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VIJAYAWADA, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2021; PAGES 10+16 `5

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RNI No.APENG/2018/764698

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VIJAYAWADAWEATHER

Current Weather ConditionsUpdated September 11, 2021 5:00 PM

ALMANAC

TODAY

Month & Paksham:

Bhadrapada & Shukla Paksha

panchangam

Tithi : Shashthi 17:20

Nakshatram: Vishakha 09:50

Time to Avoid: (Bad time to start

any important work)

Rahukalam: 4:45 pm - 6:17 pm

Yamagandam: 12:12 pm - 1:43 pm

Varjyam: 1:35 pm - 3:06 pm

Gulika: 3:14 pm - 4:45 pm

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Amritakalam: 10:37 pm - 12:07 am

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FFoorreeccaasstt:: Partly cloudyTemp: 30Humidity: 83%Sunrise: 6:03 amSunset: 6:20 pm

Strict laws no deterrence to child marriages in StateVKL GAYATRIn VISAKHAPATNAM

In a baffling finding, child mar-riages are on the rise across theState despite several laws beingenacted to prevent them. Theenforcement teams are learnt to behaving a tough time in controllingthe under-aged marriages. A largenumber of child marriages havebeen performed during the Covid-19 pandemic, the most part ofwhich saw the closure of education-al institutions in all the 13 districtsof the State. Financial burdens, sen-timent, maintaining family ties forsafety and shelter are cited as themain reasons for the parents tomarry off their wards.

Going by the records, the pan-demic appears to be no deterrenceto child marriages in the state.Though the enforcement officialshave been partially successful inpreventing underage marriages,

statistics reveal that a good num-ber of children have got into wed-lock due to the pressure brought onthe authorities concerned by localleaders and other influential peo-ple. With this, local-level enforce-ment officials are not even inform-ing the higher authorities aboutchild marriages.

The National Family HealthSurvey revealed that child mar-riages are rampant both in ruraland urban areas of AndhraPradesh. With this, the under-agepregnancy cases are increasingacross the State. Surprisingly, it wasfound that women are bringing alot of pressure on their daughters

below 18 years of age to get mar-ried.

Recently, a domestic maid work-ing in a gated community per-formed the marriage of her 15-year-old daughter in Visakhapatnam anddefended her action saying,“Nowadays, it has become a bigchallenge to protect daughters.They are falling in love, creating alot of problems to the families. Ihave had a bitter experience in thecase of my elder daughter, so I havemarried off my younger one withmy brother.”

The survey found thatAnantapur has topped the chartswhile Kurnool is in the secondposition in child marriages in theState. “In the absence of a foolproofmechanism, the number of childmarriages are proliferating in theState.

Enforcement is not the only wayto prevent child marriages. Thegovernment should involve the

local level administration to stopthem.

The government should involvethe Village/Ward secretariat staff toprevent them. Even if the volunteershave information, the parents arehaving their way by exerting pres-sure on enforcing agencies throughlocal leaders. We have alreadyurged the government to involvethe Village/Ward secretariat staff tostop child marriages,” said GSitharam, president of the ChildRights Protection Forum.

Asked to comment on the admis-sion of underage pregnancy cases, agynaecologist at the governmenthospital said, “It is not our duty tocheck the age of the pregnant. It is truethat pregnant women below 18 yearsof age are coming for deliveries.

All we can do is attend to them.During the delivery time and afterthat, they are facing several healthissues. But, the parents are notbothered.”

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State government has onceagain landed in legal controver-sy over the sale of its stake in theGangavaram Port Limited(GPL). The State government,led by Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy, has alreadybeen facing several cases over thealleged controversial decisions.

A Public Interest Litigation(PIL) petition has been filed inthe AP High Court challengingthe sale of 10.4 percent GPLstake by the State to AdaniGroup to raise Rs 644.78 crore.A Division Bench of the HighCourt comprising ChiefJusticeAK Goswami and Justice NJayasurya on Saturday took up aPIL filed by Dr Satya BhoopalReddy and B onthaPurnachandra Reddy ofPrakasam district over the gov-ernment's decision to sell its10.4 percent stake in GPL toAdani group that would nowhave 100 percent ownership overthe port.

The petitioners asked the HighCourt to order a comprehensiveinquiry by Lok Ayukta into thedeal with the Adani group anddirect the Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG) to con-

duct a propriety audit into thedeal.

Arguing on behalf of the gov-ernment, State |AdvocateGeneral Subrahmanyam Sriramtold the court that the decisionto sell the government stake inthe Gangavaram port was takenbased on the recommendation ofthe high-power committee com-prising senior officials. Herequested the court to give sometime to submit a detailed reporton the entire deal.

Senior advocate GVenkateswar Rao argued thatthe entire exercise was done in asecretive manner and the reportof the high-power committeewas not made public. The HighCourt posted the matter toSeptember 20 for further hearing.

New CS Sameer Sharma saysresource mobilisation andstructural reforms his priorityPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Andhra Pradesh governmentappointed 1985 batch IAS officerSameer Sharma as the state's nextChief Secretary.

Sameer Sharma is now theSpecial Chief Secretary, Planningand Resource Mobilisation andalso the Vice-Chairman of Instituteof Leadership, Excellence andGovernance.

He will assume charge as thestate Chief Secretary on September30 upon the retirement of incum-bent Aditya Nath Das at the end ofhis three-month extended tenure.

The General AdministrationDepartment issued an order to thiseffect on Friday.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Sameer said 'resource mobilisationand structural reforms in the gov-ernance' are his priorities.

"The Chief Minister is very par-ticular to bring in a visible changein the lives of poor and underpriv-ileged. His vision to transform thekey sectors like education andhealth require huge financialresources and I will focus on this.With regard to structural reforms,

after the launch of Village andWard there is a visible change in theadministration. A consciouseffort has been made to implementthe welfare schemes and deliver theservices without any scope forexploitation of the people by mid-dlemen and I want to improve thedelivery system further by clearingany bottlenecks' Sameer told ThePioneer.

The state government did notseek a further three-month exten-sion for Das, leading to theappointment of Sameer Sharma asthe next Chief Secretary.

Several names did the rounds forthe Chief Secretary's post in the lastfew weeks and till last week, 1986batch IAS officer Satish Chandraremained the frontrunner.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Isolated spells of heavy rain havebeen forecast over CoastalAndhra and Telangana in the next48 hours. Under the influence ofthe cyclonic circulation over theEast Central Bay of Bengal and itsneighbourhood, a low-pressurearea has formed on Saturday.

According to the IMD alerts,the low pressure is very likely tomove northwestwards and con-centrate into a depression.

As per the present calcula-tions, the depression is expectedto cross North Odisha and NorthChattisgargh in the next twodays. Under the influence, isolat-ed heavy falls would occur atmany places in Coastal AndhraPradesh particularly in the NorthCoastal belt, an IMD scientistsaid.

Farmers call off protestin Haryana After IAS

Official Sent On Leave

Aweek-long stalemate between

farmers and the BJPgovernment in Haryana was

finally resolved today asdemonstrators called off their protest

over IAS officer Ayush Sinha'scontroversial "crack their (farmers)

heads" remark that he made lastmonth. Both the sides agreed on a

month-long probe by a former judgeagainst the IAS officer and that he willremain on a leave during this period.High drama unfolded in Karnal over

the last week as large gatherings werebanned and mobile internet services

were suspended to contain thefarmers' protest. Demands were raised

to dismiss Mr Sinha after he wascaught on camera, making the

comments that sparked massiveoutrage.

Govt cuts customduties on edible oil

to ease retail prices

The government has slashed base

custom duties on palm oil,soyoil and sunflower oil to ease

elevated level of edible oil prices,according to the Finance Ministry. Thebase import tax on crude palm oil has

been reduced to 2.5 per cent from 10 percent, while the tax on crude soyoil and

crude sunflower oil has been reduced to2.5 per cent from 7.5 per cent, the

Finance Ministry said in a notificationissued late on Friday. The notification

came into effect from Saturday. With thereduction, the effective duty on crude

palm oil, crude soyoil and crudesunflower oil will come down to 24.75

per cent whereas effective duty on refinedpalm oil, soyoil and sunflower oil will be

35.75 per cent, Solvent Extractors'Association of India (SEA) executive

director B V Mehta told PTI.

Injured actor Sai Tejis stable, says

hospital

Telugu actor Sai Dharam Tej, who

suffered injuries in a roadaccident, is stable and all his

vital organs are functioning well, thehospital where he is undergoing

treatment said on Saturday. He willremain in ICU for close monitoringand additional investigations will be

performed during the day, the Apollohospital said in a statement. Tej,

nephew of superstar Chiranjeevi,sustained injuries after his sports bike

skidded at Madhapur in the city onFriday night. He was wearing a helmetat the time of the accident, police said.

In brief

Ganesh idol immersion:4 youths drowned in APPNS n GUNTUR

Tragedy struck Ganesh idolimmersion ceremonies in Gunturand Prakasam districts when fourpersons drowned in separate inci-dents on Saturday.

Two boys drowned in the Sagarcanal at Enimella village inEevurupalem mandal of Gunturdistrict in.

Police said that four boysentered the canal after immersingthe idol of Lord Ganesh. Two ofthem drowned in the canal. Thedeceased were identified as DurgaRao (14) and Eswar (10). CI AshokKumar visited the scene of the inci-dent and registered a case. Expertswimmers were pressed into serv-ice to retrieve the bodies.

In another incident in Prakasamdistrict, four youths entered the sea

at Pakala beach for a bath and twoof them drowned.

Police said that MomidiSanthiraju (22) and Jarni Poguraju(18) drowned and two moreyouths went missing in the sea. Thebodies of Santhiraju and Pogurajuwere fished out.

Singarayakonda CI MarriLakshmi and SI Lanka SampathKumar visited the beach and reg-istered a case.

AP HC admits PIL overGPL stake sale to Adani

Heavy rainforecast for AP

Centre, ICMR issued guidelines for Covid death certificatesPNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre has told the SupremeCourt that the health ministryand the Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) have come outwith guidelines for issuing "officialdocument" for Covid-relateddeaths.

In an affidavit filed before the topcourt, the Centre also submittedthat the Office of the RegistrarGeneral of India on September 3had issued a circular to provide aMedical Certificate of Cause ofDeath to the next of kin of thedeceased.

"It is submitted that the guide-lines and circular have been issued

in respectful compliance of thejudgment dated June 30, 2021, inthe Reepak Kansal v. Union of India

and others, W.P.(C) No. 554 of 2021and Gaurav Kumar Bansal v. Unionof India and others, W.P.(C) No.

539 of 2021," the court said.According to the guidelines,

those COVID-19 cases would beconsidered which have been diag-nosed through RT-PCR test, molec-ular test, rapid-antigen test or clin-ically determined through investi-gations at a hospital or in-patientfacility by a treating physician,while admitted at the hospital or in-patient facility.

Deaths occurring due to poison-ing, suicide, homicide and deathsdue to accident, among others, willnot be considered as COVID-19deaths even if COVID- 19 is anaccompanying condition, theguidelines stated.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

Terming the 9/11 terror attackan assault on humanity, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onSaturday asserted that a per-manent s o lut ion to suchtragedies can be found inhuman values.

He said that on the same dayin 1893, Swami Vivekanandahad introduced to the worldthe human values of Indiaduring his address at theParliament of World's Religionin Chicago.

Modi's statements come onthe 20th anniversary of the9/11 attacks on the twin tow-ers of the World Trade Centerin New York and amid thedevelopments in Afghanistan,where the Taliban has takencontrol of the country.

"Today is September 11, thatis 9/11, a date in thehis tor y of theworld that is alsoknown forattacks onhumanity. Butthis same datealso taught a lot tothe whole world," Modi saidafter inaugurating via videoconference the SardardhamBhavan in Ahmedabad to pro-vide residential and other facil-ities to students and job aspi-rants, and also performed the'bhoomi pujan' of SardardhamPhase-II Kanya Chhatralaya, agirls' hostel.

He said that on September11, 1893, Swami Vivekanandastood on the global stage andintroduced to the world India'shuman values.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

An Air India flight No AI 460,which was to take off at 8.30 amwith 177 passengers on boardfrom the Vijayawada InternationalAirport in Gannavaram, wasdelayed due to technical ando p e r a t i o n a lreasons hereo nSaturday.T h eflight wasb o u n dfor NewDelhi onS a t u r d a ym o r n i n g .However, it washalted. The passengers wereinformed about the issue.

Airport Director P Rama Raowas ready to take off any momentwith only 104 passengers whenreports last came in.

9/11 was attackon humanity: PM

Dangerous trend of govt agencies ‘intimidating'media must stop: Editors Guild on I-T ‘surveys'PNS n NEW DELHI

Expressing concern over the IncomeTax 'surveys' conducted at the officesof two news websites, the EditorsGuild of India on Saturday criti-cised the move sayingthe "dangerous trendof government agen-cies harassing andintimidating" inde-pendent media must stop asit undermines the constitu-tional democracy.

On September 10, teamsof IT officials visited theoffices of NewsClick andNewslaundry and conductedinvestigations through the day,the body noted.

The Guild said it is deeply dis-turbed about the I-T 'surveys' at theoffices of the two news websites.

"The guild is deeply concernedthat such indiscriminate seizure ofjournalists' data, which couldinclude sensitive information suchas details of sources, stories under

works and other journalisticdata, is in vio-

l a t i o nof free speech

and freedom of press," it said in anofficial statement.

While they were officially

labelled as surveys by the I-T offi-cials, according to the statementissued by Abhinandan Sekhri, co-founder of Newslaundry, this wasa clear intermediately and latentattack on their rights and thereforepress freedom, the EGI said.

"It is learnt that the I-T teammade clones of Sekhri's mobile andlaptop, as well as some other

office machines, And no hashvalue was given tothem.

"This is clearlybeyond the mandateof service as defined

under section 133 A ofthe income tax act which

only allows data pertain-ing to the investigation to be

copied, and certainly not personaland professional date of journalists.

Technical snagdelays AI flightat Gannavaram

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VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 vijayawada 02

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RATES

VIJAYAWADA 406

HYDERABAD 405

VISAKHAPATNAM 470

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀44..0066

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CHICKEN

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Dressed/With Skin `255

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

As is his wont PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,

after announcing high-sound-ing and grandiose plans likeStand-Up India, Start-UpIndia, etc., has now come upwith a mega sale of Indiathrough what is touted as theNational MonetizationPipeline (NMP) programme.It seems to be the grand finaleof the Modi government asnational assets, assiduouslybuilt up over the past sevendecades, are being handedover to his few industrialistfriends on a platter.

This is nothing short oflegalized loot. With Modicommitted to the welfare ofonly his corporate friends,national assets are no longersafe in his hands.

This is a double-whammyfor the common man. On theone hand, the economy of thecountry is in a bad shape, withdeclining GDP, sky-rocketingprices, job losses, farmers'unrest and industrial slow-down.

On the other hand, with theNMP, the future of theyounger generation is at stake,as NMP will mean no hope fortheir job security and no hopefor new jobs.

The PM is bent upon sell-ing away invaluable nationalassets worth Rs 6 lakh crore,

which include railways, roads,mines, telecom towers, power,gas, airports, ports, sports sta-dia and what not!

The justification for NMP isthat it is meant in the main tofund the Rs 100 lakh croreInfrastructure DevelopmentProgramme, called GatiShakti.

But, according to UnionFinance Minister NirmalaSitaraman, through NMP theModi government aims tomobilize Rs 6 lakh crore. If allthe assets are sold for Rs 6 lakhcrore, will it be enough tocomplete the Rs 100 lakhcrore InfrastructureDevelopment Programme?

The total Union Budgetsize is Rs 25 lakh crore, whichfunds over 55 UnionMinistries. The Gati Shakti isworth Rs 100 lakh crore. It isfour times the amount of thetotal annual Union Budgetfor infrastructure develop-ment and it makes one won-der whether the Modi govern-ment is in its senses in mak-ing such claims. Where is the

money or fund earmarked forsuch an over-ambitious pro-gramme?

For seven years, Modi hasbeen thundering to his audi-ences that the Congress didnothing in the last 70 years.

His own Cabinet colleague,Union Finance Minister, speltout assets that are up for sale,which only goes to provide aglimpse into the tremendouswork done silently by theCongress during the pastseven decades.

The Congress has built upenormous assets. The Modigovernment's Sale List says itall: 26,700 km of roads; 28,698km of power transmissionassets; 6,000 mega-watts ofhydel and solar power assets;8,154 km of natural gas

pipelines; 3,930 km of petro-leum products pipeline;210,00,000 metric tonnes ofwarehousing assets; 400Railway Stations, 90 passengertrain operations and 260 goodssheds; Konkan Railways andDedicated Freight Corridor;2,86,000 km of fibre network;14, 917 Telecom Towers; 25Airports; 31 projects in 9major ports; and nationalsports stadia.

The railways are the nation-al lifeline. For this reason, theCongress considered it as astrategic sector, not to be pri-vatized.

Now, that is being priva-tized. Similarly, Air India is thenational carrier that links evenremote and far-flung areas; buteven that is being privatized.

Public sector undertaking(PSU) units are being sold fora song, only to fill the gapingholes in the Union Budget.TheVisakhapatnam Steel Plant,pride of Andhra Pradesh, is aclassic example.

The Congress did try outthe process of monetization,but it was never done in thepresent fashion of outrightsale, aimed at benefitting a fewindustrialists.

The Congress chose thePublic-Private Partnership

(PPP) mode. It consideredprivatizing the non-core, loss-making assets.

This is in sharp contrast towhat the Modi governmentproposes to do now.

The Congress was opposedto monopoly and neverallowed it during its time, instark contrast to the Modi gov-ernment.

