace.

Arshdeep Singh has looked com-posed under the bar and so has theirbackline, although their litmus test ison Thursday against Ogbeche'sHyderabad.

Odisha have got the momentumgoing for them in the last four gameswhere they collected two wins, onedraw, and one solitary loss to KeralaBlasters. "We know Hyderabad can play

attacking football and they have anexperienced coach. But, we will use ourweapons to faze them. Winning will bea boost for us but we realise there arenine games to go.

We think we can be in the semi-finals but we are looking to build steadi-ly and be ready for the final games,"Garcia said.

For Hyderabad, only two losses in12 matches mean they are in fine fet-tle and well on course for a play-offberth. In that quest, head coach ManoloMarquez will believe his team can pickup full points from the Odisha game,especially after their dominating per-formance against SC East Bengal.

Not only Ogbeche but the defencealso looked good. Asish Rai was asimpressive as ever and Aniket Jadhavalso came to the party not only for hisgoal but also overall industry.

PTI n MUMBAI

Title contenders Australia have securedtheir place in the quarterfinals after two

dominating wins and they would look to con-tinue their strong show against Thailand in theirfinal group B match of the women's Asian Cuphere on Thursday. That the Matildas will be oneof the eight teams to advance to the knock-outsis certain, but they require at least a point againstThailand to be sure of becoming group winners.

The Thais, on the other hand, will have acomplicated knockout stage equation when theyface the 2010 champions at the MumbaiFootball Arena. Australia head coach TonyGustavsson warned his players against expect-ing a drop in their standards during Thursday'smatch. Gustavsson's side have taken no pris-oners since touching down in Mumbai, pilingon 22 unanswered goals in wins over Indonesiaand the Philippines, and living up to their billingas title contenders.

The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup co-hosts have fielded exceptionally strong startingline-ups in their group stage matches, with starslike Sam Kerr, Ellie Carpenter and StephCatley all starting on both occasions.

Gustavsson hinted at possible changes forhis side's third and final match in Mumbai butdeclared there would be no letup in terms ofhow they approach the match itself.

"We're going to treat that game the sameway we've done with these two. We have twomain targets for the group stage. One was towin the group, and two was to get out of thegroup peaking physically and mentally goinginto the playoffs," he said.

"Now we have secured a spot in the play-offs. A tie in the last game would secure that(top in group). We're going to do that in a waythat makes sure we have as many players as pos-sible available for the quarter-final, but alsopeaking."Australia's path to winning the group-- and booking a quarter-final date with eitherJapan or Korea Republic -- is clear, butThailand's position in the race for the knock-out stage is far more complicated.

The Thais are level with the Philippines onpoints after a Kanyana Chatthabutr-inspired 4-0 win over Indonesia on Monday, but the lossthey suffered to Alen Stajcic's side in their firstmatch means they still sit third in the groupstandings.

PTI n NEW DELHI

As India celebrates its 73rdRepublic Day, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi haswritten to celebrated cricketersJonty Rhodes and Chris Gayle,acknowledging their "profoundconnection" with the country.

While South AfricanRhodes, a former MumbaiIndians fielding coach whoresides in the country for a con-siderable part of the year, has adaughter named 'India', WestIndian swashbuckler Gayle hasbeen a big hit among cricketfans for his exploits in the IPL.

Modi, in his letter toRhodes, wrote: "I would like toconvey my Republic DayGreetings to You."

"Over the years, you havedeveloped a profound connec-tion with India and its culture.This is truly reflected when younamed your daughter after thisgreat nation. You truly are a spe-cial ambassador of the strongrelations between our nations,"

the letter that Rhodes shared onhis social media page said.

"India is witnessing a seriesof historic socio-economictransformations.

I am confident these willempower lives and contribute tothe global fund."

Both Rhodes and Gaylethanked the Indian PrimeMinister for his gesture.

"Thank you narendramod-iji for the very kind words. Ihave indeed grown so much asan individual on every visit toIndia. My whole family cele-brates RepublicDay with all ofIndia, honouring the impor-tance of a Constitution that pro-tects the rights of the Indianpeople JaiHind," Rhodes tweet-ed.

Jamaican Gayle, who repre-sents the West Indies in inter-national cricket, also spokeabout his special bond withIndian public.

"I would like to congratu-late India on their 73rdRepublic Day.

Tsitsipasadvances in

Australia

Tsitsipasadvances in

Australia

"THE CONDITIONSMIGHT HAVE

CHANGED A LITTLEBIT AFTER THE ROOF

WAS CLOSED —SLIGHTLY FASTER,

NOT AS BOUNCY AS BEFORE.

Tsitsipasdidn't face abreak pointand convertedall four he goton Sinner'sserve in thematch thatlasted justover twohours,considerablyless than hisfive-set fourth-round win overTaylor Fritz.

