VIJAYAWADA, THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2022; PAGES 12 `3

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MONEY 8GST REVENUES UP 44 PC AT NEARLY

RS 1.41 LAKH CR IN MAY

ANALYSIS 7ISRAEL TIES SHARPENINDIA'S MILITARY EDGE

SPORTS 11BAVUMA OPEN TO SLOT

MILLER AT NO. 5

}‘WITH EVERY NEWPROJECT COMES

NEWEXPERIENCES'

Page 12

{

ALMANAC

Updated: June 01, 2022 5:00 PM

Forecast: Sunny

Temp: 34oc

Humidity: 28%

Sunrise: 5:38 AM

Sunset: 6:39 PM

Month & Paksham:

Tithi: Tritiya: Jun 01 09:47 PM

to Jun 03 12:17 AM

Chaturthi: Jun 03 12:17 AM

to Jun 04 02:42 AM

Nakshatram:

Ardra: Jun 01 01:00 PM

to Jun 02 04:04 PM

Punarvasu: Jun 02 04:04 PM

to Jun 03 07:05 PM

Rahukalam: 1:51 PM to 3:28 PM

Yamagandam: 5:44 AM to 7:22 AM

Varjyam: 05:34 AM to 07:23 AM

Gulika: 8:59 AM to 10:36 AM

Amritakalam: None

Abhijit Muhurtham: 11:48 AM

to 12:40 PM

TTOODDAAYY

VIJAYAWADA WEATHER

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A Supreme Court Bench, onWednesday, set aside an orderpassed by the National GreenTribunal (NGT) stopping theongoing works of a resort beingbuilt by the State government onRushikonda hil l inVisakhapatnam.

However, the Bench said 0theconstruction could be taken uponly in the flat area, where theresort stood and was later demol-ished. But no construction could becarried out in the excavated area.The Supreme Court Bench alsosaid that orders of constitutionalcourts would prevail over statuto-ry tribunals.

A Vacation Bench of Justices BR Gavai and Hima Kohli said it wasnot appropriate for the NGT toproceed when the High Court wasseized of the matter.

On May 11, NGT, acting on apetition filed by YSRCP rebel MPK Raghu Ramakrishna Raju,ordered an interim stay on the con-

struction works of the proposedtourism project on Rushikonda Hillabutting the beach.

The NGT's Principal Bench inNew Delhi also constituted a jointcommittee to look into the environ-mental viability of the project andwhether CRZ clearances should berevisited.

“This court has held that NGTis subordinate to the High Court in

so far as territorial jurisdiction isconcerned. Thus we are of the viewthat it was not appropriate for NGTto proceed when High Court wasseized off the matter. The conflict-ing orders passed by NGT andHigh Court will create a difficultsituation as authority will notknow which orders to follow.

SC sets aside NGT’s Rushikonda orderAllows resort construction only in flat area

Jagan to leave for Delhi todayLikely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi... to press for funds

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

GST collection in Andhra Pradeshregistered an increase in May aswell compared to the correspon-ding period last year. The State haswitnessed an increase of 47 per centin the GST collection in May. InApril too, the GST collection fromthe State had seen an increase of 22per cent compared to last year.

The collection was Rs 3,047crore in

May as against Rs 2,074 crore last year. The gross GST revenue collect-

ed in the country in May was Rs1,40,885 crore, of which CGST wasRs 25,036 crore, SGST was Rs32,001 crore, IGST was Rs 73,345crore (including Rs 37,469 crorecollected on import of goods) andcess was Rs 10,502 crore (includ-ing Rs 931 crore collected onimport of goods).

The revenues for May 2022 are

44 per cent higher than the GSTrevenues in the same month lastyear (Rs 97,821 crore). During themonth, the revenue from import ofgoods was 43 per cent higher andthat from domestic transactions(including import of services) was44 per cent higher than the rev-enues from these sources duringthe same month last year.

GST collection surgeGoes up by 47 pc in State in May

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directorateon Wednesday summonedCongress president SoniaGandhi and her MP son RahulGandhi for questioning in amoney laundering case linked tothe National Herald newspaper,officials said.

NATIONAL HERALD MONEY LAUNDERING CASE

Will not bow downNew Delhi: The Congress onWednesday said it is not afraid ofany summons by the EnforcementDirectorate in the National Heraldcase and will not be cowed downby any such "vendetta" by the BJPgovernment. Congress leadersAbhishek Manu Singhvi andRandeep Surjewala said partypresident Sonia Gandhi has beensummoned by the ED forquestioning in a money launderingcase linked to the National Heraldnewspaper on June 8, and she wasdetermined to appear before theagency as she has nothing to hide.They said former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi has also beensummoned, and that he has writtento the probe agency to postponethe date to after June 5 as he is notin the country.

Govt agencies do their job:CentrePNS n NEW DELHI

After the Enforcement Directorate(ED) issued summonses to Congressleaders Sonia Gandhi and RahulGandhi for questioning in a money-laundering case, Union ministerAnurag Thakur on Wednesday saidgovernment agencies do their job.

Responding to a question on alle-gations by the Congress that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi is usingagencies to target political oppo-nents, Thakur said, "Governmentagencies do their job." Addressing acabinet briefing, the minister said theissue has nothing to do with cabinetdecisions.

ED summons Sonia, Rahul

ECONOMIC CRISIS FORCES SRI LANKANMUSLIMS TO FORGO HAJ PILGRIMAGE

Sri Lankan Muslims have decided to forgo the Haj pilgrimagethis year due to the worst economic crisis facing the debt-ridden country, a media report said on Wednesday. Saudi

Arabia had approved a quota of 1,585 Haj pilgrims from SriLanka for the year 2022, out of the one million foreign anddomestic Muslims allowed to travel to the holy city of Makkah inthe pilgrimage season, the Arab News reported. However, it wasdecided that no Muslim from Sri Lanka would travel for thepilgrimage this time, following a discussion held by severalparties including the National Haj Committee.

KOLKATA TO HOST LITERATURE FESTIVALON SWEETS

Athree-day literature festival themed on sweets will be held in thecity from December 9. The unique literary meet, to beparticipated by Oxford University professor Dr. Kunal Basu,

painter Jogen Choudhury and former Prasar Bharati CEO JawharSircar among others, will be the first of its kind in the region, theorganisers said in a statement Wednesday. To be spread across 10venues that will bring together some of Kolkata's iconic addresses -traditional homes, art galleries, and modern institutions- each venuewill for the first time, also have the world's longest tables of mishti'(sweetmeat) with over 60 varieties, the organisers claimed.

SHOT IN FACE IN 2008, VISUALLYIMPAIRED UP OFFICER CRACKS UPSC

An Uttar Pradesh civil service officer who partially lost hissight and hearing after sustaining seven bullet injuries in anattack after he exposed an alleged Rs 100-crore scholarship

scam has finally cracked the UPSC exam. In the Union PublicService Commission examination 2021, Rinko Rahee, whocannot see well from one eye, has lost hearing in one ear andhas a broken jaw, secured the 683rd rank. The 40-year-oldProvincial Civil Service (PCS) officer was attacked when he wasposted as a social welfare officer in Muzaffarnagar. He said theattack was due to the alleged scholarship scam he exposed.

DOUBLE-DECKER BUS TURNED INTOCLASSROOM IN KERALA GOVT SCHOOL

Adouble-decker bus, belonging to the Kerala StateTransport Corporation (KSTRC), is now a classroom and aplace for recreation for students of the Government Lower

Primary School here. The two-tier classroom has been createdout of one of two decrepit low-floor buses out of hundredsmeant to be scrapped by the State-run transport body. The buswas donated to the school located within the campus of theGovernment Teachers Training Institute (TTI) at Manacaud. Theclassroom on wheels has a TV, air-conditioner, chairs withmulti-coloured tables, benches, and shelves for books.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Flaying Opposition chiefChandrababu Naidu and the TDPfor claiming Mahanadu a success,Government Advisor (PublicAffairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddychallenged the TDP to contest inAtmakur bypoll and make TDPMLAs resign and go for electionsif they were confident of winning.

He said the TDP organised theprogramme only to propagate falseinformation against Chief MinisterYS Jagan Mohan Reddy and theState government.

Speaking to media at party cen-tral office here on Wednesday,Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy saidTDP and a section of media,unable to bear the growing popu-larity of the Chief Minister, havebeen misleading people with falsepropaganda over Chief Minister'sDavos trip, Samajika Nyaya Bheribus yatra and Gadapa Gadapa kiPrabuthvam programme.

Terming the politics of the TDP

as cheap, Sajjala RamakrishnaReddy said Naidu and other TDPleaders indulged in abusive verbalattacks against the Chief Minister asthey don't have anything construc-tive to criticise the governmentand also they didn't do any good topropagate.

He slammed the TDP for mak-ing tall claims that the Mahanaduprogramme is a success and theywould win in any election and saidthey don't even have the courage tofight in elections without anyalliance.

Sajjala dares TDP to contestin Atmakur bypoll

YSRCP suspendsK SubbarayuduPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The YSRCP has suspended formerminister Kothapalli Subbarayudufrom the party. Subbarayudu quitthe TDP and joined the YSRCPjust before the 2019 polls. A com-muniqué from the party said hissuspension followed the com-plaints about his anti-party activ-ities and recommendation fromthe party disciplinary committee.

In March, Subbarayudu beathimself with his slippers in frontof a big crowd as he admitted thathe made a mistake by supportingNarsapuram MLA MudunuriPrasad Raju and helping him winthe elections. Videos of the leaderwent viral on social media.

A few days ago, he said hewould contest from Narasapuramsegment in the 2024 polls where-as currently it is being represent-ed by Prasad Raju.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The YSRCP plenary will beheld at the open grounds nearNagarjuna University, betweenVijayawada and Guntur, onJuly 8 and 9. Elaborate arrange-ments are being made to holdthe plenary after the YSRCPcame to power. As the Jagan Mohan Reddygovernment has completedthree years, the plenary isbeing planned in such a man-ner to send a strong politicalmessage to the cadre and alsothe State electorate and theOpposition alike.

Party general secretary andRajya Sabha member VVijaysai Reddy held a telecon-ference with the party func-tionaries on Wednesday todiscuss the arrangements to bemade for the plenary.

YSRCP plenaryon July 8, 9

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2 2

2

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy will be visiting Delhi onThursday. He is likely to meetPrime Minister Narendra Modi. Itwill be Jagan’s third meeting withModi in the last two months. Hemet the Prime Minister on April5 and 29. Jagan is expected to meetseveral other union ministers topress the pending issues related toAndhra Pradesh.

In the meeting with Modi, thepresidential poll scheduled to beheld in the coming months, funds

for Polavaram and other pressingissues related to Andhra Pradeshare expected to take centre-stage.

With the BJP falling short of a

few Electoral College votes toelect the next President of India,the YSRCP becomes an importantelement.

Funds to the Polavaram projecthad turned into a bone of con-tention between the Centre andthe State. Apart from rejectingsome Bills, the Modi governmentis yet to give any commitment onfunding R&R and also revisedprice estimates at the level of2018.

The Polavaram project is alsolikely to figure prominently in theJagan-Modi meeting.

Mekapati Vikram Reddy meets CMTDP TO STAY AWAY FROM BYPOLL

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Mekapati Vikram Reddy, whowill be contesting in Atmakurbypoll, met Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy at thec amp of f i c e h e re onWednesday. The Chief Ministerpresented B Form to VikramReddy.

Mi n i s te rs Pe d d i re d dy

Ramachandra Reddy, KakaniGovardhan Reddy and MPVemireddy Prabhakar Reddywere present on the occasion.

Bypoll to Atmakur segmentwas necessitated due to thesudden demise of IndustriesMinister Mekapati GautamReddy on February 21.

2

Two held forWhatsApp messageon ‘sale’ of infant PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The Ajit Singh Nagar police, onWednesday, took one RMP doctorand a woman into custody for post-ing a message in a WhatsAppgroup about the ‘sale’ of a three-day-old infant for Rs 3 lakh. Thepolice received information fromthe Childline that one personnamely Ch Amruta Rao, a residentof Ayodhya Nagar, Vijayawada, hadsent a message in the WhatsAppgroup about handing over aninfant baby for Rs 3 lakh.

One of the members of thegroup informed the Childlineabout the message posted byAmruta Rao, who is working asRMP in G Konduru mandal inNTR district. The Childlineinformed the police about themessage and Ajit Singh Nagarpolice responded immediately.They verified the messages in thegroup and took Amruta Rao andPushpalatha into custody for ques-tioning. 2

NAVEENA GHANATE n HYDERABAD

On the eve of her 61st birthday,Governor Tamilisai Soundararajantalks to The Pioneer's NaveenaGhanate about allegations of dis-crimination by the state and theCentre as well as her credentials totreat officers taking sick leaves tocircumvent protocol issues.TS govt is alleging that there is dis-crimination by the Centre. AsGovernor, are you asking theCentre to look into this?

Just on Tuesday, GST compensa-tion was released. We have beenthrough a challenging situationand PM Modi has been focused onvaccine. If one person is sick, mostresources are deviated from thereand later we can bring the econo-my back on track. I feel there is nodiscrimination. Because I motivat-ed the state, they are implementingAyushman Bharat and weare getting Ayushmanfunds. Even on paddyprocurement, theytold there is discrim-ination, but the cen-tral government pro-cured it. Even thoughthe Centre asked peopleto cultivate millets, thestate government did not take it for-ward. In Telangana, if we talkabout discrimination, the highestoffice of Governor is discriminat-ed. How can they allege discrimi-nation? The CM is not receiving

the PM. If there is discrim-ination, the CM can come

and receive PM, and appeal tohim. What prevented him?

Can the relations be cordialagain between the Governor andthe CM of Telangana?

The Raj Bhavan's gates are alwaysopen, and I am a friendly person.

I want the CM to comeand discuss. It has beenone year since I met theChief Minister. June2nd is TelanganaFormation Day and alsomy birthday. CM and Iwill be celebrating ananniversary of not seeingeach other. CM not meeting theGovernor for one year is a uniquesituation. Nowhere in India wouldthis have happened.

You have experience ofGovernor's rule in Puducherry.Do you see such situation here?

I do not want to disturb anydemocratically-elected govern-ment. We respect the elected gov-ernment, but the elected govern-ment should respect the Governor.Even though there is prorogation,there is a baseless message that theGovernor cannot give the address.By stopping the Governor's address,people are prevented from know-ing the real schemes and achieve-

ments of the stategovernment. I am a

good orator and elo-quent, but why thisdiscrimination? Evenduring the RepublicDay, even a Union

territory had a bigparade, but young state

could not.The prorogation cannot be for-

ever; so, the next time will you readthe speech as it?

No, I have to think it over. Ihaven't made up my mind. Theyhave denied me the right to deliveraddress. I have to think of the situ-ation and then decide. I have to keepmy head high. Nobody can makeme bow down. I am a well-educat-ed person. Why are they decliningmy help and service? The Governorand CM can together do wonders ina state. Why can't they have goodrelationship with Governor and theCentre, and get things done?

I am doctor,I can treat sick

officials who areskipping

protocols

'They won't follow protocol, but expect me to follow Governorship'

I do not want todisturb any

democratically electedgovernment. We respect theelected government but the

elected governmentshould respect the

Governor.

I haven’t made up mymind. They havedenied me the right todeliver address. I haveto think of thesituation and thendecide. I have to keepmy head high.

m Birthday girl Guv Tamilisai Soundararajan tells The Pioneer

2

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(IN VIJAYAWADA)

Children’s growth monitoring drive launchedPNS n VIJAYAWADA

The State Women Developmentand Child Welfare Departmenthas launched a growth monitor-ing drive, which will go on tillJune 15, to assess the status ofstunting, wasting and under-weight among children in theState. Department Director ASiri on Wednesday held a meet-ing with the representatives ofthe partner organisations andurged them to be involved in thegrowth monitoring drive toensure quality of the growthmonitoring data.

The representatives of all thepartner organisations includingUNICEF, CARE India,Pratham, TATA Trusts, WorldVision, ITC, American IndiaFoundation and CareNGrowattended the meeting and pre-sented their activities to thedirector. She said that as perNFHS-5 data, maternal anemiawas high in the State. Sheurged the partner organisationsto intervene to reduce mater-nal anemia. “Organisationsshould work to prevent childmarriages, which is very criti-cal in addressing anemia and

malnutrition. Every partnerorganisation should focus onthe interventions to improveadolescent health, which isvery important in the lifecycleapproach. Awareness should becreated on the punishments tothe people involved in childmarriages. There will be a tollfree number for registeringcomplaints on child abuse,”she said. Siri added that videosshould be developed on adoles-cent health, maternal and childnutrition and cooking practicesto share with benefices to cre-ate awareness.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

To mark eight years of the BJPgovernment at the Centre ledby Prime Minister NarendraModi, the BJP is organisingvarious programmes acrossAndhra Pradesh for 15 days,said party State presidentSomu Veerraju here onWednesday.

Clarifying on contesting theby-elections in AtmakurAssembly constituency inNellore district, Veerraju saidthat the BJP would contest theby-election.

Veerraju said that only withModi ideology there would be

development in the State andadded that PM Modi had spe-cial care for Andhra Pradesh.He said that under NGRS Rs70,000 crore had been given toAP and during Covid pandem-ic special importance wasgiven to the State. He said that53 lakh people were given ESram cards. Besides, manyschemes were being imple-mented by the BJP governmentfor the welfare of the people.

The BJP State president saidthat the Jagan Mohan Reddygovernment was in a waycheating the people. TheCentral government was offer-ing better schemes than the

YSRCP’s flagship Navaratnaluscheme. They would explainthe various Central govern-ment schemes to the peopleduring the 15-day celebrations.

Veerraju said that both theState government and theOpposition parties wereresponsible for the arson inAmalapuram and demandedthat the government restoreinternet facilities inAmalapuram. He said that ahuge public meeting --Godavari Garjana -- would beheld in Rajahmundry on June7 and BJP national president JPNadda would be the chiefguest at the event.

BJP to contestAtmakur by-poll

Continued from Page 1

While Sonia Gandhi, 75, hasbeen asked to depose before thefederal agency at its headquartersin central Delhi on June 8, RahulGandhi has been asked to appearon Thursday (June 2).

Congress leader AbhishekManu Singhvi told at a press con-ference that Sonia Gandhi willcomply with the summons.

Rahul Gandhi, 51, has writtento the probe agency to postponethe date to after June 5 as he is notin the country, Singhvi andanother Congress leaderRandeep Surjewala toldreporters.

"The Modi governmentshould know that by registeringsuch fake and fabricated cases,they cannot succeed in their cow-ardly conspiracy," Singhvi said.

The case to probe allegedfinancial irregularities in theparty-promoted Young Indianthat owns the National Heraldnewspaper was registered recent-ly.

The agency, officials said,wants to record the statements ofSonia and Rahul Gandhi undercriminal sections of thePrevention of Money LaunderingAct (PMLA).

The National Herald is pub-

lished by Associated JournalsLimited (AJL) and owned byYoung Indian Pvt Limited.

The agency recently ques-tioned senior Congress leadersMallikarjun Kharge and PawanBansal as part of the investigation.

The questioning of the seniorCongress leaders and theGandhis is part of the ED'sinvestigation to understand theshareholding pattern, financialtransactions and role of the pro-moters of Young Indian and AJL,officials said.

The agency registered a freshcase under the criminal provi-sions of the PMLA after a trialcourt here took cognisance of anIncome Tax Department probeagainst Young Indian Pvt Ltd on

the basis of a private criminalcomplaint filed by BJP MPSubramanian Swamy in 2013.

The members of the first fam-ily of the Congress party, includ-ing Sonia Gandhi and RahulGandhi, are among the promot-ers and shareholders of YoungIndian. After the ED examinedKharge last month, the Congress'whip in Lok Sabha ManickamTagore accused the governmentof "harassing" him.

BJP MP Swamy had accusedSonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi andothers of conspiring to cheat andmisappropriate funds with YoungIndian Pvt Ltd paying only Rs 50lakh to obtain the right to recov-er Rs 90.25 crore that AssociateJournals Ltd owed to the

Congress.The Delhi High Court in

February last year issued a noticeto the Gandhis for their responseon Swamy's plea seeking to leadevidence in the matter before thetrial court.

The Gandhi's had securedseparate bails from the court in2015 after they furnished person-al bonds of Rs 50,000 and onesurety.

They, however, contended inthe Delhi High Court that theplea by Swamy was "miscon-ceived and premature".

The other accused in thiscase filed by Swamy are SumanDubey and technocrat SamPitroda. They have earlier saidthat they did nothing wrong.

Continued from Page 1

The ED summonedCongress president SoniaGandhi and her MP sonRahul Gandhi on Wednesdayfor questioning in a money-laundering case linked to theNational Herald newspaper,officials said.

While Sonia Gandhi (75)has been asked to deposebefore the federal agency at itsheadquarters in central Delhion June 8, Rahul Gandhi hasbeen asked to appear onThursday (June 2).

Congress leader AbhishekManu Singhvi told at a pressconference here that Sonia

Gandhi will comply with thesummons.

Rahul Gandhi (51) haswritten to the probe agencyto postpone the date toafter June 5 as he is not inthe country, Singhvi andanother Congress leaderRandeep Surjewala toldreporters.