The Congress never soldstrategic assets. It ensured thatthere is no monopoly in mon-etization.

The choice of assets for pri-vatization was based onsound criteria. Now, the Modigovernment has to comeclean and make it knownwhat provisions would beincluded to prevent monop-olies from emerging in ports,airports, telecom and powersectors.

The most important andpressing question is: what arethe objectives of NMP? Is thesole objective raising revenueover a four-year period? Or,is it funding the NationalInfrastructure Projects? The

Modi government is deliber-ately and purposely keepingthe nation in the dark overthis vital issue.

The Modi governmentplans to give away nationalassets on lease.

Imagine! If an asset is givenon 30 years' lease, what will beits value, as and when it isreturned? During the periodof lease, will there be propermaintenance of the asset? It isunlikely, because there is noownership with them and nostake in its maintenance, assuch.

Apart from this, there willbe depreciation in the value ofthe assets.

Besides, the larger questionis: at what cost is it beinggiven out on lease? In whatcondition will it be returned,say after 30 years? These areall the disturbing questionsthat need to be answered bythe Modi government.

Price rise for the end-useris another big concern. Unlessthere is effective regulation,prices will go up.

More pressing questionrelates to job security. Arethere any job security guaran-tees included in the leaseagreements? The Modi gov-ernment is silent on maintain-ing the current level of jobs inassets that will be monetized.What about retaining theexisting workforce on theseassets? Will they be retainedor retrenched by the newmanagements?

Besides, it is unfair to makesweeping generalizationsabout the public sector, justbecause some PSU units aremaking losses.

If PSU units are not doingwell, there is a way to infusecapital, bring in new technol-ogy, and managerial talent, inorder to bring about a turn-around.

In fact, several countrieshave public railways system.This can be seen in advancedcountries like Britain, France,Italy and Germany, wherethere is excellent public rail-way infrastructure.

The real issue is the incom-petence of the Modi govern-ment to manage things andPrime Minister Modi's single-minded devotion to profithis corporate friends that cansound the death-knell fornational socio-economicprosperity.

GIDUGU RUDRA RAJU

(The author is AICC secretaryand former MLC).

Monetisation plan: India on sale?The Congress was opposed to monopoly and

never allowed it during its time, in stark contrast

to the Modi government. The Congress never

sold strategic assets. It ensured that there is no

monopoly in monetization.

Continued from Page 1

It is also in violation ofprocedures laid out in theInformation TechnologyAct 2000," it said.

This was the secondvisit by an income taxteam at the of f ice ofNewslaundry, the earlierone being in June.

In case of NewsClick,t he EnforcementDirectorate had conduct-ed raids at the office as

well as homes of theirsenior journalists and offi-cials in February.

"Both NewsClick andNewslaundry have beencritical of policies andfunctioning of the uniongovernment," the EGIsaid.

"The dangerous trendof government agenciesharassing and intimidatingindependent media muststop as it undermines ourconstitutional democra-

cy," it said, adding that inJuly, income tax raids wereconducted at the offices oft he countr y ' s l e ad ingnewspaper Dainik Bhaskaras well as a Lucknow-b as e d ne ws channelBharat Samachar.

These raids were con-ducted against the back-drop of some very criticalcoverage by both the newsorganisations on govern-ment's handling of thepandemic.

"The Guild demandsthat great care and sensi-tivity be shown in all suchinvestigations so as to notundermine the rights ofjournalists and mediaorganisations. Further, toensure that such investiga-tions are conducted with-in the prescribed rulesand that they don't degen-erate into instruments ofharassment to intimidateindependent media," theEGI said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The 10-day-long annual GaneshChaturthi festival began on alow-key note on Friday with sev-eral state governments prohibit-ing public celebrations due to theCovid pandemic and devoteestaking the virtual route to payobeisance and join the festivities.

Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi greeted peopleon the occasion and wished hap-piness and good fortune to all.

"Shri Ganesh ji is revered asan embodiment of wisdom,prosperity and good fortune inour country. May the LordVinayaka remove all obstacles inour endeavours!" Naidu said.

In a tweet, Modi said,"Greetings to all on GaneshChaturthi. May this auspiciousoccasion bring happiness, peace,good fortune and health ineveryone's life. Ganpati BappaMorya!"

Ganesh Chaturthi marks thebirth of Lord Ganesh, who is

revered as an embodiment ofwisdom, prosperity and goodfortune.

Covid-related restrictionsdampened the festive spirit inMaharashtra as Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray asserted thatpeople's health was more impor-tant than any festival, while theAAP government in Delhi invit-ed people to join a "grand"Ganesh Pujan online.

Thackeray urged citizens tolaunch a strong movementagainst coronavirus and said heprayed to Lord Ganesh todestroy all "evil and negativity".

Devotees welcomed LordGanesh in their homes andpublic under the Covid cloud forthe second straight year, with thegovernment placing a slew ofrestrictions to avoid gatheringand processions.

Physical 'darshan' of LordGanesh at community pandals(marquees) have been bannedand only online 'darshan' or tele-cast from pandals are allowed.

The Mumbai Police have

imposed orders under CrPCsection 144 prohibiting assem-bly of five or more personsbetween September 10 and 19.

No processions of any kindwould be allowed in the cityduring this period and devoteeswould not be allowed to visitGanesh pandals either.

While the home departmenthas issued a circular banningvisits to pandals, the height ofLord Ganesh idols to beinstalled has been restricted aswell.

Thackeray welcomed LordGanesh at his official residence'Varsha' in south Mumbai andseveral celebrities and politicalleaders also installed the deityat their homes.

Naresh Dahibavkar, presi-dent, BrihanmumbaiSarvajanik GaneshotsavSamanvay Samiti, an umbrellabody of Ganesh mandals thatcoordinates the festival betweenthe BMC and governmentagencies, said: The festival willbe celebrated with usual fer-

vour and gaiety unlike lastyear as the COVID-19 vaccina-tion drive is going on andthere is awareness among peo-ple about the pandemic".

Dahibavkar criticised thegovernment for banning phys-ical darshan.

The administration has putrestrictions during immersionof idols as well.

In Telangana, VinayakaChaviti was celebrated with tra-ditional fervour and gaiety asdevotees offered prayers athomes, temples, and neigh-bourhood Ganesh pandals.

Governor TamilisaiSoundararajan, Chief MinisterN Rangasamy, Ministers andleaders of some political partieswere among those who extend-ed greetings to the people.

The Governor and herHaryana counterpart BandaruDattatreya held an inauguralpuja for the 40-foot tallVinayaka idol at theKhairatabad Ganesh pandal inHyderabad.

Ganesh fest begins under Covid shadow

AP HC admitsPIL over GPLstake sale toAdaniContinued from Page 1

Earlier, the Adani Ports andSpecial Economic Zone(APSEZ) of Adani groupinformed the stock exchangethat the Andhra Pradeshgovernment had approvedthe proposal for the sale of its10.4 percent stake in theGPL to the company for asale consideration of Rs644.78 crore.

The transaction is expect-ed to be completed withinone month. The APSEZalready has an 89.61 percentstake in the Gangavaramport, after it acquired a con-trolling stake of 58.1 percentequity from its original pro-moter DVS Raju and hisfamily on March 23 this yearfor Rs 3.604 crore. Earlier inthe month, it acquired a 31.5percent stake from WarburgPincus.

New CS SameerSharma says...Continued from Page 1

Sameer Sharma is due toretire from service onNovember 30 this year.

However, it is expectedthat he too may get an exten-sion in service, like his pre-decessors.

He returned to the statecadre from Central deputa-tion in July this year, afterhaving served as the DirectorGeneral of Indian Institute ofCorporate Affairs.

Sameer Sharma is an aca-demician and scholar andhas authored many bookslike Smart Cities Unbundled,A Textbook on UrbanPlanning and Geographyand Hourglass ManagementParadigm.

An expert in urban devel-opment affairs, Sharma hadearlier served as Director ofNational Smart CitiesMission.

He was the only IAS offi-cer to have served as theCommissioner of threemajor municipal corpora-tions of Visakhapatnam,

Vijayawada and GreaterHyderabad in the erstwhileunited Andhra Pradesh andcontributed to their financialturnaround.

He did his Masters anddoctorate in CommunityPlanning in the United Statesof America.

As Chairman andManaging Director of IndianTourism Develop-mentCorporation, Sharmadesigned a model for strate-gic planning and executedthe Balance Scorecard sys-tem that led to a 30 per centincrease in revenues of thehotel chain.

He worked as a consultantfor UN Habitat in Cambodiaand International Federationof Red Cross Societies.

Sharma received awardsfrom the President of Indiaand the Prime Minister forhis path-breaking initiativesin promotion of communi-ty organisations in slumsand reforms in governanceunder Jawaharlal NehruNational Urban RenewalMission.

Centre, ICMR issued guidelines for Covid death...Continued from Page 1

"COVID-19 cases which arenot resolved and have diedeither in hospital settings or athome, and where a MedicalCertificate of Cause of Death(MCCD) in Form 4 and 4 Ahas been issued to the register-ing authority as required underSection 10 of the Registrationof Birth and Death (RBD) Act,1969, will be treated as aCOVID-19 death, according tothe guidelines.

The Registrar General ofIndia will issue necessaryguidelines to chief registrars ofall states and union territoriesin this regard.

According to an ICMRstudy, 95 per cent of deathstake place within 25 days of aperson testing COVID-19 pos-itive, it was mentioned in theguidelines.

"To make the scope broad-er and more inclusive, deathsoccurring within 30 days fromthe date of testing or from thedate of being clinically deter-

mined as a COVID-19 case,will be treated as 'deaths due toCOVID-19, even if the deathtakes place outside the hospi-tal/ in-patient facility," theguidelines stated.

However, a COVID-19patient, while admitted at ahospital or in-patient facility,and who continued as thesame admission beyond 30days, and died subsequently,shall be treated as a COVID-19 death, according to theguidelines.

The guidelines state that incases where the MCCD is notavailable or the next of kin ofthe deceased is not satisfiedwith the cause of death givenin the MCCD and which arenot covered by the aforesaidscenarios, states and unionterritories shall notify a com-mittee at the district level.

The committee would con-sist of an additional district col-lector, the chief medical officerof health (CMOH), an addi-tional CMOH/ principal orhead of department of medi-

cine of a medical college (if oneexists in the district) and a sub-ject expert, for issuing of the"Official Document forCOVID-19 Death", the guide-lines said.

The guidelines also enu-merate the procedure to be fol-lowed by the committee.

The next of kin of thedeceased shall submit a peti-tion to the district collector forissuing of the document, itsaid.

"The Official Document forCOVID-19 Death will beissued in the format annexedto these guidelines by theaforesaid district-level com-mittee after due examinationand verification of all facts. TheOfficial Document forCOVID-19 death shall alsobe communicated to chief reg-istrars of states/UTs andRegistrar of Birth and Death,who issued the death certifi-cates," one of the guidelinessaid. The committee will alsoexamine the grievances of thenext of kin of the deceased, and

propose necessary remedialmeasures, including issuance ofamended "Official Documentfor COVID-19 Death" afterverifying facts in accordancewith these guidelines.

The applications for issuingthe document and for redres-sal of grievances shall be dis-posed off within 30 days ofsubmission of the application/grievance.

In its June 30 verdict, the topcourt had also ordered steps tosimplify guidelines for issuanceand correction of death certifi-cates/official documents, stat-ing the exact cause of death,that is, 'Death due to COVID-19' for enabling dependents toget benefits of welfare schemes.

The top court's verdict hadcome on two separate pleasfiled by lawyers Reepak Kansaland Gaurav Kumar Bansalseeking directions to theCentre and the states to pro-vide Rs 4 lakh compensation tothe families of coronavirusvictims as provisioned underthe Act.

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Hyderabad City Policeon Saturday, apprehended aperson involved in the rapeand murder of a 5-year-old girlthat was reported on Friday atSaidabad.

Following the incident, res-idents of the colony gatheredon the roads and staged aprotest for over seven hours onthe Champapet-Sagar road.The angry crowd had demand-ed immediate and harsh pun-ishment to the accused.

According to the police, thechild was sexually assaultedand murdered by her neigh-bour Raju, a resident ofSingareni Colony in Saidabadon Thursday night. The grue-some incident came to lightafter her parents, who werelooking for their missingdaughter, found their daugh-

ter's lifeless body in the neigh-bour's house after midnight.The police shifted the body ofthe victim to OsmaniaHospital where autopsyrevealed that the child was sex-ually assaulted and strangled todeath.

According to sources, Rajulured the kid, whose familymigrated from Nalgonda dis-trict for livelihood, by givingher chocolates. The girl's fatheris said to be working as anauto-rickshaw driver.

Officials formed specialteams to arrest the accused,who was on the run. He wasarrested on Saturday in hisnative village, Addaguduru inYadadri Bhuvanagiri district.While an official announce-ment is yet to be made, sourcessaid that the accused wasbrought to Hyderabad and isbeing interrogated. Before

the protests could turn unrulyon Friday, Hyderabad districtCollector L Sharman andDeputy Commissioner ofPolice, Hyderabad, RameshReddy, rushed to the area topacify the protestors.

The Collector and districtmagistrate promised that afast-track court will be set upto ensure that the guilty get theharshest punishment within amonth. He announced imme-diate assistance of Rs 50,000 tothe victim's family, followingwhich, the volatile situationwas brought under control.

The Collector also promiseda two-bed room house will beallotted to the family at a placeof their choice and promisedan outsourcing job to an edu-cated member of the family.The official said two siblings ofthe victim will be provided freeeducation.

Protests erupt over rape, murder of 6-year-old girl

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Raidurgam Police regis-tered a case under Sections366 (act endangering life orpersonal safety of others), 279(rash driving) of the IPC and184 (driving dangerously) ofthe MV act against Tollywoodfilm actor, Sai Dharam Tej, fol-lowing an accident on theDurgam Cheruvu cable bridgein which the actor sufferedinjuries on Friday.

According to the police, SaiTej was driving the sportsbike in a rash and negligentmanner, when he fell off themotorcycle on the road andwas injured. The actor wasimmediately taken to the hos-pital and is being treated. Thepolice have seized the 660 CCsports bike.

The police began a detailedinvestigation into the inci-dent following extendedscrutiny by the public as apopular cine artist wasinvolved in the mishap. Policesaid that Sai Tej purchased theTriumph bike from a residentof LB Nagar but had not gotthe bike registered onto hisname yet.

Following allegations ofchallans for speeding, policesaid that the bike had an e-challan for Rs 1,135 on 2August for over speeding at 87kmph on a 40 kmph road.However, the challan was paidby unknown persons.

“It has been found out thatthe bike was driven at anaverage speed of around 75kmph near the accident spot.From visual evidence, welearnt that the biker was over-taking other vehicles reck-lessly," said Venkateshwarulu,DCP, Madhapur.

Police said that they havenow established that the acci-dent was due to the overspeed-ing and reckless driving by theinjured actor and is beinginvestigated.

Tollywood actor Sai Tej booked for rash driving

PNS n HYDERABAD

Three persons were killed andthree others sustained seriousinjuries in a road mishap atMedchal on Saturday.According to the police, theaccident took place in theevening near Athvelly villageon National Highway 44.

Inquiry by the police officialsand CCTV footage revealedthat the accident took place dueto an overspeeding car.Officials suspect that the driver

of the car, who is suspected tobe drunk lost control of thevehicle, hit the median andjumped onto the other side ofthe road where it crashed intoa bike and an tata magic ace.

Such was the impact of thecrash that a woman and hertwo year old son in the tatamagic ace, were thrown out ofthe vehicle and died on thespot. Other occupants of thevehicle were seriously injuredin the mishap. The speeding caralso rammed a bike instantly

killing the rider on the spot.The accident caused a trafficjam on the highway whichwas soon cleared by the Policewho had arrived on the scene.

The police shifted theinjured to a nearby hospital fortreatment and the dead forpostmortem. The MedchalPolice have registered a caseand are investigating the inci-dent.

The car driver along with thepassenger have fled the spotafter the incident, said sources.

3 killed, 3 injured as car hits bike, auto Dangerous trend of govt agencies ‘intimidating' media...

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 vijayawada 03

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Leader of the Opposition NChandrababu Naidu on Saturdayexpressed concern that the com-mon people of Andhra Pradeshhad become victims of attacksand settlements on a daily basisever since the YSRCP govern-ment came to power in the State.

Naidu said that there were'alarming reports' of how a rela-tive of Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy grabbed thelands of a Muslim Minority per-son named Akbar Bhasha inKadapa district. CM's relativeTirupal Reddy was said to haveencroached upon the lands of theminority man’s family in theChief Minister's own district.

In a statement here, the TDPchief

condemned the manner in whichsome police officers wereinvolved in the civil settlementsin the State these days. A CI, whowas loyal to YSRCP leaderTirupal Reddy, had threatenedand forced Akbar Bhasha to sit inthe police station. During thistime, the land grabbers sowedsaplings and started cultivationillegally in Akbar's lands.

Chandrababu Naidu termed ita great offence on the part of theCI to threaten to encounter theMinority person who was theactual victim. “Who would res-cue the common man when thepolice resort to threats instead ofproviding justice as per the law?’’he asked.

Meanwhile, in a separate state-ment, TDP national general sec-retary Nara Lokesh wonderedhow the Chief Minister would beable to protect the rights of peo-ple in the rest of the State whenhe could not ensure security tothe lands of his own party activistin his own native Kadapa district.

