2

22

2

2

RNI No. TELENG/2018/76469

Established 1864Published From

HYDERABAD DELHI LUCKNOWBHOPAL RAIPUR CHANDIGARH

BHUBANESWAR RANCHIDEHRADUN VIJAYAWADA

*LATE CITY VOL. 4 ISSUE 142*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

}RASHMIKA MANDANNA:

I DON'T WANT TO BE

CATEGORISED AS

AN ACTOR

Page 11{

www.dailypioneer.com

ANALYSIS 7MANUFACTURED SOCIALNETWORKING’S FRENZY

MONEY 8GST COLLECTION UP 18% AT OVER

RS 1.33 LAKH CR IN FEB

SPORTS 12MITHALI RAJ LOOKING TO FINISH

JOURNEY WITH WC TROPHY

OIL PRICES SURGE ABOVE $100 ABARREL AS WAR ON UKRAINE RAGES

Oil prices soared and investors shifted more money intoultra-safe US government bonds as Russia stepped up itswar on Ukraine. The price of oil surged back above 100 a

barrel after Russia, a major energy producer, faced furtherisolation and economic damage because of its invasion ofUkraine. The rush into bonds pushed the yield on the 10-yearTreasury back down to 1.77%, where it was in early February.Stock prices were mixed in the early going on Wall Street. TheS&P 500 was bobbing between small gains and losses in thefirst few minutes of trading. European markets were lower.

NEW AIR INDIA CEO DECLINES JOB 2 WEEKS AFTER APPOINTMENT

Turkey's Ilker Ayci said on Tuesday he will not take on the roleof chief executive of Tata Group's Air India, days after theannouncement of his appointment led to opposition in India

over his previous political links.Tata last month (on February 14)announced Ayci's appointment as CEO of previously state-run AirIndia after taking over the debt-laden airline in January in a $2.4billion equity and debt deal. Last week, the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the, called on the government toblock Ayci's appointment citing his previous political links inTurkey, which has strained relations with New Delhi.

THREE MURDERS IN ONE NIGHT ATGURGAON FUEL PUMP, CCTVs WERE OFF

Three people were stabbed to death at a CNG pump on theDelhi-Gurgaon expressway early yesterday morning. Withthis incident, five people have been murdered in Gurgaon

over the past three days. Police have said CCTV cameras at theSector 31 CNG pump were deactivated shortly before thecrime and no cash has gone missing, indicating that theattackers knew the area well and that the crime could be afallout of an old enmity. Around 3 am yesterday, a manbleeding from knife injuries stumbled to the petrol pump nextto the CNG pump and collapsed there, police said.

INDIA ASKS CITIZENS TO "LEAVE KYIVURGENTLY TODAY" IN LATEST ADVISORY

As Russian forces continued their advance in Ukraine, shellingcities, India urged all its citizens to leave Ukraine capital Kyiv"urgently today, by trains or any other means available". "All

Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgentlytoday. Preferably by available trains or through any other meansavailable," the Indian Embassy in Ukraine tweeted. The advisory wasposted hours after satellite images emerged showing a long convoyof Russian military vehicles on roadways northwest of Kyiv. Hundredsof tanks, towed artillery, armored and logistical vehicles can be seenin the images released by a US-based space technology company.

HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

HYDERABAD WEATHER

ALMANAC

Updated: March 1, 2022 5:00 PM

Forecast: Mostly sunnyTemp: 33oc

Humidity: 30%Sunrise: 6:37 AMSunset: 6:19 PM

Month & Paksham:

Tithi: Amavasya : Mar 02 01:00 AM to Mar 02 11:04 PM

Sukla Paksha Pratipada: Mar 02 11:04 PM to Mar 03 09:36 PMNakshatram:

Shatabhisha: Mar 02 03:48 AM toMar 03 02:37 AM

Purva Bhadrapada: Mar 03 02:37 AM

to Mar 04 01:56 AMRahukalam: 12:28 PM to 1:56 PMYamagandam: 8:05 AM to 9:33 AMVarjyam: 08:50 AM to 10:23 AMGulika: 11:00 AM to 12:28 PMAmritakalam: 07:46 PM to 09:18 PMbhijit Muhurtham: Nil

TTOODDAAYY

PNS n NEW DELHI

In first Indian casualty in the warin Ukraine, a student fromKarnataka was killed in shellingin Kharkiv city on Tuesday morn-ing.

External Affairs Ministry con-firmed the death of the Indian ina tweet.

"With profound sorrow weconfirm that an Indian studentlost his life in shelling in Kharkivthis morning," it said. The min-istry said it is in touch with thefamily of the student.

"We convey our deepest condo-lences to the family," it said.

The student was a native ofKarnataka's Haveri district, astate government official said.

"A student Naveen ShekarappaGyanagoudar, a native ofChalageri in Haveri district, diedin the shelling," Karnataka StateDisaster Management AuthorityCommissioner Manoj Rajan toldPTI. The MEA said ForeignSecretary is calling in ambassa-dors of Russia and Ukraine to reit-erate its demand for "urgent safepassage" to Indian nationals whoare still in Kharkiv and in othercities conflict zones. "Similaraction is also being undertaken byour ambassadors in Russia andUkraine," the MEA said.

The Kharkiv city is witnessingincreasing fighting between theUkrainian troops and Russianforces.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Unidentified persons have abduct-ed senior BJP leader AP JithenderReddy’s four staffers from hisofficial residence in New Delhi twodays ago. Jithender Reddy’s per-sonal staff filed a complaint withthe police in NewDelhi.

PNS n HYDERABAD

With the State offering huge dis-counts on pending traffic fines,around Rs 5.5 crore was collectedas fines by the police on Tuesday.

Police sources said that fivelakh fine challans were cleared onTuesday. At one point during theday around 1,000 challans werebeing cleared per minute.

The Telangana Government hadannounced a discount on pendingtraffic fines on Tuesday. The offerwas up in the early hours ofTuesday on the e-challan website.The offer is valid till March 31.

Home Minister MohammadMahmood Ali said that a conces-sion was being given and everyoneshould use it. “Half the fine will bewaived if 50 per cent is paid. Incases of failure to wear masks, Rs900 will be waived if Rs 100 is paid.Since two years the poor and the

middle class have been sufferingdue to the corona pandemic andthis decision was taken due to that.We are providing facility for onlinepayment on the Telangana e-chal-lan website. Fines can be clearedanytime from March 1 to March31,” the Home Minister said. Whilesome expressed relief people whopaid on time questioned therefund.

Indian student killed in Russian shellingFirst Indian casualty in Kharkiv city ̌ External Affairs Ministry confirms Karnataka student’s death

Telling sordid tales of intolerable living conditions, stranded Indians in Ukrainesaid they are facing hardships in availing meals and medicines as priority isbeing given to locals. Trapped inside a bunker in Kharkiv city of Ukraine,Assoiun Hussain (25), who hails from Kerala, told PTI over phone on Mondaythat he only had a loaf of bread in the last 48 hours. He said the bunkers arefreezing 24X7 and are overcrowded, adding that they also lack basic amenitieslike water or bathrooms with doors. "We bought four to five bedsheetsand arranged them together for makeshift beds.

Indians are starving, left overs being provided

Naveen Shekarappa Indian students hiding in bunkers expecting indian government to come to their rescue

The Indian student who died inRussian shelling in Ukraine todaywas advised by his family to "placean Indian flag" outside the buildinghe was in.

"Place Indian flag Ifyou have": father's last advice to son

Prime Minister Narendra Modi metPresident Ram Nath Kovind onTuesday and briefed him onvarious issues, including theUkraine crisis, official sourcessaid. The government haslaunched "Operation Ganga" toevacuate Indian citizens, mostlystudents, from Ukraine, which hasbeen attacked by Russia. Sourcessaid Modi briefed Kovind on thecrisis and his government's effortsto bring back the Indian citizensstranded in the country. Thegovernment had on Mondaydecided to send four ministers toseveral neighbouring countries ofUkraine to coordinate theevacuation exercise.

PM Modi met President Kovind onMonday to explain govt’s efforts on Ukraine

PM Modi briefsPresident onthe crisis

Ukraine said that more than 70Ukrainian soldiers were killed in aRussian rocket attack today, as ahuge Russian military convoyapproached the capital Kyiv. Morethan 70 Ukrainian servicemen werekilled by a Russian rocket attack anddozens of civilians have died in"barbaric" shelling.

70 Ukrainian soldiers killed as Russian troops near Kyiv

PNS n HYDERABAD

Two realtors were killed whenunidentified men opened fire nearIbrahimpatnam on the outskirts ofHyderabad on Tuesday.

The incident took place ataround 6 am in the Karnangudavillage of Ranga Reddy districtunder the Rachakonda police com-missionerate. The victims wereidentified as Srinivas Reddy fromAlmasguda and RaghavenderReddy from Amberpet. This inci-dent came to light when somelocals saw a Sports Utility Vehicle(SUV) with bleeding men by theside of the road in Karanangudavillage. Those who saw the uncon-scious man in the driver’s seatimmediately informed the police.Police suspect that a dispute over20 acres of land purchased by the

two realtors led to the murder.Rachakonda police said that theyhad received several complaints inthe past against realtors SrinivasReddy and Raghavareddy.Members of the Lake Villa PlotOwners Association had com-plained to the Rachakonda policethat their land was being grabbed.The complaints were ignored bythe police.

Commercial LPGprice hiked byRs 105PNS n NEW DELHI

Prices of commercial liquifiedpetroleum gas (LPG), which isused in hotels and other com-mercial establishments, werehiked by Rs 105 on Tuesday toits second-highest level, even assubsidised gas sold to householdsremained untouched.Subsequently price of a 19 kgcommercial cylinder has beenhiked to Rs 2,012 from Rs 1,907,according to price notificationissued by state-owned fuel retail-ers. This is the second-highestrate, after Rs 2,101 per cylinderin December 2021. LPG rates arerevised on the 1st of everymonth based on the price ofbenchmark fuel in the previousmonth.

PNS n HYDERABAD

While the TRS Government says thatit is leading by example, the devel-opment schemes implemented inTelangana seem to be making life dif-ficult for the friends of the TRS inother states. While showcasing the‘Telangana Model of development,’the TRS has a task to balance it withthe sensitiveness of allies. First,Maharashtra Udhav Thackeray askedabout the Rythu Bandhu scheme dueto demand from their areas border-ing TS. Now, Tamil Nadu farmerswant to ask their Chief Minister fora project like the Kaleshwaram LiftIrrigation Scheme. At a public meet-ing KCR said that during his visit toMumbai, Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray

enquired about the Rythu Bandhuscheme saying that they are facinghuge pressure from farmers, partic-ularly in areas bordering Telangana,for similar support. On invitationfrom the TS government, a group of

farmers from Tamil Nadu, visitedKaleshwaram and said that theywould submit a report to TamilNadu Chief Minister Stalin for tak-ing up a similar project.

PNS n HYDERABAD

With 467 ultra-high net worthindividuals (UHNWIs), Hyderabadis second after Mumbai in UHNWInumbers.

Knight Frank’s ‘The WealthReport 2022,’ says that Hyderabadis home to 467 UHNWIs with a networth of USD 30 mn and above in2021, the second-highest in Indiaafter Mumbai which has 1,596UHNWIs.

The ultra-wealthy population inthe city is expected to increase by56 per cent to 728 by 2026. In thelast five years, Hyderabad’s ultra-rich population grew by 48.7 percent from 314 in 2016 to 467 in

2021. In India, the number ofultra-high net worth individualsgrew by 11 per cent in 2021, thehighest growth in APAC. India alsoranked sixth in percentage-wise

growth of ultra-high net worthindividual population that is self-made and under the age of 40.Globally, the number of the ultra-wealthy population saw an annual

increase of 9.3 per cent to 610,569in 2021.

Shishir Baijal, the Chairman &Managing Director of Knight FrankIndia said, “Equity markets and dig-ital adoption have been key factorsdriving the growth of UHNWIs inIndia. The growth in younger, self-made UHNWIs has been incredi-ble in India and we foresee themdriving new investment and inno-vation. With a healthy growth inthe UHNWI and billionaire pop-ulation, India is expected to be oneof the fastest-growing countries,strengthening itself economicallyand emerging as a superpower invarious sectors.”

Hyderabad second in ultra-rich individuals

Dead body of one of the two realtors killed

Two realtors shot dead

PK behind KCR’sdecision to skipGovernor’s address?SNCN ACHARYULUn HYDERABAD

Political strategist PrashantKishore’s advice is behind ChiefMinister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’sdecision to skip the Governor'saddress on the first day of theAssembly’s budget session.

It may be recalled that PrashantKishore met Chief Minister KCRat his farmhouse two days ago.Kishore is now working for theTRS for the forthcomingAssembly and Lok Sabha elec-tions.

After West Bengal, now it is inTelangana political strategistPrashant Kishore is creating a tus-sle between the Chief Minister andthe Governor. In West Bengal, thelong-running battle between ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee andGovernor Jagdeep Dhankar hasreached a flashpoint. As part of thewar between the Chief Ministerand the Governor, the WestBengal Government has blockedthe official Twitter account of theGovernor.

A week ago the West BengalCabinet had approved starting theAssembly’s budget session withthe Governor's speech. But theGovernor said that the file onstarting the Assembly session hasnot been approved by the Cabinet.

Chief Minister Mamata

Banerjee told a media conferencethat the Governor is withholdingthe files and delaying the govern-ment. She also said that theGovernor has not been signingBills on time.

A week ago the WestBengal Cabinet hadapproved starting theAssembly’s budgetsession with theGovernor's speech. Butthe Governor said thatthe file on starting theAssembly session hasnot been approved bythe Cabinet.

Harish Rao presentssilk clothes toGoddess Durga

Booster dosenumbers dippingin Telangana

p

4

p

3

Telangana model of progressgives tough time to TRS allies

Udhav Thackerayasked about the RythuBandhu scheme due todemand from theirareas bordering TS.Now, Tamil Nadufarmers want to asktheir CM for a projectlike the Kaleshwaram

Four peopleabducted fromJithender Reddy’sDelhi residence

Discount fetches Rs 5.5 crore collection

TRAFFIC FINES

Unidentified men open fire near Ibrahimpatnam

2

2

2

2 2

Printed and published by B Krishna Prasad for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., Phone: 040-23322341, Hyderabad Office: F-502, Diamond Block, Lumbini Rockdale, Somajiguda, Hyderabad - 500 082. Telangana. Printed at Sree Seshasai Enterprises, Plot No.19, IDA Balanagar , Hyderbad-500037, Medchal -Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Executive Editor: Navin Upadhyay. Resident Editor: B Krishna Prasad, AIR SURCHARGE of Rs 2.00.

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any

damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before

responding to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group's will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

hyderabad 02HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 2, 2022

EGG RATES

HYDERABAD 340

VIJAYAWADA 365

VISAKHAPATNAM 375

RREETTAAIILL PPRRIICCEE `̀33..4400

`̀//110000

CHICKEN RATES

Dressed/With Skin `200

Without Skin `273

Broiler at Farm `130

`̀//KKGG

(IN HYDERABAD)

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP Chief BandiSanjay Kumar has demandedthat Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao shouldapologise to the people ofTelangana as insulting a ladyGovernor is nothing but insult-ing the state’s women.

He asked the Chief Ministerto reveal the reason for notinviting the Governor to thebudget session of the Assembly.Sanjay said that it is foolish onthe part of KCR as he had failedto invite the Governor to thebudget session. The Governordoes not deliver her ownspeech in the Assembly. She

just reads the speech approvedby the Cabinet. Sanjay said thatthe KCR government is behav-ing in this manner as his gov-ernment has achieved nothing.The Governor is the first per-son of the state and is the pro-tector of the Constitution. TheGovernor has been conductingherself irrespective of politicalaffiliations and has neverbehaved in a controversialmanner. The Governor hasnever insulted the ChiefMinister or supported anypolitical party. The ChiefMinister had praised theGovernor earlier, Sanjay point-ed out. The Chief Ministermust give an explanation why

he didn’t invite the Governor tothe budget session, Sanjaydemanded. The BJP leader saidthat the Chief Minister treatswomen cheaply and KCR hada habit of insulting womenfrom the beginning. KCR did-n’t give a chance to women inhis first government. He hasalso been insulting the institu-tion of the Governor, Sanjaysaid.

KCR is trying to do WestBengal-type politics inTelangana, he said and made itclear that the BJP will not tol-erate that. He asked the ChiefMinister to behave democrat-ically and behave as per thelimits set by the Constitution.

The people of Telangana arepolitically conscious. Politicalstrategists like PrashanthKishor will not be able to doanything if KCR behaves arro-gantly, Sanjay said. Sanjay saidhe had visited the VemulawadaSri Rajaraje shwara Swamy onthe occasion of Maha ShivRatri along with his family. Hesaid that he had examined thefacilities provided by the tem-ple authorities for devotees. Hesaid he also visited theAnnadana Satram and a specialhealth camp. Sanjay allegedthat there is no proper systemat the Vemulawada temple andthere is no drinking water andparking facility.

KCR must reveal reasons: SanjayGOVERNOR’S ADDRESS ISSUE

PNS n HYDERABAD

The State Governmentshould summon an all-party meeting to discuss theproblems of tenant farmerswho do not get the benefitsof the welfare schemesextended to the agriculturesector, BJP leader BandiSanjay Kumar said onTuesday. In an open lettersent to Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao the TSBJP president suggested thatrepresentatives of farmers’organisations and expertsshould also be invited to theall-party meeting to dis-cuss the problems of tenantfarmers.

Telangana collects

Rs 4,113 crore as GST PNS n HYDERABAD

The State’s Goods and ServicesTax (GST) collections inFebruary 2022, are Rs 4,113crore which is 6.12 per centhigher than the collections inFebruary 2021.

Telangana’s GST collectionsin February 2021, amountedto Rs 3,636 crore. AndhraPradesh collected Rs 3,157crore in February 2022. Acrossthe country the gross GST rev-enue collected in February2022 is Rs 1,33,026 crore ofwhich CGST is Rs 24,435crore, SGST is Rs 30,779 crore,IGST is Rs 67,471 crore(including Rs 33,837 crorecollected on import of goods)and cess is Rs 10,340 crore(including Rs 638 crore col-lected on import of goods).According to a release by theMinistry of Finance onTuesday, the government hasallocated Rs 26,347 crore toCGST and Rs 21,909 crore toSGST from IGST.

Continued from page 1

Official sources said thedeteriorating situation inKharkiv is a matter of graveconcern and that the safetyand security of Indiannationals in that city is ofutmost priority for the gov-ernment.

They said India hasalready taken up up with theRussian and Ukrainianembassies the "pressing"requirement of safe passageto Indian nationals, includ-ing students, from Kharkivand other cities in conflictzones.

"This demand has beenrepeatedly made of Russiaand Ukraine since the begin-ning of this conflict onFebruary 24. It has beenconveyed to both theirambassadors in New Delhias well as taken up in theircapitals," said a source. Thesources said the prepara-tions for evacuation ofIndians from the Indian gov-ernment side have been in

place for sometime now."An Indian team has beenpositioned in the Russiancity of Belgorod, close to theUkrainian border. However,the conflict situation in andaround Kharkiv and nearbycities has been an obstacle,"the source said. "Therefore,it is imperative that Russiaand Ukraine respond to ourneed for safe passage urgent-ly," it said The sources saidin places where the conflicthas not endangered move-ment, Indian authoritieshave been able to evacuatethe citizens. They said Indiawill continue to makeutmost efforts to ensure thereturn Indian citizensstranded in Ukraine.

Union Minister HardeepPuri is going to Hungary,Jyotiraditya Scindia willoversee the evacuationprocess in Romania andMoldova, Kiren Rijiju is trav-eling to Slovakia and Gen(retd) V K Singh will over-see the evacuation along thetransit points with Poland.

Continued from page 1

A video of his last conver-sation with his familyindicated that the ideawas also suggested byUnion minister PiyushGoyal, who apparentlytold them that both Russiaand Ukraine had assuredthe safety of Indian stu-dents. NaveenShekharappa, a 21-year-old from Karnataka, diedin the Ukrainian city of

Kharkiv, which has beenfacing intense Russianshelling since yesterday.His friend said he hadgone out to get food froma nearby grocery store.