ED summons Sonia, RahulGovt agencies do their job:Centre

Will not bow down...Continued from Page 1

"The Modi governmentshould know that by register-ing such fake and fabricatedcases, they cannot succeed intheir cowardly conspiracy,"Singhvi told reporters.

Neither will the EC be ableto stop the National Herald,the voice of the freedom move-ment, nor will it be able toscare Sonia Gandhi and RahulGandhi, he said.

"The Congress leadership isfearless and ready to presentitself before the probe agency.We will not be afraid of suchtactics, we will not bow down,but we will fight hard legally,socially and politically," Singhviadded.

Surjewala said under theleadership of Sonia Gandhiand Rahul Gandhi, the entire

party and its workers wouldstand shoulder to shoulderwith them, and "we will fightand win this attack on thecountry's democracy".

The two Congress leaderssaid the main mantra of thenewspaper which became the"voice of the freedom move-ment" was: "Freedom is indanger, protect it with all yourmight."

"Today again, the ideologysupporting the British rule isconspiring to suppress the'voice of the freedom move-ment'. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is at the headof this conspiracy, and his'favourite and pet weapon' toimplement it is the ED,"Surjewala claimed

He said the summons havebeen issued to mislead thecountry as the Modi govern-

ment specialises in the politicsof diverting issues and hasbeen blinded by the feeling ofrevenge.

The ED issued the summonsto Sonia Gandhi and RahulGandhi on Wednesday.

While Sonia Gandhi, 75,has been asked to deposebefore the federal agency onJune 8, Rahul Gandhi is under-stood to have been asked toappear earlier.

The case to probe allegedfinancial irregularities in theparty-promoted Young Indianthat owns the National Heraldnewspaper was registeredrecently.

The agency, officials said,wants to record the statementsof Sonia and Rahul Gandhiunder criminal sections of thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA).

SC sets aside NGT’s Rushikonda order

GST collection...Continued from Page 1

“This is only the fourthtime that the monthly GSTcollection has crossed Rs1.40 lakh crore since theintroduction of GST andthe third time in a row. Thecollection in the month ofMay, which pertains to thereturns for April, the firstmonth of the financial year,has always been less thanthat in April, which per-tains to the returns forMarch, the closing of thefinancial year.

Mekapati...

Jana Sena meeting on June 4PNS nVIJAYAWADA

The Jana Sena Party’s exten-sive meeting is scheduled tobe held at the Mangalagiriparty office on June 4. Apartfrom party president PawanKalyan, party Political AffairsCommittee (PAC) chairmanNadendla Manohar, politburomembers, PAC members,

State committee members,district presidents, chairper-sons of various wings of theparty, constituency in-charges, State off icialspokespersons and VeeraMahila regional committeemembers will participate inthe conference.

The meeting will thorough-ly discuss the law and order

situation prevailing in theState, foisting false casesagainst the Jana Sena activistsand Kaulu Rythu (tenantfarmers) and Bharosa Yatraorganised by the party. Themeeting will pass someimportant resolutions. PawanKalyan will reach Mangalagiriby the evening of June 3 toattend the meeting.

Continued from Page 1

In such a case orders fromthe Constitutional courtwould prevail over statutorytribunals. Thus proceedingsbefore NGT cannot proceed inthe interest of justice. The pro-ceedings before the NGT andorder therein are quashed,”said the apex court Bench.

The Supreme Court Benchin its order further said thatto preserve the environment

for future generations andecology, it allows the partiesto move the High Court.

“The High Court may takea fresh call on the matter andissue necessary directions.We clarify that no construc-tion will be carried out in theexcavated area. Dr Singhviappearing on behalf of theState has made a statementon record to that effect.Construction will be carriedout on the flat area and

where the earlier resort exist-ed and later demolished. Butno construction on the exca-vated area,” said the SCBench.

Earlier, during the argu-ments, the counsel appearingon behalf of RaghuramaKrishna Raju showed thepictures of Rushikonda hillsto the Bench. “Proof of thepudding is in eating. The hilltop has been shaved nowcompletely. The natural char-

acter of the hill has to bemaintained,” said the respon-dent’s advocate. Senior advo-cate Abhishek Singhviappearing on behalf of theState government said,“Suddenly, a photo is given toyou across the bar. This hasbeen a resort since 2006.This is a demolished resortand thus there is an emptyhill. This is what happenswhen photos are given acrossthe bar,” he said.

Continued from Page 1

According to the schedulereleased by ElectionCommission of India (ECI)recently, poll notification wasissued on May 30 and the lastdate to file the nominations isJune 6. While the election willbe held on June 23, counting ofvotes will take place on June 26.

Though initially there werereports that former ministerand YSRCP legislator fromVenkatagiri Anam RamanarayanReddy’s daughter K KaivalyaReddy has sought TDP centralleadership to nominate her tofight the bypoll, it is learnt thatthe Opposition party had decid-ed to stay away from the poll.

'They won't follow protocol, but expect me to follow Governorship'Continued from page 1

Why do you think there is crit-icism against the KCR govt,now compared to previoustime?

Through the newspaper, Isee that some of the salariesalso are not disbursed yet. Theeconomic and financial crunchis there. Even the governmenthospitals' status, despite myappeal to the CM, is not done.As for job opportunity, theyannounced 1lakh job opportu-nities. Don't know how it istaking off. People should behappy whether it is IT orPharma. I don't have data toshare that they are failing, orexceptional, because the gov-ernment is not in good termswith me and in touch either.Through only the media, Iknow or through people whoI met. As the first citizen, Iwant people of Telangana to behappy.

Did you expect trolling inTelangana after facing similarsituation in Tamil Nadu?

I did not expect trolling inTelangana as it is a more cul-tured state. In Tamil Nadu, it

was a political situation. Buthere I am in a constitutionalpost. Here also I will march for-ward, the way I did in TamilNadu by just wiping trolls offas dust. But is it justifiable totroll a lady Governor? They areputting a namam on my face,hair is morphed. I am verysure, whatever troll you do; itis not going to hamper my dutyor enthusiasm. I went to meetChenchus 15 km inside theNallamala forest. I am goingagain to Badrachalam, to dis-tricts again.

People feel you are over-reaching your Constitutionalpowers?

There is freedom of speechfor everyone. When some-thing is asked, I have revealedall the real things which peo-ple also know. I am not hidinganything. Nowhere is it men-tioned that the Governorshould not talk or give aninterview. If they feel I amGovernor, they should followthe protocol. They won't followprotocol, but they expect me tofollow Governorship. I wantgood message written in histo-ry of Telangana -- a mentionabout a female Governor, who

was discriminated. I don't wantit to be negative point in his-tory. I am a well-qualified per-son by education and socialand political service. Whatmakes them not to respect theperson?

Did you complain to PM,DoPT about your issues?

When I went toBadrachalam for Lord Rama'scoronation, it was protocol forthe Governor to attend. Theprevious day, even Ministersattended the Kalyanam, theCollector and SP were there. Iparticularly asked whether theywill be with the Minister, but

abscond and apply sick leavewhen the Governor visits. Asdoctor, I can treat them also, ifthey are sick (laughs). They aretrying to play safe. If SP andCollector become sick at thesame time, something is wrongwith the health profile of thestate. In my periodic reports, Imention who was absent.Telangana respects woman, Iwant to put in front of people,why they are accepting this dis-crimination. Let the peopledecide. We meet PM, HM andit is not only about protocol, wealso meet them regularly to getguidance.

What kinds of issues arebeing reported in your sugges-tion box?

We are getting a lot of griev-ances, of which job issues aretop followed by land issues,medical and other help. Withinmy purview, we are helping.Most of the departments arenot responding, which is evi-dent because the governmentitself is not on talking terms. Iam not a controversial personand not a critic. Even com-plaints given by oppositionparties, we are sending repre-sentation to the concerned

authorities. I am maintainingan e-office; no file is pendingwith me. I know the limitationsof a Governor.

Which one do you like:Governor of Puducherry orTelangana?

I love my two eyes. Criticssay: 'She is the youngestGovernor, how can she man-age?' I am donating laptops tothe needy, I am conductingVCs, taking forward theNational Education Policy. Asfor the Raj Bhavan, we haveupgraded hospitals, providingtiffin to students. As part ofAtma Nirbhar Bharat, wetrained people in tailoring andthey are earning well. I workeda lot of on tribals, nutrition ontribal populations, through theRed Cross. We worked a lot,especially during the Covid-19pandemic. Even though I havemore administrative responsi-bilities in Puducherry, I amhere for three days. I am agynaecologist, I will managenewborn babies and twinbabies also. People are veryhappy with me in Puducherrybecause I have good relationswith the Chief Minister and theCouncil of Ministers.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Chief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy on Wednesday directedthe officers to pay special atten-tion to the employment guaran-tee scheme to ensure that theworkers are getting paid a min-imum wage of Rs 240 per day.

He held a video conferenceon the Spandana programmeand issued key directives to col-lectors and SPs of 26 districtsand further discussed housingfor the poor, RBKs, YSR HealthClinics, digital libraries, roadsand highways, kharif prepared-ness among others.

During the meeting held hereon Wednesday, the ChiefMinister directed the officers topay special attention towards theemployment guarantee schemeto ensure that the workers aregetting paid a minimum wage ofRs 240 per day.

In this regard, he told them toconduct periodic inspectionsand also asked them to chart outan alternative plan keeping themonsoon season in view.Further, he instructed the offi-cials to focus on completing theconstruction of VillageSecretariats, RBKs, VSR VillageClinics, BMCs, AMCs withoutany delay. He asked theCollectors to personally super-vise the constructions and com-plete on time.

Reviewing housing, he statedthat the government had set atarget of building 15.6 lakhhouses in the first phase andinstructed the authorities tofocus on the construction of thehouses along with works relat-

ed to approach roads and landleveling. He said that almost Rs700 crore will be made availablein a week to complete the pend-ing works and expedite con-struction of houses. Steps shouldbe taken to speed up the con-struction of 1.79 lakh houseswhich were distributed on April28, he said, adding that at least75,000 houses must be complet-ed each month.

Further, the Chief Ministerasked the authorities to overseethe issue of undelivered housesdue to pending court cases andtold them to chart out an alter-native plan to provide houses.The officials informed that outof 2,11,176 newly identifiedbeneficiaries for distribution ofhouse sites 1,12,262 were givenhouse sites, and the remaining98,914 beneficiaries are yet toreceive their plots. The ChiefMinister also reviewed TIDCOhousing and directed the offi-cials to expedite the works andhand over the deeds to the ben-eficiaries by the end of June.

Regarding Jagananna Bhu-Hakku and Bhu-Rakshascheme, the Chief Minister stat-ed that the comprehensive land

survey is being conducted after100 years and directed theauthorities to complete the sur-vey by targeted deadlines. Inphase-1, 5,300 villages, in phase-2, 5,700 villages, and in phase-3, 6,460 villages are to be sur-veyed and a certificate will beissued by the end of September2023. He asked the Collectors toreview the comprehensive sur-vey from time to time and seeif the targets are being met asexpected.

He directed the Collectors tohold Spandana programmesevery week and asked them notto depute some other official tohold it. He said that people rateCollector's performance in theSpandana programme, and toldthem to pay more attention toresolving public grievances. Hesaid that the grievance redres-sal will be conducted every dayat all village secretariats between3-5 pm and stated that all theconcerned officials should beavailable. Also, he suggestedconducting field enquiries withthe petitioner's whether theirissues were addressed or not.

The Chief Minister statedthat every MLA visits 10 secre-

tariats each month as part ofdoor-to-door campaign andinteracts with every householdregarding the government ini-tiatives and schemes. Assertingthat it is a government pro-gramme, he directed theCollectors to focus on resolvingthe issues that come to thenotice of MLAs. He stated thatsignificant progress has beenmade in all areas, includingeducation, health, women andchild welfare, municipal admin-istration and housing, where thegovernment had disbursed Rs1.41 lakh crore through DBT inthe last three years benefitinglakhs of people. He said that theState has made a special markat the national level, whereofficials across the country arelooking at State’s SDG indica-tors.

In regard to irrigation, theChief Minister stated that likenever before irrigation water toGodavari delta for kharif seasonwas released by June 1 and byJune 10, water will be released toremaining crop lands underKrishna delta, Guntur channel,Gandikota, Brahmasagar,Chitravati and Veligallu.

Special focus on employmentguarantee scheme, says CM

‘CENTRE OWES RS34,149.71 CR TO TS’PNS n SIDDIPET

Minister for Finance T HarishRao on Wednesday assertedthat the Union governmentowed Telangana State Rs34,149.71 crore. He made ascathing attack on the criticsagainst the State government.

He was holding a mediaconference along withMinister for Panchyat RajErrabelli Dayakar Rao.

Betting racket busted, 6 held

PNS n HYDERABAD

Sleuths of the Commis-sioner's Task Force, SouthZone, along withKanchanbagh Police, bust-ed a betting racket andapprehended 6 people. Netcash of Rs 35,580 and 6mobile phones were seizedfrom their possession.

vijayawada 03VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JUNE 2, 2022

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

CPM State secretary VSrinivasa Rao has said that theparty has been conductingdoor-to-door campaigns inthe city to know the problemsbeing faced by the people ofVijayawada.

The ruling YSRCP has beencheating the people in thenames of welfare schemes, healleged.

As part of the door-to-doorcampaign, CPM leaders visit-ed Krishnalanka area onWednesday and interactedwith the local people byenquiring about the govern-ment schemes.

Speaking on the occasion,Srinivasa Rao said that theState government had beenimposing additional taxes andhike in prices of essentialcommodities.

He said the people wereagainst the State government

for its indifferent attitude.Srinivas Rao said that the

people were feeling emo-tional while elaborating ontheir problems during thedoor-to-door campaign. Hesaid that the people wereready to teach a lesson to theruling YSRCP at the righttime.

He further alleged thatPrime Minister NarendraModi and Chief Minister YSJagan Mohan Reddy werecompeting with each other byimposing additional burdenson the common people in theform of taxes.

CPM State secretariat mem-ber Ch Babu Rao said thatYSRCP leaders were conduct-ing 'Gadapa GadapakuManaprabutvam‘ with the helpof police. “The ruling partyleaders claim that they are get-ting good response from thepeople which is not true,” hesaid.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Pelvic floor physiotherapyexpert Dr Uma Venkatesa hassaid pelvic floor physiotherapycan help to strengthen weakmuscles, particularly problemslike leakage of urine, organ pro-lapse, muscle laxity and also tostretch the tight muscles. Shewas talking during a webinarorganised by GITAM School ofPhysiotherapy here onWednesday.

She briefed that the pelvicfloor was made up of a layer ofmuscles covering the bottom ofthe pelvis that support thebladder and bowel in men and

bladder, bowel and womb inwomen. “Pelvic floor musclesbecome weak, too tight orpainful for many reasons. Pelvicfloor problems often start withpregnancy and a trained phys-iotherapist will prepare a spe-cific exercise program to trainand strengthen pelvic floormuscles,” she added.

While talking about theEMG biofeedback therapy, DrUma Venkatesa mentionedthat external electrodes or avaginal or rectal probe connect-ed to the biofeedback machinemeasured the strength of themuscles and provided informa-tion on a screen about when

and how strong you contract orrelax a group of muscles.

She advised that people whowere having problems likeirregular cycle, overweight,thyroid, anemia, leakage ofurine during cough or sneeze,pain in the pelvis and troublepassing urine must focus onpelvic floor health.

The programme was coordi-nated by GITAM School ofPhysiotherapy AssistantProfessor Dr. AnishmaChungath. School Director Dr.Madhuri Kasi spoke about theyearlong activities conductedby GITAM School ofPhysiotherapy.

PNS | VIJAYAWADA

The Vijayawada city policeintercepted Congress partyleaders and arrested thembefore taking part in the 'ChaloAmalapuram' protest. Theleaders were arrested whilethey were garlanding the BabuJagjivan Ram statue atRamavarappadu circle inVijayawada on Wednesday.

Congress party organised‘Chalo Amalapuram’ demand-ing Dr BR Ambedkar’s namefor Konaseema district. PCCchief Dr Sake Sailajanadh andother leaders were arrested by

the police and taken toMachavaram police station, as

there was no permission for theprogramme.

Speaking on the occasion,Sailajanadh said some peoplefelt that naming Konaseemaafter Ambedkar was a crime.He alleged that there was apolitical conspiracy to givenotification after one month."The arson in Amalapuramwas the conspiracy of rulingYSRCP leaders. What were thepolice doing when a huge mobtook to the streets," he asked.

He said that there was no useof Samajika Nyaya Bheri busyatra by the State governmentand said that the ruling partyleaders attacked the youth inAmalapuram. He said that the

police were creating hurdles forthem while going toAmalapuram.

"We want to go toAmalapuram and talk to localpeople. We want to try torestore peace in Amalapuram.Scrapping the internet ser-vices in Amalapuram is a baddecision. The State govern-ment should give us permis-sion to go to Amalapuramand we will definitely go there,”he said.

Congress leaders KVinaykumar, NaraharasettiNarasimha Rao, Vidyasagarand others were present.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Social Welfare MinisterMerugu Nagarjuna said thattwo training centres would beset up in the State at a cost ofRs 11.5 crore as part of devel-oping the tanning industry.The minister on Wednesdaysaid that steps were beingtaken to develop nine leatherparks located in different dis-tricts across the State. MinisterNagarjuna reviewed the activ-ities of the Andhra PradeshState Leather IndustriesDevelopment Corporation (APLIDCAP).

On the occasion, the minis-ter said that there were nineleather parks across the State –in Vennelavalasa in(Srikakulam), Addapusila(Parvathipuram), Nuzvid(Eluru), G Konduru (Krishna),Kolluru (Kurnool), Adigoppala(Palnadu), Yadavalli(Prakasam), Rachepalli(Anantapur) and Madakasira

(Satya Sai). He said the govern-ment had earlier allotted landfor these leather parks but insome places the land was beingtaken over for other public pur-poses as none of these activi-ties had been initiated.Minister Nagarjuna directedthe authorities to write to therespective district collectors

asking them to allocate alter-native lands to the lid capwhere the lands were thustaken.

Nagarjuna said LIDCAPhad 18 acres of land GKonduru in Krishna districtand 27 acres of land inYadavalli Prakasam district.He said training centres would

be set up at these two leatherparks at an estimated cost of Rs11.50 crore. The governmenthas allocated Rs 5.75 crore forconstruction of buildings ineach park and Rs 1 crore fortraining programmes.

The minister opined that thegovernment would also beable to promote if the LIDCAPproduces leather articles likeshoes and bags on its own.LIDCAP officials were alsoadvised to take the advice ofsenior officials of theDepartment of Social Welfarewhile undertaking develop-ment works related to theleather industry in the Stateand take any decisions with theconsent of all.

The minister asked them toprepare proposals on how toutilise the LIDCAP lands onthe main road in Autonagar inVijayawada city.

LIDCAP MD Dola Shankar,GM Swarnalatha and otherofficials were present.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A police constable was sus-pended on Wednesday fordeflating the tyres of cars ofTelugu Desam Party leaderswho were attending theparty’s two-day Mahanadu atOngole on May 27 and 28.Constable Yugandhar wasfirst taken out of his duty andsent on vacancy reserve. OnWednesday, PrakasamSuperintendent of PoliceMalika Garg, after dueinquiry, suspended the cop.The SP went through thevideo footage.It may be mentioned that TDPAndhra Pradesh president KAtchannaidu had alleged thatthe government and the policehad created hurdles toMahanadu and even warnedthe transport operators againstgiving buses to the peopleattending the event.

He said in the very begin-ning, the government hadrefused to give the stadium toMahanadu. Later, they deniedpermission for RTC buses.The RTOs and brake inspectorscalled the private bus ownerson the phone and warnedthem of serious action if theygave buses to the TDP leaders.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Rajya Sabha member SureshPrabhu laid the foundationstone for the SkillDevelopment Centre atGajuwaka Government ITICollege in Visakhapatnam onWednesday. The governmenthas sanctioned a total of Rs9.10 crore for the constructionof Skill Development buildingsin 13 districts, he said.

On the occasion, SureshPrabhu expressed his delight tolay the foundation stone of thisSkill Development Centre inVisakhapatnam. He said thatthe performance of AndhraPradesh in skill development isvery good and suggested thatskill training should be givento the youth. He launched theremaining 12 SkillDevelopment Centres virtual-ly from Visakhapatnam.

AP Skill Development

Corporation MD SSatyanarayana said that SureshPrabhu had sanctioned Rs 9.10crore for skill developmentcentres for 13 districts fromMember of Parliament LocalArea Development Scheme(MPLADS). He said that Rs 40lakh each was allotted for con-struction of buildings and Rs30 lakh each for equipment. Hefurther said that industry-friendly training programmes

would be given through SkillDevelopment Centers with 75per cent jobs to locals. In thecoming days, Skill Hubs will beaffiliated to colleges and skillcentres in 175 constituencies.

MLA T Nagi Reddy, MLCsMadhav, V Kalyani andRaghuvarma, Corporationchairpersons, SkillDevelopment Corporationexecutives and others werepresent.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

NTR District Collector S DilliRao has said that Tata Trustand Vasavya Mahila Mandalihave come forward to studyand examine the cause for thekidney diseases reported in AKonduru, Reddigudem andTiruvuru mandals. After com-pletion of the study, both theorganisations would give adetailed report. The DistrictCollector conducted an onlineconference with Tata Trustand Vasvya Mahila Mandalirepresentatives and Health,Rural Water SupplyDepartment officers onWednesday.