The Minority victims allegedthat CI Konda Reddy threat-

ened to encounter himif he talked about theland grab. “Why wasthe Chief Ministersilent on this issue?” hequestioned.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Telugu Mahila State presidentVangalapudi Anitha on Saturdaydemanded that Chief Minister YSJaganmohan Reddy explain whyhis government had failed toimplement the death sentence forthe culprit even seven monthsafter the gruesome murder ofAnusha in Narasaraopet.

In an open letter to the ChiefMinister here, Anitha asked whythe YSRCP government was get-ting agitated so much when TDP

national general secretary NaraLokesh was going to console thefamily members of Anusha. Itwas shocking that Home MinisterMekathoti Sucharita and DGPGowtham Sawang were issuingconflicting statements on thestatus of the Disha Bill. ‘’Why isthere so much confusion onmatters of legislation?’’ she asked.

The TDP leader recalled thaton December 23, 2020, the HomeMinister said that punishmentswere given under the Disha lawand that three culprits were

hanged and 20 persons weregiven life sentences. However, theDGP issued a totally contradic-tory statement on September 3,2021, saying that Disha wouldtake time to become a lawbecause of queries from theCentre.

Sawang said that it would takesome time for Disha to becomea law. “Whom should the peo-ple believe, Home Minister orDGP?’’ she wondered. Anithaasked the Chief Ministerwhether it was not irresponsible

on the part of the HomeMinister to say that womenshould take care of their ownsafety since it would not be pos-sible to set up CCTV cameraseverywhere. The TDP leadertermed it 'cheap politics on thepart of the ruling YSRCP to mis-use even the laws meant for pro-tection of women for narrowpolitical advantage. The previousTDP regime brought the FourthLion App but later it was copiedby the YSRCP regime in thename of the Disha App.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The collection of true-upcharges by the Electricitydepartment will put an unnec-essary extra financial burdenon existing tenants as theyhave to pay the charges of ear-lier tenants. The Electricitydepartment is collecting true-up charges related to the lastyears five years. Several organ-isations, including Communistparties, conducted protestsagainst true-up charges.

The AP ElectricityRegulatory Commission(APERC) has given permis-sion to the DISCOMs to col-lect Rs 3,669 crore in thename of true-up charges tocover up the differencebetween generation, trans-mission and distribution costsand final revenues incurredfive years ago. The Discomsclaimed additional expendi-ture of Rs 25,952 crore andhad asked APERC to givepermission to collect Rs 7,224

crore but the APERC gave per-mission to collect Rs. 3,669crore in eight months.

CPM State executive com-mittee member Ch Babu Raorecalled that YSRC, while inthe Opposition, had severelyobjected to the collection ofadditional charges on electric-ity during the Telugu Desamgovernment, and ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy promised not to putany additional burden onpower consumers. But, aftercoming to power, CMJaganmohan Reddy had goneback on his promise by collect-ing extra charges, which isnothing but cheating the pub-lic.

Babu Rao and other leadersdemanded that the State gov-ernment immediately cancelthe orders of additionalcharges collection and threat-ened to intensify protests allover AP if the government failsto concede their demand.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The YSR Congress Party(YSRCP) has come down heav-ily on Rayalaseema TDP lead-ers for organising a meeting onRayalaseema Lift IrrigationProjects and said it wasOpposition chief ChandrababuNaidu who neglected theRayalaseema irrigation pro-jects and farmers during histenure.

Speaking to the media at theparty office here on Saturday,Minister Shankar Narayanasaid that the TDP leaders donot have the right to speakabout Rayalaseema LiftIrrigation projects and won-dered what they did toRayalaseema when Naidu wasin power for 14 years. He saidthe former Chief Minister YSRajashekara Reddy had pre-pared DPR at an estimated cost

of Rs 6,000 crore for HandriNeeva Project and also com-pleted 90 percent of the worksand added that Naidu hasspent only Rs 9 crore andcompleted the remaining 5-10percent of works and claimedthe credit for the project.

MP Gorantla Madhav saidthe State government had beenconstructing four reservoirsin Rapthadu Constituency, onein Kalyanadurgam and the

other in Dharmavaram andadded that 193 lakes werebeing filled at a cost of Rs 1,000crore in Puttaparthi.

MLA Thopadurthi PrakashReddy said Rayalaseema TDPleaders were criticising ChiefMinister YS JaganmohanReddy only for their politicalidentity but not forRayalaseema projects. He saidit was former Chief MinisterYS Rajashekara Reddy who

had completed 95 percent ofthe first phase and 70 percentof the second phase of HandriNeeva project, Galeru Nagiriproject and after that TDPleaders had indulged in cor-ruption by increasing the esti-mates to 200-300 times andadded that it was Naidu whohad changed the HandriNeeva project from irriga-tion project to drinking waterproject.

Cops settling civilcases, alleges Naidu

TDP takes a dig at HM, DGP for contradictory statements on Disha law

Naidu did nothing for Rayalaseema: YSRCP ‘True-up charges aburden on tenants’

PNS n VISAKHAPATNAM

Sri Varahalakshmi NrusimhaSwamy temple ofSimhachalam has receivedinternational recognition ISO9001:2015 certification. Thetemple management hasbagged ISO certification inrecognition of the facilities tothe devotees, greenery, clean-liness not only at the templeand also in the vicinity of theSimhadri hills,

Minister for Tourism MSrinivasa Rao, at a functionheld in the temple, handedover the certificate toExecutive Officer,

Simhachalam DevasthanamSurya Kala on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion,the minister said that with thecollective efforts of the staff andofficials, the temple has receivedinternational recognition.

Executive Officer SuryaKala thanked the staff and offi-cials for the achievement. Shesaid that the certification isalso in recognition of conserv-ing and promoting the HinduDharma and culture. Presently,food and safety auditing is inprogress. The temple wouldalso get the ISO certificate infood and safety measures, theExecutive Officer said.

ISO 9001:2015 certificatefor Simhachalam temple

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The AP Koppula VelamaAssociation (APKVA) hassought priority to their com-munity in the political postsand further to implement wel-fare programmes for theiruplift.

The State-level meeting ofAPKVA was held here onSaturday in which a new stateexecutive committee was elect-ed. The committee thanked theYSR Congress government forestablishing Koppula VelamaCorporation.

APKVA chairman SivaNaidu said that there were 20lakh people in 13 districtsbelonging to the KoppulaVelama community.

Welcoming the formation ofKoppula Velama Corporation,he urged the JaganmohanReddy government to release

funds according to the popu-lation ratio.

APKVA new presidentGunupuri Rama Rao said thatthe Koppula Velama commu-nity was included in the BC-D category from OC in theyear 1972 due to the back-

wardness of their community.He said that the inclusion ofthe new communities in theBC-D category is doing harmto their community anddemanded that the govern-ment stop the inclusion of newcommunities in the list. He

sought allotment of importantposts to Koppula Velamas inpolitics. He announced thatthe State executive committeeformed with 16 memberswould draw up action plansfor the development of theircommunity.

Koppula Velamas seek a pie in politics

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A whopping number of 23,647cases were settled on Saturdayacross the State during theNational Lok Adalat. Underthe directions and guidance ofAP Chief Justice and Patron-in-charge Justice Arup KumarGoswami, Andhra PradeshState Legal Services Authority,Executive Chairman JusticeJoymalya Bagchi, and APHigh Court Legal ServicesCommittee Chairman, Justice

AV Sesha Sai, the NationalLok Adalat was held at HighCourt and in all the districtsof the State of Andhra Pradeshon Saturday.

In the High Court, fiveBenches were constituted andwere presided over by JusticeAV Sesha Sai, Justice MSatyanarayana Murthy, JusticeDonadi Ramesh, JusticeNinala Jaya Surya and JusticeK Suresh Reddy. Similarly,357 Lok Adalat benches wereconstituted in all the 13 dis-

tricts, presided over by theJudicial Officers of differentcadres.

With continuous monitor-ing and valuable suggestionsof their Lordships, 21,484pending cases and 2,163 Pre-litigation cases were settled inthe National Lok Adalat in theState of Andhra Pradesh onSaturday till 4.30 PM andthus a total number of 23,647cases were settled.

Under the National LokAdalat a settlement of Rs

80.97 crore took place till latehours. With the whole-heart-ed support of the advocates,active participation of thepublic, officials of stakehold-er departments and the staff,the National Lok Adalat was agrand success, saidChinnamsetty Raju, membersecretary (District & SessionJudges). He further expressedprofound gratitude to oneand all for their tireless efforts,continued support, and activeparticipation.

23,647 cases settled during Lok Adalat on a single day

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Governor BiswabhusanHarichandan has said that thePublic Relations Council ofIndia (PRCI) will provideindustry professionals anopportunity to serve theircommunity by encouraginghigh ethical standards in theirrespective areas of work.

Addressing a meeting afterinauguration of the 50thChapter of Public RelationsCouncil of India (PRCI) inVisakhapatnam on Saturday,the Governor said PRCI, as apan-India organisation with itspresence in 42 Indian cities andtowns and five internationalchapters in Bangladesh, Dhaka,Sri Lanka, Dubai and Nepal, isstriving to enrich professionaldevelopment by enablingknowledge-sharing amongstpeers in the industry and

amongst different chapters andmembers.

The governor said, “I amhappy to learn that the PRCIhad organised several Globalcommunication Conclaves andthe PRCI Annual Global meetorganized year after year, havesucceeded in providing anInternational knowledge-shar-ing platform for PR

Professionals as these eventsare participated by more thanfive hundred practitioners ofthe industry to discuss anddeliberate on the latest devel-opments, ideas, and best prac-tices in Public Relations &Communication.”

Apart from bringing out ref-erence books on Public Relations& Communications, Chanakya

& Kautilya magazines for the useof its members, the PRCI alsooffers training to corporate pro-fessionals and PR students in theareas of personal developmentskills, leadership training, cus-tomer service, effective partici-pation in debates, discussions,and other related subjectsthrough its professional trainingwing, Harichandan said.

Guv inaugurates 50th chapter of PRCI

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

In a swift action, theMylavaram police on Saturdayarrested a gang of four mem-bers and recovered Rs 7 lakhcash within 24 hours. Thegang relieved a lorry driver ofRs 7 lakh cash at Mersumillivillage under Mylavaram man-dal in the early hours of Friday.

According to the districtpolice, the four-member gang,including Somapangu Satish ofMedipally village ofMudigonda mandal inKhammam district, TollaJagadish of Khammam,Madasu Gopi and Galla Navinof Suryapet, stole Rs 7 lakhcash from a lorry driver ShaikPapa Saheb,52, The mainaccused in the case, SompanguSatish is also a truck driver.The victim Shaik Saheb hails

from Rayavaram mandal ofVisakhapatnam district.

Shaik Saheb was travellingwith Rs 7 lakh cash to hand itover to a party in Yerrupalemvillage of Khammam district.While he was going fromMandapeta of East Godavari toKhammam district, the gangstopped his vehicle nearMylavaram and robbeddecamped with the cash. Satishrecently went to East Godavarifor unloading the lorry. Hecame to know that the victimwas carrying Rs 7 lakh cash tobe handed over to businesscustomers and hatched a planto steal it. He took the help ofthree others and all of themwent to Mersumilli village bycar and stopped the lorry dri-ven by the victim and tookaway the cash before fleeingthe place.

The victim lodged a com-plaint to Mylavaram policeabout the robbery.

Superintendent of PoliceSiddharth Kaushal formedteams to nab the gang. Thepolice successfully arrested thefour-member gang and recov-ered the cash of Rs 7 lakh fromtheir possession. The SP con-gratulated the police upon thearrest of gang members with-in 24 hours of the crime tak-ing place near Mylavaram.

The police suspected theinvolvement of Satish, whohad spoken to victim ShaikSaheb in East Godavari andhatched a plan to rob the cashby obstructing the vehicle.The police said Satish luredthree accused by promising anequal share of the booty. Sahebwas carrying the cash belong-ing to the truck owner.

4-member robber gang nabbedwithin 24 hours; `7L recovered

PNS n KADAPA

A Muslim man’s allegation ofgrabbing of his land by a rela-tive of the Chief Minister andhis selfie video threatening tocommit suicide created a sen-sation in the political circlesand the intervention by theChief Minister’s Officeresolved the problem.

M Akbar Basha owns one-and-a-half acres land atYerraballi village in Duvvurumandal and he has been cul-tivating the land for the last 30years. The land was registeredin his name in 2009.

However, EragamreddyTirupal Reddy, said to be aclose relative of Chief MinisterY S Jaganmohan Reddy,grabbed Akbar's land and heforcibly attempted to sowpaddy in the land.

The hapless Akbar Bashaapproached Kurnool SP andurged him to do justice. The SPtransferred the grievance to theKadapa SP, who askedMydukuru CI Konda Reddy toresolve the issue.

Akbar Basha also met localMLA Raghurami Reddy andinformed him that he was alsoa YSRCP activist. After theMLA spoke to CI KondaReddy, the scene changed andthe trouble started for AkbarBasha.

M Akbar Basha said thatMLA Raghurami Reddy toldhim that Tirupal Reddygrabbed his land and he couldnot help him.

Akbar Basha alleged that

Mydukur CI Konda Reddythrashed him severely andabused him. When questionedabout the injustice, the CIheld Akbar Basha’s wife by thehair and dragged her out of thepolice station.

“The CI beat me up severe-ly, abused me with wordswhich cannot be said openly.He threatened to kill me in anencounter,” Bash told themedia. He said that the CIwarned him that even theChief Minister could not dojustice and asked him to giveup his land.

Disgruntled with the CI’scruel behaviour and injusticemeted out to him, Akbar Bashaexplained the injustice in a self-ie video and uploaded in thesocial media which went viralcreating ripples in the policeand political circles.

Addressing the ChiefMinister in the selfie video,Akbar Basha said “We havevoted for the YSRCP anticipat-ing that you would bring abright future to us. But ourland has been grabbed by

Tirupal Reddy,” he said andasked how he could lead thefamily without the land.

“I am unable to forget theCI’s thrashing and abusive lan-guage he used to scold me. Ihave decided to give our fourbodies to the Chief Minister asa gift,” he said in the selfievideo.

The Chief Minister's officeresponded immediately anddirected the Kadapa district SPKKN Anburjan to order for anenquiry on the issue.

The Kadapa district policeshifted Akbar Basha and hisfamily members, who live atChagalamarri village, toKadapa. The SP directedAdditional SP (Operations)Deva Prasad to conduct anenquiry on Mydukur rural CIKonda Reddy.

The SP suspended MydukurCI Konda Reddy. With theassurance of SP, Akbar Bashawithdrew the attempt of takingthe extreme step. The Kadapapolice and the officials heaveda sigh of relief as the episodeended on a peaceful note.

Video of man threatening to endlife over ‘land grab’ goes viral

TDP plans‘Rythu Kosam’from tomorrowPNS n VIJAYAWADA

Te l u g u D e s a m Pa r t y(TDP) State president KAtchannaidu on Saturdayasserted that their partywould organise State-wide protests for five daysfrom September 13 to 17t o e x p o s e t h e ' a nt i -farmer ' pol ic ies beingp u r s u e d b y t h eJaganmohan Reddy gov-ernment for the past two-and-a-half years.

Atchannaidu said thatthese protests would beh e l d i n t h e n a m e o f'Rythu Kosam - TeluguDesam' to bring pressureon the government to res-cue the farmers from thedeepening crisis.

The TDP leaders andactivists all over the Stateshould take part in theprotests and make themsuccessful. In a statementhere , t he TDP le aders t ress e d t he ne e d forexposing the injust icebeing done by the YSRCPregime to the farmersever s ince it came topower in the State.

KADAPA: Deputy Chief MinisterS B Amzath Basha offered prayersat the famous Ajmer Sharif SufiSaint Hazrat Khwaja MoinuddinChishti Dargah in Rajasthan.Speaking on the occasion, he saidthat he was happy to offer prayersat the famous Ajmer Dargah. Hesaid that he invoked the almightyto ensure that CM would contin-ue to serve people and implementwelfare schemes.

Amzath prays atAjmer Dargah

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 vijayawada 04

PNS n KADAPA

The police seized 62 red sanderlogs in three separate incidentsand arrested 8 smugglers.

Superintendent of policeKKN Anburajan told themedia here on Saturday thatthe police conducted raids atLakshmi Paradise cinema the-atre and S Kothapalli Cheruvuareas in Railway Koduru lim-its and seized 44 red sanderlogs weighing 1,100 KGs.

The police also seized anSUV, a Pulsar motorcycle andarrested V Manaiah, K Prasad,Fhajil Sharif, M Anil Kumarand Y Raju. In another raidnear Anjaneyaswamy temple atThimmasamudram in TSundupalli police station lim-its, the police seized 18 redsander logs weighing 480 KGs.The police arrested two smug-glers P Seshadri Naidu and BDoraswamy and seized aMahindra XYLO vehicle and a

Hero Passion motorcycle. TheSP appreciated RailwayKoduru CI Viswanath Reddy,Rayachoti CI Lingappa and redsanders anti-smuggling CIs

Nagarjuna and Suresh Reddy.The SP warned of stringentaction against those whoindulge in red sander smug-gling and invoking PD Act.

PNS n KAKINADA

The organisers of GaneshChaturthi festival at UKothapalli came up with anovel idea by putting 'PhonePe'scanner in the hand of Ganeshidol asking the devotees totransfer money instead ofdropping in 'hundi' in the tra-ditional practice.

Ganesh Chaturdhi celebra-tions being organised atKothapalli PolammaGummam centre. The organ-isers put a PhonePe scanner inthe left hand of Ganesh idol.The devotees are asked totransfer money instead ofdropping in the coffer.