In the phone conversa-tion, Naveen's father isheard recounting theirconversation with PiyushGoyal, who handles thecommerce and industryportfolio in PrimeMinister Narendra Modi'sgovernment.

Continued from page 1

We are sleeping near railwaytracks and on platforms. Ourjackets are worn out becauseit is very cold here. The con-ditions are quite bad here,"Hussain said.

Indian students trapped inUkraine have also allegedracial discrimination againstthem by the locals.

Recently, videos showingIndians being attacked did therounds of social media. Inone of the videos shot duringnight time, a student wheel-ing his suitcase behind him iskicked by a guard in uniform.

In another video, studentsclaimed that they were beingthrown off the train parked ata railway station in Kyiv andbeaten with sticks.

Manogya Bora (19), whorecently returned from thePoland border to Lviv, alleged

that Indians are being subject-ed to racist attacks and stu-dents were beaten up.

"People here are telling usto go back to Ukraine. Thesituation is much worse forboys. I have seen boys beingbeaten up," she said.

Talking further about thepitiable conditions in thebunkers, Hussain said, "Ireceived a loaf of bread today.I did not get food yesterday.The Ukrainian authoritiesare providing food and med-icine, including insulin andfood for babies. However,priority is given to Ukrainiansnot Indians. We are only get-ting what is left after distrib-uting to Ukrainians, he said.

The student said gettingfood from outside is not acakewalk with continuousshelling underway. Moreover,no food supplies are availablein the market, he added.

"There is only one supermar-ket and there is nothing inthere -- only juices and water.We have self-respect, wecannot beg them. TheUkrainian authoritiesallowed us to go out to getfod because some localscomplained that because ofus, they are running out offood fast," he said. "I triedgoing out today, but ranback as there was continuousshelling," Hussain added.

Kharkiv is among theUkrainian cities where thesituation is dire with contin-uous shelling. Thousandshave taken refuge in metrobunkers to protect them-selves.

Recently, a nine-storeyresidential tower was hit,killing an elderly woman,while about 60 people sur-vived after hiding in thebasement.

Continued from page 1

Russian artillery attackedseveral residential areas inUkraine's second largest cityKharkiv. Kyiv says 352 civil-ians have been killed, includ-ing 14 children, since theinvasion began last Thursday.Russia has acknowledged forthe first time that it has suf-fered losses. New Air IndiaCEO Declines Job 2 WeeksAfter Appointment By TataSons New Delhi/Istanbul:Turkey's Ilker Ayci said onTuesday he will not take onthe role of chief executive ofTata Group's Air India, daysafter the announcement ofhis appointment led to oppo-sition in India over his pre-

vious political links. Tatalast month (on February 14)announced Ayci's appoint-ment as CEO of previouslystate-run Air India after tak-ing over the debt-laden air-line in January in a $2.4 bil-lion equity and debt deal. Butlast week, the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS),the ideological mentor ofBJP, called on the govern-ment to block Ayci's appoint-ment citing his previouspolitical links in Turkey,which has strained relationswith New Delhi. Ayci, a for-mer chairman of TurkishAirlines, was an adviser in1994 to Tayyip Erdogan whenthe Turkish president wasmayor of Istanbul.

Continued from page 1

In West Bengal alsoPrashant Kishore workedfor the Trinamool Congressin the recent Assembly elec-tions where the TrinamoolCongress achieved a hat-trick victory. PrashantKishore reportedly has ahand in the row betweenWest Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee andGovernor JagadeepDhankar.

In Telangana, the tusslebetween Chief MinisterKCR and GovernorTamilisai Soundararajanstarted only now. Politicalstrategist Prashant Kishore istrying to create a gapbetween the Chief Ministerand the Governor like in theWest Bengal.

Prashant Kishore’s fightagainst the BJP starts withGovernors who are loyal tothe BJP. Both West Bengal

Governor Jagdeep Dhankarand Telangana governorTamilisai Soundararajan areloyal to the BJP leadershipand to Prime Minister Modi.

Prashant Kishore hasreportedly started thegroundwork to prepare astrategy for the TRS for thenext Assembly electionsscheduled on or beforeDecember 2023. He is alsolikely to work for the TRS forthe next Lok Sabha electionstoo. Prashant Kishore is try-ing to defeat the BJP in thenext Lok Sabha electionsby uniting all anti-BJPforces.

Prashant Kishore is tryingto get the opposition field acommon candidate againstthe BJP in the Presidentialelection scheduled for July.

Like KCR, PrashantKishore is also determinedto prevent the BJP fromcoming to power in the nextLok Sabha elections.

Continued from page 1

Jithender Reddy’s driverThapa, Mahbubnagar resi-dent Munnuru Ravi andtwo others were kidnappedby unidentified personsfrom Jithender’s residence.

It may be recalled that thepersons who were kid-

napped had filed petitionsin the High Court allegingthat the election of TRSMinister Srinivas Goud wasnot valid.

Interestingly, MinisterSrinivas Goud went to NewDelhi along with ChiefMinister K. ChandrasekharRao on Monday.

Continued from page 1

TRS leaders have used thesedemands from other states toshowcase their developmentprojects. They have termedit as validation of theirschemes. Specifically, whentaking on the BJP, theyalways mention about thedemand of the Raichur MLAin Karnataka who askedtheir leaders to mergeRaichur with Telangana.

When these schemes buildpressure, the unsatisfied peo-ple in other states can launchprotests affecting TRS’friends there. The TRS has atough task to balancebetween gathering anti-BJPforces and boasting abouttheir development schemes.

It may be mentioned herethat KCR has asked what’swrong in going to the peoplewith the “Telangana Modelof Governance” like the“Gujarat Model ofGovernance?” Reacting to aquestion on going to the peo-ple with the TelanganaModel of Governance KCRsaid, “Why not? People inMaharashtra are demandingmerger with Telangana.

Continued from page 1

Just a week ago, Srinivas Reddyhad threatened the flat ownersand the owners of Lake Villawere preparing to approachcourt.

In 1996, Indrareddy,Narsinghareddy, Devi andPurushottamreddy sold landsto some Nellore residents. The

land was leased to the Nelloreresidents by the Lake Villa plotowners. In the Dharani portal,the land is registered in thenames of Indrareddy andNarsinghareddy. SrinivasReddy and Raghavareddysigned an agreement withIndrareddy showing non-agri-cultural land as agriculturalland. After that, Srinivas

Reddy and Raghava Reddyhave been intruding into LakeVilla flats and threatening tobulldoze it. Lake Villa plotowners say they were threat-ened even last month. LakeVilla plot owners say that thetwo realtors had taken overmany other sites apart fromthe Lake Villa land in the sameway. The owners of Lake Villaplots said they had complainedto the police earlier but noaction was taken by the police.

Continued from page 1

According to the AttitudeSurvey of the Report, 29 percent of the overall wealth ofIndian UHNWIs is allocatedto the purchase of principaland second homes followedby 22 per cent in commercialproperty (including rentalproperty, offices etc). Thesurvey said that eight percent of their investablewealth was allocated to indi-rect properties (includesREITs, funds, etc.) in 2021.

Nearly 60 per cent of theoverall wealth of UHNWIs inIndia was allocated to realestate in 2021. Eleven percent of the investable wealthof Indian ultra-high networth individuals (UHNWIswhose net worth is USD 30mn or more) is allocated forpassion-led investmentsagainst the global average of16 per cent.

About 29 per cent ofIndian UHNWIs spent moreon passion investments dur-ing 2021.

Continued from page 1

Sandeep, a private sectoremployee said, “Many of myfriends used my vehicle andviolated traffic rules. Wetogether have Rs 5,000 fineon one vehicle. I got a dis-count and paid Rs 1,050.”

Sai Kiran, a lawyer said, “Ipaid my pending fine andgot a discount. In my opin-ion people who cannotafford to pay the huge finesbenefitted from this initia-tive.” Some also appreciatedthe move of the traffic police

as they could at least paysome fines instead of keep-ing them pending. Badal, aprivate sector employee said,“The Telangana governmenttook this initiative as pend-ing fines were huge andpeople were delaying pay-ments. If the governmenttook people to court for notpaying fines, it would havebeen a cumbersome process.The government would havehad to deal with courtexpenses which results inwastage of time andresources.

PNS n HYDERABAD

Pointing to the statistics putout by Central agenciesIndustries Minister KTR saidthat TS is not just vibrant buttriumphant.

Stating that figures speakfor themselves he tweeted,“The per capita income ofTelangana has increased by125 per cent from Rs 1,24,104in 2014 to Rs 2,78,833 in2021. The GSDP has increasedby 130 per cent from Rs 5 lakhcrore in 2014 to Rs 11.54 lakhcrore in 2021.”

Telangana has surpassed

Maharashtra, Karnataka, andTamil Nadu and has becomethe top-performing state in

the country in the growth ofper capita net state domesticproduct at current prices. InGSDP percentage growth,Telangana has registered thegreatest bounce back byincreasing its growth rate to18.78 per cent in 2021-22from 1.64 per cent in 2020-21.As per the latest data, from theUnion Ministry of Statisticsand Programme Impleme nta-tion, Telangana tops the coun-try among states with a pop-ulation of over one crore in thegrowth rate of per capita netstate domestic product at cur-rent prices.

Telangana tops in GSDPgrowth rate, says KTR

Indian student killed... PK behind KCR’s decision...

70 Ukrainian soldiers killed...

"Place Indian flag If you have": father's... Hyderabad second in...

Indians are starving, left overs...

Two realtors shot dead...

Four people abducted from Jithender Reddy’s...

Telangana...

Sanjay demandsall-party meetingon tenant farmers

Discount fetches Rs 5.5 crore...

What does the focusover a film starturned politi-

cian who was provednothing in the last elec-toral battle by a wellmatured political fig-ure who emerged as aruler with 86% seats in theassembly mean? Reason maybe that he is still enjoyingpopularity by virtue of promi-nent figure in the tinsel worldand having capability of influ-encing general public over thekey issues besides garneringsupport from every possiblequarter of the society againstthe government.

The aforesaid picture isunfolding in Andhra Pradeshwith the concentrated effortsof government headed by YSJaganmohan Reddy on cineactor Pawan Kalyan regardingincrease of ticket prices in cin-ema theatres. The Jagan gov-ernment has already broughta specific G.O no. 35 regard-ing that issue claiming the 'selfprojected point' of making theentertainment for commonpeople at cinema halls at anaffordable rates. It would have

been fine and digni-fied manner if the issuecould find a conclu-sion by simply issuingconcerned G.O without

any 'follow up'things. The entire staff of

government from relateddepartments swung intoaction by camping at numer-ous cinema theatres wherePawan Kalyan 's latest movieBhimla Naik is screened. Bigcinemas of top ranking starsgetting released with specificassurance of increase in tick-et prices hitherto probablywith the acceptance of succes-sive governments. There is aspecific situation prevailedthat hero' s remuneration nat-urally comes from the collec-tions of first day itself. Becauseof this reason only makers ofbig films simply rely on thisissue of increasing ticketprices in theatres. Jagan gov-ernment in Andhra Pradesh'paid ' needful attention onthis issue and decided to stopgiving permissions for screen-ing of benefit shows and pro-viding fecility to increase tick-et prices for few days from the

date of release of films.Telugu film fraternity has

been divided into two groupsfor and against the state'sgovernment. Influence ofcaste factor on film field issimply not ruled out withevery insider of the Telugufilm industry. During initialyears of Telugu film industry,there was a lot of influence ofcaste over cine industry. Aftershining like a leading light offilm industry for more man30years, NTR entered intopolitics only to rule anotherworld i. e politics. Helaunched his own politicalout fit in 1982 with an aim ofputting down the curtains forCongress' era and becomingchief minister of undividedAndhra Pradesh. Within

9months of launching politi-cal party Telugu Desam, hecreated history by stunningvictory over Congress with200plus seats in 294memberhouse in AP assembly. Sincethen politics and film indus-try got entangled with eachother and successive chiefministers had shown theirinfluence over film industryby controlling things byappointing their trusted menin the post of FilmDevelopment Corporation(FDC). It has almost becomeritual for film industry to bein good books of chief minis-ter by felicitating him ongrand scale. Needs of filmindustry such as the issuesneeds to be addressed by thegovernment for proper redres-

sal, were to be brought to thenotice of chief minister collec-tively and those are dulysolved by the head of the gov-ernment. Participation of pop-ular stars NTR&ANR wasquiet natural on every occa-sion. The Telugu film indus-try had an elaborate meetingwith the then chief ministerKasu Bhrahmananda Reddyat a star hotel in Madras(nowChennai) during his visit tothis South Indian film capitalin those days. There was noexistence of another group in

film industry probably forcriticising ruling parties.

Coming back to the presentscenario of tinsel world,Reddy community has beentrying to get hold on the filmindustry affairs through thecooperation extended by thegovernment headed byJaganmohan Reddy. With theemergence of Chiranjeevi, hisyounger brother Pawan alsoenjoying the star status. Kapucommunity that he belongs toyou. Another star Allu Arjuncame from in-laws family ofChiranjeevi. With this devel-opment, Kapu community isalso having say on the affairsof film industry. But noprominent Reddy face canbe seen here.

Pawan is being cornered byseveral ministers in Jagan gov-ernment on the occasion ofreleasing the latter's new filmBhimla Nayak. G.O no. 35 isappears to be become a hur-dle for the makers of bigmovies that ensures flow offunds in the name of their pic-ture. Pawan draws comparisonthis issue with the increase ofwealth that could reach max-

imum people. Pawan 's everymoment gets significance withregard to taking on the gov-ernment and its policy.Refering to the 'cautious atti-tude' shown by governmentstaff at cinema theatres forensuing strict implimentationof G.O no. 35. Why shouldn'tthe same staff keep a strict vigilat every sand reach in the statewhere crores of rupees whichare meant to go to governmentare being siphoned allegedlyby the cadres of ruling YSRCongress party.

There is support from gen-eral public when anybodycutting across the party linesquestioned the government'sunpardonable silence overpossible slashing of prices ofcement, iron etc. Pawan 'sparty Jana Sena (JSP) hasbeen focussing on these issuesand seeking public opinion.

Actually, dealing withPawan factor is non issue forthe leadership of YSRCongress. But the popularityand base by virtue of promi-nent film actor will be forev-er. Because of this reasononly he could with stand his

position of being torch bear-er atleast for some sections ofsociety. Garnering supportfrom various sections may becontinuous act on part ofPawan in view of popularity ofgovernment is at stake withevery passing day. That's whygovernment is compelled tobe attentive towards Pawnwho is capable of unitingKapu community againstJagan. The person who lost histwo seats he contested in lastelections, now being given'rousing reception' at everyplace. In this way Jagan isseems to be focussing hisattention on a person who got18assembly seats in 2009.This development indicatesthat Pawan is getting self con-fidence of becoming morestronger in days to come withthe attention being paid by thechief minister Jagan. Whileboasting its 151 seats winning,ruling party is concentratingon the person who lost his twoseats he contested from bhi-mavaram & gajuvaka. Rulingparty appears to have recog-nised Pawan as a formidableforce in future!

M D RATNA KUMAR Senior Journalist

Telugu film fraternity has been divided into

two groups for and against the state's

government. Influence of caste factor on film

field is simply not ruled out with every insider

of the Telugu film industry. During initial

years of Telugu film industry, there was a lot

of influence of caste over cine industry.

PIN POINT

Jagan's 'focus' on Pawan may boost self confidence in the latter!

hyderabad 03HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 2, 2022

PNS n HYDERABAD

The Cyberabad PoliceSpecial Operations Teampersonnel (Shamshabad)nabbed 8 persons andseized 400 kgs of ganja fromthem.Acting a on a tip off,the team arrested P AnandaPrarakale (57), UmeshGyakwad (38), PradeepKalangi (23), Dattasakat(53), Satish Vijay Shinde(36), Vishal Pupat (21) ,Ashok Patpute (50) andAnkush Pandule, all nativesof Maharashtra. Two others,

Subhan and Basha ofKhammam are absconding.

DCP (Shamshabad) RJagadeshwar Reddy said,Basha and Subhan weresupplying ganja to Ankushand Ananda. On February22, Ananda sent a truck toKhammam fromMaharashtra to send a loadof ganja to PimpriChinchwad near Pune.Along with the truck,Umesh, Pradeep,Dattasakat, Satish, Vishaland Ashok came toKhammam.

Cops seize 400 kg ganja, arrest 8

PNS n HYDERABAD

Delays in resolving cases, non-payment of heavy fines andnon-disclosure of vehicle auc-tion plans by the police haveput poor vehicle owners at agreater disadvantage and areunder pressure to figure outhow to get their vehicles back.Most vehicles are road-worthyat the time of seizure.

The Cyberabad PoliceCommissionerate officials saidin a recent press release that itdisposed of 547 abandoned orunclaimed two wheeler vehi-cles by way of public auction.According to the regulations,the police are required to issuepublic notices regarding thevehicles being auctioned. Butthe Cyberabad PoliceCommissionerate issued apress release instead of issuinga public notice.

Although the TelanganaHigh Court has said that thepolice should not detain orseize vehicles while drivingunder the influence of alcohol,most of these vehicles are

locked and seized for drivingunder the influence of alcohol.Courts have in the past paiddamages in cases where policedestroyed expensive vehicleswhile towing.

Meanwhile, Cyberabadpolice officials said that noticeswere issued to the public andinformation was provided tothe vehicle owners. "We gavethem enough time to get theirvehicles back. If anyone hasany objection or ownershipinterest on these vehicles, theycan apply before the con-cerned SHOs and claim the

vehicle within six months fromthe date of notification, other-wise the vehicles will be auc-tioned off, "said the CyberabadPolice officials.

However, activist VijayGopal said, "The poor peopleare most affected by vehicleseizures. The police shouldhave informed the vehicleowners and issued a publicnotice as most people areunaware of it and cannot gettheir vehicles back. If theydon't issue a notice, how willvehicle owners get back theirvehicles."

Auction of seized vehicles showsthat the poor are most affected

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana state achieved amilestone of 103.6% inPulse Polio Immunisation(PPI) programme in admin-istering polio drops to chil-dren below the age of 5. Onthe third day of the NationalPulse Polio ImmunisationProgramme, the state wasable to provide polio dropsto 39, 70,801 children.Health Minister T HarishRao had said that state gov-ernment aimed to vacci-nate about 38 lakh chil-dren. The 3-day programmekicked of f on 27thFebruary. More than 23,000 centerswere set up across the statefor the programme.

Telanganaachieves 103.6%in PPI programme PNS n HYDERABAD

Though doctors are proposinga booster dose every year, thenumber of takers has signifi-cantly dropped. Just a fewhundreds are getting inoculat-ed in the last couple of days,which is the lowest ever sincethe precautionary dose pro-gramme had begun. On 28thFebruary, 1,247 booster doseswere taken, on 27th Februaryit was the lowest with only 312doses being administered. Thehighest was 15,214 doseswhich was taken on 7thFebruary. People are stillhesitate to take booster doseand the programme is yet toopen for all other age groups.Telangana is at the 13th placein the country with only 4.7lakh precautionary dosesbeing taken so far.

The booster dose started inthe country with a bang on10th January. According toCowin data, more than 37lakh people have taken thebooster dose in the countrytill now. Then slowly thenumbers started to fall everyweek. During the currentweek, only 2 lakh people havetaken the precautionary doseacross the country. During thelast days of February within

the country it was at an alltime low with only 18,426people getting vaccinated.

According to the dashboardon the Cowin website, a totalof 1.89 crore precautionarydoses have been administeredso far. Two states have crossedthe 20 lakh mark. UttarPradesh tops the list withmore than 22 lakh doses andGujarat comes next with morethan 20 lakh doses.

Booster dose numbers dippingin TS as per Cowin data

PNS n HYDERABAD

A report filed with theTelangana HC stated thatthere are 58,918 transgendersin Telangana out of whichonly 11,000 have been vacci-nated, which means that only18.6 percent of them havereceived the vaccine. Thecourt also said that vaccina-tion centers should not asktransgenders to produce theirAadhar Card to take the vac-cine. This is in regard to areport which says that lack ofidentity proof is one of themajor reasons for transgen-ders not getting vaccinated.However, the court said thatthey should provide any of theother ID proof so that the statecan maintain a vaccinationrecord.