Speaking on the occasion,Dilli Rao said that many peo-ple were suffering from kidneydisease in A Konduru,Reddigudem, Gampalagudemand Vissannapeta mandals inNTR district. Recently, theHealth Department collectedand examined the serum bloodsamples from 871 people, iden-tified 104 persons who had twopercent creatine levels, he said.

He further said that 15 peo-ple were treated with dialysis

and the remaining prescribedtablets by the doctors. Thereports clearly show thatUranium and Magnesium arevery high in the groundwateralong with fluoride and siliconcausing kidney disease, headded. He said that a perma-nent solution would be soughtand appropriate suggestionswere necessary to eradicatekidney disease.

The Collector said that TataTrust and Vasavya MahilaMandali members wouldobserve the people's lifestyle,

food habits, and drinking bystaying in those mandals. Thecollector said that both theorganisations would stay therefor a week and the districtadministration would makeall arrangements and supportthem. He said financial sup-port would also be provided tothe two organisations if neces-sary.

Rural Water Supply (RWS)Superintendent Engineer (SE)NVV Satyanarayana said thatthe department was ready totake action for supply of drink-ing water. He said KrishnaRiver water had been sup-plied to villages under theMylavaram constituency and aproposal of Rs 37 crore wassent to the government forextending the pipeline fromMylavaram to A Konduru.

Tata Trust district managerMajoj Kumar, Vasvya MahilaMandali secretary Dr Reshmi,RWS EE DLN Prasad,Tiruvuru DEE Apparao, DMand HO Dr M Suhasini, addi-tional DM and HO Dr GUsharani and A Konduru PHCHealth Officer Dr Girija werepresent.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Vijayawada central MLAMalladi Vishnu said that theNavaratnalu Pedalandariki Illuhousing scheme was a greatinitiative aimed to providehouses for the poor. MLAVishnu laid foundation stonefor the construction of 172houses in the VMC layout atJagananna housing colony inSurampalli on Wednesday.

MLA Vishnu said that theState government was workingtowards the fulfilling of dreamsof the poor through the hous-ing scheme and claimed thatthe YSR Congress governmentis the only government in thecountry that has allotted landto 31 lakh poor families. Hesaid that in the Vijayawadacentral constituency, morethan 30,000 poor people gothouse sites which cost Rs 6lakh each. He said that theState government had spent Rs270 crore to provide lands tothe poor.

MLA Vishnu said that theprevious Telugu Desam gov-ernment’s decision not to buildmore than 10,000 houses inVijayawada city showed itspoor vision. He said that CMJagan Mohan Reddy was notonly providing lands for thepoor, but also the financial

assistance of Rs 1.80 lakh toeach beneficiary for construc-tion of houses. He further saidthat in addition to this,depending on the needs of thebeneficiaries the CM has beenproviding loans from bankersranging from Rs 50,000 to 1lakh.

Further, a review meetingwas held on Wednesday on theconstruction of houses of thepoor and TIDCO houses inthe central constituency. TheMLA enquired about the pay-

ment of money to the benefi-ciaries of TIDCO houses in theconstituency and officialsinformed him of payment ofRs.10.28 crore were beingmade. He asked the officials ofall departments to work incoordination to complete theconstruction of Jaganannacolonies without any delay.He instructed the officers tofocus on the creation of all theinfrastructure that is fullyaccessible to the people livingin the respective colonies.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

The taskforce sleuths nabbeda six-member red sanderssmuggling gang and seized 80red sander logs weighing abouttwo tonnes. A team led by RISuresh Kumar Reddy nabbedthe smugglers at Vadamalapeton the Puttur road in Chittoordistrict on Tuesday midnight.

Addressing media persons,Kurnool Range (DIG) andRed Sandal Taskforce in-charge Senthil Kumar saidthat the taskforce had beentaking stern actions to controlred sander smuggling withthe coordination of Police,Forest and other departments.

The DIG and SP MedaSundara Rao presented theculprits before the media onWednesday.

Senthil Kumar said that thetaskforce would chalk out astrategic plan to prevent illegaltransport of red sandalwood.He further said that he recent-ly met the Forests Minister anddiscussed how to crack downon illegal transport of redsanders.

The Preventive Direction

(PD) Act would be imposed onthose who were arrested manytimes, he added.

The DIG further said thatfocus would be on those who

helped smugglers to cross theborders. Strict vigil will be onthe Karnataka and Tamil Naduborders with the help of otherdistrict SPs, added the DIG.

Leather training centres tocome up in Krishna, PrakasamMeasures being taken to develop nine leather parks, says Minister

Constablesuspended Two organisations to study

kidney disease in A Konduru

Red sanders smugglinggang busted in Vijayawada

Police stop Cong's ‘Chalo Amalapuram’, arrest leaders

Stone laid for houses in Jagananna colonies

Former TDPleader lodgescomplaintagainst Lokesh PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Former Telugu Desam PartyMangalagiri mandal presi-dent Paleti Krishnaveni, onWednesday, filed a complaintagainst TDP MLC and partygeneral secretary NaraLokesh and his IT team forcirculating fake news by cre-ating a fake Twitter handle.

Speaking to the media afterfiling the complaint,Krishnaveni came downheavily on Nara Lokesh andhis social media team. Shesaid that they were insultingand degrading women in theparty. Lokesh and his entireIT team, in a pre-plannedmanner, were posting deroga-tory posts defaming women.

Explaining her ordeal,Krishnaveni said that theymorphed her tweet and post-ed fake news on social mediaand Lokesh was to be blamedfor this act. She said that thiswas a clear case of Lokesh’scheap politics using womenwho have left the party. Shesaid that as long as womenwere in the TDP, Lokeshtreated them respectfully, butif they left the party, he treat-ed them with disdain and dis-respect.

Football playerstabbed todeath inVijayawada

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

A State-level football playerwas stabbed to death by rivalsat Gurunanak Colony inVijayawada on Tuesday night.The deceased was identifiedas Akash from Jakkampudi.

A rowdy sheeter namedTony committed suicide inVambe Colony two days ago.During Tony's funeral, a dis-pute arose between two gangs,who were led by Akash andPrabhakar. After Tony's funer-al, members of both the gangsgot drunk and a dispute brokeout between them. Akash wasshifted to Gurunanak Colonyfrom the bar. However, therival gang came to know thelocation of Akash.

The Prabhakar-led gangwent to Gurunanak Colonyon Tuesday night and stabbedindiscriminately with knives.Akash was rushed to a near-by private hospital, wheredoctors declared him dead.

Police said that the scuffleat Tony's funeral led toAkash's murder. They iden-tified 16 stab injuries onAkash's body. After a prelim-inary investigation, the policedetained and interrogatedsome of the suspects.

YSRCP cheating people: Srinivasa Rao

Stone laid for SkillDevelopment Centre

‘Pelvic floor physiotherapy can help strengthen weak muscles’

04VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JUNE 2, 2022

PNS n GUNTUR

Municipal CorporationCommissioner KeerthiChekuri inspected the Jindalpower project on Wednesdayand reviewed arrangementsbeing made for the ChiefMinister’s visit.

Chief Minister Y S JaganMohan Reddy will inauguratethe Jindal Power project locat-ed at Naidupet near here onJune 6. The MunicipalCorporation Commissionerdirected the officials to com-plete the works of construct-ing a pylon in the premises.She asked the officials to expe-dite the sanitary works andgrowing greenery in the vicin-ity by June 6 th.

She examined the route inwhich the Chief Ministerwould reach the project. Shediscussed the arrangementswith the greening and beauti-fication corporation officials.

She told the plant officials thatafter inaugurating the plantthe chief Minister would goround the plant and see themachinery.

Keerthi Chekuri directedthe officials to remove bannersand cable wires around thearea and across the road. Shedirected the SE to personallymonitor the construction ofdais in the plant premises.

She directed the officials tocomplete the construction ofall stalls at the earliest. Sheinspected the routes throughwhich the Chief Ministerwould enter the premises andexit.

Jindal AGM Ramakrishna,municipal corporation SE DSrinivas, AP greenery andbeautification corporation MDRajasekhar Reddy, ADHRama Rao, CMOH Dr.Vijayalakshmi and city plannerBabu Rao were among thosewho accompanied her.

PNS n BAPATLA

Bapatla district Superintendent ofpolice Vakul Jindal here onWednesday inaugurated theArmed Reserved and MotorTransport offices.

After the formation of the newBapatla district, the ArmedReserve force is facing severalproblems. In order to resolve theproblems, the SP selected oldpolice quarters situated adjacentto the SDPO office here. It wasrenovated to accommodate vari-ous offices including the ArmedReserve.

The office was allocated to theArmed Reserve office, Districtsecurity wing team office (Bombdisposable team and personalsecurity wing), Bomb Disposableteam office, Motor Transportoffice and rest room for the staff.Speaking on the occasion, the SPsaid after the formation Bapatladistrict police were facing someproblems to house some depart-ments.

“We have selected the old PoliceQuarters in Bapatla town whichare not in use and the same wasrenovated for the Armed Reserveoffice, Bell of Arms office, District

security wing team office (Bombdisposable team and personalsecurity wing), Motor Transportoffice and rest room for the staff.In future we will establish dogsquad rooms and dog Kennels”,the SP said.

Armed reserve force officersand staff were felt very happy forproviding facilities for them andthanked him. Additional SP PMahesh, Bapatla DSP A SrinivasaRao, Chirala DSP P Sreekanth,DCRB DSP G Lakshmaiah andArmed Reserved RI B SrikanthNaik were among those who werepresent.

PNS n ONGOLE

Water was released from theNagarjuna Sagar project toPrakasam district to meet thedrinking water needs.

Since many localities arefacing acute drinking waterscarcity, the water resourcesofficials released water fromthe right canal.

Official sources here onWednesday said that the waterwas released at 57/2 mile nearChejerla in Guntur district.

1259 cusecs of water is flow-ing in the canal now. Thewater would enter Prakasamdistrict today.

The water would be usedto fill up irrigation tanks atMutukula in Pullalacheruvumanda l Dupadu,Nadigadda, Gollapalli inTripurantakam mandal,Lakshmipuram, Kurichedu,D arshi andSant hanut ha lap adu inDonakonda mandal andOngole SS tank.

PNS n ELURU

Minister for Water ResourcesAmbati Rambabu and BCWelfare minister Ch VenuGopal Krishna released forthe kharif season to theGodavari delta atDowleswaram barrage atRajahmundry on Wednesday.

As per the assurance ofreleasing water for the kharifseason by the government,water released to the Godavaridelta from Dowleswaram bar-rage. Ministers AmbatiRambabu, Taneti Vanita, MPsMargani Bharatram, VangaGeeta, MLA Jakkampudi Rajaand district in-charge ministerVenugopal Krishna performedpooja to the river Godavaribefore releasing water.

10,13,161 acres of agricul-tural land would be providedirrigation water for the kharifseason. 5.30 lakh acres in eastdelta, 2.81 lakh acres in west

delta and 2.02 lakh acres cen-tral delta would be gettingirrigation water for the kharifseason in advance.

Sources said that 1500cusecs of water were releasedto the Godavari delta. Speakingon the occasion ministerAmbati Rambabu said thatthe releasing of water wouldhelp the farmers to launch

sowing operations in advancewhich could save their cropfrom calamities like floods orcyclones which usually takeplace in November-December.District Collector Dr.KMadhavi Latha, RUDA chair-person M Sharmila ReddyEMC Sudhakar and other offi-cials were present on the occa-sion.

PNS n GUNTUR

City Mayor Kavati Shiva NagaManohar Naidu said that theuse of plastics, which are amajor threat to public healthand the environment, shouldbe curtailed and the ban on theuse and sale of plastics inGuntur city would be fullyimplemented from July 1.

On Wednesday, a specialmeeting was held at the CityCouncil with CommissionerKeerthi Chekuri and the rep-resentatives of the Chamber ofCommerce, Plastic MarketingCompanies and MarketTraders Associations on theban on plastic consumption inGuntur city.

Addressing the meeting, themayor expressed concern thatthe use of plastics is increasingand that plastic on the onehand is causing serious dam-age to public health and on theother hand to the environment.

He said the Central andstate governments had issued

guidelines on plastic ban toidentify the plastic hazard,adding that in order to achievea good rank in the clean rank-ings, the plastic ban must befully implemented in the city.

The Mayor said that recog-nizing the danger of plastic,cloth, jute and paper bags havebecome available as an alterna-tive to plastic covers in manymajor temples and shoppingmalls.

The Mayor urged the tradersand people to give their fullsupport in the pursuit of cleanGuntur as a plastic-free city inthe near future. He said thatrallies would be organized tocreate awareness among thepeople. The participation of thepeople of the city in this plas-tic ban is very important andthe people should also providefull support, Manohar Naidusaid.

Commissioner KeerthiChekuri made it clear that theplastic ban would be strictlyenforced from July 1 in Gunturcity. The use of this plastic issaid to cause many diseases.She said every shop would beinspected from July 1 andpenalties would be levied if itcontained banned plastic.

She said that the plasticbags fall into the city's mainand internal sewers, causingsewage or germs to form, caus-ing serious problems.

The Commissioner said thatthe National Green Tribunaland the Central and StateGovernments are paying spe-cial attention to the ban onplastics, stating that raidswould be conducted on man-ufacturing units soon.

The meeting was attendedby Chamber of CommerceGuntur District PresidentAtukuri Anjaneyulu, DeputyCommissioner T VenkataKrishnaiah, CUHOVijayalakshmi and traders.

PNS n TIRUPATI

The police seized 100 redsander logs worth Rs 3 croreat Cherlopalli cross onTirupati-Bangalore highwayin Chittoor district.

SP Rishant Reddy told themedia on Wednesday that ona tip off the police conductedchecking of vehicles at thecrossroads.

They found a car going athigh speed towards Veluru.

The police stopped the car andchecked. The police foundred sander logs in the car andarrested notorious red sandersmuggler Perumal and driverVelu.

On the information provid-ed by them the police seizedthree more vehicles and seized100 red sander logs worth Rs3 crore.

The arrested Perumal wasinvolved in several offencesincluding a murder.

PNS n AMALAPURAM

The police have so far arrest-ed 71 people in connectionwith the violence incidentswhich took place on May 24here in which the houses ofminister P Viswaroop andMLA P Satish were set on fire.

The police intensified themassive search operation toarrest the accused in the vio-lence incidents. The police gotspecific information on theinvolvements of some of thepersons. The special policeteams launched a massivesearch for them.

Konaseema district SPSubba Reddy, Krishna districtSP Siddartha Koushal andKakinada district SP MRavindranath Babu are person-ally monitoring the investiga-tion and the arrests.

Police officials said here onWednesday that seven policeteams were on the search tonab the accused in the violenceincluding setting ablaze to thehouses of minister, MLA andthree buses.

The police are using technol-

ogy to identify the accused.The CCTV footage and socialmedia footage are being ana-lyzed to identify the accused.

Officials said that peace andtranquillity prevailed inAmalapuram. The Internetservices have not been madeavailable to the public so far.

The police are thoroughlyquestioning the strangers whoare coming to the town.

The officials failed to giveclarity on when the Internetservices would be made avail-able in the town. The officialsinitially said that the Internetservices would be made avail-

able at Sakinetipalli andMalkipuram mandals but thathas not been done so far.

It may be mentioned herethat in protest against therenaming of Konaseema dis-trict as BR Ambedkar districtlarge scale violence took placein Amalapuram on May 24.

71 people arrested in connection with Amalapuram violence so far

Guntur Mayor urges people toreduce use of plastic material

STALKER STABS GIRL, HER MOTHERPNS n GUNTUR

A stalker stabbed a girl andher mother with a surgicalknife for rejecting his loveproposal and later stabbedhimself at Krishnanagarcolony here on Wednesday.

Police said that the accusedDharmateja went to the flat ofthe victim Gitasai and pickedup an argument. Suddenly heattacked her with a surgicalblade and stabbed. When hermother came to rescue herdaughter, he also stabbed her.Later he stabbed himself andtried to jump from the first

floor of the apartment. Theneighbours overpoweredhim, tied his hands and hand-

ed him over to the police.Police said that the accused

Dharmateja and victimGeethasai worked at a privatecompany in Visakhapatnampreviously. He used to harassher in the name of love. Whenshe informed the matter to herparents they asked her to quitthe job and stay with them inGuntur. However, the stalkerhad been harassing her overthe phone since then. Todayhe barged into her flat whenher father went out for morn-ing walk and stabbed her andher mother.

The girl and her mother

were admitted to a privatehospital where their condi-tion is said to be stable. Theaccused was admitted to theGovernment GeneralHospital. The Pattabhipurampolice arrested him andseized his mobile phone.

The family members ofthe victim told the media thatwhen she rejected his propos-al to marry him, he grew agrudge against her and hadbeen harassing her. Theyappealed to the police to filecases against him using firmActs and punish him strin-gently.

Water released to meet drinkingwater needs

Water released to Godavari delta

100 red sander logs seized,two smugglers arrested

Civic chief inspectsJindal power project

SP inaugurates Armed Reserve, Motor Transport offices

Legislature Securged to takeaction againstAyyannaPNS n VIJAYAWADA

YSRCP BC leader Dr ANRadhakrishna has urged the APLegislature Secretary to takeaction against former ministerand TDP senior leader ChAyyanna Patrudu for hisremarks against SpeakerTammineni Sitaram. In a letterto the State LegislatureSecretary, Dr Radhakrishnasaid that during his speech atMahanadu held at OngoleChintakayala, Ayyanna Patrudupassed unparliamentary andderogatory comments againstthe Assembly Speaker, whichwas very unfortunate. “As a cit-izen of this country, I requestyou to take stringent actionagainst Ayyanna Patrudu, whoinsulted the Speaker, and safe-guard the decorum of theLegislature,” he demanded.

PNS n VIJAYAWADA

Jaya Mohan, SCRWWO, pres-ident, Vijayawada, inaugurat-ed the renovated and beauti-fied Mahatma GandhiChildren's Park at RailwayInstitute, Satyanarayanapuram,on Wednesday. Jaya Mohanand the SCRWWO team,along with many children,planted saplings there.

On the occasion, JayaMohan said that physical fit-ness was a very importantaspect for the growing childrenand they must actively play tobeat their daily stress. She saidthat such children parks withgood amenities are very essen-

tial and would nurture thedevelopmental activity in chil-dren. She said that such ameni-ties are as important as publicamenities. She motivated thechildren to take part in theplantation programme andmade them plant parents, sothat they have affinity andassociation towards greeneryright from childhood. Sheappreciated the beautificationwork done by the Engineeringbranch, Vijayawada.

Dr Sarada, vice-president,SCRWWO, Vijayawada,appealed to the public to planttrees and make surroundingsand environment clean andgreen.

Saplings planted to mark park reopening

PNS n ONGOLE

The Prakasam district policehave traced 78 missing personsin just one month and hand-ed them over safely to familymembers.

Prakasam District SP MalikaGarg has taken a special focuson missing cases in the district.Due to the special initiative ofthe SP, the district police iden-tified 78 missing children,women and men in Maymonth and reunited them withtheir parents and relatives.

The SP conducted regular

meetings with the officers of allthe police stations and gaveappropriate guidelines andadvice for early detection ofmissing cases. The police car-ried out intense search opera-

tions with special teams toexpedite the cracking of miss-ing cases.

Police officers collectedcomprehensive information ofthe missing persons andsearched the surrounding areasfor them, traced 78 missingpersons and handed them oversafely to their parents.

The family members ofmissing persons expressedtheir heartfelt thanks to the SP,the police officers and thestaff for locating the missingpersons and handing themover safely.

Prakasam police trace 78missing persons in one month

nation 05VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JUNE 2, 2022

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R Gehlot expert in ‘elephant trading':Rathore on horse-trading charges

Rajasthan Deputy Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rajendra Rathore on Wednesdaytargeted Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for accusing the BJP of horse-trading,saying the Congress leader himself is an expert in "elephant trading", referring to

BSP's election symbol. He said Gehlot brought Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs tothe Congress while being the chief minister twice. He said, "It was not just 'elephanttrading' but he swallowed the entire‘elephant' (BSP) in the state." All the sixBSP MLAs had joined the Congress in2019. During Gehlot's earlier term aschief minister in 2009 as well, all BSPMLAs had defected to the Congress. "Thechief minister levelled allegationsyesterday that the MLAs were given thetemptation of Rs 35 crore. All agenciesare with the CM, why clear things do notcome to the fore? He only tries tomislead the people by speaking lies,"Rathore said.

Indian-origin Malaysian fined forsmuggling pythons into Singapore

An Indian-origin Malaysian truck driver was fined over USD 3,600 on Wednesday forsmuggling two reticulated pythons into Singapore from southern Malaysia.Pulenthiran Palaniappan, 51, was fined after he pleaded guilty to one count of

importing a protected species without a permit, Channel News Asia reported. Two morecharges of failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the pythons were not transported in asafe manner were considered for sentencing. Reticulated python is a python species nativeto South and Southeast Asia. It is theworld's longest snake. In severalcountries, it is hunted for its skin, foruse in traditional medicine, and for saleas pets. The reptiles were seized onApril 7 by Immigration andCheckpoints Authority officers whoinspected a Malaysia-registeredcontainer truck driven by Palaniappan.The two pythons were euthanised afterthey were found to have severe, chronicand irreversible health conditions.