“As part of Coronavirusprecautions we have doneaway with the traditionalpractice of dropping money inHundi. We put the PhonePescanner in the left hand ofGanesh idol and the devoteesare requested to scan thescanner to extend contribu-tions'', one of the organisersSanthi Kumar said, and

claimed that there is goodresponse from the devoteesfor the PhonePe idea replac-ing the traditional hundi prac-

tice. Meanwhile, the devo-tees are also extending contri-butions using the PhonePescanner.

PNS n ONGOLE

Minister for EducationAdimulapu Suresh exhortedpeople to come forward todonate blood.

The minister attended as achief guest for the oath tak-ing ceremony of the IndianRed Cross Society sub-branch, set up in the RDTauditorium in the govern-ment high school premises atPedda Dornala on Saturday.The minister administeredthe oath with the members.

Speaking on the occasion,he welcomed the setting up ofthe Indian Red Cross societysub-branch in the backwardPedda Dorna village. TheMinister said that he haddonated his blood 16 times sofar. The minister’s sonAdimulapu Vishal extendedRs.1 lakh as donation to thesociety at the programme.

Pedda Dornala villagesarpancha Ch.Harika, IndianRed Cross Society Dornalabranch chairman JogiVenkata Narayana and for-mer ZPTC memberAmmireddy Ramireddychairman CheppaliKanakadurga were amongthose who attended.

PNS n ELURU

Minister for Women and ChildWelfare Taneti Vanitha saidthat due to the efficient imple-mentation, the fruits of welfareschemes are reaching all eligi-ble poor. The minister partici-pated at the inauguration andfoundation stone laying pro-grammes for various works inthe Kovvuru mandal in the dis-trict on Saturday.

She inaugurated a Rythu

Bharosa Kendra (RBK), con-structed at a cost of Rs.21.80lakh at I. Pangidi village and anelectrical sub-station establishedat a cost of Rs.198 lakh at the vil-lage. She laid foundation stonefor the construction of CCroads and drains at Decharla vil-lage to be constructed at a costof Rs.124.80 lakh.

Speaking on the occasion, theminister said that to meet theincreasing consumption of elec-tricity a new sub-station was

established at I. Pangidi villageand another sub-station wouldcome soon. The minister saidthat many welfare schemeswere being implemented in thestate at the same time develop-ment programmes were alsobeing carried out.

Minister Vanita said that in abid to do away problems offarmers and serve them betterthe Rythu Bharosa Kendraswere being established acrossthe state. The government is

providing remuneration price,seeds, fertilizers, modern tech-nology and other facilities to thefarmers through RBKs, she said

The minister handed over aRs.25,000 cheque to farmers .Agriculture AD PChandrasekhar, V SrinivasaRao, Panchayat DE SambaNaidu, AP Transco SE SJanardhan Rao and EE BVeerabhadra Rao were amongthe host officials who werepresent.

Fruits of schemes reachingtargeted sections: Minister

Edu Ministerexhorts peopleto donate blood

PNS n GUNTUR

Home Minister MekathotiSucharita handed over thedocument allocating five centshouse site to the family mem-bers of Ramya, who was mur-dered on August 15.

The Home Minister, alongwith Collector Vivek Yadav,MLAs M Nagarjuna, Mustafa,M Giridhar and MLC L Appi

Reddy, went to the house ofdeceased Ramya and handedover the documents of housesite to the mother and sister ofRamya.

Later talking to the media,the Home Minister said thatChief Minister Y S JaganMohan Reddy ordered to givea job to Ramya’s younger sis-ter before she completed hergraduation. She would be

given a job, she said.Sucharita said that efforts

were being made to allocatefive acres of agricultural landto the family of Ramya underSC/ST Atrocities Act.

The Home Minister saidthat investigation was going onon the Paladugu gang rapecase. The media would beinformed as soon as the cul-prits were arrested, she said.

Home Minister hands overhouse site to Ramya’s family

‘Phone Pe’ Ganesha aninstant hit with devotees

62 red sanders logs seized, 8smugglers arrested in Kadapa

PNS n BHIMAVARAM

Instead of sitting in the classroom and listening to lessons,taught by teachers, the stu-dents, studying at the prima-ry school at Narasimhapuramin Bhimavaram rural mandal,were made to sweep the schoolpremises.

Some of the school studentswere seen cleaning and sweep-ing the school holding a broomand cleaner.

Significantly, the studentswere made to sweep the school

premises when the teacherwas present in the school.

“When the government isholding the 'Mana Badi- Nadu-Nedu' programmes to mod-ernize the government schoolsat par with the private schools,students were made to sweepand clean the school likesweepers” the parents of stu-dents regretted.

As many as 18 students arestudying at the school and theywere made as sweepers, someparents deplored.

“why should we send our

children to this school, if theyare forced to do the sweepersjob in the school”, the parentsexpressed anger while talkingto the media here on Saturday.

Talking to the Pioneer, MEOB Vinayakudu said “Anenquiry will be held on forcingthe students to sweep andclean the school. We will dis-cuss the matter with the schoolteachers”. He informed thatthe primary school ofNarsimhapuram did not comeunder the first phase of Nade-Nedu programme.

Students made to sweep school in WG village

PNS n GUNTUR

The women leaders of TeluguDesam, Congress and BCassociations registered theirprotest at the GovernmentGeneal Hospital (GGH) hereaginst the denyig of permis-sion to see the gang rape vic-tim who is undergoing treat-ment. The women leadersquatted in the governmenthospital premises here onSaturday and registered theirprotest for denial of permis-sion to see the victims.

The women leaders led by

Vegunta Rani squatted at thehospital and raised slogansagainst the GGHSuperintendent Prabhavatifor not giving permission toconsole the gang rape victim.

In the meantime, Congressparty working presidentMastan Vali went to the hos-pital. He spoke with the GGHsuperintendent and demand-ed her to releae a bulletin onthe health condition of thegang rape victim. The super-intendent told the agitatingleaders that the victim did notlike to see anybody.

Denial of permission tosee rape victim resented

YSRCP Gunturcity secretaryresignsPNS n GUNTUR

Guntur YSRCP City secretaryBanda Seshidhar resigned to thepost in protest against theYSRCP’s alleged anti-Hindustand. Mr. Seshidhar announcedhis decision to quit the YSRCPhere on Saturday. Talking to thePioneer, he alleged that ChiefMinister Y S Jagan MohanReddy vowed to destroy theHindutva in the state.

SEA FFURY

Giant waves along 13 coastal mandals extending from Ontimamidi to Antarvedi in East Godavari on Saturday. The waves thatswept across the road badly affected vehicular traffic at several places.

Robbers held, Rs 2L recoveredONGOLE: The police arrested a three member gang of robbers andrecovered Rs.2 lakh cash, an Innova car and a motorcycle fromthem. Talking to the media here on Saturday, SP Malika Garg saidthat the police teams noticed the gang members moving suspi-ciously at Addanki. The police apprehended them. The trio wasinvolved in robbing a lorry driver of Rs.2 lakh cash.

Explosives seized, one heldKAKINADA: The police conducted a raid at Vetlapalem village atSamarlakota police limits and seized explosive materials andarrested one person. Police here on Saturday said that on a tip, thepolice special branch teams led by DSP A Srinivasa Rao conducteda raid and found materials to be used to make explosives found in ashed. The police seized a huge quantity of materials and machinerywhich were being used to make explosives. One person was takeninto custody in this connection, police said.

SHORT TAKES

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Chatrinaka Police onSaturday, arrested a man whomurdered a retired govern-ment employee on Monday.

The arrested person hasbeen identified as SubhanKhan, 27, a coconut sellerfrom G M Chowni inFalaknuma.

According to the Police,Subhan Khan hatched a planto kill Mohd Ghouseuddin,62, a retired governmentemployee from AlsuruColony in Phoolbagh, due toprevious enmity. Khan toldthe police that Ghouseuddinused to abuse him verballyas he was poor and used toconsume alcohol withGhouseuddin's money.

On Monday night, Khantook Ghouseuddin to Bababar to consume liquor. AferGhouseuddin got drowsy,Khan bludgeoned him todeath using a broken beerbottle and a boulder. Khanthen took the body and leftit in bushes beside the rail-way tracks near UppugudaRailway Station.

Man nabbed for murdering retd govt employee

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Rajendranagar Policearrested three persons in themurder of a missing Frenchwoman, including her adopteddaughter on Saturday.

The arrested persons havebeen identified as Roma, 24,Vikram Sriramula, 25, andRahul Gowtham, 24.

"Marie Christine, a Frenchnational, migrated to India 30years ago and settled at DargahKhalij Khan in Rajendranagar.She established a trust, 'MaricaHigh Schools' at Tolichowki.Christine has two biologicaldaughters and two adopteddaughters," said Prakash Reddy,Deputy Commissioner ofPolice, Shamshabad.

"Christine, who learnt thatone of her adopted daughter -Roma - was living-in withVikram at a rented house inKondapur, refused Roma's rela-tionship with Vikram anddecided to get her married toothers," said the DCP.

Roma and Vikram along

with Rahul, an old friend ofVikram's, then decided to killChristine. On Wednesday,Roma informed Vikram andRahul about the whereaboutsof Christine. As soon asChristine entered the com-pound wall of her house,Vikram and Rahul strangledher to death using a rope andtook the body to HimayatSagar reservoir to dump itinto the bushes there.

The next day, they trans-ferred an amount of Rs 2lakhs to Roma's bank accountfrom Christine and tried tomislead her sisters that she didnot know about Christine'swhereabouts. The police reg-istered a complaint and wereinvestigating found the bodyalong the bushes at HimayathSagar.

While Police suspectedRoma's role from the begin-ning, it wasn't until interroga-tion that she confessed tohave committed this offence.Following her confession,Vikram and Rahul were held.

Adopted child arrested formurder of French national

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 nation 05

The Delhi Fire Services onSaturday rescued 40 pas-

sengers of a private buswhich was trapped at awaterlogged underpass herefollowing heavy rains onSaturday morning, officialssaid. The passengers includ-ed women and children. Thebus was going to Mathuraand got stuck at the under-

pass of Palam flyover, officials said. The DFS received a call seekingassistance at 11.30 am after which two fire tenders were pressedinto service, they said. Atul Garg, Director, Delhi Fire Services said,"A bus with passengers onboard got trapped at an underpass of thePalam flyover due to waterlogging. Two fire tenders were rushed tothe spot and all the passengers were rescued safely." Heavy rainslashed the national capital Saturday morning, leaving many parts ofthe city waterlogged.

40 rescued from bus trappedat waterlogged underpass

AAP national convenerArvind Kejriwal on

Saturday asked partyleaders and volunteersnot to harbour anydesire for posts andtickets to contest pollsand instead prove theirworth by working forthe society and thecountry. During his

virtual address at the party's national council meet, Kejriwal said hedid not wish people to recognise AAP as a party like the the BJPand the Congress, and asked partymen to give up their aspirationsfor posts and tickets. "If you come to me asking for posts, it meansyou are not deserving it and you have to demand it. You shouldwork in such a manner that I have to say that you should hold thepost," Kejriwal said.

Don't harbour desire for posts,tickets; prove worth by working

West Bengal Congresspresident Adhir

Chowdhury Saturday urgedPrime Minister NarendraModi not to shift theheadquarters of the NationalInstitute for LocomotorsDisability from the city toNistar in Odisha, due to its“situational advantage”.

Chowdhury referred to reports that the Ministry of Social Justice andEmpowerment had decided to move the medical facility'sheadquarters from Bonhooghly in the northern outskirts of Kolkata toNistar in Odisha. "Thousands of physically challenged and othergeneral critical orthopaedic patients of entire eastern India getbenefited by this institute, precisely because of its situationaladvantage, as Bengal is situated at the centre of Eastern India,providing easy access to nearby states," the Congress ParliamentaryParty leader in Lok Sabha said in a letter to Modi.

Adhir urges PM Modi not to shift NILD headquarters

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray on Saturday

termed the rape and murder of awoman in Mumbai's Sakinaka as a"blot on humanity", and promised afast-track trial in the case. Heasserted that the perpetrator wouldbe punished severely. "The trial inthe case will be done on a fasttrack and the victim, who

succumbed to injuries today, will get justice," Thackeray said in astatement. The chief minister said he has discussed the case withstate Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil and Mumbai PoliceCommissioner Hemant Nagrale. "I have directed the authorities toexpedite the investigation into the case," he said. The woman, 34,died in a civic-run hospital in Mumbai the wee hours of Saturday aday after she was raped and brutalised with an iron rod in astationary vehicle parked by the roadside at Sakinaka.

Maharashtra CM condemns rape-murder case; promises quit trial

INDIA CORNER

PNS n AHMEDABAD

Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani on Saturday resignedfrom the post, over a yearbefore the state goes to polls.

It is not clear what prompt-ed the development in PrimeMinister Narendra Modi'shome state where elections tothe 182-member Assembly aredue in December next year.

Rupani (65) was sworn in aschief minister – his secondstint as CM - in December2017.

"I have resigned as chiefminister of Gujarat,” Rupanitold reporters after meetingGovernor Acharya Devvratand submitting his resignationletter.

"I was allowed to serve thestate for five years. I have con-tributed to the development ofthe state. I will further dowhatever is asked by my party,”Rupani said.

“In BJP, there has been a tra-dition that responsibilities of

party workers change fromtime to time. I will be ready totake whatever responsibilitythat the party will give me inthe future,” Rupani said.

“I thank Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for giving acommon worker like me thisopportunity to serve the peo-ple of the state as chief minis-ter,” Rupani said.

Rupani along with state BJPin-charge Bhupendra Yadav,Union ministers PurshottamRupala and MansukhMandaviya, and state cabinetcolleagues deputy CM NitinPatel, BhupndrasinhChudasama and PradeepsinhJadeja met the governor andsubmitted their resignations.

Asked about reasons for his

resignation, Rupani said, “InBJP, it is like a relay race forparty workers. One gives thebaton to the other.”

On who will be the nextchief minister, Rupani saidthat the party will decide aboutit.

He denied that he had anydifferences with state BJP pres-ident C R Paatil.

Rupani comes from the Jaincommunity which has aroundtwo per cent population in thestate. There is speculation thathis successor may be from thepatidar community.

He first became the chiefminister on August 7, 2016, fol-lowing the resignation ofincumbent Anandiben Patel,and continued in the officeafter the BJP's victory in the2017 Assembly elections.

Rupani, who completed fiveyears in office on August 7 thisyear, was present at the inau-guration on Saturday ofSardardham Bhavan whereModi was present virtually.

Gujarat Chief MinisterVijay Rupani resigns PNS n CHANDIGARH

The Haryana government onSaturday ordered a judicialprobe into last month's clashbetween farmers and policeand sent the IAS officer who isat the centre of a row over hisremarks on leave. Followingthis, farmers called off their sit-in outside the Karnal districtheadquarters.

Haryana Additional ChiefSecretary Devender Singh saidthe probe will be conducted bya retired judge and will becompleted within a month.Former SDM Ayush Sinha willremain on leave during thetime, he said.

A joint press conference byHaryana government officialsand farmer leader GurnamSingh Chaduni was held inKarnal after both sides reachedan agreement, leading to theending of the stand-off.

There was an indication ofa possible ending of theimpasse between the farmersand the Karnal administrationon Friday evening itself asafter a marathon meeting bothsides had said that it was heldin a cordial atmosphere.

At the joint press conference,farmer leader Chaduni saidthey will call off their sit-in out-side the Karnal district head-quarters.

About 10 protesters werehurt in the clash with police inKarnal on August 28 whenthey tried to march towards thevenue of a BJP meeting. Sinha,a 2018-batch IAS officer wascaught on tape allegedly tellingpolicemen to "break the heads"of farmers if they cross the line.

Following the incident,farmers had been demandingthe suspension of Sinha. OnSeptember 2, he was trans-ferred out of Karnal and post-

ed as additional secretary ofCitizen Resources InformationDepartment.

Haryana Additional ChiefSecretary Devender Singh onSaturday said the meetingbetween farmer leaders and thegovernment officials was heldin a positive atmosphere.

He said the Haryana govern-ment will get a judicial probeconducted into the August 28incident by a retired judge ofthe high court. The probe willbe completed within a monthand Sinha will remain on leaveduring the time, Singh added.

The additional chief secre-tary also announced that jobs

would be given to two familymembers of a farmer, who, theprotesters claimed, died afterbeing injured during the lathicharge. The administrationhad earlier rejected this allega-tion.

"The Haryana governmentwill give jobs to two familymembers of deceased farmerSatish Kajal under sanctionedposts at DC rate in Karnal,"Singh announced.

Dubbing the farmers as "ourbrothers", he said it was a"respectable agreement".

About former SDM Sinha,farmer leader Chudani saidfarmers had demanded that anFIR be registered against himand the police personnelinvolved in the August 28 inci-dent.

However, advocated opinedthat there could be chances ofcancellation or quashing of anFIR by the high court if theadministration registers it, hesaid.

"But if the FIR is registeredafter a retired judge of the highcourt held an inquiry, there isneither any chance of its can-cellation nor of influencing theprobe."

Haryana govt orders judicial probeinto Aug 28 incident, farmers’ stir off

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi Prisons department iscelebrating “Poshan Mela” forover 500 female inmates lodged injails of Tihar and Mandoli in orderto create awareness among themabout the importance of nutritiousdiet, officials said on Saturday.

Posters, awareness campaigns,painting competitions, sloganwriting and activities like nukkadnatak will be organised till the endof September in both jails for itswomen inmates, they said.

According to jail officials, 399women presently lodged in Jailnumber 6 of Tihar and 163women in Jail number 16 ofMandoli would participate in the"Poshan Mela".

The fair started on Thursday atfemale Jail number 6 of Tihar inassociation with National

Commission for Women (NCW)where inmates were made awareabout the value of nutritionthrough presentations followed byspeeches from members of theCommission, including MeetaRajivlochan, IAS, MemberSecretary NCW, a senior jail offi-cial said.