Telangana High Court on 2February 2022 announcedthat special centers shouldbe set up in every district ofthe state to administer vac-cines for the LGBTQ commu-nity. This was announced inrespect to a petition filed inthe HC highlighting the plightof Transgender community.

Only 18.6% Transgendersin TS vaccinatedPNS n HYDERABAD

The World HealthOrganization (WHO) has des-ignated 3rd March as WorldHearing Day. Experts say thataround 6.3% of the Indianpopulation suffers from hear-ing loss.

Hearing loss is the mostcommon sensory deficit inhumans. According to theNational Sample SurveyOrganisation, currently thereare 291 persons per 1 lakh suf-fering from severe to pro-found hearing loss. A largepercentage of these are chil-dren between the ages 0-14. InIndia, an alarming 27,000children are born deaf everyyear.WHO highlighted noisecontrol as one of the seven keyinterventions and stressed theimportance of mitigatingexposure to loud sounds.WHO has called upon gov-

ernments, industry partnersand civil society to raiseawareness for this and imple-ment evidence based stan-dards that promote safe listen-ing.

Doctors say one of the mea-sures to decrease the burdenof hearing loss is screening ofnewborns and infants.Newborn screening pro-gramme should be mademandatory by all pediatrichospitals whether governmentor private. Hearing test is justas important as a regularhealth check-up as hearingloss is a gradual process, onemay not realise it until itbecomes a cause of worry.

The theme for this year'sWorld Hearing Day will be"To hear for life, Listen withCare". The thrust is on theimportance of hearing lossprevention through safe lis-tening.

Around 6.3% of Indian populationsuffers from hearing loss: Experts

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana state has stood in6th place in unemploymentrate in the nation. The unem-ployment rate is less inJanuary (0.7), however, therate of unemploymentincreases suddenly in themonth of February. The statereached to 6th place with a12.9 percent unemploymentrate. It is notable that theunemployment rate is high inFebruary, 2022 after 14.7 per-cent in the month of May2020. However, the Odisha state is

in first place with less unem-ployment rate with 1.0 per-cent across the nation as perthe report released by theCentre. However, the highestunemployment rate acrossthe nation is in Rajasthanwith 32.3 percent andHaryana stood in next placewith 31.0 percent. However,Jharkhand (15.0), Bihar(14.0), Jammu and Kashmir(13.2), Goa (12.0), HimachalPradesh (11.7), Assam (10.2)stood in next places. TheAndhra Pradesh state stoodin 14th place with less unem-ployment rate 7.1 percent.

TS stands in 6th place inunemployment rate in country

PNS n HYDERABAD

It has been two years since theconstruction of the footpathnext to the Raidurg Metrostarted. But it is still not com-pleted. With this, the employ-ees and locals who go to theoffices on a daily basis arecomplaining about the issue.

Prashant Mamidala, anemployee who returned to theoffice after a gap of two yearsdue to Covid pandemic, said,"I went to the office two yearslater and the construction ofthe footpath is still not com-

pleted. Amazing, 2 years notenough to fix things?."

While construction work isunfinished, auto owners whoused to park vehicles near thefootpath are currently havingtrouble in parking their vehi-

cles.A group of auto ownerssaid, "The construction worksof footpath have stopped heresince the lockdown began.Mainly, the construction of thefootpath is delayed due to thewire cables.

Two years down, footpath nearRaidurg Metro remains unfinishedPNS n HYDERABAD

Vintage Cars and art piecesincluding MF Hussain's`Horses' go on an online auc-tion from March 8-12. deRivazand Ives will be holding 2online auctions, one for pro-gressive art on 8 and 9 March,the other for vintage cars on 11and 12 March.The vintage carsinclude the automobile collec-tion of Zaheer Vakil like the1949 Austin A90, a 1947 BuickRoadmaster and many otherswhile the artworks include anoil canvas painting by V.S.Gaitonde, Horses by MFHussain and a few other paint-ings from the 1960's and 70's.

deRivaz to auctionvintage cars, art pieces

PNS n HYDERABAD

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)teamed up with Former IndianSkipper, MS Dhoni to raiseawareness for the 6-in-1 vacci-nation campaign.

MS Dhoni said, "As parents,my wife and I look for ways togive our daughter a good foun-dation for life, I was eager tojoin GSK to raise awareness forthe 6 in 1 vaccine. Combinationvaccination means that infantsget the same kind of protectionbut with fewer injections"

Without the combinationshot, children will have to take

more injections which increasethe likelihood of pain, not onlyfor the child but also to the par-ent. The vaccine for infants pro-vides them protection againstsix diseases. The 6 in 1 vacci-nation protects infants againstdiphtheria, tetanus, pertussis,poliomyelitis, Influenza type Band Hepatitis B.Dr RashmiHegde, Executive VicePresident, Medical Affairs, GSKPharmaceuticals, said, ̀ `Everychild should be vaccinated in atimely manner. The 6 in 1 orhexavalent vaccine helps toprotect infants against 6 seriousdiseases".

MS Dhoni teams up withGSK for 6-in-1 vaccination

PNS n HYDERABAD

The training and place-ment cell of Maulana AzadNational Urdu University(MANUU) has announcedto facilitate offline inter-views for MANUU stu-dents and Urdu Job Melaregistered candidates. Theinterviews have begun forMBA, ITI Diploma andB.Tech students apart fromongoing online interviewsbeing conducted sinceFebruary 4.

According to DrMohammed Yousuf Khan,In-charge, Training andPlacement Cell, the regis-tered companies and organ-

isations have now startedconducting offline inter-views also. Companiessuch as Shriram LifeInsurance, Hyderabad forMBA candidates andUnistring TechnicalSolutions, Hyderabad forITI, Diploma & B.Tech stu-dents will be conducting onMarch 3rd at Training andPlacement Cell, MANUU at9:00 a.m.

The first Telangana UrduJob Mela which was inaugu-rated in online mode fromFebruary 4, 2022 byMANUU will continue forthe month of March, 2022both in online and offlinemodes.

MANUU to startoffline interviews

PNS n HYDERABAD

A 12 year old girl was injuredon Tuesday evening at theNumaish after she fell off ajoyride. The girl has beenidentified as Syed Madiha,she had recently come to thecity from Canada to visit herrelatives. The girl along withher family had gone to theNumaish and after goingaround the exhibition, the girlwent to the playing arena andgot herself on to theride.Begum Bazaar policesaid that the child had suf-fered minor injuries. She wasrushed to Nampally CareHospital by the family mem-bers. Doctors said the girl'shealth is stable. The familymembers have not lodgedany complaint yet.

Girl falls off ajoyride at Numaish,sustains injuries

PNS n HYDERABAD

The main motto of trafficpolice is to ensure there is roadsafety and the number of acci-dents decline. They levy apenalties on commuters tomaintain discipline on roads.However they should read thelaws already available for pre-vention of traffic violations.Once traffic police know aboutthem it will lead to the natur-al outcome of ensuring roadsafety. "The commuters arerelieved about the discounton pending challans. But it isa one time discount.

Penalties must be imposedfor riding the vehicle withoutusing indicators which comesunder rule 1022106 of MotorVehicle rules, penalties alsohave to be imposed for brokenwindshields. In fact, in 35years of motor vehicle rules,did our police ever checkwhether head lights of vehicles

are working are not. Most ofthe accidents occur on high-ways in nights due to non-functioning of headlights," saysVijay Gopal, founder of Forumagainst Corruption.

Now a days, police arealways creating awareness toreduce the speed and to weara helmet. These are definitely

essential. But what about thevehicle condition. "Instead ofsaying reduce the speed, policemust make it a habit for ridersto check the condition of thevehicle. Some of the fourwheelers block the back side ofthe car while stuffing toys andarticles which is illegal andobstructs the rear view. There

are 270 plus laws which mustbe implemented. Traffic policeare acting as NGOs and doingawareness whereas they areresponsible for enforcing thelaws."The list of the rules beingviolated goes on such as unau-thorised headlights, brokenwindshields and not usingindicators.

Implement other rules regardingvehicle condition, police urged

04HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 2, 2022

PNS n WARANGAL

Minister for Panchayat RajErrabelli Dayaka Rao alongwith his family members onTuesday offered prayers at SriSomeswara LakshmiNarasimhaswamy temple atPalakurthi mandal headquar-ters in Jangaon district. Heoffered prayers on the occasionof Maha Sivaratri.

The Minister inauguratedthe newly-constructed MahaMandapam. He also inaugurat-ed central lighting system setup at a cost of Rs 1.14 crore.The Chief Minister sanctionedfunds for the lighting system.

Speaking on the occasion,Dayakar Rao said ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao had allocated Rs 15 crorefor developing the place astourism hub. As part of the

package, sanctum- sanctorumand mandapam of the templewould be renovated at a cost ofRs 1 crore.

The administration was tak-ing steps for comprehensivedevelopment of Palakurthi vil-lage. As part of it, works for thedevelopment of village junc-

tion would be taken at cost ofRs 21.24 crore. The funds forthe project were sanctioned bythe Chief Minister, he said.P a l a k u r t h i - Wa r a n g a l ,P a l a k u r t h i - J a n g a o n ,Palakurthi-Tirumalagiri andPalakurthi-Torrur road wasmade double-lane.

Palakurthi will be developedas tourism hub: Minister

PNS nNALGONDA

Chief Secretary SomeshKumar on Tuesday visited SriParvathi JadalaRamalingeshwara swamy tem-ple at Cheruvugattu villageunder Narketpally mandaland Chaya SomeshwaraTemple at Panagal in Nalgondatown.

Earlier, he visitedCheruvugattu temple alongwith his family members andperformed special pujas on theoccasion of Maha Sivaratri.

He was welcomed by thepriests with Poornakumbham.

Speaking on the occasion, hesaid that he was happy to visitthe historically significant SriParvati Jadala RamalingeswaraSwamy on the occasion ofMaha Sivaratri.

Temple chairman ArunaRaji Reddy and Sarpanch sub-mitted a representation to the

Chief Secretary, seeking hishelp for the development of thetemple. The Chief Secretarypromised to talk to the author-ities concerned.

Later, he visited the ChhayaSomeshwara temple inPanagal, Nalgonda town withhis family and performed spe-cial pujas.District CollectorPrashant Jeevan Patil wel-comed the Chief Secretary.

Additional Collector ofLocal Bodies Rahul Sharma,trainee Assistant CollectorApoorv Chauhan, MLAsKancharla Bhopal Reddy, RDOJagadishwar Reddy, DSPVenkateshwar Reddy and oth-ers were present. ChhayaSomeshwaralayam chairmanGantla Anantha Reddy andothers welcomed the ChiefSecretary.

CS offers prayers at ChayaSomeshwara temple

PNS n HYDERABAD

The BJP in Telangana State islikely to suffer a setback as agroup of senior leaders fromdifferent districts are plan-ning to migrate to ShivaSena party. Leaders fromKarimnagar, Warangal ,Nizamabad and Adilabaddistricts, who were instru-mental in the growth of theBJP in the past when theNaxalite movement was at itspeak, held a secret meetingrecently to express theiranguish over the party's Stateunit leadership giving prior-ity to those who entered theparty for their own theirselfish ends, neglecting theseniors.

According to sources,Shiva Sena general secretaryAnil Desai had held talkswith these leaders andexplored the possibilities ofstrengthening the party inTelangana dis tr ic ts byattracting the dissident BJPleaders and activists into his

party. Though senior BJPleader N Indrasena Reddyheld talks with the dissi-dents in a bid to contain dis-sidence in the party, the dis-sidents are still bent upon

taking revenge on the partyleadership for hurting theirsentiments and causing dis-tress to them. The BJP lead-ers, who felt elated over theparty's success in by-elec-

t ions in Dubbaka andHuzurabad, may not try topacify the dissidents andmay crack down on the dis-sidence in the party, thesources felt.

The dissident leaders,Gujjula Ramakrishna Reddy,former MLA, PolasaniSugnakar Rao, former gener-al secretary of BJP KisanMorcha, M Dharma Rao,former MLA, VannalaSriramulu, former MLA, SMal la Reddy, NauraoRamoji, Alajapur Srinivasand Shyam Sundar, and someothers had reportedly metUnion Minister KishanReddy and poured out theirgrievances to him. Theyreportedly told the UnionMinister that they had riskedlife and limb in their fightagainst Naxalites to keep theparty strong. As the partyleadership continues to givethem a hard time, sourcessaid, the dissidents maymigrate to Shiva Sena andstrengthen it to beat the BJP.

BJP dissidents in TS likely to migrate to Shiva Sena Dissenters are ready to give a shocker to saffron party leadership

PNS n HYDERABAD

YSRTP Chief Y S Sharmila hasbeen using the services of I-PAC chief Prashanth Kishor'sformer lieutenants to decideher political strategy. They arealready working for her at thefield level, it is learnt.

Ravi Rishikesh Reddy, a for-mer I-PAC employee, is cur-rently conducting a publicopinion survey at the groundlevel for Sharmila.

Rishikesh Reddy is thegreat-grandson of former CPIMP late Ravi Narayana Reddy.Rishikesh Reddy, who servedas the head of the PoliticalStrategy Unit at I-PAC, andothers are now working as thepolitical strategy team forSharmila.

Rishikesh Reddy has alsoserved as the unit head of I-PAC during the West Bengal,Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra andAP elections when he was

associated with PrashanthKishor.

It is learnt that the RishikeshReddy's team has been identi-fying candidates who can gar-ner at least 15,000 votes in theirconstituencies. The team isalso focusing on identifying

anti-government constituen-cies. They have preparedstrategies for Sharmila toattract dissidents from otherparties.

Apart from RishikeshReddy, Sharmila has hired twoother former I-PAC employeesfor the next phase of herpadayatra to be launched fromMarch 10. They are Pritam andAnirudh, who were also for-mer employees of I-PAC.Anirudh has also worked as anadvisor to the AP governmentearlier.

It may be recalled thatSharmila had been holdingtalks with Kishor much beforeshe had announced the launchof her party on July 8, 2021.

Initially, Kishor's close aidePriya Rajendran, the daughterof Dravida MunnetraKazhagam MLA R Rajendran,had helped Sharmila to launchher party and her social mediacampaign.

Sharmila's strategist is Rishikesh ReddyHe is the great-grandson of late Ravi Narayana Reddy

PNS nMEDAK

Finance Minister T HarishRao on Tuesday morning pre-sented silk clothes to GoddessDurga, the presiding deity atYedupayala in Medak districtand commenced Maha SivaRatri festival celebrations.

Earlier, the temple priestsextended traditional welcometo the Minister.

Speaking in this connection,Harish Rao said that hugeamount of funds was sanc-tioned to the celebrations.The government has allocatedRs 1,500 crore for tourismdevelopment in connectionwith inauguration of MallannaSagar LI Scheme. As part of it,Rs 100 crore has been allocat-ed to Yedupayala Jatara cele-brations.

The amount would be spenton development of fountainsand other development works.On account of linkingKaleswaram project withSingur project, there will beplenty of water available in

Yedupayalu. Further, he saidthat the Singur project isreceiving inflows on accountof the efforts of the ChiefMinister. Those who criti-cised the government yester-day have been praising ittoday, he said.

The government would wetparched lands of Telangana

with Mallanna Sagar waterto turn the barren lands into

fertile soil.Animal Husbandry

Minister Talasani SrinivasYadavhad dharshan ofGoddess Durga and per-formed specialpujas. MedakMLA Padma Devender Reddy,ZP Chairperson Hemalata,District Collector Harish,Additional Collectors PratimaSingh and Ramesh and otherswere present on the occasion.

Harish Rao presents silk clothes toGoddess Durga at Yedupayala

Minister for Finance T Harish Rao at Durga temple at Yedupayala in Medak districton Tuesday

PNS nVEMULAWADA

Endowments MinisterIndrakaran Reddy and CivilSupplies Minister GangulaKamalakar on Tuesday pre-sented silk clothes to Sri RajaRajeswara Swamy atVemulavada on behalf of theState government in connec-tion with Maha Sivaratri.

Telangana CulturalCouncil Chairman and MLARasamayi Balakishan wasalso present on the occa-sion. Later, the temple priestsblessed the Ministers andpresented them with thedeity's prasadam.

Silk clothes presentedto Rajanna on behalfof state govt

PNS n MAHABUBNAGAR

A red carpet welcome awaitsChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao when hevisits Wanaparthy district onMarch 8. The people in thedistrict will accord a warmwelcome to the Chief Ministerfor allocating huge amounts offunds and facilitated the devel-opment of Mahabubnagarwhich used to reel undersevere drought and poverty.The Chief Minister will alsoaddress a public meeting onthe same day.

Under the guidance of theChief Minister, according toMinister for Agriculture SNiranjan Reddy, the TRS gov-ernment had brought aboutrevolutionary changes andtransformed the State into agranary. The Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigationscheme had turned parchedlands into green fields. He tookthe opposition parties to task

for trying to create hurdles tothe irrigation scheme by filinghundreds of cases in courts.

The TRS had developedthe district in just seven yearsand the migration of peoplefrom the district has come toan end. The district witnessedno development for 70 year inthe united Andhra Pradesh.The Chief Minister, he said,had sanctioned a medical col-lege and also JNTU affiliatedengineering college for thedistrict, he said.

Red carpet welcome awaitsKCR in Wanaparthy dist

PNS nNIZAMABAD

Bodhan police on Mondayarrested a 24-year-old manon a charge of killing hisfather at Rakasipet underBodhan police station limits.The police arrested hisaccomplice too.Accordingto police, Shaik Meeraj fatal-ly assaulted his father, ShaikAbdul Kareem (45) with aniron rod on February 22.Shaik Meeraj had resorted tokilling his father as the lat-ter got addicted to alcoholand used to pick a fightwith the family membersevery day.

The police said ShaikMeeraj's friend, named ShaikSameerullah, was also arrest-ed on a charge of assistingthe accused in the commis-sion of the crime.

The police registered acase on the complaint filedby Haji Begum, sister of thedeceased. Inspector of PolicePrem Kumar investigatedthe case and arrested the sus-pects.

Man arrested oncharge ofpatricide

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar at Someswara temple in Nalgonda on Tuesday

PNS n HYDERABAD

Telangana BJP chief BandiSanjay Kumar has said that itis shocking that the policehave not yet arrested NirmalMunicipal Vice-ChairmanSajid Khan who allegedlyraped a minor girl severaltimes after assuring her adouble bedroom house.

In a statement on Tuesday,Sanjay alleged that there is noprotection for girls andwomen under the TRS gov-ernment.

It is shameful on the part ofpolice to say that they willarrest Sajid Khan only if he isproved guilty although theparents of the girl filed a com-plaint three days ago.

The attitude of the TRSleaders gives the impressionthat they are supporting theseatrocities and it is nothing butthe TRS version of secular-

ism, he said.Sanjay allegedthat Nizam KCR is behavinglike a spectator when TRSleaders are raping girls andwomen as it happened duringthe times of the Nizam whenRazakars raped women.

He said that there were

many such incidents underTRS rule, but only a few arecoming out.

The police remained amute spectator when a MIMleader raped a Dalit womannear Home MinisterMahamood Ali's residence inChadarghat police stationlimits, he said.

He said that innocent girlswere falling victims due to theKalvakuntla constitution inforce in TS. The police, whoare supposed to work as perAmbedkar's Constitution areafraid of TRS activists, hesaid.

He urged the police not tosupport the atrocities com-mitted by TRS activists andasked the police to arrest theculprits immediately as perlaw.Sanjay warned that KCRwill face the fate of the Nizamif he refuses to take actionagainst rapists.

Sanjay asks police to arrestNirmal ‘rapist’ Sajid Khan

PNS n HYDERABAD

AICC member and TPCCgeneral secretary BakkaJudson has lodged an onlinecomplaint with the NationalCommisiso for Womenagainst the TRS leader forallegedly raping a minor girl inNirmal. In a statement issuedhere on Tuesday, Judsonalleged that the Telangana hadbeen witnessing an increasingrape cases. Before forgettingthe rape of 6-year-old girlallegedly by TRS sarpanch inRajanna Sircilla district inOctober last year, anotherincident took place now atYSR Colony in Nirmal districtheadquarters.Hudson allegedthat Nirmal Municipal vice-chairman Sajid Khan hadraped a minor girl by luringher saying that he will sanctiondouble bed room house. Hesaid in his complaint thatSajid Khan raped her severaltimes. The police also fieldcases against two other per-sons, he said.