Noida Authority razes over 50 illegalfarmhouses on Yamuna floodplains

Over 50 farmhouses that had come up illegally along the Yamuna floodplains in Noida in UttarPradesh were razed down during a major anti-encroachment drive on Wednesday, officialssaid. The demolished properties were located in an area spanning 1,45,000 sq metre and

estimated to be costing around Rs 55 crore, the Noida Authority officials said. "Any type ofconstruction is prohibited in the (Yamuna)floodplains area in Noida. Today, seven illegaland unauthorised farmhouses/constructionsdemolition proceedings were carried out on25,000 square metres of land in Gulawalivillage. In today's action, a total of 145,000 sq.land, cost Rs 55 crore was removed fromencroachment," Noida Authority CEO RituMaheshwari tweeted in Hindi. NoidaAuthority's Officer on Special Duty (Land)Prasun Dwivedi said besides Gulawali, illegalfarmhouses and constructions in Tilwadavillage were also demolished during theoperation that started at 9 am on Wednesday.

PNS n JAMMU

Asserting that peace cannot berestored by the use of armyand police in Kashmir,National Conference PresidentFarooq Abdullah battedstrongly for bringing all polit-ical parties on board to findout a way to tackle this gravesituation and said people wantprotection of their families.

Abdullah asked the gov-ernment to be very alert dur-ing forthcoming Amarnathyatra and said if there is onesingle untoward incident dur-ing the yatra, there will becountrywide repercussions.

"They (government) willhave to think about the secu-rity aspect. They will have todo something (to ensure secu-rity of these Hindu employ-ees). Please call leaders of dif-ferent political parties to findout way as to how we controlthis (security) crisis," Abdullahtold reporters here on Tuesday,referring to the targetedkillings in the valley.

Former chief minister saidthat nothing (resorting of

peace) will happen without it."It (restoration of peace) can-not be restored through armyand police," he said.

In reply to a question aboutthe security challenge toAmarnath yatra, he said, "Godforbid, if there is even oneuntoward incident, repercus-sion of which will not only befaced by Jammu and Kashmirbut entire India. They (govern-ment) have to be very alert andcautious."

Asked about suspension ofMata Kheer Bhawan yatra inKashmir, he said that securi-ty and safety is prime thing foranyone and his family. "If aperson is not safe, how can herun daily affairs. Everyoneseeks safety first and safety ofthe family. There is no safetyand security today."

Asserting that there cannotbe peace in Jammu andKashmir till you win hearts ofthe people , Abdullah saidkilling of a teacher gives a vividpicture of security situationand shows the level of peaceprevailing in the Union terri-tory.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Utt ar Pr a d e s h C h i e fMinister Yogi AdityanathWednesday said there was"distrust" among the peo-ple against the govern-ment before 2014, andseparat ism, extremismand terrorism were on therise.

Addressing a press con-ference at the BJP stateheadquarters here on thecompletion of the Modigovernment's eight years,the CM said the situationchanged after 2014 whenthe BJP-led governmentcame to power with theslogan of "Sabka Saath,Sabka Vikas" (inclusivedevelopment).

" T h e re w a s d i s t r u s tamong people against thegovernment before 2014.Separatism, extremismand terrorism were on therise. Anarchy was at itsp eak . C orr upt ion hadb ecome inst i tut iona l , "Adityanath said.

KP staff say ‘preparing' formass migration over killingsPNS n SRINAGAR

A group of Kashmiri Panditemployees, who were givenjobs under a prime minister'spackage for the community,Wednesday began prepara-tions for "mass migration" outof Kashmir, protesting againsta series of targeted killings ofnon-Muslim employees by ter-rorists.

The group said they weremeeting truck-ownersWednesday to negotiate a ratefor transporting their goods.

Hours after a female teacherwas shot dead by terrorists inKulgam district, an organisa-tion of KP employees hadthreatened to leave the Valleyif the government did notrelocate them to safer places in24 hours.

"We have come to fix the ratewith truck-owners. Let's see ifany decision comes from thegovernment by this evening. Ifnot, then we will migrate from

here tomorrow," one of theirrepresentatives said hereWednesday.

"We have decided that if thegovernment did not take anyconcrete step for us (safety)within 24 hours, there will bemass migration again," one ofthe employees said here.

He said the target killing ofKashmiri Pandits is continuingand the community is now

tired of making appeals withthe government.

"We should be relocated sothat we can be saved. Ourdelegation had met the LGearlier and we had askedhim to save us. We are askingfor temporary relocation fortwo to three years till the sit-uation in the valley returns tonormal. It is the same timeframe put by IGP Kashmir

for making Kashmir terror-ism-free," he added.

Rajni Bala, hailing fromSamba district in Jammudivision, was shot dead byterrorists Tuesday inside thegovernment school inKulgam where she was post-ed.

Before her, Rahul Bhat, aclerk in the office of TehsildarChadoora in Budgam dis-trict, was shot dead inside hisoffice on May 12.

Umesh Talashi, a NationalConference leader fromsouth Kashmir, hit out atthe BJP for the present situ-at ion. "Back to 1990,#KashmiriPandits out fixingthe rates with truck driversfor shifting their base toJammu after back to back tar-get killings in #Kashmir.Another exodus on cards.#BJP missed to mention thiswhile showcasing their 8years of achievements yester-day!!" Talashi tweeted.

Shimla woman recalls how Modi taught her to make ‘khichdi'PNS n SHIMLA

A day after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's Shimla visit,a local BJP leader's wiferecalled how he had taught herto cook the perfect 'sabu danakhichdi' when he was in chargeof the party's HimachalPradesh unit in the late 90s.

Seema Sharma, wife of localBJP leader Deepak Sharma,told PTI that it was during theNavratras in 1997 when shehad cooked khichdi for Modi,but it was not up to his expec-

tation. He then showed herhow to cook the dish, sherecalled.

During his Shimla visit onTuesday, Modi asked ChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur aboutDeepak Sharma. Thakur latermentioned this in his addressat a rally at the Ridge Maidan.

Thakur said Modi's con-nection with ordinary BJPworkers of Himachal Pradeshcan be gauged from the factthat he enquired whetherDeepak Sharma still goes tothe Jakhu temple on foot.

When contacted, Sharma, anominated councillor in the

Shimla municipal corpora-tion, said his joy knew nobounds when he learnt thatModi remembered him andenquired about him.

He told PTI that Modi usedto frequent his eatery, DeepakVaishav Bhojnalya, and resi-dence located at Middle Bazaarin Shimla when he was thestate BJP in-charge during1997-98.

Sharma said Modi used toobserve fast during theNavratras twice a year. Duringthe first Navratras in March,

Modi used to take only water,and during the second onebefore Dussehera, he used tohave fruits etc, he added.

Sharma recalled that Modiexpressed willingness to have'sabu dana khichdi (sago)'during the second Navratrasin 1997, and his wife SeemaSharma cooked for him, butit was not up to his expecta-tion.

Modi was then staying at thePeterhoff Hotel, Seema Sharmasaid, adding that he had calledup to speak to her and taught

her how to cook the perfect'sabu dana khichdi'.

"Since then, whenever Icook 'sabu dana khichdi', Icook it the way Modi taughtme," Seema said, expressingher gratitude to the primeminister for remembering herhusband.

Deepak Sharma said he hadbeen visiting the famous Jakhutemple in Shimla daily for thelast 32 years and Modi had alsoaccompanied him 10-12 timesduring his time as the state BJPin-charge.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Delhi High CourtWednesday directed the DelhiPolice to take action against itserring officials found not fol-lowing the COVID-19 normsof wearing masks and ridingtwo-wheelers without helmets.

A bench of Acting Chief JusticeVipin Sanghi and Justice SachinDatta said police officials shouldbe leading by example by comply-ing with the law and they arebound to follow Delhi Disaster

Management Authority (DDMA)guidelines on COVID-19 as anyother citizen. Police officers areequally bound by directions issuedby DDMA, as any other citizen.We are of the view that they shouldlead by example, the bench said.It directed the Delhi Police to takeappropriate action against thoseofficials who are found violatingthe norms of masks and also theMotor Vehicles Act by ridingtheir vehicles without helmetsand added that the action be takenwithin six weeks.

PNS n CHANDIGARH

The Punjab police onWednesday said it will ques-tion jailed gangster LawrenceBishnoi after bringing him tothe state in connection with themurder of Punjabi singerSidhu Moosewala.

According to the police,Bishnoi's gang was behind thekilling.

At present, Bishnoi is in cus-tody of the Delhi Police'sSpecial Cell in a case under theArms Act and other sectionsrelated to assault on a publicservant.

Famous Punjabi singer andCongress leader Moosewalawas shot dead on Sunday byunidentified assailants inPunjab's Mansa district, a dayafter the state governmentcurtailed his security cover.

Talking to reporters inMansa on Wednesday, SeniorSuperintendent of PoliceGaurav Toora said the policehave got important leads and

they are working on it.On whether Mansa police

will bring Bishnoi on remand,the SSP said, "Definitely. Wehave information that theDelhi Police has taken theremand of Bishnoi. After thatwe will make him join theinvestigation in this case as perthe law."

Meanwhile, Bishnoi hadfiled a plea before the DelhiHigh Court, claiming appre-hension of a fake encounter bythe Punjab Police.

He had sought direction to

the Tihar Jail authority and theDelhi Police to ensure that nec-essary safeguards, includingvideography, are taken for hissafety before giving his custodyto any other state police,including the Punjab Police.

On Wednesday, however,he withdrew the plea. Hiscounsel submitted beforeJustice Swarana Kanta Sharmathat he wished to withdraw thepetition and wanted to file itbefore the Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court.

The Punjab Police hasdescribed Moosewala's murderas a case of an inter-gangrivalry. Canada-based GoldyBrar, who is a member of theBishnoi gang, has claimedresponsibility of the murder.

SSP Toora further said thepolice have traced the routethe criminals involved in themurder took. "From wherethey came, how they con-ducted a recce and how theyescaped we have cleared thisall," he said.

PNS n AYODHYA (UP)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Wednesday laid thefoundation stone for the sanctumsanctorum of the Ram temple,which he called India's victoryagainst invaders and a symbol ofthe country's unity.The construction of the Ramtemple in Ayodhya wasinaugurated by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in August 2020,after a landmark verdict by theSupreme Court that settled theRam Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjiddispute. Wednesday's "shilapujan" marked the beginning ofthe next phase of constructionthat of the main temple -- nowthat a base for it has already beenbuilt. This part of the temple isexpected to be built and open topeople a few months ahead of the2024 Lok Sabha election.

Adityanath laid the stone amid thechanting of mantras in thepresence of Ram temple trustofficials and Deputy ChiefMinister Keshav Prasad Maurya."This is India's victory against theinvaders," he said at the event,calling it a great moment of pridefor every Indian. The Babrimosque was demolished in 1992by right-wing kar sevaks ,claiming that a temple markingLord Ram's birthplace oncestood there but was razed on theorders of Babar who founded theMughal empire in India.

Adityanath hails Modi govt on 8 years in office

Adityanath launches next phaseof Ram temple construction

‘VICTORY AGAINST INVADERS'

BJP puts Unionministers incharge for RSpolls in 4 statesPNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP on Wednesdayappointed Union minis-te rs Nare n d r a S i ng hTomar and Gajendra SinghShekhawat as its in-chargefor Rajya Sabha polls inRajasthan and Haryanarespectively, two stateswhich are headed for akeen contest with theentr y of independentsbacked by the party and itsallies.

The party also appoint-e d Un i on m i n i s te rsAshwini Vaishnaw and GKishan Reddy as in-chargefor Rajya Sabha electionsi n Ma h ar a s ht r a andKar nat a k a , t wo ot h e rstates headed for a contestwith the number of candi-dates more than the seatsat stake.

Polls will be held forfour seats in Rajasthan,six in Maharashtra, four inKarnataka and two inHaryana on June 10.

Prosecution seeks capital punishment for convictSAKINAKA RAPE-MURDER CASE

PNS n MUMBAI

The prosecution onWednesday demanded capitalpunishment for the 45-year-old man who had raped andmurdered a 34-year-oldwoman in Sakinaka area inMumbai by inserting a rod inher private parts lastSeptember, saying this offencefalls under the "rarest of rare"category.

The accused, Mohan

Chauhan, was convictedunder various provisions ofthe Indian Penal Code forrape and murder on May 30by additional sessions judge,(Dindoshi court) H C Shende.

The court is likely to decideon his sentencing onThursday.

"This is an offence againsta woman and that too awoman belonging to a sched-uled caste that makes it moreserious," advocate Mahesh

Mule, appearing for the pros-ecution, argued in the courton Wednesday.

"This is a gruesome, diabol-ical attack on a hapless, lone-ly woman at odd hours of thenight, thereby raising fear forwoman's safety in a metropol-itan city like Mumbai," headded.

The prosecution said thecase squarely fits into the cri-teria of a "rarest of rare" caseand hence capital punish-

ment should be awarded tothe accused.

Chauhan had raped the34-year-old woman in a sta-tionary vehicle and inserted arod in her private parts inSeptember last year.

The woman died the nextday during treatment at thecivic-run Rajawadi Hospitaldue to a heavy loss of blood.

The police had filed acharge sheet in the case just 18days after the incident.

Moosewala murder: Punjab policeto question jailed gangster Bishnoi

BJP steps up attack onKejriwal over hisdefence of JainPNS n NEW DELHI

Intensifying its attack on DelhiChief Minister ArvindKejriwal over his defence ofSatyendar Jain, the BJP onWednesday cited a host ofdetails linked to the moneylaundering case allegedlyinvolving the city health min-ister and asked why he hasbeen "protecting" him.

Union Minister Smriti Iraninoted that Kejriwal had saidon Tuesday that corruptionwas tantamount to "gaddari"(betrayal) with the country.She asked why the AAPnational convener was givingprotection to a "gaddar" (trai-tor) who allegedly deceived thetreasury and the people.

Irani fired off a number ofquestions at Kejriwal, whohas slammed the EnforcementDirectorate case of moneylaundering against Jain asforged and politically motivat-ed as she shared details.

AIADMK dubsBJP it ‘anti-Tamil'PNS n CHENNAI

The BJP's key ally in TamilNadu, the AIADMK onWednesday slammed theSaffron party alleging that it isanti-Tamil and claimed thatthe party could never grow inthe state.

The alliance with the BJPwas merely an 'electoral adjust-ment' and the Saffron party'sideology is diametricallyopposite to that of theAIADMK, veteran partyleader C Ponnaiyan said.Ponnaiyan alleged that theBJP is continuously 'imposing'Hindi despite AIADMK's stiffopposition all along. "Theimposition of Hindi is manytimes more than what it wasduring the Congress-led gov-ernments at the Centre," hetold PTI. "We firmly stand bythe 2-language policy of Tamiland English." Ponnaiyan, afounding member of theAIADMK, is the party's organ-isation secretary and a seniorspokesperson. A formerMinister during the previous

AIADMK regimes, he waspart of the Cabinet led by bothparty founder M GRamachandran and late leaderJ Jayalalithaa.

He said the AIADMK isopposed to the NationalEligibility cum Entrance Testfor medical admissions. TheBJP, however, is 'forcing' thetest on Tamil Nadu and thishas led to a scenario of 'stu-dents from northern states',taking away a chunk of seatsin medical colleges in thestate, he alleged. While 'stateautonomy' is a fundamentalprinciple of his party, the for-mer Minister said the BJP-ledcentral government hasreduced state governments tothe level of a 'village panchay-at' by taking away the rights ofstates like those related totaxation. Pointing to theSupreme Court judgment onCauvery river water issue andinter-state river water matterslike the Mullaiperiyar, he con-demned what he termed theBJP's 'step-motherly' treat-ment towards Tamil Nadu.

HC directs action against officialsfor violating COVID-19 norms

‘Peace cannot berestored by army andpolice in Kashmir’

Financially beholden tosome Sheikhdoms, OIC is sus-ceptible to their traditionalpositions and fixations (how-soever regressive, revisionistand illiberal), which ensures‘bloc’ mentality within, andstymies progressive evolution.Despite unbelievable finan-cial-energy clout of OIC, itstrack record in the foundation-al case of Palestine againstIsrael (with a population of 9.5million, against the OIC’s pop-ulation of 1.9 billion) is amost glaring failure. Shamefulselectivity of Ummah causesespoused depends on the sov-ereign conveniences of themain powers — so issues per-taining to Kurds, Ahwaz,Ahmediyas, Hazaras, Berbers,Houthis or even on the sys-tematically persecutedUyghurs remain dubiouslymealy-mouthed. Crucially, itensures that OIC’s discreditedposition on ‘terrorism’ isinvariably blurred, often con-textualised, and given tounpardonable justifications.

While it remained veryvocal on the West/‘Others’ fortheir supposed insensitivity,mishandling and denial ofmigrants from Iraqi-Syrianlands or the Rohingyas, buteven with their trillion-dollartreasuries, none of these

Sheikhdoms offered to rehabil-itate the fleeing migrants intotheir own lands andeconomies. One such realm ofrecurrency and manufacturedoutrage has been the issue ofKashmir — never viewed fromthe prism of hard facts, histo-ry or terrorism, but from emo-tive blindness of co-religiosi-ty. Aided immeasurably by thehyperventilating Pakistaniswhose existential logic ispremised on two-nation the-ory of religious denomination,the constantly pinged issuesustains and binds Pakistan, anotherwise failing and implod-ing country. Like Palestine,which is given to occasionalnoise and theatrical chest-beating with no consequences=== Kashmir meets similarfate, albeit with even more dis-interest and perfunctory state-ments (save for the Pakistanisand their newly anointedwingman, Turkish PresidentRecep Erdogan).

With Abraham Accordsnormalising relations of mostSheikhdoms with Israel, andwith Pakistanis getting embar-rassed with the IsraeliPresident confirming the visitof a ‘Pakistani delegation’, theno-bite reality of OIC is gettingincreasingly exposed. India’sown bilateral and strategic

relations with powers likeSaudi Arabia, the UAE andIran (in contrast to the fickleand often flaring relationswith Islamabad) are makingparallel noises from the mean-ingless platform of OIC evenmore irrelevant.

The irony of OIC’s dodgyobservation on Kashmir ismagnified by two other obser-vations; one preceding and theother succeeding the one madeon Kashmir. The earlier state-ment condemns blasts inKabul without suggesting anynames or reason, and the lat-ter applauds formation of‘Committee on Girl’sSecondary School” inAfghanistan by the de factoauthorities === rather carefulnot to use words like terrorism,Taliban, ISIS-Khorasan etc.Meanwhile, it sweepingly andspecifically expressed “con-cern” over the pronounce-ment of life imprisonment toYasin Malik, a self-confessedwrongdoer! Such hypocrisyand protection offered even tounremorseful terrorists likeYasin Malik is the principalreason that OIC has not beenable to call a spade a spadewhen required, and resorted toplatitudinous ‘concerns’ simplyowing to co-religionists. Thisdoes immense disservice to thereal cause of global perceptionsand peace within Ummah inthe long run.

It is no one’s case that OICcannot express contrarianviews from that of the dispen-sation of any country, but therules of expression must be fair,consistent and based on inter-national law. OIC’s ‘concern’was rightfully slammed byIndia, in the full know thatbeyond the rote positions takenby outdated platforms likeOIC, the bilateral equationswith major powers withinUmmah are on solid founda-tion, and that OIC remains agrandstanding relic of the past.

(The writer, a militaryveteran, is a former LtGovernor of Andaman &Nicobar Islands andPuducherry. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc, is appar-ently fed up with the work-from-home concept. His sudden outburst against theelectric-carmaker’s executive staff members who have (habitually) taken to work-

ing for the offices from remote locations surprised many, shocked a few and wowedjust a handful, too. Musk waded into the now-warming-up return-to-office debate onTwitter by elaborating in an email, under the subject line “Remote work is no longeracceptable”, that “anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for aminimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This isless than we ask of factory workers”. Musk also strongly responded to a followerasking him to address people who think going into work is an antiquated concept:

“They should pretend to work somewhere else.” Butyou can’t really hold his terseness against the guy.After all, he is not the world’s richest man for noth-ing. He is a thinker, a visionary, a performer, a doerand an achiever (though his promise in 2011 of“putting a man on Mars in the next 10 years” is stillnot fructified, and doesn’t seem likely any time soon!).

Also, it’s not for the first time that Musk has treat-ed his employees with a whiplash. A Silicon Valley ven-ture capitalist recently recorded an anecdote regard-ing the man’s management style belonging to the peri-od just before Musk reached a deal to acquire TwitterInc. According to it, Musk once noticed a gang ofinterns at the Space Exploration Technologies Corp

hanging around a coffee machine at work. Obviously, he didn’t like it and threatenedto fire all the interns if it happened again. To show he meant it, he had security cam-eras installed to monitor compliance. Musk’s email to Tesla’s executive staff suggestsTwitter’s lenient work policy will also change once he takes over. The above-mentionedventure capitalist has already predicted that employees at Twitter, one of the most promi-nent companies to allow permanent remote work, are “in for a rude awakening”. Twitteremployees are already worried about losing jobs once Musk takes over as their bossin the months to come. However, there are still people who think that coming physi-cally to office is an antiquated concept. Well, not really, if Musk is your boss!