Special diet and fruits were alsoprovided to the inmates, he said.

At the ''Poshan Mela'', differentstalls were arranged for children,lactating mothers, pregnantwomen and adults. They wereexplained about the importanceof taking a nutritious diet at var-ious stages during their pregnan-cy, menopause or in case theywere anaemic, said Sandeep Goel,Director General (Delhi Prisons).

Children below the age of sixare permitted to stay with theirmother in the jail and according

to data shared by Delhi Prisons,there are 17 such children stayingwith their mothers inside the twojails presently.

Out of the 17, eight children arein Central Jail number 6 of Tiharwhile the remaining nine arepresently in Central Jail number16 in Mandoli, the data stated.

Besides them, there are fourpregnant women currently lodgedin the two jails – three in Tiharand one in Mandoli.

"The pregnant women andlactating mothers are given SpecialDiet in the Prison. They remainunder constant medical supervi-sion of the Jail lady doctor. Proper

care is taken of the nutritionalneeds of the children too. Thereis a creche in each of these Jails forchildren. They very much likegoing there," said Goel.

Sharing the status on vaccina-tion against Covid for its womeninmates in Delhi Prisons, the jailadministration said 481 womeninmates of Tihar and 163 ofMandoli Jail have received theirfirst dose.

The figure also includes thosewho were released from jail overthe period.

Of the total women inmates,121 in Tihar and 102 in Mandolihave received their second dose ofvaccination. All the COVID-19protocols are being strictly fol-lowed and there is also a facilityof kitchen garden for thesewomen inside their respectiveprisons, officials said.

Nutrition fair for female inmates in Delhi prisons

AIADMK hails TN govt'sannouncements onSubramania Bharati

PNS n BHUBANESWAR/SAMBALPUR

People of Odisha celebratedNuakhai with fervour on Saturdayamid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nuakhai, an agrarian festivalmostly celebrated in westernOdisha, has turned into a massfiesta across the state over theyears. On Nuakhai, people wel-come the new rice of the season.

Even as traditional rituals werefollowed, the festivities were sub-dued this year due to the pan-demic. People from westernOdisha now living outside thestate also celebrated the festival attheir locations amid the heart-break of not being able to returnhome due to different restrictionsamid the pandemic.

Notable celebrations happenedin Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai,Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.

The colourful festival, markedby people wearing outfits made ofSambalpuri fabric, is celebrated a

day after Ganesh Chaturthi. Sambalpuri music is also an

integral part of the festival as theyoung men and women dance tothe beats of 'dul-duli' -- a drum.

Families, wearing new clothes,get together on this day to offerprayers to goddess Samaleswariand eat delicacies made of thenewly-harvested crop. Theyounger members of the familyseek blessings of the elder ones -- 'Nuakhai Juhar'.

Prime Minister NarendraModi greeted the people on theoccasion. In a tweet, he said,"Nuakhai Juhar! Greetings toeveryone on this auspicious occa-sion. On Nuakhai we laud theoutstanding efforts of our indus-trious farmers and their role innation building. I pray for every-one's good health and well-being."

Governor Ganeshi Lal alsogreeted the people on the occa-sion.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaiksaid Nuakhai is not only a festi-

val, but it is the identity of thestate's art, culture and tradition.

"I pray to Maa Samaleswarithat may you all have a happy andprosperous life," said Patnaikthrough a video message.

He also appealed to the peopleto follow COVID protocols whilecelebrating the festival.

This year, 'nabanna' (new rice)was offered to the goddessbetween 10.15 am and 10.25 am,as per the 'lagna' for the ritualfixed by the Pundit Mahasabha.

According to the decisiontaken by the authorities, devoteeswere allowed to visit SamaleswariTemple after the 'nabanna' ritualfrom 12 pm to 5.30 pm.

The origins of the festival dateback to the Vedic ages, but theearly records of its celebrationspoint to the 12th century whenChauvan Raja Ramai Deo ofPatanagarh identified agricultureas an important means to main-tain the cohesiveness of a societalarrangement.

Odisha celebrates Nuakhai

Visva Bharativarsity to keep3 students PNS n KOLKATA

Visva-Bharati Universityauthorities have notified threeexpelled students that therustication orders issuedagainst them on August 23was not being implementednow in adherence to therecent order of the CalcuttaHigh Court.

The three expelled post-graduate students - SomnathSow, Falguni Pan and RupaChakraborty - had sent sep-arate emails to the proctor ofthe central university onSeptember 9 urging him toallow them to attend classesimmediately as directed bythe high court.

In a related development,the proctor called upon thePrincipal of Vidya Bhavana,the Head of the Departmentof Economics and Politics,Vidya Bhavana and the headof Sangeet Bhavana betweenMay 10 evening and May 11morning "to keep inabeyance" the rusticationorder.

PNS n DEHRADUN

The priests of the Char Dhamtemples on Saturday temporari-ly withdrew their agitation for thedissolution of the DevasthanamBoard after Uttarakhand ChiefMinister Pushkar Singh Dhamiassured them that their con-cerns will be addressed byOctober 30.

Eight Char Dham priests havealso been invited to be part of thehigh-powered committee lookinginto the Devasthanam Boardissue, they said.

Priests of the Himalayan tem-ples have long been demandingthe dissolution of the board thatthey see as an encroachmentupon their rights.

Constituted during the chiefministership of Trivendra Singh

Rawat, the Devasthanam Boardis mandated to run the affairs of51 temples in Uttarakhand,including the Char Dham.

However, soon after takingover, former chief minister TirathSingh Rawat announced duringKumbh that the temples will beremoved from the board's con-trol. But he had to step downbefore he could keep his word.

"The chief minister assured usthat our rights will remainintact. We will get representa-tion in the high-powered com-mittee looking into theDevasthanam Board issue andour concerns will be addressed,"Gangotri Mandir Samiti presi-dent and Char Dham mahapan-chayat convenor Suresh Semwalsaid after a delegation of priestsmet Dhami.

U'khand: Char Dhampriests temporarilywithdraw agitation

DISSOLUTION OF BOARD

PNS n CHENNAI

The opposition AIADMK onSaturday hailed Chief Minister MK Stalin's announcements on thegovernment's decision to com-memorate the death anniversaryof India's firebrand poet and free-dom fighter Subramania Bharatias “Mahakavi Day” onSeptember 11 annually.

The announcement onobserving September 11 asMahakavi Day on behalf of thegovernment is a welcome devel-opment, AIADMK coordinatorO Panneerselvam said. “PoetBharati made the world realisethe excellence of the Tamil lan-guage. He proved that only thosewho have affinity to languagealone can live as a patriot,”Pannerselvam said. In a state-ment here the former ChiefMinister paid rich tributes toBharati and said he was a poly-glot fluent in English, French,Telugu and Hindi.

Bharati had worked as Tamil

teacher at the Sethupathi HigherSecondary School in Madurai.His works aroused patriotism.He captured the feeling of unityof the Indians by his poems,Panneerselvam said and recalledthat former Chief Minister JJayalalithaa renovated the housewhere Bharati lived in Triplicane,here.

Various announcements byChief Minister M K Stalinincluding those on observing thedeath anniversary as MahakaviDay, presenting select poems andessays in book form to schoolstudents, bringing out low pricedstatues of the national poetthrough Poompuhar, conductingevents like Perengum Bharati,Bharati on screen, setting up ofa chair on the poet's name atTrichy Bharathidasan Universitybesides providing financial assis-tance on behalf of the govern-ment to maintain the housewhere Bharati lived in Varanasi,Uttar Pradesh are welcomeannouncements, he said.

Maha: Twoundertrialsattack jailorPNS n THANE

Two undertrials allegedlyattacked a jailor and his col-league with sharp weapons atAdharwadi jail located atKalyan in Maharashtra'sThane district, police said onSaturday.

The incident took placeearlier this week and anoffence was registered in thisconnection at Khadakpadapolice station against thetwo inmates, identified asMohammad Altaf aliasMaftab Khalid Shaikh andAnkit Mahendra Prasad, theysaid. The victims sufferedinjuries in the incident,police said. In his complaintlodged with the police, jailorAnand Pansare said that onWednesday, when he was onduty in the barracks, he spot-ted undertrial Altaf comingout of a cell that was notallotted to him.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India and Australia on Saturday emphasisedon their shared vision of a free, open andinclusive Indo-Pacific region, and also theimportance of combating terrorism withoutcompromise.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar andDefence Minister Rajath Singh held the 'two-plus-two' talks here with their Australiancounterparts Marise Payne and Peter Dutton.

At a press event after the talks, Singh saidthe partnership between India and Australiawas based on shared vision of free, open,inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

He said that during the talks, a rules-basedorder was emphasised upon.

In his remarks, Jaishankar said the twosides discussed future collaboration to dealwith COVID-19 pandemic.

Jaishankar also asserted on the importanceof combating terrorism without any compro-

mise."Today is the 20th anniversary of 9/11, it

is a reminder, if one is still needed, of theimportance of combating terrorism withoutcompromise. Close as we are to its epicen-tre, let us appreciate the value of internation-al cooperation to that end," he said.

Payne said Australian and India share apositive vision of free, open and secure Indopacific.

The two sides also discussed the situationin Afghanistan at length, the leaders said.

"Last month did see the fall of Kabul andalong with the ongoing fight against terror-ism, the future of Afghanistan remains a cen-tral concern to both our countries," Paynesaid.

"Both of our countries have been victimsof appalling terrorist attacks and this daySeptember 11 will be forever remembered forthose terrible events 20 years ago when ter-rorists struct at the heart of our friend -- theUS -- and also by extension at a modern, plu-ralist and democratic world," she said.

Dutton hailed the bilateral defence rela-tionship and said that it was at a historic high.

The foreign and defence ministerial talkstook place amid renewed efforts by the Quadmember countries to expand cooperation inthe Indo-Pacific region. Besides India andAustralia, the Quad comprises the US andJapan.

India, Oz for ‘free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region’

VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2021money 06

MONEY MATTERS

The heavy industriesministry has asked US-based electric car major

Tesla to first startmanufacturing its iconicelectric vehicles in India beforeany tax concessions can beconsidered, governmentsources said. They said thatthe government is not giving

such concessions to any auto firm and giving duty benefits to Teslawill not send a good signal to other companies that have investedbillions of dollars in India.Tesla has demanded reduction in importduties on electric vehicles (EVs) in India. At present, cars importedas completely built units (CBUs) attract customs duty ranging from60 per cent to 100 per cent, depending on engine size and cost,insurance and freight (CIF) value less or above USD 40,000. In aletter to the road ministry, the US firm had stated that the effectiveimport tariff of 110 per cent on vehicles with customs value aboveUSD 40,000 is "prohibitive" to zero-emission vehicles. It hasrequested the government to standardize the tariff on electric cars to40 per cent irrespective of the customs value, and withdraw thesocial welfare surcharge of 10 per cent on electric cars. It has statedthat these changes would boost the development of the Indian EVecosystem and the company will make significant direct investmentsin sales, service, and charging infrastructure; and significantlyincrease procurement from India for its global operations.

AUS federal court onFriday sentenced anAmerican national to six

months of imprisonment andimposed a USD 150,000 finefor importing misbrandeddrugs from India. KennethZipperer, 54, from Wisconsin,imported foreign-sourcedprescription drugs from an

internet pharmacy company in India via the US Mail and ExpressMail Service, according to the indictment. None of the drugs wereapproved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for humanconsumption in the United States. Zipperer distributed many of theforeign-sourced prescription medications to his insurance clients inperson, primarily at the business office for Zipperer Financial LLC inWausau, the indictment alleged. The accused pleaded guilty toCounts 3 and 21 of the indictment.After accepting the two guiltypleas, US District Judge William M Conley sentenced Zipperer to sixmonths in federal prison, imposed a USD 150,000 fine, and orderedhim to pay USD 483 in restitution, said Timothy M O'Shea, acting USAttorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.“Distributingunapproved prescription drugs is illegal and puts consumers' healthat risk. In order to protect public health and safety, our office worksclosely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecutethose who seek to profit from selling unapproved prescriptiondrugs,” O'Shea added.

Private parties will soon be ableto lease and buy railway

coaches to run theme-basedcultural, religious and other touristcircuit trains, according to a policybeing formulated by the IndianRailways. In a release onSaturday, the railways said that anexecutive director-level committeehas been constituted by the

Ministry of Railways to formulate the policy and terms and conditionsof the project."To tap the potential of tourism sector and to leverage thecore strengths of the professionals of tourism sector in tourismactivities like marketing, hospitality, integration of services, reach withcustomer base, expertise in development/i dentification of touristcircuits etc., Indian Railways is planning to spread rail-based tourismamong masses through leasing of coaching stock to interested partiesto run them as theme-based cultural, religious and other tourist circuittrains," the release said. It said coaches may be leased "as per thedesired configuration of interested parties. Bare shells may also betaken on lease. Outright purchase of coaches can also be done."According to sources, the plan is that the interested parties have to buyor lease a train with a minimum of 16 coaches. This comes at a timewhen the railways' efforts to draw in private players to run its "privatetrains" is receiving very little interest from India Inc. According to therelease, the proposed model will allow private parties to conduct minorrefurbishment of coaches and leasing of coaches for a minimum periodof 5 years and extendable till codal life of coaches. The interested partywill develop or decide on the business model (routes, itinerary, tariff)."Indian Railways will levy haulage charges, nominal stabling chargesand lease charges. (No lease charges for outright purchase)," therelease said.

PNS n AHMEDABAD

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday said thatIndia's economy recoveredmore strongly as compared tothe impact it suffered due tothe COVID-19 outbreak.

He said that when bigeconomies of the world werebusy defending themselvesduring the pandemic, Indiawas engaged in reforms.

"COVID-19 affected theeconomies of the entire world,including that of India. Butour economy has recoveredmore strongly than it washalted by the pandemic,"Modi said while virtuallyaddressing a gathering afterinaugurating SardhardhamBhavan here, a complex forproviding training to job aspi-rants.

"When big economies ofthe world were busy defend-ing themselves during thepandemic, we were carrying

out reforms. When the glob-al supply chains were disrupt-ed, we introduced the PLI(production-linked incentive)scheme to turn new opportu-

nities in favour of India,"Modi said.

This scheme has beenextended to the textile sectornow, he said, adding that the

textile sector and cities likeSurat can take maximum ben-efit of the scheme.

As per the data released bythe National Statistical Office(NSO) on Tuesday, India'seconomic growth surged to20.1 per cent in the April-Junequarter of this fiscal, helped bya low base of the year-agoperiod, despite a devastatingsecond wave of COVID-19.The gross domestic product(GDP) had contracted by 24.4per cent in the correspondingApril-June quarter of 2020-21.

The PLI scheme announcedfor 10 key sectors, includingtextile and automobiles bythe Centre, is aimed at help-ing the country's economyrecover faster after the pan-demic.

"We should look upon our-selves as global economicleader as in the 21st century,India does not have a scarci-ty of opportunities to make itbig," Modi said.

Economy recovered stronglypost impact of Covid: Modi PNS n NEW DELHI

CNG and piped cooking gasprices in cities such as Delhiand Mumbai may be hiked by10-11 per cent next month asthe government-dictated gasprice is set to rise by about 76per cent, ICICI Securities saidin a report.The government,using rates prevalent in gas-surplus nations, fixes the priceof natural gas produced byfirms such as state-owned Oiland Natural Gas Corp(ONGC) from fields given tothem on nomination basis,every six months. The nextreview is due on October 1.

The price, referred to asAPM or administered rate,will rise to USD 3.15 per mil-lion British thermal unit(mmBtu) for the period fromOctober 1, 2021 to March 31,2022 from the current USD1.79, the brokerage said.

The rate for gas from deep-water fields such as KG-D6 ofReliance Industries Ltd and BPPlc would rise to USD 7.4 permmBtu next month.

Natural gas is the rawmaterial that is converted intocompressed natural gas (CNG)for use in automobiles as fuelor piped to household kitchensfor cooking purposes.

"The expected surge inAPM gas prices would presenta challenge to city gas distri-bution (CGD) players as itwould mean a rise in their gascost for CNG and residentialpiped natural gas," it said."APM gas price rise wouldmean hefty price hikes wouldhave to be made by IGL (thatretails CNG in national capi-tal and adjoining cities) andMGL (which retail CNG in

Mumbai) in the next oneyear."

The city gas distributors(CGD) "would have to makeprice hikes of 10-11 per centin October," ICICI Securitiessaid in a report.

Going by the trend in inter-national markets, the APM gasprice is likely to rise to USD5.93 per mmBtu in April 2022to September 2022 and toUSD 7.65 during October2022 to March 2023.

This would mean another22-23 per cent hike in CNGand piped natural gas prices inApril 2022 and 11-12 per centin October 2022, it said.

CNG price likely to rise 10-11per cent in October: Report

PNS n WASHINGTON

America's Special PresidentialEnvoy for Climate John Kerrywould travel to India nextweek during which the twocountries would launch theClimate Action and FinanceMobilisation Dialogue, theState Department has said.

Kerry will travel to Indiafrom September 12-14 toengage with internationalcounterparts in efforts toaddress the climate crisis.

The State Department saidKerry will meet with Indiancounterparts and private sectorleaders to discuss efforts toraise global climate ambitionand speed up India's cleanenergy transition.

"During his visit, the UnitedStates and India will launch theClimate Action and FinanceMobilisation Dialogue(CAFMD), one of the two main

tracks of the US-India Agenda2030 Partnership that President(Joe) Biden and Prime Minister(Narendra) Modi announced atthe Leaders Summit on Climate

in April 2021,” the StateDepartment said on Friday.