Quarterfinals spotsecured but Australianot dropping guardsagainst Thailand

Focus on Brazil's Vinícius Júnior, Argentina's DybalaVINÍCIUS JÚNIORIS EXPECTED TOREPLACE NEYMARFOR THE SELECAOAGAINST ECUADORAND DYBALA ISLIKELY TO TAKETHE FIELD INPLACE OF LIONELMESSI AGAINSTCHILE.

Dennerby blames AFC for COVID outbreak in Indian team

Ogbeche threatens to break more

records as Hyderabad take on OdishaPM Modi writes to Gayle, Rhodes on Republic Day

Santosh Trophy footballtournament postponed dueto rise in COVID-19 cases

Anthony Martial seals movefrom Man United to Sevilla

Chiranjeevi testspositive for Covid

12

tollywoodVijayawada Thursday January 27, 2022

SHIKHA DUGGAL

oser 2 explores the numerous dimensionsof what it means to be an aspiring athletein India and Jathi Ratnalu famePriyadarshi Pulikonda left no stoneunturned in tutoring himself to be bestair rifle shooter the team have on block.

Describing about the tutelage process he had to gothrough for Telugu webseries Loser 2 streaming onZee 5, he begins, “Coaching for the sequel of Loserwas so similar to reading your most favourite bookafter an interval. This time, training for an air rifleshooter twitched me up a little more. It was like alibrary calling me to open those best-loved pages!All this was going on when I headed back to theassociation where I trained all this while. I wasfalling back to that discipline which is so essentialin my life because I remember the prolific coachadvising me to stop smoking and going to the gym,doing this is not nessacary to be an ace player. Henarrated to me an example of the guy with a ponchwho got us a gold medal in air rifle shooting. Hehad no six-pack abs, flamboyance or chiseled arms— this is how he suggested that people who arelikely to win gold for the country do not nessacarilyneed to extremely physically fit. He asked me tofocus heavily on building a deeper concentrationinstead. Fitness is desired, but a I rather believe in afit mind. Suri Yadav is the gun and vice versa!”

He was building another guy in himself whichslightly took on a toll on him, it was taxing as hementioned. He continued, “Maybe there will be aseason 3 of Loser and Suri Yadav will re-emerge.There’s no official confirmation yet. I’ll wait for thereactions and reviews to pour in by next monthbecause during promotions, we made it a point torevisit Loser primarily. We are aware that the num-

ber ofpeoplehaven'tsubscribedto Zee 5Telugubut whenit comeson televi-sion, theydo watch iton a masslevel! At themoment, IhavewrappedSuri Yadavand placedhim in thewarehouse ofmy mind andhoping to revisit if andonly there’s a season 3.”

As an air rifle shooter in theweb-series, Priyadarshi is not just aiming for thepractical target but also aiming for the highestviewership simultaneously. Talking a little about hisadmiration for the Telugu film industry, he stated,“Pandemic has changed the whole scenario here.Before it, Tollywood was all about commercial suc-cess! Nowadays, there’s a different set of cinematiccontent hovering around. Fans have shownimmense acceptance. We are silently spearheadingsocially driven cinema. Because of a pandemic, wereally look up to cinema in its truest form which is

art! Though the industry suffered hugelosses recently unlike the software indus-try, today we are running so well thatsometimes we have a shortage of equip-ment, vanity vans and cinematographers. Ihave seen production houses moving toour city to shoot quickly these days notbecause Telugu cinema is star spangled orknown to be a ‘film city’, but because thekind of stories we are churning out.” Hejust couldn’t swathe his interview without

mentioning a very pertinent name fromthe Telugu film industry who according toPriyadarshi gave a new face-lift to Tollywood. Hedraws to a close, “Rajamouli is the name — he gaveTollywood a new spectacle. He bought in anadvanced technology with Baahubali franchise.Tollywood became a level-playing field in all itscinematic aspects. Years ago we were watching aMalayalam movie with the help of torrent but todaywe have OTT platforms. Film stories are crossingborders, Allu Arjun’s Pushpa proves it. NagarjunaAkkineni mentioned at the press conference ofLoser 2 on how Rajasthan has demanded twentyprints of Bangarraju — this is indeed pan India.”

l

ass Maharaja RaviTeja and directorRamesh Varma’saction entertainerKhiladi produced bySatyanarayana

Koneru has been carryinggood buzz, thanks toaggressive promotionsby the team. As part ofmusical promotions,the makers on the spe-cial occasion of RaviTeja’s birthday unveiledlyrical video of fourthsingle Full Kicku.

Rockstar Devi SriPrasad, who is themaster in renderingmass tracks, has comeup with an energeticmass and dance num-ber which makes fansgo crazy in the the-atres. Sagar and MamtaSharma crooned thenumber with highpitch vocals, whileShreemani’s lyrics aremass appealing. ShekarVJ has choreographed,while Ravi Teja andDimple Hayathi offersmass blast with theirgraceful mass moves.Ravi Teja appears inlungi and vibrant out-fits, Dimple Hayathi is

a sizzler. It will be an eye feastto watch the song in bigscreens with full visuals.