Union Minister Prahlad Singh Patel’s statement that there would soon be a law tocontrol population, may revive the debate over the issue. It is undeniable thatrapid population growth undermines economic development, especially the efforts

to eradicate poverty as raising per capita income becomes difficult. Per capita incomeof a nation is reached by dividing its national income by its population. It is the aver-age amount of money every national earns. It is a major economic indicator. India’sper capita income was hovering around $2,000 before the novel Coronavirus hit theworld. India figures very low in the global per capita ranking, around 145. After theCOVID pandemic, and the lockdowns that ensued, it fell further, going below even thatof Bangladesh, the country which is widely known for its poverty and misery. Rise in

population adversely affects the rise in per capitaincome. It is, therefore, imperative that the growth inpopulation is reined in. Thankfully, there is some goodnews on this front. The total fertility rate (TFR) — thatis, the average number of children born to any womanin her lifetime — came down from 2.2 in 2015-16to 2 in 2019-21. This was one of the major findingsof the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey,or NFHS-5. The survey, which began in 2019, wasconducted for over two years. In fact, India’s currentTFR is below the replacement level of fertility of 2.1.The replacement level fertility means zero population

growth: in a generation, a population exactly replaces itself.The slowdown is the result of decades of Government efforts, economic develop-

ment and modernisation. NFHS-5 underlined a few trends. For instance, there was acorrelation between high population growth and poverty. The TFR in Bihar was 2.98,followed by Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) and Manipur(2.17). Incidentally, the five States are also among the poorest in the country. Anotherinteresting aspect was that the number of children per woman declines with women’slevel of schooling. Further, the education levels among women are inversely related tothe number of children they are likely to bear. The TFR for unschooled females was2.8 children, whereas it was 1.8 children for women with 12 or more years of school-ing. Evidence clearly shows that economic growth and education are the best curesfor high population growth rate. So, while the Minister’s concern about population con-trol is genuine, the way out that the Government seems to be contemplating, a law tocheck the growth rate, may not be quite needed. Worse, such a law can also be con-strued or misconstrued as a move targeting Muslims — something an aspiring eco-nomic power can ill afford. It must also be noted that while population growth amongMuslims is higher than that in other religious groups, it is declining, as among otherreligious communities. It would be better to let the trends continue and increase focuson education and economic growth.

Tightening screws

SINGER KK’S DEATH IS A MAJOR LOSSSir — It’s saddening to learn about the sud-den and untimely demise of Bollywoodsinger Krishnakumar Kunnath, aka KK(53). After a concert in Nazrul Manch,Kolkata, a video showed him lookingunwell while being rushed out. He wentback to his hotel where he was “almostmobbed” by fans where he stumbled andfell to the floor (he had injuries on the leftside of his forehead and on his lips). Hereportedly suffered from chest pain anddied on the way to hospital.One is unable to understand why theorganisers did not rush him to a hospitalas soon as he felt unwell, instead of tak-ing him to the hotel. A fit person’s suddendeath, that too of a cardiac arrest, surelyindicates KK was a victim of mismanage-ment. KK began his career by singing3,500-odd advertisements and jinglesbefore breaking into Bollywood andmade his film debut with an AR Rahmansoundtrack. The postmortem report mayreveal the real reason for his death, but thenation has lost one of the young popularsingers whose many songs linger on in themind. My deep condolences to the fam-ily of the talented singer!

Bidyut K Chatterjee | Faridabad

TERROR HITS THE VALLEY AGAINSir —In yet another incident of targetedattack on minorities in Jammu andKashmir, a Hindu schoolteacher wasfired at by terrorists in Kulgam district ofKashmir. Barely a week ago, 35-year-oldsocial media influencer Amreen Bhat wasshot dead by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists.The killing of non-Muslims in Kashmirsince October 2021 has refused to stop.This is 13th such incident. The organisa-tion of Kashmiri Pandits has given a 24-hour ultimatum to the Government toshift them outside the Valley, otherwisethere will be collective decampment. A spate of killings of innocent civilians inrecent days in Kashmir has again led towidespread unease, particularly among theregions with religious minorities and

brought the Government’s claims of peacein question. There were around 3,50,000Pandits in late 1980s in the Valley and nowonly 2,764 are left. The Government musttake strict steps against terrorism and againplan for the return of minorities in theValley without any casualties. TheGovernment must establish peace in themost beautiful part of our country and givea fitting answer to the terror-mongers.

Ishita Patidar | Ujjain

A TOAST TO CARTOONISTSSir — Cartoonists are creative people withexceptional courage. Their work on pol-itics, corruption and other sensitive issuesgives them a witty look, laced with satire,and that calls for a great amount of intre-pidity. The critical voice of a cartoonist,especially a political cartoonist, can pro-vide a vital safety valve for a society. Bymocking politicians for their excesses andfailings, cartoonists hold them account-able. A caricaturist provides insights into

power relations, key social issues andevents. Many powerful political figureshave been skewered by a cartoonist’s sharppen over lies, machinations and crimes.Cartoons are both a strong plea and astress test for freedom, tolerance and asociety’s ability for conducting a dialogue.And it doesn’t matter whether you live ina dictatorship or a democracy. As histo-ry repeats and patterns emerge, two pop-ular aphorisms fortify the independentvoice: 1) “The pen is mightier than thesword”; and 2) “A picture is worth a thou-sand words.” Said Jen Sorensen, theAmerican cartoonist and illustrator whowas named a Pulitzer finalist in editorialcartooning in 2017: “Cartoons are a greatmedium for demonstrating just howabsurd something is, without ever havingto say it directly.”

Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai

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

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VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JUNE 2, 2022

06

Send yyour ffeedback tto:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Tough loveElon Musk has unequivocally told his staff toresume working physically in Tesla’s offices

PICTALK

Now, people in Germany can use a nine-euro ticket for public transport, which is valid for a whole month AP

FUNDAMENTALLY, ITVIOLATES THE

UNIVERSALIST ANDPOLITICO-

THEOLOGICALCONCEPT OF UMMAH

BY RECOGNISINGINDEPENDENT

NATION STATES. ITHAS FAILED TO

SHOWCASE ANYUNITY, ESPOUSAL OR

SOLUTION TO ANYMEANINGFULCHALLENGE

LETTERS TO TTHE EDITOR

BHOPINDER SINGH

The Govt should focus on education and economyrather than on plans to control population

Though the British liberated India onAugust 15, 1947, the bittersweet memo-ries of Colonial rule still linger in our

minds. Indians have always cherished greatmemories of the glorious past and kept pass-ing these down to the next generations. Now,Britain is going to celebrate the platinum jubileeof the Queen’s reign from June 2 to June 6.The royal couple has been to India many timessince 1961 at then President Rajendra Prasad’sinvitation and they were the guests of honourat the Republic Day Parade at the time. They

returned in 1983 also, when President GianiZail Singh hosted them at Rashtrapati Bhawanwhere they presented Mother Teresa with anhonorary Order of Merit.

In 1997, as India celebrated the 50thanniversary of Independence, the Royal cou-ple was invited but faced protests over theJallianwala Bagh massacre. The Queen in herbanquet address, however, admitted: “It is nosecret that there have been some difficultepisodes in the past. Jallianwala Bagh is a dis-tressing example.” And the following day, shereached Jallianwala Bagh amid protests whereshe bowed her head and placed a wreath atthe memorial. Queen Elizabeth also hostedthree Indian Presidents: Radhakrishnana(1963), R Venkataraman (1990) and PratibhaPatil (2009). Also, she allayed many Britishers’fears about passing on her crown to heir PrinceCharles, when she declared that “Camila willbe known as Queen Consort”.

Azhar A Khan | Rampur

The Queen’s platinum jubilee

OIC remains justa relic of the past

The Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation(OIC) is predicated onrestrictive and exclu-

sivist-religio concept of ‘the col-lective voice of the Muslim world’,or the Ummah. Religion as theonly criteria, as opposed to geog-raphy, scale of development ormutual interest binds the limit-ed membership of 57 memberStates. Fundamentally, it vio-lates the universalist and politi-co-theological concept ofUmmah by recognising indepen-dent nation States === butbeyond this genealogical fracture,it has failed to showcase any sig-nificant unity, espousal and,above all, any solution to anymeaningful challenge facing theIslamic world. From Algeria toMalaysia, the swathes of Ummahtrickling down to Nigeria,Somalia, Mozambique and aboveto Turkey and the Central AsianRepublics have remained miredin violence, turmoil and wars fordecades. Mostly, the bloodbath inOIC countries is within them-selves ie, Saudi-Iran, UAE-Yemen, Turkey-Kurds, Iraq-Kuwait and Syria-Lebanon.

The sectarian and divisiveundercurrents of Arab versusAjam (a slur, literally translatingto ‘mute’, applicable to non-Arabic speakers of Ummah)have traditionally split the OICat its seams, beyond other con-tradictions, divisions andintrigues within. A hauntingvideo of Libyan dictatorMuammar Qaddafi warningchuckling and giggling Arableaders in Syria 2008, shows himblowing the hypocrisy of OICunity: “A foreign force occupiesan Arab county and hangs itsleader while we are looking andlaughing.” He then adds chilling-ly, “In future, it is going to be yourturn too.” Telling of the disuni-ty, insincerity and empty postur-ing of the OIC, it certainly cametrue for him and many otherswithin years! The group’s ineffi-cacy in jointsmanship extends toits supposed joint military arm,Islamic Military CounterTerrorism Coalition (inked byonly 41 OIC members), headedby former Pakistani Army chiefGen Raheel Sharif.

SOUNDBITEThe country isgetting out of thevicious cycle ofcorruption,scams…andnepotism.

Prime Minister— Narendra Modi

We will not giveUkraine missilesthat could beused to targetRussia.

US President— Joe Biden

Satyendar Jain was

arrested to prevent

him from going to

Himachal (for poll

strategy).

Deputy Chief Minister

— Manish Sisodia

I have an unbelievable feeling. I was sonervous in the end but I’m happy now.

Danish tennis player— Holger Rune

The OIC’s hypocrisy on even unremorseful terrorists like Yasin Malik is themain reason it has not been able to call a spade a spade when required

I think the StateGovt and the policehave failed... Theyremoved his(Moosewala’s)security.

Singer— Ashok Mastie

civil war in Pakistan. To divertattention, Rawalpindi might resortto terror attacks against the Indianinterests to escalate the tensions thatmight endanger the South Asianpeace and security. The next fewmonths are all the more critical forIndia's security. In such a scenario,India's operational preparednessshould be high.

To defeat terror, India shouldintegrate its available and newtechnologies with the help of Israeland the US.There can be activecooperation between the two coun-tries for technology transfer or thedirect purchase of the Iron DomeAir Defense System to protect mil-itary installations prone to attacksby Pakistan-based proxies. RafaelAdvanced Defence Systems havedeveloped the Iron dome. Its Activecooperation with ISRO and DRDOcan be sought to collaborate onfuturistic weapons based onArtificial Intelligence and preciseweaponry for external and internalsecurity purposes. If made possible,it can significantly defeat Pakistan'ssinister objectives.

Israel has also gained expertisein weaponising intelligence wherethe adversary's military and prox-ies' build-up are internationallyexposed. The exposure of the covert2010 military deployment ofHizbollah and the 2018 secretatomic warehouse in Tehran areexamples wherein Israel has active-ly used its intelligence to avoid esca-lation. Intelligence weaponisationsends strong signals that the covertoperations have been exposed andneed to be halted immediately; fail-ing which surgical strikes can soonfollow. Also, it serves as an essen-tial tool in perception managementand psychological warfare, whichplay an essential role in building upthe narratives in the home country

and the international communityapart from the adversary popula-tion. Coordination in intelligencecan be helpful for India, wherein itcan expose the terror launch padsfrom across the LOC. Such mea-sures can also have the sword ofbeing blacklisted in FATF hangingover Pakistan. Nevertheless, the useof strategic communication wit-nessed in the post-Pulwama non-military surgical strikes can beclubbed with intelligence weapon-isation to restrict the scope ofPakistan's terror manoeuvring.

Concerningenergy security, ithas to be recalled that India couldnot materialise its TAPI and IPIpipeline dream because of thePakistan factor. However, to over-come the geographical constraint ofPakistan, apart from the othergeopolitical competing interestslike thePak-Turkish alliance, Modihas crafted the 'Act West' policy.Other strategic interests includeintelligence sharing, defence, cyber,and maritime security. From afuturistic perspective, the emer-gence of multilateral Mediterranean"security architectures" has becomeprofound with the discovery of nat-ural gas fields in Israel's EasternMediterranean offshore Tamar(2009) and Leviathan (2010), apartfrom Cyprus's Aphrodite (2011)and Egypt's Zohar (2015).

The rise of the EastMed ener-gy alliance that intends to take nat-ural gas to Europe can be anessen-tialnatural gas source for India. IftheAbraham accord,which is already inplace, can be extended to includeSaudi Arabia, the natural gas can bebrought to India too via underwa-ter pipelines. The same week BennyGantz would be in India, Israel'sNSA Eyal Hulata is scheduled tomeet his US counterpart JakeSullivan in Washington to nor-

malise relations between Israel andSaudi Arabia. If all goes well, thealliance between Israel, the U.S.,Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. would bein place, and India can join thealliance for its energy and securityrequirements. Last year, the logic ofIndia's strategic alliance axes got astronghold with the first closed-door virtual meeting between for-eign ministers of India, Israel, UAEand the US. India is on its path tobe a part of the formulation of astructural framework that could bea win-win situation for the region-al and the extra-regional players topush back the terror-sponsoringcountries apart from the expansion-ist forces.

As President Joe Biden hasdecided to retain the IranianRevolutionary Guards on the USlist of sanctioned terror organisa-tions, it might negatively affect theprospects of a new nuclear dealwith Iran. This will lead to thesharpening of the strategic polar-isations in India's western neigh-bourhood, and China's influenceover Iran is bound to increase.Simultaneous geopolitical conver-gences between India, Israel andthe US to fight terror will alsoincrease the threat factor. India andIsrael have to be cautious concern-ing the attempts of the variousproxy groups to harm the Israelidiplomats in India. For instance,Tal Yehoshua-Koren, wife of theIsraeli defence attache to India, wastargeted in 2012 while an explosiontook place near the Israeli Embassyon the 29th Anniversary of theestablishment of the bilateral rela-tions. It is only through jointefforts in human and signal intel-ligence that such attacks can beaverted. Overall, the future isbright for India's overwhelmingpresence in West Asia.

Israel ties sharpenIndia's military edge

GETTING BLINDED BY PERSONAL AMBITION IS

A LUXURY YOU AND I CAN’T AFFORD IN THIS

FIGHT. IT’S A BIGGER FIGHT.

—CONGRESS SPOKESPERSON

PAWAN KHERA

SONIA JI PERSONALLY COMMITTED TO

ACCOMMODATE ME IN THE RS IN 2003/04…

I ASK, AM I LESS DESERVING?

—MAHILA CONGRESS GENERAL SECRETARY

NAGMA

Whenever the next elections to Telangana Assembly are held,it could be as early as May-June next year or December 2023as scheduled, it is going to be a three-cornered contest. TRS

has a whopping 103 out of the total of 119 MLAs in TelanganaAssembly. It won 88 seats in the 2018 elections. Congress had got19, AIMIM bagged seven, TDP two and the BJP won only one. Later,12 Congress MLAs, two TDP MLAs and one independent MLA joinedthe ruling TRS bulging its strength.

The BJP claims it can win 70 seats. The confidence comes fromits wins in the by-election to Dubbaka seat andHuzurabadconstituencies..Etala Rajendra, former health and financeminister, who left the TRS and joined the BJP won against heavy odds.The TRS used all its forces and resources under the leadership of HarishRao, known for his political abilities. The saffron party's remarkableshow in the elections to Greater Municipal Corporation of Hyderabadadded to its glamour. With the Congress in a quagmire with endlessdissensions and seniors in the party not reconciling to the appoint-ment of Revanth Reddy, a young leader who came from the TDP, asthe PCC president, the BJP thought its time has come. However, theCongress may have quarrelling leaders but its vote bank appears tobe intact.

TRS for the first time in recent months trained its guns at theCongress. Harish Rao , Minister for Finance and Health, called RahulGandhi inefficient and incapable of running the party. K Taraka RamaRao (KTR), KCR's son and Minister of IT and Municipal Administration,of late, has been very vocal in his attacks against Narendra Modi andthe BJP. KCR, on his part, has been taking on Modi and the NDA gov-ernment. KCR was ignoring the Congress as though it is not goingto be a player in 2023 elections. But the huge crowds at Warangalat the recent Rahul Gandhi rally forced the TRS to attack Rahul andthe Congress. Congress leaders are acutely happy that the TRS lead-ers have started to take notice of their presence.

Rahul's meetings gave a boost to the sagging morale of theCongress leaders and workers. He said he would follow the Warangalmeet with another gathering of tribals to discuss their specific prob-lems. If the Congress can clear the mess at the top and concentrateon States such as Telangana, it can hope to gain in 2024.

The BJP has been trying assiduously to build upon the work doneby RSS leaders in the constituencies reserved for dalits and adiva-sis. There are 19 seats for dalits and 12 for adivasis in Telangana.Whoever wins majority of them would come to power.

If the Congress and the BJP have the same pull on the voters, itwill be advantageous to the TRS since both the opposition parties willshare anti-incumbency vote equally thus giving an edge to the rulingTRS. If either Congress or the BJP becomes weak, it will go againstthe TRS since the majority of anti-TRS vote will be hogged by the sec-ond-best party. It is a matter of fact that most of the TRS MLAs areunpopular, as reportedly suggested by poll strategist Prashant Kishor(PK). As of now, the BJP is not in a position to field candidates insome of the constituencies in districts like Nalgonda and Khmmam.If KCR followed PK's formula and changed the candidates in someof the seats where the sitting MLAs are perceived to be weak, theBJP would welcome the disgruntled MLAs, give them party ticketsand try its luck.

(The writer is a senior journalist and Editor, primepost, a newswebsite based out of Hyderabad. The views expressed are personal.)

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JUNE 2, 2022

07

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FIRSTCOLUMNWHERE THE BIG 3 STAND

IN TELANGANA POLLS

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

NISHTHA KAUSHIKI

BJP buoyant, TRS incumbent,and Congress finds votes intact

IF ALL GOESWELL, THEALLIANCEBETWEEN

ISRAEL, THEUS, SAUDI

ARABIA ANDUAE WOULD BEIN PLACE, AND

INDIA CAN JOINIT FOR ENERGYAND SECURITY

REQUIREMENTS.LAST YEAR,

THE LOGIC OFINDIA'S

STRATEGICALLIANCE AXES

GOT ASTRONGHOLD

WITH THEFIRST CLOSED-DOOR VIRTUAL

MEETING

(The writer is anAssistant Professor atCentral University of

Punjab, Bathinda. Theviews expressed are

personal.)

The BJP is setting goals towork continuously tillIndia's independence

centenary in 2047, riding onthe strength of its strong eight-year of reign 'ensuring ease ofliving' for the poor and themiddle classes.

The goal is set by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inhis address to party workers inJaipur and the strategy finalizedfor "Sewa, Sushashan andGareeb Kalyan" campaign. Theparty and the governmentcarved out an intense blitzkriegof publicity, one-to-one contactwith a view to capturing all thestates that are not in its fold.Too ambitious but with 744central schemes and 72 spon-sored programmes and mil-lions of cadre across the statesit finds the task tough but notdifficult.

Even the march to Dakshin- the South - is part of its yatra.Its senior leaders are carvingout strategies in Chhattisgarh,Telangana and Andhra. Modilaunched projects worth`31,500 crore to target TamilNadu. The massive campaign isto make all believe in its eco-nomic feat, improvements inliving standards, digital econ-omy inclusion of the poor, acaring government for a grandsuccess by 2024 in Lok Sabhaand at least 16 states that go tothe polls in the next two years.

The thrust of the BJP ingovernment or the party wouldbe to focus on the wider ben-efits that the programmes likeDBT, PM Kisan and SwachhaBharat, universal vaccination,various pension and employ-ment schemes, includingMahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guarantee.The core would be nine-

plus programmes that havetouched the neo-aspirant class-es. They reach the householdsand is said to make qualitativedifference to the living condi-tions. It is not aspiration butthe basic needs like Har GharJal, Har Ghar Shauchalay(Swach Bharat Mission), HarGhar Bijli (Saubhagya Yojana),Har Ghar Gas Cylinder(Ujjwala Yojana ), Har GharRation (Gareeb Kalyan Yojana),

Har Ghar Bank account (JanDhan Yojana), Har GharSwasthya (Ayushman Yojana),Har Ghar Teeka, Har GharPakka Ghar.

The schemes are reachinggrass root levels and stated tobetter lives of the poor. Evenseparate meets with differentcaste and dalit groups areplanned. The BJP claims suchstrategies led to shifting of the8 percent extreme poor minor-ity votes in UP elections.

The income of the com-

mon man has also almost dou-bled. It's not untrue but arecent PM's EconomicAdvsiory Council report men-tions that five to seven percentof the country's income comesfrom the top one percent, while15 percent earn less than ̀ 5000a month.