Kerry will bolster the US'bilateral and multilateral climateefforts ahead of the 26th

Conference of the Parties(COP26) to the United NationsFramework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCCC),which will be held from October

31 to November 12, 2021, inGlasgow, United Kingdom, themedia release said.

On August 24, UnionEnvironment MinisterBhupender Yadav had a tele-phonic conversation withKerry during which both sidesagreed that India and the USwill engage for a constructiveengagement under the India-US Climate and Clean EnergyAgenda 2030 Partnership.

The US-India Climate andClean Energy Agenda 2030Partnership envisages bilater-al cooperation on strongactions in the current decade tomeet the goals of the ParisAgreement. As a part of theParis Agreement, India plans toreduce its carbon footprint by33-35 per cent from its 2005levels by 2030 and have 40 percent of its total installed powergeneration capacity fromrenewables by 2030.

India, US to launch Climate Action and Dialogue

Govt wants Tesla to first startproduction before concessions

US national jailed forimporting misbranded drugs

Rlys proposes policy to lease,sell coaches to private parties

PNS n NEW DELHI

WhatsApp on Friday said itwill allow users to backuptheir chat history with end-to-end encryption, after whichthe content will be accessibleonly to them and no one willbe able to unlock their backup.

The end-to-end encryptionbackup feature for WhatsApp- which has two billion usersglobally - will be available oniOS and Android in the com-ing weeks.

India is among the biggestmarkets for the Facebook-owned company. As per datacited by the government ear-lier this year, the Facebook-owned company has 53 croreusers in the country.

The move assumes signifi-cance as WhatsApp presentlyuses Google Drive to storebackups on the Android plat-form and the backed-up chatsare not end-to-end encrypted- making them susceptible toattacks. To resolve this chal-

lenge, WhatsApp has beenworking on a feature that willallow backups to also be end-to-end encrypted.

Facebook CEO MarkZuckerberg on Friday saidanother layer of privacy andsecurity is being added toWhatsApp with an end-to-endencryption option for thebackups people choose to storein Google Drive or iCloud.

“WhatsApp is the first glob-al messaging service at thisscale to offer end-to-end

encrypted messaging andbackups, and getting therewas a really hard technicalchallenge that required anentirely new framework forkey storage and cloud storageacross operating systems,” hesaid in a post on Facebook.

In a whitepaper, WhatsAppsaid all personal messages,calls, video chats and mediasent on the messaging plat-form have been end-to-endencrypted on the platformsince 2016.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Union Road Transportand Highways Ministry hasasked states to remove checkposts at state borders asonline data in respect ofvehicles and drivers hasbeen strengthened throughVAHAN and SARATHI plat-forms.

The ministry in a letter tostates said that after introduc-tion of GST in July 2017,there is no need for havingthe regular check posts at thestate borders.

"...it is therefore requestedthat the present status regard-ing removal of check posts atstate borders may kindly beintimated to the ministry atthe earliest," it said.

Road Min wantsall check-postsat state bordersremoved

WhatsApp to offer end-to-endencryption option for backups

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT)has admitted the petition filedby former Videocon groupChairman and ManagingDirector Venugopal Dhootchallenging the earlier order ofthe insolvency court NCLTapproving Rs 2,962 croretakeover bid for its 13 groupcompanies by Anil Agarwal'sTwin Star Technologies.

The appellate tribunal hasissued notices to the resolutionprofessional, lenders and TwinStar Technologies directingthem to file a reply bySeptember 17. "We have con-sidered the submissions of var-ious parties. We admit theappeal and the respondentsare directed to file their replyby September 15, 2021 and,thereafter, the rejoinder, if any,be filed by September 17, 2021,"said the NCLAT.

"Let the matter be listed 'for

hearing' on September 20,2021," added a two-memberbench comprising Justice J KJain and A K Mishra.

Earlier on June 9, theMumbai bench of the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT) approved Rs 2,962crore takeover bid by Twin StarTechnologies for the 13 compa-nies of the debt-ridden

Videocon group. However, theNCLT order was stayed by theappellate tribunal on July 19over the petitions filed by twodissatisfied creditors of theVideocon Group - Bank ofMaharashtra and IFCI Ltd andhad directed to maintain "sta-tus quo ante".

Earlier this week, onSeptember 7, the NCLAT has

extended the stay till September20, the next date of hearing inthe issue.

Dhoot, in its plea filed beforethe NCLAT has requested to setaside the order passed by theMumbai bench of the NCLTand to direct the lenders to con-sider Rs 31,789 crore settlementplan submitted by him undersection 12 of the Insolvency &Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

In the petition, Dhoot hasquestioned the role played bythe Resolution Professionaland said that he should havementioned the foreign oil andgas assets of Videocon Groupin the Information memoran-dum (Tender Form) to all thebidders and hence no valuationwas considered. He had alsorequested NCLT's orderapproving Twin StarTechnologies' resolution planto be cancelled and a fresh res-olution plan to be consideredwith Oil and ConsumerDurable assets.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Tech firm Amagi on Saturdaysaid Accel, Avataar Ventures,Norwest Venture Partnersand existing investor PremjiInvest have collectivelyinvested over USD 100 mil-lion (about Rs 735.2 crore) inthe company.

The venture funds havebought out the stake held byEmerald Media (an invest-ment platform backed byKKR) and Mayfield Fund, astatement said.

Nadathur Holdings contin-ues as an existing investor inAmagi, a cloud-based SaaS(software as a service) tech-nology for broadcast andconnected TV, it added.

"The transaction heraldsthe coming together of best-in-class SaaS venture fundsand one of the largest mediaSaaS companies globally tofurther accelerate the tremen-dous momentum for theUSD 50 billion cloud-basedvideo content creation, distri-bution, and monetisationmarket," it said.

The partnership will pro-vide media companies themuch-needed agility and effi-ciency to succeed in the tra-ditional broadcast and theevolving OTT and streamingTV universe, it added.

Amagi co-founder andCEO Baskar Subramaniansaid the company willimmensely benefit from thecollective experience of Accel,Avataar, Norwest, and PremjiInvest in rapidly scaling itsbusiness and expanding itsglobal footprint.

PNS n SAN RAMON (US)

A federal judge ordered Appleto dismantle part of the com-petitive barricade guardingits closely run app store,threatening one of the iPhonemaker's biggest moneymakers.

Such a change could poten-tially also save app developersbillions of dollars that couldencourage them to lower theprices paid by consumers.

The ruling issued Fridaydecides an antirust casebrought by Epic Games, best

known as the maker ofFortnite, the popular videogame played by about 400 mil-lion people worldwide. Appleshares dropped on news of theruling and were down bymore than 2% in Friday after-noon trading, reflectinginvestor fears that the rulingwould siphon away billions ofdollars in annual revenue fromthe company.

The legal battle targetedcommissions of up to 30% thatApple charges on digital trans-actions within apps.

PNS n NEW DELHI

A parliamentary panel hassuggested that the commerceministry should engage withits finance counterpart foradditional allocation underthe notified tax rebate schemefor exporters 'RoDTEP' as thebudget allocation of Rs12,500 crore for the pro-gramme would be inade-quate to meet its objectives.

Last month, the govern-ment announced rates of taxrefunds under the RoDTEPscheme for 8,555 products,such as marine goods, yarn,dairy items. The governmenthas set aside Rs 12,454 crorefor the current fiscal. Thereport of the departmentrelated parliamentary stand-ing committee on commercehas also suggested theDepartment of Commerceto expedite implementationof the scheme.

PNS n NEW DELHI

In order to make disinvest-ment deals of ailing state-owned firms more attractivefor strategic investors, thegovernment on Fridayallowed erstwhile public sec-tor companies to carry for-ward losses to be set offagainst future profits.

The Central Board ofDirect Taxes (CBDT) in aclarification said that Section79 of the Income Tax Actshall not apply to an erstwhilepublic sector company whichhas become so as a result ofstrategic disinvestment.

"Accordingly, loss incurredin any previous year prior to,and including, the previousyear of strategic disinvest-ment shall be carried forwardand set off by the erstwhilepublic sector company," theCBDT under the FinanceMinistry said in a statement.

Par panel asksCommerce Minto engage withFinance Min

Judge loosens Apple's grip on app store in Epic decision

Accel, PremjiInvest and othersinvest $100 mnin Amagi

NCLAT admits Venugopal Dhoot petition CBDT: PSUs to beallowed to carryforward losses

ANIL AGARWAL'S TWIN STAR TAKEOVER BID

sundaymagazine

spirituality 7VIJAYAWADA, September 12, 2021

WHEN YOU ARE ENTHUSIASTICABOUT WHAT YOU DO, YOUFEEL THIS POSITIVE ENERGY.

IT'S VERY SIMPLE— PAULO COELHO

HIDDENSOULSPRAMOD PATHAK

Life and death are the two sides of the same coin. Theycomplement each other. They complement one anoth-er. It was this reality that Lord Krishna explained to

Arjun in the Gita when he says that one that is born is cer-tain to die at a predestined time. And one who dies is boundto be born again. All living beings of this world before theirbirths were unmanifest, that is, without the physical bod-ies. In death they again become unmanifest or without thephysical bodies. The physical body is merely an intermedi-ary stage. The soul is defined as unmanifest, beyond imag-ination and faultless. As a man discards old, worn out clothesand puts on new ones, similarly the soul leaves the old, agedbody and gets into a new one. It does not die when the bodyperishes. It is eternal, omnipresent, immortal and stable. Thiseternal lesson of Bhagwad Gita gives an answer to the biggestmystery of life and death. Swami Prabhupada opined thatlife is a question none can answer and death is an answernone can question. But still death is grieved by all. That isthe mystery of life. We don’t want our near and dear onesto depart from this world though we all know that death isa necessary end that will come when it will come. That isthe weakness of human nature. We know that death isinevitable. Yet, we do not like death. This is natural. The inde-structibility of soul is something that does not give any kindof solace to human beings as we know that one who hasdeparted will never come back. Yes, it is a hard fact, the mostdifficult reality of life. It is this reality that we have to facetime and again but coping with it even after knowing it isnot easy. It is this issue that is the most difficult to resolve.The sad news of the demise of a dear friend, Dr. ChandanMitra, was something that put me in a similar predicament.It was sudden and had a big impact. True, it would have givena similar impact to many people, and for a number of rea-sons, all equally genuine. But my case was different. A goodfriend, a noted journalist, and of course, a known person-ality who also was close to me were definitely there at theback of the mind as the reasons that caused pain. But therewas another very significant reason. He was the person behindthe idea of this Hidden Souls, the column that I have beenwriting religiously for around a decade. We had been dis-cussing about this idea of starting a column on spirituality,values and ethics on many occasions that we met. And thensuddenly, after a gap of some twenty days or so I received acall from him that we are going ahead. Had it not been forhim, Hidden Souls would have remained hidden from thereaders even today. It was an idea with a laudable objective.To sensitise readers on issues that stir the soul, make themlook inwards and bring about an awakening to create a bet-ter society. It was an attempt with a lofty objective and it didbring about some encouraging responses from not only dif-ferent parts of the country but many corners of the globe.Though Dr. Mitra is not present with his physical body, hispresence will be felt. The soul lives on.

Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com

This article is in the Indian context,because of our widespread aware-ness about God, soul, etc. Then,

why aren’t so many spiritualistsamongst us? There are several reasons.The first and the most basic one is notrealising what one is missing.

We are born in material bodies, andfrom then on we identify ourselves asmaterial bodies only. Spiritualitychanges everything. Spirituality rein-forces the knowledge/reminds us thatwe are spirits or souls. One of the basicqualities of the soul is consciousness.A conscious entity will not be oblivi-ous of its own reality. Spiritualityworks as a mirror in the sense that itshows the true picture. Why don’t wewant to see the true picture? Becausethe identity of being a soul requires usto connect to the whole, who is God,and that requires ‘tapasya’. We wouldrather live in ignorance, because wedon’t wish to give up our unlimiteddesires for lustful enjoyments.

This is bad enough but worse is forthose who are engaged in sinful acts.They are not oblivious of the fact thatthese sinful acts will be punished as perthe ‘karmaphala’ principle. All acts arebeing duly recorded. A time of reckon-ing will come. But they will rather benot reminded of the harsh reality.Spirituality will shake them.

There are some other reasons aswell for shunning spirituality or specif-ically God. ‘Ahankar’ (ego) is a bigspoiler. Though ego is an intrinsic partof the human body, it is used in a wrongway. We need to have this feeling thatI must do what I have to, who else? Butwe go wrong when we begin to thinkthat we are better than other people orbegin to think and talk too much about

ourselves. In this mindset, where is aplace for God. Ravana, before dying,famously said that ahankar was thecause of his undoing. Bad company isanother reason. Because when weinteract with anyone, something of usrubs on that person and vice versa. Inbad company one justifies whatever oneis. Then, where is the chance of chang-ing, which is required for the progresson the spiritual path?

Some people don’t try, because spir-ituality is somewhat of an unknown ter-ritory, though as souls it shouldn’t be.Here again identifying self as a mate-rial body is a big hindrance. Don’t westruggle for quarter of our lives just tobe able to earn our living? Then, whyshould spirituality, which brings enor-mous rewards, be so easily attainable.Similarly, gains in spirituality are sub-tle, unlike material achievements,which are gross and visible to our sens-

es. But those who practice spiritualitycan sense that they are progressing,because God responds. He has to, oth-erwise how else will we make the nec-essary efforts, or more specifically do‘tapasya’. When we don’t embrace spir-ituality, we hurt ourselves badly, espe-cially in old age when we need God themost. The human life has been divid-ed in four parts and the last part ismeant specifically to pursue spiritual-ly. Shelter of God is absolutely essen-tial then, when the body begins toweaken or gets stricken with some dis-eases. God can help and does help.Spiritualists never suffer ‘durgati’ (endup badly). The Lord has given a spe-cific promise that His devotees neverperish. (9.31) But will we ignore themirror and go on living a life of delu-sion?

Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reachedat spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com

It is explained by KavirajGoswami and the previousacharyas that Krishna has threeprimary energies. His internalenergy, which is his spiritual

energy. His external energy or mater-ial energy and the marginal energywhich is the part and parcels spirit soulsthat are eternally sub-ordinate to oneof these two energies as tatatha shak-ti. The living entity must be a servantunder the subjugation of either theinternal energy or the external energy.

The internal energy is where theconstitutional nature of a jiva can befully expressed. The internal energy isthat which is eternal, full of knowledge,full of bliss. Where the bliss of lovingecstatic pastimes is all that takes placeforever. It is the land of unlimited hap-piness. The external energy is the landof exploitation. The land of envy andgreed.

And the Lord has explainedthrough his representatives that thisinternal energy has three principles:Sandini, Samvit and Hladini. TheSandini potency of the internal ener-gy of the Lord is that energy in whichthe Supreme Personality of Godhead

maintains all of existence. And theSamvit potency is that in which thesupreme Lord knows Himself andmakes Himself known to others. AndHladini potency is that potency whichgives the Lord unlimited eternal plea-sure and also gives all of His devoteesunlimited eternal pleasure. And it is forthe purpose of this Hladini shakti thatSandini and Samvit are manifested; areexisting. Because ultimately anandamayo abhyasat Krishna is anandamayi. That means he is the reservoirof all pleasure. And it is only for plea-sure that the Lord transcendentally per-forms his various functions and pas-times in the spiritual world.

Krishna is the supreme enjoyer. Hisenjoyment is the all and all of his exis-tence. And because Krishna is thesupreme enjoyer, the jivatma, which ispart and parcel of Krishna, our life andsoul is also to enjoy. We find the con-ditioned soul under the illusions of thisexternal energy. Every part of that soul’sexistence is simply to try to findenjoyment in one way or the other.Even when we make sacrifices and per-form great austerity it is ultimately forthe purpose of enjoyment. Even when

a man goes to the battlefield to die forhis country, it is so that he can enjoythe fact that his country would be freeand he has given his life for that pur-pose.

Factually, everything we do is forthe purpose of enjoyment. We havechildren for the purpose of enjoyment,we raise children for the purpose ofenjoyment. We go to work and sufferso many austerities for the purpose ofenjoyment. We even remain in thisbody and suffer birth, old age, diseaseand death just for the purpose of littleenjoyment. The whole existence of ourlife is to seek pleasure because we arepart of Krishna , because Krishna exis-tence is simply to taste pleasure, toenjoy pleasure.

But the illusion is we think we canenjoy apart from Krishna. But the nat-ural function of the pleasure seekingnature of the soul is to experienceunlimited pleasure in giving Krishnapleasure. When you water the root ofthe tree every part of the tree is satis-fied. Similarly, when we satisfy Krishnaautomatically our soul is satisfied, allthe Demi-Gods are satisfied, everyoneis satisfied. That if we surrender to

Mukunda we have no other responsi-bilities or duties to anyone because allobligations are fulfilled when we pleaseKrishna. Because He is the reservoir ofall pleasure which means that we canall derive unlimited pleasure fromKrishna just by pleasing him.

But where does Krishna get hispleasure from? This is the great ques-tion that Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswamiis herein explaining in such wonder-ful, wonderful shlokas. That thesupreme absolute truth is one. Thereis one God, there is not a second God.

Krishna says I am the source of allmaterial and spiritual existence.Everything emanates from me.

That Krishna is the supreme truth.There is no truth superior to Krishna.He is the supreme enjoyer. But wheredoes that one supreme truth andenjoyer get his enjoyment from?Obviously he gets it from himself.Because everything is contained with-in him, nothing exists separate fromHim.