Complaint lodgedwith NCW againstNirmal MunicipalVice-Chairman

TS to launch pilot project on ‘HealthProfile' scheme from March 5PNS n HYDERABAD

As part of the National DigitalHealth Mission, every citizenof Telangana State will have ahealth account in two yearsthat can be operated with thehelp of a health ID numbers,according to a target set by theHealth Department.

It has plans to embark on amajor programme. Since theState government's health pro-filing programme and theCentre's National DigitalHealth Mission are more orless similar, the State govern-ment has been contemplatingto implement the two pro-grammes simultaneously.

The pilot project of thehealth profile will commencefrom March 5. The portalopened by the Centre as partof the National Digital HealthMission will be used for healthprofiling of people ofTelangana State too.

On the lines of officers cre-ating health account as part ofthe health profile project, any-one can create a health accountin the Centre's www.health-

hind.ndhm.gov.in. With thehelp of phone

number and Aadhaar Cardnumber, a health account canbe created easily. As soon as aperson's information is fedinto the portal a unique num-ber will be allocated to the per-son on the lines of his uniqueidentification number(Aadhaar number). It will beused as health ID or healthaccount number. A patient

visiting the hospital shouldsay this number to the author-ities there. If there is no iden-tity created, the hospitalauthorities with the help of thepatients' information will cre-ate health identity and furnishit to patients.

The State government will

enter into agreement with hos-pitals' managements and doc-tors for the purpose.

Once the agreement is fullyimplemented, health accountgeneration help desks willspring up in all hospitals.

A patient visiting the hospi-tal for registering as out-patient, the hospital authoritiesseek his health account num-ber. If the patient has no healthaccount number, the help deskpersonnel with the help ofphone number or any otheridentification generate the rel-evant number then and therefor the benefit of the patient.

The State

government will

enter into

agreement with

hospitals'

managements

and doctors for

the purpose.

Minister for Panchayat Raj Errabelli Dayakar Rao at Sri Someswara LakshmiNarasimhaswamy temple at Palakurthi on Tuesdday

According to sources, Shiva Sena

general secretary Anil Desai had held

talks with these leaders and explored

the possibilities of strengthening the

party in Telangana districts by

attracting the dissident BJP leaders

and activists into his party.

PNS n HYDERABAD

3Minister for Legislative AffairsVemula Pashanth Reddy andMinister for Finance T HarishRao on Tuesday asserted thatthe BJP leaders were makingallegations out of ignorance fordropping the Governor'saddress to both the Houses.

Speaking to reporters at theTRS Legislative Party officehere, the Ministers pointedout that it was the continuationof the previous eighth session.The session was not proroguedby the Governor, they said.

Stating that the TelanganaState was performing better

than other States in terms ofeconomic growth, Harish Raosaid the State government waskeen on explaining its achieve-

ments. But due to some tech-nical reasons, the Governor'saddress could not be held.'The Constitution does not

mandate that the budget ses-sion to begin with theGovernor's address. It wasridiculous on the part of theBJP to speak about theConstitution and customsbecause they have no respectfor them.

The Minister dismissed BJPleaders' allegation that theGovernor was mistreatedbecause she was a woman.Harish Rao recalled that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi haddismissed Gujarat GovernmentKamala Ben immediately aftercoming to power in 2014. Healso said the Prime Ministerhad also insulted West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee. BJP State presidentBandi Sanjay had no moralrights to speak about womanafter he supported the deroga-tory remarks of Assam ChiefMinister Himanta Biswa Sarmaagainst women.

‘BJP speaking out of ignoranceover dropping of Guv's address'Vemula Prashant Reddy and T Harish Rao ridicule the BJP for making tall claims

Harish Rao saidthe Stategovernment waskeen onexplaining itsachievements.

Minister for Finance T Harish Rao and Minister for Legislative Affairs VemulaPrashant Reddy speaking at a media conference in Hyderabad on Tuesday

nation 05HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 2, 2022

IND

IA C

OR

NE

R Raj govt gives three Congress leaders cabinet minister status

The Rajasthan government has given the status of cabinet ministers to three Congressleaders, including the Vice-Chairman of the Twenty Point Program Implementationand Coordination Committee, Chandrabhan, an official statement said. The other two

are Rameshwar Dudi who has been appointed as the chairman of Rajasthan State AgroIndustries Development Board and former minister Brijkishore Sharma who has beenmade the chairman of Rajasthan Khadiand Village Industries Board, The gov-ernment has released the first listunder political appointments onFebruary 9, in which 58 leaders,including 11 MLAs, were appointed aspresidents / vice-chairmen in 44 state-level commissions / boards / corpora-tions. The second list was released onMonday in which 74 people were madechairman, vice-chairman and membersof various commissions / boards andcorporations of the state.

Couple held for duping people onpretext of getting them govt contracts

Aman and his wife were arrested from Jaipur for allegedly duping several people ofcrores of rupees by promising railway and government contracts, police said onTuesday. The accused, Abhishek Aggarwal (38) and his wife Meenakshi (34),

natives of Supaul district in Bihar, were wanted in at least four criminal cases and havebeen absconding for the last three years. In the last five years, the duo cheated bigbusinessmen and property dealers ofapproximately Rs 20 crore, policesaid. The victims were swayed bytheir lavish lifestyle and paidadvances to the duo with the hope ofgetting government contracts, theysaid. After getting advances, thecouple fled and switched off theirmobile phones. Additional DeputyCommissioner of Police (Dwarka)Vikram Singh said police teamsanalysed several mobile numbersused by the couple.

Admin of ‘Mangalore Muslims' bookedfor derogatory remark against HC judge

Acase has been registered against the administrator of a Facebook page 'MangaloreMuslims' and another person who had posted against one of the three judges of theKarnataka High Court hearing the hijab case. The cyber crime division of the Bengaluru

South division registered a case on its own against Ateeq Shariff from Bengaluru and theadministrator of 'Mangalore Muslims'on February 23, which came to lightonly recently. The complaint saysthat Ateeq Shariff posted derogatorycontent on February 12 against one ofthe judges questioning his credentialsand integrity. Those who had liked thepost against the judge may also incurthe penal action, a police officer said.This incident comes close on the heelsof derogatory remarks against the samejudge by Kannada actor Chetan KumarAhimsa who was arrested andremanded to judicial custody.

PNS n BALLIA

No party has been able toform government in UttarPradesh for two consecutiveterms in decades, but the BJPis set to break this trend,Defence Minister RajnathSingh said on Tuesday.

Addressing an electionmeeting in Rasra, he also urgedvoters not to fall prey to anytemptations or get misled, andsaid that while voting, it shouldbe kept in mind that the coun-try is above all.

"The trend from the firstphase to the fifth phase hasmade it clear that the voters ofUttar Pradesh are going towrite a new history. In the past30 to 40 years, no one was ableto form government in thestate for the second consecutivetime. For the first time, the BJPis going to form its governmentfor the second consecutivetime," Singh said.

Taking a jibe at the

Congress, he said corruptioncannot be removed by deliver-ing speeches. "Corruption canbe stopped by making changesin the system," the senior BJPleader said ahead of the sixthof the seven phase UttarPradesh assembly polls.

Former prime minister RajivGandhi had with 'laachaaree'

(helplessness) had said that ofthe 100 paise which is sentfrom Delhi, hardly 15 paisereaches the beneficiary, Singhsaid.

However, in the BJP govern-ment, the benefits of schemesare reaching beneficiaries with-out any corruption, he said.

Praising the foreign policy of

the Narendra Modi govern-ment, Singh said that theCentre has kept the head of thecountry high in the world.

"Earlier, the world did notseriously listen to India, butnow the world is listening towhat India is saying. We willnot allow India's head to bowdown," he said.

He also showered praises onUttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath and the workdone by the state government.

"Uttar Pradesh was earlierknown as a 'BIMARU' state,but in the five years of YogiAdityanath's government, ithas jumped to the second spotin terms of economy," Singhsaid.

"Goddess Lakshmi does notcome to any house riding acycle (the poll symbol of theSamajwadi Party), elephant(the poll symbol of the BahujanSamaj Party), nor does shecome waving her hand (thepoll symbol of the Congress).

‘No party has formed govt inUP for 2nd consecutive time’ PNS n NEW DELHI

Deaths attributable to PM2.5pollution in India haveincreased by 2.5 times over thelast two decades, according toa new report by the Centre forScience and Environment.

The report released byUnion Environment MinisterBhupender Yadav on Tuesdaysaid India accounted for oneout of every four deaths due toair pollution in 2019.

Data collated by greenthink-tank Centre for Scienceand Environment (CSE), andrepresented in its "State ofIndia's Environment Report",showed that 6.67 million peo-ple died due to air pollution inthe world.

Of these, 1.67 million deathsoccurred in India. China saw1.85 million deaths due to airpollution.

The report said 4,76,000infants died globally in theirfirst month of life from healtheffects associated with air pol-lution exposure in 2019. Ofthese, 1,16,000 deaths occurred

in India. Poor air quality was the

fourth leading risk factor forearly death worldwide in 2019,surpassed only by high bloodpressure, tobacco use and poordiet."Over the last two decades,deaths attributable to ambientPM2.5 in India has increasedby 2.5 times -- from 2,79,500in 1990 to 9,79,900 in 2019,"the report read.

PM2.5 refers to fine particleswhich penetrate deep into thebody and fuel inflammation inthe lungs and respiratory tract,leading to the risk of cardiovas-cular and respiratory problems,including a weak immune sys-tem.

Deaths attributable to ozonein India has increased by 2.9times -- from 43,200 in 1990 to1,68,000 in 2019, it said.

Deaths linked to PM2.5 pollutionin India increased by 2.5 times

PNS n NEW DELHI

Maximum temperatures arepredicted to remain "belownormal" in the northern plains,including Punjab, parts ofHaryana, Uttar Pradesh andBihar, during the May to Marchperiod, the IndiaMeteorological Departmentsaid on Tuesday.

"Above normal maximumtemperatures are most likelyover many areas in western andadjoining central India, north-west India and northernmostparts of northeast India," itsaid.

However, below normalmaximum temperatures arelikely over most parts of

Peninsular India, east andnortheast India as well as thenorthern plains, the IMD said.

The number of heat waves inthe Indo-Gangetic plains is

likely to be lower than normalduring the period, it said.

"The maximum tempera-tures are likely to remain abovenormal in Jammu and

Kashmir, Ladakh, HimachalPradesh, major parts ofRajasthan, Gujarat and adjoin-ing areas of Madhya Pradeshand Maharashtra," IMDDirector General MrutyunjayMohapatra said.

"During the upcoming hotweather season (March toMay), normal to above normalminimum temperatures aremost likely over many parts ofnorthwest India, most parts ofnortheast India, some parts ofcentral India, east coastalregion and some areas alongthe foothills of the Himalayas,"the IMD said in a statement.

During March, normal tobelow normal maximum tem-peratures are likely over most

parts of Peninsular India andeast and northeast India,whereas above normal maxi-mum temperatures are forecastover many parts of western andcentral India. Minimum tem-perature expected to be abovenormal in most parts of north-west and west India.

No heat wave is predicted inMarch in the northern plains.

For the plains, a "heat wave"is declared when the maximumtemperature is more than 40degrees Celsius, and at least 4.5notches above normal.

A "severe" heat wave isdeclared if departure fromnormal temperature is morethan 6.5 degrees Celsius,according to the IMD.

‘Below normal' max temperatures from March to May: IMD

BJP govt washinghands off jobcrisis: CPI(M) PNS n NEW DELHI

CPI(M) general secretarySitaram Yechury on Tuesdayattacked the BJP governmentat the Centre, saying it is"washing its hands off" the jobcrisis in the country.Hisremarks came in the backdropof Home Minister Amit Shah'scomments in an interview inwhich he said that the commu-nists consider only governmentjobs as employment."So AmitShah says demanding jobs is a'communist' idea. BJP washinghands off jobs completely.Promise of two crore new jobsevery year - jumla. Fill up hugenumber of vacancies.Privatisation destroys job reser-vations. Pushing India back bycenturies - economically andsocially," Yechury said in atweet.The CPI(M) leader alsoattached a clipping of thenewspaper interview.

In the interview, Shah saidthat there is a differencebetween jobs and employ-ment, and said that the coun-try has new startups and thegovernment has improved e-marketing opportunities.

With just hope andprayers, studentreaches homePNS n KOTTAYAM

Uncertainty looming largeover their return, it was onlyhope and prayers forGreeshma Rachel Thomasand others who made thearduous journey from thewar-torn Ukraine to homestate Kerala recently.

For the Keralite girl, thefour years of her life as a med-ical student inChernivtsi had beena pleasant experi-ence till last weekbefore Russia's mil-itary offensive onUkraine, that hasprompted theCentre to launch amajor evacuationdrive to bring backstranded Indians, most ofthem students, back to thecountry.

But, the generally calm butlively city in western part ofUkraine suddenly seemed tobe gripped with anxiety andfear after the news of Russia'smilitary onslaught in theEuropean nation broke outlast week.

Detailing the hazardousjourney from the Ukraineuniversity back to the south-ern state, Thomas said none ofthem were sure at the timewhether they could reachhome or meet their family.

"We only had some hopeand prayers in mind," shetold PTI.

Soon after the Russianattack, long queues startedforming in front of ATMs andgrocery shops and anxiouslocals went on a frenziedshopping spree to stock them-selves up with whatever theycould, aware of the fact thatthey will be confined indoors

till hostilities cease,she said.

A fourth-yearstudent of theBukovinian StateMedical Universityin Chernivtsi,Thomas said thecity was not at allthe same when sheand her friends

went out on the morning ofFebruary 25, a day after theRussian offensive began, tobuy some essential articles.

"There were long queueseverywhere from right in frontof ATMs to grocery shops. Wedid not get money from thefirst ATM counter as it ran outof cash and we had to rush tothe next one anxiously to findmoney for our travel," shesaid.Hailing from Puthuppallyin Kerala's Kottayam district,Thomas was one among the250 Indian students who man-aged to reach the country theother day.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi onTuesday condoled the death of anIndian student in shelling inUkraine's Kharkiv and calledupon the Union government todraw up a strategy for the safeevacuation of all stranded Indians.

The Ministry of ExternalAffairs (MEA) confirmed the

death in a tweet on Tuesday andsaid it was in touch with the fam-ily of the student.

The student, NaveenShekarappa Gyanagoudar, was anative of Chalageri in Karnataka'sHaveri district.

"Received the tragic news ofIndian student Naveen losing hislife in Ukraine. My heartfelt con-dolences to his family and friends.

"I reiterate, GOI (Governmentof India) needs a strategic plan forsafe evacuation. Every minute isprecious," Rahul Gandhi wrote onTwitter.

The Congress party expressedcondolences to Gyanagoudar'sfamily and friends. It also urgedthe government to expedite theevacuation of Indians stranded inwar-torn Ukraine.

"We are deeply saddened bythe tragic news of the demiseof an Indian student inUkraine. Our heartfelt condo-lences to his family and friends.We once again urge GoI(Government of India) toensure the speedy and safeevacuation of our people," itstated in a tweet.

The MEA said the foreign sec-

retary is calling in ambassadorsof Russia and Ukraine to reiter-ate its demand for "urgent safepassage" to Indian nationals whoare still in Kharkiv and in othercities which have become conflictzones.

"Similar action is also beingundertaken by our ambassadorsin Russia and Ukraine," the MEAsaid.

Govt of India needs strategic plan for evacuation: Rahul Gandhi

PNS n MUMBAI

The Bombay High Court willhear on Wednesday the peti-tion filed by Maharashtra min-ister Nawab Malik, who wasarrested last week, seekingquashing of the case registeredagainst him by theEnforcement Directorate (ED)which is probing money laun-dering linked to fugitiveunderworld don DawoodIbrahim.

Malik, who is currently inthe ED's custody till March 3,had on Monday filed a petitionin the HC, claiming his arrestwas "illegal", and sought imme-diate release.

On Tuesday, his advocateTaraq Sayed mentioned theplea before a division bench ofJustices S S Shinde and N RBorkar seeking urgent hearing.

The court was informedthat the regular bench ofJustices P B Varale and S PTawde, designated to hearcriminal petitions, would not

be available this week.Justice Shinde then said his

bench would also not be avail-able on Wednesday. The mat-ter shall be listed for hearingbefore a bench of Justices S BShukre and G A Sanap onWednesday, he said.

NCP leader Malik onMonday filed a petition in thehigh court, seeking to quashthe case and also the orderpassed by a special courtremanding him in the ED'scustody.He alleged that hisarrest was "illegal" and that hewas targeted for being a "vocalcritic of the misuse of central

agencies".The petitioner stated that he

is not the first to be targetedand this is a worrying trendacross the nation, where cen-tral agencies are being misusedby the party in power.

"The political rivals of thepetitioner naturally have beendeeply embarrassed by theexposes carried out by thepetitioner and the presentbrazen and completely illegalaction of the ED is to try tomuzzle him," the petition said.

Malik claimed that he hasabsolutely no connection withany of the "anti-national"accused (Dawood Ibrahim andother gangsters) named in theFIR registered by the NIAwhich was the basis of the ED'scase.

In his petition, Malik statedthat he was forcibly picked upfrom his residence by the EDofficials on February 23, with-out any notice or summonsunder section 41A of theCriminal Procedure Code.

HC to hear Nawab Malik's plea againstarrest in money laundering today

PNS n BHUBANESWAR

With BJD winning a landslidevictory in the just concludedthree-tier panchayat electionin the state, Odisha ChiefMinister Naveen PatnaikTuesday said the massive man-date for the partyhas increased itscommitment for“seva” (service) tothe people.

BJD has wonin 766 of the 851zilla parishadzones where theelection was heldand the regionalparty is all set toform the zillaparishad in all the 30 districts.

Patnaik tweeted, “I thankthe people from the core of myheart for their liking for BJDand support to the BJD candi-dates. This massive mandatehas reinforced our commit-ment towards service of thepeople. The dedicated serviceby the winning candidates

and our party workers hasmade the BJD a movement.”

While Patnaik's popularityis considered a major factor forthe party's landslide victory,opposition parties have, how-ever, alleged misuse of govern-ment machinery for the

regional party'sgrowth.

The BJD hasreversed its lossesin 2017 and wrest-ed all the 10 dis-tricts held by theopposition BJPand Congress. Theparty has this timeestablished its holdover Balangir,Bargarh, Deogarh,

Gajapati, Kalahandi,Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur,Sonepur, Rayagada andJharsuguda.

In 2017 the BJP had won476 seats and could form zillaparishads in 20 districts, whileBJP formed had done so ineight districts and theCongress in two.

‘Massive mandate in rural pollsreaffirms BJD's commitment’

Centre relaxesguidelines for grants to scientistsPNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre has relaxed com-pliance guidelines for scien-tists, making it easier for themto access grants and rope inassociates for research anddevelopment projects.

The new guidelines for'Ease of Doing Science:Towards less government,more governance' are aimed atreducing the compliance bur-den and switching fromresearch administration toresearch facilitation.Thesewere released recently byScience and TechnologyMinister Jitendra Singh on thefoundation day of theDepartment of Biotechnology.The reforms also include sin-gle step approval for admin-istrative issues such as budgetre-appropriation within therecurring head and change ofprincipal investigator.

PNS n NEW DELHI

SpiceJet on Tuesday afternoonsent a plane to Kosice inSlovakia to evacuate Indiansstranded in Ukraine due to theRussian military offensive.

Slovakia shares land borderwith Ukraine on the westernside. Minister of Law andJustice Kiren Rijiju is travellingon SpiceJet's special flight toSlovakia as a Special Envoy ofthe Indian Government tooversee the evacuation, SpiceJetsaid in a statement."The aircraftwill fly to Kosice in Slovakiafrom Delhi and the returnflight will operate via Kutaisi,Georgia," it said. The Kosiceflight depart from Delhi at 4pm on Tuesday, the airline said.