Meanwhile, Ravi Teja’sunique action thriller RamaraoOn Duty being directed bydebutant Sarath Mandava

under Sudhakar Cherukuri’sSLV Cinemas LLP and RTTeamworks is gearing up for itstheatrical release. They willbegin canning a song fromWednesday in Ramoji FilmCity. The makers have released

a new poster to wish RaviTeja on his birthday. RaviTeja appears aggressive inthe action-packed posterthat also shows his variousemotions. He can be seenwith his wife in one image,while his family can be seenin another. While oneposter sees Ravi Teja busywith his work in office, wecan also observe him inaction in some other image.The other image showsburning train. The posterindeed suggests RamaraoOn Duty is a film of allemotions and will have ele-ments for all sections.

Divyansha Koushik andRajisha Vijayan are theheroines opposite Ravi Tejain the film where VenuThottempudi will be seen ina vital role. The film alsofeatures some noted actorsin important roles. Musicfor the flick is by Sam CS,while Sathyan Sooryan ISCcranks the camera. PraveenKL is the editor.

ctor Chiranjeevitested positive forCOVID-19,announced theactor through hisTwitter account.

The actor stated that he isexperiencing very minorsymptoms and is confinedto his house. He alsoadvised everybody whohad touch with him to gettested and stay careful.The actor resorted toTwitter to express his feel-ings, writing, “Dear All,Despite all precautions, Ihave tested Covid 19Positive with mild symp-toms last night and amquarantining at home. Irequest all who came incontact with me over thelast few days to get tested

too. Can’t wait to see youall back soon!”

This is the second timethe actor tested positivefor Covid.

Meanwhile, on the workfront, Chiranjeevi has fourexciting projects lined up.He is waiting for therelease of his next filmAcharya directed byKoratala Siva. The filmalso stars Ram Charan,Kajal Aggarwal and PoojaHegde. Acharya is sched-uled to release in theaterson April 1, 2022. The actoralso has Bholaa Shankardirected by Meher Rameshwith Keerthy Suresh,Godfather directed byJayaram Mohanraja andMega154 directed byBobby.

a

mctor Adivi Sesh, whohas been waiting forhis upcoming movieMajor to hit thescreens, pens downa heartfelt note onthe occasion ofRepublic Day. Asthe Kshanam actorreflects on the beau-tiful moments spentwith 26/11 martyrMajor SandeepUnnikrishnan’sparents, he sharessome pictures onhis social media

handles. Sesh alsopens a note about

the release strugglesbeing faced by the

Major team and explainsthat he only wants the movie to beout when it is safe for everyone towatch it in the theaters.“On this #RepublicDay I reflect onsome beautiful moments I spentwith#MajorSandeepUnnikrishnan’sparents, @ NSG base #Mumbai”,Adivi Sesh’s note reads.Sesh’s emotional note also reads,“It’s important to me that his

story beshown intheatersacross thecountry, at atime whenits truly safe.No wavesthreateningpublichealth.”“No theatresclosed in cities like #Delhi. This iswhat he would want I feel. Safety.Protection. Of his people. Of hiscountry. He was always a Soldierfirst. :) I’m thankful to find a smallplace in the hearts of his parents.His family,” Sesh wrote, concludinghis Republic Day post.Sesh is seen having a wonderfultime with Major SandeepUnnikrishnan’s parents, as featuredin the pictures shared by him.Sesh, who portrays the role ofMajor Sandeep Unnikrishnan inMahesh Babu’s Major, has alwaysmaintained a close relationship withthe martyr’s family.Major was supposed to hit thescreens earlier, but is now post-poned due to the uncertain times ofthe Covid pandemic.

10th class is veryspecial to me: Avika

Ravi Teja’saction-packedposter wows

fans

Adivi Sesh on Major: Important to methat his story be shown in theatres

‘We

are silently

spearheading

socially driven

cinema’

10th Class Diaries star-ring Avika Gor andSriram in the lead roles

is all set to get a grandrelease. Noted Telugu cine-matographer Anji is mak-ing his directorial debut

with this upcoming film.Touted to be a roman-

tic and youthful

drama, the film is producedby Achyuta Rama Rao P andRavi Teja Manyam. Recently,director Harish Shankarunveiled a peppy mass songSilaka Silaka.

Speaking about the filmleading actress Avika Gorsaid, “My 10th class is veryspecial to me. I did Uyyala

Jampala when I was in 10thclass. The Telugu audienceaccepted me with that film.Therefore, I will alwaysremember 10th class. Mycharacter in this film is veryinteresting. I am hoping youwill like me playing a bub-bly character. This role isvery different.”

a