Krishna has multifarious energies.We have described the principal three.And they have innumerable sub-divi-sions, but they are all Krishna , they areall within Krishna, they are all ofKrishna. So when Krishna wants toenjoy supreme bliss he is the supremeenjoyer, so in order for Him to enjoysupreme enjoyment He needs someonewho is supremely enjoyable. ThereforeKrishna expands Himself as His ownHladini shakti or pleasure potency. Andthe function of this pleasure potencyis to give Krishna unlimited pleasure.And in giving Krishna pleasure, thepleasure potency enjoys even greaterpleasure than Krishna. And in this rela-tionship of supreme pure spiritual plea-sure, Krishna becomes the reservoir ofall pleasure and then all living entities,all the jivatmas can derive unlimitedbliss from Krishna and he gets that blissfrom his eternal consort ShrimatiRadha Rani. She is the source of allpleasure. She is the source of all hap-piness. And just as Krishna expandsHimself in various avatars to enjoy var-ious rasas or pleasures at different timesand at different places and in differentmoods for all of eternity, similarlyShrimati Radha Rani, his pleasurepotency, expands alongwith Him.

When Krishna expands inVaikunta into Lord Narayan, ShriRadhika expands Herself as LaxmiDevi. Simply to give Narayan unlim-ited pleasure. Radha is the supremeenergy of Lord Krishna and accompa-nies Krishna in all his incarnations.This year on 14th Sept we celebrateRadhaAshtami the appearance day ofShrimati Radha Rani

The writer is a spiritual guru at InternationalSociety for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

The soullives on...

Spirituality, a mirror

KRISHNA HASMULTIFARIOUS

ENERGIES. WE HAVEDESCRIBED THE

PRINCIPAL THREE.THESE HAVE

INNUMERABLE SUB-DIVISIONS, BUT THEY

ARE ALL KRISHNA,THEY ARE ALL

WITHIN KRISHNA ,THEY ARE ALL OF

KRISHNA...

Many people dream ofowning an abode, butvery few are lucky

enough to make their dreamscome true. A house becomes ahome because of the memberswho live in it. However, yourarchitect plays a crucial role inthe happiness of your family.When the architect plans yourdream home, the small negli-gence of following Vaastu cancause profound joy or pain inyour life.

A Vaastu practice is mainlyfollowed to achieve overall well-being and prosperity. VaastuShastra architecture revolves

around the structure and designof a building. By having theright shape or shell, a home canchannel the right energy andprevent negativity from comingin. Vaastu principles are bestconducted using symmetrical orright-angled shapes, such as rec-tangles and squares. Houseswith these plot shapes are pros-perous and happy. Ancient sci-ence believes that irregular orcurved-shaped buildings (oval,circular, or semi-circular)restrict an individual’s growthand cause various health prob-lems, losses, and a general feel-ing of unhappiness in the indi-

vidual life. According to Vaastu

Shastra, spaces are organisedand shaped based on their func-tions and purposes within aroom, a structure, or a collectionof rooms. Vaastu Shastra hasbeen incorporated into thedesign of cities, towns, gardens,roads, and water systems, as wellas in cities, townships, play-rooms, offices, and prayerrooms.

Besides illustrating how tobuild a building, Vaastu offersguidelines for designing it. Anarchitect can play a vital role inyour happiness and prosperity

by following or not following theVaastu norms. As an Architect,you can look up to few factorswhile designing. In the contextof Vaastu Shastra, whichencourages positive energy flow,the setting of the house property— which identifies the locationand orientation of the livingspace — is crucial because itestablishes the flow of positiveenergy.

Vaastu Shastra says anydirection a home faces is good,whether it’s East, West, North, orSouth because every one ofthem has advantages but, anarchitect could look for some ofthe following instructions whiledesigning and planning:l Positioning the puja room inyour house affects prosperityand peace in the home.l A furniture arrangement caninfluence a room’s energy bal-ance, affecting health and men-tal wellbeing.l Health and happiness can beenhanced by placing mirrors inthe key locations in the home.l For healthy and hygienicenvironment water should beplaced correctly.l Choosing the right coloursfor every room in the house canalso affect the mood or feelingin the room and should be donewith care.

So, next time you look topurchase a property, ensure andcheck if your architect knowsthe basics of Vaastu and liveyour life with happiness.

The writer is an astrologer &Vaastu Consultant

Architecture and decor play a vital role in your happiness. Payattention to details, says ACHARYA VINOD KUMAR OJHA

Vaastu tips for happy homeSpirituality shows the true picture. A conscious entity can notbe oblivious of its own reality, writes AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI

The lord is the reservoir of all pleasure. We can derive unlimitedpleasure from him just by pleasing him, writes RADHANATH SWAMI

KRISHNA’S ENERGIES

sundaymagazine

97Krishna’s energies

VIJAYAWADA, September 12, 2021

We have seen the world trans-form remarkably in the lastone and a half years. The post-Covid-19 world has taught usto cope up with our mental,

physical and emotional health as part of ourdaily routine.

One key trend that emerged was the grow-ing conscious awareness towards getting fit.From Generation X and Y to Generation Z andAlpha, everyone took to the ground and homearena to establish a regime to get healthy, whileencouraging others to follow suit. Social mediastreams and communities became the virtualground for people from different demograph-ics registering their journey of enrolling with aFittr coach to transform their lifestyles. Manycouples started their fitness journey by pro-moting body positivity and highlighting fitnessas a form of couple therapy, sharing#CoupleFitnessGoals and inspiring others tojoin their fitness expedition which the fitnesssector could attest!

The fitness community in India hasevolved rapidly with an advent of a buddingecosystem consisting of vigilant consumers, fit-ness service providers coupled by governmentinitiatives. However, the idea of a healthy mindin a healthy body is not new to Indians —yoga, akhadas, ayurveda, and meditation havealways been a part of our culture. With globali-sation and ease in the availability of informa-tion, traditional practices and exercises arebeing reinforced and supplemented by a mod-ern, dynamic, and rising fitness industry inIndia.

As per a report by Redseer Consulting, thecountry’s fitness industry, which includesequipment, sportswear, fitness services, andrecreational sports was valued at US$12 billionin 2018.

Recent industry reports from FICCI, E&Y,Redseer Consulting, Global Wellness Institute,and IHRSA & Fitternity on the fitness servicessegment estimate that there are six millionactive users spending on an average US$350 toUS$400 annually towards fitness services,amounting to a US$2.6 billion market size.

The overall fitness industry is expected togrow at an annual rate of 27 percent and touchthe US$32 billion mark by 2022, of which fit-ness services (like gyms, slimming services,and formats like zumba, aerobics, crossfit, etc.)will contribute around US$6.6 billion.

VIRTUAL FITNESS: BRINGING GREATER ACCES-

SIBILITY FOR ANYONE AND EVERYONE!

As we continue to grapple with the effectsand after-effects of the pandemic, there isnow a new breed of fitness enthusiasts thathave come into the fold. According to a 2020report, 77% of Indians tried staying fit bycombining household chores with virtualclasses and DIY home workout routines.With gyms and fitness centers closed, limitedspace to exercise indoors and lack of gym-like-set up with little to no access to fitnessequipment, being innovative to stay fitbecame the need of the hour. With fitnessapps such as Fittr and others in play, finding

the right exercise, coach, diet as per one’sneed has become seamless.

From terraces and living rooms, any placewith good connectivity that allowed for liveonline coaching became everyone’s very ownprivate fitness centre! Fitness coaches becamecreative, curating routines with exercises thatwere adapted to these environments.

DIGITAL FITNESS: HAVING A PERSONAL

TRAINER AT HOME

With the threat of the virus still at largeand easy access to online training sessions,workouts-at-home have become the pandemicfitness trend, leading to a sharp boom for thevirtual fitness industry and diverse offeringsfor consumers. As per a survey conducted,84% of fitness enthusiasts tried live-streamingfitness classes at least thrice during the lock-down.

Along with online offerings, there’s alsobeen an increase in demand of fitness acces-sories and equipment such as yoga mats,dumbbells, among others. People have recog-nised need of inculcating quantified nutritionand physical exercises in their lifestyle and areincreasingly becoming more aware and con-scious about their health and are looking atvarious alternatives to integrate fitness intotheir lives.

With fitness industry seeing one of thebiggest leaps to online development andbecoming almost entirely digital, the need forfitness specialists and nutritionists haveincreased. Keeping in mind the prevailing sit-uations, fitness specialists have also equippedthemselves with the craft of world wide weband have quickly modified their offerings toonline. In no time, online fitness coaching hasbecome a lucrative business and an alternativecareer option with many applying to becomea certified trainer and even earn specializedfitness certificates by taking online fitnesscourses.

One of the major reasons for digital fitnessindustry booming is that people now under-stand the perks of working out at home in one’sown comfortable space. It’s almost like havingyour personal trainer with you at your homewith:

l Time not being an issueThe excuse that ‘I don’t get time to work

out because of a hectic work schedule’ is nolonger applicable. Previously, while going toand from the gym or a studio was time-con-suming, making it difficult to commit to adaily workout, is no longer an issue anymore!With virtual workouts, you have the leisure ofworking out at your own convenience andtherefore, find the time to insert a sweat ses-sion in your routine. So, no more excuses, allyou have to do is leave them behind, put onsome comfy clothes, set up your mat and turnon your fitness app.

l No more hassle to finding a perfect gymThe hassle to find a gym accommodating

your health goals, budgets and within proximi-ty is no longer a challenge. With virtual fitness

you have a gym right in the comfort of yourhome! All one needs to do is find a comfort-able spot, place your smartphone, laptop, ortablet, option and start working out. You canalso take your workout with you outside, onvacation, to a friend’s house or in your own liv-ing room.

l No peer pressureWhen you exercise amongst a bunch of fit-

ness fanatics at a studio or a gym, for begin-ners especially, it can be an intimidating expe-rience. By working out virtually, much of thatpressure dissipates since you’re only competingwith yourself!

l A community can help build disciplineEspecially for beginners finding discipline

is very important. Once you are disciplinedwith your routine and you start seeing results,motivation will follow. In the beginning per-suading oneself to lace up sneakers and get thebody moving can be challenging. That’s wherevirtual trainers and communities can help gen-erate discipline, passion, guidance, and sup-port, which will amplify your drive. Such fit-ness communities help in becoming moreinvested in your workout so that you are morelikely to show up for the next one. A studyfrom the University of Michigan discoveredthat individuals who worked out virtuallydemonstrated more motivation and performedbetter than those who worked out alone.

l Workouts are boring? Nah!Following the same routine and frequent

exercises can become monotonous and makeyou lose interest. Fitness historically has been amotivating light, bringing in discipline, focusand camaraderie in some cases. Overcoming astale workout routine can be simple. You canswitch up exercises, change exercise order, ormodify activity targeting that muscle you areworking on or your aim.

Moreover, online tools and platforms likeZoom, YouTube, Fittr and Instagram haveincreasingly united a wave of virtual fitnesscommunities in the last eighteen months.Lockdowns even forced people to adapt theirliving spaces to support home fitness routines,allowing people to create new groups, invitefamilies and loved ones for engaging fitnesssessions.

l Easy access to qualified instructorsProfessional guidance is very important to

help you chalk out your fitness regime. Withvirtual programs, exercises to nutrition intakehave been detailed out craft fully by your per-sonal coaches for you to get the most out ofyour workout.

FUTURE OF FITNESS INDUSTRY: AMALGAM OF

PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL

The emerging trend of online fitness class-es has also made us realise that a person does-n’t need to travel anywhere to stay fit. Anyonecan perform exercises anywhere in the worldand your favourite fitness regime is just a clickaway. But will the increase in live streaming ofworkout sessions and the ever-increasing risein the number of home workout and fitnessapps affect the future of people going to thegym?

Personally, I don’t see that happening. I seethe future as a blend of both digital and physi-cal. It is also the testament of how the generalthinking around fitness has expanded. Besidesworkout arenas and gyms are places wherepeople meet, socialise, and even form friend-ships. In a post-pandemic world, I see peoplewanting to meet — and the gym is a great wayto start. However, gym packages will be a com-bination of physically visiting the gym, onlineclasses, and a personal trainer coming home.

The writer is the author of Lose Fat, Get Fittrand Founder & CEO, Fittr

ONE OF THE MAJORREASONS FOR DIGITAL

FITNESS INDUSTRYBOOMING IS THAT

PEOPLE NOWUNDERSTAND THE

PERKS OF WORKINGOUT AT HOME IN ONE'S

OWN COMFORTABLESPACE. IT'S ALMOST

LIKE HAVING YOURPERSONAL TRAINERWITH YOU AT YOUR

HOME

The lord is the reservoir of allpleasure. We can derive unlimited

pleasure from him just by pleasing him

I don't want the fearof failure to stop me

from doing what Ireally care about—Emma Watson

F R O M T H E I N S I D E

The present pandemic has thrown up manychallenges. However, there are just as manypeople who have come forward to ensure

Empowered YuWaah!

The trend of onlinefitness classes has

made us realise thatyou don’t need to

travel anywhere to stayfit. Your favourite

fitness regime is just aclick away, writes

JITENDRA CHOUKSEY

One should always be careful whilefollowing online health tips and diets. Most ofthese tips that are shared online are notverified by an expert and can do more harm toyour body than good. The trending videos onsocial media about different exercises and dietsthat help lose weight instantly and quicklyneeds to be verified by your personal fitnessexpert and not to be followed withoutconsulting a certified fitness experts.

The most effective way to begin yourfitness journey and stay fit is to understandthat everyone has a unique body whichfunctions differently. A fitness tip that could dowonders for one individual may not even workfor someone else. There is no one shoe thatfits all when it comes to fitness. Thus, it isimperative to understand the needs andrequirements of your own body to stay fit andhealthy.

To avoid injuries during exercises, oneshould always consult with certified fitnessexperts before beginning a new fitness regime.If you are just starting with your fitnessjourney: l Take five to ten minutes to warm up and

cool down properly around your workout.l Plan to start slowly and gradually increase

the intensity and the duration of the exer-cise. Even a simple pull-up or an arm twist or

even stretching can harm your body, if notdone in the right way. If you previously havehad a bone or muscle injury or a majorsurgery, it is advisable to consult a medicalpractitioner before exercising to avoid anyfuture repercussions. Also, keep your fitnesscoach or consultant informed about all yourpast injuries and surgeries to steer clear of anymajor tear that can spur up.

T H I N G S T O K E E P I N M I N D

FITNESSHOMEEMERGENCE OF

special 09VIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

MANPREET KAURYODDHA YUWAAH NINJAS22 YEARS OLDPRIDE OF PUNJAB A JOINTINITIATIVE BY GOVERNMENTOF PUNJAB, YUWAAH-UNICEFAND CIVIL SOCIETYORGANISATIONS

It takes all sorts to makethis world go round.While on one handthere were people whotook advantage of others

during the second wave of thepresent pandemic, they wereothers who went out of theirway to help those in need.Meet Manpreet Kaur, whohails froma small village inFerozepur village, Punjab.

The 22-year-old, who ispursuing an ElementaryTeacher Training course tells yuthat while she didn’t the oppor-tunity to study beyond highschool, she wants the otherchildren in her village to get asmuch education as possible.

“Education is the gate-way to not just knowing andlearning from the book; it isalso about being matureenough to understand theimportance of hygiene andsanitation,” Kaur says. Shehas also taken up the task ofcleaning up the village pondwhich is very dirty

Due to the pandemic, theclasses shifted to online mode.Most children in villages don’thave smatphones and even ifthey do, the idea to sit alonein a room and listen to theteacher proved to be boringfor them.

To ensure that the stu-dents didn’t miss out of themost important aspect of life— education — Kaur openedthe doors to her home toteach these kids.

“My mentor introducedme to Pride of Punjab initia-tive. Even before the pan-demic hit us, I was teaching ina local school. When theCOVID-19 forced the schoolsto shut, I decided to do mybest to make sure children didnot discontinue their studies.I opened doors to my home.I ensured that the childrenwho came wores masks, sani-tised themsevles and main-

tained social distacing as theysat while I taught them. On arotation basis, I held classeswith eight to 10 students perbatch. I also convinced theparents to send their childrent me. I told me that I wouldensure that they would snai-tise their hands regularly,”Kaur explains.

She didn’t have manyfancy things. She made dowhat she had. She combinedmodest resources and taughtthe kids in a play way manner.This way the kids enjoyedcoming to her home; at thesame time they learnt to readand write as well.

Recalling a case of a stu-dent in Class IV, Kaur tells youthat this student didn’t knowhow to read or write. “I wasshocked to know that he did-n’t know even the basics. I start-ed teaching him from thebeginning. It took time butslowly he gained confidenceand now he is at par with otherstudents in his class and doingwell,” Kaur recounts.

While Kaur herself didn’tmanage to study further butsince she is pursing her teach-ing training, she will be ableto relise her dream — thatchildren in her village nevermiss out on education.

“There are so many smallissues that come up. People inmy village are not educated.People lack the basic under-standing and need forhygiene. Because of my asso-ciation with Pride of Punjaband the work they are doinghere, a lot of improvement hascome in. Education gives con-fidence and with it comes theknowledge and the under-standing that it is possible toachieve what they want,” Kaursays.

KAVYA NR21 YEARS OLDMEMBER OF SAMARTHANAMTRUST FOR DISABLEDPERSONS

What if some-one were totell you that avisually chal-lenged person

is out on the streets lending ahelping a hand to those inneed during the present pan-demic? Meet Kavya NR fromTumkur district in Karnataka.This 21-year-old is not just aCOVID-warrior, she is also amarathon runner and anational wall climbing cham-pion.