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri left for Budapest onTuesday to oversee evacuation of Indians from Ukraine through itsborder crossing with Hungary. "All set to bring back our young studentsback home safely. Enroute to #Budapest with a refuelling stop in Istanbulwith the ever efficient 6E boys & girls," Puri tweeted and posted a picturewith the Indigo crew. The Russian attack on Ukraine began five days ago.India started issuing advisories in mid-February, asking Indians toconsider leaving Ukraine after tensions increased between Moscow andKyiv. The government has decided to send four Union ministers as theprime minister's envoys to Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia andMoldova to oversee the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine through itsborder crossings with these countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modihad chaired a meeting on Sunday evening as well and had asserted thatthe safety and evacuation of Indians from Ukraine, attacked by Russia, isa top priority for his government. Scindia will take care of evacuationefforts from Romania and Moldova while Rijiju will go to Slovakia. Singhwill be in Poland to manage the evacuation of Indians who have comefrom Ukraine through land borders.

SpiceJet sends plane to Slovakia to evacuate students

Hardeep Puri heads for Budapest

The US is racially anAnglo-Saxon nation. The cul-tural bonds between the USand Britain are fraternal andclose. Prime Minister WinstonChurchill’s mother LadyRandolph Churchill was anAmerican. After the Battle ofBritain, the crucial clashbetween the Air Forces ofBritain and Germany in thesummer of 1940, Churchillrealised that there was no wayfor his country on its own toovercome Nazi Germany. Heflew to Washington DC toappeal to President FranklinRoosevelt as well as the USCongress to come to the aid oftheir British brethren. Else,the fear was that western civil-isation would go under theNazi jackboot. Churchillreturned empty-handed, savefor an American promise tosupply arms on a rental basis,called the Lend Lease. This wasdespite Churchill’s stirringappeal to Washington: “Hadmy father been an Americanand not my mother, would younot have helped me?” Such wasthe ‘fraternity’ between thetwo Anglo-Saxon partners.

Washington didn’t antici-pate that Japan would soon sailacross half the Pacific unde-tected and destroy Pearl

Harbor, America’s vital navalbase, on December 7, 1941.The US then declared war onJapan, which retaliated with asimilar declaration. The Axisalliance of Germany, Italy andJapan required that if any ofthese countries were at war,the other two would join inimmediately. Consequently,Germany and Italy declaredwar on the US. It was thus onlyin December 1941 that thisEuropean conflict, which hadbegun more than two yearsago, truly became a world war,leaving no option for the USbut to join it. In other words,the US entered the fray onlywhen it was attacked; it did notfight when its brother was des-perately in need.

Taiwan, another countrythat is an American ally andfaces an expansionist China, toa considerable extent, is ethni-cally Chinese but its leaderChiang Kai Shek was allied tothe US until his defeat at thehands of Mao Zedong inChina’s civil war that ensuedfrom 1945 to 1949. It wasChiang who led many of hisfollowers to the island that istoday Taiwan. The country’spolitical system is democratic,while its economic ideology isfree and liberal. Taiwan was

not only admitted to the UNpromptly, but also continuedas a member of the SecurityCouncil. When the threat ofwar from mainland Chinagrew graver, a security agree-ment to protect Taiwan wassigned with the US. Thatagreement, the TaiwanRelations Act, is still in forcealthough in 1972, quite casu-ally, Taiwan was removed fromthe Security Council and itsseat was given to communistChina, which is now consid-ered an adversarial nation.

This American habit ofengaging in a tango for changeis a source of apprehension topotential allies. Fareed Zakariais oblivious of such changes, hecannot be in any position to beadvising India’s foreign policymoves. In any case, for a largecountry, it is desirable to be self-reliant and flexible towardsthe changing tunes of interna-tional affairs. The economicbenefits that could accrue froma wealthy ally would be toosmall for a large country, whilethe US willingness to come tothe aid of allies is doubtful.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, an authorand a former member of theRajya Sabha. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN SAKESir — Is the world heading towardsannihilation? Are the COVID pandemicand the Russia-Ukraine war just the tip ofan iceberg? In an era when science andtechnological inventions are supposed tomake lives easier for humankind,machines and other such scientific cre-ations have upended human beings. Therace for supremacy has nations compet-ing with one another, producing weaponsof mass destruction. The vagaries ofnature and climatic upheavals continue tounleash untold miseries on mankind.Unseasonal rains/floods in certain areasand droughts in other regions; hurricanes,tsunami and other catastrophes; all theseclimatic trends could wreak havoc.

As much as natural calamities havebeen the cause of large-scale destructionacross the world, the spate of ‘virus inva-sions’ has further hit the human race. The‘discovery’ of a virus each day has been thebane of the world. The inability of virol-ogists to check these rampaging viruses hascomplicated matters. At a time whencalamitous situations threaten to wipe outthe human race, we have global ‘superpowers’ trying to impose their will on lesspowerful nations. We are rushing into anawful situation which may be averted if wewere only a bit more circumspect abouthasty decisions.

Pachu Menon | Margao

PUNISH THE PNB SCAM ACCUSEDSir — It is shocking to learn that the CBIis begging to be allowed to prosecute for-mer CEO Usha Ananthasubramanianand two ex-Executive Directors BrahmajiRao and Sanjeev Sharan of the PunjabNational Bank even though the case wasregistered more than four years ago inconnection with `13,578 crore Choksifraud. It is not hard to discern the rea-son behind the prolonged delay in bring-ing to book the top bank officialsinvolved in jaw-dropping scam amounts.If it is not the Government’s unwilling-ness to risk getting its own complicityexposed, what else can it be?

During the last two decades, a num-ber of frauds have taken place in Indian

banks. No official found guilty of con-nivance with the fraudsters was subject-ed to prosecution, trial and punishment(except ex-Indian Bank chairmanGopalakrishnan). If a bank clerk/cashieris caught stealing even a rupee, he gets dis-missed within a quarter of a year. But topbank officials who cause the loss of thou-sands of crores of rupees are allowed togo scot-free? The argument that these‘poor’ officials were acting under politi-cal pressure does not hold water; they donot bend for nothing.

MR Anand | Vrindavan

LENT: A PERIOD OF PRAYER, FASTINGSir — Lent, the 40-day period of prayerand fasting for Christians all over the worldin preparation for Easter, begins this yearon March 2 with Ash Wednesday. AshWednesday, officially known as the Dayof Ashes, is a day of repentance whenChristians confess to their sins and pro-fess their devotion to God. Here’s some-thing interesting: There are actually 46

days between Ash Wednesday and EasterSunday. How? The answer takes us backto the earliest days of the Church. Jesus’original disciples, Jews, believed theSabbath was Saturday. Jesus rose from thedead, however, on a Sunday.

So the early Christians starting withthe apostles transferred the Sabbath fromSaturday to Sunday. Since all Sundays, notsimply Easter Sunday, were days to cele-brate Jesus’ resurrection, Christians wereforbidden to fast/do penance on thosedays. Therefore, when the Churchexpanded fasting/prayer period in prepa-ration for Easter to 40 days, Sundays couldnot be included in the count. Thus, forLent to include 40 days of fasting, it hadto have six full weeks (with 6 days of fast-ing each week), plus four extra days thatfollow it. And that’s how we arrive at the40-day figure for Lent.

Jubel D’Cruz | Mumbai

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

www.dailypioneer.comfacebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 2, 2022

06

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

The modern history is replete with instances where the US chose to

look the other way when one of its allies asked for a helping hand

THE US ENTERED

WORLD WAR II

ONLY WHEN IT

WAS ATTACKED,

WHEN IT HAD

NO OPTION; IT DID

NOT FIGHT WHEN

ITS BROTHER

BRITAIN WAS

DESPERATELY IN

NEED OF HELP

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

PRAFULL GORADIA

Till the other day, ‘Opposition unity’sounded like a cliche. All discussionsabout a united Opposition centred

around a few ambitious leaders. Not an easytask, considering the man these leadersdesire to see the back of is one-of-a-kind,Narendra Modi. That said, some non-BJPChief Ministers are flexing muscles to keepthe hope alive among the Opposition ranks.Though West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjeestarted off well, buoyed by a massive winin the West Bengal Assembly election, thatcritical push to the singular cause was lack-

ing. Perhaps the Congress’ aversion toMamata has stopped her from going thewhole hog.

Since there is no dearth of friends forthe ‘grand old party’, no ‘united front’ or‘third front’ can afford to take off withoutthe Congress. If the party does well in thejust-concluded Assembly polls, then thenecessity to carry it along will become allthe more imperative. Therefore, whenTelangana CM KCR met his Maharashtracounterpart Uddhav Thackeray to discussOpposition unity, they were cautious withtheir words. It is important for theOpposition leaders to focus on agendas. TheBJP-led Government’s flops have to be dis-sected threadbare. They need to draw moreleaders into their fold; leaders with a goodpan-India image, and these politiciansshould speak in tandem. Any infightingbefore the final push may sound the deathknell for Opposition ‘unity’.

Ganapathi Bhat | Akola

Oppn leaders must stay united

America: Its baseidea of alliances

Speaking on CNN lastweek, well knownAmerican columnist andTV personality Fareed

Zakaria was pessimistic aboutthe prospects of Ukraine in itscurrent clash against Russia.Zakaria felt that for the next sev-eral decades, India would haveto face China’s hostility. NewDelhi should, therefore, alignitself solidly with the US. In anycase, the Ministry of ExternalAffairs should forget its oldhabit of dancing with neutral-ism. Coming from a formerIndian, Zakaria’s advice must betaken as earnest.

However, it would be advis-able to look at America’s recordas an ally; written, spoken orimplicit. Towards the end ofWorld War I, PresidentWoodrow Wilson promoted theestablishment of the League ofNations, headquartered atGeneva. Its function was to besimilar to that of its successor, theUnited Nations Organisation.The League functioned to theextent of conducting an exchangeof population between Bulgariaand Turkey, as well as Greece andTurkey. Unfortunately, theAmerican Senate based at theCapitol in Washington DCrefused to endorse the unneces-sary involvement of the US inEurope’s affairs. That, effective-ly, was the end of the League ofNations, an idea that had beenconceived and actively promot-ed by an American President.

World War II broke out onSeptember 1, 1939, whenGermany’s Wehrmacht invadedPoland, which had a writtentreaty of alliance with Britain andFrance, according to which if anyof the three countries were to beattacked, all three would fighttogether to defend one another.Yet, in September 1939, Britainand France did nothing otherthan expressing sympathy forPoland, which was overrun in itswest by Adolf Hitler and the eastby Josef Stalin. Never beforehad history witnessed horsesbeing butchered by battle tanks,a fate that befell the cavalryunits of the Polish Army whenGerman Panzer tanks wereunleashed on them. So much forthe value of an alliance!

With crucial elections to the three municipal corporations due next month, theDelhi Government has shown some responsibility by ordering that all discounts,concessions, rebates or offers being doled out at retail liquor shops should be

discontinued. The decision was ostensibly taken to address the issue of overcrowdingin and around these shops, which caused ‘law and order’ problems and inconvenienceto the neighbourhood residents. The order correctly noted that the risk of COVID-19,Omicron and other variants of the virus was still not over and the chock-a-block shop

premises could turn into ‘super-spreaders’. The BJPand Congress are already at the throat of the rulingAAP, claiming that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party hasturned the Capital into a huge liquor store of sorts aspart of its populist measures to win over the electorateahead of the polls. The BJP has taken the battle to theAAP’s door by deciding to hold a referendum on March4 seeking the opinion of 10 lakh Delhiites on the pit-falls of the new excise policy, including the reductionin the number of dry days and opening of vends evenin the vicinity of schools and temples.

The excise commissioner’s order clarifies thatthe decision was necessitated also because of the licensees indulging in “unhealthymarket practices” but it wasn’t elaborated upon. Apparently it hinted at the practicebeing followed by certain outlets which, in their bid to attract more buyers, had placedbanners and hoardings to ‘advertise’ their lucrative schemes. The last fortnight expe-rienced high spirits and serpentine queues outside most liquor vends, which havebeen handed over to private players after the Government exited this business. Themore prudent owners who held licences to two or more such liquor outlets, choseto do business as usual at select vends while offering ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ or ‘buy-two-get-one-free schemes’ in the not-so-affluent neighbourhoods. The exercise wasmainly aimed at exhausting the existing stocks before the issuance of fresh L7Z licences.The recent order, however, marks a marked departure from an essential facet of theState Government’s new excise policy which had allowed liquor retailers to sell theirwares at discounted rates or club these together as a package deal. Of course, theexercise did help buyers in pecuniary terms and protected them against ‘brand push-ing’, but it did take a toll on the city’s health.

Is there an invisible undercurrent that runs through India’s policy — or strategy —on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or are we getting the messaging wrong? The worldsees India abstaining from a UN Security Council vote not once but twice. First, it

was the American-sponsored resolution condemning Russia; then, the procedural votefor an emergency session of the UN General Assembly. Be clarified that a SecurityCouncil vote is binding, the General Assembly’s is not. India has a historical and deeprelationship with Russia, which is its largest arms supplier. A host of defence agree-ments and projects are in various stages of consideration and progress right now.By abstaining from the Security Council vote, India may have achieved a double: Itsits in with its stated policy that dialogue is the only way to resolve differences. Itcan be interpreted as reflecting the partnership with Russia. In any case, India’sabstention was never going to affect the vote. To that extent, the foreign office man-darins can be content thinking that they have come up tops both ways. But that isnot foreign policy; it is at best a strategy to keep both sides happy without com-mitting yourself. After the vote, however, New Delhi has thrown enough hints to show

that while abstaining, it is also wholeheartedly withthe rest of the world in actively sympathising withthe cause of Ukraine. The Americans are doing itby imposing sanctions. Some European countriesare doing it by arming Ukraine.

India is sending critical aid, especially medical,to Ukraine. It is also more forthright on the matterof invasion, post-vote. It is on record stating that thesituation in Ukraine “has worsened”, describing it asa “humanitarian crisis”. India stresses the “impor-tance of respecting the sovereignty and territorialintegrity of nations”. This is the closest New Delhi

has come to question Russia’s actions in Ukraine. India also regrets that the “pathof diplomacy was given up”. That is as much an observation about Russia as it isabout other countries which were in touch with President Vladimir Putin to make himgive up plans to invade Ukraine. These gradual escalations in pronouncements arefollowed by action in terms of the supply of critical aid to Ukraine. On the domesticfront, New Delhi’s strategy is playing out in the form of an all-out effort to evacuatethe 20,000-odd Indians, mostly students, stuck in Ukraine. The task gets difficultfor a few thousand Indian students in eastern Ukraine, in cities like Kharkiv, Kyiv andSumy, which are close to Russian air bases and witnessing intense fighting. An Indianstudent has already wondered aloud why, if Russia is India’s friend, can New Delhinot ask Moscow to help evacuate the students instead of making them travel over1,000 km to safe border points in western Ukraine. The naïve thought notwithstand-ing, it surely calls for a policy from India, not just a strategy.

A thin line

Party’s over!Barely had Delhi’s booze party reached a

high when the Govt poured cold water over it

PICTALK

Devotees at Baba Baijnath temple on the occasion of Maha Shivratri, in Kangra district PTI

India is indulging both Russia and Ukraine but spelling out a clear policy will be good

The BJP hasharmed Gujarat’speople more thanit harmed theCongress here.

Congress leader— Rahul Gandhi

Being constantly

judged on social

media can get

to you.

Indian women’s team bowler

— Jhulan Goswami

SOUNDBITE

I am here. We’ll

not lay down

weapons..they

are our truth.

Ukraine President

— Volodymyr Zelenskiy

We want to build our healthinfra...beyond the big cities.

Prime Minister— Narendra Modi

I was always

trying to do

things which

didn’t typecast

me again.

Actor— Jimmy Sheirgill

Manufactured socialnetworking’s frenzy

INDIA’S POWER IS MEANT FOR THE WELFARE

OF THE WORLD AND NOT TO SCARE ANYONE…

THIS IS OUR CHARACTER.

—DEFENCE MINISTER

RAJNATH SINGH

WE HAD URGED INDIA TO GIVE US POLITICAL

SUPPORT IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL.

STOP THE AGGRESSOR TOGETHER!

— UKRAINE PRESIDENT

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY

Next time you want to react or feel deeply about a post, please beconscious of the faceless phoney peer accounts playing their game

Does civic nationalism still hold good in India today? The distinc-tiveness of Indian democracy lies in its diversity and not in thedivisiveness between the majority and the minority which some-

times becomes a cause for concern.The controversy surrounding thehijab in some Karnataka educational institutions has not only stirred manya conscious mind but has also been a matter of deep discord. The hijabhas a wider connotation and is not merely a covering. It is also a reflec-tion of certain values and represents identity. Ironically, it has becomeentangled with different perspectives and ways of thinking. How muchof it is to do with uniforms in educational institutions? Dress codes arereflective of discipline in education at the school level but at a higheror college level, one needs to ask: Do dress codes enrich the educa-tion system? States have their own takes on it. However, for many, it

is more a matter of a minority within a minority trying to be at par withthe rest, especially in the field of education and exercising their choicetoo. This matter has not been easy to resolve and did take a turn forthe worse leading to closure of schools for few days in Karnataka.

India has many cross - cutting cleavages, be it caste, class, religion and the like and these can certainly be utilised to strengthenthe democratic ethos and prevent pervasive populism from holding sway.It is certainly not as if the young Muslim girl students invoked religionor culture that disturbed the harmony of educational institutions. TheIndian Constitution allows the right to practise, profess and propagatereligion of one’s choice, but certainly with reasonable restrictions.Whether the wearing of the hijab in educational institutions constitutesan essential religious practice of Islam needs further probe in the lightof constitutional guarantees coupled with several decisions taken bythe Supreme Court and High Courts when dealing with litigating par-ties. Of late, the Karnataka government’s decision to leave it to thecourts to decide appears to be the right course of action. The KarnatakaHigh court on its part has reserved the judgement on pleas againsthijab curbs in colleges and will deliberate on the matter before com-ing to a conclusion. Resolving this issue on the basis of law andthe Constitution is a better option. In 2017, ‘instant triple talaq’ wasdeclared unconstitutional, and this was an exemplary judgement.Constitutionalism has been the very essence of Indian democracyand has helped to sustain it. A two-year tryst with the pandemic andensuing lock downs has done enough damage and education shouldnot stand to suffer in any way. After all, it is our ray of hope and themost potent instrument by far by which we can change the world forthe better. A question that naturally comes to our minds is that if tur-bans and the crucifix can find their way into educational institutions,should the hijab be left behind. The keenness expressed by our youngstudents to pursue education despite their hardships is encouragingin itself. ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ has been an excellent nationalinitiative of the current Government and substantial work has beendone to improve the lot of the girl students. We need to carry thatspirit forward. Education must rise above social-religious beliefs andgender stereotypes, thereby creating safe spaces and prompting usto think, do we really need to choose between the ‘hijab’ and the ‘kitab’.Whether hijab empowers women or motivates and inspires them isa matter of opinion, but should it be a pre-condition to accessing edu-cation needs serious thinking.

(The writer is a Professor at Delhi University. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 2, 2022

07

www.dailypioneer.com facebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

FIRSTCOLUMNFROM THE HIJAB TO THEKITAAB: A PERSPECTIVE

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

MADHURI SUKHIJA

SHILPA ARORA SHARMA

Education must rise above social-religiousbeliefs and gender stereotypes

The news delivered through socialmedia is more tenable these days.The viral posts, online bashing,online-visibility and trending

hashtags have more sensory acceptancethan what they show on the TVChannels.

It is obvious that our virtual worldail-ments are embodied from our real-worldbehaviours. If strangers can gather to wit-ness a road-side quarrel to engage in somesadist entertainment,the same getsmani-fested in the digital world. However,there’s a twist: the online onlookersare fedwith the action ‘intentionally’ andthey endup absorbing’the propagated perceptions’as the truth.

This era of exciting trending hashtags,viral videos, influencers, unlimited avail-ability of information and individualempowerment vibrates our lives with itsstupendous momentum every day. Do weeven care to notice theingredients used inthe recipe of this sensory indulgence?

As the upbeat societies had alwaysbeen thriving on the game of shallow plea-sures of showing off their jewellery, hand-bags, branded wear and foreign trips, theego stroking has gone another level by thenew-fangled riches with the display oftheir online presence.

Apart from the affluent looking foronline validation, we have a boomingindustry of Influencers who are self-pro-claimed symbolization of the societyfashion, life-style and norms.