The report card says thatMSP for wheat in 2014 was`130 per quintal and rice ̀ 1310per quintal, in 2022 wheat is`2015 and rice 1940; farmers'monthly income has risen to`10428 from `6426 in 2014.Employment rate was 42.8 coreand now 39.98 crore; 3.4 per-cent were unemployed andnow it is 8.7 percent. Accordingto Pew research, the middleclass shrank by 35 million whilethe number of people whowere pushed to poverty was 75million because of Covid-19

pandemic-led recession.It may be one of the

longest canvassing and cam-paigning for a party that has tocapture a number of statesheld by the opposition. Somelike Telangana chief ministerK Chandrashekar Rao hasposed a challenge. Parties likeAAP are eyeing Himachal andGujarat. Ten states will formnew governments in 2023 andfour states that are to haveelections by June 2024 maycast vote with the Lok Sabhaelections.

An election is a toughgame so the party is taking itsblitz to booth level, accordingto BJP president JP Nadda. TheBJP stress is more on man-to-man contact by lakhs of partyworkers in the most remote vil-lages to explain to the peoplewhat the party has done for

them beyond the free fooddole. Thousands of groupswould carry on the re-educa-tion of the masses in all states.

How big is the campaignsplash is anybody's guess. TheUPA government too hadsplurged Rs 2658 crore as perofficial statements on publici-ty. During the eight years theBJP has also spent a substantialsum. The early start by the BJPwill pressurise its opponents tomatch the splurge to remainrelevant.

The central governmentspent `1698 crore on publici-ty and advertisements between2018 and 2021 for print andelectronic media. The party hasseparate state-wise budgets.

The campaign for the next25 years is ambitious, not easy,and aims at changing the gamutof Indian politics.

The party’s stress is more on man-to-man contact by lakhs of party workers in the most remote villages

March to 2047: BJP targets poor, ease of living

(The writer is a senior jour-nalist. The views expressed

are personal.)

SHIVAJI SARKAR

RAMACHANDRA MURTHY KONDUBHATLA Bilateral relations with Israel arethirty years old, one aspect ofwhich, sources indicate, is thatcountry extending military help to

India even during the Cold War period,especially during the 1971 war withPakistan. Its no-strings-attached helpwith ammunition and laser-guided mis-siles during the Kargil conflict years laterhad transformed the battlespace in India'sfavour. The contribution of Israel can beassessed just by the Phalcon air radar sys-tem and the joint production of the Barakmissile defence system.

Previous governments could not strikea balance between Israel and Palestine andhence always saw Israel from the prism ofthe Palestinian issue. On the other hand,Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017and 2018 visited Israel and Palestine,respectively, and this marked the first-evervisit of India's political leadership. In2018, the then Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu paid an official visitto India. Since then, the relations betweenthe two countries have seen an upward tra-jectory.

The security and the foreign policyacknowledged that India's pursuit of politi-co-strategic equilibrium remains incom-plete without Israel. Through the multi-alignment policy, India has de-hyphenat-ed its relations with Palestine, and hencehas moved much ahead with Israel in termsof cooperation in counter-terrorism mea-sures, including intelligence sharing andmissile supplies. The use of precision-guid-ed Spice bombs in the non-military surgi-cal strikes strongly indicates the choice ofweapons that Israel can offer to India. AsIsraeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz is onan upcoming visit, it becomes essential toanalyse the possible contours of coordina-tion between the two countries.

The Quad Joint Leaders' Statement2022 condemned the Mumbai and thePathankot attacks and pledged to "take con-certed action against all terrorist groups,including those individuals and entities des-ignated pursuant to the UNSC Resolution1267(1999)". This is a significant develop-ment as the perpetrators of 26/11 contin-ue to be shielded by Pakistan. The state-ment might indicate a crucial upcomingdevelopment. Is it possible that the CIA,Mossad and RAW can actively coordinateto use different coercion tools against theterror groups that harmed the joint inter-ests of the three?

Possible coordination between thethree agencies is necessary from anotherperspective. The recent use of RocketPropelled Grenade Launchers (RPG) in theMohali terror attacks and the findings thatthe US military hardware left inAfghanistan is now landing in Kashmirexpands the horizon of Pakistan's proxywar against India. The shrinking foreignexchange reserves and mounting externaldebtapart from the Baloch and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan attacks on the militaryestablishment might lead to a full-blown

Through its multi-alignment policy, India has de-hyphenated relations withPalestine, and gets cooperation from Israel in a range of Defence measures

VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JUNE 2, 2022 Money 08

MO

NE

Y M

AT

TE

RS

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday said Ashwani Bhatia, former managingdirector of State Bank of India (SBI), has taken charge as its whole-time member.Bhatia will handle the department of debt and hybrid securities, alternative investment

fund and foreign portfolio investors department, market intermediaries regulation andsupervision department, corporation finance investigation department and office of investorassistance and education, Sebi said in astatement. Apart from Bhatia, Sebi hastwo whole-time members -- S KMohanty and Ananta Barua. "AshwaniBhatia took charge as whole-timemember, Securities and Exchange Boardof India, in Mumbai, today," the statementnoted. Prior to this assignment, Bhatiaheld the position of managing director inSBI. He has an experience of over three-and-a-half decades in the State BankGroup where he joined as a ProbationaryOfficer in 1985.

State-owned CIL on Wednesday said it produced 108.2 million tonne of coal in the first twomonths of the ongoing fiscal year, registering year-on-year increase of 28.8 per cent. Thecompany had produced 84 million tonne (MT) of coal in April-May last fiscal year, Coal India

Ltd (CIL) said in a filing to BSE. The company's output in May increased to 54.7 MT from 42.1 MTin the corresponding month of previous fiscal year, the filing said. "Accelerating its production, CILposted a strong 30 per cent output growth inMay'22. The increase in volume terms was12.6 MT," the PSU said in another filing.Facing a production target of 700 MT for2022-23, which entailed 12.4 per centgrowth rate at the beginning of the fiscalyear, CIL brought down the year's askinggrowth rate to 9.9 per cent by the end of lastmonth. "Admittedly, sustaining the level ofgrowth witnessed so far, throughout theyear, is difficult but we will be monitoring theprogress month by month to augment theoutput," said a senior official of the company.

The rupee on Wednesday recovered from its record low to close 20 paise higher at 77.51(provisional) against the American currency. At the interbank forex market, the rupeeopened at 77.58 against the greenback and moved in a range of 77.51 to 77.62 in the day's

trade. The rupee finally ended at 77.51, higher by 20 paise over its previous close. On Tuesday,the rupee had declined by 17 paise toclose at its all-time low of 77.71 againstthe US currency as surging US bondyields dampened the appeal of riskierassets. The dollar index, which gaugesthe greenback's strength against abasket of six currencies, rose 0.15 percent to 101.90. Brent crude futures, theglobal oil benchmark, surged 1.84 percent to USD 117.73 per barrel. "Rupeecontinued to trade in a narrow rangeand volatility remained low despitemarginal weakness in domestic andglobal equities.’’

Ashwani Bhatia takes charge asSebi's whole-time member

Coal India production at 108 MT in Apr-May

Rupee recovers from record low,spurts 20 paise to 77.51 per US dollar

PNS n MUMBAI

The Sensex and Nifty nursedlosses for the second straight ses-sion on Wednesday, pressured bysteep declines in IT, FMCG andpharma counters amid a mixedtrend overseas.

High crude oil prices, lacklus-tre macroeconomic data andforeign fund outflows also playedspoilsport.

The 30-share BSE Sensexdeclined 185.24 points or 0.33per cent to settle at 55,381.17 ina see-saw session.

On similar lines, the broaderNSE Nifty dipped 61.80 points or0.37 per cent to finish at16,522.75. Nestle India was thetop loser among the Sensex

components, skidding 2.99 percent, followed by TechMahindra, Bajaj Finserv, SunPharma, HCL Tech, HUL,PowerGrid and UltraTechCement. In contrast, M&M

topped the winners' chart, climb-ing 1.32 per cent, after thehomegrown auto major posteda multi-fold jump in total salesin May. HDFC rose 0.94 per centafter the mortgage lender

announced a 5 basis points (bps)increase in its benchmark lend-ing rate. Kotak Mahindra Bank,Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, ITC andNTPC were among the othergainers.

The market breadth was neg-ative, with 20 of the 30 Sensexstocks closing in the red."Continuous rise in crude oilprices due to EU's decision topartially ban Russian oil hin-dered global market. Indianeconomy registered a growth of8.7 per cent in FY22 but isexpected to slow down in FY23to 7.2 per cent, as per the latestRBI forecast. "Auto sales data,posted by major manufacturers,witnessed growth in passengerand commercial vehicle seg-

ments due to pick up in the con-struction sector. However, two-wheeler and tractor segmentscontinued to remain under pres-sure," said Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch at Geojit FinancialServices.

The Indian economy grew atits slowest pace in a year duringJanuary-March at 4.1 per cent,pulling down the GDP growth inthe full fiscal 2021-22 to 8.7 percent, as per official data releasedpost market hours on Tuesday.

Economists said the outlookfor the current fiscal yearremains clouded as globalcrude oil prices have hardenedback to USD 120 per barrelafter increased sanctions onRussian oil.

Balyan concerned over low pricerealisation by poultry farmersPNS n NEW DELHI

Union Minister Sanjeev Balyanon Wednesday expressed con-cern over the low price reali-sation of poultry farmers andwarned that the governmentmay have to intervene in caseof their exploitation by privatecompanies. The Minister ofState for Fisheries, AnimalHusbandry and Dairying alsodirected his department tosoon call a meeting of allstakeholders to address thisissue. The minister also pulledup the National DairyDevelopment Board (NDDB)for not being able to set up acooperative outside Gujarat,which is as successful as Amul.

Addressing an event, Balyansaid, "We (Government ofIndia) have to intervene ifsmall poultry farmers areexploited. The issue of marketintegration of poultry farmerswith companies needs to beaddressed".

Poultry farmers, having abroiler farming contract withprivate companies, are gettinglower realisation. Even a 2005

study by Ludhiana-basedGuru Angad Dev Veterinaryand Animal Science Universityhas found that the poultryfarmers were paid way belowthe cost of production, hesaid. While the total costincurred by a farmer was Rs11.15 per kg, the return wasonly Rs 6.41 per kg, incurringa loss of Rs 4.75 per kg, he saidand asked if the private com-panies want to operate like anEast India Company.

As a result of poor marketintegration and lower pricerealisation, the minister saidthere has not been a single

successful poultry farm in thelast ten years. Balyan direct-ed his department secretaryto hold a stakeholders' meet-ing to address this issue andensure there is better marketintegration. On the sidelinesof the event, PoultryFederation of India (PFI)President Ranpal Dhandasaid the cost of productionquoted by the study was 2005rates. "Now, the cost has fur-ther increased. It is about Rs28.53 per bird, but farmersare getting in the range of Rs14-16 per bird under thecontract farming."

GST revenues up 44 pc atnearly Rs 1.41 lakh cr in May PNS n NEW DELHI

GST revenues bucked the two-month rising trend in May andstood at nearly Rs 1.41 lakhcrore, registering a year-on-year increase of 44 per cent.

Although the May Goodsand Services Tax (GST) rev-enues came in lower than therecord high collection in Aprilat Rs 1.68 lakh crore and Rs1.42 lakh crore in March, it isstill the fourth highest collec-tion since the rollout of thenew indirect tax regime on July1, 2017.

In February, revenues fromtaxing sale of goods and ser-vices was at Rs 1.33 lakh crore,while in January it was Rs1,40,986 crore.

"The gross GST revenuecollected in the month of May2022 is Rs 1,40,885 crore ofwhich CGST is Rs 25,036crore, SGST is Rs 32,001 crore,IGST is Rs 73,345 crore(including Rs 37,469 crorecollected on import of goods)

and cess is Rs 10,502 crore(including Rs 931 crore collect-ed on import of goods)," theFinance Ministry said in astatement.

The revenues for the monthof May 2022 are 44 per centhigher than the GST revenuesin the same month last year atRs 97,821 crore.

This is the fourth time that

the monthly GST collectionhas crossed the Rs 1.40 lakhcrore mark since the inceptionof GST and the third straightmonth since March 2022.

"The collection in May,which pertains to the returnsfor April -- the first month ofthe financial year -- has alwaysbeen less than that in April,which pertains to the returns

for March, the closing of thefinancial year. "However, it isencouraging to see that even inthe month of May 2022, thegross GST revenues havecrossed the Rs 1.40 lakh croremark," the Ministry said.

The total number of e-waybills generated in the month ofApril 2022 was 7.4 crore, whichis 4 per cent less than 7.7 crore

e-way bills generated in themonth of March 2022. DeloitteIndia Partner M S Mani saidthe stability demonstrated byGST collections exceeding Rs1.4 lakh crore over the pastthree months is a good indica-tor of the growth of the econ-omy and ties in with the othermacroeconomic indicatorsincluding the GDP numbers.

"Significant efforts in auditsand analytics have also led toa drive against tax evaders,inculcating a tax complianceculture," Mani said.

ICRA Chief EconomistAditi Nayar said the high year-on-year growth reflects the lowbase of the second wave.

"Nonetheless, the May 2022GST collections are robustcompared to the Q4 FY2022trends, benefitting fromimproved compliance, mar-ket share gains by the organ-ised sector as well as the trans-mission of higher commodityprices into output prices,"Nayar said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

An individual has settled withSebi a case pertaining toalleged failure to carry outadequate "due diligence" withrespect to grant of loans byReligare Finvest, a subsidiary ofReligare Enterprises, after pay-ing Rs 44.2 lakh towards settle-ment amount.

The order came after theindividual, Pankaj Sharma,filed an application with Sebiproposing to settle the regula-tory violations "without admit-ting or denying the findings"through a settlement order.

"The instant adjudicationproceeding initiated againstPankaj Sharma in the matter ofReligare Enterprises Ltd videSCN ...dated February 15, 2021is disposed in terms ...of theSettlement Regulations," Sebisaid in a settlement orderpassed on Tuesday. Pursuant to

receipt of the complaints, Sebiinitiated an investigation in thematter of Religare EnterprisesLtd (REL) to examine the alle-gations of financial misman-agement and diversion of fundsof REL through its subsidiaries

for the benefit of REL's pro-moters or promoter connect-ed entities.

The investigation alsoascertained whether there wasany violation of the provisionsof PFUTP (Prohibition of

Fraudulent and Unfair TradePractices) during the periodbetween April 2011 to March2018.

Based on the findings of theinvestigation, it was primafacie observed that funds tothe tune of Rs 2,473.66 crorewere alleged to have beendiverted from REL throughReligare Finvest Ltd (RFL) topromoters/promoter groupentities of REL.

It was also observed that theindividuals approving the rel-evant loans of RFL as well asdirectors of RFL, includingSharma, had failed to carryout adequate due diligenceand exercise independentjudgment with respect to thegrant of loans/investments byRFL during the period ofinvestigation. Therefore, itwas alleged that the applicanthad violated the provisions ofPFUTP rules.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL) onWednesday announced that ithas entered into a JV withItalian toy manufacturingcompany Plastic Legno SPA byacquiring a 40 per cent stake inits India business for an undis-closed amount.

This investment would helpRBL in bringing in verticalintegration for its toy businessand diversify the supply chainwith a long-term strategicinterest in building toy manu-facturing in India, a joint state-ment said. Plastic Legno SPAis owned by the Sunino groupthat boasts more than 25 yearsof toy production experiencein Europe. RBL, a subsidiary ofReliance Retail Ventures Ltd,also has a strong play in the toyindustry with its portfolio ofBritish toy retailer Hamleysand homegrown toy brandRowan. Hamleys, currently,has a global footprint across 15countries with 213 doors andis India's largest chain of toystores. RBL spokesperson saidthis collaboration with PlasticLegno's deep experience inworld-class toy manufacturingcoupled with Reliance's strongfooting in the global toy retailindustry will open new doorsand unparalleled opportunities

for toys manufactured in India."It is imperative for RBL to

build design to shelf capabili-ty for a strategic advantage overthe competition and to be anaccelerator in building a robusttoy manufacturing ecosystemin India not only for domesticconsumption but also for glob-al markets," he added.

Sunino Group co-ownerPaolo Sunino said: "We arevery privileged to have RBL asa partner in this Joint Venture.We are confident that PlasticLegno's experience in Toysproduction and Hamley's com-mercial outreach, will comple-ment one another to enable theJV Company to achieve greaterheights and success. We haveimportant development plans

to implement, always in thespirit of creating a culturalbackground in this specificsector in India". Plastic LegnoSPA had started its India busi-ness in 2009 out of a need todevelop a strong productionhub that would cater to glob-al markets, but more impor-tantly to the fast-evolving andgrowing Indian market.

Sunino is a over 100 millionEuros privately held group ofcompanies. Founded inCastellamonte, near Turin,Italy, it gained the tradition ofprocessing wood during the1950s and in 1968 entered thepolystyrene foam market, in1988 the thermoplastic mould-ing sector and in 1992 the toysector.

OYO adds over 1,250 new corporate clients since MarPNS n NEW DELHI

Travel tech firm OYO onWednesday said it has addedmore than 1,250 corporateclients in the last three months,indicating that business travel inIndia may be rebounding postlifting of COVID-induced trav-el restrictions.

The recovery is led by smalland medium enterprises, tradi-tional business houses and con-glomerates, startups, travel man-agement companies and filmproduction houses, which haveemerged as a key customer cat-

egory for OYO in recent times.The list of top cities searched andbooked by corporates includeBangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai,Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata,

Pune and Delhi, OYO stated.Small and medium businessescontinue to contribute signifi-cantly to the business travelbookings as more and more

people from this segment opt forphysical interactions -- still a keyfactor for them to expand theirbusiness, the company added.OYO's Business Accelerator divi-sion has serviced over 6,600 cor-porate clients since January 2021,it added. Commenting on thegrowth in corporate travel, AnkitGupta, Chief Executive Officer,OYO India said the appetite forbusiness travel has returnedstrongly since the frequentchange in travel restrictions hasebbed, making travel planningfor business trips more certainand predictable.

HDFC hikeslending rateby 5 bps

PNS n NEW DELHI

Mortgage lender HDFC Ltdon Wednesday announcedan increase in its benchmarklending rate by 5 basis points(bps), a move that will makeloans dearer for both existingand new borrowers. This isthe third hike effected byHDFC in the last one month."HDFC increases its RetailPrime Lending Rate (RPLR)on housing loans, on whichits Adjustable Rate HomeLoans (ARHL) are bench-marked, by 5 basis points,with effect from June 1,2022," the housing financecompany said in a statement.The revised rates for new bor-rowers range between 7.05per cent and 7.50 per cent,depending on credit scoreand loan amount. The exist-ing range is 7 per cent to 7.45per cent. For existing cus-tomers, the rates would riseby 5 basis points or (0.05 percent). Last month, HDFChad increased its benchmarklending rate by 35 basis pointsmaking EMI for existing bor-rowers expensive.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India's petrol and diesel salessoared in May on the back ofa surge in summer travel toescape from the heat and vaca-tion during annual breaks ateducational institutions, pre-liminary industry data showedon Wednesday.

Petrol sales by state-ownedfuel retailers, which controlroughly 90 per cent of the mar-ket, at 2.8 million tonnes inMay was 55.7 per cent higherthan the same period last yearwhen a devastating secondCOVID-19 wave wreakedhavoc on the economy.

This consumption was 76per cent higher than thedemand in May 2020 and 12per cent more than 2.5 milliontonnes of sales in the pre-COVID May 2019. Month-on-month sales were up 8.2 percent, as per the preliminary

data. Diesel, the most-used fuelin the country, saw sales jump-ing 39.4 per cent year-on-yearto 6.82 million tonnes in May.This was, however, 2.3 per centlower than sales in May 2019.It was 1.8 per cent higherthan 6.7 million tonnes ofconsumption during April thisyear.

Industry sources said con-sumption in May is higher

because of demand returningafter high prices in the previ-ous month impacted sales.Also aiding the demand wasthe start of the harvesting sea-son.

Another factor was the lowbase effect. April saw con-sumption drop due to a Rs 10per litre hike in petrol anddiesel prices after an over four-month hiatus.

Reliance Brands to acquire 40%stake in Italy's Legno toy biz

India's fuel sales soar in May Individual settles case with Sebi in RE issue

Sensex, Nifty extend losses for 2nd day

9

Vijayawada Thursday June 2, 2022 what’s brewing?Rachel Zegler to play the lead in

The Ballad of Songbirds & SnakesZ

egler first promptedspeculation about hercasting by tweeting on

Monday night, “listen up ..can y’all grow restfully? areyou becoming an individualresting decisively?”

Fans were quick to pointout that the first letter ofeach word in her tweetspelled out the main charac-ter’s name, Lucy Gray Baird.

The movie is being adapt-ed from Suzanne Collins’2020 book of the samename, which takes placedecades before KatnissEverdeen’s adventures inThe Hunger Games, report-ed Variety.

Jennifer Lawrence origi-nally played KatnissEverdeen in the HungerGames franchise, but she isunlikely to make an appear-ance given the story’s set-ting.

The story of The Ballad of

Songbirds and Snakesrevolves around CoriolanusSnow, an ambitious boy whoeventually becomes thetyrannical leader of thedystopian country of

Panem. Tom Blyth will playthe young Snow.