“I have never let my visu-al disability to stop me fro pur-suing my dreams and achievegoals that I set for myself.Rather than use it to get sym-pathy or not do things, I usedit to push myself in sports thatsome of my friends avoided.Through sports I am able toexpress what I want to achieve.By representing SamarthanamTrust for the Disabled in sport-ing championships, I am ableto test my boundaries,” Kavyasays.

She tells you that the trustin response to the COVID-19,provided disabled people, theelderly and the poor with dryration. “I wanted to contributeas well and joined the team. Ihelped them to coordinateand plan out how to go aboutit,” Kavya says.

At present, she is workingas a librarian with the trust.Her work for those who need-ed help during COVID-19

began when the lockdownstarted last year.

“During the lockdown Irealised that there were somany people who were worseoff than I am. That is when Idecided that I needed to helpthem out. I am visually chal-lenged. I wanted to tell peoplethat disability should not bethe reason why you should notstep out to help others. I want-ed to send a message to the‘normal people’ that theyshould help. I wanted to moti-vated them. There is so muchwork that one can do even ifyou don’t go out in the field,”Kavya tells you.

She began collecting datafrom disabled people in thearea. She compiled it and sentit to the trust who on the basisof this rationed the dry ingre-dients that needed to be deliv-ered to those in need.

“I even coordinated vacci-nation for the people whowere physically, mentally andvisually challenged. There aredesignated centres for them. Ihelped them to identify thecentres and reach there. Ihelped all those who neededhelp,” Kavya explains.

She tells you that her par-ents were very scared for herand did their best to dissuadeher. But she was determinedand insisted that she needed tohelp the less fortunate.

“My parents, to beginwith, were scared; it is natur-al; they are farmers. But I con-vinced them. I took all the pre-cautionary steps t ensure I wassafe. I went with a group offive. My wall climbing coachalso came home. He told them

that I should be allowed tohelp others since it wouldwould encourage them. Wecollected the supplies that weneeded from people.Through the trust, the dryration kits were then givento the needy,” Kavya says.

She tells you that shehas never her disabilityaffect her — whether it wasworking long hours to helpothers or competing in sports.She competed in 2018 in wallclimbing competition held inKashmir.

“I went to Kashmir for thecompetition and was placedthird. This is a annual com-petition,” She says.

She tells you that rockclimbing comes with instensetraining that requires mentaland physical fitness. “Mycoach would take us throughintesne exercises. He would tiea cloth over our eyes and thentrain us; he would then give usinstructions on how to andwhere to find the holds. Hetaught us how to feel for sup-port with our hands. In thiswe would explore the terrain.The touch and feel on therocks would help us pull upour bodies. That’s how Ilearnt this sport,” Kavya says.

This is not all, her goal isto play cricket; she alreadyrepresents the State in thevisually challenged team.

“I am an all-rounder.My favoutite is PrakashJayaramaih; he is the VC ofthe India national blindcricket team. My otherfavourite is Virat Kohli,Captain of Team India,”Kavya says.

Empowered YuWaah!

YASHVARDHAN JAYRAJ RANE20 YEARS OLDMEMBER OF YUWAAH'SMAHARASHTRA YOUNG PEOPLEACTION TEAM

Like tens and thousands of otherstudents in the country,Yashvardhan Rane also headed

home with the first lockdown wasannounced due to COVID-19. Rane,who is pursuing law from Pune wentback to his village in Kudal district,Maharashtra.

It was during the lockdown thatRane saw what devastation the COVID-19 was creating. The 20-year old, whohas received a Presidency Award andRajyapuruskar honouring his successin public service campaigns, decidedto do something about this and helppeople in need.

This is when he decided tocontribute to the battle against COVID-

19 and YuWaah. “It was so sad when Isaw people in distress as they ranaround looking for a hospital bed forthe family member. The second waveof COVID-19 was devastating and itleft people stranded with not knowingwhere to go and how to get a bed fortheir patient. I wanted to give themtheir right to information — authenticupdates on beds, ambulances, doctorsand medicines,” Rane tells you.

He tells you that since his villagehis small, people have to travel at least50-70 km before they can reach thenearest hospital. “I saw how peopletravel this distance with the patient andcome back empty handed becausethey were unable to secure a bed. Thisis when I decided that I had to dosomething for these people. I made ateam. To begin with, I roped in people

I knew. Of course, none of them wereforced. Only those who came willinglyjoined. We devised a plan and started amission — Find a Bed initiative,” Ranesays. Today, there are over 350

volunteers who are working across theState.

To ensure that only authenticinformation found its way he and histeam tied up with Government and

private hospitals. They tied with upambulances, doctors and even hospitalclerks who gave them the necessaryinformation that was then uploaded onthe yuva support portal. Not all thepeople in his village or surroundingareas know how to use a smartphonelet along have one and have the abilityto fill in the necessary details. In sucha case, a team member personallyvisits the home and help.

“When we started this work,people started coming forward withrequests. We gave our numbers sothat we could be reached at all times.Seeing a family take shelter under atree with their 32-year old COVID-19affected son, waiting for a patient todie, so they could be next in queue,was so heartwrenching,” Rane recalls.

Of course, this is not the first time

that Rane stepped in to help those inneed. When he was 12, he set up BalVishwa Sena. The work? To rescuestray animals and provide food to thehomeless. When he turned 18, hefounded the Yuva Forum IndiaOrganisation. With a large number ofvolunteers, the team started workingon issues like sanitation, menstrualhygiene and setting up public libraries.

All this takes money. “Myfoundation till date doesn’t have a bankaccount. When we work for thebetterment of the society, the idea is toimprove their lot and not amassmoney. We usually request family andfriends to buy things that we need sothat we can give it to them directly.Take an example. We supply sanitarynapkins to 500 women every month.This costs `9,000. Instead of asking

for money, we ask people to donatethe product which we then give it tothe women,” Rane explains.

He tells you that his need to dogood comes from his father who is asocial activist. “To begin with, myparents were apprehensive because ofthe rampant virus spread. But I wassupported by my father. Other parentswere just as scared. But once peoplestarted praising their children, theycame around and are now happy thatwe are doing such good work,” Ranesays.

After finishing his degree, heplans to continue his organisation’swork. But this is not all. During therecent flooding of Chiplun region.Rane and his adopted four villages toprovide them whatever they need —from cleaning their homes to gettingthe electric lines in working order.“No task is big or small for us,” Ranesays.

‘Education helps gain confidence’ ‘I don’t let myhandicap stop me’

LENDING A HELPING HAND TO THOSE IN NEED

The present pandemic has thrown up many challenges. However, there are just as many people who have come forward to ensure thatthey cause least problems. SHALINI SAKSENA chats up a few such young warriors who were awarded by YuWaah (GenerationUnlimited India), a multi-stakeholder platform formed by UNICEF, to bring you stories of positive change from across the country

Education is not just

knowing and

learning from the

book, it is also

about understanding

the importance of

hygiene and

sanitation

Twentyy e a r safter ter-

rorists flew twoplanes into theWorld Trade Center,the memorial at groundzero has its own routine,not much different from manycity tourist sites.

Visitors from around the worldcome and go. They snap selfies as theybrowse the nearly 3,000 names engravedinto the parapets that frame two reflect-ing pools. Docents give tours. Touristsglance at their watches, decipher subwaymaps and check off a box. Then theyleave.

But for those who live and work closeto the memorial, the site is both a partof their daily routine and hallowedground. The names on the parapets aremore than mere engravings on bronze,and the 55,000 gallons of water recyclingthrough the reflecting pools is more thana social media post. It is a constantreminder of that infamous day. It is acemetery.

After the plaza empties around thereflecting pools each evening, KevinHansen pulls on blue work gloves, grabshis torch and begins his nightly work ofrepairing and maintaining the long,bronze parapets with the names of thedead.

Hansen was 8 and in elementaryschool on Long Island in 2001.

“You just remember everyone gettingphone calls and teachers not knowingwhat was going on. And then parentswere coming to school to pick kids up,”he said.

Of his work, Hansen says, “It's impor-tant to me."

"This is a sign that we all came togeth-er back in 2001. This is my giveback ofpatriotism and this (event) cannot be for-gotten,” he said. “I believe this placebrings people to see that there is evil inthe world, but it can be overcome." While patrolling his beat around the

W o r l dTrade Center,NYPD officer MikeDougherty keeps an attentive eye onthe memorial, often cleaning grime fromthe parapets and answering questions fortourists.

“If we see something on the panel we'llmake sure to wipe it off, and I see theirnames and I'll touch them. I'm here look-ing over them, basically. Try to relay thatto people that don't understand what thisis all about," he said.

“I get that, a lot of questions some-times, you know: What is this area?' AndI don't take offense to it. I like explain-ing to them where the buildings stood.What this is all about. Just to keep thememory of everyone in your life whenyou tell somebody who doesn't have thatconnection.” The 25-year NYPDveteran started as an apprentice electri-cian working inside the World TradeCenter before becoming a police officer.He was on patrol in Brooklyn when theplanes hit the towers.

When he patrols the memorial plazanow, he sometimes stops in his tracks.

“I'll just be walking around the side orin one of the particular security pools,and sometimes something will just hitme. I just start staring out at the plaza.So, I'll take a couple of minutes to com-pose myself." “It's a privilege to be here.I'm at the end of my career, towards theend of it anyway. And I couldn't think ofa better place for me to finish up," he said.

scopekaleidVIJAYAWADA | SUNDAY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

backpage

1,800 climate lawsuits thatcould help save the world

Friederike Otto hadn’treally thought muchabout the legal world

when she answered thephone one day in 2018. Onthe other end of the line wasPetra Minnerop, a scholar ofinternational law at theUniversity of Durham, UK,who was exploring how thelegal system might help tosave the planet.

Minnerop had developedan interest in climate litiga-tion — efforts to hold gov-ernments and companieslegally responsible for con-tributing to global warming.Following the success ofseveral climate lawsuits, shewas seeking to get involvedand thought Otto’s researchmight help. Otto, a climatemodeller at the Universityof Oxford, UK, is one of theworld’s leaders in attributionscience — a field that hasdeveloped tools to assesshow much human activitiesdrive extreme weatherevents, including the heat-waves, fires and floods that

have ravaged parts of theglobe this year. In their tele-phone call, the pair realizedthat they had similar aimsand they set about thinkinghow science and environ-mental law might triggermore action to limit climatechange.

Minnerop and Otto are inthe vanguard of scientistsand legal scholars who areassisting in lawsuits to forcegovernments and companiesto take action against cli-mate change. Over the pastfew decades, environmentalgroups and citizens aroundthe world have filed morethan 1,800 climate suits.Science has been central tosupporting the arguments inthese cases, but the vastmajority have relied on themost basic conclusions ofclimate research. Now, Otto,Minnerop and others areseeking to bring in the latestscience to improve lawsuits’chances of driving substan-tial reductions in green-house-gas pollution.

Indian conglomerateReliance Industriesdelayed the launch of a

low-cost smartphone it isdeveloping with Google toNovember, citing an indus-try-wide semiconductorshortage.

The "ultra-affordable"smartphone, developedjointly by Reliance's telecomarm and Google, was set tobe rolled out from Sept. 10.

Companies globally aretackling a massive semicon-ductor shortage as theCOVID-19 pandemic-ledshift to remote workingdrove demand for the criti-cal component used in mak-ing laptops and phones. Asa fallout, several automakershave also suspended pro-duction.

"Both the companies havebegun testing JioPhoneNext with a limited setof users for furtherrefinement and areactively working tomake it availablemore widely in timefor the Diwali festiveseason," Jio said inan exchangefiling lateon

Thursday.Theannual fes-tive seasonin Indiatypicallylasts for30 days,beginningin Octoberand end-ingwithDiwali— set forNov. 4 this

year. Indians usually makebig-ticket purchases fromjewellery to gadgets and carsaround this period.

The additional time willalso help mitigate the cur-rent industry-wide globalsemiconductor shortages,Jio added.

In June, when the phonewas announced, RelianceChairman Mukesh Ambanidid not specify its price butsaid it will be the mostaffordable smartphone "notjust in India, but globally".

Jio disrupted India's tele-com market in 2016 when itlaunched with cut-pricedata plans and free voiceservices, forcing severalcompetitors out of the mar-ket. It is now India's biggestmobile carrier with more

than 425 million cus-tomers.

Chip shortage delaysGoogle-Reliancephone launch

Twentyyearsafter

hijacked airlinerssmashed into New

York City's WorldTrade Center and the

Pentagon outsideWashington, Americans

will honor the nearly 3,000

lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, andreflect on how the attacks haveshaped the country's view of theworld and itself.

The centerpiece of Saturday'sevents is a visit by U.S. PresidentJoe Biden to the three sites associ-ated with the attacks. He will goto ground zero in lowerManhattan; to the Pentagon inArlington, Virginia; and toShanksville, Pennsylvania,where United Airlines Flight93 crashed after passengerstried to regain control of

the hijacked plane.The remembrances

have become an annualtradition, but

Saturday takes onspecial signifi-

cance, coming20 years after

the morn-ing that

many

view as a turning point inAmerican history, a day that gaveAmericans a sense of vulnerabilitythat has deeply influenced thecountry's political life since then.

In a painful reminder of thosechanges, only weeks ago U.S. andallied forces completed a chaoticwithdrawal from the war theUnited States started inAfghanistan in retaliation for theattacks - which became the longestwar in U.S. history. And theCOVID-19 pandemic, which so farhas claimed more than 655,000lives in the United States, contin-ues.

Clifford Chanin, executive vicepresident at the NationalSeptember 11 Memorial &Museum built at the site of theWorld Trade Center attack, said thetwo-decade milestone would serveas a "moment of high emotion" forthe country, a time to consider"where we've been and where weare headed."

"Of course, we are in the middleof another unimaginable event

right now with the COVIDpandemic, but if

9/11

brings us anything in terms of whathappened here and at the otherattack sites, it is a message ofresilience," Chanin told reportersthis week.

In New York City, the ceremonyat the Sept. 11 Memorial will beginwith a moment of silence at 8:46a.m. EDT (1246 GMT), the exacttime when the first plane flew intoone of the World Trade Center'stwin towers. After that, familymembers will recite the names of2,977 victims, an annual ritual thatwill last four hours.

At sunset on Saturday, 88 power-ful lightbulbs will project twinbeams four miles (6.4 km) into thesky to mirror the shape of the fall-en towers. This year, buildingsthroughout Manhattan, includingthe Empire State Building andLincoln Center Plaza, will join thecommemoration by illuminatingtheir facades in blue.The 20-yearmilestone arrives as political lead-ers and educators fret over thethinning collective memory of thatday. Some 75 million Americans- equal to nearly a quarterof the estimated U.S.popula-

tion -havebeen bornsince Sept. 11,2001.

For some, thetumultuous eventsin Afghanistan havecompounded the psy-chological toll of the day,raising questions aboutwhether the U.S. military's

mission there was in vain."I love America and my fellow

Americans, but I am ashamedabout how we are handling ourexit and my heart breaks for thosewhose lives have been lost ordestroyed by our actions," saidWells Noonan, whose brotherRobby was in the North Tower.

Noonan said she would spendSaturday morning at a ceremo-ny in her hometown ofGreenwich, Connecticut, tohonor 33 people with ties tothe New York City suburbwho were killed, beforereturning home to bewith family and remi-nisce "about the dayswith Robby."Tomark the anniver-sary, the NewYork Metsand NewYork

AMERICANS REFLECT ON 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11

‘A MESSAGE OF RESILIENCE':

Gro

und

zero

: A s

elfie

stop

for

som

e, a

cem

eter

y fo

r oth

ers

The COVID-19 pandemic hashad a “devastating” impact on thefight against other deadly infec-

tious diseases, according to a reportthat compares 2019 and 2020 data onHIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria inmore than 100 low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The assessment was conducted bythe Global Fund, an internationalorganization that funds efforts to tack-le these three health challenges.

“COVID-19 has been the most sig-nificant setback in the fight againstHIV, TB and malaria, that we haveencountered in the two decades sincethe Global Fund was established,”writes the organization’s executive

director Peter Sands in an introductionto its Results Report 2021.

As countries went into lockdownand resources were diverted to combatthe pandemic, prevention, testing andtreatment services for all three droppedprecipitously, although the impactsvary for each. In some countries, saysSands, “the knock-on effects on HIV,TB and malaria could exceed thedirect impact of COVID-19”. For HIV,the number of people reached by pre-vention programmes that supply con-doms or clean needles and syringes, forexample, dropped by 11%. HIV testingfell by 22%, delaying treatment andcontributing to ongoing transmissionof the virus.

How COVID is derailing the fightagainst HIV, TB and malaria

Disney todebut rest of

2021 filmsexclusively in theaters

LOS ANGELES, Sept 10(Reuters) - Walt DisneyCo said on Friday it

will release "Eternals,""West Side Story" andthe rest of its 2021 filmsexclusively in theatersbefore sending them tostreaming, a show ofconfidence that moviego-ing will rebound.

The company hadexperimented during thepandemic with debuting somemovies on the Disney+ streamingservice at the same time they ran in the-aters. Cinema operators have beenclosely watching how Disney, whichhas dominated movie box offices inrecent years, would handle its upcom-ing slate as the Delta variant slowedaudiences' return to multiplexes.

Disney said in a statement that ani-mated musical "Encanto" will play intheaters for 30 days starting Nov. 24and head to Disney+ just beforeChristmas. The film tells the story ofa family who live in a magical housein the mountains of Colombia. Itincludes music written by"Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel

Miranda.All otherDisney releas-

es, includingM a r v e lm o v i e"Eternals"i nNovemberand Steven

Spielberg'srevival of

"West SideStory" inD e c e mb e r,will playexclusivelyin cinemasfor at least45 days,the com-p a n ysaid.