This influencing is a power since thedawn of civilization that allowed anyoneto climb to the political top. Do notunder-mine it as a mere validation by their mil-lions of followers, but they have seriousfinances rolling around their brand value.A micro influencer of 10000 followers mayeasily get 10-20 thousand rupees for a postand mega influencers may get lakhs.

Smart Retail Corporationsnow havemarketing strategy to pay influencersmushrooming in every nip and corner ofthe society who could advertise their prod-ucts in their own style to their followers.Paying influencers is more effectivethanthrowing a commercial for prime TVor giving an advertisement in theNewspaper. Just to highlight, as perfinancial express, the influencer market-ing industry in India was estimated to beof `900 crore by the end of 2021.

Whenever there is a financial turnover,it comes with its sister industries andstrategies. For influencers it’s their digi-tal public relation agencies. So, if influ-encers gain money and power in society,they must pay back-end teams constant-ly to maintain and uproot their socialmedia handles.

It is evident that the influencers’brand value is identified by their numberof followers and their post engagements.Most successful influencers hire digital PRagenciesto ensure staying upbeat in theirgame. If you want to invest in your onlinebrand, get an agency, most of them offerpackages toget yourself followers, high

IF WE IMAGINETWITTER

WITHOUT FAKEPROFILES, IT

WOULD BEEXTREMELYDULL WITH

HARDLY ANYTRENDING

HASHTAGS OFISSUES, EXCEPTON SOME RARE

OCCASIONS.FAKE ACCOUNTS

NOT JUST SPICE UP ANY

PLATFORM BUTALSO ROTATE

MONEY, HENCEAPPEAR TO

BE A NECESSARYFRILL

post engagements and sometimes,packages to make your posts viral.Any idea, how much is the digitalPR industry worth? As perStatistica website, the digital mar-keting industry in India is`292,000 crore.

Here comes the manufacturingpart, many popular websites suchas Forbes and PRWEEK carryresearch articles that almost allinfluencers may have fake follow-ers causing the inflation fraud.Instagram is one such platformwhere single user may create mul-tiple accounts and even if the fakeor alternative accounts get report-ed multiple times, the platformtakes forever to remove theaccounts. Just simply google to pur-chase Instagram followers and theunlimited Digital PR agencieswould be available. Looking at whatexists, it’s not a far-fetched thought,that these digital PRs and socialmedia platformscould be handand glove running the DigitalInfluencing Show.

These fake accounts operatedby humans or bots also boost thevaluation of Social Media plat-forms. Here, the ‘doctrine ofNetwork Effect’ is the key. Thevalue of the services of utilitiesgiven by any platform increaseswhen the number of people usingthe platform increases. Hence, it’snot surprising that ifTwitterAudithead states thatTwitter is a place which is largelyhaunted by fake profiles whichcould be a huge number such as 40-50 per cent at a given time and thatexplains why twitter is such a hap-pening place. Not just Twitter andInstagram, the reports on internetare alarming for each giant socialmedia platform.

For the sake of sanctity andlegal integrity, these fake accounts

have a smaller life cycle as below:Fake Account Creation by

Human or Bot -> IncreaseFollowing of the client -> Increasethe Likes/retweet/Views of theclient -> Post stories as per the nar-rative of the client -> Get caught bythe Machine Learning/ArtificialIntelligence Engine of a Platformor Get Reported by Many Accounts-> Get Deleted -> Repeat.

As we can see the above steps,the fake profile deletion is per-formed by almost every platformand they also report it. Facebookreported to have deleted 1.3 billionfake accounts between October-December 2020.

Let us look at the possible over-head of allowing fake accounts inany platform.

The database storage costs andoperational costs of the addition-al fake accounts that couldhavebeen prevented by not allowingthem.

Expensive Machine Learningand Artificial IntelligenceDeployment to check fakeaccounts.

Human Resource Costs to provide oversight to the automat-ed process of fake account deletion.

Human Resource Costs toimplement the manually reportedfake account deletion.

Advertisement costs wastedon the fake accounts.

The above costs are humon-gous and could have been simplyavoided by a verification or aKYC kind of module at the timeof account creation. But then,why would the super intelligentmanagement of Social Mediagiants not decide to do this, just forthe sake of cutting these overheadcosts, if ethical grounds are of meagre consideration?

Could it be because the Digital

PR agencies and social media plat-forms are in one teamto increasethe monetary turnover of theindustry? Could it be because thesocial media giants want to inflatethe earnings through online adver-tising, which gets inflated due tofake accounts? Could it be because,the social media platforms want toboost up their "Network Effect" byallowing inflation fraud to theiruser base, in turnamplifying theexchanges of online interactionswhich if were to be done by realpeople would have been way toolesser, unabusive, unignited, untar-geted and restricted to individual’sminuscule level of communication.If we imagine Twitter withoutfake profiles, it would be extreme-ly dull with hardly any trendinghashtags of issues except on somerare occasions.

Fake accounts not just spice upany platform but also rotate money,hence appear a necessary frill. Intoday’s world, if you must voice upin social media, the digital narra-tive is a package available with aprice tag.

If this awareness deepens, itmay strike your ethical fabric, butcome as it may, neither we canwithdraw from it nor we can livein a denial of what kind of systemwe digitally breathe-in.

Next time you want to react orfeel deeply about a post, please beconscious of the faceless phoneypeer accounts playing their game.They are just work, so you shouldnot take anything personal. Alwaysremember, the posts of praising ordemeaning someone may be alltheoutcome of PR industry’s tediouslabour, waiting to grab your senses and get you entangled.

Be careful, itmay be fake,only you make it real by engagingwith it.

(The writer is is a cybersecurity expert. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Tamil Nadu chief minis-ter M. K. Stalin hasproved worthy of his

late father and five times chiefminister, the late M.Karunanidhi. Within ninemonths of his party coming topower, Stalin has consolidatedhis position in the state, estab-lishing his authority with amassive win in the urban bodycivic polls last week.

Stalin asserted the sweep-ing victory was a ‘crowningmoment’ for the ‘Dravidianmodel of governance.’ Stalinhas pitted the Dravidian modelas an alternative to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s‘Gujarat model.’

The low-profile politicianhas reasons to be proud of hisachievements, as the civic pollresults showed DMK’s seatshare in corporations stood at

69.29 percent; it was 61.41 per-cent in municipalities. TheDMK alliance has also baggedover 80 percent of the posts inmunicipal councils, and townpanchayats, including in theWestern belt considered anAIADMK stronghold.

He has gained new groundand expanded his party’s basefurther in these polls. DMK’sallies, including Congress, Leftparties, Viduthalai ChiruthaigalKatchi, TamizhagaVazhvurimaiKatchi, and Indhiya JananayagaKatchi, also helped in taking theDMK front’s tally beyond thetwo-thirds mark. DMK hadlost all 10 mayoral posts in the2011 local body elections.

Rival AIADMK lost main-ly because of the power tusslebetween its co-convenors E.Palaniswamy and O.Pannerselvam, both former

AIADMK chief ministers. Thecadres were confused becauseof this rivalry.

The Sasikala factor wasalso a reason. She has beenplugging for a single leader tohead the party (meaning her-self) since she came out of jaillast February after completingher four-year sentence in adisproportionate assets case.She kept away from In the 2021Assembly polls, but has beentouring the state since then. EPSand OPS have rejected herclaims on the party.

AIADMK also lost itsalliance parties, DMDK,P u t h i y a T a m i l a g a m ,Mukkulathor Pulipadai,Manithaneya JananayagaKatchi, New Justice Party, andAll India SamathuvaMakkalKatchi. Even BJP dumped theAIADMK. In contrast, Stalinhumored the allies and keptthem intact, even praising themafter the urban poll results.

Karunanidhi picked Stalin,his younger son, as his politi-cal heir overlooking the claimsof the elder Alagiri and daugh-ter Kanimozhi. Named afterJosef Stalin of former USSR,Stalin was grounded in partyaffairs and became a valuablebackroom boy. He was knownas ‘Thalapathi (general) to hissupporters.

Stalin held important postssuch as General Secretary,

Youth wing chief, minister, andlater Deputy chief minister inKarunanidhi’s cabinet. He wasalso the mayor of ChennaiCorporation.

Apart from politics, Stalinalso had a film career. He actedin the 1987 Tamil film ‘OreRaththam,’ (same blood) writ-ten by his father, MKarunanidhi.

Stalin emerged out of hisfamous father’s shadows afterKarunanidhi’s death in 2017,leading the party to victory in2021. Though he was not agreat orator like his father, hecompensated with his hardwork and changed the DMK tosuit modern times.

r Stalin, who is not a massleader, the professional eventmanagers helped change hisimage. In 2021, he appointedpoll strategist Prashant Kishore

to advise him. He had ditchedhis dhoti for jeans, a T-shirt,and sneakers to vibe well withthe 80 lakh first-time voters.Stalin loves sports, arts, and cul-tural activities and plays crick-et, badminton, and chess. Hetries to identify himself with thecommon man (UngalilOruvan- one amongst you). Hecycles, ride a motorbike, andeven travels in autorickshaws tostrike a chord with voters.

After winning the state lastyear, Stalin has become ambi-tious and is trying to find a rolein national politics. He com-bined with his West Bengal,Telangana, and Maharashtracounterparts to form a federalfront to make himself relevantfor the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Inthe changing national politicswhere the opposition lacks acredible leader, Stalin has

emerged as an establishedleader of Tamil Nadu and in thesouth.

However, Stalin is facingcriticism for grooming his sonUdayanidhi as his political heir.

Stalin has made all theright moves-gettingcapablebureaucrats and choosing rightpeople as his ministers. Hemanaged the Covid challengewell as his first challenge. TamilNadu has been a good per-former in health, education,and gender equality and talks ofsocial justice.

Stalin has the edge over hisrivals as there is no charismat-ic leader in the other parties.Like his Odisha counterpartNaveen Patnaik, Stalin hascome to stay in state andnational politics, but he shouldbe careful not to commit anyglaring mistakes.

DMK supremo Stalin consolidates self and State in a short time, adapting himself and his party to the changing times

Is the Dravidian Model an alternative to Gujarat Model?

KALYANI SHANKAR

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 2, 2022 Money 08

IND

IA C

OR

NE

R

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty on three cooperative banks, includingNagrik Sahakari Bank Maryadit, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, for deficiencies in regulatorycompliances.A fine of Rs 4.50 lakh has been imposed on Nagrik Sahakari Bank

Maryadit for contravention of the directions issued by the RBI to urban cooperative bankson exposure norms and statutory/other restrictions-UCBs and Know Your Customer(KYC), the central bank said.The Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on JilaSahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit, Panna for contravention of certain provisions of theBanking Regulation Act, 1949, theDepositor Education and Awareness FundScheme, 2014 and KYC.Also, a penalty ofRs 25,000 was imposed on Jila SahakariKendriya Bank Maryadit, Satna for non-compliance with the provisions of theBanking Regulation Act, 1949 and theDepositor Education and Awareness FundScheme, 2014.The RBI, however, addedthe penalties are based on deficiencies inregulatory compliance and is not intendedto pronounce upon the validity of anytransaction or agreement entered into bythe banks with their respective customers.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Tuesday said its total sales increased by 89 percent to 54,455 units in February.The company's total sales stood at 28,777 unitsin February 2021.The Mumbai-based auto major's passenger vehicle sales in the

domestic market rose by 80 per cent to 27,663 units last month as against 15,391 unitsin February last year, the auto major said in a statement. Commercial vehicle salesincreased to 23,978 units last month as compared with 11,559 units in February2021.The company said its exports last month stood at 2,814 units as against 1,827units in the same month lastyear. "All segments showedrobust growth including SUVs at79 per cent, which registered thehighest ever monthly volume.We expect demand to continueto remain strong as the Covidsituation eases further. "Wecontinue to closely monitor thesemiconductor-related partssupply and take corrective actionas appropriate," M&MAutomotive Division CEO VeejayNakra noted.

Snapmint, a buy-now-pay-later platform, has raised USD 9 million in its series-Afunding from a clutch of investors and industry leaders led by Prashasta Seth ofPrudent Investment Managers.The round also saw participation of 9Unicorns,

Anicut Capital, Negen Capital, Livspace founder Ramakant Sharma, Usama Fayyad ofOpen Insights among other angels, the city-based startup said in a note on Tuesday.Thefintech platform has over 4 millionconsumers on its platform, many of themfrom smaller towns, and serves over27,000 pin-codes.With the investment,Snapmint plans to expand its network ofmerchants, launch a suite of innovativeproducts and add more customers, itsaid.Snapmint was founded in 2017 byfourIIT Bombay batchmates Nalin Agrawal,Anil Gelra, Abhineet Sawa and RahulAgarwal.The USD 810-billion domesticretail market is the fourth largest in theworld, and affordable credit options willcontinue to boost growth of this market.

RBI imposes penalty on 3 co-op banks Mahindra total sales up 89 pc in Feb Fintech startup Snapmint raises US$ 9 mn from angel investors

PNS n NEW DELHI

GST collections in Februarygrew 18 per cent to over Rs1.33 lakh crore in Februaryeven as the Omicron wavedented the month-on-monthcollection momentum.

This is for the fifth time inthe current fiscal that theGoods and Services Tax (GST)collection has crossed Rs 1.30lakh crore mark. Also, this isthe first time, cess collectionhas crossed the Rs 10,000 croremark, signifying recovery incertain key sectors, especiallyautomobile sales, the FinanceMinistry said on Tuesday.

The GST revenues had hit arecord high of Rs 1,40,986crore in January.

"The gross GST revenue col-lected in February 2022 is Rs1,33,026 crore of which CentralGST is Rs 24,435 crore, StateGST is Rs 30,779 crore,Integrated GST is Rs 67,471crore (including Rs 33,837crore collected on import of

goods) and cess is Rs 10,340crore (including Rs 638 crorecollected on import of goods),"the ministry said in a state-ment.

The revenues for February2022 are 18 per cent higherthan the GST revenues in thesame month last year and 26per cent higher than inFebruary 2020.

During the month, revenuesfrom import of goods were 38per cent higher, and that from

the domestic transaction are 12per cent higher than the year-ago period.

The ministry said February,being a 28-day month, normal-ly witnesses revenues lowerthan in January. This growth inFebruary 2022 should also beseen in the context of partiallockdowns, weekend and nightcurfews and various restric-tions that were put in place bymany states due to theOmicron wave, which peaked

around January 20, it added. During the current fiscal, the

gross mop-up in April was overRs 1.39 lakh crore, in May (Rs97,821 crore), June (Rs 92,800crore), July (over Rs 1.16 lakhcrore), August (over Rs 1.12lakh crore), September (overRs 1.17 lakh crore), October(over Rs 1.30 lakh crore),November (Rs 1.31 lakh crore)and December (over Rs 1.29lakh crore).

Deloitte India Partner MSMani said that GST collectionsexceeding Rs 1.33 lakh croredespite the challenging pan-demic situation on January 22indicate that the collections arenow on a stable trajectory andthe FY22 targets would beexceeded. "While on an over-all basis, the collections are 18per cent higher than the sameperiod last year, there is signif-icant divergence amongst stateswith increases in the range of2 per cent to 23 per centamongst the large states," Maniadded.

GST collection up 18% atover Rs 1.33 lakh cr in Feb

PNS n NEW DELHI

Honda Cars India onTuesday reported a 23 percent decline in domesticsales to 7,187 units forFebruary.The company had dis-

patched 9,324 units to deal-ers in the domestic marketduring February2021.Exports stood at 2,337units last month as com-pared with 987 units inFebruary 2021."We are witnessing improve-ment in consumer senti-ment as COVID-situationseems to be tapering off andmarkets are opening-up.This is positive for the indus-try."On the supply side, chipshortage continued toimpact our production anddespatches in Feb'22.

PNS nTOKYO

World shares were mixedTuesday after talks betweenRussia and Ukraine aimed atending the war just yielded anagreement to meet again.

European markets openedmostly lower while Asianshares and US futures weremostly higher. Oil prices rose.

A 40-mile convoy ofRussian tanks was threateningUkraine's capital Kyiv in thesixth day of the war as theKremlin grew increasinglyisolated.

A first, five-hour session oftalks ended with an agreementto another meeting in comingdays, though embattledUkrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy said hebelieved stepped-up shellingby Russian troops wasdesigned to force him intoconcessions.

Russia is a major energyproducer and surging oilprices and increasing financialpressure from the US andallies on Russia for its invasionof Ukraine were adding touncertainty about the globaleconomic outlook.

France's CAC 40 lost 0.6%to 6,622.35. Germany's DAXshed 0.7% to 14,357.77, whileBritain's FTSE 100 edged 0.1%higher, to 7,467.27.

On Wall Street, the futuresfor both the S&P 500 and theDow industrials were 0.2%higher.

“While the ceasefire talks atthe Belarus-Ukraine borderended, the military fires cer-tainly have not ended by anymeans alongside sanctionsbeing raised further,” TanBoon Heng at Mizuho Bank inSingapore said in a commen-tary.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei225 gained 1.2% to finish at26,844.72. Australia's

S&P/ASX 200 surged 0.7% to7,096.50. Hong Kong's HangSeng added 0.2% to 22,761.71,while the Shanghai Compositerose nearly 0.8% to 3,488.83.Markets were closed in SouthKorea for a holiday.

“The market's focus willcontinue to be on geopoliticaltensions, at least in the shortterm,” Anderson Alves ofActivTrades said in a report.

The value of the Russianruble plunged to a record lowafter Western countries movedto block some Russian banksfrom a key global paymentssystem. On Monday, the U.S.Treasury Departmentannounced more sanctionsagainst Russia's central bank.

Global shares mixed as Russia,Ukraine plan further talks

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-owned CIL produced64.3 million tonnes of coal inFebruary, registering a growthof nearly 4 per cent comparedto the year-ago period.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) hadproduced 61.9 MT of coal inthe corresponding month ofprevious fiscal.

In a statement on Tuesday,the company said that steppingup its output tempo, it pro-duced 64.3 MT of coal inFebruary.

On a month-on-monthbasis, CIL's average productionincreased to 2.3 MT per day inFebruary. So, despite beingthree days lesser than January,the sequential production inFebruary was at par with theprevious month. CIL's all outefforts are focused on endingFY'22 in the realm of 630 MT,

according to the statement.CIL's production at 542.4

MT during April-Februaryperiod of FY'22 was a historichigh for this period. Coal out-put surged ahead 27.3 MT inabsolute terms on a year-on-year comparison.

"The company expects topost the highest ever produc-

tion by the closure of FY'22,going past the previous high of607 MT recorded in FY'19,"the company said.

CIL's off-take in Februaryhas scored a strong 12 per centdouble-digit growth at 57.4MT against same month lastyear. The gain in absoluteterms was 6.2 MT.

Coal India output rises4% to 64 MT in February PNS nKOLKATA

Berger Paints India Ltd onTuesday said it was monitor-ing the cost pressure in thewake of crude price harden-ing but will take a callafter tracking thedemand scenario.

With crude oiltrading above USD100 per barrelowing to Russia'sinvasion of Ukraine,cost pressure willmount if the geopoliti-cal uncertainties continuefor a few months.

"We are monitoring thesituation closely but not rais-ing the price in a haste. Wewill take a call after monitor-ing the demand scenario also.Price rise impacts volumedemand," Berger Paints MD& CEO, Abhijit Roy, toldPTI.

Berger had hiked prices inthe last one year to offset

input cost inflation, the com-pany said.

Roy explained that out ofthe four major ingredients ofmaking paints, one is linked

to crude.It is the solventbinder, which is a

derivative ofcrude. However,its price is moreaffected bydemand-supply

issues than theprice of crude itself,

he said. Overall, solvent binder

forms about one-third ofBerger's raw material basket.

"The demand for paintsremains normal but may notexhibit a high growth if com-pared with the figure of lastyear which saw disruptions,"Roy said.

In the nine months tillDecember 2021, Bergerearned a revenue of Rs 6600crore.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The number of ultra-high-networth-individuals, having netassets of USD 30 million (aboutRs 226 crore) or more, in Indiaincreased 11 per cent last yearon the back of buoyant equitymarkets and digital revolution,according to Knight Frank.

India also ranked third inbillionaire population globallyin 2021. US is number one withwith 748 billionaires, followedby Chinese mainland at 554 bil-lionaires and India with 145 bil-lionaires.