In the film, Snow will bechosen to mentor LucyGray, the female tributefrom the impoverished

District 12, during the 10thHunger Games.

As shown in the originalfilm series, the games, atelevised event, randomlyselect two teenagers from

each district to fight todeath. “Hunger Games vet-eran Francis Lawrence willdirect the upcoming film,which will begin productionlater this year. Like every-body, I first saw RachelZegler in West Side Story,and like everybody, I knew Iwas watching a star whowould command the screenfor a generation, saidFrancis Lawrence.”

Lucy Gray is a perfectmatch for her as an actress:the character is bold, inde-pendent and defiant, butalso vulnerable, emotionaland loving. Rachel willmake this character unfor-gettable.

Franchise producer NinaJacobson and her produc-ing partner Brad Simpsonwill oversee the latestHunger Games installment,along with FrancisLawrence.

Be it your first love, your first heartbreak or the last dayof your school/ college farewell, every individual grewup with KK. The tragic death has not just shattered the

industry but every individual who has been a big fan of him.Singer KK took his last breath post performing for a liveshow at Kolkata. The minute, the news came in, everyonestarted to tweet/ share their memories on how KK played anintegral part in everyone’s life. We got in touch with singersfrom the same fraternity who payed their tribute and spoketo us on the demise of the greatest of all times. SingerStebin Ben shares, “Numb & shattered. Taking a pause fromeverything and remembering the legend who has madeeveryone’s childhood a memorable one. Grew up listening tohim and hearing that he is no more I went blank. Cannotreally understand what this year is going like. We have lostsome of the finest gems in the industry and this onlyconcludes that life is unpredictable. I am sure angels abovewill have a great time listening to your voice. Rest inparadise Sir!” Singer Sukriti Kakar shares, “What ishappening. What a devastating week this has been.This shouldn’t have happened. It’s really unfair. His musicwill always live on, we will all make sure of that. We willtake very long to process this loss. It feels personal.Grateful to be born in the era where we could enjoy hismusic. My deepest condolences to his family, relatives andall his fans.” Singer Prakriti Kakar shares, “This isdevastating. I trembled after hearing what I would neverwould want to hear. We lost a legend too soon. A singerwho has blessed us with his voice. He defined a wholegeneration for us. A singer who sang with such ease andhonesty that following music as a profession seemed easy .Immortal is he and immortal is his music. Rest in Power, mydear KK sir! KK was regarded as one of the top singers ofBollywood with numerous hit across languages. He has beena voice of famous Bollywood hit songs like Tu Hi Meri ShabHai, Aankhon Mein Teri Ajab Si, Khuda Jaane and anelongate list which has made him the most loveable singerof all time.

Aha, one of India’s leadingregional OTT platformsthat provides 100% local

entertainment, has announcedits new subscription offers forthe month of June for a stellarcontent slate line-up in thecoming months. Launchedwith a promise to provideNon-Stop Entertainment atRs.99, viewers can now accessall of aha’s new releases includ-ing films, series, and originalsat just Rs.99 for three monthsor Rs.299 for an annual sub-scription. The one-time offer isvalid for Telugu users from 1stJune until 30th June. The appusers will access to aha’sdiverse content library includ-ing Ashoka Vanamlo ArjunaKalyanam, Krack, TeluguIndian Idol with NBK, AnyaTutorials, Unstoppable,Bheemla Nayak, DJ Tillu andmany more.

Aha announcesnonstop

entertainmentplan at Rs 99for 3 months

K-Pop sensation BTS visited theWhite House on Tuesday to talkwith President Joe Biden about

combating the rise in hate crimes tar-geting Asian Americans bringingsuperstar sizzle to an otherwise sadand scary topic.

Band members J-Hope, RM, Suga,Jungkook, V, Jin and Jimin joinedWhite House press secretary KarineJean-Pierre at her briefing withreporters on the final day of AsianAmerican and Pacific IslanderHeritage Month.

Jimin said the band had been “dev-astated by the recent surge” of crimeand intolerance against AsianAmericans that has persisted since thestart of the coronavirus pandemic. “It’snot wrong to be different,” Suga saidthrough an interpreter. “Equalitybegins when we open up and embraceall of our differences.”

V said that everyone has their ownhistory.

“We hope today is one step forwardto understanding and respecting eachand everyone as a valuable person,” Vadded.

The band members wore black suitsand ties and took turns briefly step-ping to the podium. They got a tour ofthe White House before the briefing,and held a closed-door meeting withthe president in the Oval Office after-ward.

Biden administration officials havespent recent weeks holding roundtablediscussions and other meetings withAsian American leaders to discuss theviolence.

Since its debut in 2013, BTS hasgarnered global recognition for themembers’ self-produced music andactivism, including an appearance atthe United Nations.

The band topped the Billboard Hot100 chart three times in 2020, and wasnominated for prominent musicawards like the Grammys, BillboardMusic Awards and MTV Video MusicAwards.

The normally cramped WhiteHouse briefing room was even morejammed than usual, as journalists on-hand to cover BTS packed the aislesalongside the rows of seats assigned tooutlets who regularly attend. TheWhite House livestream — not knownfor large, middle-of-the-afternoonaudiences — attracted more than230,000 viewers before the event evenbegan.

After the band members spoke andhad their comments translated,reporters began to ask them questions,but Jean-Pierre, who had said previ-ously that members wouldn’t takequestions, intervened, saying, “We’regonna go. That prompt BTS membersto offer, ;We’re sorry’ as they filed awayfrom the podium.”

Following the band was BrianDeese, director of the White HouseNational Economic Council, who wasthere to address reporters after FederalReserve Chairman Jerome Powell’smeeting with Biden earlier in the day.

“I get to go home and tell my kidsthat BTS opened for me,” Deese joked,adding that he was sure the room was“as excited” to talk about inflation'simpact on the US economy as they'dbeen for the band.

The scene was fun but the issue thatbrought the group to the White House

was not. The rise in anti-Asian hatecrimes and discrimination since 2020has included the March 2021 killing ofeight people at Atlanta-area massagebusinesses, including six women ofAsian descent.

Following those shootings, AsianAmerican organizations across the USstaged unity events and took to socialmedia to call for an end to racistattacks. Within days, BTS tweeted,“We stand against racial discrimina-tion” and included the hashtags#StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate.“We condemn violence. You, I and weall have the right to be respected,” BTSwrote then. “We will stand together.”

On Tuesday, the band thanked itsfans, with Jungkook saying, “We still

feel surprised that music created bySouth Korean artists reaches so manypeople around the world, transcend-ing language and cultural barriers.”“We believe music is always an amaz-ing and wonderful unifier of allthings,” he added.

Jean-Pierre said BTS is hoping “tocombat racism, xenophobia, intoler-ance” that Asian communities havefaced. She noted that Biden signedlegislation combating COVID-19hate crimes and issued an executiveorder reestablishing the WhiteHouse initiative on AsianAmericans, Native Hawaiians andPacific islanders, while helping topromote research to prevent racismagainst such communities.

BTS visits WhiteHouse to discusscombating hate

crime surge

MMuussiicc iinndduussttrryymmoouurrnnss tthhee

DDEEAATTHH OOFF KKKK!!

FUN

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

evika Bhagat is a prominentscreenplay writer, who has dab-bled in mediums spanning cine-ma, television, and digital plat-forms. She dons multiple hats —from writing for films like

Manorma, Six Feet Under, Jab Tak Hai Jaan,Bachna Ae Haseeno, to scripting televisionshows like Mahi Way, to now writing seriessuch as Unpaused and Four More ShotsPlease! she is currently basking in praisefor her latest, Amazon Prime Video’santhology Modern Love: Mumbai, whereshe is credited for writing the NupurAsthana-directed Cutting Chai. She also doubled up as a consultant

writer on the series. Devika Bhagat gave a sneak peek into her

two upcoming shows, Four More ShotsPlease! Season 3 and 4, which the audience

will get to witness in the second half of theyear.

“Women’s characters in season 3 of FourMore Shots Please! are going to be very

different from one another.Characterisation depends on

the kind of woman you arewriting about, their eco-

nomic status, social sta-tus, and where they

are located,amongst otherthings. If weare writingabout privi-leged womenin Four MoreShots Please,they are privi-leged becausethey have

access to thingsthat 90% of

women in thiscountry do not

have access to,”Devika shared. She added, “Expect alot of emotions from season three ofFour More Shots Please. Even the sea-sons are going through arcs!”

Devika Bhagat started her career at an early age as a secondassistant director but later went on to become one of the mostnoted writers and gave us hits like Bachna Ae Haseeno, Jab TakHain Jaan, and Four More Shots Please.

Talking about her journey and association with Yash Raj Films,Devika said, “I graduated from the film school at NYU and cameto Mumbai to become a director around 2002-2003. Life, howev-er, had certain other plans for me. I was struggling to get work as

an AD and had to earnmoney to pay my bills. Iwas very close friends withAbhay Deol, who then wasalso a struggler like me.Later on in life, I metImitiaz Ali through Abhay.He asked me to co-write afilm that unfortunately didnot come into being.During this journey, I hap-pened to visit the Yash RajFilms office to narrate ascript, which again did notculminate. It was ArjunSablok through whom Imet Aditya Chopra, whohad read my previous

script. He then narrated a one-liner and asked me to develop it.That’s how Bachna Ae Haseeno was born. Aditya Chopra doesnot need narration. He is one of those who reads scripts and hasfeedback sessions, which I love because I hate giving narrations.Years after Bachna Ae Haseeno, Aditya Chopra offered me to co-write Jab Tak Hain Jaan and I said yes to it only because Ithought I would be able to work with Yash Chopra, but that didnot happen as Yash ji was not keen on working on it. My associa-tion with Yash Raj Films has been an enjoyable and memorableone.”

On a concluding note, Devika Bhagat advised all the aspiringwriters to always listen to their voice, take feedback and judg-ment, but always be true to themselves. She urged them to alwayswrite what they wanted to and follow their instincts. As for voicesalways trying to school female screenwriters from within andoutside the industry, Devika said, “You should not tell femalewriters to stick to a particular genre. Female writers can write inany genre just like male writers.”

K. RAMYA SREE

ndian handwoven traditionaltextiles are treasured acrossthe globe for their richnessand quality. These beautifulfabrics are woven by skilledweavers on the loom. Jamdani

is one such craft that requires experi-enced weavers. These artisans takeimmense pride in their cultureand heritage and have car-ried forward their weav-ing traditions despitevarious adversities.

While dying artand craft practices areleading to a country’scultural loss, there arestill people who aretrying to keep a fewart forms alive, protect-ing the country’s culturalrichness that it boasts.

Patnam Subramanyanamof Venkatagiri cluster, 38 years oldhas been practising Jamdani weaving forthe last 22 years of his life. Jamdani is ahighly complex technique of weaving.Motifs are woven into the fine fabricusing threads by hand. Jamdani weavingrequires a high level of skill and is verylabour-intensive, taking days or weeks toweave a saree. This technique originatedin Dhaka but has travelled to otherweavers’ clusters over a period of time.UNESCO declared Jamdani sarees as anintangible cultural heritage of humanityin 2013.

This craft has been in Subramanyam’s

family for generations and is the mainsource of income for the family. He hascreated a few masterpieces for connois-seurs who value the original techniques,which are getting rarer nowadays. Withthe help of Tata Trusts, Subramanyam istrying to find models that can be repli-cated at scale and sustainability in orderto empower communities, enabling their

access to skills, tools, and processes todeliver higher quality products

and services, creating bet-ter connections with the

market and co-optinglike-minded peopleand organisationsalong the journey.

Speaking aboutthe type of handi-crafts he’s experi-

enced, PatnamSubramanyam said, “I

have experience in thehandloom Jamdani

Weaving technique, which isa fine muslin on which decora-

tive motifs are woven on the loom, typi-cally in grey and white. Often, a mixtureof cotton and gold thread was also used.The Jala technique, which is one of theoldest in the history of weaving, havingbeen around since the 19th century,allows us to easily weave corner designsthat are located at the joint of the borderand cross-border designs. Additionally, Ialso know that paperwork. Traditionally,Jamdani weaving is done by referring tothe design while keeping beside theweaver to pick up the threads to be liftedfor the particular design, and it takes a

lot of effort and, as a result, the produc-tivity is also lower.”

He adds, “While using the paperwork,we keep the actual scale of the designprinted or drawn on the paper beneaththe warp while weaving. We follow thepattern on the paper to interlace thewarp and weft for the design to be creat-ed on the warp. This minimises theerrors and reduces the effort and time ittakes to complete the work.”

For 29 years, since 1992, PatnamSubramanyam has been an artisan. Theskill he practised was passed on for gen-erations from his forefathers to him.

Although the art of Jamdani weavingoriginated in Dhaka, Bangladesh, it hasbeen said that the Jamdani ofVenkatagiri is made with a quality that’shard to find anywhere else in the coun-try. The yarns used in this Jamdani

Technique are made with a count of(120 x 120, 100 x 100). Venkatagirisarees are known for their fine, soft,light, and unique fabric and are thebread and butter of the majority of theresidents of the small town ofVenkatagiri.

Earlier, the Venkatagiri sarees werepopularly known as the Venkatagiri ZariCotton Handloom Sarees, since theywere woven using cotton threads. Overtime, silk threads made their way intothese distinctive sarees. Eventually, withthe import of the Jamdani techniquefrom Bangladesh, Venkatagiri Silk Sareesnot only found acceptance amongst themasses but also became a popular choicefor comfort and elegance.

Passing on these traditional craft skillsto generations to come, Subramanyamsays they were badly hit at the beginning

of the pandemic with few to no orders.“I was also not able to transport the pre-vious orders due to restrictions onmovement. There was also a majorimpact on the availability of raw materi-als and transportation. When the pan-demic began, we lost our sources oflivelihood and struggled to make endsmeet. At that time, it was hard to knowwhere the next meal would come fromand how long we would be able to sus-tain ourselves,” he laments.

Nature plays an important role in allof Subramanyam’s work.

He depicts nature in such a wonderfulway that one can’t stop themselves fromholding the saree in their hands andhaving a brief look at it. One of hissarees is inspired by the wood carvingsof Tirupati. You will see the pallu has anest of graceful peacocks and also par-rots adorn the pallu. These motifs arecreated in the handcrafted jamdani tech-nique.

On the other hand, we have MridulaTangirala, head of crafts, Tata Trusts,who is currently anchoring the craftsand tourism initiatives of Tata Trusts,and who made the shift from tourism todevelopment for the betterment of peo-ple. She tells us, “The shift was aboutwanting to work with both sides of thesame coin. Mainstream leisure, adven-ture, and eco-tourism, for example, is away of monetising the existing culturaland natural assets through experiencesand creating a livelihood pie out of thatpotential. Community-based tourism,on the other hand, aims to capacitate thecommunities to carve a fair and moreequitable share out of that pie so thatthere is a larger stakeholder set workingtowards conserving and regeneratingthose very cultural and natural assets ina sustainable way.”

Mridula says she feels privileged tohave gotten an opportunity to learn andwitness the artisans’ ways of life, theinherent balance in everything they do,the simplicity, their grit and courage.

The reason for speaking to Mridulawas that during the pandemic, theorganisation was at the forefront inhelping artisans get back on their feetand get going as the crafts and tourismsectors had seen a huge impact due tothe pandemic. “At the start of 2022, itwas clear that finding artisan commu-nities as a means of sustaining liveli-hoods and building continuous irriga-tion of income was a priority. With this

in mind, the team set out to build anddeploy training programmes whichhelped artisans understand the facetsof online marketplaces, social media,and transactions. This included every-thing from photography to invoicegeneration, and it laid a solid founda-tion for us to launch Antaran ArtisanConnect. The platform served the pur-pose of selling items the weavers hadproduced in anticipation of commer-cial exhibits and ensured some regular-ity in income to keep them engagedwithin the sector. “Antaran's primaryobjective was to make the most of theopportunity and use it as a chance forlearning while keeping the communityafloat,” shares Mridula in conclusion.

the extra weft technique

Jamdani is a finemuslin textile,wherein no loosethreads are seenhanging at the back.UNESCO declaredJamdani sarees asan intangible culturalheritage of humanityin 2013. To find outmore about thetextile, The Pioneer

gets in touch with anartisan, who is tryingto keep thistraditional craft aliveand is passing onthe skill to the nextgenerations

I

spills thebeans on

DEVIKA BHAGAT

Four More Shots

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FOUR MORE SHOTS

PLEASE. EVEN THE

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ocial media was a place wherepeople could reconnect with orstay in touch with friends andfamily. However, over the years,it has evolved into an interactiveuniverse for people to exchange

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Transition by Rizzle

Rizzle is a creator-centricshort video app thatmakes creating videocontent not only easy butalso enjoyable and enter-taining. With its engag-ing user interface, 1000+templates, and AI-based

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PicMonkey,Shutterstock's imageediting platform,helps create eye-catching designs. Theplatform is ideal forsocial media because

it provides a plethora of features for con-tent creators. PicMonkey's collage makeris one such feature. It gives users accessto hundreds of collage layouts that theycan customize to fit their content andpreferences. Users can add pictures,graphics, videos, and stock images andconvey their story through a customizedcollage— an excellent tool for story-telling and displaying content in style.PicMonkey offers both free and paidversions.

Logo Maker by GoDaddy Studio

GoDaddy is a content cre-ation tool that can be usedboth as a mobile app andon your desktop. It pro-vides an advanced imageeditor for creators to easilycreate professional-look-ing content, boosting per-

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Here is a list of in-app features that canhelp creators simplify content creation

Patnam Subramanyanam

Mrid

ula

Tang

irala

ThursdayJune 2, 2022

Follow us on

@TheDailyPioneer

facebook.com/dailypioneer

sports 11VIJAYAWADA | THURSDAY | JUNE 2, 2022

PTI nMELBOURNE

Australia head coach AndrewMcDonald has tested positive

for COVID-19 and will miss theopening week of his side's tour ofSri Lanka, starting Tuesday.

The 40-year-old, who returneda positive test for the virus a daybefore Australia's T20 squad'sdeparture to Sri Lanka onWednesday, will isolate for a weekin Melbourne and is likely to linkup with the team in Colomboahead of the second T20 on June 8."Australian men's team head coachAndrew McDonald has tested pos-itive for COVID-19 and will bedelayed in travelling to Sri Lankafor the start of the T20I series,"Cricket Australia said onWednesday.

In his absence, assistant coachMichael Di Venuto will guide theT20 side.

"Michael Di Venuto will coachthe Australian men's T20 sidebefore Andrew McDonald re-joinsthe squad at the conclusion of sevendays isolation," CA added.

AP n LONDON

England have recalled veter-an pace bowlers James

Anderson and Stuart Broad totheir side for the first Testagainst New Zealand at Lord'sstarting Thursday while givinga debut to Durham quickMatthew Potts.

Anderson, 39 and Broad,35, England's two most suc-cessful bowlers of all time,with a combined 1,177 wick-ets between them, were bothcontroversially left out of thesquad for a 1-0 series loss inthe West Indies earlier thisyear.

But they return for the firstmatch under England's newleadership duo of captain BenStokes and coach BrendonMcCullum, the former NewZealand captain, in an XInamed a day ahead of sched-ule on Wednesday.

Potts gets his chance aheadof fellow squad member CraigOverton, after an injury crisisdeprived England of severalfast bowlers including MarkWood, Chris Woakes, OllieRobinson, Jofra Archer, Saqib

Mahmood, Matt Fisher andOlly Stone.

The 23-year-old Potts hasbeen selected on the back of afine start to the county season,having taken 35 wickets forDurham in his opening sixCounty Championship match-es.

England had previouslyremoved some of the doubtsurrounding their side for this

opening match of a three-Testseries by indicating JonnyBairstow would bat at numberfive, with Ollie Pope pencilledin at first-wicket down.

That means the in-formHarry Brook, a Yorkshire col-league of Bairstow, must waitfor his Test debut.

Brook has scored 840 runsat a colossal average of 140 sofar this campaign but has beenunable to find a place in afamiliar-looking top six.

England are currently bot-tom of the World TestChampionship table followinga woeful run of one win in 17games.

New Zealand, who've yetto name their team, are thereigning World Test champi-ons after defeating India in lastyear 's inaugural f inal atSouthampton.

England team: Zak Crawley,Alex Lees, Ollie Pope, JoeRoot, Jonny Bairstow, BenStokes (capt), Ben Foakes(wkt), Matthew Potts, JackLeach, Stuart Broad, JamesAnderson. Coach: BrendonMcCullum.

PTI n JOHANNESBURG

Backing David Miller to carryhis confidence from the IPLto the away series against

India, South Africa white-ball skip-per Temba Bavuma said he is opento having a conversation with thesouthpaw regarding his battingposition in the national T20 team.

Miller enjoyed a fabulous IPLseason with the bat where he was avital cog in the Gujarat Titansteam that went on to win the titlein its maiden season.

"It's always nice to see guys inform. A guy like David lifting thetrophy with the Gujarat Titans —the confidence that he will bringinto the team, we look forward tothat," Bavuma told reporters at thepre-departure press conference onTuesday ahead of the series againstIndia.

"David has performed exceed-ingly well at the IPL and I'm surethat will do a world of good for hisconfidence and whatever feelings ofinsecurity that might be there.