In its latest edition of TheWealth Report 2022, propertyconsultant Knight Frank saidthe number of ultra-high-net-worth-individuals (UHNWIs)globally increased by 9.3 per

cent in 2021 to 6,10,569, from5,58,828 in the previous year.

"In India, the number ofUHNWIs (net assets with USD30 million or more) has grownby 11 per cent YoY (year-on-year) in 2021, the highest per-centage growth in APAC,"Knight Frank said in a state-ment.

The number of UHNWIs inIndia grew to 13,637 in 2021from 12,287 in the previousyear.

Amongst key Indian cities,Bengaluru witnessed the high-est growth in the number ofUHNWIs at 17.1 per cent to352, followed by Delhi (12.4 percent, 210) and Mumbai (9 percent, 1,596).

The consultant has peggedthe number of UHNWIs grow-

ing 39 per cent by 2026 to19,006 from 13,637 in 2021. In2016, the number of UHNWIsstood at 7,401.

Knight Frank IndiaChairman and ManagingDirector Shishir Baijal said:"Equity markets and digitaladoption have been the key fac-

tors driving the growth ofUHNWIs in India. The growthin younger, self-madeUHNWIs has been incrediblein India and we foresee them todrive new investment themesand innovation."

With a healthy growth in theUHNWI and billionaire popu-

lation, he said India is expect-ed to be one of the fastest grow-ing countries amongst its glob-al peers, further strengtheningitself economically and emerg-ing as a superpower in differ-ent sectors.

As per the report, around 69per cent of the super wealthyindividuals in India are expect-ed to witness an increase of over10 per cent in their net worthin 2022.

"Asia continues to be theforerunner in the billionaires'club contributing to 36 per centof the total billionaires in theworld in 2021. India has ranked3rd in terms of billionaires' pop-ulation in 2021 following USand China," the statementsaid.For the first time, KnightFrank has examined the size of

the ‘next generation' of theworld's UHNWI populationand assesses what that couldmean for the property markets.

"Globally, it is estimated that135,192 UHNWIs are self-made and under the age of 40,accounting for around a fifth ofthe total UHNWI population.India has ranked 6th in per-centage growth of the UHNWIpopulation that is self-madeand under the age of 40 years,"it said.Over the next five years,Knight Frank forecasts that theglobal UHNWIs populationwill grow by a further 28 percent, with Asia and Australasiaat 33 per cent each seeing thelargest growth, followed byNorth America (28 per cent)and Latin America (26 percent).

India 3rd in billionaire population globally

Honda Carswholesales dip23 pc in Feb

Berger monitors cost, demandclosely before going for price hike

PNS n NEW DELHI

State-run Punjab NationalBank (PNB) on Tuesday saidhigh-value cheques of Rs 10lakh and above will be clearedafter reconfirmation with theissuer under the Positive PaySystem (PPS) from April 4.

PNB said to protect thebank customers against large-value cheque frauds, it willmake the Positive Pay System(PPS) mandatory from April 4,2022.

The Delhi-headquarteredlender introduced PPS forcheques of Rs 50,000 andabove presented in CTS clear-ing from January 1, 2021, inaccordance with the RBIguidelines.

The banking regulator hadsaid that while availing of thefacility is at the account hold-er's discretion, and banks mayconsider making it mandato-ry for the cheque value of Rs5 lakh and above.

PNB in a release said thatthe PPS will now becomemandatory from the next

month for the cheques of Rs 10lakh and above.

As per the Positive PaySystem (PPS) developed by theNational PaymentsCorporation of India (NPCI),a customer issuing the high-value cheque has to reconfirmsome essential details. Thedetails are then cross-checkedwhile presenting the cheque inclearing before payment.

The lender said its cus-tomers will have to sharedetails like account number,cheque number, cheque alphacode, issue date, amount, ben-eficiary name for clearing thehigh value cheques under PPS.

These details are to beshared with the bank at least24 working hours before thecheque is presented for clear-ing. Customers can share thedetails through its internetbanking, mobile banking, SMSbanking or in their homebranch in the prescribed for-mat."The cheques that are reg-istered in the PPS will only beaccepted under the disputeresolution mechanism," it said.

PNB cheques of Rs 10 lakh &above need customer clearance

PNS nMUMBAI

The US-based TarsadiaFoundation has tied up withDasra to launch a 'resiliencefund' to help communitiesimpacted by the pandemic bysupporting non-profits with afinancial aid of over Rs 500 croreover 10 years.

Maya Patel, executive chair ofthe foundation, said with thethird wave of the pandemicwaning, it is important to sup-port the communities buildresilience for which they decid-ed to launch the fund and tiedup with Dasra as the implement-ing partner which will help itfind the right non-governmentorganisations to support.

Selected NGOs will be givena grant of at least Rs 10 lakh perannum for a period of fiveyears, and each year over 100new NGOs will be added to thelist of receivers, to make it intoan effort where 1,000 NGOs willbe supported with grant of overRs 500 crore in the 10-year peri-od, Deval Sanghavi, the co-founder and partner at Dasra,said.

Sanghavi said 20 per cent ofthe resources which will be

funnelled will be raised domes-tically and made it clear that allthe NGOs which will get foreignfunding will have the necessarylicenses to get the grants fromabroad.

Dasra will also be helping theselected NGOs make a plan forthemselves, assessing impact,corporate communicationstrategies etc, he said, adding thatthe annual disbursements willnot be linked to any milestones.

Dasra will not be charging anyfees and the entire money raisedwill be utilised for the impact-ed communities, and addedthat it has also got specialistagencies on board which areworking pro-bono to help onareas like communication,accounting etc.

Indian NGOs to get over Rs 500 cr grant from TarsadiaFoundation in 10 years

PNS nMUMBAI

Infibeam Avenues, a listedfintech company, has acquiredthe payments-focused UvikTechnologies for Rs 75 crore ina cash and stock deal.Venturecapital fund Season TwoVentures will get an exitthrough the deal, as per a

statement.Uvik is in the con-tactless payments space andhas developed a technologythat converts any smartphoneinto a payment device.Bengaluru-based Uvik's co-founder and chief executiveRahul Hirve termed the dealas a strategic step for the com-pany which will drive growth

to the next level. "The focus ofoffline payments in the nextfew years is going to be viacontactless infrastructure. Toachieve this objective, we, atUvik, have been constantlyworking towards making pay-ments easy-to-use for mer-chants with focus on security,"Hirve said.

Infibeam acquires UvikTech for Rs 75 cr

OMICRON IMPACT

PNS n NEW DELHI

Central Depository Services(India) Ltd or CDSL onTuesday said the number ofactive demat accountsopened with it has reachedthe 6-crore mark.

The leading depositorybegan operations in 1999. Itfacilitates holding and trans-acting in securities in theelectronic form and settle-ment of trades on stockexchanges, according to astatement.

On this occasion, SebiWhole Time Member AnantaBarua focused on the impor-tance of investor awarenessamid the growth of theIndian securities markets.

"I congratulate the CDSLteam for their achievement ofregistering 6 crore demataccounts. Dematerialisationwas a product of the difficul-ties caused on account ofphysical shares. The access toIndian securities market havebecome safe, convenient andeasy and the new milestone isa representation of the same,"he said.According to him,enormous efforts have beentaken by all the market infra-structure institutions (MIIs)to maintain the seamlessoperations of the financialecosystem during the lasttwo years.

CDSL's tally ofactive demataccountsreaches 6 cr

or a long time, almost a decade, realestate was a dud investment for manyinvestors. However, the property mar-ket is back on the radar as the home-buyers are flocking for the shoppingspree thanks to limited supply, ampleliquidity, and rock bottom interest

rates.In a paradoxical fate of events, everyone was

skeptical about investing in real estate due to thelooming threat arising from the arrival of thelethal Covid-19 pandemic, the industry bouncedback with great momentum and sales jumped tonew highs.

Like a lot of other sectors, the real estateindustry too was unprepared for the wrath of thepandemic but following the second wave, itshowed remarkable resilience. The new launchescame to halt but the demand was higher.However, 2021 was a game-changer for the sec-tors. As the world’s largest vaccination drivegained momentum, the confidence for the realityas a sector rose and financial year 2022-23 isnow seen as the turnaround year for the sectorwhich will lead to a robust boom for the indus-try.

Thereis nodoubtabout itif oneanalyzesthe initialtrends. Simplybecause the largestcities of the countryhave scarce areaswhich can be devel-oped and sold out.

The pandemic hasbeen a blessing in dis-guise for the industryas the low cost oflending has boostedthe morale of devel-opers to finish thepending projects,whereas the buyershave been able tohunch upon the lowEMIs to buy newhouses.

Top cities in Indiaincluding Gurugram,Delhi, Mumbai,Chennai, Kolkata,Bengaluru,Hyderabad, and

Pune are poised forfavourable housingsales, sowing the

seed for the revival of com-mercial real estate as well.

The changing dynamics infavour of the real estate, evenamidst the unstable economy,could be attributed to the changing con-sumer sentiments that underwent modi-fication due to the uncertainties of rental accom-modation. Even the millennials are adding to thedemand. The new age generation, which relocat-ed from Tier II and Tier III cities to Tier I andmetros, is now in the favour of having their ownhouse, instead of renting one. This is also nowadding to more demand for the sector. The newinvestors or the homebuyers demand spacioushouses, with luxury and a large number ofamenities, to showcase their lifestyle. Housing isnow a style statement and the notorious pan-demic instigated parties and gatherings at homeonly. Another reason for the demand for thehousing sector is the work from home option orthe remote work culture, where people will visittheir offices, but only occasionally. Installingworkstations at home, with more than one work-ing partner, is adding more demand to carry outthe activities smoothly.

When remote working culture got adoptedunanimously, people were on the lookout forhomes with extra room or space, which couldeither serve as an office or study. As mobility gotrestricted, people started searching for homesthat accommodated entertainment, exercise, andrecreational areas, which added more demand.Another reason for the real estate boom is thelackluster return of other safer asset classes.

Barring the volatile equity mar-kets or the unregulated cryp-tocurrencies, safer bets likebonds, FDs, and gold have failedto offer better returns toinvestors.

With the rise of geopoliticalconcerns globally and the strong outflow of for-eign investors, one can assume that the goldendays of equity markets are left behind and realestate is poised to emerge as a lucrative optionfor both risk bearer and risk hesitant investors.

Real Estate is an asset class with long-lastingvalue, evergreen utility, and security for thefuture even in uncertain times. This, coupledwith easy financing, has made it a reliable invest-ment for all, offering steady and solid returns.

Perceiving the revival potential of real estate,the government also came up with progressivepolicies to give a boost to the industry. The gov-ernment is focused on the revival of demand inthe economy and real estate is a key theme of itsinfra push. The center aims to provide a con-ducive environment to encourage home buyers.

Experts estimate that the low-interest rate isthere to stay for a couple of years. Thus the homebuyers can apply for higher amount loans whichbroaden their choices to buy bigger homes com-plemented by enhanced amenities and a betterlifestyle. Considering the panoramic view of theindustry, the future of the sector seems ratherpromising. Taking a positive turn, the sales inreal estate are expected to reach their peak in acouple of years.

(The writer, Shubham Arora, director, Sheerbulls India Pvt Ltd)

ellulite doesn’t discriminate based onweight, fitness, or healthy lifestylechoices. Most of the women have fatthat bulges out of the skin in the but-tocks, stomach, legs, or thighs. Whilecellulite cannot be gotten rid of com-pletely, there are some proven ways

of significantly reducing its appearance on thebody. Rashi Chahal, the nutritionist at RosewalkHealthcare, shared four home remedies that canhelp to get rid of the cellulite on the thighs.

” Coffee scrub

Coffee contains caffeine, and therefore it helpsto dilate blood vessels, improving blood circula-tion. Along with it, coffee contains a greatamount of antioxidants which help to removethe dead cells present on the skin. This has askin tightening effect also.

” Green tea

One of the great benefits of green tea for cel-lulite is it helps to remove toxins and improvemetabolism. Plus, it’s a great home remedy forcellulite because it helps to increase the bloodflow and helps create healthier skin, a more uni-form texture. Have 2-3 cups of green tea each

day. Green tea is an energy booster so it willalso promote weight loss.

” Exercise

Cellulite is a result of excessfat in the body so it is

important you do regularexercise to get rid of itbecause exercise helps toreduce body fat andincrease metabolism. Youcan perform squats, sidelunges, deadlift, glutebridge, running, orcycling. These exerciseswill also help you strength-en your thighs by improv-ing balance and stability.

” Dry brushing

Foam rolling or dry brush-ing is the best home remedy

you can try for some positiveresults to reduce cellulite. It is atraditional method that people

try to lose cellulite. Dry massag-ing with a brush helps stimulate

blood and lymph flow, whichimproves the skin appearanceremoving the cellulite. But keep in

mind dry brushing should beavoided if you have dry orinflamed skin.

SHIKHA DUGGAL

usshar Kapoor grew uparound cinema. He mayhave seen the beautifulparent-child relationshipin the movies too, butever since he became a

father, he has got to experience thisfeeling first-hand. He welcomed hisson Lakkshya via surrogacy. Whileone might think that his decision tobecome a single parent could beself-centered in many ways, he hasnothing to complain about at all.After all, surrogacy is a choice!

At the moment, you'll see himpresent at India’s one-of-a-kind cul-tural mélange called Arth. Actor-producer Tusshar also announcedhis book Bachelor Dad last year,which revolved around his uncon-ventional journey of fatherhood as asingle parent. In an exclusive conver-sation with us, he shared, “Therewasn’t a trigger that made me writethis book. I believe it was a processwherein I started to get interested inthe idea of parenthood. And thenfinally, I made up my mind becausefriends would encourage me. Therewas one particular friend who kepttelling me that it should be in a bookbecause it’s a different life and it willadd another feather in your capbecause you will share your experi-ences in a more honest and very dif-ferent avatar with people in generalwho don’t know much about yourlife, especially as a single father.”

A culture fest, in its fourth season,is celebrating 75 years of Indianindependence. And, Tusshar Kapooris here to celebrate India’s rich cul-ture and heritage as an acclaimedcelebrity. But, what was his child’sreaction to seeing himself on thecover? Did he share bits and piecesof the book with his dad? “I haven’treally spoken to my son about thebook, but of course he knows it’scalled Bachelor Dad, and he knowshe’s on the cover, though I haven’treally explained to him what thebook is about. And I think he’s tooyoung to process that right now. Buthe knows it’s part of my work, andas part of that work, I had to do thatphotoshoot with him. And while heknows that he’s on the cover, he has-n’t taken that part of it very serious-ly, and he hasn’t asked me too manyquestions either, which is good. He’sbusy with his own life. When I tookthis life-changing step, I had to besure of myself. So, I think that initself sorted out the excessive bag-gage of who thinks what and whatwill be the repercussions regardingsocietal expectations.”

As the proud father, he has neverexperienced such pure, innocent lovelike this before in his life. He contin-ued, “I just made a choice, and Idecided to figure it out for myself.Once I was clear, I didn’t reallyworry about even blocking thingsout. I think my mind was just clearthat I wanted to do it. And of course,there’s pressure — a pressure thatbuilds up when your mind startsanticipating what is going to happenand what the reactions are going tobe. But of course, it’s much less andyou know and you are clear aboutwhat you want to do with your life.”

In line with the theme, the fourthseason of Arth-A Cultural Fest willbring intriguing discussions onIndian art, culture, cinema, sports,politics, and faith to viewers, andthat’s why Tusshar also decided to bea part of it. He uttered, “I didn’tchoose Arth, Arth chose me. Theywanted to have me on this platformfor a session on Meet India’sBachelor Dad with my sister Ekta,and I was more than happy becauseit’s very youth-centric. It’s not typi-cally centred around the kind ofwork that I do, so it caters to a dif-ferent audience that probably will bemore interested in the book and bemy target audience with whom Iwant to share my experiences, whocan get inspired by my journey andwho can understand me as a personother than just the actor that theysee on screen.”

Fatherhood changed him in manyways. For one, “I have compartmen-talised my day withLakkshya. When I am homeand not on a shoot, I startmy day with my morningworkout, and then he goesto the beach, and then thelatter half of the morning Ispend with him. After that, Igo to work till the evening,when I am with my sonagain. And then we go to thepark or to any other outdooractivity, following which Ibring him back home. Hehas his dinner and then I tryto read a book to him if he’sin the mood before going tosleep, and that’s the end ofmy day with him. Then Ihave the night to myself. SoI watched something on TV.I will have my dinner andrecap the news. So myfavourite everyday ritual isgoing to the park withLakkshya in the evening! Ithink it’s so de-stressing andrejuvenating to see him playin the park or on the beach.”

He has got to learn a lot

from his child. He gets to experienceunfiltered love from a piece of hisheart! Meanwhile, he proudly men-tioned, “I’ll be flabbergasted ifsomeone comes up to me and claimsI’m a selfish father and tells me to goahead with being a single parent. Itjust doesn’t make sense! The factthat someone once told me that it’s abig step wherein you have nowdecided to give an entire life ofyours to the love of another person,to care for and uplift another per-son, is going to be a life-changingmoment. It’s almost as if my life hasnow become my son. So how can itbe selfish? And I wonder what thatperson would think about familiesthat have separated, families that livein different countries, or familieswhere somebody has lost a spouse.It’s quite a wild imagination to thinkthat just because I have had a childas a single man, I have been selfish.But they can read the book to seemy point of view on this!”

Were there any dauntingmoments? Yes, there were. The nighthis son was born and the morninghe came into Tusshar’s arms, it wasdaunting because I had never seenmy baby before and it was anunconventional process. “I was veryexcited to see him, but I was also abit nervous about how it would be,how I was going to change my lifewith this new role. I guess that wasjust the calm before the storm ofhappiness, joy, and fulfilment andeverything positive that comeswith starting a new family and

playing a new role, one that youwished for and one that youwaited for a long time.”

The writing part was allfun for him, by the way,and he concluded, “It’s abeautiful amalgamation offun, strenuous and consum-ing — but it’s so rewarding.The process, however, youknow, of releasing a book,from the time of its inception,to the writing, to the editingand promotion, to clicking thecover picture, is like mak-ing a movie. I don’tknow what thefuture holds, butas of now I amtoo busy pro-moting thisbook, and it’sexhausting butexhilarating,also because Iam doing thisfor the firsttime. I am reallyloving it, but yes, Ihave a long way togo before I can thinkabout another one.”

Needless to say,Tusshar Kapoorcan’t get enoughof his munchkin,and so can we.

t

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

WednesdayMarch 2, 2022

Meet thebachelor dad!

There wasn’t atrigger that mademe write this book.

I believe it was aprocess wherein I started toget interested in the idea ofparenthood. Finally, I made up mymind because friends wouldencourage me. There was oneparticular friend who kept telling me thatit should be in a book because it’s adifferent life and it will add anotherfeather in your cap because you willshare your experiences in a more honestand very different avatar with people ingeneral who don’t know much aboutyour life, especially as a single father.

How to fight

cellulite on thighs

c

f

Will real estate continue to offer a profitable

return on investment in 2022-23?

10

what’s brewing?Hyderabad Wednesday March 2, 2022

Rules

ARCHIE

GARFIELD

SUDOKU

REALITY CHECK CROSSWORD

GINGER MEGGS

NANCY

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

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

Yesterday’s solution

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SPEED BUMP

FUN

PAR

TY

Ph

oto

s b

y S

V C

ha

ry

Student-led leadership dayWas held at GlendaleAcademy where students

showcased their passionprojects, which were initiatedas part of the whole personapproach initiative and more.

LEADERS IN THE MAKING

l Dr. Anjum Babukhan

l Sirisha l Komal Mathews l Lavanya l Vidya

l Hema Madabushil Dr.Shaimaa

l Kamila Safi

Known for her timeless designs, Label Sonaakshi Raajcomes to Hyderabad and how. Renowned for her poetryin fabric, Mumbai-based designer Sonaakshi Raaj made

an entry into the princely city of Hyderabad. The grand launchof the atelier and flagship store was hosted in an exclusiveevent in association with auto partner Audi Hyderabad.