"The conversations that I havehad with David, he has neverexpressed those types of feelings tome. David is still an integral mem-ber within our team and we trust hisperformances will continue wellinto the future," he added.

The big-hitting Miller hasstruggled to score runs in the lim-ited overs format with the nation-al team in the past few years.

But batting mostly at numberfive, as opposed to his usual six withSouth Africa, in the IPL this season,Miller scored 481 runs with the bestaverage in the competition of 68.71at a strike rate of 143.

"In terms of him batting a bitlonger, that has always been theconversation over the years whenDavid has done well. He under-stands where he fits in within theteam.

"If he feels he can add morevalue in a different position, a con-versation can be had in that regard.

"There is no way we are goingto stifle him or restrict David in anymanner. That's how we try to treatall the players. We try to set themup in positions where they can suc-ceed and make strong plays for theteam."

Talking about another SouthAfrican Dewald Brevis who had adecent outing in the IPL for theMumbai Indians, Bavuma said theyoungster should be given "timeand the space to hone his game"before being pushed into interna-tional cricket.

"In all fairness to him, he has-n't played a first-class game. Interms of expectation but also allow-ing the boy to grow within his game,it would be fair to allow him to playa couple of first-class games wherehe can really get an understanding

of his game," he said."It will be a lot of pressure to

throw him into the international setup and expect him to make plays.He will be treated like any otherexciting young prospect that comesonto the scene.

"He should be given time andthe space to hone his game withinthe system and ease into the inter-national side of things."

South Africa are set to take onIndia in five T20Is, starting fromJune 9 to 19.

The hosts will be without sev-

eral key players. While regularskipper Rohit Sharma and seniorplayers Virat Kohli and JaspritBumrah have been rested for thefive-match series, Deepak Chahar,Ravindra Jadeja and SuryakumarYadav have been ruled out becauseof injuries.

But Bavuma still expects it to bea competitive series.

"Even though India are restingtheir main players, it will still be acompetitive series. The guys inthat squad can walk into the Indianteam."

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former India skipper SouravGanguly on Wednesday

issued a cryptic tweet about his"new journey" that raised spec-ulations about his continuationas BCCI President, promptingthe cricket board secretary JayShah to clarify that he has notresigned from his post.

Ganguly in his tweet said heis embarking on a new journey,although without revealing anyfurther details.

"2022 marks the 30th yearsince the start of my journeywith cricket in 1992. Sincethen, cricket has given me a lot.Most importantly, it has givenme the support of all of you. Iwant to thank every single per-son, who has been part of thejourney, supported me, andhelped me reach where I amtoday," he wrote in a brief state-ment.

"Today, I am planning tostart something that I feel willprobably help a lot of people. Ihope you continue your supportas I enter this chapter of life."

Ganguly was elected BCCI

President in October 2019 andstill has four months left in histhree-year tenure.

Ganguly's tweet took thesocial media by storm as many,including media outlets, start-ed speculations about his future.

"The rumours doingrounds about Mr SouravGanguly stepping down fromthe post of BCCI President arefactually incorrect," BCCI sec-retary Jay Shah said in a state-ment issued to PTI.

"We have some excitingtimes in the form of mediarights coming up and my col-leagues and I are completelyfocused on the upcomingopportunity and safeguardingthe interest of Indian cricket,"Shah further stated.

It has been learnt thatGanguly's tweet was related tohis upcoming project.

AP nMADRID

Gareth Bale wrote a farewell letter to RealMadrid on Wednesday, the Welshman

bringing an end to his nine-year spell at theSpanish club, where he said his "dreambecame a reality".

Bale will leave Real Madrid when his con-tract expires at the end of June, with the 32-year-old yet to confirm what he will do next.

His future is likely to depend on whetherWales qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, withretirement a possible option if they miss out.

"I write this message to say thank you toall my teammates, past and present, my man-agers, the backroom staff and to the fans thatsupported me," Bale wrote in a letter to RealMadrid, posted on social media in bothEnglish and Spanish.

"I arrived here nine years ago as a youngman who wanted to realise my dream of play-ing for Real Madrid. To wear the pristine whitekit, to wear the crest on my chest, to play atthe Santiago Bernabeu, to win titles and to bepart of what it's so famous for, to win theChampions League.

"I can now look back, reflect and say withhonesty that this dream became a reality andmuch, much more.

"To be a part of this club's history and toachieve what we achieved while I was a RealMadrid player has been an incredible expe-rience and one I will never forget.

"I also want to thank president FlorentinoPerez, Jose Angel Sanchez and the board forgiving me the opportunity to play for this club.Together we were able to create somemoments that will live forever in the historyof this club and football. It has been an hon-our."

After joining Madrid from Tottenham for100 million euros in 2013, Bale went on to win16 major trophies with Real Madrid, includ-ing five Champions Leagues, three La Ligasand one Copa del Rey.

He also won three Club World Cups, threeUEFA Super Cups and a Spanish Super Cup.

More than his trophies, Bale will beremembered for a handful of spectacularmoments, including his two goals scored offthe bench against Liverpool in the 2018Champions League final in Kiev, the first com-ing from a stunning bicycle kick.

He scored another hugely important goalin the 2014 Champions League final in Lisbon,his header at the back post giving Real Madridthe lead against Atletico Madrid in extra-time,as they went on to win the club's long-await-ed 10th European Cup.

Perhaps most memorable was Bale'sincredible solo goal at Mestalla to win the 2014Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.

Bale's popularity with the Real Madridfans, though, has plummeted in recent yearsas injuries and a perceived lack of commit-ment pushed him to the fringes of the firstteam. He was barely on speaking terms withZinedine Zidane by the end of the 2017-18season and hopes that Cristiano Ronaldo'sdeparture might revive his Real Madridcareer were never realised.

Last season, Bale played only five timesin La Liga and seven minutes in theChampions League, again saving his best forWales, as he scored a hat-trick against Belarusin September and then twice against Austriain March to keep their World Cup qualifica-tion hopes alive.

AP n MANCHESTER

French World Cup-winningmidfielder Paul Pogba is to

leave Manchester United at theend of June, the club said onWednesday, bringing the cur-tain down on a largely disap-pointing second spell.

The 29-year-old's depar-ture at the end of his contractwill see United recoup none ofthe then record £89 million($112 million) he cost themwhen they bought him fromJuventus in 2016.

He flourished initiallyunder Jose Mourinho and waspart of the sides that won theLeague Cup and Europa Leaguein 2017.

However, his subsequentperformances rarely matchedthose he produced for France intheir 2018 World Cup cam-paign.

Fitness problems limitedhim to 27 appearances last sea-son in an unimpressive cam-paign for both player and clubas United had to be content witha Europa League spot.

"The club can announcethat Paul Pogba will leave

Manchester United at the end ofJune, upon the expiry of his con-tract," read the club statement.

"The last of his 233 Unitedgames ended in the 10th minuteof a defeat at Anfield in April2022.

"It was a low-key end to aUnited career that brought somany individual high moments.

"So many beautiful goals,assists and pieces of skill.

"For a boy that joined theAcademy at 16 to make over 200United appearances and lift theYouth Cup, along with twomajor pieces of silverware, issomething that should beapplauded and celebrated."

PTI n NEW DELHI

Ravichandran Ashwin, one of the sharpest thinkers inworld cricket, feels that he has reached a stage in his

career where he is not bothered about assessment of hisown performance after every game.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on alot of people, the wily off-spinner feels, that the last twoyears has been kind to him with continued success in Testsat home and a productive tour of Australia, where Indiamade history by winning back to back series.

The 35-year-old, who has taken442 wickets in 86Tests, also made awhite-ball come-back after fouryears and featuredin last year's T20World Cup in theUAE.

However, hehas been restedfrom the T20 homeseries against SouthAfrica later thismonth and will linkup with the squadin the UK for the'fifth' Test of thelast series against England.

"If you want a realistic answer, I am not assessing myperformance at all. I am not in that phase of my life whereI am thinking about what happened there and what hap-pened here. Like I told you, I am living it by the day.

"The last two years have been hard on a lot of peoplebut it has been very very kind and good to me. So justenjoying my game. I don't know if it is evident enough onthe ground or not. I am in totally in a very good space ofmind," Ashwin said.

Ashwin, who has just got done with the two-monthlong IPL, will next be seen during India's tour of Englandin June-July when the rescheduled fifth Test will be com-pleted with the visitors leading 2-1.

En route to the historic triumph in Australia in January2021, Ashwin contributed both with bat and ball. Havingsuffered severe back spasms on day four of the Sydney Test,Ashwin turned up on day five and batted alongsideHanuma Vihari as they both consumed 128 balls each topull off a draw that felt like a win.

Ashwin recalled that partnership with a lot of fond-ness. He was ruled out of the final Test as injury-ravagedIndia struggled to field an eleven for the game.

"The other game I played the game injured was inSouthampton (2018) and it did not go on the right sideof the coin for us. Again in Sydney, day four day of thegame I had a severe back spasm I was not sure if I couldreally get through the game but somehow wanted to.

"I prayed for a bit of of luck, that I had lesser pain thenext morning, that the painkillers worked and all of that,I was praying quietly.

"Somehow I got through day four, took a couple ofwickets, bowled non-stop spells even though it was hard.Harder than what Southampton (2018 England Test) wasbut I think a lot of it was destiny as well.

Bavuma open to slot Miller at No. 5

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former India coach RaviShastri reckons that T20 for-

mat is not meant for bilateralseries between internationalteams and the slam-bang style ofcricket should be restricted tojust World Cup.

Shastri, one of the most suc-cessful India coaches, also feelsthat franchise cricket togetherwith a biennial T20 World Cupis best way forward when itcomes to shortest format, consid-ering fans' appetite for it.

Shastri's comments havecome, days before India's five-mach T20 series against SouthAfrica.

"...There's too much of bilat-eral stuff going on in T20 crick-et. I've said that (before), evenwhen I was the coach of India, Icould see it happening in frontof my eyes," Shastri toldESPNcricinfo.

"It should go the footballway, where, in T20 cricket, youjust play the World Cup. Bilateral

tournaments — no one remem-bers."

Shastri, whose tenure asIndia coach ended last year, saidhe doesn't "remember a single(T20) game in the last six-sevenyears as coach of India, barringthe World Cup."

"A team wins the WorldCup, they will remember it.Unfortunately, we didn't, so Idon't remember that either.

"Where I am coming from is:you play franchise cricket aroundthe globe; each country isallowed to have their franchisecricket, which is their domesticcricket, and then, every twoyears, you come and play aWorld Cup."

The IPL media and broad-casting rights for the next five-year cycle are going to go up forsale in June.

Discussing the future of IPL,former India opener AkashChopra said: "I actually foreseethere might be two editions ofthe IPL in every calendar year.And that's not too far away."

Shastri agreed with Chopra."That's the future," he said."It could be tomorrow — 140

games, split 70-70. In two sea-sons. You never know. That's theway it's going to go. That's theway it's developed as a beast ofa property. And you cannot hideaway from that.

"You might think that's over-dose, but nothing is overdose inIndia. I have been sitting outsidethe bubble, I have been watchingpeople, how they have seen,how they have reviewed theselast few months, especially [aftercoming] out of Covid. And theyare loving every bit of it, and theyare almost having withdrawalsymptoms."

The 2022 season of IPLended on Sunday with new-comers Gujarat Titans liftingthe trophy.

Only play T20Is inWorld Cup: Shastri

Batting mostly at

No. 5 in IPL this

season for Gujarat

Titans, Miller scored

481 runs with the

best average in the

competition of

68.71 at a strike

rate of 143

Oz coach McDonald

tests Covid +ve, will

miss start of SL tour

Eng recall Broad, Anderson for 1st NZ Test Ganguly hasn’t resigned as BCCIPresident, confirms Jay Shah I am past the phase of

assessing my performanceafter every game: Ashwin

Bale bids farewell to Real MadridPogba to leave Man Utd

Ganguly on Wednesday

issued a cryptic tweet

about his ‘new journey’

that raised speculations

about his continuation as

BCCI President

12

Vijayawada | Thursday June 2, 2022 tollywood

‘With every newproject comes

new experiences'

SHIKHA DUGGAL

riya Banerjeeis a youngactress whohas worked inmultilingual

films. At the beginningof her career, she wasappreciated for her act-ing talent in Tollywoodfilms! She comes acrossas a strong, versatileindividual who hasworked hard to climbthe ladder of successand has now made aplace for herself. Sonow, what’s new in herkitty? Well, streaming

giant Netflixannounced that theirmuch-anticipatedseries, Rana Naidu, haswrapped filming. And,guess what? Priya is anintegral part of it.

She shares, “Withevery new projectcomes new experi-ences—excitement isliterally like a newbiebecause it’s the firsttime I’ll be working forNetflix. I worked forAlt Balaji earlier. I can’teven begin to tell you.It’s mostly from theSouth fraternity, whichtakes me back to mydebut days.”

She says, “You’ll notfind decked up charac-ters. Though it’s anadaptation of anAmerican web series, itwas important for us toIndianise it for ouraudiences. But, whenyou see my entry, it’s

going to be really glam-orous! I was so into it,that I was making sureat every given pointthat I looked up-to-date on the sets. I amgrabbing the essence ofKatie Holmes!”

The plotline revolves

a lot around familyrelationships, and wedid ask her about herrelationship with herparents, to which shequips, “My parents livein Canada, but they'renever has been a day Idon’t miss them or callthem up after shoot-ings. I am their onlydaughter, so the rela-tionship is extremelytransparent. We talkabout everything! But,when you watch RanaNaidu, you’ll beamazed to see the twistin family relationships.”

She had the best ofher time shooting withRana Daggubati. Sheshared, “Rana and Ihave been friends. Thiswas my second timeshooting with him.”The shooting went onand on for a late-nightschedule, but my co-actor Rana made it easyfor me.”

She continued, “Idon’t have any problemwith doing bold roles.And if you go toHollywood, there areno such stereotypes!So, why here? A seriesof mine, Bekaboo,grabbed so much atten-tion funnily for me tobe called a boldactress.”

Actress Priya Banerjee,who will next be seen in

Netflix’s Rana Naidu

starring Venkatesh andRana Daggubati, talksabout her role, working

with Rana, and heropinion on being called

the ‘bold’ actress.

p

EE5’s recent webseries, Gaalivaana,has been a hit. Theplatform has nowembarked on a

new web series.On Wednesday, it

announced a crime thrillertitled Recce. A web series, itwill stream from June 17.The first announcementtoday came in the form ofan intriguing motion poster.

The series is a grippingperiod thriller set in the1990s. The story is narratedover a span of 7 episodes (of25 mins each). Talking aboutthe premise, director PoluruKrishna today said, “Thestory revolves around amurder. The TadipatriMunicipal Chairman is murdered and a thrilling setof incidents ensue. The taleunfolds between a newly-appointed yet-to-be-provenSub Inspector named Leninand a recce expert namedParadesi and his team. Howthey plot the murder ofTadipatri MunicipalChairman Varadarajulu in

1992 and how Lenin pursuesthe case against all oddsforms the crux of the story.”

From the motion posterand the premise, it appearsthat Recce is going to be aroller-coaster ride enrichedwith suspenseful drama andexciting plot turns. TheRayalaseema backdropmakes it all the more excit-ing. The notorious factionviolence aspect of Tadipatriseems to have been exploredwell.

Through films and otherpop culture phenomena, weonly know of high-profilefaction leaders and theirmurders. Recce, however,brings to the fore some nail-biting plots and execu-tions behind those gory inci-dents. The plot descriptionsuggests how edge-of-the-seat the series is going to be.“In the early 90s inTadipatri, rookie sub-inspec-tor Lenin is assigned thetask of solving a dual mur-der. Are these murders polit-ically motivated, faction dri-ven, or is there an even

darker motive?Lenin’s investiga-tion leads him todiscover someunpleasantsecrets.”

Sriram andSivabalaji haveplayed roles thatwe have neverseen them inbefore. Anantapuris where the majorportions of theseries were shot.The director andother techniciansadopted a realisticapproach to narrating and executing theseries. Since it hasbeen a long timesince we have seena raw, authenticrural faction crimedrama, the viewersare surely going tolove the wholepremise, back-drop, the detail-ing, the plot turns,and performances.

Z

Filmmakers of Karthikeya 2on Wednesday dropped thefirst look of the motion

poster of the film which isintriguing and highlights themysteries of Dwarka.

The filmmakers released theposter of actor NikhilSiddharth-starrer movie on theoccasion of his birthday onWednesday.

Actor Nikhil Siddharth hasreunited with director ChandooMondeti for the movie which isa sequel to the criticallyacclaimed Karthikeya thatreleased in 2014.

“Our Movie #Karthikeya2 willrelease in the 5 languages ofTelugu, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil,and Malayalam. This July22 inTheatres. Come Join us on thisEpic Divine Journey#LordKrishna”, Nikhil Siddharthwrote, as he shared the intrigu-ing poster via his social mediahandles.

The film is expected to be amystery thriller about a searchfor secrets buried beneath thesea near Dwaraka. The sneakpeek is intriguing and has gener-ated much-needed buzz.

“The world’s strangest secretsare buried beneath the city of

Dwaraka,” says Nikhilin the motion poster.

As Nikhil,AnupamaParameswaran, andactor Srinivas Reddyare seen on a boat,they appear to be on amission to uncover amystery, with theirjourney taking themacross the soaring sea.

AnupamaParameswaran is thefemale lead in thismovie. People MediaFactory and AbhishekAgarwal Arts havejoined hands to pro-

duce this mystery-orientedmovie.

Having Kaala Bhairava as themusic director, the movie isscheduled to release on July 22worldwide, in Telugu, Tamil,Kannada, Malayalam, andHindi.

I want to do a full-length role with

Kamal Sir: Venkatesh

ZEE5 announces novel thriller Recce

film launchedB

oyapti Sreenu isone of the mostsuccessful direc-

tors in Telugu, who hasdirected blockbusterfilms like Bhadra,Tulasi, Simha, Legend,Sarrainodu, Jaya JanakiNayaka, and mostrecently Akhanda. Theindustry breathed asigh of relief whenAkhanda became amassive blockbusterand was hailed by theaudience as the theatresregained their formerglory.

Boyapati Sreenu hasnow started his upcom-ing Pan-Indian filmwith Ustaad RamPothineni. This movieis going 10th film forthe blockbuster direc-tor. After two back toback films, ace produc-er Srinivasaa Chhitturiis now producing thisfilm tentatively titled‘BoyapatiRAPO’ underSrinivasaa SilverScreens banner. It’s 9thfilm for the productionhouse. Pavan Kumar ispresenting the film.

Ram Pothineni, withhis charm, energy, andelectrifying moves,gained a large fanbasenot only in Telugustates, but also through-out India. His dubbedflicks sparked aYouTube frenzy. Thismassive movie marksRam Pothineni’s 20thfilm and he recentlywrapped up shootingfor The Warriorr.

The coming togetherof the gigantic three forthis pan-Indian projectis being viewed as amammoth combina-tion. The yet-to-be-titled movie was for-mally launched with a‘muhurat’ (customary)pooja in Hyderabad onWednesday. The teamand many celebritieswere in attendance forthis launch event.

Burugupalli SivaRamakrishna garuswitched on the camera,first clap is done bySravanthi Ravi Kishoregaru and first shot isdirected by BoyapatiSreenu garu. Script

handover done by TheWarriorr director NLinguswamy and direc-tor Venkat Prabhu.

Talking about thecollaboration SrinivasaaChhitturi said, “We aredelighted to present thefilm, helmed byBoyapati Sreenu. It’s apleasure to work withour hero RamPothineni again so soonafter The Warriorr. It isprestigious film comingfrom our banner. Weare producing this filmwith high technicalstandards and a biggerbudget. We intend torelease the film world-wide in Telugu, Tamil,Hindi, Kannada, andMalayalam.”

Boyapati Sreenu hascome up with a superbstory loaded with masselements that havethrilled both the pro-ducer and the actor.More details about thefilm, including its hero-ine and other membersof the cast and crew,will be made in thenear future.

Karthikeya 2 highlightsmysteries of Dwarka

Vikram, releasing on June 3, is the most awaitedfilm from Kamal Hassan as he will be seen on bigscreens after a long time. The film is directed by

Lokesh Kanagaraj and also stars Vijay Sethupathi andFahad Fazil in the lead roles, making this even moreexciting to watch. It has music by AnirudhRavichandran. Speaking at the pre-release event ofVikram in Hyderabad, Venkatesh Daggubati, who wasthe chief guest, said, “Kamal Sir marks 60 years of act-ing, but his heart is still 16 years old. I was clean andbold when I watched his Padaharella Vayasu film. Trueto the title of the film, he still looks and lives like a 16-year-old. One needs guts to do the kind of films KamalSir has done. He became the first Pan-India star with EkDooje Keliye and now he is the biggest global star. Hehas a unique quality about him. If there are two eras inSouthern cinema, then it is the one before KamalHaasan and the other after Kamal Garu. He set a trendin fashion too. He is an actor, director, writer, singer,choreographer, politician, and, most importantly, a goodhumanist.”

The F3 actor added, “Not 10 shades. I can see 100shades in Kamal sir. I have done many films in mycareer. I did action and comedy, but whenever I amblank, I see Kamal Sir and learn from him. I want to doa full-length role with Kamil Sir.”