FASHION MANTRA

l Priyanka and Geeta Jethwani

l Anju Ali Khan and Ashwini Narayan

l Pinky Reddy,Sonakshi

l Meghna

l Parvati Reddy and Manasa Reddy l Shalini Badruka

l Mr and Mrs Charanl Lopa Govind Singh

l Begum Saba Khan and Sabiha Alil Mr and Mrs Sami KHan

l Tassnim Ali

he first look ofAadhi Pinisettyfrom TheWarriorr, acedirector NLingusamy's

upcoming Telugu-Tamilbilingual starring UstaadRam Pothineni as protago-

nist, was released todayalong with the nameof his character.

Aadhi Pinisetty,who is popular inboth Kollywood andTollywood, plays the antago-nist and his character in TheWarriorr will be talked

about. Interestingly, thename of Aadhi Pinisetty inthe movie is Guru. In hisfirst look poster, he is seen ina menacing look indicatingGuru is the epitome of evil.

Indicating that he is play-ing the role of a mercilessman, he is seen in a toughposture in the poster, whichhas been released as MahaShivarathri special. Therelease of Aadhi’s strikingfirst look has come at a timewhen the first look posters ofRam and Krithi Shetty fromThe Warriorr were receivedwell and added fuel to theanticipations of the movie.

Earlier known asRAPO19, the title of the filmwas revealed in style recent-ly. Along with a poster thatfeatured Ram Pothineni as apolice officer wielding a gunwith a tough look and withcops surrounding him, thetitle of the movie wasunveiled as The Warriorr.

And,to

mark Valentine’s Day, thefirst look poster of the film’sheroine Krithi Shetty wasreleased on February 14. Itfeatured her as WhistleMahalakshmi in a trendylook.

According to the movie'steam, the film will surpassthe anticipations and will beone of the memorable policestories of south Indian cine-ma. The Warriorr comesafter the success of iSmartShankar of Ram Pothineni.Akshara Gowda will be seenin an important role in thisflick.

Produced by SrinivasaaChitturi under SrinivasaaSilver Screen banner, TheWarriorr is expected to be afeather in the productionhouse's hat after the successof its recent sports dramaSeetimaar, which hadGopichand and TamannahBhatia in lead roles.

The action drama will bepresented by Pavan Kumarand it is a Devi Sri Prasadmusical. Cinematography isby Sujith Vaassudev. Majorportions of The Warriorrhave been shot and thefilm's release date will beannounced soon.

11

Hyderabad Wednesday March 2, 2022 tollywood

egastar Chiranjeevi'sfirst look posterfrom his much-hyped upcomingmovie 'BholaShankar' is out now.

On the occasion ofMahashivaratri, the makersreleased the intriguing poster,featuring the 'Indra' actor inhis usual swag. "On thisDivine Shivaratri Day, Let theMEGA CELEBRATIONPrevail with the#VIBEofBHOLAA. Here'sMEGASTAR @KChiruTweetsas #BholaaShankar," the mak-ers wrote, as they unveiled theposter. The first look releasedby the makers is titled 'VibeOf Bholaa', as it presentsChiranjeevi in a stylishavatar.As the motion posterreveals his swag, he is seenrotating the keychain, whichhas a 'Trishul' (trident) at itsend. Sitting on the bumperof the jeep, a colorful back-drop adds to the festivityfor Chiranjeevi's first

look, which has nowgrabbed the attentionof all.

ActressTamannaah Bhatia,who was paired up

with Chiranjeevifor the movie 'SyeRaa', will be seen

as the leading

lady in this commercial enter-tainer as well. On the otherhand, 'Mahanati' actressKeerthy Suresh will be seen asChiranjeevi's sister in thismovie. Helmed by MeherRamesh, 'Bhola Shankar' ismounted on a grand scale by

Ramabrahmam Sunkara. AnilSunkara's AK Entertainmentsis producing the film, in asso-ciation with CreativeCommercials. Dudley cranksthe camera, while the dia-logues are penned byThirupathiMamidala.Martha

nd K Venkatesh takes care ofediting and A. S. Prakash isthe production designer.Kishore Garikipati is theexecutive producer.BholaShankar is currently in mak-ing and will be released laterthis year.

ActressRashmikaMandanna,

who will nextappear in themovie AadavalluMeeku Johaarlu,stated that shedoesn’t want to getcategorised as aNorth or Southactress, but onlywants to do con-tent-rich movies.

The SarileruNeekevvaru actress,who spoke to themedia said, “I don’twant to be cate-gorised in anyindustry like Northor the South. Iwant to be an actorwith a pan-Indiaappeal.”

The actress whohas two big-ticketHindi flicks,Mission Majnu andGood Bye, starringAmitabh Bachchan,said that she is

open to acting inany good movies,without consider-ing the languagebarriers.

Rashmika,though, subscribesto the fact that herappearance inSouth Indianmovies like Pushpaand GeethaGovindam hasgiven her great vis-ibility in Hindi.

“People call meSrivalli (fromPushpa) or Geetha(from GeethaGovindam), etc. Sothe audiencesremember mycharacters, whichmeans they arewatching all ourcontent,” she says.

As Rashmikagears up for hernext release titledAadavallu MeekuJohaarlu, she saidshe learned to con-

duct herself by see-ing senior actressesworking on the setsof the Sharwanand-starrer.

“To see womenlike Radikaa,Khushbu, andUrvashi on the sets,knowing that theyare such greatactors, taught mehow to conductmyself on the setsand how to treatothers on theteam,” Rashmikasaid.

RashmikaMandanna andSharwanand willbe seen togetherin KishoreTirumala’supcomingfamily enter-tainer.

AadavalluMeekuJohaarlu willhit the screenson March 4.

t

FilmmakerOm Raut'smagnum

opus Adipurushwill arrive in the-atres in 3D onJanuary 12, 2023, themakers announcedTuesday.

The multilingualperiod saga, which is

being touted as a filmcelebrating the victory ofgood over evil, is an on-screen adaptation of the

Hindu epic Ramayana. Itfeatures Prabhas as LordRam and Saif Ali Khan asLankesh.

The film was previous-ly scheduled to bereleased on August 11,2022.

On the occasion ofMaha Shivratri, the teamannounced the newrelease date of Adipurushvia social media.

#AdipurushWorldwide Theatrical

Release in 3D on 12thJan 2023, Prabhas wroteon Instagram. Also star-ring Kriti Sanon andSunny Singh, Adipurushis Raut's follow-up pro-ject to his 2020 block-buster movie Tanhaji:The UnsungWarrior.Adipurush isproduced by BhushanKumar and KrishanKumar of T-series, Raut,Prasad Sutar, and RajeshNair of Retrophiles.

Adipurush to globally

release in Jan 2023

One of Tamilcinema'stop music

directors and theyounger son ofIsaignaniIlaiyaraaja, YuvanShankar Raja,has announcedthat he will bedirecting a filmsoon.

At an eventorganised tomark the com-pletion of his 25

years in the film industry, Yuvan, while replying to a questionfrom media persons during an interaction, said, "The script formy film is ready. I will be directing it either this year or nextyear."When asked to name a hero who he thought would beideal to play the protagonist in his film, the reticent musicdirector said, "Actually, my film will be a female-oriented film."

The music director, who enjoys a huge fan following allacross south India, also announced that he would soon beentering the world of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as well.

"I have some unused BGMs. I have plans to put out NFTs forthis unused BGMs," the music director disclosed.

Music man YuvanShankar Raja toturn director soon

awan Kalyanand RanaDaggubati'saction drama'BheemlaNayak' is gear-

ing up for its Hindirelease soon. Reports saythe dubbed Hindi versionof 'Bheemla Nayak' willbe released on March 4.

Despite there being noofficial update from theteam, it is reported thatthe producers are tryingtheir best to accommo-date the Hindi release ofthe movie.

Helmed by Saagar KChandra, 'BheemlaNayak' was released onFebruary 25 and has

apparently crossed Rs 100crore at the worldwidebox-office.

Also, with Telugumovies being hyped wellwith impactful collectionsin the north belt, themakers seem to havetaken this decision.

Though the makerscould not release thedubbed version of the'Ayyappanum Koshiyum'remake simultaneously, itseems like the stage isbeing set for the Hindidubbed version to be outin theatres.

But, as they say, 'Nopublicity is bad publicity',analysts believe that theteam is erring by not pro-

moting themovie for itsHindirelease.

PawanKalyan, RanaDaggubati,Nithya Menen,SamyukthaMenon, MuraliSharma, andothers appear inlead roles. S.Thaman has pro-vided the musicwhile TrivikramSrinivas haspenned the dia-logues and screen-play.

p

mBheemla Nayak

Hindi releasedate locked

Chiranjeevi's uber-cool first look of

‘Bhola Shankar' is out now

Aadhi Pinisetty looks

fierceful in TheWarriorr first look

Rashmika Mandanna: I don't want to becategorised as an actor

Mithali Raj looking to finishjourney with WC trophy

HYDERABAD | WEDNESDAY | MARCH 2, 2022

PTI n RANGIORA

Captaining the Indianwomen's team in theupcoming World Cupafter first featuring in the

showpiece 22 years ago, MithaliRaj feels her career has come a fullcircle with only the dream ofholding the “elusive” trophyremaining unfulfilled.

Raj was a part of the Indianteam that played in the 2000World Cup in New Zealand andmore than two decades later, sheis returning to the same country,this time as the captain.

In between, she had alsofaced the heartbreak of losing inthe summit clash to England inthe 2017 edition, besides being amember of the team that endedsecond in 2005.

“I have come a long wayfrom the 2000 World Cup, thatalso in New Zealand. I missed(matches of) that World Cupbecause of typhoid and here I am.It has come a full circle and I amlooking forward to finishing the

journey,” Raj said in a videoposted by the ICC.

“I would look forward to allmy players doing well in theWorld Cup and that will give theIndian team the opportunity toget a hand on that elusive cup.”

India had lost the recent ODIseries against New Zealand 1-4but the team was able to post 250-plus scores consistently. Raj saidthe side was looking to do betterduring the March 4 to April 3World Cup.

“What we are looking atimproving as a team for theWorld Cup is something weworked in the last series andbefore that.

“Yes, there was a bit of con-cern during South Africa andEngland tour. By the Australiaand New Zealand series, the teamhas come around well to scoreabove 250 consistently. We lookforward to doing the same dur-ing the World Cup, probablymuch better than that.”

The 39-year-old veteran bat-ter said having a few left-handers

among the top and middle-orderis an advantage for the team.

“It is good to have left han-ders in the playing XI, the advan-tage of having a left-right combi-nation in the middle creates dif-ficulties to the (opposition) cap-tain, bowlers and the fielders.”

Raj has been in good nick inthe lead-up to the showpiecewith nine fifties since the resump-tion of cricket last year.

“I always prefer sticking to thebasics of the game because whenyou play a big game and highpressure situation, it is difficult tomaintain composure. It is impor-tant to focus on the basic thingsyou have worked on over theyears and that comes to yourhelp.”

She said a strong per-formance in theWorld Cup wouldhelp in improv-ing the fanbase of theI n d i a n

women's cricket team.“I hope each and every

player becomes a house-hold name. Also, there area lot many young girls wholooked up to the players. I amsure they will idolise manymore women cricketers.

“Not just girls, but alsoyoung boys should look up to theyoung girls because these girlshave work so hard, sac-rificed so much tobe at the spotwhere theyare now.”

PTI n MOHALI

He made his Test debut underVirat Kohli and as the superstar-

batter gears up for his 100th outingin the format, Indian pace spearheadand current vice-captain JaspritBumrah said the landmark game isa reflection of his former skipper'sdedication towards the game.

Kohli's 100th Test would beagainst Sri Lanka beginning here onMarch 4. Bumrah made his Testdebut under Kohli's leadership in2018.

“It is always a special achieve-ment for a player. You know it is atestimony to his hard-work, dedica-tion,” Bumrah said in an online pressconference here.

“...(playing) 100 Test matches foryour country is a great occasion andhe has contributed a lot to the suc-cess of the Indian team and will con-tribute a lot more in the future aswell,” he added.

“It is another feather in his(Kohli's) cap. I just wish him the bestand congratulate him for the

achievement.”Asked if he would like to gift

Kohli something on the specialoccasion, Bumrah said, “If theIndian team wins, then there is nobest (better) present than that. But

he (Kohli) as a cricketer would liketo give his best.”

“Whichever match we play,whether it is his 100th Test, yes obvi-ously, (it is) a big achievement andit is a testimony to his hard work, but

India's main focus is on the series.The Mohali test will be played

behind closed doors and askedwhether it was a bit of a downer,Bumrah said, “See, right now we arein the frame of mind, where we arefocussing on what we can control.”

“(If) the crowds come, it isgood for the energy, but that is some-thing that we cannot control, wedon't have any power regardingthat, we don't decide the rules,” hemade it clear.

“So, for us what we can controlis our energy, so we are trying tofocus on that, and that is the basicthing in everybody's mind right now,that how do we prepare.

“We are in the best frame ofmind, even if crowds are not there,so how do we keep that energy up.And with that, obviously, as I said,it is a big, big day, a big match forVirat Kohli,” added Bumrah.

So far, Kohli has scored 7962runs from 99 Test matches aftermaking his debut against the WestIndies at Kingston in 2011.

PTI n RANGIORA

India will enter the ICCWomen's World Cup with

their tails up after openerSmriti Mandhana's 67-ball 66and the bowlers' disciplinedshow powered them to an 81-run win over West Indies intheir final warm-up game hereon Tuesday.

Kept under observationafter taking a blow to her headduring the team's first practicematch against South Africa onSunday, the elegant Mandhanawas in her element within twodays from the injury, laying thefoundation for India's challeng-ing total of 258 all out in theallotted 50 overs.

In reply, West Indies werestopped at 177 for nine atRangiora Oval.

India, who will face arch-rivals Pakistan in their cam-

paign opener on Sunday, beatSouth Africa by two runs intheir first warm-up game.

BRIEF SCORESIndia Women: 258 in 50 overs(Smriti Mandhana 66, DeeptiSharma 51)West Indies Women: 177/9 in50 overs (Shemaine Campbelle63, Hayley Matthews 44; PoojaVastrakar 3/21).

PTI n NEW DELHI

England's flamboyant batter JasonRoy on Tuesday pulled out of the

upcoming IPL citing extended stay inthe tournament bubble, dealing ablow to his new franchise GujaratTitans weeks before the event getsgoing.

The 31-year-old South African-

born English cricketer was signed byGujarat Titans for his base price of Rs2 crore at the mega auction.

“It's with a heavy heart I havedecided to pull out of this year's tour-nament. I want to thank the manage-ment and the captain Hardik forputting your faith in me and pickingme in the auction,” Roy wrote on hisTwitter handle on Tuesday.

“However, with everything goingon in the world over the last 3 yearsit's added up and taken it's toll on me.I feel it's only right I spend some qual-ity time with my family.

“As well as spending time work-ing on myself and my game over thenext couple of months leading into avery busy year. I will be following eachgame of the Titans and backing themto lift the trophy in their first year ofthe tournament.”

The development is a big blow tothe Gujarat franchise as Roy was theonly specialist opener picked by themapart from young Shubman Gill.

This is the second time theEnglish player is pulling out of theIPL. He had earlier withdrawn fromthe 2020 edition due to personal rea-sons after being picked up by theDelhi Capitals for `1.5 crore.

AP n CHIRSTCHURCH

South Africa outwitted andoutplayed New Zealand in a

crushing 198-run second Testvictory in Christchurch onTuesday to draw the two-matchseries 1-1.

New Zealand, set a record426 target to win, were all out intheir second innings for 227eight balls after tea on the finalday. It completed a remarkableturnaround for South Africa whoread the conditions far better

than New Zealand after beingthrashed by an innings and 276runs in the first Test on the sameground.

Captain Dean Elgar demand-ed his side “front up” after thathumiliation and they obliged.

A century by Sarel Erwee laidthe base for a first innings 364,Kagiso Rabada took five for 60 asNew Zealand folded 71 in arrearsand an unbeaten 136 from KyleVerreynne in the second inningstightened the clamp on NewZealand.New Zealand started

the final day at 94 for four andwhile Devon Conway and TomBlundell were at the crease theyheld hope they could salvage adraw.

But it was a forlorn hope andtheir 85-run partnership endedshortly before lunch whenConway went leg before wicketfor 92.

New Zealand hopes of sal-vaging a draw rose again at 227for nine when rain forced theplayers from the field, but it wasa brief respite.

PTI n CAIRO

Indian shooting ace SaurabhChaudhary won the Gold medal in

the men's 10m air pistol event, open-ing the country's account in the year'sfirst ISSF World Cuphere on Tuesday.

The AsianGames Goldmedallist shot 16in the Gold medalcontest to finishahead ofGermany's

Michael Schwald (6).The Bronze in the event was

bagged by Tokyo Olympics Silvermedallist Artem Chernousov ofRussia, whose country's flag wasremoved owing to its involvement inthe ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

The 19-year Chaudhary , anOlympian who also has a YouthOlympic Gold medal to his name,was third in the men's 10m air pis-tol qualification stage with a total of

584 points, making itthrough to the eliminationas one of the top eight

shooters.This was Chaudhary's

third individual ISSF WorldCup Gold and first in the newformat, dominatingGermany's Schwald in thefinal.

Chernousov toppedthe 92-strong qualifica-tion field with 591 points.

PTI n BHUBANESWAR

India will open its campaign in thisyear's FIH Women's Hockey World

Cup against England on July 3, twodays after the marquee tournamentopens in Spain and the Netherlands.

The schedule was announced bythe International Hockey Federation(FIH) on Tuesday.

Placed in Pool B, India will nextface China on July 5 and New Zealandon July 7.

India will play all their poolmatches at the Wagener HockeyStadium in Amstelveen, Netherlandsin the event to be held from July 1 to17.

Soon after the schedule was madepublic, India women's team halfback

Sushila Chanu said the team won't beintimidated by any opposition.

“It does not matter against whichopponents we start our campaign. Weare not afraid as our mentality and ourmindset is to take each game as it comesand try and win every match,” Chanusaid in a virtual press conference.

“We have faced China recently inMuscat, Oman, in the Women's HockeyAsia Cup 2022, and in the FIH HockeyPro League 2021/22. And so it will bean advantage for us,” she asserted.

“We will be playing the FIH HockeyPro League 2021/22 matches againstEngland next month. We had lastplayed New Zealand in 2020. So weknow these teams quite well and weknow how we have to prepare for theupcoming challenges.”

PTI n NEW DELHI

Indian gymnast DipaKarmakar is currently iden-

tified as “suspended” in theInternational GymnasticsFederation's website, a devel-opment that has left thenational body flummoxedwhich says there has been noofficial communication fromthe world body.

Among the various Indiangymnasts listed in the FIGwebsite, the 28-year-oldKarmakar is marked as “sus-pended” while the others areshown as “active” against theirrespective names.

The 'biography' sectionof the athletes in the FIGwebsite also shows Karmakaras “suspended” gymnast.

There was no immediate

clarity on what the “sus-pended” status meant forKarmakar, who rose intolimelight after her stupen-dous fourth-place finish inthe vault event in the 2016Rio Olympics. She has notbeen competing since 2019.

The GymnasticsFederation of India is cluelessabout the development.

“We have not receivedany communication fromthe FIG regarding Dipa'ssuspension. I don't knowwhat is the reason orwhether it is true. There hasbeen no communication solet's wait,” GFI presidentSudhir Mittal told PTI.

“Unless there is anycommunication from theFIG I won't be able to com-ment anything.”

sports 12

“I HAVE COME ALONG WAY FROMTHE 2000 WORLDCUP, THAT ALSO

IN NEW ZEALAND.I MISSED

(MATCHES OF)THAT WORLD CUP

BECAUSE OFTYPHOID AND

HERE I AM. IT HASCOME A FULL

CIRCLE AND I AMLOOKING

FORWARD TOFINISHING THE

JOURNEY”

100th Test another feather in Kohli's cap: BumrahIndia Women’s beat WI by 81runs in WC warm-up match

Dipa Karmakar identified as ‘suspended' by FIGIndia to play England in Women'shockey World Cup on July 3

SA beat Kiwis by 198 runs in 2nd Test

Jason Roy pulls out ofIPL citing bubble fatigue

Saurabh Chaudharywins Gold in ISSFWorld Cup in Cairo

INDIA, WHO WILLFACE ARCH-RIVALSPAKISTAN IN THEIRCAMPAIGN OPENERON SUNDAY, BEATSOUTH AFRICA BYTWO RUNS INTHEIR FIRSTWARM-UP GAME